RTHK: Russia hits Kyiv missile factory after flagship sunk

Russia pounded a Ukrainian rocket factory after losing an iconic warship in the Black Sea, as the Pentagon on Friday backed Kyiv's claim to have sunk the Moskva with cruise missiles.

The Vizar plant, near the capital's international airport, was seriously damaged in the overnight strikes, an AFP journalist saw.

Russia said it had used sea-based long-range missiles to hit the factory, which Ukraine's state weapons manufacturer says produced Neptune cruise missiles.

"There were five hits. My employee was in the office and got thrown off his feet by the blast," Andrei Sizov, a 47-year-old owner of a nearby wood workshop, said.

"They are making us pay for destroying the Moskva," he said. It was the first major Russian strike around the Ukrainian capital in over two weeks.

A Pentagon official briefing reporters said Ukraine had hit the Moskva with two Neptunes  contradicting Russia's claim that the ship lost balance in rough seas as it was towed to port after ammunition exploded.

The Moskva had been leading Russia's naval effort in the seven-week conflict, and the fate of its crew of over 500 was uncertain.

The Pentagon official said survivors were observed being recovered by other Russian vessels, but Ukraine authorities said bad weather had made rescue operations impossible.

The Russian fleet in the Black Sea has been blockading the besieged port city of Mariupol, where Russian officials say they are in full control although Ukrainian fighters are still holed up in the city's fortress-like steelworks.

In the capital, Kyiv regional governor Oleksandr Pavliuk said there were at least two other Russian strikes on the city on Friday, adding civilians thinking about returning should "wait for quieter times".

Russian forces last month started withdrawing from around Kyiv as they were redeployed to focus on the east of the country, but the city remains vulnerable to missile strikes. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-04-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's outstanding yuan funds for foreign exchange went up from a month earlier at the end of March, data from the country's central bank showed Friday.

The funds came in at about 21.3 trillion yuan (about 3.33 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of last month, up 23.2 billion yuan month on month, according to the People's Bank of China.

As the Chinese yuan is not freely convertible under the capital account, the central bank must purchase foreign currency generated by a trade surplus and foreign investment in the country, adding funds to the money market. Such funds are a vital indicator of cross-border foreign capital flows and domestic yuan liquidity.

China's forex holdings amounted to 3.188 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of March, down 25.8 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.8 percent, from the end of February, said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. 
A Chinese defense spokesperson on Friday slammed the visit to Taiwan by some members of the U.S. Congress.

The visit is a deliberate provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, said Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense.

It is extremely hypocritical and untrustworthy for the United States to pledge not to support "Taiwan independence" on one hand and send a seriously wrong signal to the secessionist forces on the other hand, Wu said.

China firmly opposes this and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side, Wu noted.

The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has conducted a combined combat-readiness patrol and carried out targeted training exercises in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island, according to Wu.

The PLA has been in full combat readiness and will take all measures necessary to resolutely defeat the interference of external forces and thwart the secessionist attempts at "Taiwan independence", Wu stressed.
The Government of India will provide free Doordarshan Free Dish facilities to residents of far flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir. This was stated by Secretary Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Apurva Chandra, during a visit to Kangan Sub Division of J&K to assess outreach of DD Free Dish in the area.

To achieve the goal of reaching out to people living in far-flung and border areas through the platform of DD Free Dish, the Union Secretary said that the Government has proposed to distribute 1.5 lakh free Dish in such areas where cable service is not available for which tendering is under process and will be completed soon.

During the visit, Chandra was accompanied by Principal Director General News, All India Radio, N. V. Reddy, Director General, Doordarshan, Mayank Agrawal, Additional Director General, Press Information Bureau Srinagar, Rajinder Chaudhry, Deputy Director News DDK Srinagar, Qazi Salman, and the officers of the district administration.

Chandra underlined the importance of the free of cost service to the masses. He said that the service is being distributed in far flung areas of Kashmir and its ambit will be increased in the times to come. The Union Secretary complemented Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar for performing its duties efficiently despite many challenges in the past. He said that the Kendra is aptly representing the local culture and traditions through its programmes reaching the people with authentic information.

The Union I&B Secretary also interacted with the people using DD Free Dish at Margund Kangan, who shared their feedback about the programmes available on various channels, especially DD Kashir.

DD Free Dish is the only Free-to-Air Direct-to-Home (DTH) service provided by Doordarshan. The service is owned and operated by Public Service Broadcaster Prasar Bharati. It was launched in December 2004. The service has no monthly subscription fee from the viewers and requires only a one-time investment of about Rs 2,000 for purchasing of Set-to-Box (STB) and small sized Dish Antenna with accessories. The unique free-to-air model has made DD Free Dish the largest DTH platform.
Macmerise, the go-to destination for celebrity & influencer merchandise brand, launches official Alan Walker merchandise in India at the Sunburn Festival 2022. Inspired by the Norwegian DJs popular Melting Rose Collection, fans across the country will enjoy a varied range of AW branded T-Shirts, Hoodies, and Masks available at the concert. Priced at INR 399/- onwards, the range will be available across Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Delhi from 14th to 17th of April 2022 respectively.

Excited about the launch, Sahil Shah, the Founder and CEO of Macmerise Celfie Design Pvt Ltd shared, We at Macmerise have always believed in making our offerings unique and exclusive which resonates highly with the moods and sentiments of the youth. Social Media has brought the world closer than ever before If one can enjoy a concert happening in one corner of the world from the comfort of their home in real-time, then theres no way  they cant also shop. Our objective has been to make the world of merchandising more accessible and far-reaching to people across the country. The launch of the Alan Walker collection is one such example, where fans can shop, sport, and revel in their favourite artists official merchandising without burning a hole in their pocket.

So, what are you waiting for? Go, shop from Macmerise and sport your favourite DJs official merchandise at the biggest music festival!

To order online, visit: alanwalker.macmerise.com.
You are here: China

China successfully sent a new satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan province Friday.



The satellite, Zhongxing-6D, was launched at 8 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully. It will provide reliable, stable and safe radio and television transmission and communication services.

This launch marked the 415th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.
A discussion is sweeping the country about the role of parents in both the education of their children and what their childrens schools should teach. Frankly, it is high time this conversation took place.

Over the decades, since the advent of the common school, parental involvement in their childrens education has gone from complete authority to having virtually no say. Parents have been eliminated and replaced by the state -- defined as all federal, state, county, or municipal government entities. Added to this takeover are unions, which also have taken a keen interest in what your children are taught. As the state gained more control, it expanded the subjects taught, which, over time, included the states definitions of morals, ethics, values, character, and similar topics.

This evolved slowly as the state gained more control of education. It might have continued if not for the pandemic. When schools went remote, parents, for the first time, were able to see the material taught to their children. They were alarmed to find that subjects like Critical Race Theory, radical sex philosophies (including gender preferences), and other controversial subjects were being taught in elementary as well as secondary schools. Parents started to mobilize, expressing their displeasure at school board meetings, protesting, and removing their children from public schools. In fact, for the school year 2020-21, national public-school enrollment declined by 1.5 million students.

The backlash has generated two opposing attitudes about the role of parents in education. Some have suggested that parents should not have any say in what the schools teach, and others suggest that schools should teach what parents want. Neither is right.

Though the obligation to educate our children has now moved from the home to the school, the responsibility for the education of children has not changed. Parents are still the primary entities responsible for the education of their children. Parents control all aspects of a childs life: where they live, what they eat, when they sleep, who their doctors and dentists are, even where and when they play. Yet, today, they dont control the childs education, which is an essential component of raising a child to be a successfully functioning adult. This makes no sense, and parents are now deciding they have had enough.

Though not widely recognized, parents are the customers of schools. Private schools recognized this long ago as it is the parents who both select and fund their childs school. But, as a whole, public schools have not recognized this and have operated as if parents were an unwanted intrusion into their ability to deliver the state-mandated education.

So, should parents dictate what is taught in school? Not directly, but they certainly should expect a certain level of learning to prepare their child for life in the 21st century. They should expect that the curriculum employed will prepare their child for a career or a post-secondary education upon graduation. If they dont see that occurring, they need to speak up and should have the ability to explore other educational options.

Parents have every right to decide what should not be taught in schools. This played out a few months ago in Virginia and now, more recently, in other states. Those who can afford to do so are putting their children in private schools or, if available, charter schools. Others are homeschooling or some adaptation of that. We are seeing more and more hybrid models of schools that perform the function of regular schools. The difference, however, is that parents have a say. Several states have picked up on this parental revolt and are passing school choice legislation, Education Savings Accounts (ESA) legislation, and other changes to the public education structure.

This parental backlash has raised the question, what should we teach our children? Our education community needs to ensure that we teach the fundamental knowledge necessary to be a productive, contributing citizen of our great country. That is not happening today and will not happen until we fundamentally change our curriculum, particularly at the secondary level. Also, we need to have our public schools start catering to the recipients of their graduates -- not just universities but the business community, non-profits, and governments. All have very specific needs for skilled workers, many of which do not require a college degree. This will require designing a new curriculum that recognizes these needs and prepares our children.

We know that the existing system fails to educate almost 70 percent of our children effectively. It is time our obsolete public education system is redesigned, including what students need to know and be able to do to exit their K-12 years prepared for life, lifelong learning, and a career.

We also hear the parent community telling us what should not be taught. It is time for public schools to listen.

Donald P. Nielsen is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute and Chairman of the American Center for Transforming Education. He is the author of Every School; One Citizens Guide to Transforming Education.

Image: college.library
Charles Murray just cant help himself; hes been a social scientist and prolific author for almost 40 years, writing books on the American experience and societal issues. Now he is back in the mix with a book, Facing Reality: Two Truths About Race in America (Encounter Books 2021), that follows up on the book he wrote with Richard Herrnstein, The Bell Curve (1994). That magnificent work blew the top off of racial debates in America with its in-depth analysis of racial cognitive ability (IQ) differences and socio-economic mobility of Americans and factors that are associated with success in life.

IQ

The 79-year-old scholar and warrior at the American Enterprise Institute is back at it, trying to substitute facts and analysis for the sloppy thinking and emotions that pervade academia and politics in America. While the chattering class and media focus on inequities and claims of social injustice, Dr. Murray (Ph.D. MIT) points out that although there is certainly racism in every society and in America, the reality is that the inequities of socioeconomic status are more the result of cognitive ability and criminal activity.

The majority of the relatively short but powerful and scholarly book, Facing Reality, is focused on data and evidence. Murray repeatedly reminds us that all social science research must always be careful to consider contributing factors.

Murray disputes the fashionable assumption that racial discrimination creates social inequities. The reality, says Murray, is that racial inequalities in America between European- and African-heritage people in health, wealth, position, status, and income can be traced to a significant disparity in African Americans cognitive ability and criminal behavior. The inequalities are also present to a lesser degree for Latin-heritage people.

The reverse is true for Asians, who have higher IQs and socioeconomic success than Europeans. Murray holds to the conviction that American society is not pervasively and irredeemably riddled with racism and that meritocratic America is egalitarian and emphasizes individual opportunity, rewards, and accountability. As Murray points out, if the pipeline to particularly high achievement is considered, the number of high IQ persons in that pipeline is colorblind.

Murrays view of the disparate higher rate of criminality in the African and Latin communities is a separate analysis that has to do with how members of a group fit into the society as good citizens. If your group has a violent crime rate 2 or 3 times or more than the rate of the Europeans and Asians, that produces less assimilation and less success.

Murray aims to revive what he calls the American creed, a set of ideal commitments to foundational freedoms, human dignity, individualism, equality under the law, and the use of neutral, colorblind measures of individual talent and competence to assign economic and social roles. Central to this code, still supported by Americans, is a meritocratic and impartial standard for all. Murray condemns the distortion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by the government, judiciary, and political class to create reverse discrimination, quotas, and set-aside racial preferences, impacting employment and academic choices. Critical Race Theory and its associated concepts have created an environment that repudiates the principles of the founding and created counterproductive and polarizing abandonment of the American principle of a meritocracy and treatment of citizens as individuals, not members of a race, ethnic group, or tribe.

In the cognitive function section of the book, Murray makes the case that widely used and properly developed tests in academia, business settings, and the military do measure cognitive ability and IQ (also called g) and there is no evidence that the tests fail to measure the potential for academic success.

Murray is assiduous in his use of statistics and research methods. His population studies information show traits usually fall quantitatively in a bell-shaped pattern with the big bulk of the population in the middle and tails on the low and high sides. That shape amplifies differences on the tails. For example, Murray estimates that of the 23 million Americans who are in their late twenties, there are currently about 228,000 with I.Q.s in excess of 135. That pool contains only about 2,800 Africans and 9,500 Latins, compared to 50,000 Asians and 160,000 Europeans. Africans are about 14% of the population but represent only slightly more than 1% of the 135 IQ plus pool -- or about 1 in every 100 people headed for high-level jobs or professions. So the pipeline to high achievement is dominated by Asians and Europeans (whites). Such realities create inequities that have nothing to do with racism.

Murrays opponents continue to cling to the theory that racism creates inequities, and demand a war on structural racism and systematic racism. But Murray is skeptical about the chances to change the fundamental reason for the inequities: cognitive differences. There is no known way to raise IQs and reduce inequalities in cognition, but Murray points out that genetic determination of IQ is somewhere between 40 and 80%.

Crime rates

What about the role of racial gaps in criminal offending? Murrays message can be simply stated: Africans and Latins commit crimes, especially violent crimes and homicide, at higher rates than other groups in American society. Europeans, and especially Asians, are much less involved in criminal activity. Especially in minority-heavy urban centers, violence is almost exclusively committed by Africans and Latins and is intraracial, or between, Africans and Latins. Asians and Europeans take a pass.

Murray tallies criminal activity reports and rates of unlawful violence among Africans and finds that it is as much as 9 to 11 times that of the background population. Latin crime rates lag but still are higher. The left has faulted Murrays evidence on crime, claiming police racism, but criminal involvement is far more common among Africans than in other demographic groups. For violent crime, Murray emphasizes that police bias is much less of a factor in decisions to arrest.

Murray asserts effectively that crime creates community disorder and civil chaos that damage racial relations and certainly impacts the residents, due to the high rate of black-on-black or Latin-on-Latin crime, particularly violent crime. But this differential crime rate also impacts the choices of other groups on starting or maintaining businesses or choosing homes. Widespread residential de facto segregation is directly related to security and crime issues. The reality is that elites who claim to be social justice supporters choose high-end neighborhoods, avoiding contact with minorities except for minorities of their social strata.

The American meritocracy that Murray promotes requires dismantling the Diversity Equity Inclusion (DIE) governmental business and academic bureaucracies, now well developed and able to preserve their hegemony. At present these bureaucracies are blind to the realities Murray discusses.

In The Bell Curve, which was my introduction to Murray 30 years ago, Murray and Herrnstein emphasized that civil conduct and the adoption of sensible and moral social behavior will overcome some of the disadvantages of a lower IQ. Marriage and work create an ordered personal life that extends to community participation and social justice. Societies need to promote norms of behavior.

We know little about improving IQs, but the research of Murray and Herrnstein showed that people of limited cognitive ability will be successful if they complete high school, then work and work effectively, marry before children and live a good citizens life of obeying the law. Imagine a national program to promote strong intact families and civil society. Common sense, but far removed from the current political-social attitudes.

Law enforcement is a reasonable activity to reduce crime across the board but, first, the elites need to abandon the idea that criminals should not be held accountable since they suffer from some deprivation or mental disease that makes them criminal. The mentally ill are a special problem but it is essential not to confuse personality disorders with mental illness. Defunding police and excusing or pitying criminals is not going to fix the crime rate. The rule of law is the basis for civil order and peace.

Facing Reality goes over some old ground but the evidence presented is compelling. Solutions to our problems are not so easy to achieve given the ideologies that dominate the public square. Murray recommends the American credo, individual freedom, responsibility, accountability, and morality. This is an ideology that can be traced to Aristotle and other ancients and is now the foundation of the conservative consensus.

John Dale Dunn, MD JD is a resident of Brownwood, Texas
Despite the exposure of pornographic books in school libraries and Marxist critical race theory curricula in K-12 public schools, parental concern about the American school system remains under attack. In light of parents being repeatedly shut out of board meetings or having their concerns not only ignored but called distractions, concerned taxpayers are hitting the ground educating others about school-system failures.

Parents and grandparents are developing local websites that highlight questionable materials and policies within public schools. In North Carolina, several communities have come together to create these resources. In Wake County, a group created the Pavement Education Project which highlights sexually explicit books and their school locations so that citizens can make informed decisions about educating their children, caring for their families, and committing to issues in their communities. Dare County, NC parents created Dare to Share to bring local public-school concerns to their county. Orange County, NC parents developed the non-partisan OCS Truth which highlights sexual materials in schools, teacher attrition rates, and student outcomes. Resources come from OCS Board of Education presentations, equity reports commissioned by the board, and school materials -- all cited and researched.

The greater challenge, however, has been disseminating these resources, especially with local media outlets biased against parental rights and those who stand up for them. OCS Truth created business cards with its website link. Outside an Orange County elementary school, a brave parent handed out these cards to those waiting in the afternoon pick-up line. She remained on public property, politely and efficiently engaging with those arriving for afternoon dismissal. Orange County elected school officials, however, would not tolerate such fascist and scary behavior by a parent.

School board member Hillary MacKenzie arrived at the scene. Wearing flip-flops, she followed the parent along the public roadside, recording along the way. At one point Board member MacKenzie asks the parent, Why are you a Fascist? She threatens the parent repeatedly: Dont hold up my carline! The former board chair and proud anti-racist also yells out to those in cars: Its just propaganda! and Misinformation! If the information handed to parents contains the boards own research, is the board then guilty of presenting misinformation in public meetings? This irrational behavior lasts several minutes until a sheriffs deputy arrives and confirms the parent has done no harm and has not violated any laws.

The dramatic scene confirms the assault on parental involvement in schools and the overreliance on name-calling (Fascist!, Misinformation!) by those who consider themselves social-justice advocates. Furthermore, it represents the hypocrisy of the activist officials who claim to be anti-fascist and all-inclusive. MacKenzie has a long history of activism and only tolerating those ideas that suit her personal ideologies. Prior to her election as a school board member, she was a leader of the Hate-Free Schools Coalition which advocated for the removal of confederate flags from public schools, as the flags made students feel unsafe. MacKenzie attended board meetings with a duct-taped mouth, holding Hate-Free signs. An overqualified school board candidate for Chapel Hill Schools was doxed by the same Hate-Free group for having donated a couple hundred dollars to the Trump presidential campaign (their activism does not stop at confederate symbols). He resigned his candidacy because of negative attacks related to the Trump donations and stated, these negative attacks take their toll not just on me, but on my family. MacKenzie remained silent on the matter. She did choose, however, to speak out about a fellow board member who dressed as Brown Bear for his childs school read-a-thon. In response to reporters about a black face complaint made against him, MacKenzie offered, I dont think [he] had malicious intentions, but I think it demonstrates his lack of awareness around racism and unconscious bias.

Shortly after her election to the board, scandal ensued when a fellow board member told MacKenzie to grow up during a heated exchange. The board member later apologized, but MacKenzie would not drop her complaint, stating the board must [hold] one another accountable. Earlier this year, MacKenzie spoke about the importance of discussing gender fluidity with young children because they are not as attached to things as us adults are. For MacKenzie, calling parents Fascist is acceptable behavior, but telling one to grow up is untenable and warrants action beyond apology. Handing out information regarding student academic performance is propaganda but holding conversations about gender fluidity and anti-racism with young children is important work.

North Carolina does not have a statewide recall system for elected Board of Education officials. Furthermore, Republican elected officials have been unhelpful -- even counterproductive--in the fight for parental rights in education. Republican Superintendent of Education Catherine Truitt published a letter along with two progressive state school board members in September, calling parents out for their behavior in acting without civility: no citations provided. Within 24 hours the NSBA released the letter to Biden calling parental behavior a form of domestic terrorism. The Republican superintendent has yet to retract or apologize for her statement. Meanwhile, parents at the local level persist in exposing failing public schools, even while chased along roadsides by flip-flop wearing, phone waving anti-fascist public officials. Perhaps with this evidence, the Republican establishment elite, like Catherine Truitt, will apologize for their treatment of parents and start reprimanding those in public office who demonstrate such egregious behavior towards taxpaying parents.

Image: OCS Truth
I get so ticked off whenever our contemptible congresscritters or their praetorian propagandists in the press call J6 an "insurrection." Did the world really witness a bunch of rowdy Americans try to overthrow the U.S. government on January 6, 2021? Would some of the country's strongest defenders of the right to bear arms really show up for battle bearing none? Did anybody in that crowd  many of whom were retirees welcomed into the Capitol Building by Capitol Police  actually believe that an "insurrection" was taking place? The answer to all three questions is a demonstrable, "No!" But to a federal government addicted to lying about absolutely anything, the "violent attack" on the Capitol was every bit as bad as 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the Civil War. I don't know what's worse  that our government engages in such blatant propaganda against its citizens or that it can no longer be shamed into retracting its propaganda once its lies get called out.

Words matter. They set verbal place markers for the important events through our history, and I do not like this new linguistic gauntlet being cavalierly thrown down by our government. If an unarmed group of patriotic tourists waving American flags constitutes an "insurrection," then nearly any kind of rollicking assembly of citizen protesters can be deemed an "insurrection." If free speech, public assembly, and petitioning government authorities for the redress of grievances become "treasonous" whenever those same authorities feel disrespected or threatened, then most all political speech and passionate assembly (directed against the government) become acts of "rebellion." And if anything can be so easily deemed "rebellion," then the federal government burns all the middle ground between peaceful resistance and forceful revolution. By treating it as an "act of war," what should have been rebuked no more severely than would have any other political rally morphing into something between the equivalent of a college naked-mile-run and an illicit riot, the U.S. government pushes citizens' backs up against the wall. People will think twice before they protest the federal government, but because protest is now synonymous with "insurrection," once people commit to the former, they will be prepared for the latter, too. I'd say that's a pretty dangerous place marker for our country going forward.

Among the many moral failings in recent years that should have brought great shame upon federal authorities (e.g., the FBI participating in a fake Russia "collusion" hoax to frame President Trump as a Russian spy, the Intelligence Community covering up Biden family corruption by labeling it "Russian disinformation," or federal health agencies coercing Americans into taking experimental mRNA "vaccines" against their will), the government's iron-fisted response to J6 political protesters takes the cake. Mercy, forgiveness, common sense, and any hope for national reconciliation have been thrown out the window so that the sociopaths running the federal bureaucracy can hunt President Trump and persecute his supporters.

Four people died on January 6 at the Capitol, and all were Trump supporters. A Capitol police officer gunned down Ashli Babbitt in cold blood moments after she was seen trying to de-escalate the pandemonium inside the Capitol. Rosanne Boyland was beaten and trampled, although her death was ruled an accidental overdose from amphetamines. Two other rallygoers died of heart attacks while protesting outside near the Capitol steps. January 6, 2021, was indeed a deadly day at the U.S. Capitol  deadly for Trump supporters.

Instead, congressional liars and their stenographic sheep in journalist-less pressrooms loyal not to truth, but to government obeisance, routinely obscure this simple fact, so as to fabricate a narrative that a "Trump rebellion" took innocent lives. In order to perpetuate this falsehood, these same propagandists have pushed an outright lie that Officer Brian Sicknick died from blunt force trauma to the head, when in fact he died from natural causes away from the Capitol after suffering two strokes. Then, in order to tar Trump supporters  some of the strongest supporters of law enforcement in the country  as anti-police, our Ministry of Truth has done everything in its power to transform four subsequent Capitol police officer suicides into J6 "murders."

With no shame whatsoever, Joe Biden continues to lie to the world by declaring insouciantly that "five cops" were "killed" during the January 6 "insurrection." It's a dirty blood libel from a dirty and deranged man whose dementia cannot excuse his vile demagoguery intended to cleave the country in two. When the federal government cannot be relied upon to report truthfully about the deaths of patriotic civilians and police officers, it cannot be relied upon to report truthfully about much of anything. Maybe the feds should add their own dissipating credibility to their already long list of J6 casualties.

I will say right now that nothing good can come from the federal government's attempts to harass and criminally imperil Trump by demonizing his supporters, siccing the FBI on J6 political protesters for committing vague crimes hardly more serious than ordinary trespass, locking up defendants awaiting trial for years, or denying the accused access to thousands of hours of potentially exculpatory video evidence. Nothing good can come from organized efforts to remove Republicans from election ballots because they had the temerity to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly during a political rally in support of the sitting president. Nothing good can come from partisan witch hunts conducted by shadowy operatives and anti-American zealots committed to casting shameful, ridiculous, and dangerous aspersions against ordinary patriots intended to render protected political speech as tantamount to the Confederacy's Civil War rebellion. Nothing good can come from the horrendous gall of the illegitimate congressional J6 Committee in declaring President Trump and his eighty million voters "domestic terrorists," especially when Trump supporters have disproportionately served in the armed forces in defense of this great land. These kinds of cheap and partisan tactics, bathed in Machiavellian malice, rarely have the effect governing authorities intend.

Right now, it is the federal government's position that anybody remotely connected to the J6 political rally must be scorned and ostracized. It is the federal government's position that J6 political prisoners be locked up, tormented, and forgotten. It is the federal government's position that only speech condoned by political authorities may be freely spoken. The federal government's positions, in other words, are as crooked as the politicians infesting it.

I don't think Washington, D.C.'s J6 propaganda will succeed. I don't think the friends and family of J6 prisoners will forget. I don't think our cancerous political class will get the public relations victory it desires. There may well come a day in the future when the exact opposite comes to fruition  when Americans who were not even near Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, nevertheless tell tall tales of their personal participation in such a historic event. J6 may eventually be remembered in a similar vein to other "rebellious" undertakings such as the Boston Tea Party. Remember, when Redcoat soldiers killed five colonials on March 5, 1770, the Crown took the quite defensible position that its soldiers had been attacked in a clear bout of unjustifiable "insurrection." We Americans, however, have never known M5 as anything other than a terrible incident of government tyranny richly deserving of its infamous branding as the Boston Massacre.

Image via Max Pixel.
Behind the masks these days are frightened children and nervous adults who are being carefully schooled to see the world as scary and dangerous  and coerced to take ineffective defensive measures.

Just recently, I saw an older man with wide eyes and a masked face driving alone in his car. Why? Why would anyone choose to wear a fresh airconstricting, sound-blocking face covering with no danger of any kind to threaten his immediate well-being? The misinformation and fear surrounding the masks we have all been asked to wear are overwhelming.

The city of Philadelphia has once again mandated masks for indoor settings without any serious proof that they do any good for anyone. How many other cities are likely to follow "in an abundance of caution," as the bureaucrats like to say?

Behind the masks are American souls not allowed to shine, not allowed to breathe freely, not allowed to flourish. Behind the masked children is an adult with a pathology known as "Mass Delusional Psychosis (MDP), a term coined by psychiatrist Dr. Mark McDonald, an abnormal way of thinking based on a fixed false belief  a belief rooted in fear, bad science, and destructive ideas.

Behind the mask, too, is an unfolding experiment involving human suffering. As a result of Mass Delusional Psychosis, we have seen unprecedented levels of childhood depression, childhood anxiety, learning disorders, and suicidal ideation. By preventing a critical element of human communication  the use of facial expressions and other non-verbal cues  we have lost a lot of the nuances, the true essence of what people are actually expressing.

As a result, the bonding among children and between children and adults has been subjected to a form of post-traumatic stress. Because of the masks, bonding is impossible; worse, people are subject to being misread or unheard. The possibility that this PTSD will be long-lasting or permanent, even after the charade of masks comes to an end, is ever-present.

Behind the masks we force children to wear is a child of God whom we have made into a slave of fear  fear of the pandemic, the fear created by the media, and fear generated by health care bureaucrats. This fear has caused more harm than the virus itself. In my view, causing unnecessary fear in children is abusive and cruel.

How many appreciate the fact that the masks we force kids to wear constitute a human science experiment? Although we have some idea of the short-term problems they cause, we really don't have any idea of the long-term damage that may be involved.

Think about it. When we turn our children over to government authority  for a science experiment or for educational indoctrination  we risk our future well-being. We have too often abrogated our parental authority to the government. Follow the rules that don't follow the science, or else face the consequences.

We have not been allowed to speak openly against the authority of government despite the freedoms codified in the Bill of Rights. Doctors have been censored when they speak out against tyrannical COVID policies. My recent appearance on Highwire with Del Bigtree has been removed from YouTube for "misinformation." Yet the alleged misinformation is not specified, and there is no appeal possible. Behind every mask in our society now is a censored child and a censored society.

It's not too late to stop the mandates, stop the madness, and stop the harm. The founders of this country pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in endorsing the Declaration of Independence. We must rededicate ourselves and our generation to the same founding principles; we must re-establish our unquestioned right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We have not been vigilant to this duty in recent years and, as a result, our liberties have been slipping away. Remember Thomas Jefferson's words: "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Image: Matti Blume.
If you believe that immigration enforcement couldn't be any more handicapped under this administration, brace yourself.

Earlier this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a memo to prosecutors that gives them the discretion to dismiss deportation cases that they deem a low priority, putting the agency more in line with Joe Biden's immigration agenda.

The memo encourages ICE attorneys to dismiss deportation cases against illegal aliens and other non-citizens if they, for example, have already been living in the United States for a long period of time, do not pose a national security threat, or do not pose any public safety threat. The White House claims that this new directive will help with the immense backlog of cases currently languishing in immigration court while also aligning ICE with the administration's ostensible goal of devoting enforcement resources to the more serious criminal foreign nationals.

In sum, Biden wants the public to believe that these actions will make the immigration system fairer and more efficient.

However, actions speak louder than words, and a cursory look at what the Biden administration has done thus far reveals what this memo is really meant to be  the latest move to effectively abolish ICE without having to actually abolish ICE.

In fiscal year 2021, Biden's first year in office, a total of 59,011 immigration violators were removed from the United States. For perspective, a total of 185,884 immigration violators were removed in FY2020. That's roughly a 70-percent decrease in deportations in just one year. This significant drop in enforcement actions is compounded by the fact that in the first four months of FY2021, in which Donald Trump was still in office, roughly 28,000 deportations occurred.

The numbers make one thing clear: the Biden administration is not interested in removing illegal aliens from the country.

To further understand how unserious this administration is about enforcing immigration law, it's imperative to look at the author of this memo: Kerry Doyle. Appointed in September 2021, Doyle serves as the principal legal adviser of ICE, making her the agency's top prosecutor in all removal proceedings. Before her appointment, Doyle worked for years as an immigration attorney in the Boston area.

Doyle adamantly opposed ICE enforcement actions and doggedly supported sanctuary city measures during her career as an immigration attorney. As recently as 2020, she spoke in favor of a Massachusetts bill, the "Safe Communities Act," that would have applied sanctuary city policies statewide and claimed that ICE was an "agency that is currently out of control."

Further investigation by my organization, the Immigration Reform Law Institute, found other incendiary remarks by Doyle.

Speaking before the Boston City Council in September 2019, Doyle accused ICE of being "a tool of almost terror to the immigrant [sic] community" and wanted the Boston Police Department (BPD) to believe as much. In that same testimony, she adamantly opposed the idea of the BPD sharing intelligence information with federal immigration officials. Her speech revolved around her umbrage with the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, a database the BPD uses to fight against crime and terror, which she claimed had a "very negative impact" because this information was being shared with ICE.

Doyle has long felt this way about information-sharing with ICE. She was quoted in a 2018 article lamenting that the database of suspected gang members was being used by the BPD, claiming that it was having "devastating consequences" for those on it, as they are more likely to be detained by ICE agents.

Given all of her past rhetoric, it is reasonable to conclude that Doyle is currently leading an agency she despises.

Will ICE prosecutors  led by a career anti-borders, anti-ICE activist  use this memo to make our removal process more efficient? Or will the memo be used as a pretext to virtually eliminate deportations altogether? Based on this administration's track record, the smart money is on the latter.

Jason Hopkins serves as Investigations Manager at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Image: Molly Adams via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Many have questioned social media giants for not alerting authorities about N.Y. subway train shooter Frank James's disturbing online behavior.

James detonated smoke bombs and opened fire in a packed subway train in Brooklyn during rush hour. Over two dozen people were wounded. Fortunately, there were no deaths because James's gun jammed.

Following a 30-hour manhunt, James was apprehended. The police say James will be charged on several counts, including the violation of a federal law that prohibits "violent attacks" against mass transit systems. James had nine prior arrests for larceny, disorderly conduct, and criminal sex acts. If found guilty, James faces life in prison

James had a significant social media presence, appearing in myriad YouTube videos.

In one video, James says, "the White MFers that I want to kill, you know, I really want to kill them because they're White." Pretty direct about his feelings on that.

In another, James claimed that "the vast majority of people, MFers, are racist." He also expressed disgust that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's husband is a White man.

On Facebook, James posted a meme with the caption "Oh Black Jesus, please kill all whiteys."

So how have the mainstream media covered this?

CNN covered it as follows:

Many of the videos that James uploaded to a YouTube channel included references to violence, including at a set group of people he believed had maligned him, in addition to broad societal and racial groups that he appeared to hate."

But CNN isn't explicit about the group of people being targeted.

NBC covered it as follows:

James' posts date to 2016. He has used slurs, denigrated women, and made racist comments  some of them against Black people.

Since some of the racist comments were against black people, NBC should have mentioned the remaining groups being targeted. But it didn't.

MSNBC covered it as follows:

James' online presence reportedly documented multiple instances of unhinged hate and racism alongside videos seemingly about the difficulties he had trying to receive New York City social services.

MSNBC refrains from mentioning the targets of James's racism.

The N.Y. Times mentions "harshly bigoted views" and "videos delivering extended tirades, many of them overtly concerned with race and violence, often tying those subjects in with current events."

The NYT doesn't mention the targets of James's bigotry.

The Washington Post states the following:

Social media accounts appearing to belong to James offered a portrait of a man who had ranted and cursed in videos.

An FBI agent in a complaint wrote that in his YouTube videos, James said that he "should have gotten a gun, and just started shooting MFers."

The Post once again no mention of whom Frank wanted to shoot and whom he ranted against on YouTube.

CBS News mentions online "grievances" but nothing more. Politico and ABC News exclude mention of his online presence.

Only Fox News and the N.Y. Post explicitly mentioned the contents of James' racist messages.

In the coming days, don't be stunned if a media pundit compares James to President Trump, with the usual allegations of misogyny and racism, though the race that James despises will not be mentioned.

The Oxford dictionary defines racism as "unfair treatment of people who belong to a different race; violent behavior towards them."

However, in modern liberalism, racism or bigotry is recognized only when an individual from the demographic majority targets someone from the demographic minority.

It is therefore racist only when a White person targets a non-white person. Their current narrative is that Trump and his supporters are the only forces of bigotry in the U.S. The need to confront White supremacy is a dog whistle for silencing political opposition.

However, when a Black man rants against Caucasians, it is not even worth mentioning because it doesn't fit the narrative. In fact, calling out racism in non-white people will probably be termed racist. Liberals and their BLM allies may even claim that slavery, segregation, and Trump's presence justify non-white people being racist toward Caucasians.

This explains the shameful exclusion of James's racism by the mainstream media. Since the media are a propaganda arm for modern progressivism, their coverage is the barometer for the liberal mindset.

In fact, James's ideas are quite similar to those of commentators on MSNBC, CNN, NYT, etc. It is just that James acted upon his idea, whereas handsomely paid pundits and columnists return to their luxury homes after spewing venom on TV.

It is likely that the woke overlords at Big Tech hesitated to flag James's videos and post because they simply don't regard targeting White people as racism and fear being called racist.

This mindset prevails among the leadership in Washington, including Biden, Harris, and Pelosi. They frequently talk about confronting White supremacy; when the January 6 protests went overboard, the movement was called an insurrection by White supremacists. But BLM-led looting and riots were encouraged and termed peaceful protests.

Perhaps investigative agencies, who are supposed to be monitoring social media hate, think anti-white bigotry is not racism and are fearful of being called a racist for acting against the non-white persons such as James who post anti-White content.

How would they have reacted if James were a Caucasian man spewing hate against non-white people?

He would have been summarily apprehended, and news about him would be blared across the media. We only have to look at the vicious treatment meted against the January 6 protesters and the Covington kids to know that.

The question is, where does this insanity stop?

Some will remember the 2017 bombing at a concert in the U.K. Twenty-two people were killed and numerous others injured when an Islamist terrorist detonated a bomb.

During a recent inquiry, a security guard revealed that he had had a "bad feeling" about the suicide bomber, who dressed all in black and carried a large rucksack. But since the bomber was a non-white person, he did not approach or report him for the fear of being branded a racist. The guard is probably not wrong. If his suspicions had indeed turned out to be wrong, he would have lost his job and been rendered unemployable for "targeting" a non-white person.

This narrative is no longer idle talk at a university faculty lounge.

Mayhem and violence could have been stopped but for the fear of disrupting the narrative and being called a racist.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream of a colorblind world where people will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

This thinking desperately needs to be encouraged and applied everywhere. Bigotry is bigotry, irrespective of who the perpetrator is and what the targets are. Bombs and bullets kill irrespective of the race of the individual controlling them. A loss of life or an injury is the same irrespective of the race of the killer who caused the incident.

It may seem like stating the obvious, but in times of universal deceit, stating the truth is an essential revolutionary act.

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab (cropped).
Down in South Texas, we may be watching the Latina version of the mother of all battles. In other words, three Latinas may win three congressional districts and send Democrats to the sofa for further therapy.

So what am I talking about? The GOP winning in South Texas? Yes, this is the developing story from the Texas Tribune:

Fending off the Republican advance in South Texas this fall was already going to be a taller-than-usual order for Democrats. But few Democrats anticipated it would be this hard. Thanks to a succession of self-inflicted choices, fallout from redistricting and some flat bizarre circumstances, Democrats are confronting a mind-numbing set of complications in their fight to hold on to three seats in South Texas. And national polling indicates Democrats have no room for error if they want to hold off a Republican challenge in a region that was once a historical Democratic stronghold. The seats in question are held by U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen. A third vacant seat recently belonged to Filemon Vela of Brownsville, who stepped down to take a private sector lobbying job.

Here are the three Latinas:

Mayra Flores is running in District 34 on a message of "enough is enough," referring to President Biden's Executive Orders that killed Texas jobs, weakened border security, and removed protection for the unborn.

Monica de la Cruz Hernandez wants to Bring back the Remain in Mexico policy, end catch and release, and finish the wall.

Cassy Garcia. I should point out that Cassy Garcia is in a runoff battle with Sandra Whitten. Cassy just got minority leader Kevin McCarthy's endorsement, and that should put her over the top in the runoff. The winner of this runoff will face heavyweight South Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar, who is fighting a "woke" candidate in his own runoff.

It's likely that two or perhaps all three will win their South Texas districts. They are running on pro-life values, respect for law enforcement, and border security.

I've lived in Texas since 1984. We always assumed that the border area would go Democrat. It was the thing to believe and assume. Mayra, Monica, and Cassy want to change that, and it is fabulous to watch.

No matter what happens, the Democrats will never be the same in South Texas.

PS: Click for my videos and podcasts at Canto Talk.

Image: Texas GOP.
"The God-shaped hole" posits that humans are hardwired to seek meaning through a divinity. Certainly, no culture has ever been without a God  and that's true for Marxist cultures, which have sought to make a god of man, always with deadly results.

The most recent example of this comes from a guest essay at the New York Times from a very angry lapsed Orthodox Jew who insists that the world would be better if it "passed over" God. It's a sad, foolish essay, but one that the Times thought worth running on the holiest week in America.

Shalom Auslander (a name that roughly translates to "an outsider to peace") was raised in a very orthodox Jewish community that taught him that God was something so fearful that he lived his life in terror. Not surprisingly, he rebelled and became as fanatically anti-religious as his upbringing had been fanatically religious.

Auslander's fanatical hostility to God reflects a mind that never progressed beyond its childish understanding of the deity. He explains that, when he was a child, the rabbi at his Yeshiva taught his class that it was a good thing, when the plagues came, that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, necessitating the killing of the Egyptian firstborn to force Pharaoh's hand:

God, it seems, paints with a wide brush. He paints with a roller. In Egypt, said our rabbi, he even killed first-born cattle. He killed cows. If he were mortal, the God of Jews, Christians and Muslims would be dragged to The Hague. And yet we praise him. We emulate him. We implore our children to be like him.

If Ausland were more thoughtful, he'd understand that this justice for Pharaoh's killing of the Jewish firstborn in the year Moses was born. More importantly, the entire Passover narrative is a profound meditation about the nature of tyranny. A tyrant is unmoved by his people's suffering. They exist to serve him, rather than he existing to serve them. It's only when that suffering enters his own domain that he'll change his behavior, and even that change cannot be relied upon. When tyrants are involved, the innocent will always suffer.



Image: Michelangelo's Hands of God and Adam. Public domain.

Auslander never achieved a more mature look at the meaning behind the God of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. This was a God completely different from the pagan gods that held sway in the world since the dawn of time and that can still be found worshiped in the world's dark corners, as well as in Hollywood and every so-called "gender confirming" facility. The old gods were capricious, selfish, sexually obsessed, and intentionally cruel, and they required constant appeasement, often in the form of human sacrifice or cultic prostitution.

The Jewish God, who then became the Christian God and, sort of, the Muslim God, was different. He was portable, for He wasn't tied to a temple or a tree. Most importantly, though, He stood (and stands) for abstract principles of morality and justice. Follow the Ten Commandments and abide by Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, and you can be reasonably certain that you will be living the best possible life and have a part in creating the best possible community.

Other important differences between the biblical God and those other gods (including man as perfected through Marxist principles) are that He allows free will, that every individual is worthy because he is created in God's image, and that justice will inevitably be served, although we mere mortals may not understand that justice or even see it meted out in our lifetimes.

Auslander is correct that the Bible has stories in it that are mysterious and even troublesome. Jonathan Kirsch wrote an enjoyable book on the subject: The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible. Those stories exist because the Bible is not just a book about God; it's also a book about the Jewish people, and they are very real, including being stupid, brave, greedy, moral, oversexed, foolish, and everything else that human beings  not gods  will be.

But for the New York Times' editors and Auslander, the Bible is nothing but a collection of stories about God being mean. And so Auslander dreams of "killing gods," which he identifies as "an idea I can get behind."

This year, something rare happened: the month of Ramadan, Passover, and Easter all clustered in the same month, with Passover and Easter overlapping completely. This is a time to remind ourselves of the blessings monotheism has bestowed on us (and yes, it's been a rocky journey because humans are imperfect), rather than to have a childish temper tantrum because God gave his creations free will and all the challenges that come with it.
From the moment we're born (and earlier), our bodies are constantly changing. The initial changes, from baby to toddler to child, occur when we lack the self-awareness to be taken aback by the process. Indeed, there are only two times in life when we are intensely aware of the changes  and, often, find them disturbing. The first is when we go through puberty, and the second is when age finally catches up with us.

In both cases, people may fight back against those changes. We know all about Hollywood stars and the fight against aging. It's the adolescent changes that matter. The changes can be disturbing and even dismaying. Boys' voices can squeak embarrassingly, and they like to hold a notebook in front of their crotches. Girls get boobs (which boys stare at); hips; and painful, messy, inconvenient periods.

We used to sympathize with adolescents and assure them that this was normal and they'd outgrow it. Nowadays, though, as often as not, they're told that they're probably transgender. And no, that's not me saying that. It's being said in a video from a company called AMAZE Org, which claims to provide age-appropriate sex education for children:

Note specifically the bit beginning at 45 seconds:

After some discussion and counseling, you may be referred to an endocrinologist. Endocrinologists specialize in hormones, and they are the most likely to prescribe puberty blockers for someone who wants them. Puberty blockers are medications that will stop your body from changing. They are usually given as an injection or an implant. They block the production of hormones to stop or delay the physical changes of puberty. The effects of the medication are only temporary, so if a person stops using puberty blockers, the physical changes of puberty will begin again. (Emphasis mine.)

The promise is that puberty-blockers will improve a confused child's mental health and do so without any ill effects. The opposite is true.

News broke on Thursday that the University of Washington is under fire for misrepresenting "the results of a study of the effects of puberty blockers on transgender and nonbinary teens in an attempt to suggest their mental health improved thanks to such treatment." That was a lie:

The study, "Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care," sought to find out whether the use of puberty blockers, also known as "gender affirming medicine," helped the mental health of transgender or nonbinary teens. According to materials accompanying the February release of the study in JAMA Network Open, the students who received gender affirming medicine had significantly better mental health outcomes at the end of the study than they did at the beginning. The news release accompanying the study's publication boasted that "UW Medicine researchers recently found that gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary adolescents caused rates of depression to plummet." [snip] But Singal, an independent watchdog who investigated the study's numbers, didn't find data within the study to back up those claims. "The kids who took puberty blockers or hormones experienced no statistically significant mental health improvement during the study," Singal writes. "The claim that they did improve, which was presented to the public in the study itself, in publicity materials, and on social media (repeatedly) by one of the authors, is false." (Emphasis added.)



Image: Promoting puberty-blockers to children. YouTube screen grab.

In addition to the lie about the mental health benefits from puberty-blockers, the AMAZE Org video implies that they have no long-term effects on the body. "The effects of the medication are only temporary," claims the video. In fact, the effects are profound and permanent:

But a long-term study by the United Kingdom's leading facility for treating gender-dysphoric children found otherwise. Contrary to common beliefs about puberty-blocking drugs, the majority of children who take them do not resume puberty. In a Dec. 2 preprint of the study from the Tavistock and Portman National Health Service Foundation Trust, all but one child treated for gender dysphoria with puberty-blocking drugs went on to take cross-sex hormones to alter their sex characteristics permanently. The study also showed that children's bone density and normal growth flatlined with puberty blockers as compared to their peers, and participants reported no improvement in their psychological well-being.

This misinformation would be bad under any circumstances. What makes it worse is that these videos set the new standard for "sex education" about kids (the birds and the bees are passe) and AMAZE Org is one of the standard-bearers. The above video has had almost 500,000 views. More popular videos (e.g., about masturbation and condoms) have millions of views, as well as almost a million for "Sexual Orientations Explained," almost 800,000 for "My Friend is Transgender," and "over 600,000 for "Gender Identity: Being Female, Male, Transgender or Genderfluid."

Schools are steering children to these videos. For example, one proposed lesson plan under New Jersey's new curricula for sex education requires students to watch the above video about "puberty and transgender youth." Not only are children being taught to embrace a mental illness (gender dysphoria), but they're also being fed damaging misinformation along the way.

Parents must get involved in their children's education. They can no longer assume that their most precious possessions are being taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. Instead, they must assume the worst, monitor everything that occurs in class, and be prepared to push back, even if that means running for a seat on the school board themselves.
For the past sixteen months since Joe Biden took office, most of the media, other than Fox News, have essentially ignored if not encouraged the criminal and illegal activity at the border.

There has been little reporting of children in crowded facilities, of all the sick people coming into the United States, especially those with COVID, of deaths at the border, of children and women being raped, of gang members and terrorists coming into the U.S., or of Mexican crime cartels getting rich off drug-, human-, and sex-trafficking.

Essentially, journalists buried the truth and hoped the public wouldn't find out. Biden and most other Democrats haven't even shown up at the border.

A.G. Merrick Garland, the FBI, and the Justice Department seem to give little thought to the criminal activity at the border.

The only time the media, Biden, other Democrats, and the Justice Department have seemed excited about the border was when they had the chance to report the fake news story that racist ICE agents were whipping illegal aliens.

It was clear from the start that the story was a lie, yet the media didn't care. After all, it fits the narrative that the U.S is a systemically racist country.

The story was as fake as the Jussie Smollett caper, the story of Russian collusion, and the claim that white Christian boys from Kentucky were racists, but the media gladly peddled such lies to destroy people as they pushed their leftist agenda to destroy America.

Now there's a new one  one the New York Times seems to have cooked up, claiming that Joe Biden is upset about his own border surge.

Let's start with the backdrop:

As soon as Biden took office, he started dismantling Trump's policies that had significantly limited illegal immigration. These included stopping the construction of the border wall and limiting deportations.

Now, in another measure that is already triggering a new border surge, Biden is vowing to drop the Title 42 instant deportation policy, which is employed to prevent the importation of COVID. Everyone can see the connection, and everyone can see that surge coming, so now the New York Times puts out what looks like another fake story, based on anonymous sources, claiming that Biden has actually been livid about the border since two months after he took office.

Look at this:

How Infighting Over the Border Divided the White House

President Biden was livid. He had been in office only two months and there was already a crisis at the southwest border. Thousands of migrant children were jammed into unsanitary Border Patrol stations. Republicans were accusing Mr. Biden of flinging open the borders. And his aides were blaming one another. Facing his bickering staff in the Oval Office that day in late March 2021, Mr. Biden grew so angry at their attempts to duck responsibility that he erupted. Who [sic] do I need to fire, he demanded, to fix this? Mr. Biden came into office promising to dismantle what he described as the inhumane immigration policies of President Donald J. Trump. But the episode, recounted by several people who attended or were briefed on the meeting, helps explain why that effort remains incomplete: For much of Mr. Biden's presidency so far, the White House has been divided by furious debates over how  and whether  to proceed in the face of a surge of migrants crossing the southwest border. This account of the Biden administration's handling of the border over the past 15 months is based on interviews with 20 current and former officials, lawmakers and activists, most of whom requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

This has is to be taken with the full salt shaker of salt because it is based on anonymous sources, and it is so far from what we have seen or heard from Biden since he took office.

Biden has never visited the border, never called on border governors for help, and not once has he ever publicly admitted that anyone in his administration screwed up. Most of the time, Biden blames Trump for his problems.

Biden in fact continues to open the border to more illegals.

Neither the head of the Department of Homeland Security nor any other high-level officials has been fired.

Not once has White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden was ticked off about the border mess. Instead, Psaki says that the White House has always told the truth and been transparent. She always downplays the problem.

Kamala Harris is involved in many meetings on the border, supposedly, and she would certainly know if Biden was blaming American bureaucrats for the problem as the Times claims. Maybe she could stop her search for root causes and let us know.

The story is as fake as claiming that the science is settled that fossil fuels cause temperatures to rise.

Contrast the lack of reporting on the border over the last sixteen months with the endless reporting on the border during Trump's years because he was enforcing the law and building a wall. He was portrayed as a racist and the press claimed that he didn't care about the children.

AOC and others went down to protest, but that was all fake, too, because rarely, if ever, have they shown any concern for the children or anyone else since Biden took office. The children who have been harmed during the Biden years are disposable.

The protests at the border by Democrats during the Trump years were as fake as the Me-Too movement. Not once did the media, Hollywood, and other Democrats give a damn about all the women Bill and Hillary physically and mentally abused and sought to destroy. Those women were dispensable.

The public have been shown pictures of "kids in cages" at the border, which they blamed on President Trump, so the fakery kept rolling. Turns out the pictures they showed in that narrative-making project were from the Obama-Biden years.

That was fake news.

Several 2014 photos of detained immigrant children in cages went viral in May, and former Obama administration officials rushed to offer explanations.

The former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau had even shared the images on Twitter, mistakenly believing they were taken during Donald Trump's presidency.

The left was never outraged that billionaire Bezos owned the WaPo, but leftists are in sheer panic mode now that Elon Musk might end up owning Twitter. They believe that it is an existential threat to their quest to censor anyone who dares to disagree with them.

The social media giants didn't miss the rantings of the racist subway terrorist. They didn't care. They are busy targeting and censoring conservatives and Trump-supporters.

So why is the NYT running a fake news piece now that Biden has been livid for a year about the border crisis? Because the poll numbers suck, and Democrats are going to get their clocks cleaned at the midterms, so they have to pretend to care.

Why are the NYT, WaPo, and other media outlets running the story about the Hunter Biden laptop now since they have known it was true since October 2020, when they censored the story? Because Hunter may be charged! They are still intentionally lying that Joe isn't involved because they know that Joe has been involved for a long time in lining the family's pockets with kickbacks.

Most of what the media report is not news. It is purported "news" articles attempting to manipulate the public into electing Democrats and infecting the public with a leftist agenda. Thankfully, a significant section of the public is aware of the fake news, which is why Biden's positive rating is frequently below 40%. Among independents in these polls, Biden has a favorability rating below 30%. Being what they are, the numbers are probably exaggerated.

Graphic credit: TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay, Pixabay license. Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of images from Pixabay, Pixabay license and hand-drawn image.
Every monsoon, the Indian subcontinent turns into a land of natural marvel. Cascading waterfalls, dense greenscapes and the smell of earth take over life and seep into the minds eye as ever-lasting impressions of beauty and wonder. One such awe-striking monsoon phenomenon is the reverse waterfall that takes place along the western ghats of the country. In seeming defiance of laws of physics, the flow of water takes an upwards course against the pull of gravity.

Reverse waterfall in Visapur, Malvali, Maharashtra. Photo: Saurabh Chatterjee/Flickr

The reverse flow of water occurs when a cataract descends towards the river body and strong monsoon winds push a large volume of its water upwards. The spray created is dense enough to match a mini waterfall in volume, and the upwards shooting gives the effect of the water flying towards the sky. In India, the most popular sight for catching a reverse waterfall is the Naneghat mountain pass stretching between the Konkan coast and the Deccan Plateau. Hosts of tourists throng the ghat to catch a glimpse of the torrential rains and strange plays of water. Some 20kms from Nashik, the quiet village of Anjaneri also boasts an upside down waterfall on the way to Tahuli peak.

Naneghat waterfall. Photo: Praneet Gawari/Flickr

Samrad village in Sandhan Valley near Mumbai is also home to a reverse waterfall that sits at a height of 2,000 ft. Near Pune, Kavalshet Point hosts about 10 small cascades and a string of reverse waterfalls that stud the greenery like jewels of silver. Sightings have also been detected near Sinhagad Fort along Malshej ghat between Kalyan and Ahmednagar of Maharashtra.

Waterfall in Sandhan Valley.

The strange yet mesmerising phenomenon has been spotted time and again across the globe as well. From Sydney to Kinder Downfall in England and in Maule region of Chile, reverse waterfalls take over the landscape during monsoon rains and make the headlines every year. Keep a lookout.

References

# Outlook Traveller

# The Times of India
While Google Lens wasnt used as much as Google originally planned, the company is still implementing the services into more Google products. Also, the company is increasing its functionality across different platforms. According to 9To5Google, Google Lens for desktop just gained some more useful features. These features really come in handy, and they bring the desktop functionality closer to what youll see on a phone.

These features make Google Lens for Desktop much more useful

In case you didnt know, you can use Google Lens on your computer. If youre using Google Chrome, you can right-click a picture and actually open a Google Lens page. Youll see a Search image with Google Lens option. Doing so will open up a dedicated page with some search options.

Now, Google added some more features to Google Lens for desktop that will make it that much more useful. When you open up the page, youll see some buttons on the bottom of the image. Theyre Search, Text, and Translate. Clicking Search will show you similar images to the one youre searching up.

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When you click on Translate, it will open up a simple translate UI on the right of the screen. When you translate, the translation will show up on the actual picture. If you want a more complete translation experience, you can click on the Open in Translate button up top. That will open Google Translate in a new tab.

The Text button will automatically highlight all of the detected text on the screen. From there, youll be able to copy the text. When you select any section of text, youll see a Google search for the text on the right side of the screen.

Last, but not least, youll also have the ability to find the images source. You use this if you have an image, but you want to know which site it came from. These new features should be available in Google Lens for desktop now. If not, you might want to wait for it to reach your region.
Hungary summons Ukraine ambassador, stop insulting Budapest Kyiv to "take note of the will of the Hungarian people"

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, APR 6 - Ukraine's ambassador in Budapest has been summoned to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he was delivered the message that "it is time for the Ukrainian leaders to stop insulting Hungary and to take note of the will of the Hungarian people," the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, quoted on Twitter by the international spokesman of the Hungarian government, Zoltan Kovacs.



"We have been clear from the very beginning about the war in the neighboring country: we condemn military aggression, we stand by Ukraine's sovereignty, we have admitted hundreds of thousands of refugees who are running for their lives," Szijjarto said. "This is not our war, so we want to stay out of it and we will stay out of it," he said, adding that the government is not willing to risk the peace and security of the Hungarian people," the Hungarian Foreign Minister added.



"We understand that the Ukrainians would have had a different interest, and we are not going to argue with them: their interest is the Ukrainian interest, and ours is the interest of the Hungarian people," Szijjarto said. (ANSA).





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Alison Brie says new anthological series Roar is unlike anything she has ever worked on or seen before.

The GLOW star said the show had allowed her to work across several different genres within her own singular episode.

Roar is an anthology series of eight stand-alone darkly comic feminist fables, with universal female struggles portrayed through extraordinary scenarios.

[The Woman Who Solved Her Own Murder] is about a woman who has been murdered and is now a ghost. She's basically tagging along with the detectives as they attempt to solve her murder, but eventually she has to take it into her own hands.  @alisonbrie on her episode of #Roar pic.twitter.com/lxDczHIKfs  Apple TV+ (@AppleTVPlus) April 15, 2022

In the series, based on the book by Cecelia Ahern, women eat photographs, date ducks and live on shelves like trophies.

The all-star cast includes Nicole Kidman, Alison Brie, Cynthia Erivo, Issa Rae, Merritt Wever.

Tonally this show is unlike anything that Ive worked on before or seen, really, Brie said, speaking during an Apple TV press conference.

Because of the anthology nature of the show it gets to go to a lot of different places which is really cool.

Even within each episode I felt like I got to work in a couple of different genres even within my one episode and really get to show a range of emotion and feeling and work with comedy and drama and horror and all these different elements with a deeper meaning still at play.

Brie stars in an episode titled The Woman Who Solved Her Own Murder, which offers a comic twist on the male detective genre as it is told through the eyes of the female murder victim.

Series writer Liz Flahive said everyone on the production team was so game to try new things when producing the show, including feeding fake photographs to Nicole Kidman for an episode.

(The photos) were made of marzipan and rice paper, she said.

The rice paper was better, but it made a crunching sound that we had to take out in post.

She had to shove so many in her mouth.

It was one of those things when she was doing it and we had printed the photos on the rice paper then the dye started to bleed onto her tongue, so we had to stop and wipe it off.

There were all these things, but wed never done this before.

When have you ever printed a photograph on rice paper and asked an award-winning actress to continue to shove them into her mouth before?

Everyone was so game.

Roar is available for streaming on Apple TV.
Jackass star Bam Margera has settled his lawsuit alleging he was illegally sacked from the franchises latest film.

Margera, an original cast member of the TV series and subsequent films, was dismissed from stunt movie Jackass Forever last year after reportedly breaching his contract.

The 42-year-old, who has previously battled substance abuse, was said to have failed drug tests.

Margera (centre) said he was coerced into signing a draconian agreement prior to the filming of Jackass Forever (Ian West/PA)

A motion to dismiss the case was filed by Margera at the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday but details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Margera had sought millions in damages and an injunction to stop the films release in the lawsuit, which was filed in August last year.

He launched legal action against Jackass studio Paramount Pictures, director Jeff Tremaine, co-star Johnny Knoxville and co-creator Spike Jonze, saying his dismissal from the project was illegal.

Margeras Jackass co-star Johnny Knoxville (pictured) was targeted in the legal action (Aaron Chown/PA)

Margeras lawyers claimed the subjects of the suit accosted him and coerced him into signing a draconian Wellness Agreement and threatened him with being cut from future films if he did not agree.

The agreement required Margera to complete multiple drug tests daily, according to the lawsuit.

It was alleged Margera was sacked after testing positive for Adderall, despite the defendants knowing he had been taking the drug for several years to treat his attention deficit disorder.

Jackass Forever was released earlier this year and one scene with Margera still remains.
Thousands of cancer patients in England face distressing waiting times due to missed targets after the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Liberal Democrats.

The party, sharing research by the House of Commons Library, said 78% of patients between November and February waited longer than two weeks to see a consultant after an urgent referral from their GP  15 points below the NHS target of 93%.

The result was that 195,000 people waited longer than the targeted duration.

In the same time period, almost 40,000 patients waited longer than two months to start treatment after their urgent referral.

The target is 85% but just 65% began treatment within that timeframe.

The Lib Dems are not accusing the Conservatives of pork barrel politics when it comes to cancer treatment, however.

According to the research, in Prime Minister Boris Johnsons constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, which is covered by the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, six in 10 people  short of the 85% target  receive their first definitive treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral from their GP.

The Lib Dems have called on the Government including Cabinet minister Sajid Javid to hire more cancer nurses to cut waiting times (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which covers Health Secretary Sajid Javids Bromsgrove constituency, is in the top ten worst NHS trusts in England for patients having to wait beyond the two week target between GP referral and first consultant appointment, according to the data.

Just 57% of suspected cancer patients were seen within 14 days by the trust, meaning 3,888 people were waiting longer across the three months accounted for.

Ahead of the local elections, the Lib Dems are calling for the Government to hire more staff, especially specialist cancer nurses, to help cut waiting times.

The party is also calling for a strategy to help speed-up cancer care provision for those having waited longest.

Daisy Cooper has accused the Tories of having no real plan to fix the situation for those experiencing delays with their cancer treatment (Aaron Chown/PA)

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: Delays to cancer diagnoses and treatments are incredibly distressing for those with cancer and those who fear they may have it.

This Conservative Government has their head in the sand over staff shortages and no real plan to fix it.

They must get a handle on this crisis so cancer patients get the urgent care they need to give them the best chance of survival and recovery.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: We know the pandemic has had a serious impact on people living with cancer, and were committed to investing in the NHS to tackle the treatment backlog.

Thats why the Health and Social Care Secretary has declared a national war on cancer and why we are developing a 10-Year cancer plan to set out how we will lead the world in cancer care.

Our record investment in the NHS included an extra 2 billion in 2021 and 8 billion over the next three years to cut waiting times, including delivering an extra nine million checks, scans and operations.
Labour has called Boris Johnsons involvement in the partygate saga indefensible as fresh allegations emerged about the Prime Ministers conduct.

The Sunday Times said Mr Johnson is expected to deliver a statement when MPs return to the Commons on Tuesday, where he will not deny wrongdoing but will point towards the wider context, including the war in Ukraine.

But the newspaper also revealed fresh claims that Mr Johnson was not only present at a leaving do for his former press chief but that he led the celebrations.

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie were both issued with partygate fines (Jacob King/PA)

It comes after Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were all issued with  and paid  fines for attending a birthday bash held for the Prime Minister in June 2020.

The Sunday Times reported the Prime Ministers official photographer had captured photographs of Mr Johnson holding a beer at the gathering, and Mr Sunak with a soft drink.

But Mr Johnson is understood to have been present at at least six of the 12 events being investigated by the Metropolitan Police for breaking Covid rules, and is braced for more fines potentially to come.

One of those included in Operation Hillman is a leaving do for the former director of communications at No 10, Lee Cain, on November 13 2020.

A leaving do for Lee Cain is among the events being investigated by police (Victoria Jones/PA)

A source suggested to the Sunday Times this had started as the press office having drinks to finish off the week, but turned into a party once the Prime Minister arrived, poured drinks and made a speech.

The newspaper said a No 10 source did not deny the characterisation of the gathering, but denied Mr Johnson was the instigator.

The Sunday Mirror said No 10 had refused to answer questions about the birthday gathering submitted through a freedom of information request, because of national security reasons.

Downing Street declined to comment when approached by the PA news agency and has repeatedly said it would not comment until the police investigation concludes.

Labours deputy leader Angela Rayner said: While the British public was making huge sacrifices, Boris Johnson was breaking the law.

If the latest reports are true, it would mean that not only did the Prime Minister attend parties, but he had a hand in instigating at least one of them. He has deliberately misled the British people at every turn.

The Prime Minister has demeaned his office. The British people deserve better. While Labour has a plan for tackling the cost-of-living crisis, Tory MPs are too busy defending the indefensible actions of Boris Johnson.
The Governments plan to send migrants to Rwanda for processing may breach the Geneva conventions, a peer has suggested.

Former child refugee and Labour peer Alf Dubs said ministers would face opposition in the Lords over the plan unveiled by Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week.

In an interview with The Guardian, Lord Dubs said the Government was attempting to ride roughshod over international agreements.

He said: I think its a way of getting rid of people the Government doesnt want, dumping them in a distant African country, and theyll have no chance of getting out of there again.

I think its a breach of the 1951 Geneva conventions on refugees. You cant just shunt them around like unwanted people.

It comes as it was reported that Ms Patel took the rare step of issuing a ministerial direction to overrule concerns of civil servants about whether the concept will deliver value for money.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover following a small boat incident in the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA)

As part of the plan designed to curb migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, those who are deemed to have entered Britain by unlawful means since January 1 may be sent to Rwanda where they will be permitted to apply for asylum in the African country.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the claimed use of the ministerial direction by the Home Secretary was only the second deployment of the power within the Home Office in the past 30 years.

The Home Office declined to comment on the matter when approached by the PA news agency.

Speaking to Times Radio on Saturday, shadow prisons minister Ellie Reeves said: The UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) has come out really, really strongly condemning the Governments proposals, as have many organisations, and it seems the Governments own civil servants have expressed huge misgivings about the plans, which seem to be completely misguided.

The Labour politician said: The Government is going to be paying 120 million upfront before any asylum seekers will be sent to Rwanda.

Asylum seekers are saying it wont deter them from crossing the Channel.

We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis so it doesnt seem the right way to be spending money on an unethical and unworkable scheme that wont deter people from coming over.

She later added: The whole system needs looking at again, so rather than making sweeping statements  these announcements that are completely unworkable and incredibly expensive  what the Government actually needs to do is get to grips with the system and put in place a system that actually works, increase prosecutions and clamp down on criminal gangs.

But Ms Patel said Denmark could be among those to reproduce the UK Governments blueprint.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Rwandan minister for foreign affairs and international co-operation, Vincent Biruta, signed a world-first migration and economic development partnership in the East African nations capital Kigali (Flora Thompson/PA)

There is no question now that the model we have put forward, Im convinced is world class and a world first, and it will be used as a blueprint going forward, theres no doubt about that, Ms Patel said.

I would not be surprised if other countries start coming to us direct on the back of this as well.

The Home Secretary said Copenhagen was in talks with Rwanda as well, adding the Council of Europe have also basically said they are interested in working with us.

The Home Office denied its approach was in breach of refugee agreements.

But Lord Dubs, who came to the UK from then Czechoslovakia on one of the Kindertransport trains in 1939, told The Guardian there would be legal challenges and opposition by peers.

If (Ms Patel) says shell get rid of the lefty lawyers claims, well, I think she may have another thing coming. My understanding is that theyre going to have real difficulties in getting this through anyway, he said.
Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has condemned Vladimir Putin after she was banned from Russia along with other senior British politicians.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are also among 13 who have been barred from entering the country in response to UK sanctions.

Ms Sturgeon said Scotland stands with Ukraine and will take the strongest possible action to isolate and penalise the Russian presidents regime.

Russias foreign ministry said the move to create the list was due to the unprecedented hostile actions of the British Government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials.

It added: The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas, are detrimental to the wellbeing and interests of the residents of Britain.

Ms Sturgeon issued a statement in response, saying: Putin is a war criminal and I will not shy away from condemning him and his regime.

Scotland is determined to take the strongest possible action to isolate and penalise his regime, and do everything possible to support the people of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)

We must make sure that those on the side of freedom and democracy work together to ensure Putins regime, and his network of oligarchs, are as isolated as possible.

International condemnation  not just in words but in actions  against Russia must be as strong as possible.

It falls to every leader to choose a side in this unprovoked aggression. I am clear that I stand with Ukraine and against Putin. And Scotland is clear  we all stand with Ukraine.

News of the list came as Russian troops restarted assaults on the Ukrainian capital after a brief reprieve.

A UK Government spokesperson said: The UK and our international partners stand united in condemning the Russian governments reprehensible actions in Ukraine and calling for the Kremlin to stop the war.

We remain resolute in our support for Ukraine.
A murder investigation has been launched and three people have been arrested after a woman suffered fatal injuries in Norfolk.

Police said emergency services were called to Highgate, Kings Lynn, at around 12.30am on Saturday after a woman was found inside a property with serious injuries.

The woman, who was in her 50s, was taken to hospital where she later died. Her death is being treated as suspicious, the force said.

A murder investigation has been launched following the death of a woman in King's Lynn early this morning. Three people have been arrested and detectives are appealing for witnesses  read more here >>> https://t.co/jupXoQFiFs  Norfolk Police (@NorfolkPolice) April 16, 2022

A man aged in his 50s, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 40s have been arrested in connection with her death.

All the parties are known to each other, police added.

A cordon remains in place at the scene as further enquiries are carried out.

Detective Chief Inspector Phill Gray, from the joint major investigation team at Norfolk Police, said: The investigation is in its early stages but at this time it would appear that all parties involved are known to one another.

We are appealing to anyone who was in the area of Highgate last night between the hours of 9pm and 1am who may have seen or heard anything that might assist our investigation to come forward and contact police.

Any witnesses or anyone who has any information to assist the investigation is asked to contact Norfolk Police on 101, quoting crime reference number 36/27811/22.
The UKs immigration policy is not about saving refugees skins, its about saving this Governments skin, a charity has said, after it was revealed Priti Patel overruled the concerns of civil servants to push ahead with the controversial plans.

As part of the plan designed to curb migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, those who are deemed to have entered Britain by unlawful means since January 1 may be sent to Rwanda where they will be permitted to apply for asylum in the African country, the Home Secretary and Prime Minister announced earlier this week.

But the policy has drawn criticism from opposition parties and charities, and the PA news agency has confirmed the Home Secretary took the rare step of issuing a ministerial direction to overrule concerns of civil servants about whether the concept will deliver value for money.

Some Conservative MPs have loudly backed the plans, claiming the small boats issue is of importance to constituents.

But Robina Qureshi, director of the refugee homelessness charity Positive Action in Housing, said: The refugee policy of this country should be clear by now.

Its not about saving refugees skins, its about saving this Governments skin.

If the refugee is white European, give (some of) them a route to safety. If the refugee is brown or black, send them to Rwanda regardless.

There is no legal route to the UK. This is the road to fascism.

However, the Home Office and Ms Patel have defended the move.

Ms Patel said she expected other countries to follow the UKs example, while the Home Office insisted its approach was not in breach of refugee agreements.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Rwandan minister for foreign affairs and international co-operation, Vincent Biruta, signed a world-first migration and economic development partnership in the East African nations capital city Kigali (Flora Thompson/PA)

Earlier, former child refugee and Labour peer Alf Dubs said ministers would face opposition in the Lords over the plan.

In an interview with The Guardian, Lord Dubs said the Government was attempting to ride roughshod over international agreements.

He said: I think its a way of getting rid of people the Government doesnt want, dumping them in a distant African country, and theyll have no chance of getting out of there again.

I think its a breach of the 1951 Geneva conventions on refugees. You cant just shunt them around like unwanted people.

Speaking to Times Radio on Saturday, shadow prisons minister Ellie Reeves said: The UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) has come out really, really strongly condemning the Governments proposals, as have many organisations, and it seems the Governments own civil servants have expressed huge misgivings about the plans, which seem to be completely misguided.

The Labour politician said: The Government is going to be paying 120 million up-front before any asylum seekers will be sent to Rwanda.

Shadow prisons minister Ellie Reeves (UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor)

Asylum seekers are saying it wont deter them from crossing the Channel.

We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis so it doesnt seem the right way to be spending money on an unethical and unworkable scheme that wont deter people from coming over.

She later added: The whole system needs looking at again, so rather than making sweeping statements  these announcements that are completely unworkable and incredibly expensive  what the Government actually needs to do is get to grips with the system and put in place a system that actually works, increase prosecutions and clamp down on criminal gangs.

But Ms Patel said Denmark could be among those to reproduce the UK Governments blueprint.

There is no question now that the model we have put forward, Im convinced is world class and a world first, and it will be used as a blueprint going forward, theres no doubt about that, Ms Patel said.

I would not be surprised if other countries start coming to us direct on the back of this as well.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is met by delegates as she arrives in Rwanda (Flora Thompson/PA)

The Home Secretary said Copenhagen was in talks with Rwanda as well, adding the Council of Europe have also basically said they are interested in working with us.

But Lord Dubs, who came to the UK from then Czechoslovakia on one of the Kindertransport trains in 1939, told The Guardian there would be legal challenges and opposition by peers.

If (Ms Patel) says shell get rid of the lefty lawyers claims, well, I think she may have another thing coming. My understanding is that theyre going to have real difficulties in getting this through anyway, he said.
The UK is predicted to be warmer than Greece and Turkey over the weekend as temperatures soar to 23C (73.4F).

Met Office forecasters have said the warm weather parts of England saw on Friday is expected to expand further across the nation, rather than being concentrated on one area, on Saturday.

The mercury hit 23.4C (74.1F) in St Jamess Park in central London on Good Friday afternoon, making it hotter than California, with the rest of the warm weather being concentrated in the South East.

Another warm day is expected across the country with temperatures widely above average for mid April pic.twitter.com/6ehb1DPFfa  Met Office (@metoffice) April 16, 2022

On Saturday, the weather is expected to be dry with temperatures rising to 23C (73.4F) in the West Midlands and eastern Wales, the Met Office said, while the northern, central and south eastern parts of England are predicted to see highs of 20C (68F).

Simon Partridge, Met Office forecaster, told the PA news agency: Its a little bit warmer more widely today than it was yesterday.

We will see some rain arriving later in western parts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland but elsewhere, it will be dry and fine.

Most places will be sunny, we will still see cloud in the far southwest and also across parts of western Wales and into North West England at the moment, but most of that should break up through the afternoon.

We are expecting the weather to be warmer than Greece. Greece looks like it is going to reach 18C (64.4F) or 19C (66.2F) while Turkey is going to reach 21C (70F) on Saturday, so well be warmer than Greece, Turkey and southern Italy.

Friday and Saturday are the warmest days of the weekend, Sunday is expected to be cooler.

People enjoy the good weather at Boscombe beach in Dorset (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Easter Sunday is expected to remain dry with temperatures falling to 19C (66.2F) and lower across England and Wales while Scotland is predicted to see highs of 16C (60.8F) and Northern Ireland with highs of 12C (53.6F).

Western parts of the UK may also see clouds, while rainfall across Northern Ireland may spread to western Britain overnight.

Ahead of an expected influx of tourists to the county over the warm Easter weekend, Cornwall Council warned both locals and residents to be aware of the ongoing Covid risk.

The county has seen high numbers of cases in recent weeks, with latest Government figures showing 154,807 positive cases on Thursday.

A total of 2,335 new cases were reported in the seven days up to Thursday.

 With Covid cases HIGH across Cornwall, we're asking everyone to take extra care this Easter and keep doing your bit to help stop the spread.  Wash your hands Wear a face covering where you can Keep your distance in crowded places pic.twitter.com/fxfq2QlWoH  @cornwallcouncil (@CornwallCouncil) April 15, 2022

Brian ONeill, public health consultant at the council, urged people to take precautions to protect themselves from Covid by washing their hands, keeping distances, meeting people outdoors and opening windows where possible.

He told BBC Breakfast: I think people are still careful.

People are giving space to each other generally, the visitors that were seeing down in Cornwall at the moment are being very respectful and using the facilities available.

Our hospitality industry has worked incredibly hard to keep things safe.
 Flash

China pursues development in order to bring better lives to the people, without any interests in challenging or replacing others, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on CIA Director William Burns' speech on Thursday, in which he called China a "formidable competitor lacking in neither ambition nor capability," and said that China is "intent" on replacing the United States as "the preeminent power in the Indo-Pacific."

Zhao said the United States has been constantly disseminating disinformation about the Ukraine crisis, flagrantly slandering China and driving a wedge between China and Russia with an agenda of profiting from the repercussions of its blame-shifting and the confrontation it incites among others.

"The United States should focus more on its responsibility for the outbreak and escalation of the Ukraine crisis," Zhao said.

He stressed that China pursues development in order to bring better lives to the people, without any interests in challenging or replacing others.

"For too long, the United States has been whipping up the 'China threat theory' and throwing dirty water at China. But lies remain lies, no matter how many times they are repeated. The world can make a fair judgement about China's contributions to world peace and development," the spokesperson said.

Certain U.S. politicians should view China's development in an objective light, cease fabricating lies, stop sowing discord between China and other countries that China has normal relations with, and do more that is conducive to the development of China-U.S. relations, Zhao said.
The remains of a home left after a wildfire spread through the Village of Ruidoso, New Mexico, on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Officials say a wildfire has burned about 150 structures, including homes, in the New Mexico town of Ruidoso. (Alexander Meditz via AP)

With towering pine trees and cool mountain breezes, a pocket of southern New Mexico draws thousands of tourists and horse racing fans every summer. It's also a community that knows how devastating wildfires can be.

It was a decade ago that fire ripped through part of the village of Ruidoso, putting the vacation spot on the map with the most destructive wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history when more than 240 homes burned and nearly 70 square miles (181 square kilometers) of forest were blackened by a lightning-sparked blaze.

Now, Mayor Lynn Crawford is rallying heartbroken residents once again as firefighters on Friday tried to keep wind-whipped flames from making another run at the village and the hundreds of homes and summer cabins that dot the surrounding mountainsides.

More than 200 homes already have burned, and an elderly couple was found dead this week outside their charred residence. While power has been restored to all but a few hundred customers in the area, evacuations for close to 5,000 people remain in place.

Crawford said the village is overflowing with donations from surrounding communities.

So we have plenty of food, we have plenty of clothes, those kinds of things but we still appreciate and need your prayers and your thoughts, the mayor said during a briefing. Again, our hearts go out to the family of the deceased, to those that have lost their homes.

Authorities have yet to release the names of the couple who died. Their bodies were found after worried family members contacted police, saying the couple had planned to evacuate Tuesday when the fire exploded but were unaccounted for later that day.

Near where the bodies were recovered, in Gavilan Canyon, the fire reduced homes to ash and metal. An 18-home RV park was completely destroyed.

I had like 10 people displaced, they lost their homes and everything, including my mom, said Douglas Siddens, who managed the park.

Siddens said his mother was at work when the fire broke out with just the clothes she had on and thats all she has left.

Everyone got out of the RV park safely before the flames hit but its completely leveled. Like, all thats left are metal frame rails and steel wheels, Siddens said.

While many older residents call Ruidoso home year round, the population of about 8,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the summer months as Texans and New Mexicans from hotter climates come seeking respite. Horse races at the Ruidoso Downs also draw crowds, as it's home to one of the sport's richest quarter-horse competitions. The racing season was expected to start May 27, and horses that board there aren't in any danger as fire officials use the facility as a staging ground.

Part-time residents have taken to social media over the last few days, pleading with fire officials for updates on certain neighborhoods, hoping their family cabins weren't among those damaged or destroyed.

The hotlines lit up Friday afternoon as people in the village called in to report more smoke. Fire information officer Mike DeFries said that was because there were flare-ups within the interior of the fire as the flames found pockets of unburned fuel.

While the fire didn't make any runs at the lines crews had established, he said it was still a tough day for firefighters due to single-digit humidity, warmer temperatures and the wind.

Authorities reiterated that it was still too early to start letting people in to see the damage. They asked for patience as fire crews continued to put out hot spots and tried to build a stronger perimeter around the blaze.

It's still an active fire area in there and it's not a safe place, DeFries said. It's going to require patience. At the same time, every step that we're taking is designed to suppress this fire and to get people back home as soon as possible.

New Mexico authorities said they suspect the fire, which has torched more than 9.5 square miles (24 square kilometers) of forest and grass, was sparked by a downed power line and the investigation continued Friday.

Elsewhere in the U.S., large fires were reported this week in Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma.

Hotter and drier weather coupled with decades of fire suppression have contributed to an increase in the number of acres burned by wildfires, fire scientists say. The problem is exacerbated by a more than 20-year Western megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change.

The National Interagency Fire Center reported Thursday that since the start of the year, 18,550 wildfires have burned about 1,250 square miles (3,237 square kilometers). Thats well above the 10-year U.S. average of 12,290 wildfires and 835 square miles (2163 square kilometers) burned for the same period.

___

Cedar Attanasio contributed reporting from Santa Fe. Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.
WASHINGTON  Stung by the strength of the Ukrainian resistance, Russia is looking to launch a major offensive under more favorable conditions after attempts to take Kyiv and other major cities have floundered. The new offensive will focus on the Donbas region, a contested swath of eastern Ukraine that includes two breakaway regions controlled by Moscow.

They want to achieve some physical, tangible objectives in the Donbas within the next couple of weeks, a senior Pentagon official told reporters during a Thursday briefing.

But given the ongoing challenges, Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to deliver the knockout blow he desperately seeks, analysts say. Any territorial gains Russia does achieve are expected to be considerably less significant than what Putin envisioned when he launched the invasion of his much smaller and less powerful neighbor in late February.

A Ukrainian soldier stands guard in Donbas. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)

Whats more, those gains could come at the expense of continued deterioration of readiness, morale and other factors already working against Russia.

The final border between Ukraine and Russian forces might actually not be that different from what it is now," says Phillips P. OBrien, a scholar of military strategy and history at St. Andrews University in the U.K., arguing against looking at the conflict purely in terms of territorial gains. What matters is the state of the armed forces, not where they are on the map.

The initial invasion was envisioned by top Russian Gen. Valery Gerasimov as a quick, ruthless and multipronged assault meant to stun the Ukrainians. Kyiv was to be toppled within days, and the entire special operation  as the Russians insist on still calling what is obviously now a full-scale war  was to be as relatively painless, in military terms, as the previous invasion of Ukraine, in 2014.

A spirited Ukrainian resistance, bolstered by Western anti-aircraft systems and other materiel, upended Gerasimovs plan, forcing the Russians to retreat. They werent planning on this being a long, drawn-out fight, Benjamin H. Friedman, policy director at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank, told Yahoo News in an interview. Theyve now shifted their thinking."

According to the Pentagon, the Kremlin has amassed 65 battalion tactical groups, or BTGs, on Ukraine's eastern border. The question is whether that force will be sufficient to consolidate and expand Russian gains  or whether the same mistakes that plagued the first stage of the war are endemic to the Russian military as a whole, meaning that the second stage wont be all that different.

"Russia may pour more manpower and firepower into Donbas," says Russia expert Michael Weiss, who recently traveled to Ukraine, "but it's still stuck with the army it had for the last 50 days, which was driven out of Kyiv by an adroit and creative adversary."

A satellite image shows the deployment of troops, tents and vehicles west of Soloti, Russia, near the border with Ukraine. (Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies)

To head the new offensive, Putin appointed Gen. Aleksandr Dvornikov, who in 2015 was dispatched to Syria in Russias (ultimately successful) effort to prop up dictator Bashar Assad. Before that, he fought in Chechnya in what became a grinding years-long campaign that some fear could be replicated in Ukraine.

Dvornikovs appointment might be taken as a sign that Putin seems ready now to embrace long-standing principles of war: simplicity, unity of effort and focused logistics, as retired U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt wrote in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week.

Kimmitt added that if precedent holds, the offensive Dvornikov is expected to soon launch in Donbas will feature the predictable mix of large armored formations and enormous concentrations of artillery, rockets and missiles.

The change in military leadership, however, could also be less a sign of fresh thinking than a recognition that the Kremlin simply had to do something to show the world  and ordinary Russians  that it was doing all it could to salvage an invasion it thought would be well over by the spring thaw.

You dont fire winning generals, says military historian OBrien. Dvornikov will have at his command the same poorly trained army that has already suffered thousands of deaths, according to NATO estimates.

Putin almost certainly envisioned a triumphant parade on May 9, when Russia celebrates its victory in World War II. Now he needs to stave off outright defeat, a scenario that would have been unthinkable only two months ago. The sinking of the flagship Moskva earlier this week was a reminder of how uncannily effective the Ukrainian resistance has proved.

(FILES) This file photo taken on August 29, 2013 shows the Moskva, missile cruiser flagship of Russian Black Sea Fleet, entering Sevastopol bay. Russia's Moskva warship was hit by two Ukrainian missiles before it sank in the Black Sea, a senior Pentagon official said Friday, calling it a "big blow" for Moscow. / AFP / Vasiliy BATANOV

It is likely that this part of the war will be decisive, Friedman said. Victory-victory doesn't seem likely for the Kremlin, he told Yahoo News, envisioning a drawn-out conflict with few meaningful attempts at a peace settlement in the near future.

The Russian army went through a much-touted reorganization in 2008, but the underprepared units fighting in Ukraine are more reminiscent of the bumbling and bloody first campaign in Chechnya  launched in 1994 by Putins predecessor Boris Yeltsin  than the kind of technically precise, efficient effort a Western military might have launched.

A campaign focused in eastern Ukraine does provide Russia with some advantages, however, among them open terrain and shorter supply lines. Russians will want to bring the Ukrainians out into the open, into the steppe, Friedman said. Its less urban terrain. Presumably they will at least be able to have more fights outside cities."

But even newfound topographic advantages could be undone for the Russians if, as some believe, spring rains turn unpaved roads to mud, making it difficult for tanks and armored vehicles to maneuver. Even before they were blitzed by the brutal Russian winter, German troops encountered that very fate in the fall of 1941, as they pushed toward Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

Weather will certainly be a factor in war, as it always is, the defense official who briefed reporters on Thursday said, and the fact that the ground is softer will make it harder for them to do anything off of paved highways, especially when it comes to resupply logistics.

And, the official said, poor visibility could keep Russias from establishing air superiority over Ukraine, a critical factor in any major offensive. Its in and out, OBrien said of Russias current air campaign. Come in, drop your bomb, leave.

The lack of air support for ground units, combined with the relatively small size of the forces now preparing for the eastern campaign (the initial invasion featured 130 battalions, twice what Dvornikov will have at his disposal), make him skeptical about Russias prospects.

Ukrainian soldiers in Donbas last week. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainians agree. They have called on the West to help them deal a shattering blow. Ukraine can win the next phase of this war with timely and proper Western support, wrote Nataliya Bugayova in a brief for the Institute for the Study of War, where she is a fellow.

The outcome of this phase is far from determined, Bugayova added.
(Reuters) - Five people who provided "critical information" that helped lead to the arrest of the man charged with this week's mass shooting in a New York subway will share a $50,000 reward, the New York Police Department announced on Friday.

Frank James, the man accused of carrying out one of the most violent attacks on the city's mass transit system, was arrested in lower Manhattan on Wednesday following a 30-hour manhunt that was helped by a barrage of tips from the public. James, 62, also called the police tipline to turn himself in, aiding in his own capture, according to his lawyers.

"We appreciate all of those who responded to our call for information to locate this suspect, including all of those whose tips did not pan out," Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement. "We urged the public to join us in this effort to find this suspect and New Yorkers stepped up."

James, 62, is accused of injuring 30 people by setting off smoke bombs and spraying the inside of a subway car with gunfire during Tuesday morning's rush-hour commute in Brooklyn.

Police said 10 people were shot, although all were expected to survive. About 20 others were injured by smoke canisters or in the stampede of terrified passengers pouring out of the subway car onto the platform, according to prosecutors.

The NYPD said its detectives used the flow of public tips to build a timeline of events that helped them locate James. Of the people who provided tips, five were chosen whose "information contributed directly" to the suspect's arrest.

The NYPD did not identify the five people who will evenly split the $50,000 reward, which is comprised of funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transport Workers Union Local 100, and the New York City Police Foundation.

"Thanks to the help of these five good Samaritans, the NYPD was able to do its job and get a dangerous suspect off the streets just hours after his picture was released," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
The entrance to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Federal authorities said a Sylmar man pleaded guilty to drug charges connected to the fatal 2020 overdose of a Marine stationed at the base. (Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

A Sylmar man who sold fentanyl-laced pills that caused a 20-year-old U.S. Marine's death in 2020 pleaded guilty Friday to federal drug charges, officials said.

Gustavo Jaciel Solis, 25, entered pleas on one count each of participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy and distributing fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California.

Solis was charged in 2020 with being part of a ring that distributed drugs to civilians and Marines, prosecutors said.

He admitted that he "would advertise his controlled substances for sale through his Snapchat account username, 'huf_75,' and display name, 'Gusto928,'" according to a plea agreement filed Tuesday.

Solis "would provide various controlled substances, including LSD, MDMA, cocaine and purported oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, to customers directly, through couriers, or through the United States mail," prosecutors said.

He obtained 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl from a co-defendant and posted a picture of several pills to Snapchat with the caption, "Who f*** with M30s? Tapp in," prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, Solis sold 10 oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl to an active-duty Marine on May 22. A day later, the Marine died of a drug overdose, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said the Marine was stationed at Camp Pendleton.

In his plea agreement, Solis admitted to orchestrating other drug deals, including with a Naval Criminal Investigative Service undercover agent, prosecutors said.

The deals with the agent involved several types of illegal drugs, including cocaine, LSD and more fentanyl-laced, fake oxycodone pills, prosecutors said.

Solis was arrested on July 29, 2020, prosecutors said. Investigators seized drugs and several guns, including a 9-millimeter "ghost gun," from his residence.

He has remained in federal custody since his arrest, prosecutors said.

A superseding indictment filed in September 2020 named Solis and four other defendants, who are:

Jordan Nicholas McCormick, 27, of Palmdale, the lead defendant and the conspiracy's alleged supplier who provided LSD, ecstasy, cocaine and oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl.

Anthony Ruben Whisenant, 22, a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, who allegedly aided and abetted the distribution of the fentanyl-laced pills purchased from Solis that resulted in L.M.'s fatal overdose.

Jessica Sarah Perez, 25, of Pacoima, who distributed narcotics including fentanyl and cocaine to the conspiracy's civilian customers.

Ryan Douglas White, 24, a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, who is charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly attempting to hinder law enforcement's apprehension of Whisenant and Solis.

Solis is scheduled for sentencing Aug.17, prosecutors said. He will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the fentanyl charge, and potential life sentences for each of the narcotics offenses.

Perez pleaded guilty on Jan. 26 to conspiring to distribute narcotics, prosecutors said. She is scheduled to be sentenced May 11.

The remaining three defendants are scheduled to go on trial June 21, prosecutors said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Home Secretary believes her world-class plan to send migrants to Rwanda will act as a blueprint for other countries to follow, potentially paving the way for more deals.

Priti Patel signed her world-first agreement with the East African nation on Thursday, which will see it receive asylum seekers deemed by the UK to have arrived illegally and therefore inadmissible under new immigration rules.

She thinks the move could now prompt Denmark to strike a deal with Rwanda after years of negotiations.

It is also thought the latest step in the Governments plan to curb Channel crossings and overhaul the asylum system could set in motion further discussions between the UK and other countries to thrash out similar arrangements.

Speaking to reporters, Ms Patel said: There is no question now that the model we have put forward, Im convinced is world class and a world first, and it will be used as a blueprint going forward, theres no doubt about that.

I would not be surprised if other countries start coming to us direct on the back of this as well.

Home Secretary Priti Patel speaking to the media (Yui Mok/PA)

Telling how she was in touch with Danish counterparts, she said: The Danes are speaking to Rwanda.

They have been in talks with Rwanda for two years.

Weve been in talks for a lot less time.

Theyve actually suggested that we work together in terms of securing an agreement for them as well because its strength in numbers.

The Council of Europe have also basically said they are interested in working with us.

Asked about the nature of the interest, she said: They are expressing an understanding that we cant carry on as we are and that we need other solutions, adding: We cannot accept the status quo otherwise we will see more people die, quite frankly, this summer.

Discussions between the UK and Rwanda are understood to have started about a year ago.

But Ms Patel stressed prior to that the EU already sent people to Rwanda under existing asylum agreements, as she described the UKs latest plan as a different model on a different scale.

Meanwhile, when asked if plans to pushback migrants at sea were being scrapped  after the Prime Minister conceded the technique would be dangerous except in extremely limited circumstances  she said: The answer is no, we never rule anything out  we cant rule anything out  We have to keep all options on the table.
Marysville, CA (95901)

Today

Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High 62F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Near record low temperatures. Low 42F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
 Flash

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday strongly condemned Israeli forces' operations at Al-Aqsa mosque compound during the holy month of Ramadan, which left more than 100 Palestinians wounded.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said the incident is a sign of "the liveliness and glory of the heroic and brave resistance by Palestinian people and Israelis' desperation," the ministry said on its website.

Amir Abdollahian made the remarks in a phone conversation with Ismail Haniyeh, the politburo chief of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The Iranian top diplomat also highlighted the necessity of putting an end to Israel's "hostile moves against Palestinians."

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the Israeli forces' actions "violated international law and human rights," according to the ministry's website.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian health officials said over 100 Palestinians have been injured so far in the clashes, while the Israeli police reported that three officers were lightly wounded.

Thousands of worshippers gathered since the early hours of Friday at the entrance to the compound, which is a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, the latter of whom call it the Temple Mount.

The tension between Israel and the Palestinians has flared up in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past three weeks as the Jewish festival of Passover overlap with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Last year, clashes in Jerusalem led to an 11-day conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that between 2500 or 3000 Ukrainian troops were killed in action during the fighting against Russian forces.

Zelensky told CNN's Jake Tapper that there are about 10,000 Ukrainian troops who have been injured and that it's "hard to say how many will survive."

Civilian casualties are more difficult to quantify, he said.

"It is very difficult to talk about civilians, since south of our country, where the towns and cities are blocked -- Kherson, Berdyansk, Mariupol further east, and the area to the east where Volnovakha is -- we just don't know how many people have died in that area that is blocked," Zelensky said.

According to Zelensky Russia's military casualty stands at 19,000 to 20,000. However Russia has so far acknowledged 1,351 military casualties.
Kishor told that the Congress should concentrate on 370 to 400 Lok Sabha seats, rest they should leave for the alliance partners

New Delhi: With the Congress reeling under a string of defeats; poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Saturday gave a detailed presentation to the party top brass at a meeting chaired by Sonia Gandhi on the way forward for 2024 general elections, while expressing his readiness to join the party. AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said a decision on Kishors suggestions, including on whether he will join the party will be known in a week.

The meeting at 10 Janpath lasted for almost four hours. Senior party leaders including, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, K.C. Venugopal, Ajay Maken attended the meeting that discussed the partys strategy for the upcoming Assembly polls and the next Lok Sabha election.

According to sources, Kishor gave his long-term strategy for the Congress' revival before the top party leadership. It is learnt that Kishor told the select gathering that the Congress should concentrate on 370 to 400 Lok Sabha seats, rest they should leave for the alliance partners. He is understood to have told the leadership to focus on strengthening the partys base in these constituencies. He also suggested that the party should contest alone in a few state Assembly elections where it is strong and has remained either on the top or in the second position in previous elections.

He also told the leadership to start afresh in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.

Kishor, who has held several rounds of meetings with the top Congress leadership, is also learnt to have made suggestions on the upcoming Assembly elections, including the induction of Naresh Patel, a Patidar leader in Gujarat.

Venugopal told reporters after the meeting a group will be set up to discuss the suggestions. "Prashant Kishor has made a detailed presentation for the 2024 election strategy. It needs some detailed discussion and the Congress president will set up a small group to discuss this entire presentation. That group will submit a report within a week's time for a final decision," he said.

Asked whether Kishor will join the party or will be its strategist, he said all the details will be known within a week. According to informed sources, he has an open offer to join the party but is demanding sweeping as well as radical changes. While the Gandhis favour an incremental change to take everybody along.

The poll strategist had earlier joined the JD(U) but was expelled in January 2020 over his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act. He had been roped in by the Trinamool Congress, the DMK and the Aam Aadmi Party in their assembly election campaigns.

The Congress has been grappling with repeated election defeats in the last two general elections and many state assembly elections and is desperate to turn a corner.

The party is not only facing a series of desertions ever since its electoral graph has taken a downturn, but the brewing internal conflict between the old guard and the new generation for leadership roles has also taken its toll.

The G-23, a grouping of party leaders who have been critical of the leadership and demanded an organisational overhaul, did not react to the proposed induction of Kishor.

However, a section of a party that has been critical of the decision-making process is skeptical about the move; while some leaders even say that the leadership is now ''outsourcing'' its work.

The G-23 leaders had become vocal again after the party's defeat in five states and have lately raised the issue of collective leadership. The party is working out ways and means for its revival and is set to hold a 'Chintan Shivir', most likely in Rajasthan, soon for a brainstorming session to help devise means for strengthening the organisation.

The party's organisational polls are underway and ostensibly decks are being cleared for Rahul Gandhi to take over the party once again by August this year.
It is obvious that the Bharatiya Janata Partys charge that the Congress indulges in minority appeasement has immobilised the Congress

Normally, the communal clashes witnessed in Madhya Pradeshs Khargone district on Ram Navami followed by the bulldozing of houses of alleged culprits (mostly Muslims) would have prompted the main Opposition party, the Congress, to hit the streets. But instead of taking on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, there is radio silence in the Congress camp. Except for a tweet by former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, no state Congress leader has visited the site of the riots or taken up the cause of those whose houses were razed without any due process. Former state Congress president Arun Yadav, who contested elections from Khargone, was conspicuous by his absence. When told that instead of touring the state, he should visit his old constituency to show solidarity with the injured and those rendered homeless, his only response was that he was otherwise occupied with the ongoing wedding season. Former chief minister Kamal Nath also shrugged off a suggestion from agitated Congress leaders who wanted the party to extend legal help to the victims, saying such a move would prove to be a self-goal. It is obvious that the Bharatiya Janata Partys charge that the Congress indulges in minority appeasement has immobilised the Congress.

It is almost two years since a group of senior Congress leaders, referred to as G-23, wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi pressing for internal elections and an organisational overhaul. While the process of party elections has been set in motion, the G-23 is not entirely happy with the way the party is functioning. The group is now planning to gather together at least 100 like-minded party colleagues for a brainstorming session in Delhi sometime in the coming months.

The plan is to discuss the proposals they had put forth in the letter to Sonia Gandhi and chalk out the progress made on each of them. The proposed meeting will also seek inputs from the floor on the changes and improvements. Members would like the leadership to undertake to revive the party in the run-up to the next round of elections. Only time will tell if this meeting will succeed in mounting sufficient pressure on Sonia Gandhi to implement their suggestions.

Although the Rashtriya Lok Dal won only eight of the 33 seats it contested in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, its leader Jayant Chaudhary has not given up. While he got down to reorganising his partys state unit immediately after the declaration of election results, Jayant Chaudhary now has his eyes set on positioning himself as the future Jat leader. As a first step in this direction, Mr Chaudhary is planning to expand the RLDs footprint by contesting in the next Haryana Assembly polls. Since Haryana is a Jat-dominated state and borders Uttar Pradesh, Mr Chaudhary believes the RLD can create a space for itself here. However, it will not be easy as the RLD chief will be competing with Haryana deputy chief minister and founder of the Jannayak Janata Party Dushyant Chautala whose party surprised everyone by bagging ten seats in its first electoral foray. The young Chautala also sees as a future Jat leader especially since there is no other young leader from the community who has sufficient potential to take on the mantle of older Jat leaders like former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Is there a secret understanding between Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and Bharatiya Janata Party leader and environment minister Bhupendra Yadav? At least, thats the buzz in Bihars political circles. The BJP minister, who was entrusted with several important assignments for the party before his induction into the government, was, at one point, in charge of Bihar. According to Janata Dal (U) insiders, whenever there is talk that a repentant Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is reaching out to RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav for an alliance, it is the BJP which prevails upon Tejashwi Yadav camp followers to rule out any tie-up with the Janata Dal (U). It is no secret that Nitish Kumar would like to end his partnership with the BJP as the saffron party has reduced him to a political pygmy.

The Uttarakhand unit of the Congress is in turmoil after the party president appointed Yashpal Arya as the leader of the legislature party in the state Assembly. Mr Arya was among the Congress leaders who had joined the BJP but returned to the party shortly before the recent Assembly polls. Other contenders like Pritam Singh, who was the leader of Opposition in the governments last term, are predictably upset at being ignored. It is being speculated that the Congress leadership felt compelled to pick Mr Arya, a dalit, for this job as it is under pressure to drop Kumari Selja (also dalit) as Haryana Congress president.

The party apparently wished to avoid any criticism that it had removed a senior dalit leader from a key party position and it, therefore, placed another dalit in a key role. Already under pressure, the Congress wanted to avoid any controversy at this juncture when it is chalking out a special plan to woo dalits to the party fold.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the list will be expanded in the near future to include more British politicians and parliamentarians

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several top UK Cabinet ministers and politicians are banned from Russia for their unprecedented hostile actions of imposing sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, the Russian Foreign Minister said in a statement on Saturday.

The full list of 13 British politicians on the so-called stop list issued from Moscow includes Indian-origin ministers UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Attorney General Suella Braverman as well as Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and defence secretary Ben Wallace.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the list will be expanded in the near future to include more British politicians and parliamentarians.

In connection with the unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials of the Russian Federation, a decision was made to include key members of the British government and a number of political figures in the Russian stop list', said the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy. In essence, the British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation around Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the part of NATO, reads the statement, translated from Russian.

The instigation of London is also unacceptable, which is strongly pushing not only its Western allies, but also other countries to introduce large-scale anti-Russian sanctions, which, however, are senseless and counterproductive, it adds.

With reference to a string of economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the British government in recent weeks, the ministry accuses the British authorities of a Russophobic course aimed at stirring up a negative attitude towards Russia and curtail bilateral ties in almost all areas, which it says is detrimental to the well-being and interests of the inhabitants of Britain itself.

Any sanctions attacks will inevitably hit their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, it said.

In the near future, this list will be expanded to include British politicians and parliamentarians who contribute to whipping up anti-Russian hysteria, pushing the collective West' to use the language of threats in dialogue with Moscow, and shamelessly inciting the Kiev neo-Nazi regime, it adds.

Other UK politicians on the stop list include UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Minister of Entrepreneurship, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng, Minister of Digitalisation, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries, Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, and Conservative Party MP and former British Prime Minister Theresa May.

In March, Moscow imposed a similar ban against US President Joe Biden in retaliation for American sanctions against the Kremlin over the conflict in Ukraine.

The UK sanctions have included financial measures designed to damage Russia's economy and penalise Russian President Vladimir Putin, high-ranking officials and Russian oligarchs close to the Kremlin. Britain has been at the forefront of rallying support for Ukraine, with Boris Johnson in regular contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and also paying a visit to the conflict-torn region.
by Alessandra De Poli

In the monastery of Gabriel Danbo, a patrimony of Syriac manuscripts is being catalogued and digitised by five monks together with some young students. A sign of hope for a community where there is still much suffering. The bishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, says: "We try not only to survive but also to have a voice in society". Today a hospital that bears the name of Mary.

Erbil (AsiaNews) - It does not exist on Google Maps, it does not appear in any internet search results, and even once you get there it is not easy to guess what lies behind the high white walls marked by a blue and green coat of arms with a tau in a yellow field in the centre. But once through the main entrance, Gabriel Danbo's monastery appears majestic, placid, geometric: the square shapes of the main buildings dialogue with the circular fountain in front of the church.

This Easter - with its patient work of recovering the history of this very ancient Christian community, it is a small sign of the hope that amidst so many hardships is trying to be reborn in Ankawa, the Christian district of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan that during the years of Isis became the refuge for thousands of Christians from Mosul and the Nineveh plain.

The complex - inaugurated last year - is located on the outskirts of Ankawa and houses five brothers of the Antonian Order of Saint Ormisda of the Chaldeans. Their original monastery, that of Rabban Hormizd in al-Qosh, was abandoned decades ago. But now here the wealth of Syriac manuscripts they possessed (some also from the Syriac Orthodox monastery of Mar Mattai on Mount Maqlub, where in 2014 Isis was just 3km away in the valley below) is being catalogued and digitised by the fathers and a group of students.

"These guys speak sureth, modern Aramaic," the superior general of the order of St Ormisda, Fr Samer Yohanna, explains to AsiaNews. "It's like reading Latin: you understand something, but you have to study to master the language. That's what we do with these kids," adds the priest, a professor at the Syriac faculty of Erbil's Salahaddin University.

The Aramaic spoken today by some Christian communities in the Middle East (an estimated 400,000 people in all) is a modern version of the language of Jesus. The liturgy, on the other hand, still uses classical Syriac and Arabic. But Christians in this region do not consider themselves Arabs, not even those who speak Arabic instead of Sureth, as in al-Qosh, a city disputed between the Kurdistan regional government and federal Iraq. "Are you Kurdish or Arab?". Christians are almost offended by this question: they frown, they flinch, the smile disappears from their faces: "No, I am a Christian".

In this potpourri of peoples, where many have already disappeared (the Jewish quarter of Erbil is uninhabited, while in Baghdad there are only six Jews left), the Christians from an ethnic point of view call themselves Assyrians, direct descendants of the Babylonians. In fact, in Ankawa there are murals depicting the famous blue door of Babylon surrounded by a pair of lamassu, the mythological divinities with the head of a man, body of a bull and powerful angel wings.

Although Iraq's Chaldean-rite Christians no longer feel as endangered as they did between 2014 and 2017 - the Isis years, when thousands of families had fled their home villages for refuge in Hawler (the Kurdish name for Erbil) - their numbers continue to shrink. "More or less there should be 8,000 Christian families here," says Bishop Bashar Warda. "In recent years at least 2,000 arrived from Mosul and the Nineveh plain. And almost all of them have stayed". But looking at the whole of Iraq, since 2003, one third of Christians have emigrated abroad. The challenge is to keep young people in the country, who, as in Lebanon or Syria, leave as soon as they have the chance, especially if they have studied.

"We try to work in areas where we see that there is a chance to prosper, like in Erbil, where we have created more than 400 jobs," says Mgr Warda. "The government of Kurdistan has supported and encouraged us, but since 2010 we have been trying not only to maintain our presence here as Christians, but also to have a voice in society, and we do this mainly through education and health."

"But it is the government in Baghdad that must understand that it is necessary to implement laws and regulations to protect the minorities and indigenous peoples of this country,' he continues. If they disappeared, an important part of Iraq's history would be lost. In addition to the manuscripts, all the artefacts in the Syriac Heritage Museum are also being digitised thanks to a two-year grant from Usaid, a US cooperation agency. "But Fr Samer had this idea for a long time", continues Mgr Warda, "since before the arrival of Isis".

In Erbil there are now four Catholic schools and a hospital, the Maryamana, which the bishop wanted. "For me it is incredible to see that there is a hospital dedicated to Mary, with a Christian name, in my city", says Onell Nael, a Syriac student of Fr Yohanna's who has now partly abandoned his work as a cataloguer at the monastery to work as an interpreter for American soldiers stationed in Erbil. "Christians and Muslims hang out together and respect each other. During Ramadan, for example, I do not smoke or eat in front of my fasting colleagues," says the young man, who works with the museum in his spare time. "But if I asked for the hand of a Muslim girl, her family would kill me.

Sectarian divisions are harder to overcome in politics than in everyday life. The protests that erupted in October 2019 called for an end to Iraq's post-2003 political system, which assigns Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds a specific role in government. "The idea of the Iraqi citizen as such must return to the centre," Fr Samer argues. "Enough of these confessional divisions".

"Democracy is a process that takes decades,' Msgr Warda summarised. "There is still a lot of suspicion and mistrust among the various communities, and we have to wait for things to improve with time. But with the number of Christians decreasing year by year, I fear that patience will not work in our favour.
by Stefano Vecchia

For the outgoing president, the measure "could give rise to dangerous interference by the State". In the Philippines, where internet use is very high, disinformation, anonymous defamation, verbal aggression, slander and incitement to hatred are widespread.

Manila (AsiaNews) - Outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed a law passed by parliament that would have forced Sim card holders to register and online account holders to use their real names. In the face of these limitations and "with the purpose of deterring crimes encouraged by electronic communication", Duterte has ordered the blocking of the measure.

This was announced in a statement by Duterte's spokesperson and Secretary of Presidential Communications, Martin Adanar. The President, confirmed Adanar, said he was concerned that the law "could have given rise to a situation of dangerous interference by the State and surveillance that would have threatened many of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Regarding Sim cards, the measure would have been valid not only for new holders, but also - within 180 days - for those already in possession, under penalty of deactivation. Who instead had activated a new social account would have had to provide the real name and phone number. The law was promoted by Senator Grace Poe (part of the political opposition to Duterte) with the aim of preventing the spread of cybercrime and to create conditions of greater security in mobile telephony and cyberspace.

In the Philippines, where the penetration of social media and internet in general is very high, disinformation, anonymous defamation, verbal aggression, slander and incitement to hatred are very common. Also, however, terrorist information, scams, frauds of various kinds and entities pass through the network.

To solicit the intervention of the president - often in contrast with social networks for the diffusion of criticism towards his policies and committed to limit the information against him also with violent methods - would have been the part of the measure concerning social media, not included in the draft law initially deposited in the Senate, considered potentially anti-constitutional and therefore in need of further discernment.

The vetoed law, which is the result of the convergence of two separate proposals discussed in the two parliamentary chambers, envisaged fines of 200 thousand pesos (around 3,500 euros) for IT companies, their employees, agents or retailers who spread information about a subscriber. Strict rules were also imposed on telephone service providers, and written consent was required from the subscriber in the event of a request by a court and investigators if there was suspicion of the number being used for criminal purposes.
Francis' invocation at the end of the Good Friday rite at the Colosseum. In front of the Cross carried together by Russian and Ukrainian hands a silent prayer for peace instead of the meditation criticised in Kiev. Papal alms-giver Krajewski represents Pope amid the mass graves of Borodianka.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Only silence and prayer. This is how Pope Francis chose to accompany the gesture of Irina and Albina, the two women originally from Ukraine and Russia who, just as war rages between their peoples, chose to carry the cross together in the Way of the Cross presided over by Francis at the Colosseum.

Even the meditation that had been prepared for the 13th station, raising discontent in Kiev, was not read: "Faced with death," was the invitation addressed to the faithful present in Rome and those connected worldwide via television, "silence is more eloquent than words: let us therefore pause in prayerful silence and each in his own heart pray for peace in the world".

The prayer was repeated by the pontiff himself at the end of the Way of the Cross, punctuated by meditations that gave voice to the many crosses that mark the different ages and life experiences of families.

"Merciful Father, erciful Father, you make your sun rise on both good and bad alike. Do not abandon the work of your hands, for which you did not hesitate to deliver your only Son; Keep alight in our families the lamp of the Gospel, which illumines our joys and sorrows, our struggles and our hopes: May every home reflect the face of the Church, whose supreme law is love. By the outpouring of your Spirit, help us to cast aside the old man,

corrupted by illusory passions. Clothe us in the new man, created in justice and holiness. Take us by the hand, like a Father, lest we stray from you. Turn our rebellious hearts to your own heart, so that we may learn to pursue plans of peace. Inspire adversaries to shake hands, and taste mutual forgiveness. Disarm the hand of brother raised against brother, so that where there is hatred, concord may flourish. Grant that we never act as enemies of the cross of Christ, so that we may share in the glory of his resurrection."

In the afternoon it was the Pope's almsman, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who personally knelt in the mud of Borodianka, north of Kiev, on behalf of the pontiff, to pray in front of the graves and the bodies found, as in a Way of the Cross.

"We are returning now," Krajewski said in a message released by the Vatican press office, "from these difficult places for every person in the world, where we still found so many dead people and a grave of at least 80 people, buried without a name and without a surname. There are no tears, no words. Thank God that there is faith, and that we are on Good Friday, when we can unite with the person of Jesus and climb up the Cross with Him. Because I know: there will be Resurrection Sunday. And perhaps He will explain everything to us with His love and change everything within us too".
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The flight of Ukraine war opponents is harming the pro-democracy camp at home. In the past 10 years, only one person, Alexei Navalny, has been able to reach out successfully to ordinary Russians. Presidential powers could be curbed if regional and local governments are no longer under presidential control.

Moscow (AsiaNews)  President Vladimir Putins tragic special military operation in Ukraine, which began on 24 February, has had many disastrous consequences, including defanging the political opposition to the current regime.

It is not just about the authorities crackdown on the opposition to the war, nor the governments huge propaganda and disinformation campaign. For Russian political scientist Alexander Kynev, millions of people in Russia have seen their life plans shattered, not only their plans for the future have been destroyed, but the very fate of individuals and families

Speaking to Radio Svoboda (Radio Liberty), he noted that the ongoing social disaster has meant above all the absolute powerlessness of the political opposition. The emigration of the most publicly active people is causing irreparable damage to the countrys political life and the interaction of various political groups, already weakened by years of harsh repression.

According to Kynev, this is a double blow for the pro-democracy opposition, in Russia and abroad.

On the one hand, pro-democracy leaders are seen as fifth columnists and traitors to the homeland, while outside of Russia they are associated with the aggressor country, and no one is willing to listen to them, as blame is indiscriminately pinned on the entire Russian people.

What is more, the opposition is divided, uncertain about the usual questions: Whose fault is it? and What can be done now?

Some, active on social media, express a sense of collective guilt and the need to publicly express it, ashamed of being Russian, going so far as seeking to change country and name.

For Kynev, such emotional reactions are a form of public suicide and an invaluable gift for the authorities, making it almost impossible to discuss possible changes in the country and its government.

It comes close to being a form of haughty snobbery towards the mass of the population, who are only offered self-flagellating masochism that can help the repentant cleanse their conscience before world public opinion but not steer people away from offering patriotic support to the country and its initiatives.

The danger of collective repentance" is that it helps those in power avoid taking responsibility for their actions. If we are all guilty, including the opposition, it means that the regime has done what we have allowed it to do. For the political scientist, this means that no individual bears any responsibility.

In the last 10 years, the only person able to reach out to ordinary Russians is Alexei Navalny, whose voice is now completely silenced by the restrictions of his detention regime.

In the last presidential elections, the ruling regime fielded fake opposition candidates, like journalist Ksenja Sobchak in 2018.

What is needed are not only popular leaders among those who are still in the country, but also profound institutional reforms to strip the autocrat of at least some of the huge power concentrated in the presidency, starting from the regions and local governments.

Kynev believes that "the decline of this authoritarian system is inevitable", if not within a very short period of time, given the unbearable effects of the war and sanctions.

For this reason, it is necessary to draft plans for change, but presently no one among the opposition political and cultural groups has come up with anything of value.

Hopefully, those forced abroad will take advantage of this period to work on projects projected towards the future and prepare to come back within a reasonable time to rebuild Russia together, like it happened many times in the past.
by Paul Hinder *

In his Easter message Msgr. Hinder underlines the feeling of impotence in the face of the conflicts "taking place in Ukraine, Yemen and Syria". Peace, he warns, is built starting from the family environment and from one's own community. The risen Jesus support "in the trials and struggles" that everyone must face.

Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) - At this time we witness "helplessly" the wars that "are being waged in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria and in many other parts of the world". With a reference to current events, to the conflicts that are repeated in many parts of the world, the Vicar of Arabia Mgr. Paul Hinder urges Christians to be "peacemakers" according to the mandate received from Christ who in the resurrection conquered death. In his Easter message to the faithful of the Gulf, and sent for information to AsiaNews, the prelate recalls that it is the task of all "to contribute to peace" starting from "our family environment" and our "communities". Christ has conquered death and the devil who "is at the origin of all evil" and is support and hope for all in the "trials and struggles" that each of us must face.

Here, below, is Msgr. Hinder's Easter message:

Dear friends in Christ! Peace be with you! These were the first words of the Risen Lord to the disciples after his resurrection. Christ knew that his own friends were not free from ambition and aggressiveness. With his greeting of peace, he wanted to bring them closer together among themselves and make them instruments of peace for others.

We are looking helplessly at the wars in Ukraine, in Yemen, in Syria and other parts of the world. However, are we indeed helpless and powerless? Does not Christ give us the mandate and the power to be peacemakers in our small world and thus contribute to peace in the big world? Let us do it in our environment of the families and communities and we shall see that peace bears fruits of peace.

Easter is the feast that reveals the power of God over the destructive powers of the devil, the great troublemaker. Easter gives us hope because Christ has won the battle over death. Dear sisters and brothers, I wish all of you amidst the trials and struggles we are going through, a happy Easter. Christ is alive and cannot die anymore. He is our hope. Alleluia.

* Vicar of Southern Arabia (Emirates, Oman and Yemen) and Apostolic Administrator sede vacante of Northern Arabia (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain)
Russia has resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond after warning that it planned to step up missile strikes on the capital
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Russia will expand the scale of its missile strikes on Kiev in response to any Ukrainian forces' attacks or sabotage on Russian territory, the country's defense ministry said Friday.

"Russian troops and forces of the Donetsk People's Republic have taken control of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in the city of Mariupol as a result of a successful offensive," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a daily briefing.

The Russian forces used high-precision sea-based Kalibr missiles to strike a military facility on the outskirts of Kiev, he added.

According to the ministry, Russian forces have destroyed 132 aircraft, 105 helicopters, 245 anti-aircraft missile systems, 456 unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,213 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 249 multiple rocket launchers, 966 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,110 units of special military vehicles of the Ukrainian forces.
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Vladimir Strzhalkovsky is a former KGB agent with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is also the owner of Ragnar, perhaps one of the most stunning conversions of an ice-class explorer into a luxury vessel. Even though Strzhalkovskys name is yet to be included on international sanctions list, Ragnar became stuck in a port in Norway five weeks ago, when local suppliers simply refused to fuel it.Their reasoning was clear, as they told the local media at the time: they didnt want to provide any kind of assistance to Russian entities, regardless of whether they were included on the sanctions list or not. The fuel suppliers were joined by local businesses that refused to do any type of transactions with crew members, so for five weeks, they had to resort to fishing and barbecuing the catch on board, because no one would sell them foodstuff.No word yet on what changed in terms of the Norwegians feelings about Ragnars owner or its crew, but the superyacht explorer is on the move again. It left Narvik in Norway on March 30 and is nearing the port of Valletta, in Malta. VesselFinder notes that it should have docked in Malta on April 15, but the latest update shows its still on the move, en route there.The association with a former Russian spy aside, Ragnar is a most impressive vessel , with a price to match: $85 million. It started out as a 2012 industrial supply vessel in Kazakhstan, Sanaborg, but was abandoned in the Netherlands after very little use. Strzhalkovsky bought it and had ICON Yachts do the full-blown conversion, which turned it into a superyacht for 12 guests, with luxe amenities, and a gigantic garage for toys.Speaking of toys, they include a Luxury Ripsaw EV2 and a Sherp, a Eurocopter EC145 helicopter, a three-person submarine, two ice-breaker tenders, two Laser sailing boats, Seabobs, four jetskies, four snowmobiles, and several ATVs. As fit for a superyacht , it also has a pool and a jacuzzi, double master suites, a helipad and garage.
That being said, it looks like the folks at SCS Software plan to introduce some elements from their older 18 Wheels of Steel games into its upcoming American Truck Simulator Montana DLC. The developer revealed this week that one of the locations players could visit in of the 18 Wheels of Steel series games, Extreme Trucker 2, was the U.S. state of Montana Since this is also the current map expansion the studio is working on for American Truck Simulator, SCS Software decided to revisit some of the iconic areas in their upcoming DLC. One of these locations is Thompson Falls, a quiet city in Montana, best known for its breathtaking scenery and its waterfalls.The same location was featured in 18 Wheels of Steel where truckers could visit it for its logging and sawmill industries, and both which will still continue to operate virtually to this day in the upcoming Montana DLC.Thompson Falls has been recreated along with its industries using similar and reworked assets from the 18 Wheels of Steel game. Additionally, SCS Software confirmed that the Montana DLC would feature quite a few hidden 18 Wheels of Steel easter eggs around the map.In other news, SCS Software announced that this year, for a limited time, the Easter-themed activity will reward clues regarding future content coming to Euro Truck Simulator 2 instead of sweet treats. Players will just have to find the eggs hidden around various maps in both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, so good hunting!
Baldoni's most notable role is Rafael on CW's award-winning phenomenon "Jane the Virgin." Moreover, his most recent book, "Man Enough," is a bestseller nationwide. Last year, he commissioned the renowned builder Modern Tiny Living to make the mobile home a reality. Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Modern Tiny Living is known for designing smaller dwellings that last.The company's models have been featured in popular shows on HGTV, the DIY Network, FOX, and NBC. Over the years, the builder has created several constructions that maximize both comfort and style, and Baldoni's tiny house follows the same pattern.Called Ojai, this tiny home is a variation of the company's Kokosing model, which measures 24 ft (7.3 meters) in length and it's 8.6-ft (2.6 meters) wide. Introduced back in 2017, Kokosing is one of the most popular small dwellings designed by Modern Tiny Living. With 260 sq ft (24 sq meters) of living space, it has enough room for four people. Every inch was designed to offer clever storage solutions, and it's packed with amenities.So naturally, the famous actor was drawn to this tiny, which he wanted to turn into a home on wheels for his family in California. Ojai has a similar layout to Kokosing. However, it doesn't feature the same blue accents that we've seen inside the original build.Instead, the white walls nicely contrast the wood elements that fill up the home. Right as you step inside, you're greeted by an open living area that makes the interior seem surprisingly spacious. On the right side of the house is the living room, which has a U-shaped couch with built-in storage that converts into a full-size bed.On the left is the kitchen. This area comes complete with generous butcher block countertops and custom cabinetry. It has stainless steel appliances such as a large sink with a retractable faucet, a three-burner cooktop, and a full-sized refrigerator. It also includes a breakfast nook.On the opposite side, you'll see a custom staircase with built-in storage that leads to the loft (to maximize space, most of Modern Tiny Living's constructions have a loft). That's where the master bedroom is, which has a large bed and plenty of room to move around.Right under the loft is the bathroom. This area is separated from the kitchen via a wooden barn-style door. It doesn't look as spacious as the rest of the house, but it has everything one would need, including a sink with vanity, a fiberglass shower, and a flush toilet. There's also an exhaust fan that helps eliminate excess moisture or any unwanted odors.Other features included are an electric wall heater with a thermostat and an electric tankless water heater. Modern Tiny Living doesn't offer a price for Ojai , but it's worth noting that the model it is based on, the Kokosing, starts at $79,000.However, pricing for each home can differ depending on the customer's needs. You can change the appliances and furniture and add different finishes. You can also include a solar power package if you wish to live off the grid (but that would cost you $20,000 more).And if you can't decide, you can always take inspiration from Baldoni's beautiful tiny house Ojai. Take a look at the clip down below to see what this mobile home has to offer.
But all of that could have happened a lot sooner, had some earlier plans come to pass. Back in the 1990s, for instance, the American space agency devised something called the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI).SEI included something called the First Lunar Outpost, a program meant to launch a crew to the Moon in the 2010s, partially with the purpose of establishing a habitat there. The rocket meant to launch the program into space came to be known as the Comet.Comet was to be a super heavy-lift launch vehicle (SHLLV), loosely based on the Saturn V that placed Americans on the Moon during the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s. It, of course, was to employ new engines, larger fuel tanks, and, unlike the Saturn, side boosters.The proposed specs of the Comet said it would be capable of carrying into trans-lunar injection orbit two times the weight Saturn V was capable of carrying. Furthermore, later variants, potentially nuclear-powered, were supposed to be able to launch humans all the way to Mars Like a lot of other big plans from whatever field of human activity, a series of factors conspired to kill the SEI, and with it the First Lunar Outpost and the Comet. That means we never got to see it fly, let alone achieve what it was designed to achieve.Now, thanks to an animation specialist called Hazegrayart , the Comet comes to life, even if for just five minutes or so, to shed light on a past that never was. Enjoy it below.
For over a century, gasoline and diesel engines have ruled the automotive world. This is set to change in the following decades thanks to the reemergence of EVs, but before we got to that point, there were many other attempts to replace the aforementioned powerplants with more efficient forms of propulsion.One of the most interesting alternatives was the gas turbine unit (aka. jet engine), which began revolutionizing the aerospace industry shortly after the Second World War. During the same period, carmakers also began to experiment with this technology, leading to several functional prototypes. In the U.S., the most famous example is the 1963 Ghia-bodied Chrysler Turbine Car . Produced in 302 units, it was tested on public roads for three years, as part of a comprehensive user program, and almost made it into series production.However, the first fully functional jet-powered car was built in England thirteen years earlier. Presented to the public in the spring of 1950, the Rover JET1 was an open two-seat tourer that proved the feasibility of such an engine and convinced management to continue investing in the project that would culminate with a fascinating Le Mans prototype By the early-1960s, Rover had built its fourth gas turbine prototype, dubbed T4. In 1962, a year after its introduction, the car made its way to France where it completed a demo lap of the legendary track, before the start of that years race.The story goes that the organizers were so impressed with the T4 that, for the 1963 race, they decided to offer a special prize of 250,000 francs to any gas turbine-powered race car that could complete a minimum of 3,600 km (2,237 miles) in 24 hours.Rover engineers saw this as the perfect opportunity to promote their novel engine, so they partnered up with Formula 1 team British Racing Motors to develop a worthy Le Mans racer.Based on a modified F1 chassis fitted with an open-cockpit aluminum body , the car came together in just a few months. Mounted in the rear was a 2S/150 gas turbine engine that idled at 28,000 rpm and could reach up to 55,000 rpm. As opposed to the conventional cars which were limited to 109-liter (29 gal) cells, the organizers allowed the Britons to use a larger, 218-liter (58 gal) fuel tank which was filled with paraffin oil.A couple of months before it was completed, the Rover-BRM was transported to France for the race. Donning number 00, it ran as an unofficial experimental entry with BRMs Formula 1 drivers Graham Hill and Richie Ginther taking turns behind the wheel.Achieving close to 240 kph (149 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight, the car completed 310 laps and covered a total of 4,165 km (2,588 mi), winning the organizers prize. Not only did the Rover-BRM finish the race, but, if officially classified, it would have earned 8th place overall.Encouraged by the result, the team returned to England determined to improve the car and return to Le Mans for the 1964 24-hour race. In the following months, it received a completely new, closed-cockpit body and a revised 150-hp 2S/150R turbine engine complete with ceramic heat exchangers that dramatically reduced fuel consumption.With all the new hardware, the vehicle was deemed eligible for official entry in the 2.0-liter class, gaining competition number 26.Sadly, after one of the practice sessions in France, the Land Rover tow truck crashed, and the race car was seriously damaged. Unable to repair it in time, the team had to retire from the event.A year later, the Rover-BRM was back on the Circuit de la Sarthe as an official entry. This time, the practice and qualifying sessions ended with no incidents, and Graham Hill, along with future Formula 1 champion Jackie Steward, was ready for the big race.Among the sea of Ferraris and Ford GT40s, the British turbine car had a promising start, hovering around the top ten, but as the race progressed, the engine started overheating . Due to this issue, engineers were forced to reduce power levels, so Hill and Steward were not able to harness the cars full potential.Despite this, the Rover-BRM racer managed to end the race, securing 12th place overall and second in its category. This was an outstanding feat for a jet-powered vehicle developed from scratch just three years earlier.After Le Mans, the car toured the worlds most famous auto shows and was subsequently used for various endurance tests on public roads. In 1974, the Rover-BRM was retired from active duty, and its currently displayed at the Heritage Motor Centre located in Gaydon, Warwickshire.Eight years ago, after a comprehensive restoration was completed , the iconic Rover-BRM returned to Le Mans where it gathered huge crowds. In the video below by candscmagazine you can watch (and hear) its experimental powerplant being fired up.Although the gas turbine engine never revolutionized the automotive industry, this fascinating British prototype went down in history as the first jet-powered race car to ever compete at Le Mans.
NHTSA

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

You read that right. Instead of sticking to the defect Tesla disclosed some Model S vehicles had, European authorities seem to have investigated it and determined that it also affects the Model 3, which means that the entry-level Tesla can also have its frunk opening all of a sudden at highway speeds.This is the defect description available on Safety Gate:At high speeds, the air inlet between the bonnet and the radiator grill causes vibrations in the hood. This can result in stress fractures along the bonnet latch striker and its separation from the bonnet, causing the bonnet to open. This obstructs the drivers view, increasing the risk of an accident.The recall information only discloses that the issue affects cars made from 2014 until 2021, suggesting a substantial number of affected units. Some figures emerged, but we have not managed to confirm them yet. According to them, there are 84,147 Model Ss and 359,329 Model 3s with the defect, for a total of 443,476 EVs.The report suggests all these vehicles came from Fremont, which would exclude the Model 3 made in China. However, Tesla started exporting the Chinese Model 3 to Europe in October 2020. As vehicles made in 2021 are also included, either that refers to cars still exported from the U.S. or Giga Shanghai is also affected by the issue.We checked Chinas SAMR (State Administration for Market Regulation) for information on a similar recall, and there is nothing there about this problem. It may be a matter of time, or Giga Shanghai may prove once again that it has better quality control measures than Fremont.If you remember, the original problem with the Model S was caused by an assembly error. In Part 573 Safety Recall Report coded 21V-00B ) explains that the latch assembly may be aligned too far rearward, causing the secondary latch to eventually fail to hold the frunk lid.The European description of the problem suggests a design problem. It is the gap between the frunk latch and the front grille  not the radiator grille, which EVs do not have  that causes vibrations and stress fractures that make the frunk lid eventually open. We do not need to tell you the effects this can have on a vehicle traveling at highway speeds.With this information, we could be in front of two different recalls or the same one, which European authorities investigated and determined to have more reasons than those Tesla disclosed to NHTSA in December. Well try to determine which of these hypotheses is the correct one.
Palmdale, CA (93550)

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Plenty of sunshine with gusty winds developing this afternoon. High 67F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

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Clear to partly cloudy. Low 39F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
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Ukraine on Friday created nine humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave conflict-affected areas, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.

The safe routes were established to allow civilians to flee Mariupol city in the eastern Donetsk region and Berdyansk, Tokmak and Energodar towns in the southern Zaporizhzhia region via private transport.

Besides, the Ukrainian authorities will evacuate civilians from five towns and villages in the eastern Luhansk region.

On Thursday, 2,557 people were evacuated from conflict-affected areas in Ukraine.
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Email Dan Walters of CalMatters at dan@calmatters.org. CalMatters is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Walters, go to calmatters.org/dan-walters.
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Transferring massive weapons to Ukraine, massing a large number of troops in eastern Europe, and welcoming Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, NATO has been very much engaged itself so far in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Analysts say NATO's disregard of Russia's legitimate concerns on security issues and its continuous expansion is the root cause of the outbreak and escalation of this conflict. If it continues to slim down the small buffer zone left between Russia and itself, the situation will undoubtedly go worse.

DEPLOYMENT IN THE EAST

NATO's eastern flank usually refers to the three Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.

Before the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, NATO deployed one combat force in each of the three Baltic countries and Poland, and implemented a rotation mechanism with non-permanent garrison troops there.

But for now, NATO doubles the size of the four above-mentioned combat forces and declared four new NATO battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia at the NATO summit held last month.

NATO is seen by many as a Cold War vestige, and has been questioned over the necessity of its existence after the end of the Cold War.

The military alliance promised in the 1990s that it would not expand "one inch eastward," according to then U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. However, led by the United States, NATO has expanded eastward five times since 1999, increasing the number of member countries from 16 to 30, advancing more than 1,000 km eastward, and reaching the Russian border.

RECRUITMENT IN THE NORTH

In addition to strengthening deployments on the eastern flank, NATO is also recruiting new members on the north wing. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly said that if Finland and Sweden apply to join NATO, NATO will welcome them and ensure that their entrance will be accepted soon.

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Stoltenberg said that the alliance is "in the midst of a very fundamental transformation" that will reflect "the long-term consequences" of Russia's military operation.

Both Finland and Sweden have long pursued a policy of military non-alignment. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, NATO has failed to win over the two countries several times.

But now Finland and Sweden made some changes in their positions in face of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, delivering anti-tank weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.

Some analysts point out that before the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia had repeatedly confirmed and confided its red line to both the United States and NATO, for which both showed a total disregard. If NATO continues to fan the flames such as taking in new members, it will lead to further escalation of the situation.

CONFRONTATIONAL GESTURE

When answering a question about the prospect of the countries which may join NATO, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Monday that further expansion of NATO, including the admission of Finland and Sweden into the alliance, will not contribute to security in Europe.

"In itself, the alliance is rather a tool sharpened for confrontation. This is not an alliance that ensures peace and stability. Further expansion of the alliance, of course, will not bring additional security to the European continent," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Dmitry Belik, a member of Russia's State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said on Monday that NATO seeks to build up its military presence near the Russian borders, but the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO will not benefit these countries, and "Russia will not watch this indifferently."

"This issue seriously affects our security, so we will be forced to take retaliatory steps," he told the Izvestia newspaper.

"The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO puts them in a very difficult position," he added.

According to military expert Viktor Litovkin, in the event that Finland and Sweden decide to join NATO, Russia will justifiably strengthen the Russian-Finnish border, as well as the entire water area of the Gulf of Finland.

"Russia will have to strengthen ground forces and air defense, deploy significant naval forces in the Gulf of Finland in the event of Finland and Sweden joining the alliance," the expert noted.
Beaumont ISD has developed two new approaches in the battle to improve student performance at Homer Drive and Martin elementary schools.

The models are intended to serve as a way for the district to improve its campuses' performance without the need of partnerships with charter schools.

BISD has enlisted the help of charter operators to improve performance at Fehl-Price Elementary, Jones-Clark Elementary, Smith Middle and King Middle.

But now, the district is looking to eliminate the need for such partnerships to improve performance.

RELATED: BISD selects charter partner for MLK Middle School

"We in the innovation office, our priorities are to identify highly-effective school models that we can bring to our system to drive improvement toward our board goals," said district Chief Innovation Officer Anetra Cheatham. "Our North Star goal is to increase the number of A and B rated schools from two to eight by 2025."

As of the last Texas Education Agency rating for the 2018-19 school year, two out of 27 district's schools are rated A or B -- Early College High School and Odom Academy, respectively.

Campuses and districts across the state have not been rated for the past two years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"We want to expand (the number of A and B campuses), of course," Cheatham said. "So, we're identifying school models that can support us in also getting campuses off of the F and D school improvement framework."

RELATED: BISD, Green Dot Public Schools partnership not a takeover

Those models are Accelerating Campus Excellence, implemented at Homer Drive Elementary, and Transcend, implemented at Martin Elementary.

For the 2018-19 school year, Homer and Martin were both rated as failing campuses.

"They were first-year F's on the accountability rating system," Cheatham said. "Of course, those scores have not changed due to COVID. However, we want to be proactive in our response."

Cheatham said once a school logs four consecutive years of low performance, the district is forced to look at external operators to avoid closure of the campus.

RELATED: More than 270 open positions in Beaumont school district

"We don't ever want to be in that type of scenario where we're making that choice," she said. "We want to be proactive in our school redesign."

The ACE model was chosen for Homer Drive because its pillars target specific issues the school has faced, Cheatham said.

"The first pillar is strategic staffing," she said. "The second is (the) instructional excellence pillar where there (are) high-quality instructional materials and extended-learning opportunities. So, the school day is extended by an additional hour. There's also the social emotional learning pillar because it focuses on the whole child and not just the academic needs -- we know our children have substantial social (and) emotional needs that contribute to their performance in school. And then parent involvement and community engagement are the next area of focus."

Cheatham said strategic staffing is one of the more important pillars for Homer Drive.

RELATED: Homer Drive Elementary sees admin shakeup

"We're changing principals and staff is reapplying," she said. "It uses a data-driven process to make sure there's equitable staffing. What we see oftentimes in low-performing campuses is that they have teachers that are ... less experienced -- there's different things and factors that we see."

Strategic staffing ensures that the most effective teachers are teaching the students who need it the most, Cheatham said.

Under this model, all employees at Homer Drive, except for custodial and maintenance workers, have to reapply to work at the school.

Principal Belinda George announced she would be leaving the school at the end of the year, though did not give a specific reason as to why. Assistant Principal Felicia Cooper's position is also posted on the district's job listings site, but it is unclear whether she resigned her position or will move somewhere else within the district.

RELATED: King Middle principal to resign at end of school year

"(Teachers') prior performance and track record with student achievement is taken into consideration to see if they continue on with the model," Cheatham said.

Cheatham noted that teachers who are not selected to work under the ACE model at Homer will not be terminated and instead will be placed in other campuses in the district.

"The re-application process is also connected to this idea that they're working an additional hour per day, and they have a track record of success with students," she said. "They're incentivized to stay and work the program with substantial stipend of up to $8,500 per year."

Cheatham said Homer already has a strong foundation to succeed under this model and that the district expects to see academic improvement in the next couple of years.

RELATED: 27 Beaumont educators named 'Teachers of the Year'

The Transcend program at Martin Elementary, while similar to that of Homer, differs in its academic layout.

"The academic model does focus on a blended learning approach, more individualized instruction and customization, the use of high quality instructional materials -- changing the resources just like at Homer," Cheatham said.

Martin has had difficulty with student achievement and mastery in the past, but the data-driven approach to target where students are struggling should help, Cheatham said.

Cheatham said Transcend also will target strengthening and increasing community involvement at Martin.

RELATED: 7 Questions with...BISD Assistant Superintendent Anita Frank

"We know at Martin we need a much stronger investment from their community," she said. "Some of the things that we see that are more of a given at other campuses, we need to build on for Martin. The community members themselves come and identify what our strengths are, where our gaps are, what can they contribute and help to redesign."

The model will also implement a section of the school day called the "passion block," which will allow Martin students to studey topics that students are interested in learning about, such as different trade fields and potential careers.

"That will happen on Fridays on a rotational basis, and we think that will also drive more investment into that campus, help them build, while also focusing on individual student learning needs and the whole child being represented," Cheatham said.

RELATED: BISD welcoming 'newcomers' with new center

The Transcend model does not include the strategic staffing pillar that the ACE model does because it is not seen as a need for the Martin campus, Cheatham said.

While four Beaumont ISD campuses are being operated by external partners, it is not the district's vision for that to be the case in the long run, Cheatham said.

"(It is our vision) to come up with our own innovative programs that are district led and run so that we maintain full operation of our other campuses," she said. "We have a district strategy that drives improvement that doesn't require the use of a partner."

olivia.malick@hearst.com

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Fran Ruchalski, The Enterprise / The Enterprise

Lamar State College Orange wants to give students financial relief, particularly as the area continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

New and returning students will have the opportunity to enroll in two summer courses for free during the summer 2022 semester.
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A former personal assistant to Amber Heard said she never saw the actress suffer any physical abuse at the hands of then-husband Johnny Depp  but she said Heard once spit in her face when she asked for a higher salary.

Heard descended into screaming fits of blind rage, sent incoherent text messages at 4 a.m. and was often drunk and high on illegal drugs, Kate James testified in a video deposition that was played in court Thursday during the trial for Depp's libel suit against Heard.

Depp, on the other hand, was very calm, almost shy, "like a total Southern gentleman, James said.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor has accused Heard of indirectly defaming him in a 2018 opinion piece that she wrote for The Washington Post. Heard refers to herself in the article as a public figure representing domestic abuse. The piece doesnt name Depp. But his attorneys argue that it clearly references a restraining order that Heard sought in May 2016, right after Depp told her he wanted a divorce.

Depp denies abusing Heard, but Heard's lawyers say evidence will prove that he did. The actor's denials, they argue, lack credibility because he frequently drank and used drugs to the point of blacking out and failing to remember anything he did.

The video testimony from James offered an inverse view: Depp was the peaceful one, she said, while Heard was frequently intoxicated and verbally abusive, including to her own mother and sister.

Her poor sister was treated like a dog that you kicked, basically, James said.

James, who worked for Heard from 2012 to 2015, said she was paid very poorly. She said she was hired with an initial salary of $25 an hour and that her duties ranged from picking up Heard's dry cleaning to talking with the actress's Hollywood agents.

James said she also was tasked with picking up two copies of any magazine that featured Heard and storing them in the garage to prevent Depp from seeing them. Heard went into a blind rage when James failed to place the magazines in the garage, James said.

Regarding Heard and Depp's time together, James said Heard was a very dramatic person who was deeply insecure in the relationship. Heard often called James to cry and complain about Depp, she said.

I remember one time she called me when she was alone in New York City, and she was crying and walking around the streets," James said. She said she told Heard to go inside: "I was worried that the paparazzi might take a photo of her.

Some of the deposition focused on a text message that Depp had sent to James after he and Heard split up. Depp's text read: Come over for a spot of purple and we'll fix her flabby ass nice and good.

A lawyer asked if spot of purple meant wine and whether her meant Heard. James said she didn't want to speculate.

This is the way he writes, James said of Depp. It's very random and you don't sort of question it. ... He writes in a very abstract way.

Lawyers also presented a video deposition of Laurel Anderson, a couples therapist who worked with Heard and Depp in 2015, when they were ages 29 and 52, respectively.

Anderson said both suffered childhood abuse. As a couple, they were engaged in mutual abuse," she testified.

Heards father beat her, Anderson said, adding, It was a point of pride to her if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight.

Heard would also rather be in a fight with Depp than see him leave, and would strike him to keep him there, Anderson said.

The therapist recalled a time when Heard told her that Depp was stepping up, as she would say, on a lot of drugs."

And she slapped him because he was being incoherent and talking about being with another woman, Anderson said. She noted that Depps mother was in the hospital at the time.

Anderson said Depp told her that Heard gave as good as she got. She also said that in at least one session in which she saw Heard alone, the actress told her that Depp hit her. She said Heard showed her bruises, both in photos and in person.

Anderson said Heard also told her that Depp at one point allegedly said, "No one likes you. Youre getting fame from me. Im falling out of love with you. Youre a whore.

Anderson also said that Heards jackhammer style of talking and habit of cutting off Depp overwhelmed him.

Heard wanted to want to divorce but also didn't, and was still figuring out what to do, Anderson said. She loved him. He loved her. She wasnt stupid. She knew that what they were doing wasnt healthy.

Both Depp and Heard are expected to testify at the trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court, scheduled for six weeks, along with actors Paul Bettany and James Franco and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

__

This story has been edited to correct a word in Anderson's quote to jackhammer," not chat-hammer."
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  The Indiana State Fair will celebrate the state's automotive heritage this year.

Fairgoers can expect to see iconic, celebrity cars from movies and books and world-class classic car collections showcasing Indiana-made vehicles, the fair announced this past week.

During the first decades of the twentieth century, more than 250 automobile manufacturers opened in Indiana, including Duesenberg, Stutz, Cord, Auburn, and Studebaker, according to Indiana Landmarks, a historic preservation group.

This year's fair will run from Friday, July 29, through Sunday, Aug. 21. It's closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
DARTMOUTH, Mass. (AP)  Three police officers have been hailed for their bravery for rescuing two people from a car that ran off the roadway into a lake in southeastern Massachusetts.

The officers were responding to a report of a vehicle in the water late Friday night in the town of Dartmouth, immediately east of Fall River.
Updated at 6:53 ET on 2022-04-17

President Joe Biden will meet with Southeast Asian leaders in Washington for a special U.S.-ASEAN summit next month, the White House announced Saturday.

The meeting in mid-May will take place amid tensions in the South China Sea, divisions among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over its response to the crisis in post-coup Myanmar, and the lack of a collective condemnation by the bloc of Russias invasion of Ukraine  a stark contrast to the Wests condemnation of it.

President Biden will host the Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washington, DC on May 12 and 13 for a U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Cambodia, the 2022 holder of the ASEAN chairmanship, confirmed the new dates for the summit.

During this historic meeting, the Leaders of ASEAN and the United States will chart the future direction of ASEAN-U.S. relations and seek to further enhance strategic partnership for the mutual benefits of the peoples of ASEAN and the United States, Phnom Penh said in a statement issued Sunday.

The U.S.-ASEAN summit was originally scheduled for the end of March but was postponed because scheduling for the meeting ran into trouble when the facilitating country, Indonesia, could not get all ASEAN members to agree on a date.

Next months meeting will be the second special summit between Washington and the Southeast Asian bloc since 2016 and the first in-person one since 2017, Cambodia said.

The Special Summit will demonstrate the United States enduring commitment to ASEAN, recognizing its central role in delivering sustainable solutions to the regions most pressing challenges, and commemorate 45 years of U.S.-ASEAN relations, Psaki said.

The summit is also set to happen a few days after a general election in the Philippines to determine who will succeed Rodrigo Duterte as president of the longtime U.S. defense ally at the frontline of territorial disputes with Beijing over the South China Sea.

During his nearly six years in office, however, Duterte has fostered closer relations with China despite diplomatic protests lodged by Manila over intrusions by Chinese coast guard ships and other vessels in waters within the Philippines exclusive economic zone.

Balancing power

The U.S. sees Southeast Asia as crucial to its efforts to push back against Chinas rising power in the South China Sea and across the Indo-Pacific region.

It is a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration to serve as a strong, reliable partner in Southeast Asia. Our shared aspirations for the region will continue to underpin our common commitment to advance an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, secure, connected, and resilient, Psaki said.

The Biden administration announced the new dates for the summit more than two weeks after the American president met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the White House, where they discussed the South China Sea, among other issues.

From our point of view, freedom of navigation is important, international law is important, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] is also important, and peaceful resolution of disputes so you avoid some accidental conflicts, Lee said during an event at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on March 30, a day after his meeting with Biden.

Myanmar crisis

ASEAN, meanwhile, has been grappling with a 14-month-old crisis in bloc member Myanmar, where the Burmese juntas forces have bombed and burned swathes of the country to quell resistance to the militarys overthrow of an elected government in February 2021.

In late March, the junta blocked ASEAN envoy Prak Sokhonn from meeting with deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his three-day visit to Myanmar, despite its pledge to grant him access to all political stakeholders, Prak, the Cambodian foreign minister, told reporters upon returning to Phnom Penh.

At the end of an emergency meeting of ASEAN leaders in April last year, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief who led the coup, agreed to allow an envoy from the Southeast Asian bloc access to all stakeholders in Myanmar as part of a Five-Point Consensus to end the political crisis in his country.

Apart from the Myanmar crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has tested ASEAN unity.

In early March, the bloc as a whole issued a statement calling for a ceasefire but without naming Russia or using the word invasion. Meanwhile on March 2, most ASEAN member-states  except for Vietnam and Laos, which abstained  supported a much tougher U.N. General Assembly resolution against Moscow.
Habiba Amini knows a good opportunity when she sees one. Amini's workshop, more of a small factory really, was opened by Mawlawi Qudratullah Tareq, mayor of Mazar-i-Sharif couple of weeks ago.

"So far, I've created new jobs for 40 seamstresses," she told Xinhua recently. Amini likes to see women given the freedom to work outside home, and is more than thankful to the mayor for supporting her and other women who want or need to work. If they do not work, their families could go hungry.

The Rabia Balkhi Bazaar is the only market in Mazar-i-Sharif city where women run their own businesses, most shops and eateries.

"Mayor Tariq is very supportive. He understands the role of women within his capacity, and is ready to solve their problems if he can," Amini spoke happily.

More than 22 million people face outright hunger in today's Afghanistan, according to aid agencies reports.

Since the Taliban gained power last August, questions have been asked about the status of working women. Business is gradually reviving and the administration has assured openness to companies and individuals invested in the country.

Zahra Sediqi, a 40-year-old female worker at Amini's workshop, has six young mouths to feed at home. "I am very happy to be working here," she said, "I can feed my children, and I have always enjoyed embroidery and making handicrafts."

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
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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.
Allen Harris is the owner of Berkshire Money Management in Dalton. He can be reached at aharris@berkshiremm.com.
PITTSFIELD  A judge has dismissed the manslaughter case brought against two local foster parents in connection with the death of an infant in their care.

In a 17-page ruling Monday, Superior Court Judge John Agostini called the evidence against Matthew Tucker and Cassandra Barlow-Tucker circumstantial and not particularly strong, and found the office of Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington failed to present to the grand jury sufficient evidence to support the indictments.

Agostini said prosecutors downplayed statements favorable to the Tuckers and attacked the couples character, leaving grand jurors with a hopelessly slanted view of the Tuckers.

The judge chastised the DAs office for introducing evidence to grand jurors he said had little, or nothing, do with the Tuckers alleged culpability in the infants death, but was instead intended simply to portray them as angry and inept foster parents.

This is not the standard of conduct the court expects from the Commonwealth in grand jury proceedings, Agostini wrote.

Agostini allowed separate motions to dismiss filed by Tucker and Barlow-Tucker. A hearing on the motion happened Feb. 28. The case was prosecuted by Harrington and Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Ilberg-Lamm.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted, Harrington said at the couples arraignment. In remarks in front of the courthouse in April 2021, Harrington said the childs death was preventable.

The Berkshire District Attorneys Office is seeking justice. No child should die because a caregiver failed to provide basic medical care, she said.

Defense lawyer Jill Sheldon, who represented Tucker at his arraignment, said at the time that the couple was heartbroken by the childs death and was shocked to learn they were to be charged. She called the prosecution an appalling scapegoating of these two very lovely individuals and said that when the couple was vindicated Im hoping ... there will be an apology from the District Attorneys office for all of this thats happening to this family.

Case background

A Berkshire County grand jury on March 23, 2021, handed up indictments charging Tucker and Barlow-Tucker with involuntary manslaughter involving neglect of legal duty and reckless endangerment in the death of Kristoff Zenopolous.

Zenopolous was born on April 17, 2019, with methadone and cocaine in his system, according to Agostinis ruling. The infant was removed from his birth mothers custody in October 2019 and placed in foster care with another woman.

In late November 2019, Zenopolous developed hives, congestion, a cough and eczema, Agostini wrote. A doctor at Berkshire Pediatrics in Pittsfield suspected the infant may be allergic to his then-foster mothers dog, so Zenopolous received a new placement with the Tuckers.

The Tuckers were certified foster parents who had cared for about 20 other foster children and had four children of their own, Agostini said, two of whom were biological, and two they adopted in November 2019 after they were placed with the Tuckers by DCF.

Zenopolous was brought to the Tuckers Adams home on December 5, 2019, by a DCF social worker, Lauren Miller. Later that day, the infants social worker, Danielle Costa, went to their home to discuss Zenopolous background with his new foster parents.

But according to Agostinis ruling, Costa did not bring with her two necessary pieces of paperwork. Those documents were a DCF placement agreement and a family service plan. That plan, the judge said, was particularly important, because it stipulated who was responsible for bringing the child to doctor appointments.

Quote The question of the medical care the child received was central to the case.

The question of the medical care the child received was central to the case.

Miller, the social worker, took the infant to a doctors appointment at Berkshire Pediatrics on Dec. 10, 2019. The child had a wheeze, and his doctor suspected it could be allergies, asthma, or a cold, and prescribed an Albuterol nebulizer. The doctor wanted to identify what was making Zenopolous wheeze, and scheduled a follow-up appointment for Dec. 18, 2019.

Meantime, Barlow-Tucker reported that Zenopolous seemed to be responding well to the nebulizer, a device that delivers the medication in aerosol form.

Dec. 18, 2019, came and went, and Zenopolous was not taken to the doctor, according to the ruling. Barlow-Tucker reached out to Halima Young, a DCF supervisor, two days later, and Young said shed check on the appointment.

Costa and Miller reported that theyd told Barlow-Tucker about the appointment. However, Agostini wrote that no one scheduled a replacement follow-up appointment or mentioned the missed appointment again.

In January 2020, Barlow-Tucker asked Young for the important paperwork the family had not received, Agostini wrote, and also asked for Zenopolous medical care to be transferred to a doctors office closer to the Tuckers home, at Northern Berkshire Pediatrics in North Adams.

After the infants death, Young told state police she did not know whether the Tuckers ever received that paperwork, and expressed that she was unsure but did not believe that Barlow-Tuckers request for a new medical provider for Zenopolous went through.

Missing paperwork

In an email to four DCF workers who were involved with Zenopolous, Barlow-Tucker checked in on her request for Zenopolous to start seeing a doctor in North Adams, and asked again about the missing paperwork. That email was recorded by DCF on Jan. 10, 2020, and in it, Barlow-Tucker also reported that the infant had a good appetite, was scooting and crawling, and described him as an incredibly happy little guy.

The Tuckers received visits from Rhonda Adams, with Early Interventions, three times in January, according to Agostinis ruling. Adams last visit that month was on Jan. 30, 2020, when she made a note that the infant appeared well.

Several members of the Tucker family were sick at the time. During the first two weeks of February, Zenopolous was tired, had trouble drinking, was coughing and breathing noisily, and had a fever, the judge wrote.

The Tuckers believed the infant had the same cold as their other children, but was taking longer to kick it. So they gave Zenopolous childrens Motrin and Tylenol, put drops of water in his mouth to try to keep him hydrated, and kept up with the nebulizer treatments as prescribed.

Adams visited the Tuckers again on Feb. 14, 2020, according to the ruling. She watched Barlow-Tucker give Zenopolous, who had a runny nose and a cough, his nebulizer treatment, and suggested the infant may need to go to a doctor.

Even though the medical transfer hadnt been approved, the Tuckers decided they would take Zenopolous to one of their other childrens doctors if the childs symptoms didnt ease by the weekend of Feb. 15 and Feb. 16, 2020, according to the ruling.

But Zenopolous seemed to improve and on Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, he was more energetic and was eating well. One of the couples older children put Zenopolous to bed that night in a room where the parents had installed a motion- and sound-activated camera, enabled so they could check on the children with their smartphones.

The camera picked up Zenopolous coughing and wheezing around 7 p.m. when Tucker went into the bedroom to put another of the couples children to bed.

Barlow-Tucker found Zenopolous dead in his crib with vomit on his face at 8:37 a.m. the morning of Feb. 18, 2020. Thinking the child may have aspirated overnight, she started CPR while Tucker called 911. EMTs and police arrived and confirmed the infant was dead.

Medical examiner Irini Scordi-Bello determined the infant died from complications of strep throat and pneumonia, and that fluid had collected in his lungs. Scordi-Bello said the condition didnt have to do with the suspected asthma or allergies.

The doctor believed that based on the cause of death, the infant would have been feverish, lethargic and having trouble breathing on and off, but couldnt say whether those things would be readily apparent to a parent or observer.

Agostini said the medical examiners testimony was conspicuously unhelpful to the prosecution.

Since others in the household were sick at the same time with typical flu symptoms, an ordinary parent without professional medical training or expertise would have difficulty recognizing Zenopolous condition as symptomatic of a massive infection, the judge said.

Agostini also noted that two different social workers visited with Zenopolous on three occasions in late January and early February, and didnt think his medical condition was concerning enough to seek help right away from DCF.

Grand jury presentation

Judge Agostini took issue with some evidence prosecutors chose to present to the grand jury that he said was unrelated to the circumstances surrounding the infants death. Instead, the evidence served to paint a certain picture of the Tuckers as foster parents, and not a positive one.

Prosecutors showed grand jurors six blog posts totaling 70 pages that Barlow-Tucker had written about her experiences as a foster parent. In the posts, Barlow-Tucker expresses frustration and anger with DCF and the foster care system, and offers advice, according to the ruling.

Among the topics she wrote about were a former foster son about 4 years old who had behavioral issues. She addressed the hardships of caring for a child with a weak immune system.

She also wrote a post in 2017, when she was caring for two foster children, and expressed how one of them felt like family, but care for the other felt like a job.

Her posts about the child were distressing and gut-wrenching at times, Agostini wrote, and placing them before the grand jury eliminated any chance that the defendants were going to receive a fair hearing.

Quote "Placing [blog posts] before the grand jury eliminated any chance that the defendants were going to receive a fair hearing." Judge John Agostini

Barlow-Tuckers last blog post was in February 2018, according to the ruling. State police Sgt. Ryan Dickinson testified that DCF had taken disciplinary action against the couple for violating a policy that Agostini said related to privacy. But Agostini said their failure to protect their foster childrens privacy in that case was unrelated to the question of whether they committed a crime involving Zenopolous death.

Prosecutors also presented evidence, via Dickinsons testimony, about DCF payments the Tuckers received to support Zenopolous, which included a $1,054 overpayment disbursed after the infants death that Dickinson said the Tuckers had to pay back.

Agostini said the testimony amounted to the suggestion that the Tuckers had knowingly defrauded the government, a suggestion that he said painted a grim, yet apparently unsupported, picture of the couple as being more interested in money than the childs welfare.

Calling it an emotional case, Agostini wrote that prosecutors presented evidence that invited the grand jury to indict not because the Tuckers acted wantonly or recklessly, but because they were made to be perceived as greedy and despicably neglectful, irresponsible and uncaring foster parents who had it out for DCF.

Further, the Tuckers DCF family resource social worker, Kim Simon, told state police that the couple was among the most conscientious, engaging and forthcoming foster parents shed worked with. However, Agostini said her statements were on a disk that was submitted but not played to the grand jury.
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NORTH ADAMS A plan to address accessibility issues at the citys police and fire department building is more than two years overdue to the states Architectural Access Board.

In November, the Architectural Access Board, which enforces accessibility laws in public buildings, fined the city $8,150 and ordered it to submit a bond of $10,000 that would be returned when it submitted temporary remediation plans for the building and a plan for an accessible public bathroom.

The city never posted the bond, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday.

I was not aware of the assessment, said Macksey, who was not in office when the order was issued. It was just dropped on my desk a little while ago.

The fine was also not submitted, a board spokesperson said, and the board is sending an enforcement letter to the city and if the city does not reply, it will likely be called to another hearing.

In 2019, the public safety buildings roof was leaking and buckets caught rain in a firefighters bunkroom. The cost to fix the roof was more than 30 percent of the buildings value, triggering a requirement to make the building accessible.

The Architectural Access Board allowed the city to go ahead with the roof repair and forgo the accessibility requirements, on the condition that the city submitted a temporary remediation plan a few months later, according to the boards November order. That plan was never submitted, and the city was called before the board again in November 2021 for a fine hearing.

The fine could have been much higher, up to $1,000 per day for more than two years  which amounts to $8.9 million. But the board decided in November that would be unreasonable and imposed the much less expensive fee of $8,150 and ordered the city to submit the $10,000 bond until it created the temporary remediation plan.

The aging and inaccessible public safety building has long been an issue in North Adams.

The city has results from a study that examined several possible sites for a new building, Macksey told the council Tuesday, but state funding has not arrived.

In 2018, $1.2 million was authorized to put toward engineering, design and siting of a public safety facility in a state bill that includes, in total, about $3.9 billion for projects around the state. But funding for North Adams has not been released.

Macksey said she is working with the citys lawyer to devise a solution which may include moving, temporarily, the police department.
Voters in Lenox cast their ballots at Town Hall in May 2021. For columnist Bill Everhart, it is encouraging to have four races for Berkshire legislative seats this fall for the first time in recent memory.
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As we said "goodbye" to 2021, many did so enthusiastically. 2022 is now well underway with the early blooms of spring around us. Spring is a season of new beginnings, new life. You can smell itthe wet ground reawakening to life after newly fallen rain. You can see itthe early, colorful blooms punctuating the dull landscape that winter left behind. With so much observable promise, the coming of Easter is timely.

A Beautiful Prayer for Your Easter Sunday Celebration

I invite you to pray this prayer as we celebrate hope over discouragement, victory over defeat, and life over death through Christ this Easter:

Almighty God,

The reminder that you are Almighty is hope-filled this Easter.

So much has passed thats beyond our control due to the pandemic.

Yet we as believers can rest in the firm and certain knowledge that you will work all things for our good.

Scripture promises us that you are the good Potter.

We ask you to take the broken pieces of our lives and form something good,

Something to startle and amaze us

Like you startled the women at the tomb!

The women came to the tomb,

A place of decay and death, ready to meet you.

They went away instead with good news!

You had conquered the grave,

And you graft us into that moment, that promise, as your people today.

Transform us today through your power.

Forgive our sin,

Redeem the dead places in our lives,

And plant new seeds of life and hope.

May we live as an expectant people,

Bolstered by your grace.

Lord, where we are afraid, bring peace.

Where there is anger and division, bring humility and unity.

Where there is lack, bring your abundance.

We confess as your people:

Your spirit is alive and active

Give us the eyes to see it and the willingness to be used by it!

Christ, when you were on Earth, you said,

Blessed are those who believe, yet have not seen.

While we are not face to face with you like the disciples of old

We affirm that you are working, even now, to redeem your creation.

We affirm as your people:

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.

Could it be that we are uniquely poised to see you move in big ways

At such a time as this?

Release your Spirit and let it blow through our needy land.

Bind us together as one people in your service,

Use us as agents of your grace, and

Move mightily through your church.

For the world is hungry for what only You can provide.

Only You offer enduring peace.

Only You offer victorious hope.

Only You offer unconditional love.

And scripture promises that those you seek you will find you,

When they seek you with all their heart.

Hold our tender heart in Your strong hand.

Let us experience your Easter promise,

Face to face with your grace.

May your victory be our victory,

As we await the promise of all your glory,

Face to face in heaven. Amen.

Why Do We Celebrate Easter?

Easter is one of the two most important annual Christian holidays. The first is Christmas with the birth of the Christ child. The second is Easter, in which Christians celebrate Jesus resurrection from the dead. The holiday signifies Jesus victory over sin and death following his crucifixion, the fulfillment of Scriptures promise that Jesus would rise from the dead in three days, and the assurance of eternal life for all those who profess his name.

Easter marks the conclusion of Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday and marks Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It continues with Maundy Thursday when Jesus celebrates his last (Passover) supper with his disciples. It is punctuated by Good Friday, in which Christians remember Jesus death on the cross. The solemnity of that service is in sharp contrast to the celebratory hope of Easter just days later. Easter invites all believers into that same reversal, that same victory through Jesus Christ.

10 Easter Prayers from Scripture - Read and Pray Over These

Matthew 28:5-6a: The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

John 11:25-26: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"

Romans 6:9: For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

1 Peter 1:3: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

John 20:29: Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Isaiah 25:6-9: On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged winethe best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his peoples disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.

Psalm 118:17: I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

Additional/Longer Readings

John 20:1-18

Acts 10:34-43

Easter Challenge

The promises of Scripture convey enduring hope. But the story of Easter continues to unfold beyond Scriptures pages in the lives of those who follow Jesus. How has God shown you his enduring hope in your life? Can you recall a time that you have personally experienced his reversalvictory over defeat, life over death, joy over pain? The world is broken and hurting. One way that we can honor Christs Story is to share our storieslike this one.

Interestingly, the call to share our faith is integral to the Easter story. Jesus parting words to his disciples after his resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew read, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:1920). These words of Jesus are known as the Great Commission.

This Easter, as we receive Christs Easter blessings, lets also share them. The anger, division, and fear around us do not have to have the last word. The world is hungry for exactly what God can provide, and God alone can truly fill. As Christians, our privilege is two-fold. We are not only recipients of Gods grace, we can become agents of it for Gods glory.

To hear a heartfelt faith testimony, I invite you to watch my recent interview with Candace Cameron Bure on-demand here. Want another prayer? Check out my Easter table blessing.

Further Reading

25 Easter Prayers and Blessings to Give Thanks for Jesus Christ

A Prayer for Easter Morning (And 25 Bible Verses to Celebrate Easter)

Easter Prayers: Celebrate Resurrection Day Victory

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Rev. Noelle Kirchner, M.Div., believes we don't have to live with full schedules and thin souls. A busy mom of three boys, she is a graduate of Northwestern University and Princeton Seminary and an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served in churches for over ten years. She has written for places like the TODAY Show Parenting Team, Huff Post Parents, Crosswalk, iBelieve, and (in)courage. Her faith and family cable television show, "Chaos to Calm," features parenting hot topics and has hosted four New York Times bestselling authors and two Emmy Award-winning journalists. Watch her episodes or sermons and sign up for her free devotional e-book by visiting her website, noellekirchner.com. You can connect with her on social media (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) and also check out her book, How to Live Your Life Purpose: The Six-Step Journey to God's Best, that launched as a #1 New Release on Amazon and includes end-of-chapter Bible studies.
Ministry of Ayush announces flagship event in Gujarat, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Ministry of Ayush has officially announced their most pertinent event for 2022  the Global Ayush Investment & Innovation Summit (GAIIS) to be held from 20th  22nd April 2022 in Gandhinagar.

The Global Ayush Investment & Innovation Summit, to be held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat will be inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 20th April 2022.

The three-day summit will witness the participation of industry leaders, academicians, and scholars to deliberate upon ways to promote traditional medicines, and systems.

As part of the Summit, 5 Plenary sessions, 8 roundtables, 6 workshops, 2 symposiums, 90 eminent speakers and 100 exhibitors will be present. Speakers and diplomats will be present from across embassies, industries and top corporates. There will also be multiple initiatives to stimulate Ayush exports in international markets.

One of the aims of the Summit is to attract lucrative investments to build India as the Global Ayush Destination in the world. In recent years, India has seen enormous investments due to the absence of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) restrictions. The Ayush Ministry wants to keep building on this and utilize the platform to initiate target-oriented initiatives to enable the recognition and growth of traditional systems of medicine.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine will also take place on 19th April, in Jamnagar, Gujarat. This centre will emerge as an international hub of global wellness taking traditional medicine systems of the world to new heights. It will also provide assistance to WHO member countries so that positive health can be spread over the world.
Understanding how antibody levels decline may help doctors and policymakers gauge when booster shots are needed, and who should receive them

The antibodies generated by Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine rise more slowly and decline more quickly than those generated by the Moderna vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Virginia Health, US.

The study also finds that older recipients of the Pfizer vaccine generated fewer antibodies than did younger recipients but this wasnt the case for Moderna, where age did not appear to be a factor.

The researchers determined that both vaccines generated similar peak levels of COVID-19 fighting antibodies. This result is at odds with a prior report from the same group that showed antibodies were higher after Moderna, but they say the discrepancy likely can be explained by the faster rate at which the Pfizer antibodies decline. It will be important for future research to consider time frame from vaccination carefully when assessing peak antibody response, they say.

The researchers also noticed that there was a trend for men to generate fewer antibodies than did women, but, contrary to a prior report, this was ultimately deemed statistically insignificant.

The scientists note that it remains unclear if the greater antibody response generated by the Moderna vaccine translates into better real-world protection. But the study, they say, may help explain emerging differences in COVID-19 infection rates seen among recipients of the different vaccines.
Reduces Attacker Dwell Time with Exceptional Detection, Quick Triage of Incidents and Threat Containment Through Automated and Guided Response Actions

BUCHAREST, Romania and SANTA CLARA, Calif.  April 14, 2022  Bitdefender, a global cybersecurity leader, today unveiled GravityZone XDR, a native XDR solution designed to provide rich security context, correlation of disparate alerts, out-of-the-box analytics, rapid triage of incidents and attack containment through automated and guided response actions across a businesss entire environment. The solution delivers rapid value by helping maximize security team effectiveness, improving threat hunt efficiency, minimizing attacker dwell time, and enabling greater cyber resilience from day one.

GravityZone XDR excels at connecting and correlating incidents over time throughout our entire operations and we experienced immediate value, said Mahmood Haq, chief information security officer at MyVest. The benefit of having a single-vendor solution with out-of-the-box detection capabilities for identifying and investigating known and unknown threats and providing our analysts with the knowledge of what and how an incident happened with the best ways to respond cannot be overstated.

Bitdefender GravityZone XDR expands threat visibility across infrastructure, workloads and applications by correlating data and threat detections from endpoints, productivity applications, clouds, identity sources, and network data into a single actionable view. Real-time threat intelligence from Bitdefender Labs and the Bitdefender global network of millions of endpoints, coupled with behavioral analytics and machine learning, correlates disparate incidents and drives informed decision-making on alert prioritization, root cause analysis, threat containment and remediation. Through automated and guided response, security teams can quickly take remediation actions with a single click.

In the journey to XDR, businesses want to build upon their existing cybersecurity investments, said Michael Suby, vice president of research at IDC. They also want XDR to produce tangible results, such as reducing attacker dwell time and improving SOC efficiency. By adding features like pre-built detections into sensors (minimizing custom detection writing), root cause analysis and alert prioritization, Bitdefender is hitting both objectives.

In a recent report, Forrester Research details the value of a native XDR architecture, XDR solutions built from EDR solutions with high efficacy detections, automated root cause analysis, prescriptive response recommendations, and strong native capabilities or third-party partnerships will excel. The report goes on to say, Native XDR is XDR offered with tight alignment to other tools that already exist in a vendors own portfolio. Smaller or less mature teams benefit from a faster time-to-value through quicker and simpler deployment of multiple native tools.

Bitdefender GravityZone XDR deploys as a SaaS solution or via the Bitdefender Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service. In addition, it is used in the Bitdefender security operations center (SOC), providing security analysts and threat hunters even greater visibility and context to accelerate investigations and expand response actions on behalf of MDR customers.

GravityZone XDR key benefits include:

 Rapid Cross-Correlation Threat Detection -- Bitdefender proprietary correlation and detection algorithms for XDR are based on leading-edge mathematics and threat behavior models. These algorithms are used by the sensor agent locally and at the cloud platform level to detect advanced threats, initial attack stages, and anomalous application and identity behaviors. Security teams gain tremendous capabilities and fast-time-to-value with options to create and deploy their own detection rules.

 Automated Threat Identification and Prioritization -- GravityZone XDR includes a built-in Incident Advisor for root cause analysis and threat context combined with automated and guided incident investigation support. Security teams of any size and skillset are able to view threat detections, understand impact to operations and take recommended actions to contain or eliminate threats from a single view, greatly increasing efficiency.

 Recommended Threat Response Actions -- GravityZone XDR provides built-in capabilities and recommendations for single-click threat response across endpoints, identities, email, cloud, and applications. This reduces the need for additional resources and enables security teams to view threats anywhere in the organization from an integrated console to respond faster, unlike Open XDR solutions, which rely on third-party tools and maintenance of integrations for telemetry and response actions.

Todays cybersecurity attacks are often complex, multifaceted, and launched in multiple stages, making it difficult for security teams to identify and stop them, especially for organizations operating with limited infosec resources, said Andrei Florescu, senior vice president, products and engineering at Bitdefender. We built GravityZone XDR from the ground-up to help security teams gain a holistic view of their infrastructure, investigate and verify incidents faster, and eliminate threats as they arise. We placed significant emphasis on security analytics to continuously baseline and adjust detections at runtime to reduce alert fatigue.

Availability

GravityZone XDR is available now by purchasing a license to GravityZone Business Security Enterprise or the Bitdefender MDR service plus one or more XDR sensors. For more information visit: https://www.bitdefender.com/business/products/gravityzone-xdr.html.

[1] Forrester Research, Allie Mellen, Joseph Blankenship, Alexis Bouffard, Peggy Dostie New Tech: Extended Detection And Response (XDR) Providers, Q3 2021
The White House has quietly resumed its after-dark charter flights of underage migrants to a suburban airport north of New York City  after a Post expose led to their suspension last year.

The Post watched as a group of migrant teens got off an Avelo Airlines plane that arrived at the Westchester County Airport near White Plains at 9:25 p.m. Thursday. The group then boarded three waiting buses that drove off about 50 minutes later.

One bus traveled to the Walt Whitman Service Area in Cherry Hill, NJ, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. After the bus pulled up at around 12:45 a.m. Friday, several teens disembarked, retrieved their bags from the luggage compartment and left with adults who were waiting there to meet them.

The bus left the rest stop around 1:05 a.m. and continued south on the New Jersey Turnpike.

The plane that landed in Westchester flew out of El Paso International Airport in Texas and made a stopover in Jacksonville, Fla., online flight records show.
A bus from Texas arrived in Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning, transporting dozens of illegal immigrants as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts new plan to counter federal immigration policies during an ongoing border crisis.

Abbott announced last week that he was directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to transport migrants released from federal custody in Texas to the nations capital and other locations outside his state.

The bus pulled up at approximately 8 a.m. local time, blocks away from the U.S. Capitol building. Fox News has learned that they came from the Del Rio sector in Texas, after coming to the U.S. from Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

Upon the bus's arrival in Washington, D.C., individuals disembarked one by one except for family units who exited together. They checked in with officials and had wristbands they were wearing cut off before being told they could go.

According to TDEM, Abbotts plan is already working. The agency told Fox News on Monday that many of the communities that originally reached out for support  from the Rio Grande Valley to Terrell County  say the federal government stopped dropping immigrants in their towns since Abbott's announcement on April 6.

Some had questioned whether Abbotts plan to bus migrants was genuine. The White House dismissed it as a "publicity stunt." Even Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer, a Republican, called it a "gimmick."
The Washington Free Beacon examined over a thousand articles on homicides from the NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune and other major papers and found that the media systematically buries the race of murderers -- unless they're white, in which case they make sure to highlight it right in the beginning of their stories.



Their research also showed that the media's anti-white bias has only gotten worse since the Summer of Floyd.



From the Washington Free Beacon, "Yes, the Media Bury the Race of Murderers -- If They're Not White":

The Free Beacon collected data on nearly 1,100 articles about homicides from six major papers, all written between 2019 and 2021. Those papers included the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, and Minneapolis's Star-Tribune--representatives of each paper did not return requests for comment for this article. For each article, we collected the offender's and victim's name and race, and noted where in the article the offender's race was mentioned, if at all.



The data suggest an alarming editorial trend in which major papers routinely omit information from news reports, presenting readers with a skewed picture of who does and doesn't commit crime. These editorial choices are part and parcel with the "racial reckoning" that swept newsrooms in the wake of Floyd's murder, which saw journalists dramatically overhauling crime coverage to emphasize the view that the criminal justice system is racist at the root--perhaps at the expense of honesty about individual offenders' crimes.

The chart above indicates that papers are far quicker to mention the race of white murderers than black. (Those two races account for 92 percent of mentions in the data, so others are not shown.) Half of articles about a white offender mention his race within the first 15 percent of the article. In articles about black offenders, by contrast, mentions come overwhelmingly toward the end of the piece. Half of the articles that mention a black offender's race do not do so until at least 60 percent of the way through, and more than 20 percent save it until the last fifth of the article.



Of course, journalists choose not only where in a piece to mention an offender's race, but also whether to mention it at all, and omissions can skew a reader's perspective.



To measure these choices, we identified the race of the offender in roughly 900 stories where his name, but not his race, was mentioned, first by looking at the race of people with the same name in Census data, and then hand-confirming race based on mug shots or other images published in local news stories.

Doing so permits an estimate of how often journalists highlight an offender's race--or don't. Again, the skew is startling: White offenders' race was mentioned in roughly 1 out of every 4 articles, compared with 1 in 17 articles about a black offender and 1 in 33 articles about a Hispanic offender.



This effect is driven in part by a handful of major news stories involving white perpetrators, though the attention paid to these stories is also an editorial choice. But even after omitting reports about white offenders Kyle Rittenhouse, Derek Chauvin, and the killers of Ahmaud Arbery, the race of white offenders is mentioned in 16 percent of cases, two to three times the rate at which the race of black offenders is mentioned. (Middle Eastern offenders were labeled as Asian in this analysis, but labeling them as white results in only a small change to the race mention rate.)

This disparity widened following George Floyd's murder. Before May of 2020, papers were roughly twice as likely to mention the race of a white (13 percent of stories) versus a black perpetrator (7 percent). After May of 2020, the numbers were 28 percent and 4 percent, a ratio of seven to one. Even omitting the above-mentioned stories, papers still mentioned race in 23 percent of stories about white killers post-Floyd, a six-to-one ratio.

A similar study analyzing media coverage from 2013 to 2015 found that the national media only picked up 9 percent of stories where a black police officer shot a black suspect but covered 38 percent of stories where a white police officer shot a black suspect.



Their bias is far worse now.







These same media outlets constantly tell us how much "representation matters."



How's this for representation?







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The feds have decided to let DHS-run fusion centers disseminate government-approved news using their newly created 'disinformation portal .

One of biggest perpetrators of disinformation in the business and it is not a federal agency named the CIA or the FBI.

According to the Feds, there is not one platform or government agency that can dispel disinformation so who do you think officials want to use?

Oh no, insidious 'truth-obscuring, manufactured disinformation, is now an 'overall threat landscape to Americans. What will the Feds do to help us?

DHS claims the government has a 'higher responsibility to disseminate news to the public.

As NBC New York revealed , DHS has decided that the best way to counter Americans growing disdain over the never-ending war on terror is to open its very first government-approved disinformation portal.



Under the "What Groups Employ Disinformation Campaigns" section, DHS claims that their old nemeses China, Russia and Iran are behind a lot of disinformation. But then they add their own fear-inducing spin by claiming domestic extremists are behind many disinformation campaigns in the U.S.

"Various actors, including foreign adversaries such as China, Russia, and Iran, as well as extremist groups, leverage international crises and high-profile incidents to spread disinformation and misinformation to sow discord in the United States."

As I pointed out two weeks ago, fusion centers also allege that there are at least 23 different types of violent extremists in America.

"Based on the above information, one can expect that in the near future the Feds will add Anti-Republican extremists, Anti-Democrat extremists, Anti-Big Tech extremists, Anti-Vaccine extremists, Anti-Vaccine Passport extremists, Anti-Digital ID extremists, and Anti-School Book extremists to their growing list of violent extremists."

Ironically, DHS admits that violent domestic extremists are circulating disinformation using the same tactics that they themselves have been using for years.

"The circulation of misinformation and disinformation has the potential to reach a broad audience, incite fear, create distrust between governments and their people, increase polarization in groups and influence governmental actions or law enforcement responses. Several known disinformation campaigns have spurred incidents that were ultimately reported to the New Jersey Suspicious Activity System, as they motivated individuals to act against government officials, law enforcement, critical infrastructure and the general public."

One could be forgiven for mistaking a disinformation portal[s] as a law enforcement playbook edited to fit whatever future threats the Feds can dream up.

For over twenty-one years, DHS has eclipsed or matched the CIA in publishing fear inducing terrorism documents and warnings.

In 2002, DHS created its color-coded advisory system that was designed to keep Americans living in fear for nine years, only to be replaced by the National Terrorism Advisory System . And twelve years ago, DHS created its "If You See Something Say Something" campaign that treats every American as a suspected terrorist.

The news is littered with thousands of reports of innocent people being added to DHSs secret no-fly list and law enforcements secret Suspicious Activity System.

New Jerseys disinformation portals claims of 'identifying and vetting any truth-obscuring, manufactured information means that government officials will simply replace disinformation with their own manufactured version of events.

One week before DHS unveiled its disinformation portal, the NJ fusion center released this gem about violent extremists in America:

A New Jersey "threat assessment" report lists domestic extremists as law enforcements number one concern.

"The assessment details activities from homegrown violent extremists, domestic extremists and foreign terrorist organizations, in addition to highlighting cybersecurity and critical infrastructure threats."

The threat assessment overview claims "homegrown violent extremists and white racially motivated extremists remain the most prominent threats to New Jersey in 2022."

"Anarchist, anti-abortion, anti-government, black racially motivated, militia and sovereign citizen extremists comprise domestic moderate threats. Domestic extremists are expected to return to pre-pandemic operating norms, shifting their focus to local expansion, participating in demonstrations and engaging in low-level criminal activity."

Classifying anti-abortion, anti-government and black racially motivated protesters as domestic extremists is one of the most blatant examples of government disinformation that I have seen.

As Fox News reported , "the greatest terrorism-related threat that we face in the homeland is the threat of domestic violent extremism" said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. As you can see, DHS has really become a master at inciting public fear and polarizing law enforcement.

Using fusion centers to spread fear and polarize law enforcement continues to have far-reaching consequences to everyones freedoms.
Once-overlooked prescient warnings, conveyed through black-and-white grainy footage, reach through history like that dead girl in Carrie. They haunt all the more forcefully given the foresight it took to make them.

Weve all heard of the military-industrial complex (MIC)  the escalating intertwining of the national security apparatus and the private weapons industry. It produces an irresistible economic/political incentive for reckless, endless war.

Its characteristics are unique in many ways, but in others, the MIC is merely another iteration of the essential problem of intersecting corporate and state interests  their chief mutual interest being the accumulation of greater and greater concentrations of power for themselves.

Mussolini described the phenomenon like this in the early 20th century:

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.

-Benito Mussolini

The gears of private industry are lavishly oiled with public money. In turn, the public decision-makers (bureaucrats), who are theoretically tasked with acting in the publics interests, receive innumerable benefits  both while in office and especially after leaving, including appointments to lucrative board positions, gifted stock options, etc.

Interests across the two domains (state and private sector)  which theoretically remain separate in liberal ideology  become so intertwined that distinguishing one from the other is impossible.

To set the context of the MICs inaugural insertion into public consciousness, in 1961, the United States had just recently risen over the ashes of war-ravaged Europe to claim the throne as the global hegemon.

The industrial-scale arms industry remained a relatively new advent, and so the MIC was largely a new phenomenon in human history. If all of its elements werent entirely new, the MIC was at least a new incarnation of the inherent and ancient issue of state usurpation of power by private interests for personal and in-group gain.

Eisenhower introduced the MIC into the American psyche, coining the term in his farewell address from the Oval Office:

Via the presidents January 17, 1961 farewell speech:

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought , by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist .

Weve previously covered the most recent glaring example of the MIC in action  US generals dutifully crying on television about the Afghanistan pullout. Their defense industry sponsors/owners directed them to fear-monger about ending a 20-year losing war  to keep the gravy train rolling, for at least another year  and they complied.

The Afghanistan war, incidentally, produced no tangible outcome of value for any American except the defense contractors who paid Jack Keane to promote it on cable news. Defense contractors, in addition to buying spokesmen like Keane, also purchase advertising on said corporate media channel in exchange for war propaganda that favors healthy stock prices.

Its all very incestuous, and, at the core, its all funded at the publics expense via the US treasury.



As we will see  as Eisenhower explains himself in the portion of the speech that often goes overlooked in favor of the famous line about the MIC  the same types of public-private mechanisms are currently playing out in the biomedical context:

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central ; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government . Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research . Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nations scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever presentand is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite .

If youve been paying attention to the last two years events, that excerpt should send shivers down your spine.

The MIC and the biomedical state  administered by the scientific-technological elite  are a single entity. Theyre one and the same, different feathers of the same bird. They each conduct the business of technocratic social management in their own way. One produces kinetic and chemical weaponry; the other, biological weaponry.

Their methods differ, but their interests are the same.

Heres a case study:

EcoHealth Alliance tried to entice DARPA  the scientific arm of the Pentagon  to join in on the same Wuhan coronavirus gain-of-function that the organization illicitly conducted in China in partnership with the CCP. (EcoHealth Alliance being the organization Fauci funneled government money to for gain-of-function research in that same Chinese WIV government-run lab.)

Via DRASTIC Research:

 EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) in concert with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) attempted to carry out advanced and dangerous human pathogenicity Bat Coronavirus research that would clearly qualify as Gain of Function (GoF), in a grant proposal submitted to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2018.

What were looking at is a transnational, public-private grant proposal involving multiple state and private actors collaborating to engineer deadly new viruses.

The application actually proposed spraying aerosolized viruses into wild bat caves  just to see what happened:

The grant proposal includes some elements of research that are already public via scientific papers, as well as other elements that have never been made public, including vaccinating wild bats using aerosolized viruses and further work on published and unpublished strains that could have directly produced SARS-CoV-2.

The Pentagon apparently, according to the leaked documents, shot down the proposal  not on the grounds that this was a ludicrous and dangerous project, and, in practice, would constitute an act of war against China, but on a technicality.

Two years later, by mere coincidence, if you believe the official narrative, a deadly bat coronavirus naturally emerged from a Wuhan wet market  the exact type of virus that EcoHealth Alliance proposed spraying into the wild in the exact geographical area.

Whether DARPA was involved or not in the eventual release of SARS-CoV-2 into the wild is largely irrelevant for this point. The mere fact that Peter Daszak, Fauci and Co. knew this kind of activity to be in DARPAs wheelhouse demonstrates the deep ties between the various arms of the now-transnational biomedical technocratic complex.

Eisenhowers warning from six decades ago begs the question: what are the prescient warnings offered today that coming generations will look back on in awe?

Ben Bartee is a Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff via Armageddon Prose, Substack, Patreon, Gab, and Twitter. Please support his independent operations however you can.

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Westman is continuing to dig itself out of the massive spring snowstorm that swept through the region this week.

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Westman is continuing to dig itself out of the massive spring snowstorm that swept through the region this week.

While the storm may have been less intense than expected, many areas were still inundated with massive levels of snow, said Natalie Hasell warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.

"While there might not have been exact certainty about how much or where or how strong the winds were going to be, we did know something bad was coming and that it was going to be pretty long-lasting," Hasell said.

Brandon saw about 12 centimetres of snowfall Wednesday, Hasell said, and had periods where visibility was reduced to zero due to the blowing blizzard for hours at a time.

Thursday saw sustained winds and dustings of snow with reduced visibility and about four to six additional centimetres of snow, before the bulk of the storm completed. She said it will be difficult to establish a final snowfall number due to the high winds reported in the city.

The storm transpired a little bit differently than predicted Tuesday when watches were in effect, but it was still a very difficult storm that affected everyone in southwestern Manitoba. Manitoba RCMP shut down major highways in southwest Manitoba Tuesday at midnight in anticipation of the storm.

"Its almost heart attack snow, as some people call it. Its also the spring melt had already started, so there were certainly many concerns associated with having yet another system come through."

The April blizzard was projected to snow between 50 and 80 centimetres in some parts of Manitoba. These values were somewhat tempered and most areas saw between 20 to 60 centimetres. Some regions reported up to 80.

"It might take a while before we get a conclusion on what actually transpired up to now."

With less snow than expected, there is a hope Westman will not see lingering effects, including potential flooding.

One advantage in the coming week is the expectation that temperatures will stay below zero, which will prevent the snow from melting right away. The freeze-thaw cycle, with temperatures above zero during the day and below zero at night, will also be of aid in slowing flooding.

Southwestern Manitoba temperatures are expected to stay below normal until the end of April.

The province has started ratcheting down its flood response after water levels receded and the risk of flooding dropped, reported the Winnipeg Free Press. Although parts of the province received up to 50 centimetres of snow, and up to 15 more Friday, flooding is less of a risk because temperatures are expected to remain near freezing until April 21 in most locations, delaying the snowmelt and runoff.

The province said flood forecasters will continue to monitor precipitation and collect data about snowfall amounts. An updated river forecast will be released next week.

"This is the third-most snowfall winter that we [have] on record," Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk said.

"Its not just that we had snow. Weve had the winds, and Ive never seen winds like this in a number of years."

The Brandon Sun contacted the City of Brandon for comment but did not receive a response by press time.

A city press release Wednesday stated the emergency response control group was monitoring the spring snowstorm and its impact on all essential services. Brandons Community Sportsplex and the Youth Centre were both closed.

Other parts of Westman were also inundated with snow. Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson said the small town saw severe snowfall over the three days.

"It has been very snowy. It has been a blizzard here," Swanson said. "Were left with huge banks of snow everywhere."

Three municipal graters used for rural areas were deployed in Boissevain to open up all the streets in town and were out in rural parts Friday working to reopen roads.

Swanson has been living in Boissevain for the last 10 years after residing in Saskatchewan for four decades. Swanson was born and raised in the area.

It has been many years since Boissevain faced a blizzard this intense, she said, especially in the spring.

"You look for some of these storms in the winter but they arent normal in the spring," Swanson said. "This time of year is extremely bad, especially because of the farmers, especially the cattle producers; theyre out calving right now and theres nothing worse than this  its pretty bad."

On Friday, Swanson estimated she had about two or three feet of snowbanks. In other parts of the community, snow banks were as high as four or five feet.

The spring snowstorm has created great snowshoeing weather that is a perfect match to the mild temperatures expected for this weekend.

Friends of Riding Mountain National Park chief administrative officer George Hartlen said the last three days have once again created a "winter wonderland" in Wasagaming.

The storm first started to drop snow mid-Wednesday and continued with white-out conditions until about midday Thursday leaving behind more than 80 centimetres of snow.

The heavy and wet snow did impact some businesses in the area, he said, and as of Friday, some were preparing for the weekend and digging themselves out.

It has been many years since anything close to the storm has been seen in Riding Mountain, Hartlen said. He has been with the park for more than 20 years.

"The last couple of winters, we havent had any real significant snowfalls overall, and I would say even just the storm we got in the last 48 hours was probably more than we had all of last winter," Hartlen said. "Its a lot of snow to deal with."

 ckemp@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

 Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp
Early this week, the warnings were dire. Worst blizzard in decades. Life-threatening conditions. Widespread power outages. Do not travel.

How we reacted to these warnings and responded proactively, as a university and also as a society, says a lot of great things about us, and illustrates some strengths that we can apply elsewhere, if we are diligent.

The storm, thankfully, turned out to deliver a little less than feared  at least here in Brandon. Images and videos from North Dakota show what might have hit us if the storm hadnt stalled a little further south than predicted. And many areas around Westman saw significantly more snow than Brandon did. It wasnt a good couple of days to be out, and while nobody sings "Im Dreaming of a White Easter," it seems like thats what weve got.

Brandon University was one of the many institutions and organizations who responded proactively to the forecasts. When we first reached out to campus on Monday to alert folks that we were preparing for the storms impact, by that time, many campus areas were already putting in place contingency plans of their own.

Some were rescheduling things, others were making plans to shift work remotely. Many were keeping some options open  knowing that remote work only works when the power and internet are on, and that child care or other responsibilities might loom large. In all of our response, we were guided by our ability to be flexible, nimble, and compassionate as a community  elements that informed the new BU Strategic Plan, which we launched this year.

The central image of this plan, which Ive written about here before, is the Indigenous image of a braid. Rather than pillars or spires, our braid reminds us that BUs strengths are flexible and interconnected. These were lessons that were reinforced repeatedly through the pandemic, as we needed to shift our response and our supports as our understanding of the virus improved. They are lessons that play to our innate strengths as a smaller, tight-knit institution located in a smaller, tight-knit community.

Its rare, but not unprecedented, for Brandon University to close, and we have a lot to consider when making this decision.

Like other organizations, closing will affect our basic operations. How many classes, labs, or other academic activities will be affected? How can we make up these lost hours so that education isnt impacted? Do we have to shift any deadlines? Luckily, this storm landed at a time in our academic calendar where most classes had ended, and most exams hadnt yet begun.

Unlike many other organizations, Brandon University has some special considerations to make. Firstly, we have a significant number of students, and some faculty members, who are living in our residences. Our storm preparation made sure that our food services would be able to continue operating. Also, we have student and faculty research that sometimes requires 24-7 access. This was also safeguarded.

Our final consideration was the knowledge that, sometimes these dire storm predictions fizzle out. Typically, if weather rears its head, we would wait to make a call until first thing in the morning, or perhaps midday if the weather changes. Several things played into our decision to make an earlier call this time.

One big one was the clear communication from forecasters and Environment Canada that we needed to take this storm seriously. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we can put our trust in the experts and were guided by the science. Of course, predictions of the future are always imperfect, but weighing the various options showed we could significantly reduce risk at relatively low cost, and we know we made the right choice.

In the end, perhaps we received the best-case scenario out of this storm, but planning to get lucky is not good planning at all. There is a time for hope, but health and safety decisions are a time for clear-eyed analysis. We made and executed prudent plans that would keep people off the highways, where conditions were very poor, and safe at home.

Im very proud of our team at Brandon University every day, but its moments like this storm where we are challenged, where we consider our options, and where we act decisively with the best interests of everyone in mind that I am the most proud. This flexibility, this resilience, this care and concern and community  this is what our braid means.

It is easy to write about a storm, or a pandemic, which are external crises that are thrust upon us. Most interesting, to me, are the opportunities we can choose, and how we can use the lessons of crisis response to eagerly take advantage of opportunities that present themselves.

Armed with our new strategic plan, Brandon University is ready to do just that.
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A large and unexpected opportunity has come my way outside of Netflix that I've decided to try. Netflix has been the best job of my career so far, and I'll miss my colleagues and the culture.



offer letter logo (2014)

flame graphs (2014)

eBPF tools (2014-2019)

PMC analysis (2017)

my pandemic-abandoned

desk (2020); office wall

I joined Netflix in 2014, a company at the forefront of cloud computing with an attractive work culture. It was the most challenging job among those I interviewed for. On the Netflix Java/Linux/EC2 stack there were no working mixed-mode flame graphs, no production safe dynamic tracer, and no PMCs: All tools I used extensively for advanced performance analysis. How would I do my job? I realized that this was a challenge I was best suited to fix. I could help not only Netflix but all customers of the cloud.

Since then I've done just that. I developed the original JVM changes to allow mixed-mode flame graphs, I pioneered using eBPF for observability and helped develop the front-ends and tools, and I worked with Amazon to get PMCs enabled and developed tools to use them. Low-level performance analysis is now possible in the cloud, and with it I've helped Netflix save a very large amount of money, mostly from service teams using flame graphs. There is also now a flourishing industry of observability products based on my work.

Apart from developing tools, much of my time has been spent helping teams with performance issues and evaluations. The Netflix stack is more diverse than I was expecting, and is explained in detail in the Netflix tech blog: The production cloud is AWS EC2, Ubuntu Linux, Intel x86, mostly Java with some Node.js (and other languages), microservices, Cassandra (storage), EVCache (caching), Spinnaker (deployment), Titus (containers), Apache Spark (analytics), Atlas (monitoring), FlameCommander (profiling), and at least a dozen more applications and workloads (but no 3rd party agents in the BaseAMI). The Netflix CDN runs FreeBSD and NGINX (not Linux: I published a Netflix-approved footnote in my last book to explain why). This diverse environment has always provided me with interesting things to explore, to understand, analyze, debug, and improve.

I've also used and helped develop many other technologies for debugging, primarily perf, Ftrace, eBPF (bcc and bpftrace), PMCs, MSRs, Intel vTune, and of course, flame graphs and heat maps. Martin Spier and I also created Flame Scope while at Netflix, to analyze perturbations and variation in profiles.

I've also had the chance to do other types of work. For 18 months I joined the CORE SRE team rotation, and was the primary contact for Netflix outages. It was difficult and fascinating work. I've also created internal training materials and classes, apart from my books. I've worked with awesome colleagues not just in cloud engineering, but also in open connect, studio, DVD, NTech, talent, immigration, HR, PR/comms, legal, and most recently ANZ content.

Last time I quit a job, I wanted to share publicly the reasons why I left, but I ultimately did not. I've since been asked many times why I resigned that job (not unlike The Prisoner) along with much speculation (none true). I wouldn't want the same thing happening here, and having people wondering if something bad happened at Netflix that caused me to leave: I had a great time and It's a great company!

I'm thankful for the opportunities and support I've had, especially from my former managers Coburn and Ed. I'm also grateful for the support for my work by other companies, technical communities, social communities (Twitter, HackerNews), conference organizers, and all who have liked my work, developed it further, and shared it with others. Thank you. I hope my last two books, Systems Performance 2nd Ed and BPF Performance Tools serve Netflix well in my absence and everyone else who reads them.

I'll still be posting here in my next job. More on that soon...
You also played the political figure Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Bessons 2011 film, The Lady. Isnt taking on a role like that its own statement, in a way? It actually should have been called The Lady and the Gentleman. It was an incredible story of a very turbulent time in Burma [Myanmar]. We didnt just want to show the atrocities that happened in that country, which are unfortunately still ongoing. At the time we came upon this story, it really was about a man [Englishman Michael Aris] and a woman [Suu Kyi] who loved each other so much that theyd support each other no matter what. The amazing thing was that one day Suu Kyi was a mother of two; then, when she had to return [to Myanmar] to look after her own mother, she became the mother of a nation. I had great admiration for this very strong woman. To do something important, you need to have a goal, you need determination.

Youre one of the most recognisable faces in Asian cinema, yet Everything Everywhere All at Once  in which you play an ageing Chinese-American mum, Evelyn, struggling with her taxes whos suddenly thrust into a superhero sci-fi adventure  is one of only a couple of movies youve top-lined after two decades working in Hollywood. Why is that? Im not just a woman and Asian  Im older, right? Its not so easy to come across roles like this. It was really the Daniels [directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert] who saw a story that needed to be told and found an ingenious way of telling it. Evelyn is a very ordinary older mother trying to fix a domestic issue who just explodes into a multiverse [of alternative realities] and is given all these different abilities that, yes, I spent two decades of my career harnessing. This is the first time in a long time that I have my own story.

DEATH

For a long period in your career you did your own stunts; you almost broke your back filming The Stunt Woman in 1996. How many times have you come close to death? In my younger days, I took more risks than necessary because I thought I had something to prove. I had to convince people I was capable of being up there with actors like Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Of course, when you do crazy stunts, you risk getting injured. I dont think anybody wants to put you in a position where you could risk dying. At the end of the day, were just making movies. But you never know: some little stunt could just go so horribly wrong. And if your time is up  [sings dramatically] dun-da-dah!  it is what it is. But you must go through life understanding your capabilities and being well protected. I have learnt that stunt people are professionals, that I am a mere actor, and that I should never think I can do what they are capable of.

In the end, if you got to call the shots, how would you like to die, ideally? Oh my god, youre horrible! [Laughs] How would I like to die? With the people I love, knowing that Im going, with all my things in order. And not sick.
Pinchin said the painting was briefly on display when the Woodford Academy opened to the public in 1996, but was soon returned to storage. Twenty years passed before the Woodford still life attracted the attention of a conservator in 1999 who suggested the artwork dated from the 17th century and had been created by Dutch painter Willemz Claesz Heda or his teenage son Gerrit. A work by Heda Sr. sold recently in the United States for US$354,000, a July 1999 file note said. Yet the Woodford still life slipped into obscurity for another 10 years until it was sent to a Melbourne art conservation laboratory, which cast doubt on the authenticity of the painting.

The 2009 report said it was unlikely the artwork was a genuine 17th-century Dutch still life: Despite having several similarities in construction to panel paintings of the period, the visual appraisal yielded significant stylistic and technical discrepancies leading to this conclusion. However, the report also recommended further examination of the artwork to confirm when it was painted. But Pinchin said financial pressures on the cash-starved National Trust prevented further chemical testing of the paints and the artwork was returned to storage. At some stage, it was removed from its frame and wrapped in bubble wrap, she said. Staffing levels too were reduced, and there was a considerable gap in time before the care of the collection had a staff position dedicated to its management. Another threat to the painting occurred in 2016 when there was a mould outbreak at the National Trusts headquarters at Observatory Hill where the Woodford still life had been kept in a storage area that was not climate controlled.

Pinchin said all items had to be treated and removed while the storage areas were forensically cleaned. Loading In late 2016, the Still Life, along with a number of collection items, were returned to a secure storage unit in Marrickville, she said. In 2017 the collection items in the Marrickville store were transferred to Retford Park, Bowral. However, Pinchin said the Woodford still life was not forgotten, and four years later it was one of the artworks chosen for restoration work following a major art conservation appeal conducted by the National Trust. Julian Bickersteth, chief executive of International Conservation Services, said the painting had been rather dull and lifeless when it was handed to his colleague senior paintings conservator Claire Heasman last year.

The artwork was separated into two boards and covered with a heavy dark varnish that conservators had to work out how to remove without damaging the paint work underneath. Once the varnish was removed the painting was very carefully cleaned, he said. The two boards were then joined and the small losses infilled. The areas of loss were then painted and finally new varnish was applied. Loading However, it was the discovery of the artists signatures on a knife in the foreground of the painting that confirmed the painting was a 17th-century Dutch masterpiece. The Woodford still life may have been saved from obscurity and possible harm from mould, but mystery continues to surround the painting.

Pinchin said the paintings remarkable journey from the Netherlands to Australia in the 19th century and how it ended up in the Blue Mountains is uncertain. The Woodford art collection also includes two large Dutch maritime paintings and several Victorian landscapes from the 1860s. Pinchin said it was possible the artworks were acquired by Alfred Fairfax after he purchased the property later known as Woodford Academy in 1868. Pinchin said Dutch and Italian baroque pictures were fashionable in Victorian England and were collected by Australian private collectors as a symbol of the cultural development of the colony. Pinchin said the painting had survived not just its long journey to Australia, but more than a century of dirt, dampness and bugs in the Blue Mountains.

I think the painting must have been lucky all along, she said. Its survived now to be in a condition where its been able to be brought back to a beautiful and lovely piece for display. Loading Former Art Gallery of NSW curator and artist Hendrik Kolenberg said it was rare to discover art treasures such as the Woodford still life with minimal documentation. We like a good story pertaining to provenance, he said. Best of all however is if the work of art moves you, makes you return to look at it over and over. Kolenberg said he was a little cynical when first told about the Woodford still life, but his scepticism was swept away the moment the painting was unwrapped.
A 400-year-old painting unearthed in the Blue Mountains and long thought to be a copy may be worth up to $5 million after art historians confirmed it was a 17th century Dutch masterpiece.

The artwork, titled Still Life, was given to the National Trust in 1979 as part of the contents of the Woodford Academy, a sprawling colonial-era building at Woodford in the Blue Mountains.

Art conservator Claire Heasman pictured with the Woodford still life, a 17th-century painting unearthed in the Blue Mountains that may be worth up to $5 million. Credit:Louie Douvis

But the painting languished in storage for decades until conservation work revealed the signatures of Dutch 17th century painter Willem Claesz. Heda and his son, Gerrit Willemz. Heda.

National Trust collections manager Rebecca Pinchin said she was amazed when conservators discovered the signatures and the date, 1640.
A man has been charged after allegedly posing as a learner driver and forcing a driving instructor to drive to a shopping centre to kidnap a woman in Brisbane.

Police believe the 24-year-old Sunnybank man booked a driving lesson from an Acacia Ridge address before producing a knife and forcing the driver to take him to Inala Plaza shopping centre on Saturday.

Police arrested the 24-year-old, who will face court on Monday.

Police claim the man intended to kidnap a woman known to him from the centre, on Kittyhawk Avenue. However, once they were at the car park, the driver escaped from the vehicle unharmed and raised the alarm.

Police also found the woman safe and well.
While Melburnians observe Ramadan, Easter and Passover this weekend, there will also be a significant cultural celebration at the Wat Thai Nakorn temple in Mont Albert.

Countries across South-East Asia are enjoying and commemorating New Year festivals this week, including the predominantly Buddhist nation of Thailand.

Abbott Ajahn Boonsom prepares for Songkram, the Thai new year. Credit:Scott McNaughton

Abbott Ajahn Boonsom said that around 100 to 200 people would visit his temple on Sunday to mark Songkran, which falls at a busy time on the calendar this year for several faiths and ethnic groups.

We will take the opportunity to celebrate a new year and let the people reflect themselves to their ancestors, said Abbott Ajahn Boonsom.
Macquarie is dominated by two regional populations with contrasting political leanings. The Blue Mountains townships along the Great Western Highway strongly favour Labor. At the last election the ALP won more than 70 per cent of the two-party preferred vote at several polling places in the area including Blackheath and Katoomba. But that was offset by strong Liberal Party majorities across the growing suburbs near Windsor and Richmond in the Hawkesbury. Liberal candidate for Macquarie, Sarah Richards (second from left), campaigning with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Tuesday. Credit:James Brickwood Theres no doubt the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains are two distinct communities in one federal electorate: a very Liberal Hawkesbury and a very Labor or Greens Blue Mountains, says Richards. I think its inevitable that when you mesh these two together, youre going to have a marginal seat. Richards said those traditional voting preferences  which were consistent in local government and state elections  had been that way for generations.

Im not sure what thats about, its just the way it is... What Ive been trying to promote is for the focus to stop being on what is different, what is divisive, and on the fact we do have a lot in common between the two areas. Richards, who is a Hawkesbury City councillor, says both communities want investment in infrastructure, better cost of living, and more local job opportunities. Census data shows Macquarie has a relatively high share of households with a mortgage (40 per cent in 2016 vs 32 per cent statewide) and a relatively low share were renters (21 per cent vs 32 per cent statewide). Theres a high rate of multiple car ownership and over 70 per cent of commuters travelled to work by car. Almost 80 per cent of Macquaries population was born in Australia, well above the national average of 67 per cent. Property prices have risen sharply within the electorate since the last election and Templeman says there is growing concern about housing affordability. Domain Group data shows three suburbs within Macquaries boundaries  Glenbrook, Pitt Town and Leura  now have a median house price of more than $1 million and several more are closing in on that threshold.

Locals navigate flooding on the Hawkesbury River in March 2022. The electorate of Macquarie has been hit by multiple natural disasters since the last election Credit:Dean Sewell The pandemic trend for families (and therefore new voters) to relocate to larger housing in lifestyle destinations such as the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury may influence this years result. More and more people are discovering the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains, especially during COVID we saw our population shift, with more people wanting to come and live in our areas, says Templeman. They wanted to come because of the incredible lifestyle the region offers...whether its the semi-rural or more rugged natural beauty, I think people have come to value both those things even more, particularly as theyve seen them be threatened by bushfire. Recent natural disasters linked to climate change within the Macquarie electorate have introduced another electoral wildcard.

In black summer bushfires tore through parts of the electorate in 2019 and that devastation was followed by multiple Hawkesbury River floods. RFS members at Bilpin fighting the Gospers Mountain fire which tore through parts of the Macquarie electorate in 2019. Credit:Nick Moir Templeman says fire, flood and storm have left many in the community feeling besieged and uncertain. It does actually feel, in the last couple of years  when you put COVID on top of it all  that our whole region has really battled to survive, she said. Richards agreed that natural disasters had worn down the region since the last election. Theres no doubt its been a significant three years, she said. The only words to describe the community are exhausted and tired. Theres been so much that has happened. If you start from the bushfires, that was quite significant. Weve had four floods in two years.

Loading But Richards does not believe the Coalitions climate policy record will deter voters. I think that the federal government has committed to net zero 2050 policy. They also believe theyll get there earlier. Having that on the table is extremely important getting into the election. Labor has a different policy and commitment: will they be able to achieve it? Macquarie has changed hands three times in the past 15 years; Templeman won the seat narrowly at her third attempt in 2016. But she sees an upside to Macquaries highly marginal status. One of the real consequences of it being close  I think the people of Macquarie realise how vital their democratic vote is; it can not only change a seat but change a government, she says. Thats a really powerful and positive message. In a lot of ways the close vote has been a real boost for democracy in this part of the world.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sided with Tony Abbott and refused to join a pile on calling for embattled Liberal candidate Katherine Deves to be axed as the partys candidate in the formerly blue-ribbon seat of Warringah.

Furious lobbying is under way with the Liberal Party to have Deves axed from the ticket in Warringah and a replacement candidate named before April 21, which is the cut-off date.

A moderate member of the Liberal Party and opponent of Deves said that she wont win the seat and she will continue to take paint off us in seats we need to win.

I think the party and the leadership understand that she has to go but I dont think the PM has recognised it yet.
Some explicitly political content on TikTok has overstepped the mark, with an ABC report revealing the United Workers Union had paid users to create videos targeting the government. Other union accounts added authorisations that made their operators explicit after queries from the broadcaster. But some left-wing TikTokers have found big audiences on the platform by being entirely themselves. Ill be honest, Im as surprised as the next person, says Wil Stracke, assistant secretary at the Victorian Trades Hall Council. I would not have thought that a 56-year-old lesbian feminist trade unionist would find some kind of audience, but there you go. Several of her videos, created in just the last two months, have received more than 100,000 views. They fit another genre of political content on TikTok: resurrecting the greatest blunders (depending on your politics) of years gone by. In one with 138,000 views, she delivers historical clangers such as Barnaby Joyces 2011 argument against marriage equality on the basis that it would hurt his daughters. We know that the best protection for those girls is that they get themselves into a secure relationship with a loving husband, he said at the time. Other videos doing the rounds highlight a 2012 speech from Albanese that cribbed lines from the 1995 film The American President, or have Morrison championing coal over footage of koalas fleeing bushfires and people fleeing floods. Loading Facebook and Instagram  the dominant social networks in Australia  allow political advertising, shifting the focus of the campaign on those platforms. Tens of thousands of dollars from the major parties have poured in during recent weeks, though the United Australia Party, funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer, has outspent both by millions over the longer term. (Palmer advertises with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age among many other outlets, and the two main parties have previously placed ads in the mastheads as well.)

The effect of Palmers advertising, which trashes the major parties and spruiks grand-scale policies on debt and the cost of living, is clear. March Google figures provided to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age by Firewire Digital, a marketing agency, show searchers for the United Australia Party were up 9900 per cent year over year, albeit only to total monthly searches between 10,000 and 100,000. Unlike last election, Palmers ads have not swung decisively against either party, instead taking a plague on both your houses approach. The weight of his expenditure, combined with digital ad price rises and privacy changes, will likely crowd out much of the microtargeted ad expenditure that has been prominent in previous contests. On Facebook and Instagram, Labor spent $32,684 between April 4 and 10. In that period, the Liberal Party spent $31,132, the United Australia Party spent $54,041. But those figures, which are the most recent available, reveal only a fraction of total expenditure because individual candidates and party branches spend money that is counted separately. While the platforms have policies on such things as misinformation and have removed a handful of ads from parties, including the Liberal Democrats, Australia does not have federal truth in political advertising laws, allowing politicians to spread tendentious or false claims. Local candidates are predominantly spending their money spruiking smaller scale policies like fixing mobile phone blackspots or providing an MRI machine licence to a hospital. Some with large ethnic communities in their seats have paid for ads in foreign languages, such as Labors candidate for the north-west Sydney seat of Bennelong posting ads in Korean. Labors national strategy has been to put money behind Anthony Albaneses personal page, introducing him to the electorate after spending this term as opposition leader keeping a small target. It has also spruiked slogans such as making more things here with images of men in high-vis workwear and power tools. Audience statistics from Meta suggest the ad has been targeted at people aged 18-34, a key demographic, in the battleground states of NSW and Queensland. Many of the partys ads use the same text and image across dozens of different versions to allow more precise measuring and targeting. Carrington Brigham, a digital strategist who worked on Tony Abbotts successful 2013 campaign and is now a managing director at communications agency Agenda C, says statistics from the Facebook and Instagram owner show that despite Labors masculine, aspirational messaging, it is reaching more women. Its such a huge disparity, he says. Its a sign of Labors need to make up ground with young men and the Coalitions difficulty attracting female voters.

The Liberals, meanwhile, have one theme: Anthony Albanese cannot be trusted with the economy and Scott Morrison can be. The party has produced at least nine ads capitalising on Albaneses failure to name the unemployment and cash rates in the first week of the campaign  a blunder the opposition leader apologised for and described as showing his willingness to admit mistakes. Nonetheless, its not easy under Albane$e is a slogan Liberal strategists seem to have decided Australians will be seeing and hearing often. Brigham, the former Liberal digital campaigner, says each partys ads are likely to evolve as they highlight different themes weekly throughout the campaign and events disrupt carefully planned messaging. Surrounding the two main parties, outriders are running their own social media campaigns. Advance Australia, the conservative campaign group, has tried to tie Labor to controversial Greens policies such as cutting defence spending and legalising personal drug consumption. Albanese has repeatedly ruled out negotiating with the Greens to form government, despite the Greens talking up the prospect of a hung parliament in which the party could, if the numbers fall very precisely, control the balance of power. Unions, too, are running attack advertisements against Labors enemies, such as spots from the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union targeting Nationals MPs and One Nation. Other organisations are less transparent. An outfit called Brighter Directions, which provides no details on its ownership or staff, is running ads touting the benefits of green hydrogen for the Queensland regional centre of Gladstone, which is in the battleground seat of Flynn. Emails seeking comment to Brighter Directions went unanswered. During the 2019 campaign, Labor suffered a subterranean scare campaign claiming incorrectly that the party planned to implement an inheritance, or death, tax. It was a rebound from 2016, when Labor had run a Mediscare suggesting the Coalition planned to attack the public healthcare scheme. This year, there have been a handful of posts from Labor, including former leader Bill Shorten and the Tasmanian branch of the party, claiming the party will save Medicare, though the government is not proposing reform to the scheme. Shortens office referred a request for comment to Labors campaign headquarters, which did not respond. The partys official line is, instead, strengthen Medicare, and the scattered posts do not suggest an organised campaign on the level of elections past, when the death taxes scare took on a life of its own and began to spread through community Facebook groups.
Residents fought with police in Shanghai, China, when officials tried to seize their homes to make space for new COVID quarantine centres, in the latest sign of widespread discontent after three weeks of strict lockdown in the megacity.

Videos on social media showed people shouting at police holding shields and arrests being made. Screaming and crying can be heard in the background.

A resident is manhandled by police in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, the police was trying to remove them from their homes so that the buildings can be used as a COVID-19 quarantine site. Credit:Twitter/@jenniferatntd

In one clip, residents are kneeling in front of hazmat-suit-wearing officials, pleading to not have their apartments transformed into quarantine centres.

They want to put 1800 [COVID] positive patients into our community, where all the residents have tested negative, one man said. They beat our residents, our elderly and our women. They dont even care if we kneel and beg.
Paris: Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the Islamic State attack team that terrorised Paris in 2015 has asked for forgiveness and expressed condolences for the victims, wiping away tears during contradicting court testimony as he pleaded with survivors to detest me with moderation.

For years, Abdeslam stayed silent about what happened on November 13 that year in the Bataclan theatre, Paris cafes and the national stadium, and the 130 people who were killed. After his trial opened last year, he had a few outbursts of extremist bravado, but for months refused to answer most questions.

In this file courtroom sketch of February 2018, Salah Abdeslam, second right seated between police officers, and Sofiane Ayari, second left, attend a hearing at the Brussels Justice Palace. Credit:AP

Then this week, answers started flowing, in lengthy testimony that at times contradicted earlier statements. His words at times prompting angry outbursts from the public.

Survivors and victims families, who hope the extensive trial helps them find justice and clarity, had mixed reactions.
There were reports of shelling around Kyiv on Sunday morning, with the mayor of the village of Brovary on the capitals east saying that infrastructure had been damaged, though there were no details of the destruction or of casualties. The ultimatum was met with defiance by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who accused Russia of deliberately trying to destroy everyone in Mariupol and said his government was in touch with the defenders. But he did not address Moscows claim that Ukrainian forces were no longer in urban districts, although he did acknowledge the situation in the ruined city was extremely severe. In his nightly video address, Zelensky said he had spoken with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Swedens Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped there. Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said. Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

Zelensky said the situation in Mariupol remains inhuman and that Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that eliminating the last Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol would put an end to peace talks. Credit:Ukrainian Presidential Press Office The city has endured some of the worst fighting of the war, which has intensified since Russian forces withdrew from around the capital Kyiv and joined the offensive in the east of Ukraine. While many residents have fled via humanitarian corridors, those trapped in the city have been without power, heat or reliable supplies of food or water since soon after the invasion began. Mariupol became a flashpoint in the war after a maternity hospital and a theatre being used as a bomb shelter were both hit in airstrikes. Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine on March 9, 2022. The woman and her baby later died. Credit:AP

In an online post, the Russians said that as of April 16, Ukrainian forces in the besieged port city had lost more than 4,000 people, and that 1,464 Ukrainian servicemen had already surrendered. Russian forces have been trying for several weeks to take the port, which is on the Sea of Azov, a body of water to the northeast of the Black Sea. The mayor Vadym Boychenko, who has fled the city, said earlier this week that 90 per cent of the city had been destroyed, and estimated that the death toll could be as high as 20,000. Meanwhile, oligarch Roman Abramovich has travelled to Kyiv in a bid to restart peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which stalled after evidence emerged of Russian atrocities against civilians. Abramovich met with Ukrainian negotiators to discuss ways of reviving the negotiations, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Roman Abramovich in the VIP lounge at Israels Ben Gurion international airport last month. Credit:Reuters The Russian billionaire, who has longtime ties to President Vladimir Putin, has been acting as an informal mediator since the war began in late February, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked him to get involved. In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda news site published on Saturday, Zelensky said the talks are at a dead end because we will not trade our territory and our people. He said that if Russian forces follow through on a threat to destroy the remaining Ukrainian troops fighting in Mariupol, that may put an end to talks. In Russia, Abramovich represents the side that backs a diplomatic resolution and end to the war, he said. Nobody can guarantee that it isnt a game. A spokesperson for Abramovich declined to comment on whether the tycoon is in Kyiv, as did Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moscow launched long-range missile attacks across the country over the weekend following the sinking of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow said its warplanes had struck a tank repair factory in Kyiv on Saturday. An explosion was heard and smoke rose over the southeastern Darnytskyi district. The mayor said at least one person was killed and medics were fighting to save others. Loading The Ukrainian military said Russian warplanes that took off from Belarus had fired missiles at the Lviv region near the Polish border and four cruise missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defences. The western city has been relatively unscathed so far and serves as a haven for refugees and international aid agencies. The governor of Kharkiv province in the east said at least one person was killed and 18 injured in a missile strike. Smoke billowed from burning cars and the remains of what appeared to be an office building in the city.
Washington: As US President Joe Biden travelled around the country this week to talk up his efforts to rebuild the economy, the elephant in the room was this: what if the 79-year-old gets COVID-19?

Its been a question on the minds of many in Washington for weeks now, as more and more people in Bidens orbit contract the virus, highlighting the often inconsistent approach the White House has taken in dealing with the latest phase of the pandemic.

Joe Biden removes his mask at an event in the East Room of the White House Credit:AP

Occasionally, youll see the president wearing his mask; sometimes he doesnt bother. Sometimes hell adhere to social distancing rules; sometimes he wont. Today hell appear at a packed indoor event; tomorrow it may be outside.

Biden, who is double-vaccinated and double-boosted, has so far managed to dodge the COVID-19 bullet, but many around him have not been so lucky.
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In a first for an e-scooter maker, Okinawa Autotech, an electric two-wheeler company said it would recall 3,215 units of Praise Pro scooters to fix any issue related to batteries with immediate effect. This is part of its comprehensive power pack health check-up camps, the company said in a statement on Saturday. As part of the recall, the scooter would be checked for loose connectors or any damage and be repaired free of charge at any of the Okinawa authorized dealerships pan India, it said.

The recall comes amid multiple fire incidents involving the Okinawa scooters. Including the latest one in Tirupur earlier this week, a total of three Okinawa models have caught fire. Last month a man and his 13-year old daughter died after their Okinawa electric scooter burst into flames.

The recall also comes close on the heels of Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI AAYOG asking EV makers to recall EV batches involved in fires. Time is ripe for the EV industry to instill a sense of confidence in consumers the way global automakers do by voluntarily recalling their vehicles over fire risks, Kant said last week in a CNBC TV18 interview.

Other brands too have seen their e-scooters going up in flames. As many as 20 electric scooters of Nashik-based Jitendra EV Tech caught fire after being loaded on a transport container. While no one had been reported injured, the company said it is conducting an investigation to find the root cause of the fire.

Okinawa said it is working closely with the dealer partners to ensure that the repair experience is as per the convenience of its customers, for which the vehicle owners will be contacted individually. This voluntary campaign is in the wake of the recent thermal incident and in line with the companys long-standing commitment to customer safety, it said.
Amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar, the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday put all the National Capital Region (NCR) districts on alert mode, according to an official statement.

Directions to this effect were given by Chief Minister while chairing a meeting on COVID-19 management in the state, the statement said.

During the meeting, the chief minister observed that over the past few days, there has been a rise in COVID-19 cases in the state's neighbouring areas and its impact can be seen in the NCR districts. He asked officials to put all the NCR districts on alert mode, it said.

Seeing the current circumstances, the entire NCR has been put on alert mode, it added.

Adityanath also directed officials to send samples of COVID-19 patients for genome sequencing.

According to the statement, Gautam Buddh Nagar reported 70 COVID-19 cases and Ghaziabad 11 on Saturday.

Adityanath asked officials to ramp up the administration of the booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines to all adults.

Booster doses are being administered at 700 private vaccination centres in the state.

The chief minister asked officials to remain vigilant to malaria in the Bareilly division and generate awareness about the prevention of dengue in Agra and Lucknow divisions, the statement said.

Besides, he said, awareness about encephalitis should be generated among people in Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh), according to the statement.

(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.)
Paediatric Gastroenterologist at Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Dr Smita Malhotra on Friday said that there is no need to shut because teachers and students are testing COVID-19 positive, and emphasised on taking precautionary measures instead.

"There is no need at all for shutting down because schooling is a very important aspect of growth for children and not just educational growth, growth on other parameters like emotional, psychological, even physical aspects. So definitely, as of now, there is no indication for closure of schools," the Senior Consultant said.

"Standard precautions which are there for others; frequent hand washing and good ventilation should be ensured in . Ensure proper screening. If you think any child has even minor symptoms, then ask that child to stay at home for a few days or get tested," she added.

Dr Malhotra also believes that during growing age, children get exposed to various types of viruses and "whenever there is a changing season or there is a season for those particular viruses, they tend to catch viral infections."

The only thing which is a matter of concern is that COVID should not spread rapidly, so much so that it overwhelms the system, she added.

"There have been some reports of children getting COVID after the reopening of schools, but they are not having serious illnesses. They have mild flu-like symptoms, and cases have marginally increased after the schools reopened," she said.

Notably, Delhi has recorded 366 Covid cases in the last 24 hours with a positivity rate of nearly four per cent (3.95 per cent). The national capital has been witnessing a rise in cases over the last few days.

(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 Delhi court on Saturday upheld an order directing the to withdraw the lookout circular against Amnesty International India Board chair Aakar Patel, saying the LOC is "bad in law" and "cannot sustain".

Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann, however, set aside the direction to the director to give written apology to Patel, acknowledging "lapses" on the part of his subordinate. The judge, who made some scathing remarks against the CBI, also revoked the magisterial court's direction to "fix accountability of officials for issuance of LOC".

The judge also directed Patel not to leave country without magisterial court's permission. The metropolitan magisterial court had on April 7 directed the probe agency to withdraw the LOC immediately and apologies to Patel and file a compliance report by April 30.

Patel had approached the magisterial court claiming that he was stopped by immigration authorities at the Bangalore International Airport, while he was boarding a flight to the US.

The application had claimed that the action was taken despite an order by a Gujarat court granting him permission to travel abroad. "LOC issued against Patel is bad in law, hence cannot sustain. Order of trial court quashing the LOC does not suffer from any infirmity and is a well reasoned order based on principle of law," the judge said.

The court made the observations in its order passed on the CBI's appeal against magisterial court's order.

The judge said that CBI's apprehension that Patel might not appear before the court for the trial, which the agency made a ground to issue the LOC on, did not fall in the situation and circumstances required for issuing the LOC as per law.

"And thus has no force of law to support and sustain." She further observed that on account of "wrongly issued" LOC, Patel was stopped at the airport and he could not take the scheduled flight. "So, observation of the trial court about right of the respondent to file claim for compensation is not out of context."

She further said that the metropolitan magistrate's observation that the manner in which the LOC was issued by the CBI shows "lack of understanding of relevant law, and hence need for orientation of the officers concerned of the CBI, not only for the sensitisation but also to bring objectivity in the actions" was not out of context either.

The judge said that the trial court's observations were "out of concern" and that the CBI needed to take them in the right spirit. She, however, said the LOC was issued on wrong interpretation of law and not out of any malice or ill will, "hence, it is not a fit case to call for fixing the accountability of issuance of LOC".

The judge set aside the trial court's directions to the CBI director to give a written apology to Patel to compensate "mental harassment" caused to him, saying that for the matter at hand, "there was no scope to venture into the scope of mental harassment".

"Therefore, direction of the trial court to the CBI Director to give a written apology to Patel, acknowledging the lapse on the part of his subordinate, to compensate for mental harassment, cannot sustain and is liable to be set aside," the judge 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.)
Union Home Minister is all set to visit Madhya Pradesh, and Pudducherry from April 22 to 24, the officials in the Ministry said in New Delhi on Friday.

According to the officials, he will be in on April 22 followed by on April 23 and Pudducherry on April 24.

On the first day of the tour, the Union Home Minister will be attending the 48th All India Police Science Congress (AIPSC) meet at 11 a.m. at Bhopal as the chief guest on April 22.

The 48th AIPSC is being organised by the Police in association with the Union Home Ministry and its research wing Bureau of Police Research and Development at the police headquarters in Bhopal.

On April 23, Shah will visit to pay tributes to freedom fighter Veer Kunwar Singh on his birth anniversary and will also attend a programme in Kunwar Singh's birth place Jagdishpur in Arrah district of Bihar.

In Jagdishpur, he will also attend a programme organised by the BJP workers which will be apolitical and is being organised under the ongoing 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' to make the young generation aware of the heroic deeds of Veer Kunwar Singh and his fight against the British East India Company.

The BJP workers in Bihar have planned to bring together people from 12 districts and organise a collective waving of more than 75,000 national flags at Jagdishpur to register a 'Guinness world record' on April 23, a key figure in the 1857 Indian rebellion against the British East India Company.

On April 24, Shah will reach to attend an event.

(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.)
Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President KT Rama Rao on Friday demanded state President Bandi Sanjay to tender an apology to the people of before going ahead with his padayatra as they failed to honour the commitments made in the AP Reorganisation Act.

"Bandi Sanjay should step into Palamuru only after explaining to people why the Upper Bhadra project in neighbouring Karnataka is accorded national status and why Telangana is discriminated against, he said.

Calling Sanjay's Praja Sangrama Yatra a deception, KTR said that the state President does not have the right to step in Palamuru.

"Before commencing his yatra, Sanjay should tender an apology to Palamuru and the entire Telangana people for the betrayal, injustice and negligence done by the to the state," he demanded.

In an open letter to the State BJP president, he said that the fields in Palamuru, which were once known for acute drought, have now turned into fertile lands.

"River Krishna was the lifeline of Palamuru. The BJP-led government had set up the River Krishna Management Board but there was no development in addressing the river water sharing disputes. This was pushing the district's future in doubt," said KTR.

Telangana has been demanding national status for Palamuru RangaReddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and Bandi Sanjay should explain the Centre's response to the Palamuru people, he demanded.

"Bandi Sanjay should step into Palamuru only after explaining to Telangana people as to why the Upper Bhadra project in neighbouring Karnataka is accorded national status and why Telangana is discriminated against," said KTR.

People have been appealing for a new railway line to Palamuru via Nagarkurnool but all their pleas were completely ignored by the BJP and its leaders and government, he said.

KTR demanded Bandi Sanjay should let people know how much funds he has donated to temples in Telangana. KTR made this statement as Bandi Sanjay will be commencing his pada Yatra after offering prayers at Adishakti Pitham of Jogulamba Gadwal. The BJP which does politics in the name of God Sri Rama should tell the people of Telangana about how much they have donated to the Sri Rama temple in Bhadradri. He questioned if BJP had donated even a single rupee to the Yadadri temple.

"BJP is used to playing politics in the name of God and religion. Bandi Sanjay should start his pada Yatra after responding to the plight of Telangana farmers, said KTR. The BJP leaders have misled the farmers of Telangana by encouraging them to cultivate paddy with the false promise of procurement of the crop by the central government. But, they changed their words and made the farming community suffer. Name your Yatra 'Rythu Dagaa Yatra' or 'Rythu Dokhaa Yatra'," said KTR.

KTR asked Bandi Sanjay to apologize to the people for the BJP's "incompetent governance".

TRS Working President stated that the BJP has betrayed the people of Telangana by snatching seven mandals at the time of the state formation. He also asked Bandi Sanjay to talk about the unfulfilled promises of the BJP and why they did not deliver what was promised to Telangana under the AP Reorganization Act.

"No pada yatra can compensate for the betrayals done by BJP to Telangana. What was the point of doing pada yatra when the BJP only spills venom on the people of Telangana," KTR asked.

(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 Pravind Kumar Jugnauth accompanied by his spouse Kobita Jugnauth and a high-level delegation will arrive in for an eight-day visit starting Sunday.

The Premier is arriving in on the invitation of Prime Minister .

During his visit, Jugnauth will participate in the Ground-Breaking Ceremony of the WHO-Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar next Tuesday as well as in the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, along with PM Modi, the (MEA) said.

The PM will also pay a visit to Varanasi apart from his official engagements in Gujarat and New Delhi.

" and Mauritius enjoy uniquely close ties, bound by shared history, culture, and heritage. The upcoming visit will further strengthen the vibrant bilateral ties," MEA said.

Last week, External Affairs Minister met Secretary to the Cabinet of Mauritius NK Ballah in New Delhi and said the bilateral cooperation between the two countries was "progressing from strength to strength".

Earlier in January, PM Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth had jointly inaugurated the India-assisted social housing units project in Mauritius virtually. They also launched the Civil Service College and 8 MW Solar PV Farm project in Mauritius that is being undertaken under India's development support.

(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.)
Chief Minister on Friday urged the Central government to allow the state government to ship essential commodities from Thoothukudi port to the Sri Lankan Tamils as the island country is going through an unprecedented .

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Chief Minister also requested for Centre's urgent intervention related to the plight of the 12 Indian fishermen, who were apprehended on March 23 and request to ensure all legal support and assistance for enabling the early release of fishermen.

During his meeting in March, he had apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Government's willingness to provide essential commodities and life-saving medicines to the Sri Lankan Tamils who are bearing the brunt of the in .

"During our recent telephonic conversation on April 7, 2022, I had also brought to your notice that the State has been receiving Sri Lankan Tamils who are forced to leave their country amid the escalating that is turning into a humanitarian crisis. It was informed then that such measures can be considered after due consultation with the Indian Mission in Sri Lanka," he said in a letter to Jaishankar.

The Chief Minister reiterated the government's commitment to ship the essential supplies including food grain, vegetables and medicines and others from Thoothukudi port to the Sri Lankan Tamils living in Northern and Eastern parts of and Colombo, as well as those working in the plantations who are reeling under severe food crisis.

"It has now been reported that the Union Government has enabled the shipping of food and other essential commodities to . At this juncture, I would like to reiterate the commitment of my Government to ship the essential supplies including food grain, vegetables and medicines etc., from Thoothukudi port to the Sri Lankan Tamils living in Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka and Colombo, as well as those working in the plantations who are reeling under severe food crisis. I request that this may be facilitated at the earliest in view of the worsening situation in Sri Lanka," he said.

Stalin also drew the attention of Jaishankar to the plight of the 12 Indian fishermen, who were apprehended on March 23 this year and said that the Killinochchi court has adjourned the case to May 12 with the instructions that the fishermen could be released on bail on a personal bond of Lankan rupees 2 crore per person.

"As this is a prohibitive amount, the fishermen can never furnish the same. They are presently lodged in the Jaffna prison. I request your urgent intervention in this regard and request you to ensure all legal support and assistance to the poor fishermen for enabling their early release," he added.

The Chief Minister also interacted with refugees from Sri Lanka via video conferencing and enquired them about their essential needs, welfare, and ground situation in Sri Lanka amid the economic crisis in the country.

Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis as the government's inability to import essential goods after the coronavirus pandemic torpedoed vital revenue from tourism and remittances.

(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.)
Live news updates: Russian air raids and missile strikes hit Ukraine's capital Kyiv and other major cities on Saturday as Moscow launched more long-range attacks following the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet's flagship.

In the besieged port of Mariupol, scene of the war's heaviest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe, Russian troops pressed their advances, hoping to make up for their failure to capture Kyiv by seizing their first big prize of the war.

"The situation is very difficult" in Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Ukrainska Pravda news portal. "Our soldiers are blocked, the wounded are blocked. There is a humanitarian crisis...Nevertheless, the guys are defending themselves," he said, according to Reuters.
The Saturday announced 300 units of free power for households in the state every month from July 1, but with a caveat that they will have to pay the full bill if their usage exceeds 600 units in two months.

However, scheduled castes, backward castes, below-poverty-line households and freedom fighters will be charged just for the usage over and above 600 units.

Chief Minister made the announcement here on Saturday, fulfilling one of the key poll promises of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The party's convener Arvind Kejriwal had promised free up to 300 units for the state during his election campaign in June last year.

The move will put an estimated additional burden of Rs 5,000 crore on the state exchequer.

The Aam Aadmi Party said the scheme will benefit 80 per cent of domestic category consumers in the state.

"From July 1, 2022, each household in Punjab will get free of 300 units per month. And it will be 600 units for two months," the chief minister said in a video message on Saturday, when his government completes one month in office.

Mann further said if electricity consumption exceeds 600 units in two months, then a consumer will have to pay for the entire power usage.

But the scheduled castes, backward castes, below-poverty-line households and freedom fighters will be charged just for the usage over and above 600 units, the chief minister added.

"For example, if they consumed 640 or 645 units, then they will pay for 40 or 45 units," added Mann.

Punjab has a two-month billing cycle for power supply.

The SC, BC, BPL families and freedom fighters (around 21 lakh consumers), currently getting free 200 units each month, will now get 300 units of electricity monthly, said Mann.

The state's information and public relations department put out advertisements with the announcement in various newspapers published Saturday morning.

Mann also announced waiving off electricity bills pending till December 31, 2021 of those households having up to two-kilowatt load.

Moreover, he said there would be no increase in the electricity tariff for industrial and commercial consumers while free power to the farming community would continue.

The Punjab chief minister further said his government would ensure round-the-clock supply to every village and town in two-to-three years. He said his government would also provide the cheapest electricity in the country to the state's consumers.

Mann said free electricity will help every household save money which they can spend on children's education and meeting other needs.

He said his government would honour each promise made with the people.

Meanwhile, talking to the reporters here, AAP senior leader and MLA Aman Arora said the announcement of free electricity will benefit around 80 per cent consumers.

He said there are a total of 73.50 lakh domestic consumers in the state, and the scheme will cover 61 lakh families.

Power utility Punjab State Power Corporation Limited has worked out that around 61 lakh domestic houses consume less than 300 units per month.

To a question on why general category consumers are charged if their power consumption exceeds 600 units in two months, Arora said it was done in order to ensure proper utilisation of electricity and prevent its misuse.

He said that consumers could witness electricity consumption exceeding 600 units in summer but in the rest of months, their consumption can be lower than that.

To another question, Arora said that this move would put an additional financial burden of Rs 5,000 crore on the state exchequer. "But this burden will not be passed on to consumers."



Punjab has a total financial burden of around Rs 14,000 crore per annum on account of subsided power to various categories, out of which, the subsidy bill on account of free electricity to the farming sector alone is around 7,000 crore.

There is a subsidy bill of Rs 4,000 crore because of Rs 3 per unit rebate in electricity tariff implemented by the previous Congress government and free power of 200 units to SC, BC, BPL families and freedom fighters and Rs 3,000 crore for giving power to the industrial sector at Rs 5 per unit.

AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, in a tweet, said what was promised has been honoured.

Mann had met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the capital on Tuesday to discuss the modalities of providing free electricity for up to 300 units in Punjab.

Kejriwal had later met senior officials of Punjab, including chief secretary Anirudh Tewari, to discuss the modalities.

Kejriwal said the state government will "save money" by ending corruption and put Punjab on the path of progress.

"The AAP does what it says and does not make false promises like other parties," he said, congratulating Mann for his government's decision. "An honest and patriotic government with clear intentions has come in Punjab. We will not allow lack of funds come in the way of progress," he 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.)
The Ayush sector is projected to grow to $23.3 billion in 2022, and with India looking to take traditional medicine to the world, its size is likely to grow faster. The upcoming inauguration of the Global Centre of Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat, is a step in that direction.

Ahead of the mega event, Sarbananda Sonowal, Union minister of Ayush and ports, shipping and waterways, talks to Thirumoy Banerjee about the need for traditional medicine, the road ahead for the sector, and how it could contribute to the growth of the Indian economy. Edited excerpts: What is the ...
SHANGHAI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai is working hard to overcome bottlenecks in logistics and help e-commerce platforms increase production and transport capacity amid strong COVID-19 flare-ups.

The megacity of 25 million people reported 3,590 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 19,923 local asymptomatic carriers on Friday, the municipal health commission said on Saturday.

"The epidemic rebound in Shanghai has caused severe pressure on online shopping, bearing in mind that many delivery persons are under closed-off management and some large warehouses have been temporarily closed," said Liu Min, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, at a press conference on Saturday.

"Shanghai is going all out to restore transport capacity," Liu said. A total of 42 non-epidemic-hit warehouses of Shanghai's e-commerce platforms have resumed operations so far, with more than 18,000 delivery drivers completing about 1.8 million orders per day.

Also, supermarkets and other offline stores of key suppliers are gradually resuming business. As of Friday, 1,011 non-epidemic-hit stores of major supermarkets had opened. The number of employees had increased by 37 percent compared with the previous period.

To further improve the efficiency of distribution, some supermarkets in the economic hub have launched a variety of supply packages involving necessities such as rice, noodles, vegetables, fruits and toiletries, which will be delivered to local communities through third-party logistics companies after residents report their needs to neighborhood communities or place orders on the supermarkets' apps, Liu said.

The city has strengthened health testing for anti-epidemic workers including delivery people, providing convenient testing services.

Shanghai adopts a "2+2" testing mode for logistics workers, requiring them to take two antigen tests every other day, and one antigen test and one nucleic acid test the following day. 
Chief Minister on Friday asked officials to organise a global investors' summit with the target of investing Rs 10 lakh crore in the state within the next two years.

An official spokesperson said the chief minister gave detailed guidelines after reviewing a presentation on the future action plan of 11 departments of the infrastructure and industrial development sector.

"In the last Investors Summit held in Lucknow in 2018, proposals for investment of Rs 4.68 lakh crores were received. Out of these, proposals of more than Rs 3 lakh crores are being realised on the ground. In the next two years, will organise a 'Global Investor Summit'. This time we have to work with a target of investing Rs 10 lakh crores," Adityanath said.

He said this summit will give wings to the aspirations of a new Uttar Pradesh. All necessary preparations should be completed on priority, he added.

The chief minister also directed that the third ground breaking ceremony in the state should be organised within the next 100 days.

Adityanath said 'Team UP' will work with the goal of improving its national ranking in ease of doing business, and for that, the rules of investment and business should be simplified further.

He also said that 'Team UP' will have to work in a planned manner to increase the state's exports from Rs 1.5 lakh crores to Rs 2 lakh crores. A detailed action plan should be prepared in this regard, Adityanath 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.)
As the counting of votes cast in the Bochahan by-poll is underway, early trends show the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leading on the Assembly seat in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, as per the Election Commission of India.

candidate Amar Kumar Paswan is leading by a margin of 11620 votes against BJP candidate Baby Kumari.

The counting of the votes began at 8 am. The by-election was held on April 12.

While NDA fielded Baby Kumari, offered a ticket to Amar Paswan, son of Musafir Paswan. Geeta Kumari, daughter of former minister Ramai Ram, contested on the ticket of the Vikassheel Insaan Party.

By-poll to the seat was entailed by the death of MLA Musafir Paswan, who had won on the ticket of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahani.

(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 Trinamool on Saturday made a clean sweep winning both the Asansol Lok Sabha and the Ballygunge assembly seats in while the and the bagged one constituency each in and in the bypolls to these seats with the drawing a blank.

candidate Yashoda Verma was maintaining a significant lead over Komal Janghel of the in the Khairagarh assembly bypoll in Chhattisgarh where counting was underway.

In West Bengal, movie actor-turned politician of the defeated BJP's Agnimitra Paul by 3,03,209 votes in Asansol. The had won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by 1.97 lakh votes when who was then in the BJP beat TMC's Moon Moon Sen.

Supriyo, who was nominated by the from the prestigious Ballygunge assembly constituency, defeated CPI(M)'s Saira Shah Halim by a margin of 20,228 votes. BJP's Keya Ghosh managed to bag just 13,220 votes.

The bypoll, which took place on April 12, was necessitated as state minister Subrata Mukherjee, who represented Ballygunge, died last year.

Chief Minister and supremo thanked voters of Asansol and Ballygunge for giving a decisive mandate to the TMC candidates.

"I sincerely thank the electors of the Asansol Parliamentary Constituency and the Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving decisive mandate to AITC party candidates," she tweeted.

"We consider this to be our people's warm Shubho Nababarsho gift to our Ma- Mati- Manush organization. Salute to the voters for reposing faith in us, yet again," she added.

In Asansol, 'Shotgun' Sinha said he was "grateful to Asansol's people and to for this victory."



BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said it is a general trend that the party in power in the state generally wins the by- .

In a boost to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine in Maharashtra, the Congress won the bypoll to the Kolhapur North assembly constituency, retaining the seat by defeating the BJP by a margin of over 18,000 votes.

Congress-MVA candidate Jayashri Jadhav bagged 96,176 votes, while BJP's Satyajeet Kadam polled 77,426 votes.

The by-election was necessitated because of the death of sitting Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav due to Covid in December 2021.

Jadhav thanked the voters and said all three constituents of the MVA worked together to clinch victory.

Congress chief termed the party's win as "victory of progressive thoughts".

The opposition in wrested the Bochahan assembly seat from the ruling NDA, with its candidate defeating the BJP nominee by a big margin of over 35,000 votes.

candidate Amar Paswan, whose father Musafir Paswan's death had necessitated the by-election, polled 82,116 votes while his nearest BJP rival Baby Kumari got only 45,353.

Expelled state minister Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), on the ticket of which Musafir Paswan had won the seat in 2020, finished a distant third with 29,671 votes.

VIP was an NDA constituent till about a month ago.

(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.)
After clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on early Friday morning, the US called on all sides to exercise restraint and urged both sides to cooperate to lower tensions.

"The is deeply concerned by the violence in Jerusalem today on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount. We call on all sides to exercise restraint, avoid provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount. We urge Palestinian and Israeli officials to work cooperatively to lower tensions and ensure the safety of everyone," the US State Department said in its statement.

The State Department said that the US is closely following developments and will continue to be in close contact with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials to seek to deescalate tensions.

Notably, Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Temple Mount early Friday morning, as spiking tensions, threats of terror and the observance of major holidays all converge around the flashpoint holy site.

Over 150 were injured in the clashes and the director of the mosque said some 400 Palestinians were detained. This Friday is the second during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the first night of Judaism's week-long Passover holiday, and Good Friday, when Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

At the same time, a series of deadly terror attacks in Israel in recent weeks has killed 14 and left Israel reeling. The attacks have prompted countermeasures from Israeli security forces across the West Bank, including arrests that have spilled into violence.

(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 Defence Ministry spokesman Olexandr Motuzyanyk has said that their forces continued to fight the Russian military for the Azov Sea key port city of Mariupol, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

"The Russian Army is constantly recruiting additional units to storm the city, and as of now there are active battles near the Ilyich plant and in the port zone of Mariupol," Motuzyanyk said on Friday.

He emphasised that the Russian forces have not gained full control of the city after almost seven weeks since the siege began, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Ukrainian military recently carried out a tactical operation on joining the forces of two military units in Mariupol and now they are trying to unblock the city, Motuzyanyk said.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said that the 36th Marine Brigade had broken fighting lines and joined the Azov Battalion in Mariupol, strengthening the defense of the city.

Mariupol in eastern saw one of the worst violence in the Russia- conflict.

(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.)
Former Prime Minister received 58 gifts of more than Rs 140 million from the world leaders during his three-and-a-half-year stint and retained all of them either by paying a negligible amount or even without any payment, The News reported.

The most expensive among them were, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, sold in Dubai. Information obtained by The News suggests that Imran had to pay in order to retain 15 expensive gifts. He paid Rs 38 million for the gifts valued at Rs 140 million and other gifts worth Rs 8,00,200 were retained without making any payment.

Among the most expensive was one set of gifts he had received after his inauguration as the prime minister in August 2018. It included the Graff watch of Rs 85 million that was received together with cufflinks of Rs 5.67 million, a pen of Rs 1.5 million and a ring of Rs 8.75 million.

Their price assessment was made by the evaluation committee set up by him. All these gifts which had a total value of around Rs 100 million were retained by in September 2018 by paying 20 per cent (Rs 20 million) of their estimated value, The News reported.

They were subsequently sold in Dubai earning Rs 155 million, alleged Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It has to be determined who paid for their retention, whether paid any capital gains tax or not.

According to the rules, a gift received by a government functionary from a leader of another country is deposited with the treasury. Those interested to retain the gift can do so by paying a certain amount of the value, which was 20 per cent at the time Imran Khan had retained the above-mentioned gifts. The rules were revised in December 2018 that required the payment of 50 per cent to retain these gifts.

As far as the other gifts retained by Imran Khan are concerned, a set of gifts containing a Rolex watch, a pair of cufflinks, one ring and one box containing necklace, bracelet, and a pair of earrings was valued at Rs 23.5 million and it was retained through Rs 11.5 million. By that time, the rules were revised and retention could be done through payment of 50 per cent of the total value. The other gifts included a Rolex watch worth Rs 3.8 million, which he had retained in October 2018 by paying around Rs 7,54,000. Another Rolex watch of Rs 1.5 million was retained in return of Rs 2,94,000. Another set of gifts included a couple of Rolex watches, iPhone and other items worth Rs 1.73 million, which was retained for Rs 3,38,600.

--IANS

san/dpb

(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.)
reported a record number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases on Saturday and other areas across tightened controls as the country kept up its "dynamic clearance" approach that aims to stamp out the highly transmissible variant.



The Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone, a central Chinese manufacturing area that includes supplier Foxconn, announced a 14-day on Friday "to be adjusted according to the epidemic situation".



In northwestern China, the city of Xian on Friday urged residents to avoid unnecessary trips outside their residential compounds and encouraged companies to have employees work from home or live at their workplace, following dozens of COVID-19 infections this month.



A Xian government official, responding to residents' concerns over potential food shortages, said on Saturday that the announcement did not constitute a and that the city would not impose one.



The city of Suzhou, near Shanghai, said on Saturday that all employees capable of working from home must do so, and residential compounds and company campuses should avoid unnecessary entry of people and vehicles. It has reported more than 500 infections in its latest outbreak.



itself, which is at the centre of China's recent COVID surge starting in early March, on Saturday reported a record 3,590 symptomatic cases for April 15, as well as 19,923 asymptomatic cases. The asymptomatic case number was up slightly from 19,872 cases a day earlier.



The city's case tally makes up the vast majority of cases nationwide even as most of its 25 million residents remain under .



China's "dynamic clearance" policy aims to quickly contain sporadic outbreaks as they occur. On Saturday, a commentary in the Communist Party's official People's Daily newspaper said that the approach was the "best choice at this stage based on China's current epidemic situation."



But ongoing restrictions prompted Japan's consul general in to call for the local government to address concerns of Japanese businesses, in a letter posted on the consulate's website on Saturday.



Domestic support for a zero-COVID policy has worn thin in recent weeks as virus-related restrictions have triggered food shortages, family separations, lost wages and economic pain.



DISRUPTIONS

Analysts say broad disruptions are likely to lead to delays in shipments from companies including Apple, and to weigh on the country's economic growth rate this year.



China's central bank on Friday evening cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, aiming to cushion a sharp slowdown in growth, though the cut was smaller than had been widely expected.

Goldman Sachs analysts called for further policy easing.



"Policymakers might lean towards using more fiscal measures (such as acceleration of major infrastructure project construction) and targeted monetary easing (such as relending and rediscounting) as the main policy lever going forward," they said in a note.



At the Zhengzhou economic zone, only personnel with valid passes, health codes and proof of negative COVID tests will be able to leave the zone during the two-week period, although "special vehicles" will be able to travel normally for work reasons, local authorities said in a post on an official WeChat instant messaging account.



Foxconn, the trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd , referred Reuters to its statement on Thursday which said that its Zhengzhou facility was cooperating with the government's epidemic control work, and that plant operations were normal.



Overall, reported 24,791 new cases on April 15, of which 3,896 were symptomatic and 20,895 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

(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 bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following Russia's withdrawal most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were "simply executed.

The jarring number emerged shortly after Russia's Defense Ministry promised to step up missile attacks on Kyiv in response to Ukraine's alleged aggression on Russian territory. That ominous warning followed the stunning loss of Moscow's flagship in the Black Sea, which a senior U.S. defense official said Friday was indeed hit by at least one Ukrainian missile.

Amid its threats, Moscow continues preparations for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine. Fighting also continues in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies.

Around Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv's regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.

Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said.

More bodies are being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added. The largest number of victims were found in Bucha, where there were more than 350, he said.

According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were tracking down people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

More violence could be in store for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.

The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.

However, Ukrainian officials said their forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. A senior U.S. defense official backed up the claim, saying the U.S. now believes the Moskva was hit by at least one, and probably two, Neptune missiles. Earlier, the Pentagon said it couldn't confirm the cause of the large fire aboard the guided-missile cruiser. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment.

The Neptune is an anti-ship missile recently developed by Ukraine based on an earlier Soviet design.

The Moskva, named for the Russian capital, then sank while being towed to port Thursday after suffering heavy damage. Though Moscow did not acknowledge any attack, saying only that a fire had caused ammunition on board to detonate, the loss of the ship represents an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.

The Moskva had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles. The last time such a large warship sank in combat was 1982, when a British submarine torpedoed an Argentine navy cruiser called the ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War, killing over 300 sailors.

The sinking reduces Russia's firepower in the Black Sea, although military analysts disagreed on the event's significance to the course of the war. Either way, the loss was viewed as emblematic of Moscow's fortunes in a seven-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.

A flagship' russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday in a boast.

In his nightly address Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians they should be proud of having survived 50 days under Russian attack when the invaders gave us a maximum of five.

Russia's warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring Friday as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.

In one central park, a small group of people including a woman draped in a Ukrainian flag danced to the music of a portable speaker.

Residents reported hearing explosions in parts of Kyiv overnight, but it was not clear what sites were targeted.

A renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations. Tentative signs of pre-war life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes.

News about the Moskva overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, which Moscow's forces have blockaded since the early days of the invasion. Dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against a siege that has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians.

Mariupol's mayor said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence in Mariupol of atrocities against civilians like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv.

The Mariupol City Council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies that were buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials of people killed by them.

"Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown, the council said on the Telegram messaging app.

Fighting continues in industrial areas and the port, and Russia has for the first time used the Tu-22?3 long-range bomber to attack the city, said Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Mariupol's capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.

Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of the region.

Although it's not certain when Russia will launch the full-scale campaign, a regional Ukrainian official said Friday that seven people died and 27 were injured after Russian forces opened fire on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near the northeastern city of Kharkiv. The claim could not be independently verified.

Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor's office, told Ukraine's Suspilne news website, that Ukrainian authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Sinehubov said shelling of a residential part of the city killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34.

A large explosion also struck the eastern city of Kramatorsk, where a missile strike on a train station a week earlier killed more than 50 people as thousands heeding warnings to evacuate the Donbas area waited to leave.

Associated Press journalists in Kramatorsk heard the sound of a rocket or missile and then the blast, followed by sirens wailing Friday. It was not immediately clear what was hit or whether there were casualties. A day earlier, a factory in the same city was hit by an airstrike.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Russian strikes in the Kharkiv region liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company of up to 30 people and liberated an iron and steel factory in Mariupol. The claims could not be independently verified.
Russia's foreign ministry said on Saturday it had barred entry to the country for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members and politicians.



The move was taken "in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British Government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would expand the list soon.



The has described Johnson, who has been one of Ukraine's staunchest backers, as "the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian".



A week ago, Johnson visited Kyiv where he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised each other for their cooperation since the Russian invasion, which calls a "special operation".



"The UK and our partners stand united in condemning the Russian government's reprehensible actions in Ukraine and calling for the to stop the war," a British government spokesperson said in response to Moscow's decision to bar Johnson and other British politicians.



"We remain resolute in our support for Ukraine," the spokesperson added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Commission of (ECP) on Friday said it will hear Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) foreign funding case every day, local media reported.

High Court on Thursday had asked the ECP to decide on the foreign funding case filed against former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) within a month, Express Tribune reported.

Justice Kayani, who had delivered the judgment, said that if PTI received the funding from any prohibited sources then it would affect its status, including that of chairman so it becomes important to dig out the truth.

The foreign funding case is pending since November 14, 2014, and it was filed by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar who had alleged that there are some financial irregularities in the PTI's funding from Pakistan and abroad.

On January 4 this year, the ECP's scrutiny committee submitted its report on the PTI's foreign funding case after 95 hearings. The ECP's committee was formed in March 2018.

The report was based on eight volumes of records collected through the State Bank of Pakistan and said that the PTI leaders had "committed the violations of funding laws" by allowing the collection of millions of dollars and billions of Pakistani Rupees without any source and details from foreigners, according to a Dawn report.

Justice Kayani also rejected the request to prevent giving access to case records to PTI's Babar and a request to remove him from the case proceedings.

This comes after PTI filed the petition in Islamabad High Court, challenging the ECP's decision of rejecting the above-mentioned plea of the party which was filed on January 25 and 31.

(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.)
By Polly Cleveland

Mike in hand, our tour guide stands at the front of the bus. This will be my last tour, she announces. I am not the same person I was six years ago. Then I was hopeful. There was so much work I didnt have time for a break. Now its different. My generation, we feel betrayed. Ten years ago they promised reforms. But nothing changes. She and her boyfriend will get Mexican visas to go to Cancun on pretense of a vacation. There they will meet up with a coyote who will take them to the US border, where theyll claim asylum. After a year, theyll be eligible for US residency.

Im with a much-postponed Nation Magazine group trip to Havana. Conditions here are indeed grim compared to my last visit in 2016. Then, President Obama had restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and removed many of the barriers to visiting and trade. (He could not lift the US embargo, imposed by Congress under the Helms-Burton Act of 1996.)

Cuba has since suffered a triple whammy: Covid-19 has driven away the tourists, who are only now beginning to return. The Trump administration imposed more severe restrictions than had existed before Obama. And the Cuban government has coped poorly with the crisis. People are going hungry, as they did in the early 1990s when the Soviet Union cut off support. On July 11 2021, riots broke out in a suburb of Havana over food shortages and electrical outages. The government responded by indiscriminately imprisoning protesters and bystanders and by shutting down the internet for a period. No wonder young people are leaving!

Led by Cuba guru Peter Kornbluh and Nation publisher Katrina Vanden Heuvel, were here for a week at the end of March 2022 to learn what we can and to enjoy the scenery, the arts and the food. Under Trump rules, US visitors cannot have any dealings with Cuban government institutions or officials, which puts hotels, museums and the beach off bounds. Fortunately, Cuba Educational Travel has arranged for us a spectacular program that meets the rules of the Orwellian-sounding OFAC, the US Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Our group is spread over five private casas in the Vedado district of Havana, elegant bed-and-breakfast establishments in what were once the homes of wealthy Cubans. We walk in Old Havana to admire the magnificent architecture, some restored and some crumbling yet still housing dozens of poor families. We enjoy private performances by world-class music and dance companies: The Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Lizt Alfonso Academy, Habana Compas Dance and a female hip hop duo. We visit the home-studio of Cuban artist Edel Bordon, where I purchase a mysterious photo-montage. Its a tribute to Cubas educational system that such a small country (11 million) can produce such a level of culture.

On politics and the economy, we hear lectures by an urban planner, a diplomat and a management consultant. We meet a group of struggling young entrepreneurs, facing baffling regulations and punitive taxes. The consultant however offers some good news: after over ten years of stalling, the government is finally implementing the promised reform of licensing a broad variety of small and medium businesses.

Throughout we hear from Peter Kornbluh. Co-author of the award-winningBack Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana, (2015) hes been in the room of Cuban history starting in 1992. He calls himself our Jewish grandmother. Hes devastated by the decision of our guide, with whom hes worked for ten years.

Cuba has fascinated me since I wrote my dissertation on inequality many years ago. I argued that, quite apart from morality, inequality of wealth makes an economy less productive. Fidel Castros revolutionary government broke up large plantations and gave land to small farmers. That should have had the same effect as land reform in Taiwan in the 1950s: an extraordinary surge in productivity and growth. But not in Cuba. Cuban agriculture remains dismally backward, forcing Cuba to import some 80% of its food, at a cost up to 1 billion dollars a year, mostly wheat, corn, rice, milk and chicken parts. While the US embargo makes things worse, a major culprit is rigid, top-down Cuban policy.

Our trip includes an overnight visit to the World Heritage site of Vinales. This valley is famed for its straight-sided karst hills, or mogotes, which stick up like giant fists. Its also famed for the fine tobacco that goes into Cuban cigars, a major export. As we watch, a tobacco farmer rolls a cigar and lights it for our tour guide. She puffs with pleasureordinary Cubans cant afford such luxuries. I ask him about taxes. Ay, he grunts, The government takes 90% of my crop and I get 20%. Im not sure what to make of his math, but the consequence is obvious: farmers have neither the resources nor the incentive to improve their land and techniques. But they do have a strong incentive to sell into the black market. In response, the government bans private transportation of crops. Yet government trucks seem to lose much of their load along the way. (By contrast, Taiwan imposes a fixed rate on the value of a farmers land, leaving farmers with 100% above that payment, and no incentive to cheat.)

The morning of our second day in Vinales, the hardier ones among us set off with a local guide to visit a traditional farmer. Its pleasant, sunny, with a light breeze as we walk single-file along a rutted red dirt path. Mockingbirds sing from the tops of fruit treesmango, guava, mamey, coconut, banana. Hummingbirds, known locally as zumzum, zip around the flowers. A tethered ox tries to charge us; for hundreds of years, farmers have plowed with ox teams. Fuel is too expensive for tractors. We pass fields of tobacco in flower, with the lower leaves already stripped and drying in barns. Fresh green tendrils of root crops like yams, manioc and yucca poke up through the orange soil. I had wondered why farmers dont mulch their fields; smoke from roadside fires suggests the reason: without fuel or equipment to mow and chop up crop residues and weeds, farmers clear by burning.

The farmer and his wife live in a typical rural bohio, a thatched two-room hut with concrete floor. Their two children stay with grandparents during the week to go to school. No electricity; water comes from an outdoor tank; nearby theres a privy: a tiny shed with a hole in the ground. The farmer, a cheerful, tanned 30-something in a straw hat, tells us he wouldnt want to live any other way. He points with pride to his coffee trees, and shows us how tiny raw beans expand when roasted. Next to the coffee, he points to a row of pineapple plants, with miniature pineapples emerging, one per plant. In the hill above, he keeps beehives; the bees make honey from his coffee and mango trees. He cuts a ten-foot piece of sugar cane and feeds it through a manual roller press, helped by his wife and our guide. Once through, then back again, then fold and twist and fold and twist again, forward and back, until all the juice is out. We each sip a small glass, with an optional splash of rum.

Our local guide, call him Yosi, also owns a small farm, 11 hectares or 27 acres. Hes not so cheerful. Yesterday I cried when I went to the bodega and there was no cereal for my little son. He had been a local English teacher, a job he loved. With a family to support, he became a tour guide. The government tells us Produce, produce, produce. My cousin didnt let his field rest between crops. He planted cabbage. When he brought it to town, there were no trucks to take it to Havana. The government has fuel for the army to arrest people. It has no fuel to take food to market. We watch a tiny lamb licking up the sweet juice that has dripped from the sugar cane press, happily flicking its tail. The Cuban people are sheep, says Yosi. When you cut the throat, they dont cry out. Yosi also plans to escape to the US as soon as he has saved enough to pay a coyote.

Cuba has some state-of-the-art organic farms, which could help fill Cubas food gap. I visited one in 2015. The Cuban government has tried leasing land for such farms, but has found few takers given the hardship and red tape. In Vinales we visit two small private organic farms, one for dinner the first night, and another the next day for a leisurely lunch. The second was founded a few years ago by a middle-aged Cuban-American couple. As I gobble a third helping of fresh-picked greens, lightly salted, I think of course this couple can afford the business risk. They can always parachute back to Miami. Perhaps after our guides obtain US residency they too can return. Perhaps, if and when the US ever lifts the embargo, Miami will rush in and buy up Cuba. As our urban planner has warned, thats a risk for which the Cuban government is ill-prepared.

A final lecture from a medical school professor reminds us that despite the dismal economy, Cuba has had extraordinary success in health care as well as education. Child mortality is lower and longevity is higher than in the US. Cuba developed its own Covid-19 vaccination and over 90% of the population is vaccinated.

Candidate Joe Biden promised to reverse President Trumps restrictions on Cuba. That hasnt happened; President Biden needs the support of Cuban-American Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey. I ask Peter, how can we help? He says, visit Cuba now. Just email Cuba Educational Travel and tell them what youd like to do.

Meanwhile, read a new beautifully-written, enlightening book, Cuba, An American History. The author, Ada Ferrer, is a Cuban-born professor of Latin American history at New York University. I brought two copies in my luggage for Cuban friends.

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BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The success of the Shenzhou-13 mission represents a major victory of China's plan to explore space, experts from different countries have said, calling for closer international cooperation on science and technology.

Three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship have completed their six-month space station mission and returned to Earth safely on Saturday.

The mission marks that China has completed the verification of key technologies of its space station, and also sets a record for Chinese astronauts' duration in orbit, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

China's Shenzhou-13 mission "spent a national-record six months in orbit," with Wang Yaping becoming "the first Chinese woman ever to conduct a spacewalk," U.S. space and astronomy news website Space.com reported.

The astronauts, or taikonauts, preformed two spacewalks, conducted more than 20 different science experiments and delivered two live educational lectures in space, the report said.

Calling the success of the astronauts a major win for China's space exploration program, Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, pointed out that as a major developing country, China's stride in space science is an inspiration to the larger global south.

By building its own space station, China will expand its scientific reach, Adhere said, adding that China's space exploration program is also open to other developing countries.

For example, Beijing is working with African countries across a range of space exploration themes, the scholar noted. "Such exchange programs have significantly boosted capacity for space development programs on the continent."

Lameck Odada, an economist at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, noted that China's achievements in space station construction and space exploration are extraordinary, and contribute to human efforts in space exploration.

Odada expressed the expectation that China would share its breakthroughs in scientific research and technology and continue to strengthen cooperation with other countries.

Saying the mission is "definitely a success," Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University, told Xinhua that it is "important to move forward with a long-term space station and full operation."

This mission has shown that China's astronauts "are capable of long-term space flight, which makes Earth's future goals and plans for the Moon and beyond exciting," Tucker said. 
A Sri Lankan Police sergeant, who was arrested for joining the protest at the Galle Face Green area in uniform and making a statement to the media, has been released on bail after he was produced in court on Friday.

A large number of people including artists and master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya joined the ongoing protest at Galle Face, the main beachfront in the capital Colombo, outside Sri Lankan President's secretariat for the 8th day.

The Colombo Additional Magistrate Keminda Perera this afternoon ordered that the sergeant be released on three personal sureties. He was arrested on charges under sections of the Penal Code, the Police Ordinance, and the Official Secrets Ordinance. by the Fort Police on Thursday, reported Colombo Page.

A group of pro bono lawyers including President's Counsels appeared in court on behalf of the police sergeant. The case is due to be heard again on April 29.

Meanwhile, the police have also commenced an investigation regarding the police sergeant who joined the Galle Face protest in uniform. The police stated that further action will be taken based on the progress of the investigation.

Issuing a statement on Thursday the Police Headquarters said a Policeman must work within the jurisdictions of the service when on duty, as per the news portal.

A massive protest has been continuing in the Galle Face Green area in the capital city of Colombo as the Island nation is facing its worst since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts.

This comes at a time when is celebrating its New Year. The Sri Lankans are protesting against the government's handling of the economic situation and demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Protesters have been accusing Rajapaksa's government of corruption and misrule.

(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 European Union and are at risk of triggering a de facto embargo on Russian gas after the blocs lawyers drafted a preliminary finding that the mechanism President is demanding for payment in rubles would violate the blocs sanctions.

Countries including Germany are still scrutinizing an initial EU assessment that Putins ruble demand would breach the blocs sanctions imposed over Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Netherlands has told its energy firms to refuse the new payment system in light of the EU legal analysis.

could still provide clarifications or adjustments to its decree that could affect how the EU and companies move forward. Moscow has been pulling in roughly 1 billion euros a day from in energy purchases, which has helped insulate it from the impact of EU sanctions.

If follows through on its threat to cut off gas supplies to buyers that dont comply, it poses a serious threat for the EU, which gets 40% of its gas from Russia. The bloc is scrambling to find alternative energy sources as it comes to terms with the outsize leverage Moscow has over its security, but the transition will take time. The EU is working on its sixth sanctions package, but moves to target Russian energy have been fraught given the blocs dependence.

Germany could face a 220 billion-euro ($238 billion) hit to output over the next two years should the gas supply be cut immediately, according to a joint forecast of economic institutes.

Thats the equivalent of a 6.5% annual output cut and it could tip the country into a recession of more than 2% next year.
Russia's warplanes bombed Lviv and its missiles struck Kyiv on Saturday, as followed through on a threat to launch more long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities after the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet flagship.



An explosion was heard and smoke seen in Kyiv's southeastern Darnytskyi district, where said it had struck a factory that repairs tanks. The capital's mayor said rescuers and medics were working there but gave no further details.



Ukraine's military said Russian warplanes that took off from Belarus had also fired missiles at the Lviv region near the Polish border, where four cruise missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defences.



said it also struck a military vehicle repair factory in Mykolaiv, a city close to the southern front.



The attacks followed Russia's announcement on Friday that it would intensify long-range strikes in retaliation for unspecified acts of "sabotage" and "terrorism", hours after it confirmed the sinking of its Black Sea flagship, the Moskva.



Kyiv and Washington say the ship was hit by Ukrainian missiles, a striking display of Ukraine's military success against a far better-armed foe. says it sank after a fire.



A month and a half into President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, is trying to capture territory in the south and east after withdrawing from the north following a massive assault on Kyiv that was repelled at the capital's outskirts.



Russian troops that pulled out of the north left behind towns littered with bodies of civilians, evidence of what U.S.

President this week called genocide - an attempt to erase Ukrainian national identity.



denies targeting civilians and says the aim of what it calls its "special military operation" is to disarm its neighbour, defeat nationalists and protect separatists in the southeast.



Ukrainian troops are still holding out in the ruins of the besieged coastal city of Mariupol, scene of the war's heaviest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe, where tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped for seven weeks under bombardment.



"The situation in Mariupol is difficult... Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city," defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a televised briefing.



"EVACUATE WHILE STILL POSSIBLE"

Russia has been sending additional troops to try to drive Ukrainian forces out of the Donbas, two provinces in the south-east which Moscow demands be fully ceded to Russian-backed separatists it has backed since 2014. says it has so far held off Russian advances there.



One person was killed and three wounded in shelling in Luhansk, one of the two Donbas provinces where Russia is trying to advance, Governor Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post.



A gas pipeline was damaged in the frontline towns of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, which were without gas and water, Gaidai said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

"Evacuate, while it is still possible," Gaidai said. Buses were ready for those willing to leave.



gained the upper hand in the early phase of a war many Western military experts had predicted it would quickly lose. It has successfully deployed mobile units armed with anti-tank missiles supplied by the West against huge Russian armoured convoys confined to roads by muddy terrain.



But Putin appears determined to capture more Donbas territory to claim victory in a war that has left Russia subject to increasingly punitive western sanctions and with few foreign allies.

All independent media has been shut at home, opposition figures have been jailed or driven abroad and dissent effectively stamped out.



Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said about 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in seven weeks of war, compared to up to 20,000 Russian troops.

Moscow has given no updates on its military casualties since March 25, when it said 1,351 had died. Western estimates of Russian losses are many times higher. There are few independent estimates of Ukrainian military losses.



says it is impossible to count civilian deaths, estimating tens of thousands have been killed in Mariupol alone.

Around a quarter of Ukrainians have been driven from their homes, including a tenth of the population that has fled abroad.

Zelenskiy said the military situation in the south and east was "still very difficult".



"The successes of our military on the battlefield are really significant, historically significant. But they are still not enough to clean our land of the occupiers. We will beat them some more," he said in a late-night video address.



Zelenskiy has appealed to Biden for the United States to designate Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism," joining North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria, the Washington Post reported.



A White House spokesperson responded: "We will continue to consider all options to increase the pressure on Putin."

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russian President spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday, their second call since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields.



The Saudi readout of the call said the crown prince affirmed support for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine.The kingdom recently announced USD 10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlin's statement added the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war for years, as well as their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+.



The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.



Ukraine has urged nations around the world to cut their dependency on Russian oil imports that it says finance Russia's military war on Ukraine.
Days after the Joe Biden administration announced an additional USD 800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, warns the United States of "unpredictable consequences" if the country continues to transfer weapons to Ukraine.

Washington Post reviewed a diplomatic note that sent the US this week and said that the note warned that US and shipments of the "most sensitive" weapons systems to Ukraine could bring "unpredictable consequences," reported Aljazeera.

"We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and security," said the note.

The shipments were "adding fuel" to the conflict, the note also said, according to the newspaper.

Notably, the US military aid package included artillery systems, artillery rounds, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters - and brought the total tally of US aid to Ukraine since Russia's invasion began to more than USD 2.4 billion.

(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.)
Amid rising concerns regarding the security deal between the Solomon Islands and that will allow the People's Liberation Army's presence in the Indo-Pacific region, Australian Minister Zed Seselja met the leader of the Pacific island nation and apprised him about Beijing's increased military activity which could destabilize the region.

Australian Prime minister earlier on Tuesday had downplayed the prospect of establishing a military base in the Solomon Islands. Pacific Minister Zed Seselja flies to the Pacific island nation's capital city to meet with officials as the Australian government seeks to smooth over diplomatic tensions, reported news.com.au.

"We look forward to ongoing engagement with the Solomon Islands, and with our Pacific family members, on these very important issues," Seselja said before his departure.

"Our view remains that the Pacific family will continue to meet the security needs of our region," he added.

and New Zealand have expressed their concern regarding China's increased military activity and influence in the Indo-Pacific which could destabilize the region as the island could also be used as a stopover for China's troops for tactical replenishments.

also said that has intentions to build a naval base in the Solomon Islands to intimidate the continent, Washington Times reported.

Senator Seselja said "direct engagement" with the Solomon Islands had been ongoing, including discussions between Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her counterpart Jeremiah Manele.

Senator Seselja said he had engaged in discussions of his own with Pacific partners in Brisbane over the weekend before the Our Ocean Conference in Palau, which runs from Wednesday to Thursday.

" will always support our Pacific family, reflected in our 'Pacific step up'," he said. As of March 24, the Solomon Islands divulged that the security deal had been signed, following which Australia and New Zealand both raised concerns.Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce felt that China's intentions are to build a naval base in the Solomon Islands to intimidate Australia.Concerns over military activity from China in the Solomon Islands were further echoed by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern when she said that she saw very little need for China's military presence in the Pacific region and urged leaders of island nations to not look beyond their Pacific family for military and security support.

China was interested in increasing its military numbers and influence in the Solomon Islands, and as per the terms of this agreement, they would be able to send police or armed forces,Washington Times reported.In order to mitigate China's influence on the Solomon Islands, Australia has often extended aid, such as infrastructure funds to the islands. However, Honiara making these deals with China is an indication that the island nation is slowly slipping into China's embrace.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne expressed her worry about these actions potentially destabilizing and undermining the security in this region with a disclaimer that she respected the islands' right to make sovereign decisions.

China had been labeled neo-colonizers of the Pacific as it has been strategically providing infrastructural support to islands in the Pacific, specifically for building ports "for trade" fully knowing that these small countries could then later be strong-armed into executing China's political ambitions and undermining their sovereignty,Washington Times reported.

Infrastructure projects hardly ever succeed in job creation for locals, rather these projects are known to deplete monetary resources of the host country, economically destabilizing the country, which then becomes debt trapped, it added.

The Solomon Islands had also created waves of commotion when they decided to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan for China. This created civil unrest within the island nation, leading anti-Asian sentiment and communal violence against Asian people.

(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 total of 395 people have been killed by flood in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province, a government official said.

As of Friday, a total of 40,723 people have been affected, and the latest number of fatalities stands at 395, Sipho Hlomuka, a member of the Executive Council for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal, briefed the media on Friday about the recent .

Over 4,000 law enforcement members have been deployed to the affected areas to support relief efforts and maintain law and order, and staff are busy repairing damaged infrastructure like roads, water supply, sanitation and electricity, he said.

According to the South African Weather Service, more rainfall is expected in parts of the province in the coming days, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Damaging winds are forecast for areas along the coast from midday today into Saturday evening. Disruptive rain is forecast," Hlomuka said.

In line with the disaster management plan, provincial and municipal disaster management teams are on high alert to respond to communities known to be at high risk to avert and minimise the disaster impact, he added.

It has been raining heavily in KwaZulu-Natal since the weekend, which damaged roads, homes, schools, electricity poles, and many government infrastructure.

(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 said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While US lawmakers and US President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the US has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russia's money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: "The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.
retailer Ltd has filed preliminary papers with capital regulator to raise Rs 525 crore through an initial public offering (IPO).

The comprises fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 325 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of equity shares to the tune of Rs 200 crore by selling shareholder - SAIF Partners India IV Limited.

Besides, the company may consider a pre- placement of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 65 crore. If such placement is undertaken, the fresh issue size will be reduced.

The company proposes to utilise Rs 240 crore of net proceeds from the fresh issue towards funding working capital requirements and rest towards general corporate purposes.

At present, has 127 showrooms -- 70 company-operated and 57 franchisee -- in 89 cities and towns across 13 states in India. Some of its franchisee showrooms are located in areas other than metros and tier-I, providing a greater reach in tier-2 and tier-3 locations.

The company also sells products through various online platforms. It also undertakes wholesale exports of its primarily to Dubai, Malaysia and Singapore.

Its revenue from operations grew at a CAGR of 9.92 per cent from Rs 2,420 crore as of March 31, 2020 to Rs 2,660 crore as of March 31 2021.

The company has recently entered into a share subscription with Oman India Joint Investment Fund Trustee Company Private Limited, the trustee of Oman India Joint Investment Fund II for the issue and subscription of 26.63 lakh equity shares for an aggregate consideration of Rs 75 crore.

IIFL Securities, Ambit and SBI Capital are the book running lead managers to the . The equity shares of the company are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.

(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.)
RIYADH, April 16 (Xinhua) -- In his phone conversation with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Friday morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted the strategic and overarching significance of China-Saudi Arabia relations.

Over the past year, China and Saudi Arabia have joined their efforts and moved forward together, facilitating new development in bilateral ties, Xi said.

The Chinese side supports Saudi Arabia in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and stability, and in independently exploring a development path suited to its own national conditions, Xi stressed.

Xi has, on many occasions, affirmed his commitment to promoting cooperation with Saudi Arabia at various levels. The following are some highlights of his remarks in this regard.

April 20, 2021

In a phone conversation with the crown prince, Xi said that China is willing to work with Saudi Arabia and other members of the international community to build an equitable climate governance regime that is cooperative and beneficial to all.

He also called for concerted efforts to push for a comprehensive and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

Feb. 6, 2020

During a phone conversation with King Salman, Xi said he deeply appreciates that King Salman and the Saudi side have repeatedly expressed their firm support to China at this critical moment when China is fighting the novel coronavirus, which has fully demonstrated the sincere friendship and the high level of comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

He also said that the Chinese side will keep on working with all countries, including Saudi Arabia, to jointly handle the epidemic, and maintain public health safety in the region and around the world in the spirit of openness and transparency.

Feb. 22, 2019

When meeting with the crown prince at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi said that China regards Saudi Arabia as a good friend and partner and is ready to work jointly with Saudi Arabia to build on past achievements to open up a new horizon for bilateral friendship and strategic relationship.

China and Saudi Arabia should continue to extend mutual support on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns and promote political mutual trust, he said.

China firmly supports Saudi Arabia's efforts on promoting economic diversification and social reforms and safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and stability, stated Xi, saying that China opposes any moves to interfere in Saudi Arabia's internal affairs.

Nov. 16, 2017

In a phone conversation with King Salman, Xi said China's determination to deepen strategic cooperation with Saudi Arabia will not waver, no matter how the international and regional situation alters.

Remarking on the importance of maintaining close communication between the two countries' heads of state, Xi said China and Saudi Arabia were comprehensive strategic partners with deepening strategic mutual trust and win-win cooperation.

China supports Saudi Arabia's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and realize greater development, the Chinese president said.

March 16, 2017

During their talks in Beijing, Xi and visiting King Salman have agreed the two countries will step up cooperation in all areas and push forward their all-round strategic partnership.

China supports Saudi Arabia as it advances on a development path suitable to its national conditions, maintains national sovereignty, security and development interests, and plays greater role in regional and global affairs, Xi said.

China is a reliable and stable market for Saudi Arabia's oil, Xi said, calling for closer cooperation in such areas as energy, communication, aviation, finance and investment, culture, education, public health, technology, tourism, media and security.

Jan. 19, 2016

"Since China and Saudi Arabia forged diplomatic ties 26 years ago, our relationship has developed by leaps and bounds, with mutual political trust deepening continuously and rich results in cooperation in various fields," Xi said in written remarks upon arrival in his first visit to Saudi Arabia.

Xi and King Salman decided to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

"I believe it will deepen the mutual strategic trust, lead to greater achievements in our mutually beneficial cooperation, and help facilitate and broaden our shared interests in international and regional affairs," Xi said on the upgrade of bilateral ties. 
Accusing the opposition Congress of wanting to be investigator, prosecutor and judge in the case relating to civil contractor Santosh Patil's death, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday dismissed allegations of interference by his government in the investigation.

Following a political furore that erupted on the issue, senior leader K S Eshwarappa, against whom police have booked a case of abetment to suicide, submitted his resignation as the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister on Friday night.

"Santosh Patil's suicide is being investigated, postmortem has been done, FSL (forensic science laboratory) report will come. On the basis of it, what has happened will be scientifically known," Bommai said in response to Congress' questioning, as to why Eshwarappa has not been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Speaking to reporters here, he recalled that during Siddaramaiah-led Congress government's tenure in K J George (former Minister) case, the police, despite having video allegations against him and the death note, did not mention his name in the FIR, and there was an attempt to shut the case, and the court had to issue an order, when the deceased police officer M K Ganapathy's family approached it.

"But, we have filed FIR (in Santosh Patil case) as per the complaint and accordingly the investigation is on....based on the progress of investigation, further sections may be added, let the investigation happen," he added.

M K Ganapathy, who was Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mangaluru, had allegedly killed himself at a lodge in Kodagu on July 7, 2016. In a video message before suicide, he had named the then Home Minister K J George, and two top IPS officers responsible for his extreme step.

The Congress wants to be an investigator, prosecutor and judge in the contractor's suicide case and it cannot happen, Bommai said people are aware how the party shut several cases while in power.

"When, what section has to be invoked, what provisions, will happen as per law. The government has in no way interfered. Just because I brought out what they (Congress) in during the George case, they have accused me of giving a certificate (of innocence to Eshwarappa), did I give a certificate?" he said.

There is law and investigation will take place in accordance with it, he said, the veracity of the investigation will be analysed in the court, when the charge sheet is submitted.

Accusing the state government and Bommai of trying to protect Eshwarappa, the Congress on Friday had demanded his arrest and that a case be registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The opposition party also urged that an impartial investigation be conducted by the police under the supervision of a sitting judge of the High Court.

Noting that Congress is going on a statewide protest against corruption, as though they are very clean handed, Bommai said, "people are aware of what Congress is, let them first calculate the number of skeletons of corruption in their cupboard....they are trying to set a narrative, we will place before the people about their corruptions."



Asked whether the Santosh Patil suicide cases will be handed over to CID or other agency for further probe, he said, "Let the preliminary inquiry happen first, based on the need, we will decide."



Santosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor, was found dead at a hotel in Udupi on Tuesday, weeks after accusing Eshwarappa, who is also a senior leader, of corruption.

In a purported suicide note in the form of a WhatsApp message, Patil had blamed Eshwarappa for his death.

Patil last month complained to Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh and also central leaders stating that he was yet to be paid Rs four crore for road works undertaken in Hindalga village and had accused Eshwarappa's aides of demanding 40 percent commission for the release of the payment.

(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 meeting, called by interim President to discuss issues related to 'Chintan Shivir' and upcoming polls is underway at her residence here, sources said.

Party's senior leaders Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken are present in the meeting.

The meeting is also being attended by political strategist Prashant Kishor, sources said.

Notably, Kishor has met the Gandhis several times in the past few weeks and is tipped to join the party.

The is gearing up to call a Working Committee (CWC) meeting ahead of the 'Chintan Shivir'. The CWC will meet to finalise the agenda for the Shivir.

Senior Congress leaders have been meeting regularly to work on the agenda. has assigned this task to senior leaders such as Ambika Soni and Mukul Wasnik, who have been holding talks with other leaders to finalise the agenda for the CWC and the Chintan Shivir.

The 'Chintan Shivir' has been necessitated since the dissidents have been raising voices against the present functioning of the party.

The G-23 is up against Rahul Gandhi and his team, even as the party's interim chief has been holding meetings with the dissidents to cull internal rift.

--IANS

miz/shs/dpb

(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 Notre Dame cathedral is seen under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

The Notre Dame cathedral is seen under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

A tourist bus passes by the Notre Dame cathedral under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

A man walks near the Notre Dame cathedral under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

A sculpture is seen near the Notre Dame cathedral under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

The Notre Dame cathedral is seen under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

A sculpture is seen near the Notre Dame cathedral under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

The Notre Dame cathedral is seen under renovation in Paris, France, April 15, 2022. On April 15, 2019, a huge fire broke out at the historic cathedral located in the heart of Paris and destroyed the spire of the building. Hours after the blaze, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral, one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, would be rebuilt and reopen by 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Joe Biden, the US President Getty

April 15 (Reuters) - The Biden administration will grant temporary deportation relief and work permits to Cameroonians living in the United States due to the ongoing conflict between government forces and armed separatists in that country, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday.

The decision will apply to Cameroonians residing in the United States by April 14 and last a period of 18 months, DHS said. An estimated 12,000 Cameroonians will be eligible for the status, according to the department.

President Joe Biden has championed the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which grants immigrants who cannot return to their countries safely due to extraordinary circumstances, such as violent conflict or natural disasters, the ability to stay and work in the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas cited the conflict and a rise in attacks in Cameroon by the Islamist group Boko Haram in a statement announcing the move.

Violence against the armed forces in the western regions of Cameroon has intensified over the past year as Anglophone separatists fighting the French-speaking government increase their use of explosive devices.

In late 2020 and early 2021, Reuters spoke to more than a half dozen Cameroonian asylum seekers when they had been deported back to their country after losing U.S. immigration court cases. While all declined to be named, they told similar stories of having their identity documents confiscated by the government after returning to Cameroon, and several were in hiding, fearing retaliation from local authorities.

A February Human Rights Watch report documented dozens of cases of Cameroonian authorities subjecting asylum seekers deported by the United States to human rights violations such as arbitrary arrest and torture between 2019 and 2021.

Biden, a Democrat, has greatly expanded TPS enrollment, which his predecessor, Republican then-President Donald Trump, largely sought to wind down.
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WARSAW/MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Transferring massive weapons to Ukraine, massing a large number of troops in eastern Europe, and welcoming Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, NATO has been very much engaged itself so far in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Analysts say NATO's disregard of Russia's legitimate concerns on security issues and its continuous expansion is the root cause of the outbreak and escalation of this conflict. If it continues to slim down the small buffer zone left between Russia and itself, the situation will undoubtedly go worse.

DEPLOYMENT IN THE EAST

NATO's eastern flank usually refers to the three Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.

Before the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, NATO deployed one combat force in each of the three Baltic countries and Poland, and implemented a rotation mechanism with non-permanent garrison troops there.

But for now, NATO doubles the size of the four above-mentioned combat forces and declared four new NATO battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia at the NATO summit held last month.

NATO is seen by many as a Cold War vestige, and has been questioned over the necessity of its existence after the end of the Cold War.

The military alliance promised in the 1990s that it would not expand "one inch eastward," according to then U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. However, led by the United States, NATO has expanded eastward five times since 1999, increasing the number of member countries from 16 to 30, advancing more than 1,000 km eastward, and reaching the Russian border.

RECRUITMENT IN THE NORTH

In addition to strengthening deployments on the eastern flank, NATO is also recruiting new members on the north wing. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly said that if Finland and Sweden apply to join NATO, NATO will welcome them and ensure that their entrance will be accepted soon.

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Stoltenberg said that the alliance is "in the midst of a very fundamental transformation" that will reflect "the long-term consequences" of Russia's military operation.

Both Finland and Sweden have long pursued a policy of military non-alignment. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, NATO has failed to win over the two countries several times.

But now Finland and Sweden made some changes in their positions in face of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, delivering anti-tank weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.

Some analysts point out that before the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia had repeatedly confirmed and confided its red line to both the United States and NATO, for which both showed a total disregard. If NATO continues to fan the flames such as taking in new members, it will lead to further escalation of the situation.

CONFRONTATIONAL GESTURE

When answering a question about the prospect of the countries which may join NATO, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Monday that further expansion of NATO, including the admission of Finland and Sweden into the alliance, will not contribute to security in Europe.

"In itself, the alliance is rather a tool sharpened for confrontation. This is not an alliance that ensures peace and stability. Further expansion of the alliance, of course, will not bring additional security to the European continent," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Dmitry Belik, a member of Russia's State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said on Monday that NATO seeks to build up its military presence near the Russian borders, but the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO will not benefit these countries, and "Russia will not watch this indifferently."

"This issue seriously affects our security, so we will be forced to take retaliatory steps," he told the Izvestia newspaper.

"The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO puts them in a very difficult position," he added.

According to military expert Viktor Litovkin, in the event that Finland and Sweden decide to join NATO, Russia will justifiably strengthen the Russian-Finnish border, as well as the entire water area of the Gulf of Finland.

"Russia will have to strengthen ground forces and air defense, deploy significant naval forces in the Gulf of Finland in the event of Finland and Sweden joining the alliance," the expert noted. 
After its global unveil in India last November and subsequent spy shots showing it landing at the Batangas Port and on its way to dealers...
Photo: Google Street View

After 26 years in business, one of Vancouver's last video rental stores is closing its doors.

Black Dog Video on Commercial Drive announced last week that it will be closing come the end of June.

The store's owner Darren Gay posted online that business at the store has been on the decline for years, and amid rising rent and other costs, keeping the business open is no longer feasible.

Its been a long time coming but its finally time to rip that band-aid off and pull the trigger so to speak, Gay wrote. We lost the war to, what I call, the 'convenience of mediocrity' that is streaming et al.

Gay wrote that he's open to some kind of miracle in the way of some kind of financial support, but barring that, he'll be closing up shop for good in the coming months. He noted that he's hoping to have his current stock of videos ready for sale to the public by May 1.

It breaks my (and the staffs) hearts to have to do this as Ive loved this job and feel damn lucky and privileged to have been able to bring the world of cinema to Vancouver for so long. Its going to be a difficult next few months, Gay wrote.

I want to thank all of you who came through our doors over the years and especially the ones who stuck with us till the end  a proper eulogy is still to come. Dark days indeed.

Kelowna lost its last video rental store back in the spring of 2020, when Leo's Videos shut down for good.
Photo: Moira Wyton Debbie Lachapelle, left, lost her daughter, Erika Paige Lachapelle last April.

Debbie Lachapelle sometimes drives around Vancouvers West End near English Bay, looking for her daughter among the tree-lined streets and rows of aging apartment blocks.

Erika Paige Lachapelle died almost a year ago on April 25. She was 29 and fell 12 stories from her apartment balcony. Her death was ruled a suicide, but Lachapelle believes her daughter overdosed and either fell or was pushed.

Erika had been introduced to substance use that year. And then she was gone.

I feel empty, numb, lonely. I miss her, Lachapelle, a single mother, said in Sunset Beach Park. It was me and her.

I lost my future. Ill never be a grandmother. Ill never have a son-in-law.

On Thursday, Lachapelle returned to English Bay with others to mourn the dead and demand action on the sixth anniversary of the overdose public health emergency in British Columbia.

The gathering of about 40 people organized by the advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm represents just a small fraction of the bereaved left behind by the more than 9,400 people who have been killed by toxic drugs since 2016.

Everyone here knows exactly what it feels like, Lachapelle said.

Now in its seventh year, B.C.s oldest public health emergency is claiming more lives than ever, with drugs that are becoming increasingly toxic, potent and unpredictable.

At least 2,232 people died of drug poisonings last year. The per capita death toll has more than doubled to 43.5 deaths per 100,000 since 2016.

Last year, on the fifth anniversary of the public health emergency, the B.C. government announced it would ask Ottawa permission to decriminalize personal possession of drugs in the province.

The submission is still being considered, and other promised efforts to separate people from the toxic drug supply, such as safe supply, have stalled.

Our hearts go out to those affected by the toxic drug crisis, read a Thursday statement from Premier John Horgan, Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

This is an anniversary that cannot continue. We need to come together to protect British Columbians now and into the future. While we are making progress, we know there is much more to do.

A recent report from a panel of experts convened by the chief coroner found the government had failed to act in an urgent, co-ordinated and accountable way to respond to the crisis.

It urged action to replace the poisoned supply in order to save lives while other resources scaled up.

Much greater access to safer supply across the province is critical to preventing future loss of life, said chief coroner Lisa Lapointe in a Thursday statement. This, alongside decriminalization of possession for personal use, greater access to evidence-based treatment and care, and a continuum of services that meets people where they are, will support those at risk and provide a path out of this crisis.

Moms Stop the Harm board member Traci Letts said in the last two years the organizations membership has doubled to more than 3,300 people across Canada. About half of those members are in B.C.

I never thought I would see the deaths compile like they have in six years, said Letts, whose son has dealt with substance use issues for more than a decade. She joined the organization in 2018.

We thought safe supply was on the horizon, but its been a dismal failure, no one can get it in B.C.

As harm reduction volunteers from Street Saviours Outreach Society trained attendees to use naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose, mourning loved ones stood shoulder to shoulder. A field of tiny purple flags in the ground flapped in the wind, each representing a life lost to toxic drugs.

Matthew Witt stood back from the crowd. Witts son, Sebastian Witt, died of a fentanyl poisoning on May 18, 2015, at age 20. He had relapsed after a year in recovery from opioid addiction.

Witt has been grieving his sons life for the entire span of the public health emergency.

The grief changes but it never goes away. It comes and goes, Witt said, standing with his sons rescue dog, Rio.

Lachapelle feels the health-care system failed Erika, who was hospitalized 12 times in the nine months before her death. Lachapelle herself at one point revived her from an overdose.

She wants more to be done so no more parents bury their children like she had to.

I just hope there arent so many more deaths, said Lachapelle. And I hope that Ill meet her again one day.
As Sri Lanka faces the gas crisis, the chairman of Litro Gas Company, Theshara Jayasinghe has stepped down from his post.

Jayasinghe had handed over his letter of resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In a letter, he said that the gas crisis in the country cannot be resolved at the institution level of Litro Gas. He further stated that they need the support of those people who are involved in the overall economic structure of the country, Colombo Page reported.

The chairman of Litro Gas Company stated that due to the previous authorities in the institution responsible for the management of the public finances and regulation of the country's financial management negligence and carelessness, the people suffered.

He also said that the institution failed to implement the recommendations required to resolve this crisis easily.

Litro recently decided to suspend gas distribution until the 17th due to the depletion of stocks, reported Colombo Page.

Meanwhile, the island nation introduced fuel rationing for most categories of non-commercial vehicles starting Friday, local media reported.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) announced the restrictions on issuing fuel for various categories of vehicles starting at 1:00 pm on Friday.

Fuel will only be issued for LKR 1000 for Motorcycles, LKR 1,500 for three-wheelers, and LKR 5,000 for Cars, Vans, and Jeeps, Daily Mirror reported.

CPC Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe informed that the new regulations do not apply to Buses, Lorries, and Commercial vehicles.

Earlier, CPC had requested people to purchase only the required quantity of fuel as sufficient stocks of fuel have been supplied to filling stations, according to Colombo Page.

Sri Lanka's economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the crash of the tourism sector. The country is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has affected its capacity to import food and fuel. The shortage of essential goods has forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries.

India had earlier provided Sri Lanka with a USD 500 million Line of Credit for fuel purchases which are expected to exhaust soon

(ANI)
Moscow has enrolled individual sanctions against UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Minister Elizabeth Truss, Defense Minister Ben Wallace and other top-level officials, banning them from entering Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"It was decided to include key members of the British government and a number of political figures to the Russian 'stop list' amid the unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed in particular in the imposition of sanctions against senior officials of the Russian Federation," the statement read.

The Ministry noted that new sanctions are in response to London's information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, containing it and strangling its economy.

The Ministry also accused the United Kingdom of deliberately inflaming the situation around Ukraine, sending lethal arms to Kyiv, and pushing other countries to impose sanctions against Russia, as well as "the Russophobic course of the British authorities."

The list includes a total of 13 UK officials, with the outlook of being expanded "in the near future" to include politicians and members of parliament.

(ANI/Sputnik)
Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko via video link at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, held talks with Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko via video link on Friday.

Commending China-Russia ties as mature, resilient, and stable, Li said that the bilateral relationship, which is based on the principle of non-alliance, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of any third party, is driven by strong internal dynamics and valued for its independence.

Li called on the two legislative bodies to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and promote the implementation of the Treaty of Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between China and Russia to facilitate the development of bilateral relations.

The two countries should give full play to the cooperative committee platform between the two legislative bodies, promote exchanges, consolidate the legal cooperation foundation, safeguard political security, and step up cooperation across the board, according to Li.

He called on both sides to continue with exchanges across different legislative levels and enhance experience sharing on state governance.

Regarding multilateral cooperation, Li voiced support for true multilateralism and economic globalization and called for the joint safeguarding of the UN-centered international system, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

Matviyenko said the Russian Federation Council stands ready to work with the NPC to contribute to bilateral cooperation spanning the economy, environmental protection, local issues, youth and sports, to cement the friendship between the two peoples. 

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko via video link at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Chino, CA (91710)

Today

Morning clouds will give way to afternoon sunshine. High near 70F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 47F. SW winds shifting to E at 10 to 15 mph.
WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

DONALD TRUMP: I've been told by my many sources, good sources - they're very good sources - that the chicken crossed the road. All the Fake News wants to do is write nasty things about the road, but it's a really good road. It's a beautiful road. Everyone knows how beautiful it is.

JOE BIDEN: Why did the chicken do the... thing in the... you know the rest.

SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, it's a maverick!

BARACK OBAMA: Let me be perfectly clear, if the chickens like their eggs they can keep their eggs.

No chicken will be required to cross the road to surrender her eggs. Period.

AOC: Chickens should not be forced to lay eggs! They cross the road because of corporate greed! Eggs should be able to lay themselves then everyone gets free eggs.

MAXINE WATERS: You homeless chickens should not be crossing the road, you should go home. Nobody works any *** harder for chickens than I do.

KAMALA HARRIS: The chicken and I were talking about the significance of the passage of time. The significance of the passage of time, right? So when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time in terms of what we need to do to cross the road. And theres such great significance to the passage of time when we think about a day in the life of a chicken.

HILLARY CLINTON: What difference at this point does it make why the chicken crossed the road.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or against us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON: I support those chickens that believe CRT (Chicken Roadcrossing Theory).

ADAM SCHIFF: I know the chicken crossed the road. The chicken colluded with Russia to cross the road. I have proof.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that it must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help it realize how stupid it is acting by not taking on its current problems before adding any new problems.

ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross roads.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

* * *

THE REPORT CARD

A little girl took her report card home and showed it to mom.

The mother was very disappointed by all the very low grades.

"Well look on the bright side" said the child, "you know for sure I don't cheat."

* * *

A TERRIBLE DAY FOR MUSIC

Two music lovers were in prison about to be executed.

One of them was a country music lover and the other enjoyed all types of music.

They were offered one last request before they died.

The country music lover said, "I would like to listen to 'Achy Breaky Heart' 50 times in a row."

The other music lover said, "Please, shoot me first."

* * *

THE TRUTH HURTS

Mommy Bear and Daddy Bear were in divorce court.

The judge looked down and asked the Baby Bear, "So Baby Bear, do you want to live with Daddy Bear?"

"Oh, no," Baby Bear replied, "I don't want to live with Daddy Bear. He beat me."

"Well then, you should live with Mommy Bear," said the judge.

"On, no, I don't want to live with Mommy Bear. She beat me."

"Well then, Baby Bear, who do you want to live with?"

Baby Bear said, "I want to live with the Chicago Bears. They don't beat anybody!"

* * *

HENNY YOUNGMAN SAID 

Last night I ordered a whole meal in French. Even the waiter was amazed - it was a Chinese restaurant!

Zsa Zsa Gabor is an expert housekeeper. Every time she gets divorced, she keeps the house.

A man goes to a psychiatrist. "Nobody listens to me!" The doctor says, "Next!"

My wife drives the wrong way on a one way street. The cop pulled her over and asked, "Where are you going?" My wife said, "I must be late, everyone is coming back!"

When a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.

My wife will buy anything marked down. Last year she bought an escalator.

Most girls are attracted to the simple things in life. Like men.

A self-taught man usually has a poor teacher and a worse student.

* * *

THIS WEEKS BEST VIDEOS

* -- FALLEN - Lauren Wood, 1981 CLICK HERE.

* -- Otis Redding - Ive Got Dreams To Remember CLICK HERE.

* -- Take On Me (The Cutting Edge) CLICK HERE.

* -- Angel Of The Morning (Subtitulos en Espanol) - Leap Year CLICK HERE.

* -- If You Go Away - Helen Merrill & Stan Getz (Tribute to Virna Lisi) CLICK HERE.

* -- Summer of 42 - Music by Michel Legrand CLICK HERE.

royexum@aol.com
A Kentucky man has been sentenced to 130 months in federal prison in connection with a string of armed robberies, including the Walmart Money Center in Chattanooga.

Jason William Graves, 43, of London, Ky.,appeared before Judge Thomas A. Varlan in Knoxville.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Graves pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C.

 2113(a) and one count of carjacking in violation of 18 U.S.C.  2119. Following his release from prison, Graves will be on three years of supervised release, and he will be required to pay restitution to the victims.

Prosecutors said Graves committed two bank robberies at banks located inside Walmart Supercenters in the Eastern District of Tennessee in May 2019. On June 21, 2019, Graves carjacked a victim at gunpoint at an AutoZone in Knoxville and took the victims Chevrolet Trailblazer.

That vehicle was later used to commit an additional robbery at the Walmart Money Center in Chattanooga.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee made the announcement.

The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by the Clinton Police Department, Chattanooga Police Department, Kingsport Police Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This investigation was led by FBI Special Agents Mollie Treadway and Wesley Leatham.

Assistant United States Attorney LaToyia Carpenter represented the United States at sentencing.
ChattAcademy Community School is the latest charter school in Hamilton County.

County school officials are recommending that the County School Board approve the group's application on Thursday.

It plans to serve 600 students in grades 6-12 by 2028.

ChattAcademy plans to offer a two-way immersion (English and Spanish) and place based learning model with an emphasis on character development and service learning.

The application was submitted on Feb. 1.

Under state law, the board has until May 1 to accept or reject the application.
Leaked text messages between Memphis Sandoval and Hamza Moknii confirm that theres trouble in paradise for this 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days couple. Based on the Instagram fighting and the leaked text messages, its confirmed that this couple is over.

Memphis and Hamza 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days Season 5 | TLC

Memphis and Hamzas marriage is over

90 Day Fiance blogger, @truecrime_jankie, posted leaked text messages that are allegedly between Before the 90 Days star, Memphis, and her sister-in-law, Rawia Moknii. In the messages, Rawia asks Memphis where her brother is at. Memphis reveals that there has been trouble in their marriage.

She replies, He doesnt appreciate me. Memphis explains, Now your brother is saying he will take my daughter. Check out the Instagram post below:

In the text messages, Hamzas sister digs for more information, asking Memphis why Hamza doesnt like Muskegon, Michigan. Memphis reveals, He says there is no big city. I took him by the beach and he didnt seem to care. He says he doesnt want to live here. She ends the conversation, Your brother is showing me hes here for the wrong reason [sic].

In another screenshot showing the text thread between Memphis and Rawia, Memphis reveals that Hamza wants to live somewhere else. She admits, Your brother said if I cant move cities, he will go without me. Now he is angry. She continued, Why would I continue to be married to someone who says that they will leave me if I cant move out of the state until Bryson graduates.

Some fans recognized that in Hamzas recent Instagram posts, he has been living in Chicago, IL, separate from Memphis. This proves that Hamza decided to leave Memphis and his daughter in Muskegon, MI, in exchange for big city living.

Hamza and Memphis leaked text messages show a dark side to their marriage

The following slides show Memphis and Hamza arguing via text. Memphis sends him a photo of their daughter with the message, I do not think she deserves this to have her mother and father fighting! I have done so much to get you here and it hurts that you are willing to give it up because you cant move to a big city right now! Things take time and if you loved me you would understand.

The text thread continues. Memphis writes: You dont forget Im divorcing you. My kids are sick and cry and this disfunction is done with. My kids mean more to me then [sic] try to change a man who shows he does not care about anyone but himself.

Memphis writes, I dont feel like you are attracted to me. I feel like you do not try to spend time with me. She continues, You do not give me affections do you spend all day on your phone.

Is there hope for Memphis and Hamzas marriage?

Could there be reconciliation between this 90 Day Fiance couple? Memphis writes to Hamza, I loved you with all of my heart. And you just took my heart out of my chest and stomped on it. Not once have you done anything to show me you appreciate me. I am always trying to help you.

Memphis writes, I married you because I loved you. I had a baby for you now that is love. She concludes, I did over and beyond to get you here.

Next, Memphis insinuates that Hamza is being sneaky with his phone. She writes, Why would you snatch your phone out of my hand? Anyone would think you were doing something your [sic] not supposed to. If I did that to you you would be mad!

However, despite all of the fighting, they still love each other, and perhaps theres a chance that they could reconcile.

Memphis texts Hamza, Please understand that I love you and your family. Please understand I only want the best for all of us. Soon enough we will be able to move. But we have to prepare so that we can be successful. We cant fail we have children to protect and a care for. It hurt my feeling when you told my daughter not to love me. I would have never told her that about you. That makes me wonder if you truly love me.

He replied, I know Im with you [sic]. Dont worry, Ill wait for you. Dont forget I love you. I didnt want to lose you.

Many 90 Day Fiance fans hope that Memphis and Hamza will return to 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? to find out the truth of their relationship. Until now, it appears that this 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days couple is over.

RELATED: Before the 90 Days Tell-All Pt 2: Why Did Memphis Leave the Set Early?
Prince William and Kate Middleton were in rare form during their recent Caribbean tour by showing some PDA. The royal couple, who were married in 2011 and today have three children together, were seen affectionately touching one another and even holding hands. Because this is a far cry from how the pair usually conducts themselves in public, many royal fans and experts alike took notice.

Now, a body language expert is suggesting that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge act more like some other loved-up royals instead of looking icy or restrained.

Prince William and Kate Middleton holding hands as they attend a reception together | Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage

Other royals show plenty of PDA

Body language expert Judi James spoke to Express and compared William and Kates lack of PDA to European royals who show affection in public quite often.

The body language between Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is a joy to watch, James said, before noting: Hand-in-hand in a tulip field, his beaming smiles with his rounded-apple-shaped cheeks are mirrored in her own beaming smiles of authentic happiness. Their togetherness signals mark them out as a couple, with torso closeness and signs of pride and fondness for each other. Even in more formal eveningwear, they prove you can do elegant and loving at the same time. He places one arm around his wifes shoulders and she nestles in against him lovingly.

James added: Crown Prince Frederick and Princess Mary of Denmark are another royal couple happy to signal their own closeness and happy affection. Their torsos are often welded together and at their wedding, they did several balcony kisses. This included taking it in turns to plant some very tender kisses on each others heads before kissing fully on the mouth.

Even the more elegant and regal-looking King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain will frequently use some openly romantic and loving displays, including tender face-touching or bouts of eye contact.

Body language expert thinks Prince William and Kate should be more like those royals

Kate Middleton lightly touches Prince Williams back at The Bahamas Platinum Jubilee Sailing Regatta | Samir Hussein/WireImage

James suggested the prince and his wife take a page out of the European royals playbook.

Looking at the body language of other European royalty does prompt the question: Why are [British] royals so touch and PDA averse? For U.K. royals there seems to be a belief that tactile, affectionate, and openly romantic rituals will damage the royal veneer, James said. But a study of the happily relaxed and loving signals between some of their European counterparts suggests their displays could add to the royal charisma rather than erode it.

She continued: For the queens generation the rather rigid formality was probably traditional and these more icy displays seem to have been inherited by Prince Charles in his DNA. This generational trait clearly had other compelling reasons thanks to Charles divorce. But even though maintaining a hands-off distancing with Camilla might have been seen as tactful initially given their circumstances, there are no excuses for a lack of thawing now that she is fully integrated into the royal Firm. Even William and Kate are restrained in their signals of love and passion together, rarely performing anything but the most low-key PDAs despite being in a loving and drama-free marriage.

Perhaps some of these other royal couples could provide a role model for the Cambridges when they do finally ascend to the throne.

Another expert says the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a fantastic union, PDA or not

Prince William and Kate Middleton showed some PDA with the duchess resting her hand on the dukes during a visit to Abaco | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Another body language expert and astrologer, Inbaal Honigman, gave her take on the Cambridges.

Honigman opined that PDA or not, its clear William and Kate have a fantastic union and that shines through whenever theyre together.

Their eyes usually look in the same direction, which is a sign of a fantastic union, she told Express. [They] are determined to achieve their goals together. They are united in their joint mission, as a couple and as royals.

RELATED: Royal Watchers Think They Spotted Something Fake During Prince William and Kate Middletons Scuba Dive
Harrison Ford and Sean Connery shared something in common while filming Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade other than being iconic stars. They both have impressive filmographies, but not every movie set is going to be a comfortable and pleasant place. Ford and Connery went pantless for an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade scene because it was so hot.

Harrison Ford and Sean Connery co-starred in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

L-R: Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. | Murray Close/Getty Images

Steven Spielbergs Indiana Jones franchise remains one of the most iconic movie series to ever hit the silver screen. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the third installment, which sees the return of the title character (Ford). He sets out to rescue his father (Connery), who disappeared in his search for the Holy Grail.

Indy begins to follow the clues left behind in his fathers notebook, which brings him to Venice. He enlists the help of an art professor named Els Schneider (Alison Doody). However, they arent the only people searching for the Holy Grail, as some sinister enemies begin to show their faces.

Harrison Ford and Sean Connery filmed a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade without pants on

Ford and Connery joining forces in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade remains a major movie duo for many audiences around the world. The DVD special features include a clip that explained how Ford and Connery ultimately decided to film an entire scene without any pants on because it was so uncomfortably hot on the set. They didnt want to sweat too much, so they just went for it.

We played one of the scenes in the zeppelin, Connery said. The passengers were wearing fur coats and hats. It was supposed to be in the wintertime and I played it without my trousers. Harrison said, Youre not gonna play the scene [with] your trousers? I said, Well, if I dont, Ill be stopping all the time because I sweat enormously. I sweat very easily. Well, he did the same. (Laughs)

Ford and Connery werent very comfortable in the heat on the Indiana Jones set, but they found a way to make it a bit more bearable.

Steven Spielberg only wanted Sean Connery to play Henry Jones, Sr.

Harrison Ford, who starred opposite Sir Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, released a statement paying tribute to his late on-screen father. https://t.co/GsC1x1lYQC pic.twitter.com/EZmBrBVeJj  IGN (@IGN) November 3, 2020

Joseph McBrides Steven Spielberg: A Biography explained that Spielberg didnt imagine anybody else for the role of Indys father. The filmmaker is a longtime fan of Connerys work and wanted him to join Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, the writing was on the wall since the beginning of the franchise.

Connery was already the father of Indiana Jones since the series had sprung from the desire of [George] Lucas and Spielberg to rival (and outdo) Connerys James Bond films, McBride wrote.

Moviegoers continue to celebrate Ford and Connerys excellent father-son chemistry in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

RELATED: Steven Spielberg Once Hid in the Bathroom Stall at the Universal Studios Lot to Freely Explore the Studio as a Teenager
Netflix is on a roll giving fans new Korean dramas to fawn over every week. Part of the April line-up was the anticipated K-drama My Liberation Notes. It tells the story of three siblings who have lost their way in life and look for a spark of hope. Intermixed is a mysterious stranger who works on their family land. My Liberation Notes has an impressive cast like Kim Ji-won, Lee Min-ki, Son Seok-koo, and Lee El.

My Liberation Notes main cast | via JTBC

Son Seok-koo joined the main cast of My Liberation Notes as Mr. Gu

My Liberation Notes airs on a weekly schedule, and fans have become intrigued by the mystery surrounding the character Mr. Gu. Actor Son Seok-koo plays the role. In the K-drama, not much is known about Mr. Gu or who he really is. He appears one day in Sanpo village and is a farmhand. He is often drunk and rarely speaks.

Fans have fallen head-over-heels watching Son as part of the main cast of My Liberation Notes. They can not get enough of his brooding yet attractive aura in the drama. The 39-year-old actor has had a memorable career starring in the Korean adaptation of the American series Suits and David Kim.

He played the role of Lee Jang-hyun in Matrimonial Chaos, Cha Young-jin in Designated Survivor: 60 Days and Kim Sang-soo in Be Melodramatic. Son also played roles in some of 2021s hit K-dramas. He played Im Ji-seop in the military drama D.P. In Jirisan, he played the role of Cheol-kyeong in the fantasy murder drama.

Fans can follow Son on Instagram @sonsukku.

Lee El is known for her impressive movie and K-drama career like Goblin

Actor Lee El plays the role of Yeom Ki-jeong, one of the main siblings. In My Liberation Notes, Ki-jeong is the oldest sibling who spends most of her time traveling to and from Seoul for work. Her life is full of complaints, but she really wants to find love.

Lee has astounded audiences in various roles. She played the role of Samsin Halmoni in the human and non-human drama Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. In the supernatural drama Black, she played Yoon Soo-wan. The actor has also starred in A Korean Odyssey and When the Devil Calls Your Name. In Matrimonial Chaos, she co-starred with Son.

The My Liberation Notes cast member is also well known on the big screen. The 39-year-old actor has starred in three Netflix movies from The Call, Love and Leashes, and the newly released Yaksha: Ruthless Operations.

Fans can follow Lee on Instagram @2l_kjh.

Kim Ji-won joins the cast of My Liberation Notes as the youngest sibling

RELATED: Business Proposal: Meet the Cast and Their Best K-Drama Roles

There is no denying Kim Ji-won is one of South Koreas most recognizable actors. She joined the main cast of My Liberation Notes as Yeom Mi-jeong. Mi-jeong is the youngest sibling who sees no spark in her mundane life in the drama. As she almost gives up, she approaches Mr. Gu with an offer.

In her career, Kim has starred in many popular K-dramas. She played Rachel Yoo in the fan-favorite drama The Heirs. One of her claims to fame is co-starring as Yoon Myung-joo in the most recognized romance K-drama, Descendants of the Sun. Kim later starred alongside Park Seo-joon in Fight for My Way.

To date, her most standout role is as Tan-ya in the fantasy K-drama Arthdal Chronicles. According to Soompi, the drama was recently announced to develop a second season. Before My Liberation Notes, the 29-year-old actor starred in the mature romance drama Lovestruck in the City on Netflix.

Fans can follow Kim on Instagram @geewonii.

Lee Min-ki is known for his romance role in Because This Is My First Life

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K-drama fans have likely seen one of the industrys most-watched romance stories Because this Is My First Life. Actor Lee Min-ki starred as the male lead Nam Se-hee. The drama focuses on an unconventional living situation where the two leads fall in love.

The 37-year-old actor also starred as Seo Do-jae in The Beauty Inside. In 2019, he played the leading role of Jo Tae-sik, a detective who teams up with a female lead to find her missing husband in The Lies Within. Lee joined the main cast of My Liberation Notes as Yeom Chang-hee. His character is the middle sibling who wants to escape his hometown village but has no future ambitions.

Fans can follow Lee on Instagram @m.m.minki.

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When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married in 2018, onlookers believed they would be working royals for many years. However, the couple stepped down as senior royals less than two years later and have been living in California as private citizens ever since.

Recently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made some public appearances and even visited the royal family in the United Kingdom. According to a commentator, the couple is trying to show the public they are still very important people.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been living as private citizens

After stepping down as senior royals and moving to California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have been living as private citizens. Although the couple still has public-facing careers, they make very few public appearances and do not have social media accounts where fans can keep up with their family.

They have stepped back not in search of a totally private life (as some erroneously claim they wanted) but for a different kind of public life. A public life where they can have more control over who gets access to them and what they spend their time on, royal journalist Victoria Murphy wrote for Town & Country.

The Sussexes want to convince people they are still very important, royal commentator says

BREAKING: Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, visited Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.



The visit marks the first time the couple has visited the queen together since moving to California two years ago. https://t.co/pEonADypo1  Good Morning America (@GMA) April 14, 2022

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Harry and Meghan recently traveled to the Netherlands to promote the Invictus Games. On the way there, the pair also stopped by the U.K. to visit Queen Elizabeth.

Some people suspect that the U.K. visit could be a part of their rumored Netflix documentary. Royal commentator Charles Rae thinks it could be a way for the Sussexes to show they still have royal connections.

The Netflix film crew will most certainly favourably capture Harry and Meghan, Rae said (via Express). It will look as if they are still members of the Royal family when they are private citizens. That will be the whole aim to show people they are still considered very important people.

This was the first time Harry and Meghan traveled to the U.K. together since their move to California.

Critics have called for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to stop using their titles

Despite no longer being senior royals, Harry and Meghan still do work under their titles. For example, the couple often refers to themselves as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when releasing official statements. When Meghan released her childrens book, The Bench, she was credited as Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.

Working royals are typically not allowed to use their titles for monetary gains, so critics have called for Harry and Meghan to stop using their titles in non-royal work.

If you look at other members of the family or peers or heir to peerages; Beatrice and Eugenie do not use their titles in their jobs  on their work websites its Beatrice York, Eugenie York, historian and royal expert Marlene Koenig said (via Express). Uncle Charles, Earl Spencer, hes written several books, but doesnt use his title on his books: he uses Charles Spencer. The Earl of Harewood, whose father was the Queens first cousin, was a producer, he used Lascelles, the family name, as his title.

Koenig added, So, I think they should step away from using their titles, they should just use Meghan Sussex, Harry Sussex; there is so much precedent for that, especially in the US.

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TL; DR:

Royal author Tina Brown says Prince William and Prince Harry needed each other.

According to the Palace Papers author, Harry and William joked, which helped William stay down to earth.

Brown also claims Harry wouldnt let William get in danger of becoming pompous.

Prince William and Prince Harry | Eddie Mulholland  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Prince William and Prince Harry had a relationship of space in 2021. However, before starting down what the Duke of Sussex called different paths, he and the Duke of Cambridge were close. According to author Tina Brown, Harry helped William stay down to earth despite his status in the line of succession.

Royal author says Prince William needed Prince Harry

Speaking to Telegraph in April 2022 to promote her upcoming book, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsorthe Truth and the Turmoil, royal author Tina Brown discussed Harry and Williams rift. Specifically, why it was so harmful to the royal family and the Duke of Cambridge in particular.

As Brown explained, Harry, along with Williams wife of nearly 11 years Kate Middleton, is among the only people able to keep the 39-year-old grounded.

One of his close people told me that everyone talks about how much Harry needed William, and he did, but William also needed Harry because all those friends you think are so real, well, they still know youre going to be king.

So when Harry stepped away from his duties as a senior royal and relocated to California with his wife, Meghan Markle, William no longer had someone there for him regardless of his future king status.

Tina Brown claims Prince William depended on his brother to bring him down to earth

Brown, the author of The Diana Chronicles, also shared Harry told William the truth.

Only Williams wife and his brother are going to be straight with him, she said. Not only that but Harry could tease his brother and bring him down to earth. Just look at all the times through the years William and Harry have been photographed joking and laughing together.

Eventually, a ribbing from Harry became something William depended on, Brown was told. When things got to William came in danger of heading toward pomposity, it was the now-37-year-old Duke of Sussex who wouldnt let that happen.

The royals have seen together twice since 2020

Prince William and Prince Harry | Yui Mok  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Since trading royal life for a more private existence in the popular celebrity enclave of Montecito, California, Harry and William have been spotted together only twice. Sure, Harry spoke to William after he and the Duchess of Sussexs bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview aired in March 2021 but it wasnt until a month later they saw each other.

Harry traveled to England after Prince Philips death at the age of 99 in April 2021. He returned home to attend a scaled-back funeral alongside William, Kate, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, and other royals.

Three months later, in July 2021, Harry returned to England once again. This time to unveil a statue of his late mother, Princess Diana, on the day she wouldve turned 60.

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In March, Prince William and Kate Middleton embarked on a royal tour in the Caribbean. Over eight days the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

Following their return to the U.K., a leading body language expert has compared the way Williams wife conducted herself on the tour to how the princes late mother, Princess Diana, used to conduct herself. Heres what the expert had to say about Diana pushing boundaries and Kate sticking to the rules.

Kate Middleton and Princess Diana | Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

Princess Dianas interactions with the public were revolutionary

Judi James is a body language, social behavior, image, workplace culture, and communication skills expert. She spoke to Express about the differences between Kate and her mother-in-law when abroad.

The science of sensation, for example, the way each woman would have made people feel, is important and difficult to imagine without the full impact of context, James said. Diana was the first royal who looked as though she genuinely liked the people she was meeting on a shared, personal level. For other royals, the sense of duty had always suggested superiority, distance, and separation. They had better, charmed lives in luxury palaces but their sense of duty prompted them to come out and visit their public.

James recalled how Diana made headlines for her nonverbal communication such as hugging and holding hands. People wanted to shower her with love and affection and that sentiment appeared to be mutual, James said.

The expert continued: Diana was also busy breaking through barriers and traditions when she made these appearances. Royals rarely touched or hugged the public and they very rarely used a body language technique known as mirroring, which is changing their state to create rapport and imply empathy.

Princess Diana and Kate Middleton during royal tours | Left: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images, Right: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Kate Middletons interactions with the public are expected

James believes Diana broke barriers for the duchess and the way Kate acts on tours today isnt anything out of the ordinary.

James noted that Meghan Markle also took a page out of Dianas book during her tour with Prince Harry. For Kate, these barriers had been broken many years before and then more recently and impressively, by Dianas son Harry and his wife. Kates body language might be so similar to Dianas but it is now expected, rather than revolutionary, James said. She added: Diana was pushing the boundaries, but Kate keeps within the rules by doing the same things.

James also observed that Diana and Kate acted the same around children. Both women bend to the lowest crouch to greet small children, sitting on their own heels and offering total attention signals to make the children feel important and to create good connections, she said. Both often use touch or hand-holding to retain the childs attention while also offering reassurance. They both use facial expressions of concerned listening when necessary and can convert to a more playful, happy smile when appropriate.

William and Kates Caribbean visit was to celebrate Queen Elizabeth IIs Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years on the throne. The trip also marked the Cambridges first tour overseas since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

RELATED: The Heartbreaking Reason Kate Middleton Had to Watch Princess Diana Videos Before Joining the Royal Family
Iranian Pastor temporarily released from Evin prison

Iranian Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, a convert from Islam to Christianity who is serving a six-year sentence for his Christian activities, has been granted a temporary furlough from the notorious Evin prison and is required to return to prison on Monday.

Nadarkhani was released Wednesday and is at home with his family, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide said.

Evin Prison is where many Christians and political opponents of the Iranian regime have been held, experiencing deplorable human rights abuses and lack of medical treatment.

CSW said it wasnt clear why Nadarkhani, who led a house church in the Gilan province, had been released.

We urge the Iranian authorities to go one step further and release this innocent man, so that he can enjoy his freedom without fear of harassment or re-arrest, CSWs founder and President Mervyn Thomas said. We also continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained on account of their religion or belief or in relation to the defense of human rights.

Nadarkhani, who is from the Church of Iran denomination, was acquitted of apostasy in 2012 after being sentenced to death by hanging. He has been arrested and released on a number of occasions.

In May 2016, he was arrested along with three other members of the Church of Iran during a series of raids by security agents on Christian homes in Rasht. While all of the men were released on bail in 2017, they were re-arrested in a series of raids in July 2018.

During that raid, Iranian security forces beat him in front of his family and tasered one of his sons.

Iran Human Rights Monitor reported at the time that the pastor was taken to Branch 2 of the Revolutionary court of Rasht, northern Iran, after the raid.

Plain cloth agents went to Mr. Nadarkhanis home and attempted to break down the door to enter the home. When Nadarkhanis son opened the door, the state forces threw him to the ground using an electric shocker. Then they beat Mr. Nadarkhani with the electric shocker and arrested him [in front of] his wife and child, said an unnamed source close to Nadarkhanis family.

Nadarkhani is serving a six-year sentence, reduced from 10 years, on charges of acting against national security by promoting Zionist Christianity.

The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called his continued detention arbitrary.

In October 2019, Nadarkhani went on a three-week hunger strike to protest the regimes prohibition on his childrens ability to complete their education because they refuse to study Islam.

The strike was to protest the regimes decision to withhold education certificates from his two sons, preventing them from moving on to the next grades because they would not study Islam or read the Quran in school.

The Islamic Republic is ranked as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List.

Converts from Islam to Christianity are most at risk of persecution, especially by the government and to a lesser extent by society and their own families, it says.

The government sees the growth of the church in Iran as an attempt by Western countries to undermine Islam and the Islamic regime of Iran. House groups made up of converts from Muslim backgrounds are often raided, and both their leaders and members have been arrested, prosecuted and given long prison sentences for crimes against national security.
Uganda: Muslims abduct teacher, burn him inside mosque for praying in Christs name

In Uganda, a Christian teacher was abducted from his home and dragged inside a mosque where he was beaten and burned by his colleagues at an Islamic school who planned to kill him for praying in Jesus' name.

The victim, Yusufu Mwanje, converted to Christianity earlier this year after hearing a Christian businessman who supplied equipment to the school praying to Jesus in his office. Before he lost his job after being outed as a Christian following the April 2 attack, Mwanje had led the Ibunbaz Primary School in Bugiri, Morning Star News reported.

I wanted to keep my faith in Christ secret and began missing Friday prayers as I attended evening prayers at the church, Mwanje said. Some Muslim teachers noticed my absence and reported to the school management board.

Mwanje told the school leadership he had been praying from his house.

At around 3 a.m. on April 1, an unnamed staff person overheard Mwanje praying in Christs name and recorded him. The following morning, the staffer gathered other schoolteachers to eavesdrop on him.

As I finished the prayers at 4:45 a.m. and began preparing to go to the mosque to pray, I heard a knock at the door, Mwanje said. As I opened the door, there were people outside my door. They began shouting, Allah akbar [Allah is greater]! Allah akbar! Allah akbar! This is a kafir [infidel], this is kafirThey grabbed me and took me inside the mosque and started beating me badly and accusing me of heading a Muslim school, yet I had converted to Christianity. Others shouted, A liar, a liar, a liar. ... He deserves the death penalty.

Mwanje continued, I remembered [the supplier] telling me that in times of persecution, I should call on the name of Jesus. As I mentioned the name Jesus in a low voice, one attacker said, Azab Azab, meaning punishment in Arabic. Immediately, two Islamic teachers named Ustaz Hamudan and Hashim Sajabbi brought two old jerry cans and lit them with fire and started burning me with them. It was too painful. I fainted.

An elderly Islamic teacher named Alhaji Bruhan intervened and ordered the men not to kill Mwanje because Allah would kill him. He instructed some to take me to the school clinic for treatment, he said. I then realized that Jesus had come to save me.

Mwanje later called the Christian supplier who took him to a church where he was treated for five days before being transferred to Iganga Hospital, where he is now receiving treatment.

Last month, in a separate attack on a Christian convert in eastern Uganda, a Muslim woman attempted to murder her husband by adding rat poison to his food. Hiire Sadiki had been an Islamic teacher before converting to Christianity, unbeknownst to his wife. After he refused to participate in Ramadan and then overheard him praying in Christ's name, she plotted with other Muslims to kill him by adding poison to his food.

Sadiki is still recovering in a hospital in Butaleja District, Morning Star News reported,

Even though Uganda has a higher percentage of Catholics and Anglicans than Muslims, there are regions where Islam is the dominant religion.

The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project estimates that about 11.5% of Ugandas population is Muslim, mostly Sunni. Armed attacks and murders of converts are not uncommon in the region.

Radical Islams influence has grown steadily, and many Christians within the majority-Muslim border regions are facing severe persecution, especially those who convert from Islam, a Voice of the Martyrs factsheet notes.

Despite the risks, Evangelical churches in Uganda have responded by reaching out to their neighbors; many churches are training leaders on how to share the Gospel with Muslims and care for those who are persecuted after they become Christians.
Push to make abortion a 'human right' in Ecuador defeated after veto

The Ecuadoran National Assembly failed to override a presidential veto of an abortion bill that critics feared would make abortion a human right and require healthcare workers in the country to participate in the practice against their will.

After President Guillermo Lasso partially vetoed an abortion bill passed by the majority-Catholic South American country's unicameral legislature, the National Assembly had until Friday to override the veto.

The motion to lift the presidential veto Thursday received just 17 votes, far short of the majority required for a veto override. National Assembly President Guadalupe Llori has adjourned the legislative session, so the presidents veto of the measure stands.

Valerie Huber, the CEO of the Institute for Womens Health who served as the U.S. special representative for Global Womens Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Trump administration, told The Christian Post in an email that the pro-life movement won the battle in Ecuador.

It was created supposedly to just create a very narrow exception for abortion in matters of rape but in reviewing the law, it was pages and pages and pages of things that had absolutely nothing to do with that narrow exception," Huber argued.



"More than 20 times, it asserted abortion as a human right. It removed all conscience protections for any kind of healthcare providers that would be called upon in that country to provide abortion against their consciences."

Ecuador's abortion laws are opposed by international abortion-rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, which contends that the country's criminalization of abortion "undermines the ability of women and girls to access essential reproductive health services."

Ecuador should remove all criminal penalties for consensual abortion," Ximena Casas, womens rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "At a minimum, it should guarantee effective access to abortion on all legal grounds and stop prosecuting women and girls seeking essential medical care.

Huber had voiced her concerns about Ecuador's abortion bill in an April 5 op-ed for National Review. She argued that the bill sets the stage for a whole upending of the countrys laws" and asserts "that abortion is a fundamental right."

#PlenoLegislativo| La mocion de allanamiento al veto presidencial presentada por @pierinaescorrea obtiene el respaldo de 17 votos afirmativos por lo que no es aprobada.



La presidenta @GuadalupeLlori suspende la sesion No. 771 pic.twitter.com/jlk4vt4zdr  Asamblea Nacional (@AsambleaEcuador) April 15, 2022

"There is definitely an ulterior motive here that has nothing to do with how it was being sold both to Congress and to the general public in Ecuador," Huber told CP.

She said that in Ecuador, the president is permitted to provide recommendations for different texts in [a] bill before it becomes law."

Huber praised Lasso for removing any assertion that there is an international right or that abortion is a human right, adding that he addressed virtually all of the concerns that we had in terms of how it would not only harm women, but it was unconstitutional because Ecuador has a very pro-life provision in their constitution.

Article 45 of the Ecuadoran Constitution proclaims that the government shall recognize and guarantee life, including care and protection from the time of conception.

Huber insisted that the Institute for Womens Health "is not a pro-life organization" but should be seen as "a pro-womens health organization.

We would like it if we never had to talk abortion," she stated. "Its really those who are elevating abortion over authentic womens health that are conflating the two.

But I will tell you that those who would insist that a woman cant have health without abortion are organized," she continued. "They have overtaken the narrative surrounding womens health. But its a disingenuous narrative that most Americans and most citizens around the world dont realize how harmful this really is to women."

Huber expressed concern about womens health being subjugated to an ideological agenda with little concern for women themselves. She also lamented the external interference of members of the U.S. Congress in the internal abortion decisions of other countries.

A letter written by Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., and 19 other congressional Democrats urging Lasso to support the legislation drew the ire of Huber. Human Rights Watch also expressed support for the legislation and the congressional Democrats letter.

Research by Ecuadorean and international human rights organizations shows that abortion restrictions do not stop abortions from happening, the lawmakers wrote in the letter. Instead, they force women and girls to seek abortions in clandestine settings where abortions are carried out unsafely and lead to health complications and even death. The World Health Organization has reported that the rate of unsafe abortions is four times higher in countries with restrictive abortion laws than in countries where abortion is legal.

The pressure campaigns from U.S. lawmakers and nongovernmental organizations constituted colonialism by another name," Huber contends.

She cited the efforts in support of the law as an example of how American abortion activists want to impose their extremism on other countries. The effort, she says, extends far beyond Ecuador and touches virtually any country that currently has laws protecting life during every stage of life.

The sad reality is that few Americans know what the United States is doing to devalue life abroad and to pressure countries to change their laws on areas that are fully within the sovereign right of those countries to decide and that the United States should not be interfering," she said.

Huber argues that some provisions in U.S. law prevent officials from "exporting an abortion agenda." She cited the Helms Amendment, which prohibits any tax dollars being used abroad for abortion or for its promotion. The 1981 Siljander Amendment states that the U.S. tax dollars may not be used to fund or lobby for abortion.

[The] United States is a major funder for foreign assistance, particularly foreign health assistance. So the threat of withholding foreign assistance unless governments change their policies or laws regarding certain issues is always of concern," Huber said. "And we have heard from a variety of countries how this continues to be a lever used by the U.S. government."

Were not talking about using these sorts of levers over what most Americans would believe to be legitimate reasons regarding authentic human rights violations or things such as this," she continued. "Were talking about foreign assistance being used as a lever for the promotion of ideological colonialism around these very sensitive topics, those topics where the U.S. had absolutely no business interfering in the internal affairs of that country.

She also said that if a country refuses to make amendments to specific laws, the U.S. may use the visa-granting process or trade incentives.

"Democracy is being  redefined to include these issues of ideological colonialism, she asserted.
Canadian church hosts controversial assisted suicide ceremony for member with ALS

A Canadian church was recently the site of an assisted suicide ceremony held for one of its members diagnosed with ALS, better known in the U.S. as Lou Gehrigs disease.

Churchill Park United Church of Winnipeg became the first church in Manitoba to host the controversial practice, which it described as a Crossing Over Ceremony last month for 86-year-old Betty Sanguin.

The church's leadership team had unanimously approved Sanguins request for the assisted suicide ceremony that was held in the sanctuary, as she had strong ties to the congregation.

The Rev. Dawn Rolke, minister of Churchill Park, told The Christian Post in a recent interview that it seemed appropriate to hold the ceremony in the sanctuary, as churches are often host and home to all the raggedness of our lives and to some of our significant life rituals: baptism, marriage, ordination, funeral or memorial services.

For us, it was perfectly natural to hold this service for Betty in our sanctuary because death is a natural part of life and Betty had lived a good part of her adulthood in this faith community. Hers was a growing, changing spirituality; her faith was feisty, fierce and passionate, like Betty herself, said Rolke.

Some see medically-assisted death as a private matter and they sought to honor this individuals request. Some felt it was right for Betty, in particular.

Canada's healthcare system offers patients the option to have assisted suicide, what is known as MAiD or "medical aid in dying," in which a physician or nurse practitioner carries out the death by chemical injection.

At Churchill Park United Church of Winnipeg, the typical sanctuary seating was removed and replaced by comfortable chairs, tables, flowers and a recliner, which Sanguin sat in during the event as people came and went throughout the day to say their goodbyes.

Friends and family visited Sanguin who was joined by her adult daughters and grandchildren, with Rolke leading the ceremony.

The chemical injection to hasten death began at 1 p.m. An hour later, Sanguin had passed.

The children and some grandchildren went back into the sanctuary to be with Betty, recalled Rolke. And people began to quietly come and go from Bettys side as the medicine took effect.

It was like a wake.

By around 4 p.m., staff from a funeral home arrived to transport Sanguin's body to its chapel and make preparations for her burial.

We were deeply honored to be able to be with Betty in her final moments and hours and to honor her wishes around her dying process. She was so happy, she was so ready, she was so radiant, Rolke added.

In 2016, Canada passed a law legalizing physician-assisted suicide, with the law limiting access to citizens or permanent residents who were at least 18 years old and had a serious and incurable disease, illness or disability that included enduring and intolerable suffering.

The law also required medical approval, a 15-day waiting period, and that two witnesses needed to be present when a patient signed a request for the end-of-life procedure.

The United Church of Canada, the denomination to which Churchill Park belongs, passed a resolution in 2017 stating it would allow physician-assisted suicide on a case-by-case basis, and acknowledged that its denominational members likely hold a "range of views" on this matter.

We are not opposed in principle to the legislation allowing assistance in dying and to such assistance being the informed, free choice of terminally ill patients, stated UCC at the time.

However, we urge a cautious approach by legislators and medical professionals implementing these laws.  To this end, we advocate community-focused and theologically robust discernment on a case-by-case basis that also ensures the protection and care of those potentially made vulnerable by this new law and others like it.

There have been multiple controversies surrounding the implementation of the law, such as the physician-assisted suicide of 61-year-old Alan Nichols in 2019.

CTV News reported at the time that Nichols' family argued that he was wrongfully euthanized at Chilliwack General Hospital in British Columbia because he had no terminal illnesses and suffered from depression.

"He didn't have a life-threatening disease. He was capable of getting around. He was capable of doing almost anything that you had to do to survive," recounted Nichols' brother, Gary, as reported by CTV reported at the time.

"I didnt think he had a sound mind at all," he added, with the family calling on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate the matter.

Also in 2019, the family of 41-year-old ALS patient Sean Tagert demanded accountability after the government-run healthcare system refused to cover Tagert's at-home healthcare. Instead, it agreed to pay for physician-assisted suicide.

A Canadian man disabled by ALS didnt want to die now. He wanted to be cared for at home so he could be with his son, wrote Wesley Smith for the National Review at the time. Nope. The governments socialized healthcare system refused to pay for all the care he needed. But it sure paid to kill him by euthanasia."

Last year, the Canadian Parliament expanded the law to include those with non-life-threatening disabilities, though it would still prohibit the procedure for those suffering from mental illness.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler Jr. denounced the revision last year, seeing it as proof of how physician-assisted suicide was a slippery slope.

The Canadian Parliament have now extended the logic that they had insisted would be limited to those who had a reasonable expectation of death in a short time. You've seen that that promise never is kept, said Mohler in an episode of his podcast, The Briefing.

Once you buy into the logic of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, you find yourself in almost every case just extending the logic further and further.

When asked its opinion of medical assistance in dying, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada told CP via an emailed statement that it opposed assisted suicide and euthanasia, believing that they fundamentally devalue human life.

They suggest that some lives are not worth living. But all human life is precious, a gift from God, stated the EFC, which advocated for palliative care instead.

We believe the appropriate response to suffering is to address and alleviate the suffering, not to eliminate the one who suffers. We respond to those who are suffering with care and compassion, journeying with them as they walk in the shadow of death.

EFC went on to state that while it believes that people do not need to accept medical treatment, it also believes that it is not for us to choose the timing of our death.

It is lamentable that we as a country have decriminalized assisted suicide in response to suffering when most Canadians do not have access to high-quality palliative care and related support systems, it added.

Rolke told CP that no one at the March ceremony approached her with objections to the procedure, though one person did express concern over it being performed in a church.

We who participated in Bettys ceremony witnessed, first-hand, the great dignity of medically-assisted death. I cant say enough about the physicians and other healthcare staff who are employed in this work. They are exceptionally caring, said Rolke.

As a former hospital chaplain, I have witnessed the great pointlessness of some suffering. Having worked in emergency departments, in ICU and in the general hospital population in the United States and Canada, I have formed the opinion, over many years, that there is nothing dignified in needless suffering.

Rolke added that while she had not come to a final opinion on this matter, she was nevertheless comfortable with where I am at, for now.
California drops Aztec prayers from ethnic studies curriculum after parents file suit

The California Department of Education said it's removing two religious chants to Aztec gods from its ethnic studies curriculum in response to a lawsuit filed by parents.

As part of a settlement in the lawsuit, the California Department of Education and the State Board of Education have voluntarily agreed to officially remove the prayers from the state-approved Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, according to the conservative legal firm Thomas More Society.

The curriculum included a section of Affirmation, Chants, and Energizers, including the In Lak Ech Affirmation, which invoked five Aztec deities. Although labeled as an affirmation, it addressed the deities both by name and by their traditional titles, recognized them as sources of power and knowledge, invoked their assistance, and gave thanks to them.

The Aztec prayers at issue  which seek blessings from and the intercession of these demonic forces  were not being taught as poetry or history, said Paul Jonna, partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP and Thomas More Society Special Counsel, in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

Rather, the ESMC instructed students to chant the prayers for emotional nourishment after a lesson that may be emotionally taxing or even when student engagement may appear to be low. The idea was to use them as prayers.

Jonna explained in a statement after filing the lawsuit that the Aztecs regularly performed gruesome and horrific acts for the sole purpose of pacifying and appeasing the very beings that the prayers from the curriculum invoke.

He added: The human sacrifice, cutting out of human hearts, flaying of victims and wearing their skin, are a matter of historical record, along with sacrifices of war prisoners, and other repulsive acts and ceremonies the Aztecs conducted to honor their deities. Any form of prayer and glorification of these bloodthirsty beings in whose name horrible atrocities were performed is repulsive to any reasonably informed observer.

While the state has now officially removed the prayers, it continues to dispute any and all liability, says the Thomas More Society, which filed the lawsuit last September on behalf of the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, individual taxpayers and parents of current and former students.

The ESMC was adopted last May, making California the first state in the nation to offer a statewide ethnic studies model for educators, the board said at the time, according to The Epoch Times.

Even after the removal of the Aztec prayers, the curriculum remains deeply rooted in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and critical pedagogy, with a race-based lens and an oppressor-victim dichotomy, Thomas More Society said.

The legal firm said earlier that the curriculum also includes the Ashe Prayer from the Yoruba religion  an ancient philosophical concept that is the root of many pagan religions, including Santeria and Haitian Vodou or voodoo.

The co-chair of the curriculum, R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, developed much of the material cited throughout the lessons, in which Christians, specifically those of European ancestry, are viewed as the source of evil to be resisted and overthrown.

White Christians are guilty of theocide against indigenous tribes, the killing of their deities and replacing them with the Christian faith, Cuauhtin argues in a chart.

The ultimate goal, according to Cuauhtin, is to engineer a countergenocide against whites, investigative journalist Christopher Rufo wrote about the issue in City-Journal last March.

Frank Xu, president of Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, said the settlement still gives him hope.

We are encouraged by this important, hard-fought victory, Xu said in a statement. Our state has simply gone too far in attempts to promote fringe ideologies and racial grievance policies, even those that disregard established constitutional principles. Endorsing religious chants in the state curriculum is one glaring example.

He added, To improve California public education, we need more people to stand up against preferential treatment programs and racial spoils. At both the state and local levels, we must work together to re-focus on true education!
University wont force Christian professor to use trans pronouns, pays $400K in settlement

A Christian professor who claims he was threatened with punishment by university officials in Ohio for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a trans-identified student has secured the right to avoid using pronouns that conflict with his beliefs after years of litigation.

Shawnee State University philosophy professor Nick Meriwether reached a settlement with school officials Thursday in which the university agreed to pay $400,000 in damages and attorneys fees, according to his legal team at the Alliance Defending Freedom.

The settlement lifts any requirements for Meriwether to use preferred pronouns for students that may contradict their biological sex, according to ADF.

Additionally, the university has reportedly agreed to rescind a written warning issued to Meriwether in June 2018.

On Thursday, ADF attorneys filed a voluntary dismissal of the case.

Meriwether went out of his way to accommodate his students and treat them all with dignity and respect, yet his university punished him because he wouldnt endorse an ideology that he believes is false, ADF Senior Counsel Travis Barham said in a statement.

Were pleased to see the university recognize that the First Amendment guarantees Dr. Meriwether  and every other American  the right to speak and act in a manner consistent with ones faith and convictions.

The university denies that Meriwether was mistreated, describing the settlement as an economic decision.

We continue to stand behind a students right to a discrimination-free learning environment as well as the rights of faculty, visitors, students and employees to freely express their ideas and beliefs, the university said in a statement.

Over the course of this lawsuit, it became clear that the case was being used to advance divisive social and political agendas at a cost to the university and its students. That cost is better spent on fulfilling Shawnee States mission of service to our students, families and community.

In 2018, a biologically male trans-identified student filed a complaint against Meriwether when the professor referred to the student with masculine pronouns, even though the student identified as female.

The university concluded that Meriwether created a hostile class environment by refusing to use the student's preferred pronouns. School officials threatened the professor with punishment if he persisted.

Meriwether filed a lawsuit against the school in November 2018, arguing that his constitutionally-protected freedoms of speech and religion were being violated.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott, a Clinton appointee, dismissed the professor's case in February 2020 following the recommendation of Magistrate Judge Karen Litkovitz. Dlott concluded that his rights were not violated.

Plaintiff has not alleged that defendants forced him to espouse or express a view that plaintiff disagreed with or found objectionable. Plaintiff does not claim that defendants mandated that he use any particular terms of speech to refer to Doe, wrote Dlott.

To the contrary, plaintiff acknowledges that defendants gave him the option to stop using gender-based titles during class, but plaintiff rejected that option.

The judge wrote that the school's policies were interpreted as giving Shawnee State professors two choices on referring to students: "eliminate all sex-based titles and all pronouns when speaking to all students" or "use pronouns that refer to each student's gender identity."

Meriwether argued that the option to stop using all pronouns was "impossible, impractical, and unreasonable given the way professors speak, particularly in classes that feature significant and frequent class discussion."

In March 2021, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled in favor of Meriwether, reversing the earlier dismissal and remanding the case to the lower court.

Judge Amul Thapar, a Trump appointee, stated in the panel opinion that universities have prided themselves on being forums where controversial ideas are discussed and debated. And they have tried not to stifle debate by picking sides.

But Shawnee State chose a different route: It punished a professor for his speech on a hotly contested issue. And it did so despite the constitutional protections afforded by the First Amendment, wrote Thapar.

The district court dismissed the professors free-speech and free-exercise claims. We see things differently and reverse.
School district defends decision to allow After School Satan Club at elementary school

An Illinois school district is defending an elementary school after it received criticism from parents for handing out flyers promoting a controversial After-School Satan Club for students in the first through fifth grades sponsored by the Satanic Temple.

Hey Kids, lets have fun at After School Satan Club, read the flyer distributed by Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline, Illinois.

The flyer says the program is about science projects, puzzles and games, arts and crafts projects, nature activities, according to a tweet.

Many parents criticized the Moline-Coal Valley School District after the flyer appeared on social media, CBN News reports.

Kick every board member off that allowed this to occur. Vote in new people with common sense, morals and ethics, wrote a parent on Twitter.

The school district was quick to come to the defense of the elementary schools decision.

The district does not discriminate against any groups who wish to rent our facilities, including religious-affiliated groups, it said in a statement. Religiously affiliated groups are among those allowed to rent our facilities for a fee.

It added, The district has, in the past, approved these types of groups, one example being the Good News Club, which is an after-school child evangelism fellowship group. Flyers and promotional materials for these types of groups are approved for lobby posting or display only, and not for mass distribution.

It further sought to explain, saying, Students or parents are then able to pick up the flyer from the lobby, if they so choose, which is aligned to District policy. Please note that the district must provide equal access to all groups and that students need parental permission to attend any after-school event. Our focus remains on student safety and student achievement.

The Satanic Temple says on its website: Proselytization is not our goal, and were not interested in converting children to [s]atanism. After School Satan Clubs will focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of everlasting other-worldly horrors.

A letter from Rachel Savage, Moline-Coal Valley Schools Superintendent, said a district parent had asked the Satanic Temple to offer the program to the elementary school to offer parents a choice of different viewpoints, because the school was offering a child evangelism fellowship club.

Flyers were not distributed to all students, Savage said, according to New York Post.

In November 2016, Point Defiance Elementary School in Tacoma, a school district in Washington state, became the second in the nation to approve the After School Satan Club program for elementary school students.

Satanic Temple of Seattle spokesman Tarkus Claypool ... said a parent brought the Bible club to their attention over concerns the club was teaching children to evangelize to other children. Claypool said their curriculum teaches children logic, self-empowerment and reasoning and they dont worship a deity, according to local news station Q13 Fox.

A month earlier, the Satanic Temple had launched a nationwide After School Satan Club to counter Christian student organizations in public schools.

The groups creation came in response to the Christian Good News Club that was meeting at public schools throughout the nation.

Douglas Mesner, spokesperson and co-founder of The Satanic Temple, who goes by the name Lucien Greaves, told The Christian Post at the time that the Christian club's presence at public schools created the need for a counter-balance in the extracurricular options.

Moises Esteves, vice president of USA Ministries for Child Evangelism Fellowship, told CP at the time that he believed the Satan club was yet another atheist PR stunt" that "has no staying power.

The After-School Satan Club is simply another attention-seeking atheist club. The choice of mascot reveals that its leaders simply hate God, and are trying to provoke or spook parents and schools, said Esteves. Like those before it, this club will fizzle out, because parents don't view their children as pawns for a 'blend of political activism, religious critique and performance art' by angry atheists.

In 2001, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the decision Good News Club v. Milford Central School that the Christian group had the right to meet on public school property after school hours.
Teen perpetrator of Loudoun County high school sexual assaults not required to register as sex offender

The perpetrator of two sexual assaults against high school girls in Loudoun County, Virginia, has been removed from a sex offender registry following a legal defense made by a Republican member of the countys board of supervisors.

Earlier this month, Judge Pamela Brooks of the Loudoun County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court ordered the teenage perpetrator of the sexual assaults at Stone Bridge High School and Broad Run High School last year to complete a sex offender treatment program and register as a sex offender. The sexual assault at Stone Bridge High School drew particular outrage after The Daily Wire reported that a boy allegedly wearing in a skirt raped a teenage girl in a girls bathroom at the school.

At a hearing Thursday, Brooks reversed her order that the teenager register as a sex offender, concluding that, This court made an error in my initial ruling. Her reversal followed a plea from one of the boys attorneys, Caleb Kershner, a Republican member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

We are setting him up for failure, Kershner said in his closing remarks. Were not even giving this young man a chance.

Scott Smith, the father of the victim of the sexual assault at Stone Bridge High School, lamented the development in a statement: My wife and I are not just heartbroken about todays ruling, we are quite frankly mad at how the justice system and the Loudoun Commonwealths attorney have let down both our daughter, as well as the other victims of his predatory actions.

The person who committed these horrible crimes against these young women will now, due to the errors of the country prosecutor, not have to bear the permanent shame at being known as a lifetime registered sex offender, as he had been originally sentenced, he added. We are now concerned, more than ever, that this change in his legal status may put other parents daughters at risk of physical harm in the future.

The sexual assault against Smiths daughter took place on May 28, as the Loudoun County School District was considering implementing a policy that would allow trans-identified students to use bathrooms that correspond with their chosen gender identity instead of their biological sex.

At a contentious June 22 school board meeting where numerous parents showed up to express their disapproval of the policy, Superintendent of Schools Scott Ziegler denied that any sexual assaults had occurred in the school districts bathrooms.

The Loudoun County School Board approved the transgender bathroom policy on Aug. 10. Two months later, the perpetrator of the sexual assault at Stone Bridge High School committed another sexual assault in a classroom at Broad Run High School. News of the sexual assaults at the two high schools first broke days later.

Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman took issue with Zieglers insistence that no sexual assaults had occurred in bathrooms in Loudoun County Public Schools. In a letter, Chapman asserted to Ziegler that you knew of the sexual assault the day it occurred.

Chapman cited a May 28 email made public by a local news outlet where Ziegler told Loudoun County School Board members that a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom earlier that day. Critics of the school district contend that the leadership covered up the sexual assault at Stone Bridge High School to prevent the transgender bathroom policy, a top priority of progressives, from derailing.

The situation in Loudoun County arguably played a role in the outcome of the 2021 Virginia elections. Republican Jason Miyares won the Attorney Generals election after vowing to open an investigation into Loudoun Countys handling of the sexual assaults. Republicans won the two other statewide contests in Virginia last year, specifically the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial races, in addition to regaining control of the House of Delegates.

The outrage at Loudoun County Public Schools is not limited to their handling of the sexual assaults at the two high schools. Parents had previously expressed outrage over sexually explicit books containing graphic descriptions of sex acts that children were forced to read in a freshman honors English class. Outcry over exposure to sexually explicit material in schools has extended into neighboring Fairfax County and all across the U.S.

Exit polling of the Virginia gubernatorial election conducted by CNN showed that most Virginians (52%) believed that parents should have a lot of say in what schools teach their children. Republican Glenn Youngkin carried this group with 77% of the vote compared to Democrat Terry McAuliffes 22%. McAuliffe received backlash when he asserted at a gubernatorial debate that I dont think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.

Exit polling of the other two statewide races in Virginia yielded similar findings. Miyares won 78% support among those who thought parents should have a lot of say in what schools teach as his Democratic opponent received 22% support. Seventy-seven percent of those who believe parents should have a lot of input in what schools teach supported Republican Winsome Sears for lieutenant governor, while 23% supported her Democratic opponent.
Wisconsin high court to hear parents challenge to school district's gender transition policy

Parents suing a Wisconsin school district over a policy that allows officials to withhold knowledge of students efforts to change their gender identity from their families will have their case brought before the state supreme court.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed last Friday to grant a motion for review in the case of Doe v. Madison Metropolitan School District. The case centers on the school districts policy guidance related to trans-identified students.

The unnamed parents suing the school district are represented by the conservative legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

We are pleased the Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear this important case, WILL Deputy Counsel Luke Berg said in a statement. The Madison Metropolitan School District cannot make decisions reserved for parents.

ADF and WILL filed the lawsuit against Madison Metropolitan School District in February 2020 over its 2018 directive Guidance & Policies to Support Transgender, Non-binary & Gender Expansive Students.

The policy seeks to make the school district more inclusive of trans-identified students.

In MMSD, we will strive to model gender-inclusive language that affirms the gender diversity of our MMSD students, staff, and families and disrupts the gender binary, page 26 of the document states.

The document says that school officials will help guide students through their gender transition. The policy allows the student to decide if their parents should be informed of these changes.

Additionally, the guidance says that children will be called by their affirmed name and pronouns regardless of parent/guardian permission to change their name and gender in MMSD systems.

Transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive students are disproportionately targeted for teasing, bullying, harassment, and physical violence. MMSD staff must consistently confront and report suspected bullying or other behaviors that contribute to an unsafe school community, added the guidance.

This may include name calling, misgendering, microaggressions, and bullying based on gender stereotypes, gender identity, and/or gender expression.

The parents contend that the policy violates parental rights and ignores state law on school confidentiality.

In September 2020, Dane County Court Judge Frank Remington issued a temporary injunction against parts of the school district guidance, namely the refusal to disclose a gender transition to parents.

Remington also concluded in his temporary injunction that he believes that the parents, by remaining anonymous, failed to provide evidence that the guidance harmed them specifically.

[A]nonymous plaintiffs effectively deny the Defendants and the Intervenors the ability to engage in discovery or to otherwise respond to the facts presented by the Plaintiffs in their motion as to the Plaintiffs themselves, Remington wrote.

By remaining anonymous and by asking this court to make evidentiary findings regarding irreparable harm or an adequate remedy unfairly deprives the Defendants a meaningful opportunity to challenge Plaintiffs factual assertions.

An MMSD spokesperson has maintained that the school district cant comment on pending litigation.
Travel: Postcard from Daytona Beach

Forget Daytona Beachs stereotypes of race cars and spring break.

During my recent visit in the lull between the two periods of spring break  college students and then everyone else  I discovered a destination full of surprises.

Theres no question that Daytona Beach enjoys near-universal name recognition, thanks to the legendary car race that occurs every February at the massive track adjacent to the recently renovated airport. The track is basically a cathedral for racing enthusiasts.

At the same time, the place felt slightly off-the-beaten path if only because there are a noticeable lack of major chain hotels and big oceanfront resorts compared with more developed and crowded parts of Florida. Along Atlantic Avenue, the strip that parallels the ocean, quite a few old-school motels with tropical or otherwise whimsical names can be found. One such property is the art deco-style Streamline Hotel, where the predecessor of NASCAR was formed in 1947.

When most people say or think of Daytona Beach, they mean the beach itself and not the city of the same name.

Running for 23 miles along the Atlantic coast, the white-sand beach actually passes through three separate cities and one town in Volusia County: Ponce Inlet, Daytona Beach Shores, Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach. Public access includes marked lanes for motorists willing to fork over $20 for the novelty of driving on a beach.

While its easy to never leave the sun and sand, the real draw is found in the city proper.

Most visible is a $25 million redevelopment of the esplanade facing the Halifax River opposite Beach Street, Daytona Beachs main street in all but name. Once finished it will complement the quaint downtown, which is a welcome departure from the strip malls and endless sprawl found elsewhere in Florida.

On nearby Orange Avenue is St. Marys Episcopal Church. Dating to at least 1883, the handsome carpenter Gothic church with its fine collection of stained-glass windows is purportedly the oldest continuously used church anywhere in the Sunshine State.

A short drive away is the Museum of Arts & Sciences, which includes the standalone Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art. Unlike art museums elsewhere, the collection here is entirely Florida art. Works range from early depictions of centuries-old St. Augustine to impressionist paintings of landscape. In short, the museum punches well above its weight.

If you go

Also worth visiting are the Halifax Historical Museum, Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse & Museum and The Casements, the former winter home of John D. Rockefeller.

I stayed in mostly quiet Daytona Beach Shores at the Delta, a Marriott branded hotel and one of the few major chain outposts. Not only do many of the rooms have private oceanfront balconies, but the family-friendly hotel features direct access to the beach and, notably, no resort fees.

Eat at The Cellar, an Italian restaurant in the one-time home of President Warren Harding; Top of Daytona on the 29th floor of an oceanfront tower; or the casual Down the Hatch Seafood Company with waterfront views of the Ponce de Leon Inlet.

Most visitors fly into Daytona Beachs airport, which has daily service from American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Orlando, located about an hour away by car, has considerably more flight options.

Dennis Lennox writes a travel column for The Christian Post.
Imprisoned Iranian pastor's kids denied school certificates for refusing to study Islam

Imprisoned Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani has gone on a hunger strike to protest the regime's attempt to bar his children from completing their education because they refuse to study Islam and read the Quran.

According to Article 18, an organization that promotes religious freedom and tolerance for Christians in Iran, Nardarkhanis children went back to school last week but were told they hadn't completed the previous grades.

While their youngest child was told he cant go back to school because he hasn't received credit for completing the previous grades, 17-year-old Daniel has been accepted back as a guest in the 12th grade but still has not received a certificate telling him that he completed the previous grades.

Nadarkhani, a Muslim convert who pastored a house church in the Gilan Province, is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Irans notorious Evin Prison in Tehran on charges of acting against national security.

He was arrested in May 2016 and charged with promoting Zionist Christianity, and violating the national alcohol prohibition through communion and acting against national security.

Nadarkhani was first arrested in 2009 for protesting the same education policy that is penalizing his children today. The policy requires all students to take a course on the Quran.

With Nadarkhani and his wife being Muslim converts to Christianity, they protested against their children being taught Islam in school. For that reason, the pastor was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death. However, he was acquitted in 2012.

Article 18 reports that Nardarkhani tried to ensure his children were recognized as Christians before he was sent back to prison in 2018 so they wouldn't have to take Islamic studies. However, the matter has yet to be resolved with local authorities despite a court ruling in the familys favor.

Because of this, the Nardarkhani children were not given certificates to show that they are Christians and have completed their studies.

Although Youeil, 15, was set to start the 10th grade this fall, he has not received certificates to show that he completed the previous grades.

The certificate denials come as the children were accepted to school as fully paying students but labeled as guests until the familys legal case is resolved.

According to Article 18, religious minorities are typically exempt from Islamic studies classes. However, Iran provides less freedom for Muslim converts, such as the Nardarkhanis, whom the state still considers to be Muslim.

The U.S. State Department lists Iran as a country of particular concern for egregious violations of religious freedom. Iran is ranked as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs 2019 World Watch List.

Despite severe persecution against Christians, the underground church movement in the Islamic Republic continues to grow as there are over 800,000 Christians in Iran, according to Open Doors.

Converts from Islam are considered apostate and do not enjoy religious legal protection under Iranian law, Open Doors reported in a December 2018 dossier on Iran. They are subject to the death penalty under Sharia law. They lose their right to inherit family possessions. They are still considered Muslim and (their children) are therefore obliged to follow Islamic education.

According to Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in dozens of countries, Christians are prohibited from sharing their faith with non-Christians. Additionally, Muslims are not allowed to visit church services. Christians that do reach out to non-Christians run the risk of having their churches closed by authorities.

In August, a Christian convert was sentenced to one year in prison for acting against national security. Mahrokh Kanbari was arrested at her home last Christmas Eve. According to International Christian Response, she was directed to receive instruction from a religious leader to return to Islam.

Earlier this year, authorities arrested a bookseller from the Kurdish town of Bukan for selling the Bible.

An Iranian Christian whose family is imprisoned in Iran met with President Donald Trump in July as part of a White House meeting with survivors of persecution.

Dabrina Bet Tamraz, whos familys house church was shut down in 2009, told Trump that her father was sentenced to 10 years in prison for acting against national security by forming home churches, attending seminars abroad and proselytizing Zionist Christianity.

[Christian converts] have no rights in our country, Tamraz stressed. I am standing here today to raise awareness.
Iranian Christian convert gets 80 lashes for drinking communion wine

An Iranian Christian convert, who is serving a six-year prison sentence, has received 80 lashes for drinking communion wine. He is the second convert to receive such a punishment in just over a month.

Article 18, a London-based nonprofit that exposes abuses against Christians in Muslim-majority Iran, reports that Zaman Fadaee (who goes by the name Saheb) was flogged on Sunday in connection to a 2016 conviction for drinking wine as part of communion.

In Iran, it is illegal for Muslims to drink alcohol but the practice is permitted for religious minorities. However, advocates warn that Iran does not recognize former Muslim converts as Christian.

Fadaee, a member of the Church of Iran, was arrested along with Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and four other members of Nadarkhanis Rasht-based church in May 2016. In September 2016, converts Fadaee, Yasser Mossayebzadeh and Youhan Omidi were sentenced to 80 lashes for drinking communion wine by a court in Rasht.

On Oct. 14, Omidi received his 80 lashes about a month after he began a two-year term in exile in the city of Borazjan, about a 15-hour drive from his home in Rasht.

Fadaee is serving a six-year sentence in Tehrans Evin Prison for the charge of organizing house churches and promoting Zionist Christianity, according to Article 18.

The converts were each initially given 10-year prison sentences in 2017, which they began serving in 2018. But during a retrial earlier this year, their sentences were reduced.

While Fadaee and Nadarkhanis sentences were reduced to six years in prison with two years of internal exile, Omidis sentence was reduced to two years. He was released from prison in August and began his two years of internal exile a month later.

Mossayebzadeh was also sentenced to 80 lashes. But Article 18 reports that he has not been summoned yet to receive the lashes.

It had been assumed that both Saheb and Yasser would be flogged after their release from prison, as happened in Youhans case, the Article 18 report states. However, Saheb was summoned to the Shahid Moghadas Revolutionary Court next to Evin Prison yesterday, and told his sentence must be carried out then and there.

News of Fadaees flogging was condemned by State Department official Gabriel Noronha.

Now hearing from @articleeighteen that another Iranian Christian has been lashed 80 times for drinking communion wine  and is serving 6 years in prison for organizing house churches, Noronha tweeted. ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Islamic Republic of Iran are birds of the same radical feather.

In October, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus condemned the reported flogging of Omidi.

Deeply disturbed by reports Iran lashed Mohammad Reza Omidi 80 times for drinking communion wine, she wrote on Twitter at the time. He already served two years in prison for belonging to a house church. We condemn these unjust punishments and urge Iran to allow all Iranians the freedom to practice their beliefs.

The U.S. government and international human rights activists have often criticized the Iranian government over human rights abuses against religious minorities. Governed by a theocratic regime and Islamic law, Iran is listed by the State Department as a country of particular concern for tolerating or engaging in systemic violations of religious freedom.

Open Doors USA, a persecution watchdog group that monitors human rights abuses in over 60 countries, ranks Iran as the ninth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution.

Among many restrictions on the Christian community, the government prohibits church services from being conducted in the Farsi language. The government also bans Muslims from leaving Islam.

Christian converts who participate in house churches do so in fear that they could be arrested for doing so.

During the 2020 reporting period  Nov. 1, 2018, to Oct. 31, 2019  Open Doors reports that at least 169 Christians were arrested in Iran.
Wrath star Michelle Williams says Beyonce's mom is known to hand out Bibles, books on prayer

Actress Michelle Williams, who stars in the Lifetime movie "Wrath" which is part of the seven deadly sins anthology series, credits her co-star, Tina Knowles-Lawson, known best by some as Beyonce's mother, for being a voice of wisdom in her life.

Playing her daughter and her being my mother, she just got to play a role and say words that she says to her own children or her own nieces and nephews, Williams said of Knowles-Lawson's role in the film that will air on Lifetime starting April 16.

In the film, Williams plays lawyer Chastity Jeffries who gets romantically involved with another lawyer named Xavier Collins (Antonio Cupo), who appears to be the perfect catch until his possessive, jealous behavior turns violent.

When Xaviers jealousy and wrath lead to suspicious actions and dangerous threats, Chastity confides in her mother Sarah (Tina Knowles-Lawson), and turns to her former childhood boyfriend Roger Thompkins (Romeo Miller). But in the end, it is Chastity that will have to fight to save herself, the synopsis reads, in part.

Wrath, from executive producers T.D. Jakes, Derrick Williams and Shaun Robinson, is based on the book series by Victoria Christopher Murray.

Anger and wrath comes from what you've been ruminating on, said Williams in an interview with The Christian Post. She encourages those who might be struggling with wrath to focus on the Bible verse Philippians 4:8 which says, Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirableif anything is excellent or praiseworthythink about such things.

Williams became renowned as a member of Destiny's Child, which was one of the most famous girl groups in U.S. history. After the group went their separate ways, she later released both gospel albums and wrote Christian books.

The following Q&A with Wiliams has been lightly edited for clarity and length.



CP: In the film, you quoted the Bible verse (Ephesians 6:4) that says, "Father, don't provoke your children to wrath." Can you talk about the importance of not cultivating wrath in a family dynamic?

Williams: Seeing each other as human. [Dont say] "Well, no, you're my daughter," but see that person as a soul and a human as well. I didn't realize that until I started going to therapy, and we started talking about childhood things in therapy.

I think [also] families getting into some counseling, weekly, monthly, quarterly so that you can learn how to deal with people's behaviors and their emotions because each child reacts differently.

My mother and father, I saw them react differently to things. I really think some counseling can help people even understand, "OK, well, why did that make you so angry?" Then before you know it, sometimes their anger has nothing to do with you at all.

I'm not a parent and I've heard many times: "Parenting does not come with a guidebook at all." Through therapy, I had to look back and I had to give my parents grace. They were doing the best that they could. But now we can do more than just the best, there's so many resources out there for free, especially with these phones in the palm of our hand. You can darn near get a therapist on here and it's OK to have some help.

CP: What can someone do to get delivered from wrath?

Williams: Our thoughts have a lot to do with our emotions. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirableif anything is excellent or praiseworthythink about such things."

It's not hard once it becomes a practice. Life is going to throw things your way. But to me, some of that anger and wrath comes from what you've been ruminating on, which is just having thoughts just on a cycle. Ruminate means to think deeply about something. So if you go to Philippians 4:8, well I should be thinking deeply about things that are true, things that are just, things that are pure, things that are noble.

The only reason I learned that Scripture is because that's what I've used to even try to temper anxiety and overthinking. If I'm going to overthink on something, I better overthink on love versus what could go wrong, versus what somebody did to me. I think that can help some with the anger.

CP: In that film, Knowles-Lawson plays your mother and she preaches to you. How close was that to real life for you?

Williams: Oh, that's her! She is quick to hand out a Bible. One of her favorite books that she likes to give out is called The Power of a Praying Woman or ThePower of a Praying Wife. She gives that book out to so many people because she knows that through prayer, that is the only way that she has been able to withstand a lot of the storms that she's gone through. So that was natural for her.

Playing her daughter and her being my mother. She just got to play a role and say words that she says to her own children or her own nieces and nephews.

CP: What do you say to anyone that's angry at God?

Williams: He can handle it. I think it's best to tell God how you feel. There's a difference between disrespecting God [but] it's OK for you to be like, "God, I'm upset with You and how this is going." He can handle you taking it out on Him. Just trust that He has already worked everything out.

Are we mad at God? There have been times when it's really because I've been mad at myself because I didn't do what He guided me, what He instructed me to do. So now you've got to sit in the consequences. God will give you the strength to even get through the consequences.

Even if you're not a Christian, the law of sowing and reaping applies to everybody. So there are moments where I was going to be mad at God about the outcome of something and it's like, "Yeah, but I didn't do what You instructed me to do." I didn't do what He instructed me to do, so now I have to just go ahead, sit through this, and let the process do the process.

CP: This movie promotes choosing mercy over wrath. How do we get to that place of mercy?

Williams: I need mercy, so that's what helps me extend it. Sometimes the only consequence that I give to someone is by setting a boundary, that's it. But I am going to always be in need of forgiveness and mercy. Now, just because I extend forgiveness and mercy doesn't mean that I allow you to come in my space again, and we go out for doughnuts. No! I just think that there's got to be boundaries that are set. So I extend what I want somebody to do for me.

Wrath premieres April 16 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
Over 61,000 Sign Petition Calling on Iran to Free Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani

More than 61,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison.

In May, Iran upheld a 10-year prison sentence for Nadarkhani and three other Christians after they were convicted of promoting "Zionist Christianity."

The American Center for Law and Justice, which has been helping to legally represent Nadarkhani, launched a petition in support of the persecuted pastor.

"Iran's actions violate its own constitution that guarantees religious freedom, and multiple international human rights treaties," reads the petition, which as of Thursday afternoon has more than 61,300 signatures.

"We're once again ramping up our legal advocacy efforts to fight across the globe for Pastor Youcef's freedom and hold Iran accountable for its heinous persecution of Christians. We must take swift action to free Pastor Youcef before it's too late."

In a statement released Thursday morning, the ACLJ said it believes "Iran will only listen when it feels the maximum pressure of the international community."

"This is a blatant miscarriage of justice. Pastor Youcef must be allowed to return to his family, and Iran's violent persecution of Christians has to end," stated the ACLJ.

"We have fought for Pastor Youcef's freedom before, and we are prepared to do so again on the international stage. He needs you too. Sign our petition demanding his freedom."

For nearly a decade now, Nadarkhani has found himself in legal trouble due to his decision to convert from Islam to Christianity.

In November 2010, Nadarkhani was given the death sentence for allegedly protesting Islamic instruction in schools for his children and for attempting to register his church. He was acquitted in 2013.

In May 2016, Nadarkhani was arrested, along with Mohammadreza Omidi, Yasser Mossayebzadeh and Saheb Fadaie, in raids by the government.

The four were found guilty of, among other things, promoting "Zionist Christianity," acting against national security, and violating the nation's alcohol prohibition laws when receiving Communion.

They were sentenced to 10 years in prison. Nadarkhani was reportedly being sent to Elvin Prison, a facility known for its horrible human rights record and lack of medical treatment.

"The international community must press the government of Iran to uphold its constitutional obligations toward its Christian community," said Christian Solidarity Worldwide Chief Operating Officer Scot Bower in a statement released last month.

"[Iran must also] respect the right of its citizens to the full enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief, as outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is signatory."
Palestinian Evangelical pastor released 40 days after being arrested for meeting Israeli leader

A Palestinian judge has released Evangelical pastor Johnny Shahwan from Bethlehem, about 40 days after he was arrested for allegedly allowing a former member of Israels parliament and rabbi to visit his ministry, according to reports.

Palestinian authorities released Pastor Johnny Shahwan, who was accused of promoting normalization with the Zionist entity and welcoming an extremist Zionist settler, on Monday, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Pastor Shahwan was arrested on March 2 and his ministry, Beit Al-Liqa, or House of Encounter, was shut down for allegedly meeting with Yehudah Glick, an Israeli politician from the Likud Party and rabbi.

The Beit Al-Liqa ministry, which is based in the town of Beit Jala just outside Bethlehem, released a statement after the pastors arrest. It said it hosted a group of German tourists and at the end of the meeting with Shahwan, an unidentified person at the time, Glick, suddenly walked in and asked to take a selfie with Shahwan and the tourists.

It clarified, We were not aware of the presence of this extremist Zionist person, and he was not part of the groups itinerary.

The day after the pastors arrest, unidentified gunmen fired several shots at the ministrys building, according to the Post, which added that no one was hurt.

The ministry also affirmed its commitment as a Palestinian national Christian institution to all Palestinians and opposition to normalization [with Israel]. It also denounced the Jews living in the West Bank as criminals, the Post said.

Shahwans release comes about a week after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was briefed on his plight, All Arab News said, adding that Abbas asked his attorney general and security services to review the case, indicating that he wanted to see the pastor released.

Earlier, the Post had commented, Given the widespread campaign of incitement against Shahwan on social media, it would probably be safer for him to remain in a Palestinian prison than to be released to his home in the Bethlehem area. There, he could be attacked by the extremists who consider him a traitor for meeting with an Israeli Jew.

Meanwhile, Palestinian rioters vandalized Josephs Tomb during clashes with Israeli troops near the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, CBN News reported.

Dozens of Palestinian rioters in a frenzy of destruction simply vandalized a holy place for us, the Jews, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was quoted as saying. They shattered the headstone over the tomb and set fire to rooms in the complex; I have seen the shocking pictures.

We will not tolerate such an attack on a place that is holy for us, on the eve of Passover, and will reach the rioters. Of course, we will see to the rebuilding of what has been destroyed, just as we always do, he added.
In 2017 the name Cassie De Pecol toured social networks when she was announced as the first woman to visit each of the countries in the world, an achievement that earned her a Guiness Record , thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok, the publication of a book , a TED Talk and a lawsuit for false advertising.

Before being recognized by Guinness World Records, De Pecol 's popularity grew as she documented the feat that would make her the number one female traveler. Media such as CNN , Forbes , The New York Times and Today were captivated by the story of this woman who few knew was actually far from the first to achieve such an achievement.

Such a statement arises from an article published by the Washington Post in which Dorothy Pine is mentioned, a woman who traveled extensively during the 20th century and despite the fact that her travels are not documented in an Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or YouTube account, there are those who they claim that it can be proved that Dorothy visited every country in the world long before de Pecol.

After the publication of the Washington Post , Rapid Travel Chai affirms that there are actually confirmed records of eleven women who have broken that record and it is not ruled out that there are more without a record of their trips. In fact, a German named Nina Sedano claims to have finished touring the entire world at the end of September 2011.

After all this information came to light, several people who have tried to establish contact with De Pecol are waiting for a response from him. But the story doesn't just end with a mix-up or a poorly awarded prize. De Pecol is currently facing a lawsuit from Travelers United , who allege that the woman incurred false advertising by defrauding and misleading various investors and sponsors by telling them that she was the first woman to have set foot in every country in the world.

Faced with such a situation, De Pecol denied the accusations and assured the Washington Post that "this complaint is baseless and an attack on myself and my achievements... I intend to vigorously contest what unfortunately appears to be a repetition of the same untenable accusations that have been made against me in the past.

The main objective of the lawsuit is not only to deny a woman who enjoys sharing her life on the Internet, but also to draw attention to the growing influencer marketing, since from the popularization of this advertising strategy, there is also a need to review and verify the information that is shared on the network, since it cannot be assumed that everything that is published is true.

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LOS ANGELES (AP)  The First Lady presents three influential women, three acclaimed actors playing them, and a century of history encompassing wars, presidential scandal and America's stubborn gender and race fault lines.

The ambitious Showtime drama series proved an irresistible challenge for Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier. While its subjects  Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama  each have a compelling and gripping" story, the sum is even greater, Bier said of her first biographical project.

It was interesting to me that it wasn't one biopic by focusing on first ladies of disparate experiences and eras in a way it puts womens situation in the world very much in perspective, Bier said in an interview.

The First Lady," debuting 9 p.m. EDT Sunday, stars Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Viola Davis as Michelle Obama. Davis was an executive producer for the series, as were showrunner Cathy Schulman and Bier.

In their younger iterations, the future first ladies are played by Eliza Scanlen (Roosevelt), Kristine Froseth (Ford) and Jayme Lawson (Obama). The presidents  secondary to their wives in this telling  are portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland as Franklin D. Roosevelt; Aaron Eckhart as Gerald Ford; and O-T Fagbenle as Barack Obama.

The series examines both personal and political chapters, but it is historical fiction and doesn't pretend to be a documentary, Schulman said. We had to imagine what happened in between the events and the things that have been written about, she said during a panel discussion.

Bier said the first-lady role doesn't exist in her native Denmark. While she was familiar with the women portrayed in the series, she gained new respect for them.

What was striking to me was the fact was they realized how to navigate within the White House without actually having a political position, and became much more influential than one would have thought," she said. They did so while managing to serve the expected role of America's beautiful-looking, successful first hostess.

Betty Ford was open about her breast cancer at a point it time when it was so stigmatized and nobody talked about it, Bier said. She obviously saved a lot of people's lives" and changed attitudes in the U.S. and other countries as well.

The First Lady approaches the stories as a tapestry, weaving together moments that, at times, show how similar the women's experience was despite the decades that separated them.

All fought to be taken seriously as first ladies after spending part or much of their adult lives supporting their husband's ambitions. Ford and Obama are depicted as deeply reluctant to make the White House their temporary home  Ford because she had spent so long in the political trenches after giving up her own dreams, Obama because she feared for her husband's safety as the first Black president.

Despite the passages of decades, there are striking similarities in the walls that these three women banged up against, Bier said. Yes, our society has changed, history has changed. But it still is very much a man's world we are living in, which is way I find it incredibly important to do (such) a show."

The parallels involving the women is strictly thematic since their lives don't overlap in history or the series. Bier, who came on board after the approach was determined, felt that the arc of the women's individual stories wasn't fully developed in the script.

With the three first lady's scenes to be shot independently, Bier suggested creation of a cohesive script for each." Even then, changes were made along the way, as Ford, then Obama and Roosevelt were filmed one after the other.

As we were shooting Betty, the scripts for Michelle Obama were being rewritten," she said. So there was never actually a finished roadmap for how to interweave the stories.

That was accomplished during the editing in London, said Bier, who won the best foreign language Oscar in 2011 for Hvnen ("In a Better World"), received a directing Emmy for 2016's The Night Manager" and whose other credits include The Undoing and Birdbox."

Bier, a master filmmaker in various genres, was right for the Showtime series that moves in and out of comedy, tragedy and everything in between, producer Schulman said. Also, Susanne is an actors director, and the level of detail with which she approaches characterizations was crucial in bringing the first ladies to life.

The First Lady is envisioned as an ongoing anthology series, with new presidential spouses part of future editions. Among the possibilities that Schulman and Bier find intriguing: Dolley Madison, Jacqueline Kennedy and Hillary Clinton.

I'm at the moment obsessing over Martha Washington," Schulman said during the panel discussion, citing her intrigue with the origins of the first lady's role. But I also would be so interested to see if we could figure out a way to do Jackie Kennedy that didn't tell the same old story. ... Each of them is so interesting, and they become more interesting in combinations.
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP)  Environmental cleanup is underway following a Tuesday fire at a gas station in Medford.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said Thursday that over 12,000 gallons of various petroleum products, mostly lube oil, were released into nearby Bear Creek and surrounding areas during the incident.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and NEXGEN Logistics, LLC are working on the cleanup, which also involves smaller amounts of diesel, gasoline, and kerosene. Absorbent booms have been placed in the creek to help absorb the oil. Crews were also removing petroleum from the creek and its bank.

Crews on Friday morning observed small areas of light sheen on the Rogue River downstream of Bear Creek which has prompted the placement of additional hard boom  which traps petroleum  and absorbent boom into areas of Bear Creek downstream of the incident. The agencies are investigating the extent of sheen on the Rogue, DEQ said.

Above-ground tanks at the fuel business were being emptied. DEQ said the containers appeared to have remained mostly intact.

Officials also said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists have captured and cleaned several oiled waterfowl that remain under observation. So far officials said no impacts to fish have been observed.

EPA set up community air quality monitors and said the air has remained at safe levels.

On Friday, the city of Medford identified seven businesses impacted by the fire, the Mail Tribune reported.

Authorities are investigating the fire's cause.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois farmers are applauding this week's announcement by President Joe Biden that the summer cap is being lifted on E15, a fuel blend containing 15% ethanol.

The ethanol blend is usually banned from June to September because of smog concerns. The Biden administration's announcement is intended to bring down gasoline prices somewhat. Biden said the move is not going to solve all our problems, but its going to help some people.

There are an estimated 130 gas stations that sell E15 in Illinois, and about 2,300 nationwide. Biden said the country will invest $100 million in biofuel infrastructure.

The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center in Edwardsville is the only fully integrated research facility of its kind in the world.

Illinois Farm Bureau supports the administrations effort to incentivize infrastructure that expands capacity for higher levels of renewable fuel blends, while also incentivizing oil companies to resume oil production from inactive wells located on federal lands, Illinois Farm Bureau president Richard Guebert Jr. said.

Ethanol is a fuel commonly made from corn that, under the 2005 federal Renewable Fuel Standard, is required to be blended into billions of gallons of gasoline each year.

With being a major supplier of ethanol to the market as well as being number one or two in leading the pack in corn production, we are ecstatic to see this, said DeAnne Bloomberg, director of issue management with the Illinois Farm Bureau.

Ethanol advocates and lawmakers from both parties have urged Biden and the EPA to allow year-round sales of E15, calling it cheaper and a readily available domestic alternative to traditional gasoline. The U.S. has banned imports of Russian crude oil since the countrys February invasion of Ukraine, disrupting global markets and raising prices.

The Illinois Renewable Fuels Association applauded lifting the E15 cap as well, saying it will not only provide fuel cost savings but will also increase American energy independence and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They note that, compared to gasoline, ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by about 50%.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP)  A convicted felon in Florida has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison after appearing in a social media post holding a rifle.

Christian Agosto, 22, of Brandon, was sentenced Wednesday in Tampa federal court, according to court records. He had pleaded guilty in December to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
CHICAGO (AP)  A fire roared through a prominent church on Chicago's South Side hours after it held Good Friday services, sending its roof caving in and likely leaving it a total loss.

The multiple-alarm fire blaze at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church began after 2 p.m., an hour after services ended, and wasn't brought under control for 90 minutes.
Morel mushroom mania has started for the season and one Madison County expert might be the first hunter to find a specific morel species this year.

Gary Vondrasek, of Edwardsville, whos in his 70s, has been mushroom hunting for 50 years, and more than 40 of those years in Madison County. He recently found the Morchella esculenta, or the yellows, commonly known as common morel, morel, yellow morel, true morel, morel mushroom, and sponge morel. It is one of the most readily recognized of all the edible mushrooms and highly sought.

Its the most delicious wild flavor growing in the woods right now, Vondrasek said. I found the earliest of that variety, when its the most robust and most flavorful.

"You dont need to wash them," he said. "A mushroom hunter, a good one, never washes them.

Vondrasek, a retired special ed teacher originally from the Chicago area, finds many varieties which he shares with friends, family and neighbors. Hell also help others learn to mushroom hunt, for a little piece of their woods and half the bounty. Generational changes and agricultural practices are making the woods scarce that he has hunted for years.

He said he has a semi-clandestine circle of friendly mushroom hunters who have found little grey morels.

The little greys taste pretty good if you get enough of them, but its hard to find a lot of them, Vondrasek said.

He finds his Bohemian Czechoslovakian culture, rooted in Bohemia, a historical country that was part of Czechoslovakia, in mushroom hunting. His sister Lynne Slack, of Worden, and his brother and his wife, Ken and Cheryl Vondrasek, of Alton, also are avid mushroom hunters. Gary Vondrasek has eaten 54 varieties of mushrooms, 46 of which he found himself in the wild.

The Slavic people should be known as the mushroom people of the world, he said, eating, knowing and having more recipes than any other region in the world. Im proud of it.

Vikings chased us into the mountains before even building ships, he said. It put Slavic people in a panic and we had to survive on mushrooms, berries, wild boar, stag, what we had. Were not as known as the French and Italians that have those wonderful truffles.

He said though that his people dont care much about being lesser known for their mushrooms.

We just enjoy them, he said.

He owns three manuals about mushrooms written in a Czech language that he cant read, but he knows the words that mean whats important: edible, deadly and edible, but leave alone because of the disgusting flavor.

I can translate a whole book knowing those words, he said. I use Czech and French books to try rare species.

Vondrasek considers his brothers wife, Cheryl, who works at Market Basket, a mushroom aficionado. He gains knowledge through her and his family, which is who prompted him to move downstate. The first three years of his mushroom hunting, he simply traveled to Madison County to hunt. After those three years, he moved here.

From my sister and her husband living her and my brother working at MRF (Mississippi River Festival), they had a good, fun life here, and the music and everything got me hooked, he said.

He grew up traversing his family property near Lemont, Illinois, which was a true savanna, with prairie touching an oak forest. He taught special education for eight years in Rogers Park, in the city of Chicago.

When I first came here, I usually found over 400 of these morels. There were five different species; I think only four are left, Vondrasek said. Giant elms have died off, thats the tree they liked to invade. Each year the population goes down. This year I hope to find a couple hundred, and I might have been the first to find this species (yellow morel) this season that I know of.

He said the yellows are supposed to grow a couple weeks later when lilacs and dogwoods first blossom.

Since Ive been hunting in this area for 40-plus years, people have let me hunt in their woods or farm they own, Vondrasek said.

Their sons and daughters seem to want to drive their all-terrain vehicles and ruin the grounds where mushrooms grow, and chemicals and runoff destroy the wild conditions. Theres less and less woods to hunt.

Thus, Vondrasek will show wooded property owners how to hunt mushrooms.

'Look up, thats one of the secrets, he said. It seems counter intuitive but identifying the trees that morels will grow near, you save tons of time.

There are 10 to 12 kinds of trees under which its a waste of time to look, he said.

Theres the elm to look around, but if its a young one you wont find anything, he said. The older elm, thats a hot one there.

Among other hot trees for morels is the silver maple and ash.

Im really running low on woods, and those who are next to my woods dont want anyone on their property, he recalled. There are more and more bullies out there telling me to stay out of their woods. So, I will teach mushroom hunting and split what we find.

To contact Gary Vondrasek call him at 618-581-3734. Vondrasek does not sell his mushrooms and he teaches mushroom hunting for free.

He works as a conservation contractor preserving, restoring or innovating historic or historic-looking objects that belong with what already exists, such as classic and fine architecture, and furniture and fine art, including oil paintings but mostly frames for such art. He also has restored wallpaper patterns on walls and at a church restoring statues of angels taller than him. It took him four winters to restore an 800 A.D. Buddhist statue.
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Matthew Butler spent 27 years in the Army, but it took a day in jail to convince him his post-traumatic stress disorder was out of control.

The recently retired Green Beret had already tried antidepressants, therapy and a support dog. But his arrest for punching a hole in his father's wall after his family tried to stage an intervention in Utah made it clear none of it was working.

I had a nice house, I had a great job, whatever, but I was unable to sleep, had frequent nightmares, crippling anxiety, avoiding crowds," he said. My life was a wreck.

He eventually found psychedelic drugs, and he says they changed his life. I was able to finally step way back and go, Oh, I see whats going on here. I get it now, said Butler, now 52. Today his run-ins with police have ended, hes happily married and reconciled with his parents.

Butler, who lives in the Salt Lake City suburbs, is among military veterans in several U.S. states helping to persuade lawmakers to study psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use.

Conservative Utah has become at least the fourth state over the last two years to approve studying the potential medical use of psychedelics, which are still federally illegal. A string of cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms and an explosion of investment money is flowing into the arena.

Experts say the research is promising for treating conditions ranging from PTSD to quitting smoking, but caution some serious risks remain, especially for those with certain mental health conditions.

Oregon is so far the only state to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychedelic active ingredient in certain mushrooms. But studying them for therapy has made inroads not only in blue states like Hawaii, Connecticut and Maryland, but also GOP-led Texas, Utah and Oklahoma, which passed a study bill through the state House this year.

The progress stands in contrast to medical marijuana, which Utah lawmakers refused to allow until a ballot measure helped push it through. However, the proposal to study a broad range of psychedelic drugs passed easily this year.

Texas has yet to legalize medical marijuana, but former Republican Gov. Rick Perry helped shepherd through a bill last year to use $1.4 million to fund a study of psilocybin for treating PTSD.

The stigma attached to psilocybin and most psychedelics dates back to the 60s and 70s. Its been very hard for them to overcome, said Democratic Rep. Alex Dominguez, who sponsored the bill. My approach was, Lets find the group that all sides claim that they are supportive of. And that would be veterans."

He also heard from conservatives like Perry who support the use of psilocybin to treat PTSD  and let advocates from that end of the political spectrum take the lead publicly.

Maryland also gave bipartisan approval to spending $1 million this year to fund alternative therapies for veterans, including psychedelics. Democratic sponsor Sen. Sarah Elfreth, whose district includes the U.S. Naval Academy, noted the spike in suicides among veterans.

I dont envision the VA acting anytime soon, she said. "Were at a true crisis level and its time for the states to step up.

Psilocybin has been decriminalized in nearby Washington, D.C., as well as Denver, which decriminalized it in 2019, followed by Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Theres also plenty of venture capital being invested from people who have had positive experiences and are highly motivated to invest in psychedelics as treatment, said John Krystal, the chair of psychiatry at Yale University.

Rhode Island lawmakers are weighing a proposal to decriminalize psilocybin this year, and in Colorado there's an effort to get statewide decriminalization on the ballot. But similar measures have stalled in Statehouses elsewhere, including California and Maine.

Studying psychedelics, though, has gained more traction. In Oklahoma, a bill from Republican Reps. Daniel Pae and Logan Phillips would legalize research on psilocybin.

I believe the research will show that there is a way to use this drug safely and responsibly, and it could save the lives of thousands of Oklahomans, Pae said in a statement. The bill passed the House last month and is now under consideration in the Senate.

It's a stunning turnaround for a field that captivated researchers in the 1950s and 1960s, before mushrooms and LSD became known as recreational drugs. They were federally outlawed during the Nixon administration, sending research to a screeching halt.

New studies, though, have indicated psilocybin could be useful in the treatment of everything from major depression to alcoholism, said Ben Lewis, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute.

People are referring to this current period of time as the psychedelic Renaissance, he said. Up to 30% of depression sufferers are considered resistant to current treatment, and there have been few recent leaps forward in drug innovation, he added.

The risk of addiction or overdose is considered low with psychedelics, especially under medical supervision, and while some cardiac conditions can present a physical risk, many people's physical reactions aren't dangerous.

But there are serious psychological risks, especially for people with certain forms of mental illness or a family history of conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Then theres a possibility that a high-dose psychedelic experience could sort of trigger that and lead to long-lasting mental health issues, said Albert Garcia-Romeu, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Classic psychedelics include LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and ayahuasca. Plant-based psychedelics have long been used in indigenous cultures around the world.

Today, their therapeutic use at Johns Hopkins is carefully monitored, Garcia-Romeu said. Patients are rigorously screened and typically have at least three appointments: one for preparation, a second to take the drugs and a third to work through the psychedelic experience.

For Butler, the 2018 arrest at his parents' home was a turning point. He started researching new ways to deal with the PTSD he has suffered since deploying six times to Iraq and Afghanistan and working in counterterrorism and hostage rescues in Somalia for the U.S. Special Forces before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2017.

Eventually he came across ayahuasca, long a part of traditional cultures in South America. Last summer, he took part in a ceremony involving the psychoactive brew, overseen by a woman knowledgeable about its effects. She talked to him as the experience took hold, including a feeling of euphoria, the sight of geometric shapes and a sense he was entering his subconscious.

She spoke to him about his childhood and how the military had shaped his life.

It really was as simple as having an experienced person who understood the medicine, who understood that subconscious space and understood PTSD. It was as simple as listening to her, he said.

He credits that single session with getting his PTSD about 80% under control, though he occasionally does another if he finds his symptoms returning.

About two-thirds to three-quarters of people in studies have experienced significant improvements in their symptoms, Garcia-Romeu said. Those are promising results, especially for quitting smoking, where current treatments only work for about one-third of people, he said.

The Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin a breakthrough therapy in 2018, a label thats designed to speed the development and review of drugs to treat a serious condition. MDMA, often called ecstasy, also has that designation for treatment of PTSD.

How quickly states move from study to wider availability remains to be seen. Connecticut recommended legal medical use only after psilocybin is approved by the FDA, which may take until 2025 or later as the agency works through its process, including risk assessment.

Approval is important to safety as well as access, the Connecticut assessment said  without it, many insurance companies likely wouldnt cover the treatment, leaving it open only to the wealthy.

In Utah, the study team is expected to complete its work in the fall.

Well see what can and cant be done," said Republican Rep. Brady Brammer, who sponsored the bill. If if they feel like its safe, itll be an interesting ride.

__

Associated Press writers Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Officials at Oregon Health & Science University have apologized to employees after a fake phishing test drew complaints about raising false hopes.

The university sent the phishing test email to employees on April 12 offering up to $7,500 in financial assistance, Portland television station KGW8 reported Thursday.

The email, from a benefit@ohsu.edu address, read in part: In response to the current community hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon Health & Science University has decided to assist all employees in getting through these difficult times. It included a link where respondents could register for COVID-related benefits.

But the offer was not real  it was a test intended to measure employees' cybersecurity awareness and OHSU's own technology systems. The test was sent several days after the university sent a message to employees warning them about suspicious emails.

The phishing test was met with frustration from some employees.

In a prepared statement, OHSU apologized and said the university didn't fully consider the harm the phishing test could cause.

This week, as part of OHSUs regular exercises to help members practice spotting suspicious e-mails, the language in the test e-mail was taken verbatim from an actual phishing e-mail to ensure no one else fell for the scam. That was a mistake," the OHSU statement said. "The real scam was insensitive and exploitive of OHSU members  and the attempt to educate members felt the same way, causing confusion and concern.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has tested positive for COVID-19.

The 75-year-old Republican said in an announcement late Friday he was diagnosed by his personal physician after experiencing mild symptoms such as a runny nose, head ache, body aches and a sore throat.

DeWine was administered a monoclonal antibody treatment, which is designed to fight the infection. He said he is following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocol and quarantining.

The governor's office said First Lady Fran DeWine was experiencing no symptoms and has tested negative. Both the governor and his wife have received two coronavirus vaccines and a booster.

DeWine's diagnosis comes just 18 days before Ohio's May 3 primary, in which he faces two Republican challengers, and just eight days before former President Donald Trump plans an Ohio rally.

It was unclear whether his diagnosis would affect DeWine's attendance at the rally, or if he would have attended in any case. He had previous plans to attend a celebration of the 200th birthday of President Ulysses S. Grant, an Ohio native, on that day.

DeWine tested positive for COVID-19 once before, in 2020, before testing negative later the same day. Those conflicting results came just before the governor was to meet with Trump, then the president, in Cleveland.
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The case of a teenage couple killed and tossed down an abandoned mine shaft culminated in murder convictions Friday for a Utah man who prosecutors said killed the pair because he found them hanging out with his girlfriend.

Jarrod Baum, 45, faces up to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and other counts in the 2017 slayings after a monthlong trial.

Brelynne Breezy Otteson, 17, and Riley Powell, 18, disappeared days after Christmas. Their bound and stabbed bodies were found months later in Utahs west desert, 100 feet (30 meters) down an abandoned mine shaft.

Prosecutors said they died after meeting up with a friend, Morgan Lewis, on Dec. 30 at her home in Eureka, a former silver mining town. While they were there, her boyfriend, Baum, returned home. He grew angry because he had forbidden Lewis from having male friends over, and she previously dated Powell.

Lewis told police her boyfriend tied up Otteson and Powell, duct-taped their mouths and threw them in the back of Powells Jeep. Then he drove them, along with Henderson, to the site of an abandoned mine outside town.

There, he beat and stabbed Powell before cutting Ottensons throat, then tossed them down.

He retaliated against Riley and Morgan and made her watch so she would know this is what happens when you break my rules, said prosecutor Ryan McBride, Fox13 reported.

The couples family and friends searched for months before Lewis was pulled over during an unrelated traffic stop on March 25. She eventually agreed to cooperate with police.

Much of the prosecutions case was based on her testimony, which was questioned by the defense. Attorney Dallas Young said there was a lack of DNA evidence linking the slayings to Baum

You cannot believe (Lewis), and you cannot be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, he argued, according to KSL.

Prosecutors countered that Lewis and Baum had burnt and bleached important evidence, obliterating DNA.

Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty, but Utah County Attorney David Leavitt later took it off the table as he vowed to no longer pursue capital punishment.
When Joey Ackerman was training to be a psychotherapist, her mentor told her that to truly understand gaslighting - a form of manipulation that often occurs in abusive relationships - she needed to rent the movie from which the term originated. Then they would talk about it.

That film is the 1944 psychological thriller "Gaslight" (based on the 1938 play "Gas Light") and starring Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Angela Lansbury and Joseph Cotton. In it, Bergman's husband tells her she's imagining things when their belongings mysteriously start going missing and she seems to see the gaslights dim and hear footsteps.

It turns out, however, that her husband is hiding the belongings, and that the flickering gaslights and the footfalls are the result of his secretly turning on the lights in the attic to search for lost jewels. His goal is to make her so mentally unstable that she will need to be institutionalized, leaving him free to pursue the treasure. "So, historically, gaslighting has meant a conscious way to control and manipulate someone," said Ackerman, who is based in New York City.

Gaslighting made the leap from psychological lingo to trendy buzzword with the 2016 presidential campaign. More recently, it has morphed into what Ackerman calls a "catchall phrase" - often used incorrectly by people referring to simple disagreements over issues or interactions that don't meet gaslighting's historical definition.

Some mental health experts are concerned that overusing the term could obscure the abusive nature of gaslighting and reduce its power to help victims recognize ongoing manipulation. For them, it's important that gaslighting retain its original meaning: the experience of having your reality repeatedly challenged by someone who holds more power than you do.

Gaslighting "is a manipulative form of communication where a power differential exists," said Angela Corbo, an associate professor and chair of communication studies at Widener University in Chester, Pa. It can occur in romantic relationships or friendships, between parents and children, when seeking medical care or even at work. "I see it as one party distorting information and preying upon another's vulnerability," said Corbo, who likened it to a "more sophisticated way of looking at bullying." (Medical gaslighting, another trendy term, refers to when a medical professional downplays a patient's concerns and tries to convince them that their symptoms are imaginary or perhaps even the result of mental instability.)

Gaslighting is a "devastating" psychological tactic combining "elements of manipulation, control and exploitation of trust," said Naomi Torres-Mackie, a psychologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and head of research at the Mental Health Coalition. "Those things are the building blocks of gaslighting."

It is also a pattern of behavior that occurs over a long duration and not on a one-off basis. A gaslighter will repeatedly twist events to shift blame to someone else, and this emotional abuse can result in his or her victim questioning their own sanity. (While experts used to believe that gaslighting was always intentional, they now think it's possible that some gaslighters aren't aware of their manipulative behavior.)

Over the long term, being on the receiving end of gaslighting can lead to lowered self-worth, feelings of insecurity, depression and anxiety. It can also cause someone to be consumed with self-doubt, said Torres-Mackie, who has worked with many patients who have experienced gaslighting. "It can be difficult to trust people in the future or to connect with people," she said. Plus, "you often feel very disconnected from yourself, because of this experience of feeling out of touch with what's real and what's not."

Gaslighting is common in toxic relationships and situations where one person wants control and perhaps feels as if they're losing their grip over their partner (or their child or work colleague), Torres-Mackie said. Among the signs that it's happening are if your partner constantly:

- Invalidates your emotions. People who gaslight often trivialize or invalidate their victim's feelings. "Very undermining comments are common," Torres-Mackie said. For example, someone might say: "You're just being dramatic," or "Why do you care about this so much?" Other common phrases include: "You're too sensitive," "You're crazy," "You're imagining things" and "Don't get so worked up."

Suppose a friend shows up to your birthday dinner late, and you tell them afterward that their tardiness hurt your feelings. Someone who gaslights might respond: "I didn't see you feel hurt" or "That wouldn't be hurtful to me," said Pauline Yeghnazar Peck, a psychologist based in Santa Barbara, Calif. When a gaslighter decides to "fight with your feelings," she said, it can be disorienting as you reflect back on how you felt and start to question yourself.

- Twists reality. A person who gaslights will "flip things and twist them back on you," Torres-Mackie said. He or she will be adamant that you did - or said - things that you know you didn't do. For example, Torres-Mackie describes this situation: During a fight, one partner calls the other "stupid," and then that person says, "Hey, you called me stupid!" The person who initially made the derogatory comment might then say, "I didn't call you stupid; you called me stupid," which is a lie intended to distort reality and control the situation.

- Forces you to apologize. Even if you feel betrayed in a certain situation, a gaslighter will "change the narrative" to blame you so that you end up apologizing, Peck said. He or she might say "You made me do it" or find some other way to pin their bad behavior on you. People who have people-pleasing tendencies, in particular, will catch themselves taking responsibility for things they didn't do. "It's because the person gaslighting is often so assured and confident and strong - or even explosive," Peck said.

- Leaves you mistrusting your perceptions. If you're being gaslit, you'll start doubting yourself, constantly questioning what's real and if, for example, you were overreacting or misunderstood a certain situation. "If you start to have a disproportionate amount of doubt in yourself that was not previously there, then that's a sign" that gaslighting is happening, Ackerman said. You might think to yourself: "Maybe I am crazy," or paranoid or too sensitive - whatever that person is calling you.

The first step to stopping gaslighting is understanding what it is. Peck is encouraged that the term has become more common, because, when used correctly, it raises awareness of "this subtle form of interpersonal abuse," she said. "Just knowing and labeling what's happening can be a life raft in the midst of the storm." When you know what's going on, "you're giving yourself some clarity and removing the extra tax on your brain as is struggles to make sense of what's happening."

Here are steps experts suggest taking next:

- Pay attention to how you feel, perhaps by writing it down. Corbo suggests asking yourself how you feel when you're around the person gaslighting you: "Do you feel anxious? Do you fear that the person is going to contradict you? Do you find that you might be really confident and outgoing when you're with certain people, but when you're around that other individual, you feel fuzzy? Do you think something's wrong, and you can't quite identify it?"

- Write down the time and date you have these feelings, so that later - when self-doubt begins swirling around - you can remind yourself how you felt. That will help you ultimately trust yourself enough to take action, whether that's leaving the relationship or seeking help.

- Assert yourself, and then stop the conversation. If you're involved in a conversation with a gaslighter, "assert your own reality as much as you can, and as much as is safe," Torres-Mackie said. For example, you could say: "No. You were the one who called me stupid. Do not twist it."

Or, Peck said, you could use an approach like this: "It sounds like you're having a really hard time hearing what I'm saying. I know what I felt, and it's important for me to voice this. It doesn't sound like you can take in this perspective. I no longer want to engage in this conversation; if you're ready to hear how I felt and discuss, I'd be open to that at a later time."

Then, walk away and call someone you're close to, Torres-Mackie suggested. You might tell your friend: "'I know this thing happened, and he's trying to tell me it's not true. I need to share this with you in order to ground myself,'" she said. "Otherwise, you only have that one person who's telling you this false reality, and it's easy to get swept into that." Enlisting support from those not involved in the situation can be invaluable.

- Address it at work, with HR if necessary. Not everyone can afford to leave their job, even if they're being gaslit. Document everything that's happening, Torres-Mackie said, and if it feels doable, address the situation with the colleague responsible for the behavior. She suggests saying: "Hey, you're telling me X. But my sense is this other thing is right or true. How can we account for that difference?" If you don't feel comfortable starting such a conversation, talk to the human resources department. Another idea: "See if you can find colleagues who may be experiencing the same thing," Torres-Mackie said. "There's strength in numbers, and if someone is doing it to you, it's likely they might be doing it to more people in the workplace, and it can help you get support."

- Talk to a professional. Recovering from gaslighting can take years, and working with a therapist is often key to healing. "This is a form of emotional abuse, and if somebody feels like this has kind of taken over their life, I always say talk to a professional," Corbo said. Doing so can help you "break the pattern so it doesn't happen again."
April 8

A theft from Cefco was reported on April 8 at the 3700 block of Olton Road. The suspect took a 12-pack of beer.

Police arrested a 29-year-old man at the 2100 block of W. 5th St. on April 8 during a traffic stop. The suspect was found to have two active warrants for speeding in a school zone and for failure to appear/bail.

A 46-year-old woman was arrested on April 8 during a traffic stop at the 600 block of Joliet St. The individual was charged with driving while intoxicated.

A crash causing damage to a vehicle was reported at the intersection of W. 16th and Joliet Streets on April 8. The crash involved two vehicles. Vehicles were damaged but there were no injuries reported. The vehicles were released at the scene.

A 34-year-old man was arrested on April 8 at the 100 block of W. 9th St. The individual was charged with an active warrant for assault causing bodily injury family violence.

An assault was reported at the 2100 block of Smythe St. on April 8.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 3600 block of Olton Road on April 8.

A 28-year-old individual was arrested on April 8 at the 400 block of Joliet St. The individual was found to have an active warrant for theft out of Swisher County.

A 70-year-old man was arrested on April 8 at the 1500 block of E. 5th St. where officers were dispatched in reference to someone sleeping by the driveway. The man was dropped off at this residence and wanted a place to lay down. He had been drinking, had slurred speech and was unable to stand on his own, even with assistance, according to the police incident report. He was arrested for public intoxication.

April 9

A crash was reported at the 4000 block of W. 15th St. on April 9. No injuries were reported.

April 10

A man was arrested for driving while intoxicated during a traffic stop at the 1300 block of W. 12th St. on April 10. The man was found to have two active warrants for speeding and for failure to appear.

A 29-year-old man was arrested at the 1700 block of Yonkers St. on April 10.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at N. Columbia and W. 9th St.

A burglary was reported on April 10 at the 2900 block of W. 24th St.

An assault was reported at the 500 block of Joliet St. on April 10.

A 22-year-old man was arrested on April 10 at the 500 block of Amarillo St. for an outstanding warrant. The individual was arrested during a traffic stop and was charged with a warrant for public intoxication.

April 11

A theft was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on April 11.

Theft of a firearm from a vehicle was reported at the 1700 block of N. Columbia on April 11.

A theft was reported at the 2500 block of Holiday St. on April 11.

Identity theft was reported at the 100 block of W. 9th St. on April 11.

April 12

A 37-year-old man was arrested on April 12 at the 900 block of Amarillo St. Officers made contact with a man at the location who was found to have an outstanding felony warrant. Michael George Green was charged with a warrant for a probation violation, dangerous drugs MTR possession of a controlled substance.

A burglary was reported at the 600 block of the west frontage road of N. I-27.

A theft was reported at the 1100 block of Independence St. on April 12.

A theft was reported at the 2800 block of Houston St. on April 12.

An assault was reported at the 4000 block of Olton Road on April 12.

Plainview Police were called to the 1900 block of Galveston on April 12. According to a preliminary investigation, a verbal altercation turned physical and resulted in minor injury to the victim. No arrests had been made at this time, though the case remains under investigation.

April 13

A burglary was reported at the 500 block of S. I-27 on April 13.

Another burglary was reported at the 1200 block of S. I-27.

A hit-and-run crash was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on April 13. Vehicle damage was reported.

An assault was reported at the 700 block of N. Columbia St. on April 13. A 23-year-old man was charged with assault causing bodily injury family violence. According to police, a person assaulted another causing pain to their neck. A report of assault by contact was reported and filed. The individual arrested told officers he was assaulted by the woman and wanted to pursue criminal charges, though he said the assault did not cause him pain.

A theft was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on April 13.

Officers were dispatched to the 3300 block of Quincy St. on April 13 where a person in the lobby reported identity theft. An Investigation is underway.

A 17-year-old man was arrested for assault causing bodily injury family violence on April 13 at the 3200 block of Olton Road.

A crash resulting in injury was reported on W. 16th and N. Columbia on April 13.

A 44-year-old man was arrested on April 13 at the 700 block of W. 5th St. He was found to have two active warrants for public intoxication and for failure to appear/bail jumping.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 600 block of Yonkers St. on April 13.

An assault was reported at the 100 block of S. Ash on April 13.

A 17-year-old was arrested on April 13 during a traffic stop at the 600 block of W. 27th St. The stop was conducted for an unsafe lane change. The driver almost struck an officers vehicle. During the stop, the driver was found to have several outstanding warrants including the following: two for speeding, one for failure to display a drivers license, and two for violating a drivers license restriction.

A 20-year-old was arrested on April 13 at the 800 block of W. 11th St. Blayke Montana Sistrunk was arrested during a traffic stop for a traffic violation. During the stop, the individual was found to be in possession of a controlled substance (amphetamine). He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony.
The Mary McCoy Baines Chapter of the DAR met April 13, 2022, at the Plainview Country Club for a seated luncheon. Chaplain Phyllis Wall gave the invocation and acted as hostess.

Regent Cornelia McDonough presided for the business meeting and led the opening ritual. She advised that national dues will be raised next year. In other business she presented a number of awards won by the chapter at the state convention. Plans were discussed for the membership workshop in late spring or during the summer. Libby White, District 1 Director, and Judy Ditmore, state treasurer, will be on hand to prepare national applications. The District 1 workshop is set for April 23 to be hosted by Wolf Creek Chapter in Perryton.
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'Asian NATO' perilous and unwanted for Asia

16:49, April 15, 2022 By Qing Ming ( People's Daily Online

Illutration: Liu Rui/GT

--An "Asian NATO" will surely be equally NA(o)TO-rious and hazardous, both militarily and economically.

--For the Asia-Pacific region, an "Asian NATO," even in its embryonic form, will be destined to heighten military risks, create more turmoil, and risk draging the entire region into Washington's insatiable gambit for more geopolitical clout and hegemony.

In the early 1990s, when the Soviet Union was heading straight toward its sudden dissolution, leaders from NATO member states rushed to do their calculations. Should the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which had been built upon the premise of countering the Soviet superpower, also become history with the demise of its raison d'etre? Some pondered. But still, a host of politicians from NATO member states cautioned against its abolishment and argued that, even after the Soviet Union collapsed, the need to "preserve the strategic balance in Europe" still remained. It was with the belief of swapping Europe's strategic autonomy with the ostensible "strategic balance" that NATO offered, a bygone concept from the Cold War-era reemerged and eventually widened its scope in a new century, and instead of shrinking or fading away it has instead expanded, incorporating more and more Central and Eastern European nations into its membership.

NATO, Asian edition?

NATO's ambition and appetite have never been just confined to the Trans-Atlantic, as hardly had the Iron Curtain ceased to exist when NATO began to involve itself in wars of regime-change and invasions into Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent years the Western military alliance has also been rising in strength at an alarming rate, spreading its tentacles further to reach regions in Asia. High-level officials from Japan, South Korea, India, and Australia (with the latter, strictly speaking, simply being a nation that happens to be adjacent to Asia), among others, all being non-NATO states, and have long been frequently invited to join NATO meetings (including the one that was held earlier this month), at which NATO has spared no efforts to exercise its "long-arm jurisdiction" over issues such as the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Since the simmering tension between Russia and Ukraine (the latter has been keen to join NATO despite the former's fierce objection) escalated into a deadly war, Washington, the de facto leader of NATO, has grown increasingly active in preaching about the alliance's significance. Not only have senior US officials turned their global visits into opportunities for the special promotion of NATO, but they have also repeatedly cited the so-called "China threat" and "Ukraine lesson" as excuses to urge military alliances in the Asia-Pacific region to be further cemented and bolstered. In a flurry of meetings and phone calls after the eruption of the Ukraine conflict, US president Joe Biden praised the "supportive" role of the Quad, an alliance between the US, India, Japan, and Australia, while reassuring the bloc's partners of Washington's commitment to supporting Australia with nuclear submarines and other advanced weaponry (such as hypersonic weapons) under AUKUS, a trilateral pact between the US, UK, and Australia.

Whatever intentions Washington may harborwhether integrating more Asian nations into the already loaded roster of the NATO alliance, or duplicating and nurturing more NATO replica or quasi-NATO intergovernmental organizations around the worldthey will surely be equally NA(o)TO-rious and hazardous, both militarily and economically.

Cold War schemer Cartoon: Xu Zihe/GT

A security mirage

To begin with, Washington's attempts to build a NATO replica organizationor, as many are calling it, an "Asian NATO"will only serve to sabotage regional security and stability instead of "promoting" these goals.

Through bilateral security treaties and multilateral defense alliances like the Quad and AUKUS, Washington has for years laboriously weaved its so called Indo-Pacific "collective defense web" into something akin to that of NATO, all at the expense of the common peace and stability shared by the entire region.

But the idea of seeking "collective security" through "collective defense" doesn't hold water because Washington's strategy by nature is hostile and "coercive," which is exactly what Barry Blechman has written and argued, an American scholar focusing on nuclear disarmament, in his 2020 book Military Coercion and US Foreign Policy.

Holding the banner of bloc politics and power politics, the US has relentlessly borrowed coercive and hegemonic tactics from its Cold War toolbox: stationing its omnipresent troops, deploying defensive systems, conducting joint naval exercises, and selling lethal weapons. All of these tactics, however, only serve to create a mirage of security, one that is parochial, unsustainable and can fail at any time (As Blechman pointed out, during the post-Cold War period US efforts to coerce other states failed as often as they succeeded).

Take the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula as an example. Washington has always acted as the major player on the issue, and with its perilous moves, the US has sometimes grabbed the limelight away from even the ROK and DPRK themselves. In 2016, Washington announced that it would deploy THAAD, an anti-ballistic missile defense system, in South Korea, against vehement protests from countries within the region and from South Koreans. This omnipotent but unnecessary defense system was combined with a bombardment of sanctions and unrelenting joint military exercises. This shows that Washington has utilized every coercive device at its disposal despite the crisis having become even more convoluted and insoluble in recent years.

Washington's military presence in the region has not only given rise to on-and-off tensions on the Korean Peninsula, but the US army itself has also been muddling the otherwise pacific and stable state of the region. Its spy planes have continued hovering and buzzing over sensitive waters, its ships and vessels have continued cruising in an often provocative manner, and one of its nuclear submarines was met with a collision in the South China Sea.

Setting NATO as an exemplar, Washington is bent on constructing a hostile and turbulent climate, where any sense of security and stability is exclusive to only those nations living under its military umbrella. The ongoing Ukraine conflict has offered the world a wake-up call that NATO's eastern expansion and growing coercion is no solution for peace, on the contrary, it was only the prelude to a shattered peace and a disrupted "strategic balance" in Europe. This scenario is exactly what the nations in Asia should act to prevent. For the Asia-Pacific region, an "Asian NATO," even in its embryonic form, will be destined to heighten military risks, create more turmoil, and risk draging the entire region into Washington's insatiable gambit for geopolitical clout and hegemony.

Australian doublespeak Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

A lose-lose trap

For years, China's peaceful rise and its dynamic trade ties with countries in Asia and beyond have become a thorn in Washington's side. Under the disguise of its "overarching" Indo-Pacific strategy, the US is utilizing military alliances to kidnap economic ties in the region, creating a lose-lose trap that no nation, except the US, wants to see.

The souring China-Australia relationship is the perfect case study of how Washington's bloc politics can take a toll on bilateral relationsand economic ties in particularin the region of Asia and beyond.

China stands as Australia's largest trading partner, having imported approximately USD 164.8 billion worth of Australian goods last year, according to statistics released by the General Administration of Customs of China. By comparison, the US imported only around USD 12.5 billion worth of goods from Australia in 2021.

With Australia's trade axis leaning clearly towards one direction, Aussie leaders are still somehow convinced of the merits in shifting their foreign policies in another direction. Since the second half of 2020, Australia has joined Washington's call to smear China with baseless accusations, interfere in China's domestic affairs, and hype up the so-called "China threat," all against growing domestic concerns raised in Australia's frenzied anti-China rhetoric, stoked on by the US. This may fray the China-Australia relationship, one that Scott Morrison, Australian prime minister, has acknowledged as "valuable."

A possible Asian NATO may reflect part of Washington's efforts to resuscitate its "Pivot to Asia" strategy, but Asian nations' common interests have never revolved around the US: they remain deeply intertwined and deeply rooted in Asia.

Vibrant regional intergovernmental organizations in Asia like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), together with promising free trade agreements, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which consists of the 10 members in ASEAN, plus China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, can serve as a strong indication that peace and development are still being prioritized and cherished and that multilateralism and cooperation can still prevail over bloc politics and confrontation.

(Cartoon by Ma Hongliang)

The world is not a land divided by different ideological lines or carved by different camps, awaiting Washington and the US military's alliances to conquer or deter enemies. In times of conflict and turmoil, we should all do more to cherish peace, a peace that is consolidated through common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security rather than sustained by pressure politics or Cold War-like power equilibriums. An "Asian NATO," by its nature, goes against the peace as we know it and will inevitably impair the stability and prosperity of the region. If anything, it is beneficialonly for its architect, the US itself.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)
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This CoolSocial report was updated on 2022-04-16, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
Deaths resulting from deadly occupational disease silicosis are known to have been first highlighted at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) level way back in 2008, when members of the health rights group Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) from Madhya Pradesh raised the issue at an NHRC review meeting in Delhi. It took almost four years for NHRC to recognise the deadly nature of the disease and how it was being ignored by state governments.

Tribals from Jhabua and Alirajpur districts of Madhya Pradesh were migrating to Gujarat to work in quartz crushing units in Godhra, where they would get exposed to fine silica dust to contract silicosis and die at an early age. NHRC took it seriously. Another three years later, in 2011 NHRC came up with a report Recommendations on Preventive, Remedial, Rehabilitative and Compensation Aspects of Silicosis. This was done in consultation with state governments. NHRC suggested to carry out a survey in different states on the status of silicosis and file report.

In the NHRC report recommended that the cost of treatment the patients should be borne by the employer, and the administration should ensure that. It also recommended that victims may be offered alternative jobs, NGOs should be involved in the monitoring of implementation of the programmes related with rehabilitation of silicosis victims, and counselling should be offered by state governments.

NHRC presented a special report to Parliament in 2012 in which it noted, "Based on the information gathered, it was a revelation that there are umpteen number of cases in the country, and that, too, of poor Iabourers working in the unorganized sector, who have been worst affected by silicosis. A number of them Iost their Iives following their protracted illness.

However, the path for having a proper silicosis policy continued to be bumpy policy. While NHRC recommended payment of Rs 3 lakh compensation to the victims' families in a complaint filed by Juwansing from Madhya Pradesh, in a complaint filed by a silicosis victim in Rajasthan, it only recommended to pay compensation without naming the amount.

In 2019 the Rajasthan government came up with a silicosis policy. Under this policy silicosis diagnosis is to be done in each district and those who have been diagnosed are paid a stipulated amount as well as monthly pension. Death compensation was also announced. Later, the Haryana government also declared a silicosis policy.

Acting on a complaint (No 351/6/3/2010), NHRC asked all state governments to come up with a proper rehabilitation policy on the lines of Haryana and Rajasthan for silicosis victims. Ironically, despite calling itself a model state, Gujarat is one state which has not come up with any such policy. This state of affairs continues despite the fact that the People's Training and Research Centre (PTRC), Vadodara, which had been raising silicosis victims' plight for several decades, has insisted upon the state officials to come up with a viable policy.

In lieu of a policy, all we have is a state government resolution passed in 2015 to pay just Rs 1 lakh to the silicosis victim's family. Initially it was available only to the unorganized sector agate workers of Khambhat, which was later extended to any worker anywhere in Gujarat. The victims who were named in PTRC complaints to NHRC were paid Rs 4 lakh -- on the basis of recommendation by NHRC.

At present we have two systems in Gujarat: those who apply for the assistance under the state resolution are paid Rs 1 lakh, and those who are named in NHRC complaint are paid the amount as recommended by NHRC (Rs 4 lakh). This is highly discriminatory policy. As per the information given in the official Gujarat government website, an assistance to 12 beneficiaries was paid in 2019-20, to five others in 2020-21 and another 10 in 2021-22.

The department has set up a monitoring committee of 6 members for reviewing implementation of the policy. The members are drawn from the Pollution Control Board, Labour Commissioner, Director of Factories and two NGO representatives, apart from the Department of Health and Family Welfare. Now, who 2 NGOs will be is not spoken.

It is the usual experience that the NGOs which are established and operated by a leader of ruling party is given place in such committees but the NGOs working on the subject but critical of the government do not find any place in such committees.

Responsibility of all the functions pertaining to implementation of welfare measures and execution of the policy is assigned to the Labour Department and not the Social Welfare Department. Records will be maintained by the Directorate of Factories.

It has come to our notice that workers from Bangladesh illegally migrate to India. Many of them find work in quarries in West Bengal where they get exposed to silica and get silicosis. Once sick, they return to their native where they get diagnosed and later die in penury. Will they be able to claim benefits, I wonder.

The policy provides for conducting preliminary investigation by the Medical Officer of the Directorate of Factories and not any expert from Health department. Workers from manufacturing, construction or service sector may get exposed to silica where Factory Act is not applicable.

Why then the responsibility of investigation should fall on the shoulders of only a Medical Officer of the Directorate of Factories? How many posts of Medical Officers have been sanctioned and how many of them are vacant in the Directorate of Factories? It is a common experience that Directorate of Factories do not have adequate numbers of medical officers appointed.

The policy further provides that the medical officer shall prepare report with recommendations to place before the Diagnosis Board! Why a worker cannot walk oneself to get screened before the Board? It is good to note that the expenditure for investigation etc. shall be taken care of by the Board.

---

Director, Peoples Training and Research Centre, Vadodara

Meanwhile, even as Gujarat refuses to act the Health and Family Welfare department, Government of West Bengal, has declared a comprehensive policy for relief, rehabilitation and treatment of silicosis victims on February 25, 2022 is a welcome step by the State government to give justice to the silicosis victims who were not paid an attention so far.The policy offers Rs 2 lakh to the silicosis victim on diagnosis of the disease and Rs 2 lakh more on the death of the identified silicosis patient. Moreover, it also offers up to Rs 4,000 per month, depending up on the category A, B or C as per the International Labour Organization (ILO) classification to the patient so that one can look after the treatment expenses as well as cover livelihood expenses. Rs 2,000 is offered for performing last rites of the silicosis patients.After the patient dies family pension of Rs 3,500 will be available to the widow till her life. It also offers Rs 4,000 to Rs 10,000 for the education of the children of the silicosis patients and up to Rs 25,000 for the education and skill development up to two unmarried daughters. It also offers up to Rs 25,000 assistance for marriage of daughter till two daughters.There is no bar for claiming compensation under the Employees State Insurance (ESI) Act or the Employees Compensation Act. The good part is, non-worker, if diagnosed with silicosis is also eligible to claim the benefit under this policy.For diagnosis of silicosis it depends up on X-ray only may be termed as practical but not very progressive. More and more medical professionals depend up on CT scan. Specifically for small opacities, X-ray is not very useful. We do not have any data on Indian condition on proportion of small opacities among newly diagnosed cases of silicosis.In Indian public health care system availability of good quality of X-ray machines, trained X-ray technicians and radiologist cannot be assured; talking of CT scan would be unachievable goal.Under the policy, the concerned district magistrate shall constitute a Silicosis Diagnosis Board in each affected district. However, it is not clear who will decide on affected district and what will be the criterion to declare a district to be silicosis affected.Ideally, one known case of silicosis should be sufficient to declare the district to be silicosis affected. The Board will consist of one chest specialist or representative of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), one radiologist representative of CMOH, one medical officer of the Directorate of Factories and one concerned joint labour commissioner. Presence of joint commissioner in medical board will complicate matters. In purely medical matters, a non-medico has no role to play.Similarly, the diagnosis board also does not require occupational health physician or medical graduate with Associate Fellow of Industrial Health (AFIH) or expertise and experience in diagnosis of occupational diseases Or Chest and TB experts.In India we have not developed B reader expertise for radiologists to read pneumoconiosis X-rays. Nowhere the policy talks of comparing the X-rays with the standard ILO X-ray plates, is again a welcome move. As I have understood these standard X-ray plates are useful for epidemiological studies and not useful for diagnosis of individual patient.Preliminary investigation into suspected cases will be done by the Directorate of Factories. They will also develop and impart training course for health workers. Why ministry of health is not assigned this responsibility is a question.The West Bengal Pollution Control Board will plan programme for control of environmental pollution and not workplace environment. Matter of concern though is, there is no mention of dust levels required to be maintained at workplace to prevent silicosis and monitoring the levels at periodic interval. After Bhopal the ILO helped the State Labour departments set it up.The State government has created a corpus find of Rs 10 crore for this scheme. This fund will be utilized for workers who are certified having silicosis by the Silicosis Diagnosis Board. Interestingly this find will be used for Construction workers also for whom there is a separate fund available.The Construction Workers Welfare Board has a scheme to compensate Silicosis patients from that fund. The policy makes it clear that the The Construction Workers Welfare Board do not need to contribute to this Silicosis prevention and control fund but the silicosis affected construction workers shall also avail the benefits provided in this policy. There is no bar on double benefits.Benefits will be available to any worker working in the factories, establishment, construction site and certified by the Board. It means that the workers may be domicile of W. Bengal or not shall be able to claim the benefits.
A wise Guru should encourage critical thinking instead of censoring opposing views. Time to challenge the Guru who has turned into a blind Goliath



The blind, clumsy and aging Goliath has not lost the hunger for power. A proposed pandemic treaty will give immense arbitrary powers to WHO which can declare a "pandemic" on whim and fancy, endangering the autonomy of world governments.

Regional factors drive any pandemic beyond human interventions. One size fit all treaty defies all epidemiological principles. Management of pandemics should be done by local experts, the Davids, who have insight of the epidemiological nuances of the region. Blanket treaties is not fair to the WHO or to countries facing pandemics differently in different regions.

A wise Guru should encourage debate and critical thinking instead of censoring opposing views. Time to come of age and challenge the Guru who has turned into a blind Goliath! Towards this end a group of epidemiologists, data scientists, doctors with support of activists, lawyers and civil society has launched the Universal Health Organization (UHO). The aim of this organization is to engage the WHO and other modern Goliaths to collaborate and not confront or censor, not to knock down the giant but knock down unscientific messages and practices which can harm humanity.

Like David this diminutive organization will challenge the blind Goliaths to scientific debates in place of physical combat, whenever they stray from the path of science and integrity to promote, "transparency, empowerment and accountability." The UHO website is active and accessible

__

*Post Doctoral in Epidemiology, presently Professor at Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune; formerly field epidemiologist for 20 years in the Indian Armed Forces and headed the Mobile Epidemic Investigation Team at the Armed Forces Medical College from 2000 to 2004 This fundamental fact is being downplayed by the modern Goliaths like the WHO and the CDC in the blind unholy haste to push vaccines to all whether immune or not, including, horror of horrors, children with immunity  innate as well as naturally acquired. A Nelson's eye is being turned to population level surges even after high vaccination coverage and boosters in countries like Israel, Singapore, South Korea and others.The blind, clumsy and aging Goliath has not lost the hunger for power. A proposed pandemic treaty will give immense arbitrary powers to WHO which can declare a "pandemic" on whim and fancy, endangering the autonomy of world governments.Regional factors drive any pandemic beyond human interventions. One size fit all treaty defies all epidemiological principles. Management of pandemics should be done by local experts, the Davids, who have insight of the epidemiological nuances of the region. Blanket treaties is not fair to the WHO or to countries facing pandemics differently in different regions.A wise Guru should encourage debate and critical thinking instead of censoring opposing views. Time to come of age and challenge the Guru who has turned into a blind Goliath! Towards this end a group of epidemiologists, data scientists, doctors with support of activists, lawyers and civil society has launched the Universal Health Organization (UHO). The aim of this organization is to engage the WHO and other modern Goliaths to collaborate and not confront or censor, not to knock down the giant but knock down unscientific messages and practices which can harm humanity.Like David this diminutive organization will challenge the blind Goliaths to scientific debates in place of physical combat, whenever they stray from the path of science and integrity to promote, "transparency, empowerment and accountability." The UHO website is active and accessible here __

Indians are not expected to question their Guru. Since student days medical and para-medicals revere the World Health Organization (WHO) as the ultimate Guru concerning health issues. In Western universities, students are expected to challenge their Gurus and engage their teachers in debate. In Asian traditions, the teacher is Guru, the all knowing God. Challenging the Guru is blasphemy.This attitude is an extension of our patriarchal and authoritarian societies. The head of the family is always right and all are expected to conform. Outside the cozy comfort of the family people seek an authority figure or Guru to make important decisions them. Most often this emotional vacuum is filled by the Government, the "Sarkar." or institutions like the WHO in matters of health.While Indians enjoy a democracy and in principle have individual rights and autonomy, their surrender to a Guru, be it the government or the WHO, unconditionally, can have serious consequences if these institutions turn into Goliaths. Since my college days, I have retained a bit of irreverence essential for critical thinking, which makes me challenge the ultimate health Guru.But why challenge, one may ask? Wasn't Goliath all powerful? Shouldn't being on his side protect us from all adversities? Reinterpretation of the tale of Goliath brings out many chinks in his armour. An aging Guru, whom we worship but never challenge, can be a handicap.In the Biblical legend, Goliath is gigantic with full armour, epitomizing strength backed by unlimited wealth. David, on the other hand is a small lowly shepherd boy carrying a stick and a sling who dared to take on the challenge of fighting the mighty Goliath. In the ensuing contest to the amazement of all, David with his nimbleness, flexibility and adaptability brings down the clumsy, groping, Goliath by a sharp stone thrown from his sling.It is common belief that Goliath, with his size and heavy armour, had the advantage in this unequal combat and David's victory over Goliath was a fluke against all odds. Counterview to this is offered by Malcolm Gladwell based on published research. Scientific and theological investigations have unearthed many fascinating facts around the clash between David and Goliath.A peer reviewed paper by Dierdee Donnelly and Patrick Morrison, titled, "Hereditary Gigantism" -- the Biblical Goliath and his brothers, published in Ulster Medical Journal in 2014, concludes that Goliath suffered from acromegaly caused by a tumour of the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. This condition increases the secretion of the growth hormone which leads to gigantism.The tumour also presses on the optic nerve which carries visual images from the eyes to the brain and can lead to severe nearsightedness. Goliath is blind is evident in the biblical story as he has to be led by hand to the contest. The giant Goliath is also bogged down by his cumbersome armour rendering his movements clumsy and slow. David while far diminutive in size has the advantage of speed and flexibility. Using this to his advantage he knocked down Goliath with an accurate throw from his sling.Lessons from this legend are applicable to the current state of the WHO and their health strategists. Remarkable advances in medical technology have transformed medicine to "gigantic" or "acromegalous" heights like a modern Goliath. The accompanying costs and challenges have made the diminutive Davids in independent private practice give way to big corporate hospitals transforming medicine from a calling to big business. The transformed WHO in its new avatar as a blind Goliath is led by the hand by the poster boys of pharmaceutical industry!The sheer size and gigantic visibility of the WHO-Pharma coalition standing tall as a present day Goliath has stirred unrealistic expectations among populations particularly the elite and middle classes that every ill has a pill and every infection has a jab, the more the better. No doubt medical advances have led to remarkable improvements in health of people. But like in the case of the legendary Goliath the vision and flexibility have diminished.The pandemic has exposed the chinks in the armour of this Goliath. Faced with a nimble, virus it groped and lunged clumsily to vanquish the enemy, tiny both in size and impact. The awkward myopic movements of this giant trampled upon lives and livelihoods across the globe, destroying businesses and fracturing society trying to check an infection which has a survival rate of 99.9%.The giant failed to adapt itself to accumulating evidence. It kept on persisting with the blanket restrictive measures for all when data clearly indicated that the novel virus was lethal mostly in the elderly with comorbidities.The blind Goliaths lost their focus. Instead of focused protection of the non-immune, mass vaccination campaigns are being rolled out even in populations where over 80% have acquired natural immunity. The superiority of naturally acquired immunity (13 to 27 times more robust than vaccine induced immunity) was known since ages and confirmed in the pandemic as well.
As Bill Mahers new HBO special drops today, heres a friendly reminder that the guy has been a total douchecanoe for decades now. Lets review an incomplete history of Maher being a miserable duckbag.

Hire me? Ill have you fired!

Politically Incorrect was one of Comedy Centrals first stabs at original programming, a show that the networks Art Bell personally championed. (Bell was one of the guys who hired him.) The networks first big ad campaign was for the show, plastering New York City busses with politically incorrect thought bubbles above unsuspecting riders. The campaign got buzz and increased viewership.

Mahers reaction to Bells promotion? What the f*** were you thinking with those bus ads? If you think this is good advertising, then you obviously dont know what the f*** youre doing. And if you f*** up, I think you should be fired. Doesnt that sound fair? Thats right, Art, Im working on getting you fired. And I wont be sorry to see you go.

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment

Maher did go to Bells bosses, who refused to can him. The campaign ended up winning an Effie Award, given to campaigns that did the most effective job. The Effies host who had to hand over the award? Bill Maher.
The new Fantastic Beasts move comes out this weekend, and while it might not be any good, it's making us look back at the whole wizarding series. Harry Potter had good parts, and parts that made no sense, plenty of celeb fans, and of course plenty of other fans who were nuts.

We of course can't forget about creator J.K. Rowling, even if many people want to. And there are plenty of other wizarding books to look to, and movies, as well as real wizards from history, and real magic wands ... sort of.

Here's a look back at the facts we learned this week. The links all lead to full articles with much more info, so click every one that interests you, because we inserted one piece of our soul into each.

1. J.K. Rowling gave her dad a Harry Potter first edition, and he promptly sold it.

This was highly irresponsible of him, both from both a parental angle and a financial one, as her books rose in value a lot in the years that followed.

2. The Marauders' Map identifying everyone in Hogwarts has some strange implications.

The Weasley twins knew someone named Peter was sleeping with Ron every night but decided never to tease him about it, which seems a bit out of character.

3. The Salem Witch Trials also targeted wizards.
Another reason to favor a guaranteed bond is that these often have less effective restructuring mechanisms than are found in the sovereigns own bonds. Oddly, then, a guaranteed bond that was viewed as riskier at issuance can end up being a safer bet. Greeces 2012 restructuring imposed haircuts of over 50% on pure sovereign bonds but most holders of guaranteed bonds got paid in full. There is even some evidence suggesting that investors had figured this out towards the end game in Greece and favored guaranteed bonds.

Sovereign guaranteed bonds often carry a higher coupon than a bond issued by the sovereign, perhaps because the sovereign is viewed as the safest credit. But this logic seems upside down. Unlike a pure sovereign bond, a guaranteed corporate bond is backed both by the sovereigns credit and by a separate pool of assets (e.g., airplanes). Even if the company is literally worthless, there is still the full sovereign guarantee. Obviously there will be other factors that affect price, such as liquidity (the market for pure sovereign bonds may be much larger). But in crisis, when the bonds are sure to be restructured, there seems every reason to favor the guaranteed bond.

Sri Lankan airlines used to be profitable. From 1998-2008, it was partially owned and run by Emirates. One of us recalls it being a special treat to fly on. But the government decided in 2008 to run the airline itself and, since then, it has performed terribly . There have been corruption scandals, accusations that Emirates was pushed out after the airline refused to bump paying passengers to make room for the royal family, and reports that local banks have been strong-armed into lending and will be in trouble if the airline collapses. Perhaps its no surprise that it needed a government guarantee to borrow money.

After months of waffling, Sri Lankas head-in-sand government has finally acknowledged that it cannot pay its debts. The cavalry (IMF) has been called in and we guess that hordes of potential restructuring advisers are flying to Colombo to offer their services. Assuming they have done their homework, their proposals surely will consider both the governments own debt and a Sri Lankan airline bond that the government has guaranteed.

Modification Provisions

Most bonds issued after 2014 have modification provisions that allow a restructuring vote to be aggregated across multiple series of bonds. Aggregation allows for a more efficient restructuring (one vote for multiple bonds, as opposed to separate votes for each bond series) and is less vulnerable to holdouts (by making it very hard to obtain a blocking stake). As weve written recently, at least some versions of the aggregated modification clauseincluding, as best we can tell, the ones used by Sri Lankagive an extraordinary amount of leverage to the issuer, assuming it is willing to use it. That leverage is absent in the Sri Lankan airline bond.

Although it was issued in 2019, five years after aggregation provisions became standard in sovereign bonds , the Sri Lankan airline bond does not contain this aggregation feature. Instead, it has what appears like an ancient restructuring provision of the type standard in older bonds governed by English law before 2004. These provisions were jettisoned from sovereign bonds starting around 2003-04, after a global consensus that international sovereign bonds needed a newer set of restructuring provisions that would protect against the risk of holdout creditors (for some histories, see here, here and here). The Sri Lankan airline bond doesnt follow this practice. It has a clunky old pre-2004 restructuring provision that favors holdout creditors. For some reason, it is also issued under English law, while the sovereigns own international bonds are governed by NY law.

Perhaps all of this is the product of careful drafting. Maybe investors in the airline bond were being smart and protecting themselves against the future possibility of an aggressive restructuring? Perhaps they cleverly wanted to ensure that their little bond (only $175 million) could not easily be swept into the bigger sovereign restructuring. Maybe, but we are skeptical that there was this degree of cleverness going on. The clever drafter story is hard to square with the fact that some other provisions of the airline bond seem quite restructuring friendly and, to be frank, goofy.

For example, sovereign bonds apply the highest voting threshold to modifications that will change payment and other important terms, often called reserved matters. In a modern bond, the reserved matter list is quite long, which helps prevent the issuer from doing sneaky things to holdouts with the consent of only a majority of bondholders. For instance, the issuer might persuade investors who favor a restructuring to accept new bonds, in the process voting to change the governing law of the non cooperating bonds (from foreign to local law). In a modern bond, the reserved matter list is broad enough to constrain such changes. But not in the Sri Lankan airline bond. (This is the Exit Consent strategy that is arguably disfavored under English law, but we wont delve into that here).

Negative Pledge

Sometimes, when a country is in as deep of a crisis as Sri Lanka is, it needs to do emergency borrowing to buy time with creditors who are threatening to accelerate and sue (things always get much more complicated once creditors have gotten legal judgements and are chasing assets). Sri Lanka is in deep financial trouble, with a big payment coming due in the next couple of months. A country in this position might want emergency funding, potentially from a bilateral lender (India? China?). But that typically requires the ability to pledge assets to attract a loan on favorable terms.

In a standard sovereign bond, the issuer has limited room to pledge assets. The Negative Pledge clause in almost every international sovereign bond forbids the issuer from securing new lenders unless it also grants security to existing bondholders. In other words, under the standard clause, the issuer cant give new lenders priority.

But Sri Lankas sovereign bonds seem to allow for the issuance of new, secured debt. There are at least two unusual provisions that arguably do this. First, in the part of the bond that lists exceptions to the Limitation on Liens (i.e., negative pledge) provision, there is a weird statement to the effect that Sri Lanka believes that its Central Bank is not bound by this restriction and may pledge International Monetary Assets.

Perhaps this is simply stating the obvious. The Limitation on Liens provision defines what the Issuer must do, and the Issuer means the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The Central Bank is a legally separate entity. However, the Central Bank is close enough to the state that we can imagine a bondholder arguing that it also must honor the Limitation on Liens provision. If that argument is accepted, a statement that the issuer believes to the contrary might not be enough to carve out an exception. Still, the statement at least lets Sri Lanka argue that it can pledge international monetary assets through its Central Bank.

Moreover, in a separate provision (Waiver of Certain Covenants), Sri Lankas sovereign bonds let bondholders holding only a majority in principal amount of the bonds waive compliance with the Limitation on Liens provision. Thats a super low voting threshold. This gives the government an additional path to pledging assets, even if the Limitation on Liens provision would not otherwise allow it.

However, things get weirder still. Although Sri Lankas bonds arguably allow the Central Bank to pledge international monetary reserves as security for new lending, the bonds also say that it is an event of default if the Central Bank does not exercise full ownership, power and control of those assets. And at least some forms of a collateral pledge might trigger this provision. Why create this seemingly contradictory set of provisions? (Remember the goofy versus sneaky drafting hypotheses).

Anyway, back to the airline bond. Strangely, it has virtually none of these provisions. We cant even find a Negative Pledge clause in the airline bonds Offering Circular. Perhaps it is in the fuller trust document, although the Negative Pledge is an important source of legal protections, so it would be odd not to describe it in the Offering Circular. However, the airline bond does include an Event of Default, akin to the one in Sri Lankas sovereign bonds, triggered if the Central Bank fails does not have full ownership, power and control over international monetary assets. So, although the airline bond doesnt seem to bar the issuance of secured debt (at least if we can trust the Offering Circular), it is at least possible that an asset pledge by the Central Bank might send the airline into default. Again, so weird.

All in all, the airline bondholders should have the upper hand in a restructuring. If nothing else, the older modification provision should make it easy for smart bondholders to secure the vote needed to reject a restructuring proposal. True, the issuer has other tools, but the relatively small size of the airline bond may allow investors to block even a restructuring method that requires only a majority vote. However, as best we can tell, the airline bond and the most comparable pure sovereign bond are trading at about the same price (thanks to our friend Ugo Panizza here). Maybe there are other important contract terms that we havent detected? Or maybe bondholders havent learned the lessons of Greece 2012?
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Easing fears after a mass shooting earlier this week on a subway car in Brooklyn, N.Y., Gov. Ned Lamont said Connecticut is as ready as we can be should something similar unfold on public transit in the state.

Speaking at a news conference in Guilford on Wednesday morning, Lamont, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and state Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti assuaged concerns over the states preparedness, pointing in particular to the network of cameras on the states train cars and station platforms.

With all the electronics there, all the monitoring, the cameras, you will be caught, and you will pay a price. Thats for sure, Lamont said of Connecticuts public transportation systems.

The comments were in response to questions regarding the safety of Connecticuts public transportation, particularly the Metro-North trains that go into New York.

On Tuesday, a shooter set off a smoke bomb and opened fire on a crowded N subway train around 8:30 a.m. near a stop in Sunset Park, according to the Associated Press. Ten people were shot, and at least another 20 were injured in the mayhem or by smoke inhalation in the rush-hour attack. Four remained hospitalized Thursday, and all the victims were expected to recover.

But residents across the region were left in fear of their safety, especially on public transportation systems.

Frank James, 62, was arrested in Manhattan on Wednesday after calling a police tip line to share his location, according to the AP. He was held without bail on a federal charge of terrorist attacks or other violence against a mass transportation system.

Giulietti assured the public, without getting into specifics, that Connecticuts public transit is closely monitored. The DOT has a direct relationship with the state police, should any criminal activity occur, he said.

When the incident happened in New York, for the first time I didnt get my first call from transportation. It came in from the state police because the governor has us tied into the state police network who are the responders within the state to help support all of our safety measures, Giulietti said.

I put in that every one of our trains had to have cameras throughout the cars so that way there, we knew who was riding on the trains, he said.

Giulietti confirmed that every train car in the states system is equipped with multiple cameras, but he declined to go into detail on the cameras locations and frequency for safety purposes.

I dont want to talk about safety measures that are in there or where cameras are or anything else because a lot of that has to tie into you trusting that we are doing the right things in terms of security, he said.

While there are multiple cameras stationed throughout train cars and station platforms, the state extracts the footage only on an as-needed basis, Giulietti said.

Technological advancements continually take place, on the governors urging, as new advancements come along and costs decrease, Giulietti said.

The good thing is that technology gets cheaper every single year, and the other good thing is Ive got a governor whos really into technology, so he challenges us all the time with this, he said.

On a national level, discussions of whether to add safety measures found in airports to the rail lines comes up occasionally, Blumenthal said.

It is a national problem. We get intelligence reports about this stuff and our intelligence agencies, the FBI and all of our commerce departments, the TSA, feel our train stations are just more vulnerable, Blumenthal said.

Weve invested a lot of effort, money, time into airports, which now have proved a lot safer, he said. But rail stations have proved more vulnerable, not in Connecticut more than any other place in the country, but from time to time there are proposals of the same kind of detectors that we have in airports, the same kind of security investments.

Alongside the discussion of increased safety and screenings at train stations, Blumenthal said the issue comes back to gun control and the number of ghost guns popping up nationwide.

abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  An appellate court has denied a Tennessee death row inmate's request to reopen his case after unknown DNA was found.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled late Thursday that Oscar Smith, 71, "has not presented new scientific evidence establishing that he is actually innocent of the murders of the victims, The Tennessean reported.

Smith's attorney, Amy Harwell, earlier Thursday sought a stay of execution from the Tennessee Supreme Court so the lower court could consider the request. The motion for a state of execution was still pending Friday afternoon.

Smith is scheduled to receive a lethal injection April 21. He was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett, 13 and 16, at their Nashville home on Oct. 1, 1989. Smith has maintained that he is innocent.

Earlier this month, Smith asked the Davidson County Criminal Court to reopen his case after a new type of DNA analysis found the DNA of an unknown person on one of the murder weapons. The judge denied that request as well as a second request to reconsider, writing that the evidence of Smiths guilt was extensive. Smith appealed.

Smith's attorneys argued in Thursday's motion that the Criminal Court judge incorrectly applied the law when it denied Smiths request to reopen his case.

Smith previously sought to prove that fingerprint evidence used against him was unreliable. In Thursdays motion, Smiths attorneys argued the combination of a fingerprint and DNA from an unknown person on one of the murder weapons should be considered together as strong proof of his innocence.

In Thursday's opinion, Judge Timothy Easter detailed the evidence against Smith, including prior threats and a life insurance policy taken out by Smith for the three victims.

Thus, the court concludes there is not a reasonable probability that the recently discovered DNA evidence would have prevented Petitioners prosecution or conviction, Easter wrote.
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About 1,524 people in Connecticut died from drug overdoses in 2021, according to the latest data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

This is more than the population of the towns of Canaan, Colebrook, Union or Warren. Its 150 more fatal overdoses than in 2020.

This increase can be attributed to the prolonged isolation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the rise in the use of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, according to Art Mongillo, a spokesperson for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes fentanyl as a synthetic opioid, 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. While fentanyl is prescribed for pain, the CDC said most cases of fentanyl-related overdoses are linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl, sold through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effect.

It is often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive, and more dangerous, the CDC added.

Fentanyl played a factor in 86 percent of Connecticuts overdose deaths last year, putting the states total higher than the national average and prompting officials to stress the need to continue to monitor the drugs prevalence on the illicit market.

Fentanyl continues to kill

In an April 6 letter to law enforcement agencies, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram addressed a nationwide increase in fentanyl-related mass overdose incidents so far this year, citing examples in Florida, Texas and Colorado in which people thought they were ingesting cocaine. Milgram said at least seven confirmed incidents have been reported across the nation, leading to 59 overdoses and 29 deaths in the last two months.

Christopher Boyle, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health, said while multiple overdoses do occur in Connecticut  where two or more people are taking drugs together and overdose  the state has not seen anything on a large-scale like what was described in the DEA letter.

Milgram called fentanyl highly addictive, adding that it is found in every state in the nation. She said drug traffickers mix fentanyl with other drugs, in powder and pill form, to drive up addiction and attract repeat customers. Pills that may look like Adderall, Xanax or oxycodone could be pressed to resemble the prescriptions, but really contain other chemicals like fentanyl or methamphetamine.

As of December 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized 20.4 million fake pills that were often laced with fentanyl. Of the pills that contained fentanyl, 42 percent contained a potentially lethal dose.

Only a very small amount of fentanyl is considered potentially deadly  about 2 milligrams, or enough to fit on the tip of a pencil.

DPH is trying to get the message across that when illicit drugs are obtained from the street, it is very likely that those drugs contain fentanyl, Boyle said. We have evidence that drugs such as cocaine and counterfeit pills such as Vicodin or Percocet also have fentanyl in their contents, among other contaminants.

Boyle said individuals ingesting illicitly obtained drugs should use harm reduction methods and assume that fentanyl is in their drugs.

Milgram said many victims in the mass overdoses incidents thought they were ingesting cocaine.

Connecticut is no different. The OCME data showed that 561 deaths were tied to both cocaine and fentanyl last year, up from 447 in 2020.

Fentanyl has quickly become the leading cause of fatal overdoses in Connecticut in the past decade. In 2012, fentanyl was involved in about 4 percent of that years 357 overdose deaths. By 2015, overdose deaths rose to 728, fentanyl being involved in about a quarter of them. In the next year, fentanyl was involved in more than half of the years 917 overdose deaths.

Rising overdose rates

Data from the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics, released in November 2021, indicates there were about 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States between April 2020 and April 2021.

That number was a 28.5 percent increase from the 78,056 deaths during the same 12-month period a year prior, the data showed.

Statewide, overdoses killed 1,038 people in 2017, 1,017 in 2018, 1,200 in 2019, 1,374 in 2020 and 1,524 in 2021.

Fentanyl is the driving force and is overwhelmingly responsible for these increases, said Dr. James Gill, the states chief medical examiner, on Wednesday. Fentanyl is so potent that it is very difficult to dose it accurately. The people who sell drugs on the street are not chemists or pharmacists.

Preliminary data from DPH shows there have already been 166 overdose deaths in 2022  144 of which involved fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, accounting for about 87 percent.

While the overall number of overdose deaths have risen, Mongillo noted that the percent increase year over year in Connecticut isnt as big as it used to be. From 2019 to 2020, there was a 14.5 percent jump, while the jump from 2020 to 2021 was 11 percent.

Overdose events with more than one victim are not entirely uncommon in Connecticut. Boyle cited an incident at a Hartford magnet school earlier this year that led to the death of one student and a similar incident in New Haven at the correctional facility.

The Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to a request for additional information regarding the overdose incident at a New Haven facility.

While the state hasnt seen any mass overdose incidents recently, that wasnt the case a few summers back.

One day in August 2018, the New Haven Green turned into a makeshift triage center for scores of individuals overdosing on a batch of synthetic marijuana laced with fentanyl, officials said. At least 71 people overdosed in the Elm City during that mass overdose incident, with first responders scrambling to keep up with everyone falling ill with symptoms.

More recently, Sport and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford was closed for several days for decontamination in January after a seventh-grader fatally overdosed on a substance that contained fentanyl.

Authorities said the 13-year-old boy died after he was rushed to the hospital in grave condition following his overdose on the drug inside the school during gym class. Two other seventh-grade students were also hospitalized after police said they came into contact with the substance. Those two students recovered.

Keeping people alive

One expert said the 13-year-old boys death highlighted the importance of making naloxone available at schools.

Hartford school officials confirmed after the boys overdose that the district did not have the drug supplied or staff trained in its use prior to the incident. Officials said the district would explore the possibility of getting it in schools.

Naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan, is the opioid overdose-reversal drug used by first responders for years. It is administered in cases of suspected opioid overdoses and comes in an easy-to-use nasal spray.

The state Department of Education surveyed 178 school districts in February and found that 107 of them  or roughly 60 percent  had the medication on hand in at least one school within those districts. Seventy-one districts said naloxone was not available in any schools.

To combat the rising number of overdoses, DMHAS has prioritized the distribution and access of naloxone.

Naloxone can be prescribed by a primary care provider, family doctor, any doctor who is able to prescribe an opioid, and certain pharmacists. The drug can also be provided through certain organizations and harm reduction and needle exchange programs.

These needle exchange programs provide sterile needles and syringes as a way to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. They also facilitate the safe disposal of used syringes and connect people to services and programs such as substance use disorder treatment programs. Needle exchange programs additionally provide fentanyl test strips, which use a minuscule amount of the drug to check if it has fentanyl.

Medication assisted treatment has provided a more long-term solution. This treatment uses medications such as methadone, Suboxone and Vivitrol to reduce cravings and manage pain and withdrawal symptoms. The treatment also includes counseling and behavioral therapies to help combat opioid use disorder.

This treatment approach has been shown to improve survival, increase retention in treatment, decrease illicit opiate use and other criminal activity among people with substance use disorders, increase patients ability to gain and maintain employment, and improve birth outcomes among women who have substance use disorders and are pregnant, Mongillo said.

As of Monday, there were 11 beds available at medically monitored withdrawal management facilities, according to the DMHAS Addiction Services Availability website.

Mongillo said DMHAS is continuing to expand its harm reduction efforts, which are important in directly lowering the number of overdose deaths. This includes media campaigns and information that address issues related to stigma and asking for help.

Whatever we can do to create low-barrier treatment opportunities in the community is also an important strategy, he said.

Signs of a possible overdose include loss of consciousness, slowed breathing and narrow pupils.

Call 911 if you suspect an individual is suffering from an overdose.

To find treatment or other resources, call DMHAS access line at 1-800-563-4086. Help is available 24/7.
CANTERBURY  A 17-year-old student from Plainfield High School was pronounced dead after the vehicle he was driving struck a utility pole in Canterbury early Saturday, according to Connecticut State Police.

A passenger in the car, a 16-year-old boy from Moosup, was hospitalized with serious injuries, police said.

The crash occurred as Andrew William Vincent, of Plainfield, was driving a 2008 Audi A4 north on Water Street early Saturday, police said. When he came upon a curve in the road, his car drifted from his lane and struck a utility pole on the right shoulder, police said.

The utility pole snapped, downing wires, according to an incident report from state police.

State police said they were called to the crash scene at about 12:20 a.m. Saturday.

Vincent sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene, the incident report stated.

The 16-year-old boy from Mossup suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Hartford Hospital, according to the incident report.

The crash caused disabling damage to the car, which was towed from the scene, state police said.

Plainfield High School Principal Christopher Bitgood confirmed that Vincent was a student at the school.

The entire PHS community expresses their heartfelt condolences to the family, Bitgood said in a statement.

The high schools support staff and grief counselors will be available Monday morning, and throughout the week, to support students and families, he said.

Bitgood also encouraged parents and families to discuss the incident with their children and help them understand what happened.

Talk with your child about his/her feelings about the tragedy and share your feelings, too, Bitgood said. Talk about what happened; give your child information he/she can understand.

Reassure your child that they are safe; you may need to repeat this reassurance often, he continued. Listen and comfort your child often.

The Plainfield community is a strong and resilient community, and we will heal together. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family during this time of loss and grief, Bitgood added.

Police were investigating the fatal crash. Anyone with information regarding this crash is asked to call Troop D at 860-779-4900.

Editors note: The age of the driver, who was killed in the crash, has been corrected.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday adopted Republican-drawn maps for the state Legislature, handing the GOP a victory just weeks after initially approving maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The court reversed itself after the U.S. Supreme Court in March said Evers' maps were incorrectly adopted, and came just as candidates were about to begin circulating nominating papers to appear on this year's ballot without being sure of district boundaries.

Democrats would have made some marginal gains under Evers plan, but Republicans were projected to maintain their majorities in the Assembly and Senate, according to an analysis from the governors office.

Evers map created seven majority-Black state Assembly districts in Milwaukee, up from the current six. The map from the Republican-controlled Legislature had just five.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court had adopted Evers' map on March 3, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it on March 23. The high court ruled that Evers' map failed to consider whether a race-neutral alternative that did not add a seventh majority-black district would deny black voters equal political opportunity.

Evers told the state Supreme Court it could still adopt his map with some additional analysis, or an alternative with six majority-Black districts. The Republican-controlled Legislature argued that its map should be implemented.

The Wisconsin court, controlled 4-3 by conservatives, sided with the Legislature.

The maps proposed by the Governor ... are racially motivated and, under the Equal Protection Clause, they fail strict scrutiny, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote for the majority, joined by Justices Patience Roggensack, Rebecca Grassl Bradley and Brian Hagedorn.

The Legislature's maps, they wrote, are race neutral and comply with the Equal Protection Clause, along with all other application federal and state legal requirements.

Hagedorn, a conservative swing justice, initially backed Evers map but reversed himself once the matter came back before the court. In a separate concurrence, he wrote that the U.S. Supreme Court decision required the state court to adopt a race-neutral map, and the Legislature's maps are the only legally compliant maps we received.

The court's three liberal justices  Jill Karofsky, Ann Walsh Bradley and Rebecca Dallet  dissented. Karofsky, writing for the minority, said the Legislature's maps fare no better than the Governor's under the U.S. Supreme Court's rationale.

If, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Governors addition of a Milwaukee-area majority-minority district evinces a disqualifying consideration of race, then the Legislatures removal of a Milwaukee-area majority-minority district reveals an equally suspect, if not more egregious, sign of race-based line drawing, Karofsky wrote.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos tweeted praise for the ruling, saying Republicans have thought our maps were the best option from the beginning.

Evers called the decision outrageous and said the court had backtracked on an earlier finding that the Legislature's maps unlawfully packed Black voters to reduce their voting power.

At a time when our democracy is under near-constant attack, the judiciary has abandoned our democracy in our most dire hour, Evers said.

Republicans hold a 61-38 majority in the Assembly and a 21-12 advantage in the Senate. Even under the GOP map that the state court initially rejected, they were not expected to gain a supermajority that could override any Evers veto.

The U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in the Wisconsin case marked the first time this redistricting cycle that it has overturned maps drawn by a state.

The court has signaled it may significantly change the ground rules that govern redistricting. The courts involvement comes after its 2019 ruling that federal courts have no role in stopping partisan gerrymandering.

In February, it stopped a ruling by a panel of federal judges requiring Alabama to redraw its maps to give Black people a better shot at selecting their representatives, saying it may need to revise the long-standing case law that governs that. Its that case law that the high court referred to in the Wisconsin ruling.

The court declined to block maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. But four conservative justices wrote that they want to rule on the novel legal theory that state legislatures, rather than state courts, have supreme power in drawing maps.

While the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Wisconsins legislative maps, it adopted the congressional maps as proposed by Evers. Republicans currently hold five of the states eight seats. That map made one of those GOP districts more competitive.

Redistricting is the process of redrawing political boundaries based on the latest census. Mapmakers can create an advantage for their political party by packing opponents voters into a few districts or spreading them among multiple districts  a process known as gerrymandering.
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EAST HAVEN  Colorful, themed tables with stacks of Italian glazed cookies decorated in colorful icing and sprinkles are coming back to East Haven High School on April 29 after a two-year hiatus.

East Haven Rotary Clubs Anginette Wars brings bakers to the high school, where they go head-to-head to win awards for best-tasting cookie, most decorative cookie and most creative table display.

Cheryl Panzo, the clubs president, said the event was postponed the last two years due to the pandemic, with this year being the fifth time the Rotary club has hosted the event.

The decision to choose anginette cookies over others is due to East Havens high Italian population, and the cookie is traditionally an Easter or wedding cookie, so it fits the time of year, Panzo said.

Everybody seems to have their favorite recipe or they always think their anginette cookie is the best, Panzo said.

Other Rotary clubs have reached out to East Haven to ask about replicating their event, something Panzo said she wasnt sure would work.

I dont know if it would work with chocolate chip cookies or something else, she said. I mean, its definitely something unique to here and anginette cookies are just so synonymous with being Italian and celebrating holidays.

For those unfamiliar with anginette cookies, they come in a variety of flavors like lemon, anise, almond and vanilla.

Everyone makes them differently, Panzo said, with some people rolling them into balls, some tying them into knots, some making them biscuit-sized and others making tiny round balls.

Bakers are advised to make about 100 cookies, but some bake more, Panzo said.

Weve seen them all and all different flavors so its really interesting to see. Everybodys are so different, Panzo said.

Panzo herself has never entered the competition, but her family recipe has been deemed a winner when her daughter entered and won, she said.

The table displays are unique and offer a wow factor, she said, with previous themes including a superhero table with cookies stacked on top of cardboard cut-out skyscrapers, a circus-themed table that had cookies sitting on a ferris wheel and a Breakfast at Tiffanys table, complete with an Audrey Hepburn cutout sitting at a table donned in a Tiffany blue tablecloth with a tea set atop it.

The Breakfast at Tiffanys table, which was a winner, a Las Vegas night and a Mediterranean theme complete with lemons stuck out to Panzo, she said.

Theres been some foundations that have had a table with their foundation theme, Panzo said. Its really been tremendous.

Prizes for those who win are baking-related, including pots and pans and different baking platters.

The event is honoring tickets and baker registrations from 2020, when the last event was postponed, but interest has been high. There are 35 bakers registered to participate and a waitlist 10 bakers long, Panzo said. So far, 450 tickets have been sold for the event.

Spectators can attend and taste cookies from each table before placing a vote for their favorite. There will also be raffles for gift cards, Yankees tickets and electronics as well as Italian food, pizza and stuffed bread for spectators to enjoy.

The evening will be hosted by Gil Simmons, meteorologist on WTNH News 8, while cookies will be judged by Jocelyn Maminta, a former news anchor and current multimedia director at Hartford Healthcare; Liz Meriano of Merianos Bakery; Alicia Nieves of Alyssas Cakery and Adrianna Booth of Julias Cakery.

Local businesses and organizations sponsor the event, including Porto Funeral Homes, Forbes Premium Fuel, Dominate the Day Foundation, PMF Cleaning, Capotortos Apizza Center, Briganti Real Estate and The Rib House restaurant.

The last time the event was held in 2019, over 30 bakers registered to compete and over 600 spectators attended, Panzo said. Proceeds from 2019s Anginette Wars, which totaled over $10,000, benefited the Ben Mazzucco Clothe the Children Program.

This years proceeds will benefit the children in the clubs programs, such as the clothe the children program and sponsoring a child at Camp Rising Sun, a camp for children who have or had cancer, Panzo said.

Panzo said the Rotary club brings children to Kohls in January and allow them to shop for the afternoon, and Kohls gives the children 20 percent off.

Theyre so appreciative when they leave. Theyre like, I finally have my own coat or I dont have to share with my brother and theyve got new shoes so its wonderful, Panzo said.

All the proceeds from the event will go back into the community, Panzo stressed, calling the event a celebration both for and of the community.

This year, the Rotary club president is looking forward to having a fun night, seeing themed tables and seeing everyone out celebrating after a long two years, she said.

It really is a celebration of Italian culture and heritage with the different types of anginettes and to see that people still carry on those family traditions, Panzo said. I think its just really nice to have everyone back together and celebrating and eating.

Tickets from 2020 will be honored, the Rotary Club said. Those who have not purchased tickets for the previous years event and plan to attend can buy tickets at www.easthavenrotary.org. Tickets are expected to sell out.

christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com
BRIDGEPORT  A scheduled teleconferenced meeting for the City Council to examine one of its most important municipal budgets  for the police department  with top officials from the force was curtailed Saturday after the chief and an aide did not attend.

Whether the parties will be able to meet before the council finalizes its budget by May 10 remains to be seen.

For us to do this and then we dont have people to show up, its just not right, said Councilman Ernie Newton, a chairman of the Budget Committee, which has been meeting almost daily with various department directors to analyze Mayor Joe Ganims draft of the 2022-23 municipal fiscal plan.

This is just another poor reflection on (police) leadership, Councilman Matthew McCarthy said.

Three different reasons were offered during the meeting for Acting Chief Rebeca Garcias absence: She did not want to work on Saturday; she had an unspecified prior commitment; and/or she had an unspecified health issue.

Garcia in an emailed statement to Hearst Connecticut Media afterward clarified, I am recovering from a procedure which I respectfully will not expound upon. But, she said, she attended the Christian flag-raising at City Hall for the Easter holiday and had thought her prior request to postpone her budget hearing had been accepted.

I know the importance of the budget and the amount of time the council has dedicated to it and the personal sacrifice of each involved, Garcia continued. At no time should my absence be considered a disregard to the hard work and effort of all involved in the budget process. I look forward to presenting at our next meeting when scheduled.

The committee must vote on a budget and forward that to the full council for final approval in early May. Councilman Scott Burns, Newtons co-chairman, said in an interview Saturday he was not sure whether the group would be able to reconvene with Garcia or when it might happen.

The police department has been on the calendar for an April 16 review since that schedule was released April 5, and the chiefs presentation is typically one of the more highly anticipated. The public safety category this year makes up 29.5 percent of the proposed $605.1 million Bridgeport operating budget, and the force has ongoing manpower and overtime issues.

Burns and Council President Aidee Nieves had expressed some uncertainty this week about whether Garcia would attend, but the committee went ahead as planned Saturday, at 10 a.m., hoping she or a representative would appear.

Burns told his colleagues he had heard during the week through Garcias office that she was opposed to discussing her budget on a Saturday and wanted to reschedule, but nothing was finalized. He noted weekends are typically an unpopular time for department heads to meet with the Budget Committee but said it has to be done given the groups tight schedule.

I was not advised that the postponement request had not been honored and that the committee would be going forward, otherwise we wouldve been present, Garcia said in her email to Hearst on Saturday.

At one point, Lt. Manuel Cotto, an aide to Garcia who helped to prepare the police departments fiscal proposal, phoned in to the teleconference. He said he was out directing traffic and got an automated alert about the budget meeting.

I thought we requested to postpone this meeting, Cotto told the council members. The chief had a priority community engagement she could not break for this. ... I dont know where that rumor came from that the chief does not work on Saturdays. Unfortunately, this was booked and nobody checked with her schedule.

Budget committee members initially tried to forge ahead with the help of municipal finance staff.

We are all volunteers and were here on a weekend. If you are an employee and leading a department I think you should be here, Councilwoman Jeanette Herron said. I think we should move forward.

But it soon became clear they could not accomplish much without Garcia and Cotto. Members hoped Cotto, who was still listening in, could participate, but he told them, Im working on a road job. ... I have no paperwork in front of me. I told you guys the chief had a community policing engagement. ... She does work Saturdays. Her engagement was worked out prior to this budget meeting. She tried to get out of it. I do think the community comes first. Some people might think otherwise.

Cotto offered to phone Garcia and ask her to break away from her event if necessary. But Newton said, Im not going to keep this committee all day. ... I know you all got things to do and Im not gonna do that to you all.

A few minutes later, Burns said he had just spoken with Garcia and she advised him of some health issues.

That was not communicated with me (before Saturday), Burns said. She is willing to meet with us. Todays not a good day.
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PHOENIX (AP)  Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Holocaust survivor who wrote about her ordeal and went on to receive a presidential medal of freedom, will be remembered at a memorial May 1 after her death this month.

Klein died April 3 in Phoenix, where she had lived since 1985. She was 97. Her granddaughter Alysa Cooper confirmed the death but did not give a cause.

Klein was born May 8, 1924, to Helene and Julius Weissmann in Bielsko, Poland.

She was a teenager when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 and the family was forced to live in the basement of their home for three years. Klein's parents were later deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp and she never saw them or her brother again.

Klein spent the next three years in Nazi camps. She met her future husband, Army Lt. Kurt Klein, when American soldiers liberated her and others from an abandoned bicycle factory in Volary, Czechoslovakia, on May 7, 1945, the eve of her 21st birthday.

At the time, she weighed just 68 pounds (30.8 kg) and her hair was prematurely gray.

Married in Paris on June 18, 1946, the couple started a new life in Buffalo, New York, and raised three children: Vivian, Leslie and James.

Klein described her wartime experiences in her memoir All But My Life, which has been widely used in high school and college curricula.

President Bill Clinton appointed Klein to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council in 1997, and President Barack Obama awarded her with the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor.

Last year she was inducted into the Arizona Womens Hall of Fame.

In addition to her children, she is survived by eight grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

A private burial was held.

Her family plans a virtual celebration of her life May 1 at noon PT. Details will be announced through Citizenship Counts, a nonprofit organization she founded with Cooper, her granddaughter.
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KHARKIV, Ukraine -- Russias bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.

Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.

The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andres tweeted that the non-governmental organizations staff members were shaken but safe.

The organization says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andres said the attack in Kharkiv shows that to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance" and that his groups chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Mother, grandmother weep over a 15-year-old killed in shelling of Kharkiv

 Elderly mother feels lost, seeks son's body in Ukrainian town of Bucha

 Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, other cities

 We pray for you: Ukrainian Jews mark Passover, if they can

 Ukraines port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

Follow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke Saturday with the leaders of Britain and Sweden about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city.

Mariupols fate can be decided either through battle or diplomacy, he said.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

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NEW YORK  A Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol for weeks.

Gov. Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Frolov died a heroic death in battle without saying where or when he was killed. Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St. Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.

Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war.

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WASHINGTON  Austrias chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is in his own war logic when it comes to Ukraine.

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told Meet the Press that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and it was not a friendly conversation.

He said Putin said he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesnt trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future.

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VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily Saturday in St. Peters Basilica, attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three Ukrainian parliamentarians.

The pontiff noted that while many writers have evoked the beauty of starlit nights, the nights of war, however, are riven by streams of light that portend death.

Francis's call for an Easter truce in order to reach a negotiated peace appeared in vain Saturday, as Russia resumed missile and rocket attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond in a reminder that the whole country remains under threat.

At the end of his homily, Francis directly addressed directly Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov and Ukrainian lawmakers Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko and Rusem Umerov, who sat in the front row.

In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer, Francis said, then with emotion he added that the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen, the last three words in Ukrainian.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The Invictus Games for injured and ill service personnel and veterans opened with a standing ovation and a tribute from Prince Harry for Ukrainian team members who left their war-torn nation to compete.

With Harry and his wife Meghan in the front row for the opening ceremony Saturday night, competitors cheered for nearly a minute as the Ukrainian team waved their nations blue-and-yellow flag after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed them.

Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military service members and veterans, by giving them the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.

Welcoming all competitors to the event that was delayed by two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, Harry singled out the 19-strong Ukrainian team and their supporters.

Your bravery in choosing to come and for being here tonight cannot be overstated, he said, a day after meeting the Ukrainians at a reception.

You know, we stand with you. The world is united with you. And still you deserve more. And my hope is that these events, this event, creates the opportunity ... of how we as a global community can better show up for you, Harry added.

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FORT IRWIN, Calif. __ U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary.

The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in Californias Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

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RIYADH  Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday, their second call since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields.

The Saudi readout of the call said the crown prince affirmed support for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The kingdom recently announced $10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlins statement added the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war for years, as well as their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+. The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.

Ukraine has urged nations around the world to cut their dependency on Russian oil imports that it says finance Russias military war on Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces shelled an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk on Saturday, and a large fire erupted, a regional governor reported.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said it wasnt the first time the refinery was targeted and accused the Russians of trying to exhaust local emergency services. He underlined there was no fuel at the refinery at the time of the attack and the remains of oil sludge were burning.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv in the east, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kirovohrad in the central Ukraine and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. The strikes underlined that the whole country remained under threat despite Russias pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

In Kharkiv, nine civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded on Friday, while in the wider region two were reported dead and three wounded, according to the report.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of regional legislature, Hanna Zamazeyeva, said Saturday that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

Zamazeyeva said the targets included several residential blocks where there are no military facilities.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised remarks on Saturday that 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians -- more than half of them women -- are being held captive by the Russians.

Vereshchuk said Kyiv intends to swap the captive soldiers, since Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops but demands to release the civilians without any conditions.

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ROME  Italy is barring all Russian ships from its ports starting Sunday, as part of expanded EU sanctions announced earlier this month. Ships already in Italian ports must leave immediately after completing their commercial activity, according to a notice sent to port authorities.

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BERLIN  Peace activists took part Germanys traditional Easter marches on Saturday, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine but also in at least some cases opposing helping Ukraine defend itself with weaponry.

A Berlin event drew 400 people and one in Hanover 500, the dpa news agency reported, citing police. Marches took place in cities including Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Duisburg. Banners included End the war in Ukraine and He who sends weapons reaps war.

The countrys vice chancellor, Greens politician Robert Habeck, warned demonstrators against sending the wrong message, saying there will only be peace when Putin stops his war of aggression. He said in an interview with the Funke media group that it was clear who the aggressor is who and who are defending themselves in an emergency and whom we must support, also with weapons.

Ukrainian officials say Germany has sent anti-tank and anti-aircaft weapons as well as night vision equipment, body armor and machine guns.

Germany's locally organized peace marches date back to the days of the Cold War and focus on issues such as disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons.

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KYIV, Ukraine -- Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person died and several more were wounded in Saturday morning airstrikes on the Darnytski district of the capital, as Russian forces resumed scattered attacks in western Ukraine.

Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks, which the Russian Defense Ministry said targeted an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital, were an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat even as Russian forces refocus on the east, where a new offensive is feared.

Klitschko urged Ukrainians not to return to Kyiv just yet, warning in televised remarks Saturday that strikes on the capital are likely continue and its suburbs are rigged with explosives.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. We cant prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

The mayor added that because of the mines, Kyiv residents are barred from visiting parks and forests in the northeastern areas that border liberated territories formerly occupied by Russians.

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MOSCOW -- Russia has barred the UK prime minister and a dozen other top British officials from entering its country in response to British sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Russias Foreign Ministry announced the move that targets Boris Johnson, a number of British ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, on Saturday.

The ministrys statement cited unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials in Russia.

The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas are detrimental to the well-being and interests of the residents of Britain. Any sanctions attack will inevitably backfire on their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, the statement said.

On Friday evening, the ministry announced the expulsion of 18 European Union diplomats from Moscow, in retaliation for the blocs declaring 19 diplomats from the Russian mission to the EU and to the European Atomic Energy Community persona non-grata.

The European Union said the expulsions were groundless, and that EU diplomats targeted were working in the framework of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting that Kyiv was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district in the eastern part of the capital.

He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene of explosions" and that victims details would be released later. Klitschko urged residents to heed air raid sirens.

Thick smoke rising from the site on the eastern side of Kyiv could be seen from parts of downtown near the Dnipro River.

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WASHINGTON  Ukraine is sending top officials to Washington for next weeks spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where discussion will focus on the Russian invasion and its impact on the global economy.

Coming to the gathering are Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to a World Bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been officially announced.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the U.S. has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

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TIJUANA, Mexico  A Russian man and a Ukrainian woman were married in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in hopes of entering the U.S. together.

Daria Sakhniuk was allowed to enter the U.S. as a Ukrainian refugee but her partner, Semen Bobrovski, was unable to travel there following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They left Ukraine as the war began.

Bobrovski told El Sol de Tijuana that he believed the marriage Thursday would bolster his chances of entering the U.S. with his new wife. The U.S. allows only Russian nationals with family members in the U.S. to enter the country.

Without it, we wont be able to cross because, still to the official American government, we are strangers to each other," he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the nations military and intelligence agency leaders.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said.

He added: The occupiers problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.
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Honey Bunch, the wallaby who went missing at the Memphis Zoo after storms passed through Tennessee this week, has been found hiding  nearly in plain sight.

It was an area right behind the exhibit ... that had been searched multiple times in the past 36 hours, but he was camouflaged really well and hidden very well under a bush, said Jessica Faulk, the zoo's spokesperson.
MILFORD  A 21-year-old North Haven man was spared jail time Wednesday after pleading guilty to molesting a boy he knew in Orange when he himself was a teenager.

A prosecutor said the victims family was completely in agreement with the plea agreement calling for a 10-year suspended sentence against the man, Hugh Devine, on charges of fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

And though the family wasnt present at the sentencing, the victims father penned an emotional letter read by a prosecutor detailing the pain the abuse he said was wreaked on the boy and his family.

You sexually assaulted him so repeatedly in so many different locations that it is difficult to get an accurate count, said the fathers letter, read by Assistant States Attorney Alexander Beck. You stole part of his youthful innocence which he will never get back.

The father wrote that Devine plied the victim with alcohol and cannabis to lower his inhibitions and make him feel complicit, and contested what he called Devines contention the relationship was consensual.

Devine was arrested in March 2019, though the sexual abuse dated back to 2014, when he was 14 and the victim was 10. The last allegation occurred when the victim was 14 and Devine was 18, Beck said.

Devine declined the opportunity to speak during the proceeding.

While on probation, Devine will be barred from any contact with the victim or his immediate family and prohibited from unsupervised contact with minors.

He will be on the states sex offender registry for 10 years.

In addition, Judge Peter Brown signed a protective order barring Devine from contacting the victim for the next 60 years.

I believe the sentence that was recommended is appropriate, the judge said.

Devines lawyer, Donald Cretella, agreed, saying his client has a bright future despite his conviction.

I think it was a fair resolution to the case, he said Friday.
A majority of Black Americans say being Black is central to how they think about themselves and shape their identities, even as many have diverse experiences and come from various backgrounds, according to a new report by Pew Research Center. About three-quarters of Black people said so despite where they come from, their economic status or educational backgrounds.

Overall, 14% say being Black is only somewhat important to their identity and 9% say it has little to no impact, highlighting the diversity of thought among Black Americans, which include U.S.-born Black people and Black immigrants, and different ethnicities, political party affiliations and ages.

Pew Research Center released its report on Black identity on Thursday, and the results pinpoint the critical role race plays in shaping identity in the U.S.

What our data suggests to me is that being Black is important to all Black people, according to our findings, regardless of the intersections of their identity, said Kiana Cox, research associate and co-author of the report. A majority of Black people, 76%, said that being Black was really important to them.

Cox, who has worked with Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., for about four years, said they wanted to make sure they had a large enough sample to get this kind of nuance within racial and ethnic groups, but also to understand sort of life and society as Black people understand it.

Shelly Eversley, a professor at The City University of New York, said the 76% of survey respondents who consider their Blackness important to their identity was still less than she would expect it to be because race informs every asset of Black life.

Understanding the way race informs daily life is protection for a lot of Black people, said Eversley, who has taught about race for 20 years and is interim chair for the Department of Black and Latinx Studies. She was not a participant in the report.

She said being Black is something you are aware of at a young age. Black children are often disciplined harder at school and other places, and their parents tend to have conversations with them about the dangers of racism when they are still young, she added.

The report also points to how the importance that people place on being Black fosters a sense of connectedness among communities, Cox said.

People who say that being Black is an important part of their personal identity were more likely to express a sense of connection with Black people in their local communities, in the U.S. and around the world than those who said Blackness is relatively less important.

There are 47 million Black people in the U.S., about 14% of the population, according to the 2020 census. Most Black adults in the U.S. where born in the country, but an increasing portion of the population is comprised of immigrants, about 12%. Of the Black immigrant population, 90% were born in the Caribbean or Africa.

Cox also said she was shocked to learn that place  or where people grew up and were living  played a large role in identity and how people shaped their values and what they viewed as important issues.

Black Americans cited violence and crime, along with economic issues such as poverty and homelessness as the most important issues to address in their communities, according to the report. The most important local issues named across subgroups of Black Americans does vary but often violence and crime, economic issues and housing issues rank among the top three.

Overall, 17% of Black Americans said the most important issue is violence or crime  a category that includes drug activity, theft and vandalism, among other offenses. Eleven percent cited economic issues as the most important, 7% cited housing and 6% cited COVID-19 and public health. Nearly half of Black adults said local leaders are most responsible for addressing these important issues.

A separate poll conducted in March by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed an overwhelming majority of adults say more progress is needed in achieving equal treatment for Black people in dealings with police and the criminal justice system. That's two years after protests against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked a racial reckoning across the country.

When asking about community issues, the survey used an open-ended question, so the answer of what Black Americans think is important is a little more multilayered than just violence or crime, Cox said, noting that there is so much more that goes into that category than police violence.

The report also showed that about half of Black people who say being Black is crucial to personal identity feel very or extremely informed about the history of Black people in the U.S. Of that group, about half say they learned that history from family and friends. A large majority, regardless of how Blackness shapes their personal identities, say they have spoken to their families about their own history.

The clarity in which family as a source of history for both U.S. Black history, like the kind of history we expect to learn in school, and ancestral history, what we learn about our family histories, was very interesting. It came through so strongly, Cox said. "What that is telling us, is it confirms what scholars and historians have told us about the strength of family for Black Americans, especially in terms of greater knowledge.

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The survey of 6,513 U.S. adults, including 3,912 Black Americans, was conducted Oct. 4-17, 2021. It uses a sample drawn from Pew Research Centers American Trends Panel and Ipsos KnowledgePanel, which are designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for Black respondents is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

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Mumphrey, who reported from Phoenix, is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter at: https://www.twitter.com/cheymumph.
On April 15, Armenians in Connecticut and all over the world will commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915, when more than 1.5 million Armenians perished in a vicious and unthinkable state action by the Ottoman Empire.

Despite overwhelming and virtually incontrovertible evidence of that horrific tragedy, the government of Turkey continues to shamelessly deny it. The United States, which had sidestepped the recognition issue for many years so as not to offend its NATO ally, formally recognized and condemned the genocide in 2020 with resolutions of both houses of Congress and then by President Joe Bidens statement in 2021, courageously recognizing the genocide, which said of the victims, We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history ... The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide.

Efforts for continued condemnation of all genocides is important to honor those who perished during those horrible times but equally to deter the ongoing threats of future genocides. Continued vigilance is needed as the world today witnesses an escalation of brutality in Ukraine, which that government now condemns as genocide. Continued atrocities in the historic Armenian region known as Artsakh further demonstrate the need to watchfully condemn ongoing genocides.

In addition to the increasing number of recognition of the Armenian genocide by scholars, journalists and governments has been another event which has uplifted the hearts and souls of Armenians all around the world: In 2015, the year of the 100th commemoration of that tragic event, the Armenian Church took an unprecedented and truly remarkable step: The canonization of the martyrs of the genocide by the Armenian Church. The Synod of bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, under the auspices the Armenian Catholicoi, formally recognized those who perished in the Genocide as martyrs and canonized them as saints of the Armenian Church.

The event was reported to be the largest canonization service in history. It was an occurrence of enormous consequence. It had been some 500 years since the last time the Armenian Church had canonized a new saint. While not widely reported in non-Armenian communities, the historic event was reverently and proudly proclaimed throughout Armenia and the diaspora. It was a monumental event filled with hope and symbolism.

His Eminence Archbishop Daniel Findikyan, primate of the Armenian Diocese of the Armenian Church in America, Eastern Region, before his ordination, produced a magnificent monograph titled From Victims to Martyrs. In it he wrote: Never in (the) history of the Armenian Church had new saints been proclaimed with greater splendor, excitement or inclusiveness  every hierarchical jurisdiction of the Armenian Church was represented, as were a few sister churches throughout the world. ... Unprecedented as well was the Armenian Churchs readiness, after one hundred years, to discern Gods redeeming grace from within the darkness and evil of that great crime against humanity.

The Genocide victims are now martyrs. They can now provide intercession. Instead of praying for them, we now pray to them. It is something of incredible mystery and relevance. In the words of Father Untzag Nalbandian, pastor of Trumbulls Holy Ascension Armenian Church Many of us are the sons and daughters of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, who gave us a new life in this country and or wherever they went. Since 2015, our generation became the children of saints, which puts on us a greater responsibility to be good, caring, helpful and compassionate towards others. Genocide against one ethnic group is a genocide against all humanity. We remember our martyrs, but now we also can ask for their intercession.

Along with the canonization of the martyrs came the consecration and anointment of a new icon depicting the Holy Martyrs. It is present in all Armenian churches.

The canonization has proved to be an inspirational event for the entire Armenian community, and for the world. It is a reminder that despite the passage of time, helpless victims of the Armenian Genocide will be never be forgotten, but rather will be remembered for their faith and will forever serve to intercede on behalf of all of their descendants.

Harry Mazadoorian lives in Kensington. His parents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide in which three of his grandparents perished.
One of the most significant stories of the last century is the withdrawing from Christianity, with church attendance in the United Kingdom more than halved in the past 40 years.

You may deplore or celebrate this trend, depending on your personal beliefs, but the fact is undeniable.

Still, the resulting gap is not left vacant. Into it have flooded many religions and pseudo-religions. And one in particular has found its way into the cultural mainstream: the new religion of anti-racism.

It has much in common with other religions in history. It has original sin ('white privilege'), a judgment day ('coming to terms with race'), and excommunication of the heretic in the form of social-media shaming and more.

Like all new faiths, its followers look with scorn on the barbaric and unenlightened belief system that existed before them. They look down on those who have not joined the elect, especially those who have seen what they have seen and yet come to different conclusions.

Crucially, this new religion constitutes something to do. With all other grand narratives collapsed, the religion of anti-racism fills people with purpose and a sense of meaning.

In Highgate Cemetery in London, one of the largest monuments is a great bust on top of a huge stone pillar. On the front is the quote 'Workers of all lands unite'. The man whose tomb this is  paid for by the Communist Party of Britain in the 1960s  is of course Karl Marx. To this day, it remains a place of pilgrimage for people who think that Marx changed the world in a good way

It gives them drive and allows them to imagine a perfectible upland towards which they and everyone else on Earth might strive. It imbues them with confidence and consolation, dividing the society they are in between saints and sinners in a way that gives them the illusion of great perception.

Perhaps most crucially, it also allows them to make war on what were their own origins. The appeal of this should not be underestimated. The instinct to destroy, to burn and to spit on everything that has produced you is a very deep-seated one.

And, of course, there is one final appeal. The opportunity to treat other people badly beneath the guise of doing good.

Most remarkably of all, the new religion believes not just that it owes nothing to its origins but that those origins are in fact part of the problem. This even though traditions of anti-racism, anti-colonialism and anti-slavery are to be found within the Christian heritage.

Those traditions hold a store of wisdom and knowledge that could be worth drawing upon now, as people have drawn upon them in the past. Yet this is exactly what followers of the new religion do not do.

The West's sources  the traditions of Athens and Jerusalem  are the last place that the new devout look for guidance or consolation.

A strange pattern reappears here  a willingness to celebrate and sanctify anything so long as it is not part of the Western tradition, and to venerate anything else in the world, so long as it is not part of your own heritage.

It is this trend that leads young Westerners to travel the world to find the temples of the Far East, while failing to spend any time in the cathedrals on their own doorsteps.

But one of the most extraordinary things about this new religion of anti-racism is that the old church has allowed itself to be hijacked by it.

At a time of great cultural flux, people might hope to find solace in institutions that have weathered similar storms before.

For 2,000 years, Christian churches have held themselves out as the possessors of a sacred flame  one with a gospel, teachings, and truths of their own. The times may change, but the church remains the same.

In reality, churches have often shifted with the cultural tides. As the mores of the times have changed, so they have had to shift. But rarely have they shifted so swiftly as they have in joining the war on the underpinnings of the West.

The story is playing out across denominations as the churches throw their lot in with the anti-Western fashions of the day and apologise not just for their own pasts, but for their own unique cultural gifts to the world.

The Church of England has long led the way in this. For a generation, it has apologised for spreading its gospel around the world and been embarrassed by its former missionary zeal. In recent years, it has also decided to take on the most hostile possible critique of itself.

One by one, the same techniques have been used to denounce great names of the past. And if a person cannot be found to have invested inappropriately in the companies of their day, then their work is scoured for anything not fitting the mores of the modern world these men helped to create. One such victim is the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume

In 2020, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, gave a speech to the General Synod in which he apologised for the 'deep institutional racism' of the Church of England. 'I am sorry and ashamed of our history and of our failure.'

At the time he gave this speech, the next most important bishop in the Church was John Sentamu, the then Archbishop of York. Despite his number two hailing from Uganda, nobody seemed to think there was anything off about Welby's description of the Church.

Then, throughout a year in which every church in the land was shut due to Covid, the Church authorities worked away on a 'task force' on racism. Its report was rife with warnings that racism is 'whispered in our pews'.

It had often been joked that the C of E was the Tory Party at prayer. But by 2021, the Church's own self-estimation seemed to be that it was the Ku Klux Klan at prayer.

Why does the C of E behave like this? It is not as though other religions look around at their congregations and ask why they are not more diverse. Nor do other religions seem intent on chasing their existing adherents away.

Yet the C of E does do this, in spite of the fact that it is not chock- a-block with people wishing to join it. It continues to try to force a new demographic and belief upon itself.

Its report stressed the need to 'decolonise theology, ecclesiology and possibly examine official teachings of the church that follow prejudicial theological value system'. And, of course, it argued for going forwards by once again going backwards to the issue of slavery.

It told itself it must again 'acknowledge, repent and take decisive action to address the shameful history and legacy of the C of E's involvement in the historic transatlantic slave trade'.

This must include the taking down of statues and monuments on the wrong side of any historical divides, leading to a vision of overstretched clergy being expected to scour their churches for errant statues.

One of the strangest things about reading documents such as these is that they show an institution that has fallen for the most negative possible interpretation of itself.

What is ignored is that the Anglican Communion is a naturally diverse community, binding together 41 provinces from places across the globe. Many of the Church of England's most vibrant (perhaps its only vibrant) churches are in Africa.

When I have spent time with the Christian communities in countries such as Nigeria, I have never seen them subjected to racism from white people. I have only seen sincere believers in a gospel that missionaries from the churches of Europe brought to them.

Now the institutions that once taught that gospel are busily preaching a different gospel. They are telling the world that they are racist and that they must change.

It is a tale that, as another former C of E bishop, Michael Nazir-Ali, has pointed out, proclaims the Church's faith in critical race theory, rather than in Christ. The Christian faith has an uncommonly long tradition of opposition to slavery.

St Anselm outlawed slavery in 1102, while Archbishop of Canterbury. In the 19th Century, William Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect spent all their energies and resources fighting to bring an end to the practice, inspired by their Christian faith.

In the 20th Century, extraordinary clergymen such as Bishop Trevor Huddleston campaigned against apartheid in South Africa. But all these women and men were forgotten by a church intent only on searching for the bad.

As Nazir-Ali asked 'Why not stop actively seeking darkness', and instead 'look at the light?' But the voice of this wise former bishop was ignored. Instead, the old religion is working hard to divest itself of its own traditions and seems intent on making the old faith nothing but yet another imitation of the new one.

Just as Western religion has been dumped, so too have the West's most distinguished philosophers.

I first became aware of this after giving a talk at a university in America in which I mentioned the great 18th Century German rationalist Immanuel Kant as an example of a philosopher who is exceptionally difficult to understand.

Afterwards, a student came up to me and said: 'Did you know that Kant used the N-word?'

I was flummoxed. Would the N-word have been in operation in German in Kant's day? Surely not. 'negro', or an 18th Century German variant, perhaps. But the actual N-word would have surprised me.

I expressed my doubt as I struggled to work out the import of the question. Then it dawned on me. If Kant used the N-word, then you don't have to read him.

Gone is the necessity of weeks spent ploughing your way through The Critique Of Pure Reason or The Metaphysics Of Morals. Instead, you can skip all that, label Kant a racist, and move swiftly on.

As it happens, Kant did indeed use some terms that would not be used today, which has led to an academic at Warwick University denouncing him. This is on the basis that in several of his essays, Kant made 'some shocking racist remarks' and seemed to endorse pro-slavery texts.

The same claim has been made in recent years against almost every one of the pillars of the Western philosophical tradition, going right back to the ancient Greeks.

Aristotle has been labelled 'the grandaddy of all racial theorists' because in the first book of his Politics, he sought to justify the exclusion of certain people from civic life. A truly shocking fact in a work written around the year 300 BC!

As a result, he has been linked to the far Right and its apparent 'chilling' embrace of Western civilisation.

Fast-forward through time to the 17th and 18th Centuries and the Age of the Enlightenment in Europe, when some of the greatest advances in human history provided, among other things, the philosophical bases for the principles of toleration and reason.

The value of this era used to be recognised across the political spectrum as the foundation for the aspiration to build societies fit for all human beings to live in.

In 2020, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, gave a speech to the General Synod in which he apologised for the 'deep institutional racism' of the Church of England. 'I am sorry and ashamed of our history and of our failure'

Not any more. Now it is gleefully being put through the wringer by iconoclasts. In France, a statue of Voltaire was removed from the Academie Francaise in Paris after being repeatedly vandalised.

The charge against the great figure of the French Enlightenment was that he had personally invested in the French East India Company and, in a work of 1769, had made a racist comment about Africans.

These critics ignored entirely his devastating attacks on the immorality of slavery, as well as his Treatise On Tolerance. On to the dustheap they went  along with everything else.

The British philosopher John Locke is similarly deleted on the grounds that he owned shares in companies connected with the slave trade. And so his A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) has been transformed from one of the great advances of humanist thought into a guilty man's meaningless hypocrisy.

One by one, the same techniques have been used to denounce great names of the past. And if a person cannot be found to have invested inappropriately in the companies of their day, then their work is scoured for anything not fitting the mores of the modern world these men helped to create.

One such victim is the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume  condemned for an obscure footnote in one of his essays in which he speculates that 'the negroes and in general all the other species of men to be naturally inferior to the whites'.

But such thoughts were never a central tenet of Hume's work and run entirely contrary to his denunciation of slavery in Of The Populousness Of Ancient Nations. In fact, it is his arguments for the application of reason in the pursuit of justice and morality that helped to expose the fundamental flaws of slavery and racism.

Nonetheless, a solitary footnote is enough to wipe away the attainments and advancements of one of the 18th Century's most important thinkers. And after the inevitable guilty verdict comes the equally inevitable sentence.

A petition to the authorities at Edinburgh University  where Hume studied from the age of 12 and for years was its librarian  demanded the renaming of the David Hume Tower on campus.

The protesters got their wish, with a former holder of the David Hume Fellowship at the university denouncing Hume as 'an unashamed racist'. Pressure immediately grew to remove Hume's statue on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

Campaigners hung an excerpt from Hume's notorious footnote around his neck so that passers-by could know that he was tarred.

Yet there is one dead white male philosopher who has been accorded no such indignity. In Highgate Cemetery in London, one of the largest monuments is a great bust on top of a huge stone pillar. On the front is the quote 'Workers of all lands unite'.

The man whose tomb this is  paid for by the Communist Party of Britain in the 1960s  is of course Karl Marx. To this day, it remains a place of pilgrimage for people who think that Marx changed the world in a good way.

All have their own spin for dealing with the fact that roughly 100 million people were killed in trying to change the world along Marx's lines. Yet it stands there still, and there have been no serious efforts to topple or destroy it.

Occasionally it has been daubed in red paint  with such vandalism always condemned by cultural and political figures alike.

But through the events of recent years, there have been no online petitions or crowd efforts to pull it down and kick it into a river.

On the contrary, as recently as 2016, Salford University unveiled a new memorial to Friedrich Engels, co-author with Marx of The Communist Manifesto, in part to commemorate the fact that the two of them used to drink in a nearby pub in the 1840s.

It seems that a connection with Marx or Marxism is no ethical problem. There is no special effort to eradicate, problematise, decolonise, or otherwise act in an 'anti-racist' manner against the legacy of Marx and his circle.

And this is strange because as anybody who has read the work of Marx  especially his private letters to Engels  will know, Marx's reputation by the lights of our own age ought to be toast by now.

In one letter written in 1862, Marx turns his wrath on one of their fellow radicals, Ferdinand Lassalle, for not only being Jewish but for also having negroid features and hair. ('It is now quite plain to me he is descended from the negroes who accompanied Moses' flight from Egypt.') He uses the N-word more than once.

A charitable interpretation  such as has been denied to David Hume  might say this is just one ugly thing said by Marx in a private letter and that we shouldn't judge him harshly on it.

Yet this is not the only occasion that such a sentiment came from Marx's pen. In another letter, he reflects on the 'degenerative' nature of the 'common negro' and the 'leprous' nature of the Jewish people.

Moreover, he didn't just keep his racism to his private correspondence. In an article in a New York newspaper, he wrote that 'we find every tyrant backed by a Jew' and claimed that there exists always 'a handful of Jews to ransack pockets'.

And these proto-Hitlerian views are consistent throughout his life. In 1843, Marx writes: 'What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money.'

In public and in private, Marx comes over as anti-black, antisemitic, anti-Indian, pro-colonialist and racist.

I reel off this incomplete list of what today are seen as an almost clean sweep of offences not simply because they demonstrate that the prophet and genesis of Left-wing thought, perhaps even its god, was guilty of every one of the vices levelled at all non-Marxists in the West.

But because Marx was far worse than any of the people whom Leftist campaigners have spent recent years lambasting. Marx's antisemitism is more noxious than Kant's. His career-long record of racism makes a single footnote in the work of Hume look very slight.

The only defence that might be made of him by his defenders and disciples is that he was a man of his time. That Marx lived in the 19th Century and therefore held on to a number of the era's more unpleasant attributes.

Yet who is not a man of their own time? Every person whose reputation has been brought down in the cultural revolution of recent years was also a man or woman of his or her own time.

So why should this excuse be successful when used in defence of Marx, yet dismissed when it comes to Voltaire or Locke? For his followers, Marx was not just a thinker or a sage.

He was the formulator of a world revolutionary movement. A movement that claimed to know how to reorder absolutely everything in human affairs in order to arrive at a Utopian society.

A Utopian society that has never been achieved and has cost many millions of lives in not being achieved but that activists across the West still dream of instituting next time: always next time.

What becomes clear in analysing the differences between the treatment of Marx and the treatment of almost every other thinker of the West is that Marx is protected because his writings and reputation are useful for anyone wishing to pull down the West.

Everybody else is subjected to the process of destruction because their reputations are useful for holding up the West.

After all, remove every other philosopher from the field, take down all their monuments and the tributes to them, and ensure that their thought is taught primarily as a story of racism and slavery and what is left standing in the Western tradition?

Only specific figures of whom the West had felt proud are brought down, while those figures who have been most critical of Western culture and the free market are spared the same treatment.

Behind this seems to be the hope that when everyone else is brought low, the only figures who remain on their pedestals (both real and metaphorical) are those who were most critical of the West.

And the only people left to guide us will be those who want to take us in the worst possible directions.

 Douglas Murray 2022

Extracted from The War On The West: How To Prevail In The Age Of Unreason, by Douglas Murray, published by HarperCollins on April 28 at 20. To order a copy for 18, visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937 before April 30. UK p&p free on orders over 20.
Everything Boris Johnson and his supporters have said in response to his Partygate fine is true. Europe is at war.

As Ukraine's President Zelensky observed in the wake of his historic  and dangerous  visit to Kyiv, 'Boris Johnson is one of the most principled opponents of the Russian invasion, a leader in sanctions pressure on Russia and defence support of Ukraine'.

The decision to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice for a nine-minute event in the middle of the working day was disproportionate and authoritarian. A short chorus of Happy Birthday should not in itself be a matter for an overstretched and rudderless Metropolitan Police.

Nor, as his critics have claimed, has Boris been caught benefiting from one law for the powerful and wealthy and another for everyone else. He has been investigated and sanctioned in precisely the same way as any other member of the public would have been.

He's paid his debt. And few people would argue a breach of Covid laws should mean a loss of job and career for the average citizen.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured announcing the first lockdown due to Covid-19) addressing the nation from 10 Downing Street, London

Indeed, there is mounting evidence the people have had their fill of the whole saga.

A poll published on Friday found 64 per cent of those asked said they were tired of hearing about the issue, 54 per cent agreed the country needs to move on and 66 per cent said there were more important issues to focus on.

Those who think there are more serious matters to be addressing are right. Genocide in Ukraine. Cost of living.

The Government's bold attempt to get to grips with the Channel migrants crisis. All these issues will have a more direct and lasting impact than whether the PM had a slice of cake in the Cabinet Room.

But there are other things that are true. The first is that Boris's fine does not mark the end of legal sanctions over his breach of lockdown rules but merely the beginning.

In its over-zealousness, the Met has given a clear indication of how it intends to view the PM's participation in additional  more serious  breaches of his own Covid laws. It's not just about the cake.

To understand what it is about, we need to go back. To the evening of March 23, 2020, when Boris first introduced lockdown.

In his address to the nation, he said: 'The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades  and this country is not alone. All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer.'

To prevent the spread of a lethal biological predator, we all had to stay at home. There were only four exceptions  shopping, exercise, a medical issue, or essential work. There was no ambiguity.

Police decided this event at Downing Street attended by Mr Johnson, his then fiancee Carrie Symonds and staff did not warrant an investigation

'That's all,' Boris emphasised. 'These are the only reasons you should leave your home. You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.'

That's why we were told to lock down. To save ourselves. To save our communities. To save our country. 'If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No,' the Prime Minister said. But as we learnt last week, he didn't.

In mitigation, he used a line he has employed before  and will use again and again. 'I have to say, in all frankness, at the time, it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules.'

And taken in isolation, that may represent a legitimate explanation. But it wasn't an isolated event.

Boris claims he didn't know the birthday cake and good wishes might be a breach. He also claims he wasn't aware the drinks gathering he attended in Downing Street on November 27 for a departing aide might be a breach. He wasn't aware the quiz he hosted  flanked by advisers in Santa hats  might be a breach.

When his staff reportedly partied so hard they broke his son's swing, he wasn't aware that might be a breach.

When he attended an event in Downing Street on May 20, one that was advertised with the words 'Bring your own booze', he wasn't aware it might be a breach.

When his wife and her friends were sitting in his own flat, singing The Winner Takes It All, he wasn't aware it might be a breach. Which begs the question, what precisely did Boris think a breach of his Covid rules looked like?

Most people are tired hearing about Partygate and think there are more important issues to focus on according to a poll

Around the country, people were being fined for sitting on benches, and getting buzzed by police drones for going on walks. But at no time did it occur to him that his wife and her friends belting out Abba wasn't essential for work purposes.

In fact, there was one incident that did give him pause for thought.

When a video emerged of some No 10 aides joking about having cheese and wine at their desks, he told the Commons he was 'furious', ordered a Cabinet Office inquiry and accepted the resignation of his senior media adviser.

Yet, as evidence emerged of his own complicity in attending identical events, that anger subsided. People's boredom with the minutiae of Partygate is understandable. But these are the facts. The Prime Minister, his wife and his staff broke his own Covid rules. They broke them frequently.

The rules had been put in place to save lives. He misled the Commons over breaching the rules. And in breaching the rules, he broke the criminal law. So if we are now going to say 'Let's just move on', fine. But let's be honest about where we're moving to.

It's to a country where, at a moment of the gravest national peril, its leaders cannot be trusted to follow the statutes they set down to keep its citizens safe.

A country where, from the Prime Minister down, Ministers can mislead Parliament with impunity. A country where the holder of the highest office in the land can break the criminal law and continue to hold that office.

Yes, we are in the midst of a serious foreign emergency. But a Prime Minister will always be confronting some form of major domestic or international crisis. Are we really proposing to dish out 'Get out of jail free' cards every time they do? Because if we are, we're going to be handing out a lot of them.

Boris has demonstrated an ability to confound his critics and get a number of the big calls right. Brexit. The vaccine. Ukraine.

But breaking the laws he introduced to safeguard us was a big call, too. And his breaking of the law can't just be wished away.

Sue Gray's report into Partygate has yet to be released in its entirety

Not least because his own MPs won't allow it. This week, the Commons reassembles. And the anger that was suppressed at the point the Sue Gray report into lockdown socialising in Government buildings was delayed is rising again.

As one Tory rebel told me: 'What you've got to remember is we had about 50 names [for a leadership challenge] and that was before the fines were issued. Yes, a few have been withdrawn. But it doesn't take many more to put us over the top.'

Meanwhile, the fines will keep coming. And the political problems will keep mounting.

Even if the Prime Minister could 'move beyond' Partygate, what lies on the other side?

The biggest tax rises since the 1940s? The biggest cost of living crisis since the 1950s? The issue that will finally convince Yankee Doodle Rishi to cash in his US Green Card and resign?

One Tory grandee I spoke to warned: 'A mighty tidal wave of anger is about to engulf the Tory Party  fuelled by rising taxes and living costs. And it will lead to Boris's defenestration.'

Another expressed the hope the PM would lead his party into the local elections, then draw a line under the affair by stepping down. 'Partygate is currently Boris's scandal,' he said, 'but if he doesn't do what's right, it's going to become the Conservative Party's scandal.'

That's wishful thinking. Boris has no intention of resigning.

But he's not just another citizen. He's the Prime Minister who broke his own Covid rules, misled Parliament and broke the criminal law. So he should.
Claiming it's all in the name of 'promoting social justice', progressive ideologues ruthlessly seize on any story they think will promote their agenda.

That is certainly what has happened with the fallout from the case of Child Q, the 15-year-old black East London schoolgirl who was strip-searched by police over unfounded suspicions that she was carrying cannabis.

The incident rightly caused widespread outrage, especially as the girl was having her period at the time. But the controversy was so explosive precisely because such episodes are rare.

Contrary to the views of racially fixated agitators, I do not believe we live in a society awash with institutional bigotry and oppression.

In the wake of that row, police and school procedures for handling allegations of drug possession against pupils should, of course, be examined and, where possible, improved. However, that isn't what radicals want.

Instead, they seek to weaponise the incident, exploiting it to impose their political dogma on our schools and universities.

Child Q, 15, was strip searched by police after being wrongly accused of possession of cannabis, Inaya Folarin Iman says radicals want to 'weaponise the incident' to impose their dogma on schools

Some union leaders have argued that, to prevent a repetition of the Child Q episode, schools have to be 'decolonised'

Meeting for its annual conference last week, the National Education Union (NEU)  the biggest representative body for teachers, with more than 450,000 members  was explicit about this goal.

To prevent a repetition of the Child Q episode, union leaders argue that social justice must take priority and schools have to be 'decolonised'. That means lessons and exams must embrace their interpretation of diversity, emphasising 'black perspectives' and the 'black contribution' to Britain, as if black people are a singular group.

NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted says the curriculum 'must speak accurately about the past in relation to black British history'.

It is an approach that flies in the face of Government guidelines, which emphasise the importance of political impartiality in teaching.

Yet, in the mindset of the NEU cultural revolutionaries, the concept of impartiality is not just impossible to achieve, it is also undesirable because it undermines their ability to morally re-engineer students.

Indeed, last week the NEU criticised the Government's guidance on impartiality for trying to suppress 'critical debate about topics such as imperialism'.

Nor is this the first time that the NEU has advocated such a programme. Complaints about 'white privilege' and demands for 'decolonisation' are central to its work, along with claims about schools riddled with racism.

'British culture is saturated with a longing for a return to Empire,' the union asserted last July, adding that 'our education system has been shaped by colonisation'.

Such language illustrates just how the union sees its members' role: not as educators but as moral guardians. Its opinions are hopelessly out of touch with the mainstream public and most teachers  who hold to the far more positive values of tolerance and equality under the law.

NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted says the curriculum 'must speak accurately' about the past in relation to black British history

But, tragically, it is the extremists who increasingly dominate the debate, constantly subverting the true purpose of education, which is to pass knowledge from one generation to another.

Last week, Durham University announced that it is to 'decolonise' its mathematics department by making its syllabus 'more inclusive'. The university declared that 'we have allowed Western mathematicians to dominate our discipline'.

This could be just the start of a mathematical journey towards the madhouse of California, where educational chiefs claim the dominance of 'white supremacy' is characterised by a focus 'on getting the answer right'.

Similarly, Steven Hunt, who trains Latin teachers at Cambridge University, indulged in a bout of virtue-signalling, denouncing stories from ancient Rome that 'trivialise slavery and objectify women'.

Despite building one of mankind's greatest civilisations, the Romans fail to pass Mr Hunt's ideological purity test. The social justice warriors see themselves as today's arbiters of morality. But I do not see anything moral in their antics. They are inflicting real damage on education on so many levels.

Their obsession with identity politics is dangerously weakening social cohesion by emphasising what divides people, not what unites them.

In their bleak world of victimhood, individuals are defined not by their character but purely by their race, gender or sexual orientation. In the same spirit, the curriculum has to be taught in the context of appealing to different identity groups.

So, in place of a unified history which can inform everyone about the past, the subject is increasingly fragmented into 'black history', 'women's history' or 'trans history'.

The same is true of literature, where writers are judged not on their talent but on whether their credentials are 'woke' or not.

Based on the dubious premise that people can relate only to experiences within their own arbitrarily defined group, this is a recipe for disintegration, suspicion and ignorance.

There are a host of other problems. The politicisation of the classroom undermines the integrity of teachers who are turned into advocates for a cause rather than independent-minded professionals.

In the same vein, pupils are let down when they're fed only radical messages. No wonder so many young people have an identity crisis.

The American School in London (pictured) drew criticism for is 'woke' ideologies

They neither develop an all-round understanding of their country, nor are they prepared for study, the workplace or adulthood in general.

One of the most powerful complaints from parents at the 32,000-a-year American School in London  dubbed the 'most woke school in Britain' in a row over its 'divisive' ideology  was that a fixation with gender and race diluted teaching standards.

Moreover, the concentration on the woke agenda leaves no room for nuance or subtlety. They may be keen on non-binary gender identities but the ideologues inhabit a binary culture of oppressors and victims, of 'white privilege' and ethnic 'disadvantage'.

This ignores all the complexities of human existence. Regarding the debate about slavery, for instance, much of the trade was sustained by African merchants, while many white campaigners played a part in abolition.

History is complex. A narrow focus on the crimes of the British Empire ignores how the world has also benefited from the spread of the English language, the rule of law and parliamentary democracy.

Inaya Folarin Iman argues that obsession with identity politics is 'weakening' social cohesion by emphasising what divides people

The woke indoctrination feeds resentment, self-loathing and lack of solidarity.

The endless guilt-tripping about racism teaches white pupils that they should be ashamed about their heritage and that British history, traditions and contributions are not the birthright of ethnic-minority children, too  when they are. Ultimately, that is bad for democracy and unity.

In its heroic resistance, Ukraine has shown what can be achieved through national pride. On the other hand, the US is being torn apart by toxic identity politics.

It would be a disaster if we were to go down the same road, but that is where the NEU activists will take us unless they are resisted.

There are plenty of real problems in schools right now, not least the legacy of the Covid lockdowns, which left millions of pupils deprived of a proper education.

In our tolerant land, we do not need this climate of manufactured grievance for political ends.

lInaya Folarin Iman is the founder of The Equiano Project, a forum promoting freedom of speech on issues of race, culture and politics.
I wish to extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to the wonderful readers of The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail who have generously helped my countrymen and women in our darkest hour.

Your amazing support will literally save peoples lives.

The 500,000 food boxes you have supplied will go to people most in need in the midst of the greatest European catastrophe in our living memory.

It is heartbreaking to see Ukrainian cities bombed to rubble. We are proud and dignified people used to earning our living. As one of the largest producers in the world of wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed and many other food products, we bear the responsibility to feed so many less fortunate nations.

Until a few weeks ago, we were known as the breadbasket of Europe. But Russias cruel war has changed everything, and left us desperate for food ourselves.

For weeks, Putins troops brutally attacked our supply chains. They have bombed grain silos, food warehouses and stores, chicken farms, seed plants, packing factories and even shopping centres and supermarkets where people have been killed while waiting in queues to buy food.

Russian forces have deliberately shelled farms, killed livestock, and laid landmines on agricultural land.

VADYM PRYSTAIKO thanked Mail Force donators for helping his countrymen while Putin attacks

Last Thursday, a farmer was killed by a landmine while trying to plough his field. Farmers are facing shortages of fuel and fertiliser. Farmhands have joined up to fight the invaders. Enemy soldiers have even stolen tractors and combine harvesters (we know this because they were fitted with GPS trackers that show the vehicles are now in Russia).

This is all a targeted campaign by Vladimir Putin to try to starve innocent Ukrainian civilians  and that is a war crime.

In many places, Putins forces have broken our supply chains. Railways and roads have been badly hit, meaning it is now almost impossible to bring food into some areas.

Also, there is a blockade in the Black Sea, which is the main route to get food into the port of Odesa and up through the south of the country. We cannot get supplies into the devastated port city of Mariupol, where 21,000 civilians have been murdered.

Russians have blockaded everything from the north, east and south. There is an enormous bottleneck at the western border of our nation  a lifeline of support from our friends and partners.

Every Ukrainian knows about the dreadful terror famine in 1932-33 when Stalin starved millions of our people to death in a ruthless policy of food confiscation.

The Daily Mail / Mail on Sunday Mail Force project distribution of food to Ukraine gets underway at Oakland International in Leicester

Some of our eldest citizens lived through that hell. They must never have believed such barbarity was possible again in their lifetime.

Since the invasion began, millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes with only the belongings they could carry. Four million have left the country, while ten million are displaced inside our borders.

I still cannot get used to seeing the words Ukrainian and refugee in the same sentence.

From day one of war, I appealed to the kind-hearted British public, your companies and Government to lend us their support.

The Ukrainian Embassy in London began talks with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), appealing for major firms to help tackle our food catastrophe. We bought two million ration packs and more than 1.7 million cans of food, but it was clear much more was urgently needed.

The embassy has received donations directly from the British public and companies, so we devised a plan of putting together food boxes here and shipping them to Ukraine. With the support of the CBI and others, we piloted the scheme and have already shipped about 40,000 food boxes.

Then the project received a major boost when we started speaking to Mail Force.

A plan was put in place to assemble, pack and ship 500,000 food boxes. Half of the boxes are funded by Mail Force, and the other half is funded from the public donations received by the Ukrainian Embassy in London.

People have been working 24/7. It has been a massive logistical operation.

Every wrinkle has been ironed out. We found the first boxes, which were 20kg and had enough food for three people, were too heavy and therefore not ideal for people who may need to flee in a hurry. So we reduced the box size to a manageable 7kg to 8kg and packed it with 12,000 calories, enough to feed someone for a week.

In the coming days, thousands of these boxes will be shipped to depots in Poland, to be put on to freight trains for eastern Ukraine. The boxes will go to the place where they are needed most  to the people desperately in need of food in Luhansk in the east, who have had to leave their homes and everything behind.

The food boxes will go straight to those who, without your amazing generosity, are at risk of starvation. For this, we cannot thank you enough.

And as this catastrophe drags on, I implore you to please not forget us. Please continue to support us in our fight for survival.
The last place you would expect to get a taste of the great outdoors is in a tent in a four-star hotel in the heart of Sydneys vibrant CBD.

But if you want to avoid driving 50km into the wilderness to take the kids camping only for them to moan about mosquitos, the weather and lack of wi-fi then this is exactly where to look.

The Inner City Glamping Room at Accor's Novotel Sydney Central is the ideal option for families with city kids whose only real interest in camping is the tent.

Why camp when you can glamp at the four-star Novotel Sydney Central in the heart of the city's CBD

If you have ever turned your bedsheets into a tepee or hitched a tent in your living room for the kids to escape into an imaginary jungle than you understand the appeal.

The glamping package is also perfect for tourists who want an added incentive to keep kids out of their bed as no little terror is going to dare flee their makeshift campsite in the middle of the night to snuggle mum and dad, leaving the adults to enjoy the crisp queen bed in peace.

Novotel Sydney Central is situated in Haymarket in the heart of Chinatown and is surrounded by an array of Cantonese restaurants, Korean BBQ joints and sushi bars, all a short stroll from Sydney's famous Paddy's Market.

There is free parking at the adjacent 24-hour Wilson carpark for hotel guests so you can arrive and depart without hassle.

With the Inner City Glamping Room kids can play and sleep in a tepee while parents kickback and enjoy all the comforts of a hotel

The activity kits and snack packs will occupy the kids on arrival and unlimited hot chocolate will help them re-fuel throughout your stay.

There is a buffet breakfast for two adults included in your accommodation with kids eating free at the hotel's convenient Thomas St, Kitchen and Bar.

The deal has been sweetened for the month of April with kids under 16 also eating for free per paying adult at dinner if you want an alternative to the Chinatown fare.

The package starts from $239 and includes free parking, a buffet breakfast at the hotels Thomas St, Kitchen and Bar (pictured), unlimited hot chocolate for the kids, and activity kits and snack packs on arrival

But the real hit will be the tepee which sits like a magnet in the corner of the spacious room with spectacular views of Sydney.

Just lay back and relax while you watch the kids disappear into their tent and in turn an imaginary vortex of play and laughter.

But whether they sleep in the tepee or flee camp for your bed is the question only time will tell.

The Inner City Glamping package starts from $239 and lasts until December 31, 2022 so there is plenty of time to pack your bags while staff pitch your tent.


A surgeon has gone viral with a tweet blaming the patriarchy for the lack of information women are given around the risks of vaginal prolapse after giving birth.

Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald MD, a urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgeon from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, took to social media to discuss the condition, most commonly known as pelvic organ prolapse (POP).

The urogenital condition, which is thought to affect 4150 per cent of women over the age of 40 in the UK, occurs when the group of muscles and tissues that normally support the pelvic organs, called the pelvic floor, becomes weakened and cannot hold the organs in place firmly, according to the NHS.

This can result in one or more of the pelvic organs slipping down from their normal position, bulging into the vagina.

A surgeon has gone viral with a tweet blaming the patriarchy for the lack of information women are given around the risks of vaginal prolapse after giving birth. Stock image

Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald MD, a urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgeon from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, took to social media to discuss the condition, most commonly known as pelvic organ prolapse (POP)

Taking to the social media platform, Dr Fitzgerald wrote: 'To all of the women coming to my office understandably enraged that nobody told them their vaginas could fall out from having babies: I am so sorry that for so long the patriarchy was scared of what you would do with that information.

'We must always always be on the side of trusting women with the full spectrum of informationgood, bad, uglyand allowing them to make informed choices. Life is messy with a lot of pros and cons to everything. But ignorance is not it.

'It isnt hard for patients to grasp the concept that there is no easy, risk-free way to have a baby or to age! But just as we can counsel about risks of cesarean we can educate on outcomes of vaginal delivery without it being rooted in fear. It can simply be educational.

'There are many, many well cited studies and sources on both the anatomic and symptomatic epidemiology of pelvic organ and vaginal prolapse but here is a good resource.'

The surgeon and assistant professor took to Twitter to discuss the lack of education around pelvic organ prolapse (POP)

She concluded: 'Long story long, my personal and professional opinion is that choosing to withhold education to women on the common existence of pelvic floor conditions like POP because "they're going to have babies and age anyway is paternalistic. Trust women with their bodies always!'

A weakened pelvic floor - which can lead to POP - can be the result of several factors, including pregnancy and childbirth, particularly if the birth was long and difficult, you had multiple babies, or the baby was large.

Other risk factors for a weakened pelvic floor include ageing and the menopause, being overweight, or having a hysterectomy.

In addition, health issues, including ones which cause long term constipation or coughing and straining, can increase your risk of having a weakened pelvic floor, as can having a job which requires lots of heavy lifting.

While POP is not life threatening, it has been found to impact sufferers' physical, psychological and social well-being, as well as their quality of life.

A number of Twitter users shared their own experience with POP and related conditions like incontinence in response to the surgeon's tweet

Yet despite the condition affecting a significant number of women, general awareness around the condition and how to treat it remains low.

Speaking about the lack of information around POP, Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald told FEMAIL: 'Vaginal prolapse is a condition that very few people are aware of, so when it happens, it is both terrifying and isolating. And we dont talk about it much until after it happens.

'The point of my tweet is that people dont want to scare women before they have babiesbut what are we so afraid of? Its a health condition. We counsel about a lot of other risks of childbirth and aging.'

Numerous Twitter users agreed with the surgeon that many women's health conditions are not widely understood by the general public, and can be difficult to discuss with medical professions.

Speaking about POP, one wrote: 'I gave birth almost 15 years ago and I STILL pee almost every time I sneeze, or cough, or laugh too hard, or get too excited and jump up and down a little. So frequently that my husband replies to a sneeze with "you good?" So he can offer to pause our movie or grab me underwear.'

Another added: 'I gave birth almost 15 years ago and I STILL pee almost every time I sneeze, or cough, or laugh too hard, or get too excited and jump up and down a little. So frequently that my husband replies to a sneeze with "you good?" So he can offer to pause our movie or grab me underwear.'

And a third wrote: 'I have vaginal prolapse and Im still waiting for a visit from a gynaecologist, they just told me itll take months. And no idea on what it can actually be done about it (excluding an hysteroctomy).'
An American woman who is living in Paris has lifted the lid on what the lifestyle is really like.

In 2019, Victoria Petersen, who is originally from Connecticut, said goodbye to her life in America and moved all the way across the world to the French capital.

After settling into her new lifestyle in the city of lights, Victoria began documenting her daily activities on her blog, which is entitled French Girl Daily, and posting photos to her Instagram account - where it quickly took off.

Now, with nearly 250,000 followers, the blog is described as a 'digital destination for women who love French style, beauty, and culture.'

An American woman who is living in Paris has lifted the lid on what the lifestyle is really like

In 2019, Victoria Petersen, who is originally from Connecticut, said goodbye to her life in America and moved all the way across the world to the French capital

After settling into her new lifestyle in the city of lights, Victoria began documenting her daily activities on her blog, which is entitled French Girl Daily, and it quickly took off

Through the blog, Victoria shows off common French fashion trends and shares beauty tips and makeup hacks that she's learned from living in Paris.

'I believe style should give everyone confidence and help them present the best version of themselves,' she wrote on her blog.

'I hope this blog will inspire you to build a robust casual-chic wardrobe that takes you through all of lifes moments.'

The idea for the blog first came to her in 2018, when she decided it was time her wardrobe got a makeover.

'I had been wearing the same clothing since college and I felt I needed a serious wardrobe refresh,' she recalled.

'I started researching and came across the French wardrobe philosophy that resonated with me.

'I decided to share my process and inspiration on this site and on Instagram.'

She has now fully embraced the French lifestyle - which includes enjoying long dinners, entertaining often, and jetting off to luxurious destinations like Mallorca, Spain (pictured)

From how to achieve the perfect French hairstyle to what Parisian women really wear, Victoria has given us an inside look at what it's really like to live in the city

According to Victoria, she had dreamed of living in France for more than 10 years, after spending time there during high school; she decided to finally make the move after visiting again in 2017.

'I had always wanted to return to the country as an independent adult,' she explained.

She has now fully learned to embrace the French lifestyle - which according to Victoria, includes 'enjoying long dinners,' 'entertaining often,' and jetting off to nearby luxurious destinations like Mallorca, Spain.

From how to achieve the perfect French hairstyle to what Parisian women really wear, Victoria has given us an inside look at what it's really like to live in the city.

French fashion: Do Parisian women really wear berets and trench coats?

According to Victoria, trench coats are an 'essential part of the French wardrobe' and can be 'seen on women all across the country'

She also said striped shirts and silk scarves are all a yes when it comes to French fashion

In one recent blog post, Victoria addressed 10 different French fashion cliches, and she dished on whether or not Parisians actually wear them.

And according to Victoria, no one really dons berets or carries Chanel bags around the city.

'Not every French woman owns a Chanel bag, or any other French designer bag for that matter,' she wrote.

She said contrary to belief, most French women don't own a Chanel bag. She dished: 'Luxury bags are still too expensive for most people, so the French prefer to buy a quality leather bag from a contemporary handbag designer'

'Luxury bags are still too expensive for most people, so the French prefer to buy a quality leather bag from a contemporary handbag designer.'

When it comes to the stereotypical French hat, she admitted, 'The rare berets I see on the streets of Paris are worn by much older couples, not young French women.'

However, according to Victoria, trench coats, striped shirts, and silk scarves are all a yes when it comes to French fashion.

'French women really do wear beautiful silk scarves, even if they arent all by Hermes,' she explained.

'I see colorful silk scarves on the streets of Paris very often. While French women dont wear them every day, this is one trend that I dont see going away any time soon.'

She added the trench coats are an 'essential part of the French wardrobe' and can be 'seen on women all across the country.'

She dished: 'These waterproof beige coats are practical for rainy Parisian days and go very well with most outfits. This is one outerwear cliche thats real!'

Achieving the perfect French hairstyle: embrace the all-natural look

According to Victoria, French women have a very 'laid-back approach' when it comes to their hair and tend to leave it 'mostly natural'

She claimed that most French women don't wash their hair every day - in fact, she insisted that they only wash their hair two to three times a week

In another post, Victoria shared some tips on achieving what she feels is the perfect French hairstyle.

'French women take a laid-back approach to their haircare,' she wrote. 'Theres something very liberating about letting your hair do its thing.

'French women use simple yet effective haircare products to keep their hair healthy, but other than that, they leave their hair mostly natural.

'Since [I moved to Paris], Ive stopped using all the harsh products on my hair recommended by American beauty experts.

She also said it's common in France to perform hair masks once a week, and put hair oil in your tips on the night before you plan to wash it

'Ive learned that the French approach to haircare involves having a low-maintenance routine but not getting bent out of shape if your hair isnt perfectly tousled all the time.'

She claimed that most French women don't wash their hair every day - in fact, she insisted that they only wash their hair two to three times a week - but when they do, she said they use the 'highest quality of shampoo they can afford.'

'French girls wash their hair far less than us Americans. Twice or three times a week is standard,' she said.

'The tricky part is that during the early stages of doing this, your hair will be greasy the longer you go without washing it.

'It takes a few months for the hair to adjust to being washed less, but after a while, your hair will adjust.

'You see, the scalp produces oil in response to the shampoo removing it. The more we shampoo our hair, the more oil our body produces.'

Her favorite shampoo brands are Leonor Greyl Paris, Klorane, and Phyto. And for the days you don't feel like washing it, she said dry shampoo is a 'French girl favorite.'

For conditioner, she recommended Leonor Greyl Paris, Kerastase, and Hair Rituel by Sisley.

'French girls sometimes use a leave-in conditioner or hair cream in the winter when hair gets extra dry. I have become obsessed with leave-in hair creams because they make my hair smell divine,' she gushed.

She also said it's common in France to perform hair masks once a week, and put hair oil in your tips on the night before you plan to wash it.

Mastering the perfect red lip: A must-have during a night-out in France

Although Victoria said that French women often take a 'minimalist approach' to their everyday makeup, they love to use 'bold' colors when it's time for a night out

Although Victoria said that French women often take a 'minimalist approach' to their everyday makeup, they love to use 'bold' colors when it's time for a night out.

While comparing French and American beauty standards, she explained, 'French women arent as obsessed with physical imperfections the way that Americans are'

'While daytime French girl makeup is often pared down and simple, French nighttime makeup can be much more interesting and playful,' she dished in one post.

She added in another post that French women usually apply their lipstick with their finger.

'Just dab some on your index or middle finger and lightly pat it onto your lips. You can even go above the edges a little bit for a fuller look,' she said. 'This will give your lips a color that looks more natural.'

While comparing French and American beauty standards, she explained, 'French women arent as obsessed with physical imperfections the way that Americans are. What I love about France is how open the French are to different types of beauty.'

She also claimed that contouring isn't as popular there, and that eyeliner is only used for a night out.

As for her skincare routine, she said she starts with a cleanse before adding eye cream to tackle her puffy eyes.

She then adds a thin layer of serum all over her face before following up with facial moisturizer - and Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre is her favorite.

'I also use a French body lotion after showering as the Parisian water tends to strip my skin of oils, making it super dry,' she added, citing La Roche-Posay Lipikar Balm AP+ Intense Repair Body Lotion as her go-to.

The French lifestyle: learning to take pleasure in the small things

When it comes to the most important things she's learned from making the move, she said in another post that living in France has really taught her to 'take pleasure in the small things'

She wrote that the French lifestyle involves 'entertaining often,' 'enjoying long dinners,' and 'supporting the arts'

'Lunch and dinner can be very long affairs in France,' she revealed. 'They are a time for gathering around friends and family and discussing everything from politics to personal news'

In a different post, Victoria shared some of the things that she loves to do around the city, along with her recommendations for Paris tourists - including shopping in French department stores like Le Bon Marche, La Samaritaine, and Galeries Lafayete Champs Elysees, taking a cooking class, attending a wine tasting, and visiting the 'smaller' Parisian museums like the Musee Rodin or Jacquemart-Andre.

'They are much less overwhelming than the expansive and touristy Louvre and Orsay museums,' she shared.

According to Victoria, the French 'highly value education and knowledge,' so it's important to 'take the time to read the news, brush up on history, and know about key culture figures'

She also said seeing a show at the Comedie Francaise is 'a must' if you 'love theater and performing arts.'

And most importantly, you have to pick up some fresh macaroons from Pierre Herme.

When it comes to the most important things she's learned from making the move, she said in another post that living in France has really taught her to 'take pleasure in the small things.'

'The first thing I noticed about the French way of living is that French people tend to take great pleasure in the small and ordinary parts of daily life,' said Victoria.

'Everything from making coffee in the morning, to reading a book, to folding laundry should be done with pleasure.

'Flaneur is one of my favorite French words. It doesnt have an exact translation in English, but it means someone who strolls around aimlessly.

'One of the easiest ways to adopt the French lifestyle is to become a flaneur. Spend some time walking around your neighborhood without a particular path in mind.

'Go where you feel like going and discover places you might not have seen before.'

She also said it forced her to learn to 'invest in herself.'

She also said she has learned to 'invest in herself.' 'Whether its a feminine lingerie set or a new luxury perfume, the French are not shy about investing in themselves,' she dished

'Whether its a feminine lingerie set that only you will see or a new luxury perfume, the French are not shy about investing in themselves,' she dished.

'Far too often we buy things to impress other people, but why not buy something that is just for us?

'French women take the time to buy things that perhaps no one else will see or notice, but they do it because it makes them happy. What better reason is there?'

She wrote that the French lifestyle involves 'entertaining often,' 'enjoying long dinners,' and 'supporting the arts.'

'Lunch and dinner can be very long affairs in France,' she revealed. 'They are a time for gathering around friends and family and discussing everything from politics to personal news.

'The French also love to host dinners at home, probably much more often than eating at a restaurant. They invite friends over and swap stories over a bottle of wine and a great cheese plate!'

According to Victoria, the French 'highly value education and knowledge,' so it's important to 'take the time to read the news, brush up on history, and know about key culture figures if you want to impress a French person.'
As Americans return to a more 'normal' life following two years of COVID-19 protocols, many have a desire to look their best  and they've also got savings to burn.

CNBC reports that procedures at medical spas are up, with customers getting more 'robust' treatment plans including things like laser hair removal, Botox, and Juvederm.

The med-spa industry was already seeing massive growth in the past 15 years, but while the pandemic hit many sectors hard, the med-spa industry saw overall success.

And that's on track to continue: According to ReportLinker, the US medical spa market was estimated at $4.8 billion in 2021, with about $12.73 billion globally  and the global market is expected to balloon to $25.9 billion by 2026.

The trend toward growth is occurring worldwide, but the US makes up 37.7 per cent of the market  and Americans are ready to embrace life without lockdowns.

Industry experts report that procedures at medical spas are up, with customers getting more 'robust' treatment plans. The US medical spa market was estimated at $4.8 billion in 2021 (stock image)

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Suzanne Munshower, owner of Beauty Marx, an aesthetic medspa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, explained that she has seen a big surge in the number of new clients requesting a full range of services, instead of simply dipping their toe in the water with one or two.

She says her business's usual Spring surge in demand has happened five weeks early - explaining that many of her patients have said they want to get themselves ready for big events, now that they are taking place again.

'In our practice, weve noticed two significant changes recently, related to demand,' she said.

'The first is a greater request for full face injectable rejuvenations, from newer clientele. This skipping over of the traditional dipping-their-toe-in-the-water, suggests an increasing normalization of medical aesthetic services.

'Second is that our Spring busy season kicked off five weeks earlier than usual, which in conversation is linked to patients mentioning a return to charitable events, weddings, vacations and getting back in front of customers.'

'People kind of want to look their best now that theyre getting out of Covid,' Alicia Bernal, manager of the Z-Center for Cosmetic Health in Sherman Oaks, California, told CNBC.

'So they want to treat their skin, and theyre investing more into procedures that give them long-term effects versus just doing injectables to kind of give you only short-term outcomes.'

Devin Haman, CEO and Co-Founder of Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center, added in an article for Forbes: 'The emotional impact of this pandemic and all its related effects have brought a lot of new customers into the fold as people tried to invest in themselves through relaxation, beauty treatments, and lifestyle advice.'

Experts suggest it is in part due to people wanting to look their best after being at home. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons also cites the 'Zoom Boom (stock image)

While reentering the world is a contributing factor, the prevalence of Zoom video calls has contributed to a higher interest in facial procedures as well.

CNBC points to a 2021 study by the skincare brand StriVectin, in which 44 per cent of 2,000 surveyed said they researched how to look better on these calls, while a third have considered cosmetic procedures.

Writing for the Boston Globe this month, Kara Baskin said that she made her first Botox appointment 'after two years of eating more, moving less, and staring at my every wrinkle on Zoom.'

In fact, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons even has a name for the phenomenon: the 'Zoom Boom.'

According to the American Med Spa Association, the three most popular procedures are skincare-related, and mostly focused on targeting signs of aging.

They include neuromodulators like Botox, hyaluronic acid fillers like Juvederm, and microneedling, which is used to tighten and remove acne scars.

Other med-spa procedures include dermabrasion, microdermabrasion, dermaplaning, laser hair removal, hair transplants, sclerotherapy (to remove spider veins), permanent makeup, chemical peels, and body sculpting like CoolSculpting.

More invasive procedures include liposuction, face lifts, labiaplasty, and vaginal rejuvenation.

In fact, anecdotal evidence shows an increase in demand for body sculpting procedures as well.

Katie Din, the owner of Flawless Image Medical Aesthetics in East Syracuse, New York, speculates that this is because so many people have gained weight.

'Our weight loss section has been busier since the pandemic because a lot of people put on weight working from home, not having to go out in public,' she said.

There has been such a growing interest in getting work done that one New York City med-spa, The Well, did away with its membership plan and inviting anyone to make an appointment.

The Well's CEO, Rebecca Parekh, told Fortune that they have also seen 'a tremendous amount of demand for private events' as New York reopens.

'From birthday dinners to bridal party foot rubs and brunch to corporations looking for new ways to bring their team together with full buy-out of talks and movement classes and treatments, weve been able to develop some amazing programs that are fun, experiential, and safe,' she said.
In a follow-up video, Mark gushed with pride about his daughter's accomplishments while encouraging other nursing students to 'stick it out'

A supportive dad has captured the hearts of thousands after his emotional reaction to his daughter passing her nurse licensing exam went viral.

Shannen Rosen, 26, Estero, Florida, shared a TikTok video last month of her father, Mark Rosen, crying and hugging her after she learned she had passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), a requirement to become a registered nurse.

The footage has been viewed more than 620,000 times since it was posted on March 10, and it was actually her dad's idea to document the milestone.

'I said to Shannon, "Shannon, let's make a video of this, pass or fail. Because this will be something that you can look back on the rest of your life because this is going to be your life's career," Mark, 65, told Good Morning America. 'Your kids and maybe your grandkids can look back at this video and they can cherish it.'

Shannen Rosen, 26, Estero, Florida, shared a TikTok video of her father, Mark Rosen, crying and hugging her after learning she was officially a registered nurse

The Nova Southeastern University graduate had passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), a requirement to become a licensed nurse

The heartwarming clip chronicled the moment that Shannon opened her test results and learned she had passed. She was anxiously sitting in front of her laptop while her father stood behind her.

'Oh my god, my heart is beating out of my chest,' she said.

'Just relax,' her dad told her, supportively rubbing her shoulders.

Shannon finally mustered up the courage to click on her results and burst into tears as she announced: 'I passed.'

'She passed!' her father screamed, throwing his arms up in the air. 'I knew it.'

'She passed!' her father screamed, throwing his arms up in the air. 'I knew it.' He then leaned over to give her a congratulatory hug

Mark then leaned over and gave his daughter a big congratulatory hug.

'See, I told you. I told you were gonna do it. I did it,' he said, fumbling his words. 'You did it  I didn't do it. You did it. All the hard work for two years. She's gonna be a nurse. She's gonna be a trauma nurse. She did it.'

The video ended with Mark picking up his phone to call Shannon's mother about the exciting news.

'My dad is so proud,' she wrote in the caption. 'I'M OFFICIALLY A REGISTERED NURSE!!!!

Shannon told GMA that she wasn't sure what she wanted to do after she graduated from college with a bachelors degree in family and child sciences. After taking a year off to work and save money, she applied to nursing school with her family's support.

Shannon graduated from Nova Southeastern Universitys nursing program four months ago

Shannon (pictured with her family) is now training at NCH Healthcare System, in Naples, Florida, as a circulating nurse, which is also known as an operating room nurse

Her father (pictured with his children in 2015) had gotten a part-time job at Hershey Co. to help her with her finances while she was in nursing school

Mark even got a job at the Hershey Co. to help Shannon with her finances while she was in school.

'At that time, I was pretty much retired and I said, "I'm gonna go out and get a part-time job and I'm gonna help you. I don't want you to stress so much on anything else but studying and achieving your goal." So that's what I did,' he recalled.

Shannon, who graduated from Nova Southeastern Universitys nursing program four months ago, admitted that she was 'already crying' before viewing her nursing board exam results because she was 'truly convinced' she had failed.

Mark knew it was common for people to have to take the test multiple times before passing, and he assured her that he loved her no matter what the outcome.

'I was kind of preparing her for if she didn't pass, but in my heart. I really knew she did it,' he explained to GMA.

Shannon is now training at NCH Healthcare System, in Naples, Florida, as a circulating nurse, which is also known as an operating room nurse.

Earlier this week, Shannon shared a sweet 'update from the proud dad' on TikTok

'I'm a proud father, and for all you guys who saw the original TikTok that are in nursing school. Stick it out,' he advised

Fans of her video loved her relationship with her dad, and thousands praised him in the comments.

'Hes so connected to you that your achievement was his achievement! How totally amazing! [Love] this so very much!' one person wrote.

'Oh my gosh this is the sweetest thing ever,' another added. 'What an amazing accomplishment!!! Congrats.'

'You are sooo lucky!! I never had a dad growing up! Every girl should have a Dad like this!' someone else shared.

Earlier this week, Shannon shared a sweet 'update from the proud dad' on TikTok.

'What can I say? I am so proud of that young lady,' Mark said. 'My heart melts. I'm a proud father, and for all you guys who saw the original TikTok that are in nursing school. Stick it out. You can do it. I can do it. You can do it.'
Chase Stokes has hit back at social media users who sent him 'death threats' and 'horrific messages' after he posted a selfie with his younger sister Rylie Walker.

The Outer Banks star, 29, shared the sweet snapshot on his Instagram Stories on Friday, revealing the model, 22, had 'surprised' him in South Carolina, where he is filming season three of the Netflix series.

'Luv u @ryliewalk,' he captioned the image, leading some people to wrongly assume Walker was his new love interest following his breakup with his co-star Madelyn Cline last fall.

Chase Stokes, 29, revealed he received 'death threats' after he shared a photo of himself with his younger sister Rylie Walker, 22, on Friday

The Outer Banks star's sister 'surprised' him in South Carolina, where he is filming season three of the Netflix series. 'Luv u @ryliewalk,' he captioned the image on his Instagram Stories

Stokes returned to social media about an hour later, saying it is f**king absurd' that he can't post a picture of himself with his sister 'without death threats'

'The fact that I can't post a picture with my baby sister without death threats is just f**king absurd,' he wrote in a follow-up post about an hour later.

'Get a grip. Family always comes first and at the end of the day if you don't know my sister and have the audacity to send me horrific messages then just go ahead and click that unfollow.'

Stokes went on to hint that he would be taking a break from social media following the online attacks.

'I will forever be a person who ALWAYS puts my family first. With that being said, and with that dumb s**t. I'm out. See you when I see you,' he concluded.

Some social media users wrongly assumed Walker was his new love interest, which was what likely led to the 'horrific messages' he received

Stokes was last linked to his Outer Banks co-star Madelyn Cline (pictured on the show)

Stokes was most recently in a relationship with Cline, 24. The duo, who play John B and Sarah Cameron on Outer Banks, first sparked dating rumors in 2020, after they shared that they were quarantining together.

They confirmed their relationship later that year and went on to accept the Best Kiss award for Outer Banks during the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards, where they shared a passionate onstage kiss.

Stokes and Cline called it quits months later, with a source telling People in November that 'they are definitely broken up.'

The following month, Stokes was spotted passionately kissing a mystery woman at Eden The Lounge in Orlando, Florida, in a viral video obtained by TMZ.

Stokes and Cline won the Best Kiss award during the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards in May (pictured). They broke up months later and have since been spotted with other people

Stokes and Cline's fans were sent into a frenzy in February following the release of two cast photos announcing the show's third season as in production

The former couple are holding hands in the images, which were also shared by Stokes. 'It was our start of filming,' Cline told Us Weekly of the photos

Val Bragg, who claimed to be the woman in the footage, denied rumors she was the reason Stokes broke up with Cline in a TikTok video.

She insisted he was 'single' when she met him, explaining that she received 'many hate comments' from people who called her a 'homewrecker.' She added that she is 'not dating' him  they were 'literally just two drunk people making out.'

Meanwhile, Cline has been linked to DJ Zack Bia. In December, they were spotted grabbing dinner at Giorgio Baldi and attending a Lakers game on her 24th birthday.

Stokes and Cline's fans were sent into a frenzy in February following the release of two cast photos announcing the show's third season as in production. The former couple are holding hands in the images, which were also shared by Stokes.

'It was our start of filming,' Cline told Us Weekly of the photos.
Elsewhere, Zara looked delighted as she took to the saddle for the third day of the horse trials with her family watching on

Mike, 43, who is married to the Queen's youngest granddaughter Zara, 40, took his daughters Mia, eight, and Lena, three, to the funfair at the trials while Olympic equestrian Zara showed off her show jumping skills

Mike Tindall was ever the doting dad today as he cuddled baby Lucas, one, at Burnham Market Horse Trials

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Mike Tindall was ever the doting dad today as he cuddled baby Lucas, one, while taking his children to watch mum Zara compete at Burnham Horse International Horse Trials in north Norfolk.

Mike, 43, who is married to the Queen's youngest granddaughter Zara, 40, took his daughters Mia, eight, and Lena, three, to the funfair at the trials while equestrian Zara showed off her show jumping skills.

Sporting jeans and a red jumper, Mike place baby Lucas on his lap, who kept warm in a blue puffer jacket.

His big sister Lena sat opposite them, before later playing on the swings.

Meanwhile Mia, the oldest of the Tindall children opted for a striped T-shirt and jeans as she met with her mum.

Elsewhere, Zara looked delighted as she took to the saddle for the third day of the horse trials.

Mike Tindall was ever the doting dad today as he cuddled baby Lucas, one, while taking his children to watch mum Zara compete at Burnham Horse International Horse Trials in north Norfolk

Stealing the show! Little Lucas looked adorable as he climbed on Dad Mike's shoulders

You can't catch me! Little Lucas looked adorable as he sported a black T-shirt with zebras at the fun fair from sustainable kids brands Mori, it cost 13

Having a swing! Lena, three, has clearly taken after her sporty parents as she jumped around the swings while Dad Mike looked on

Speed racer! Zara Tindall's daughter Lena Tindall on a ride, in the fairgound at the Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International Horse Trials

Round and round we go! England rugby pro Mike showed off his softer side as he rode with his kids

Mike, 43, who is married to the Queen's youngest granddaughter Zara, 40, took his daughters Mia, eight, and Lena, three, to the funfair at the trials while equestrian Zara showed off her show jumping skills

The Queen 's eldest granddaughter opted for white slacks and a white riding shirt under a blue blazer as she joined fellow equestrians at the prestigious three-day horse trails.

The former Olympian, with decades of experience on the British circuit looked delighted as showed off her skills.

Zara, who won a Silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics rode Classic Eurostar, and eight-year-old Gelding.

The royal gave birth to youngest son Lucas in March last year.

Ex-England rugby ace Mike looked every inch the proud father as he gazed lovingly at Lucas, who celebrated his first birthday last month.

Mike Tindall on the teacup ride with his son Lucas Tindall and daughter Lena Tindall, in the fairgound at the Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International Horse Trials in Norfolk.

Mike Tindall holds his son Lucas Tindall as they watch Lena Tindall (front) on a ride, in the fairgound

Sporting jeans and a red jumper, Mike place baby Lucas on his lap, who kept warm in a blue puffer jacket.

Hands on fun! Mike, a former England international, later pushed zorbing balls in a play pen at the fair

Meanwhile little Lena, three, was pictured playing on the swings sporting a striped shirt and jeans

Merry go round! Mike placed little Lucas on his lap while big sister Lena sat opposite them, before later playing on the swings.

Mum time! After playing at the funfair Lena went and played with mum Zara who was competing

Zara Tindall walks with her daughters Mia Tindall (left) and Lena Tindall, at the Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International

Making a splash! Zara is seen riding Classicals Euro Star takes part in the Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International Horse Trials

Like a pro! Zara showed off her showjumping skills as she jumped through water today

Zara Tindall looked delighted today as she took to the saddle for the third day of the Burnham Horse International Horse Trials in north Norfolk.

The Queen 's eldest granddaughter, 40, opted for white slacks and a white riding shirt under a blue blazer as she joined fellow equestrians at the prestigious three-day horse trails

The former Olympian, with decades of experience on the British circuit, the royal looked delighted as showed off her skills.

Zara, who won a Silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, looked delighted as she rode 10-year-old grey mare Hapeenstance opting for minimal make-up for the day out.

In 2020, Zara described how riding for her country is what 'dreams are made of' and how she is lucky to have her horses with her in lockdown.

The silver Olympic medal-winning equestrian lives on her mother Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire.

She told a royal special edition of Horse & Hound magazine that she enjoys the pressure of competing.

She said: 'I love riding for my country; those have been the best experiences of my career, to get your horse to that level is what it's all about, and what we all strive for,' she said at the time.

'I love the big occasion because I love the pressure - sitting on a horse that you know is good enough, you are fully prepared, riding for your country, it's what your dreams are made of.

This is the royal's third day at the event, earlier in the week she was cheered on by husband Mike and their three children Mia, eight, Lena, three, and Lucas, one.

The daughter of Princess Anne is married to former rugby player Mike Tindall, 43, and was joined earlier in the week by her husband and three children, who proudly cheered her on at the event.
LEG OF LAMB WITH ROAST VEGETABLES

For me it has to be seasonal lamb at Easter. I love roasting the vegetables with the lamb to add maximum flavour.

Serves 6 to 8

2.25kg (5lb) lamb leg

1 bulb of garlic, cut in half horizontally, cloves of 1 half separated and halved

A few sprigs of fresh rosemary, plus extra sprigs to garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

100ml (3fl oz) olive oil

600g (1lb 5oz) new potatoes

1 lemon, halved

A large bunch of baby topped or heritage carrots

2 red onions, peeled and quartered

6-8 baby parsnips, peeled

To serve

Mint sauce and gravy

Broccoli or other greens

JAMES'S TIP Stud the lamb with the garlic and rosemary a few hours ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature 30 mins before roasting. Advertisement

Preheat the oven to 200C/ fan 180C/gas 6. Place the lamb in a large roasting tin  large enough to take all the additional vegetables.

Using a sharp knife, make around 20 incisions all over the meat, then stud with the separated garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then drizzle with half the oil.

Roast the lamb for 1 hour, then place the new potatoes, lemon halves and remaining half of the garlic bulb around the meat. Drizzle with the remaining oil.

Roast for a further 30 minutes. Add the carrots, onions and parsnips to the tin and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender and the lamb is cooked to your liking.

Transfer the lamb, potatoes and vegetables to a platter and garnish with extra rosemary. Serve the lamb sliced with mint sauce, lots of gravy and broccoli or other greens.

Matthew Jukes wine pairing: Perfect with lamb

2020 Chateau Gillet Bordeaux France (8, Marks & Spencer)

Leading with the merlot grape, this is a rare example of a red Bordeaux that tastes fabulous in its youth, and it is precisely because of its medium-weight, blackcurrant-imbued style that it will work wonders with the Leg Of Lamb.

WEEKEND BRUNCH WITH POTATO ROSTIS

Rostis are easy to make, but do squeeze out the water to ensure they are nice and crispy.

Serves 2

1 large potato (or 2 medium), peeled and grated

Salt and black pepper

1tbsp creme fraiche

1 egg yolk

A knob of butter

A drizzle of vegetable oil

1tsp white wine vinegar

2 eggs

12 fine asparagus spears

JAMES'S TIP If you fancy giving your rostis even more flavour, you could add some grated apple or parsnip to the potato. Advertisement

Place the potato in a tea towel and squeeze out all the excess water. Transfer to a bowl, season and stir in the creme fraiche and egg yolk.

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan, add 2 spoonfuls of potato and fry for 4-5 minutes, until golden. Flip over, flatten with a spatula and cook for 4-5 minutes, until golden.

Repeat to make 4 rostis. Keep warm.

Half fill a pan with water, add the vinegar and bring to a simmer. With a whisk, make a swirl in the centre of the water.

Crack 1 egg into a cup and slide it into the centre of the water. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon.

Repeat with the other egg. Meanwhile, in a separate pan of boiling water, cook the asparagus for 3 minutes.

Arrange the rostis on plates, top with the eggs and asparagus, season and serve immediately.

Matthew Jukes wine pairing: Best with brunch

2020 Gunderloch, Red Stone Riesling Germany (8, Co-op)

This super-light riesling from the German region of Rheinhessen weighs in at only 11.5 per cent alcohol and the fruit notes are clean, zingy and bright as a button. With the Weekend Brunch, theres enough grip to cut through the poached eggs and joust with the asparagus, making it a bargain-priced beauty.

PUFF PASTRY FISH PIE

Who doesnt love a pie! For my version, I have used natural, undyed smoked haddock, but you can use regular haddock, salmon or cod  or a mixture of all of them.

Serves 6

For the pie

300g (10oz) ready-rolled puff pastry

600g (1lb 5oz) sustainable undyed smoked haddock, skin removed, cut into large chunks

300g (10oz) raw king prawns, peeled and cleaned

1 egg yolk, beaten

Peas or seasonal vegetables of your choice, to serve

For the white sauce

50g (1oz) butter

50g (1oz) plain flour

500ml (18fl oz) milk

25g (1oz) fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

JAMES'S TIP You can save time by using quality shop-bought puff pastry, but look for an all-butter version  it really does taste better! Advertisement

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Remove the pastry from the fridge so it comes up to room temperature.

To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a pan, whisk in the flour until it forms a paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the milk and whisk until smooth.

Stirring constantly, bring it to a simmer and cook for 5-8 minutes, until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.

Place the fish and prawns in an ovenproof dish and mix. Pour in the white sauce and allow to cool slightly.

Unroll the pastry and lay over the filling. Trim the edges (you can use the trimmings to make leaf decorations if you like).

Crimp the edges with a fork and brush the top all over with egg yolk. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until puffed and golden. Serve with peas or your choice of seasonal vegetables.

Matthew Jukes wine pairing: Fabulous with fish

2021 Yalumba, The Y Series Riesling South Australia (8, Sainsburys)

This is one of Australias finest-value dry rieslings and this new vintage, with its upgraded packaging, gives the already classy wine an extra boost of pizzazz. The tangy citrus theme cuts straight through the smoked haddock and juicy king prawns in the scrumptious Fish Pie.

BAKED SALMON WITH ASPARAGUS AND CHARRED LETTUCE

Fish should always have a place on the Easter table and this salmon makes a nice alternative to more traditional roast meat. Seasonal asparagus is one of the true delights for a cook and adds great flavour.

Serves 6

300g (10oz) asparagus, woody ends removed

4 little gem lettuces, quartered

1 side of salmon, skin on (approx. 1.5kg/3lb 5oz)

1tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, halved

Preheat the oven to 200C/ fan 180C/gas 6. Arrange the asparagus and little gem lettuce quarters in a large roasting tray.

Place the side of salmon on top, skin-side down, and drizzle with the oil. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Squeeze half a lemon all over the top, then add the remaining lemon halves to the tray.

Transfer the tray to the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the salmon is tender and cooked through and the lettuce is nicely charred. Transfer to a latter and serve immediately.

Matthew Jukes wine pairing: Superb with salmon

2020 Finest, Margaret River Brooks Road Chardonnay Western Australia (15, Tesco)

This exquisite chardonnay is made by one of the top producers in the Margaret River region, Howard Park. Loaded with citrus fruit, this will pair perfectly with the Baked Salmon.

CHEESY LEEKS WITH TOASTED BRIOCHE

I often serve this indulgent dish as a side order in my restaurants. Its a great accompaniment to chicken and fish, and would also make a vegetarian main course.

Serves 6

600g (1lb 5oz) leeks, cut into chunks

100g (3oz) butter

200ml (7fl oz) double cream

A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked

250g (9oz) Cheddar or vegetarian cheese, grated

200g (7oz) fresh brioche, cut into cubes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the leeks, butter and cream in a large non-stick pan.

Sprinkle in the thyme leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the leeks are softened. Stir in half the cheese.

Meanwhile, spread the brioche on a baking tray and toast in the oven for a few minutes, until just golden.

Spoon the leek mixture into an ovenproof baking dish. Add the toasted brioche, season and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until bubbling and melted. Serve hot.

Matthew Jukes wine pairing: Ideal with cheese

2020 Sancerre, Les Cotes, Domaine Roblin France (15, Co-op)

Ive always loved the French range in Co-op, and this elegant and luxurious sauvignon blanc is no exception. Fresh, bright, elderflower-kissed and effortlessly classy, this is a treat to have with the Cheesy Leeks With Toasted Brioche.

MY CHOCOLATE ORANGE LAYER CAKE

This is my Easter showstopper. Enjoy!

Serves 8

For the sponge

50g (1oz) butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

8 medium eggs

250g (9oz) caster sugar

250g (9oz) plain flour

50g (1oz) ground almonds

4tbsp orange juice

For the filling

400ml (14fl oz) double cream, whipped

2tbsp chocolate spread

200g (7oz) orange curd (or use lemon curd)

To decorate

200g (7oz) dark chocolate, chopped

200ml (7fl oz) double cream

25g (1oz) butter

Selection of mini chocolate Easter eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm diameter cake tins with butter and line the bases with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for about 8 minutes, until pale, thick and at the ribbon stage (lift the whisks  the mixture should fall in a ribbon-like trail and hold itself there for a few seconds before sinking back in). Quickly fold in the butter, flour and almonds, but dont overmix.

Divide the batter evenly between the tins, tap to level and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and springy to the touch. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Using a serrated knife, slice the cakes horizontally in half, so you have 4 thin, round sponge cakes. Drizzle 1tbsp orange juice over each cake.

For the filling, divide the whipped cream in half and stir the chocolate spread into one half. Spread the base sponge with the orange curd.

Lay a second sponge on top and spread with the plain cream. Add a third sponge and spread with the cream and chocolate mixture. Top with the final sponge.

To decorate, melt the chocolate and cream in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, then whisk in the butter (this makes it glossy). Pour all over the top and sides of the cake and smooth with a palette knife.

Decorate with mini Easter eggs and allow to set.

Matthew Jukes wine pairing: Great with chocolate

NV Penfolds, Father Grand Tawny South Australia (24.99, reduced to 19.99 in a Mix Six until 25 April, Majestic)

Ive travelled Down Under to find a perfect match for the Chocolate And Orange Cake. This older Tawny tastes fruitier than a Tawny port, and its orange zest flavour makes for a sensational pairing.

RASPBERRY, COINTREAU AND WHITE CHOCOLATE TRIFLE

If you want to rustle up a showstopping dessert but dont have much time, this trifle uses some shop-bought ingredients. Ive added Cointreau, but you could leave it out or use orange juice if serving to children.

Serves 8

For the trifle

2 shop-bought jam Swiss rolls

3-4tbsp Cointreau (optional)

400g (14oz) frozen raspberries, thawed

400g (14oz) white chocolate

1 x 500g tub of fresh vanilla custard

To decorate

JAMES'S TIP You could use traditional sponge fingers or sliced cake as an alternative to Swiss rolls in this trifle. Advertisement

300g (10oz) fresh raspberries

White chocolate mini eggs, or other mini eggs of your choice

Place the Swiss rolls on a chopping board and, using a serrated knife, cut into even slices approximately 2.5cm thick. Arrange in a large glass trifle bowl, standing up some of the slices around the edge of the bowl.

Drizzle with the Cointreau, if using. In a food processor, blitz the thawed raspberries to a rough puree, then spread evenly all over the Swiss roll slices.

Gently melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and whisk in the custard.

Allow to cool, then spoon into the trifle bowl. Transfer to the fridge for at least 20 minutes to chill.

Just before serving, top the trifle with the fresh raspberries and white chocolate mini eggs to decorate

Matthew Jukes wine pairing: Delicious for dessert

NV Classics No.40, Rich Cream Sherry Spain (8, Marks & Spencer)

This sherry is perfection with the dangerously flavour-packed Trifle. You need a wine with a massive impact when liqueurs are used in a dish.
Almost every child in America has nicotine on their hands  even those living in homes where no one smokes, a new study finds.

Researchers at San Diego State University (SDSU), in California, found that 96 percent of children had traces of nicotine on their hands, with equal levels across children from houses that had or did not have a smoker.

They warn that children are regularly exposed to trace amounts of the highly addictive, dangerous, substance, and may even be carrying it around on their body.

The experts also say that nicotine can end up on children's hands when its residue collects and lingers on surfaces in homes, where it appears as dust particles.

They also said youngsters were more likely to ingest it due to more frequent hand-to-mouth behaviors, where it could pose a risk due to their developing organs and immature immune systems.

Dr Penelope Quintana, a professor an environmental health at SDSU who took part in the study, said it was a 'wake-up call' on substances that could be lurking in households.

Researchers led by San Diego State University, in California, swabbed the fingers of 500 children who were around six years old.

Children from black families and those earning less than $15,000 a year were most likely to have nicotine on their hands. The above chart shows nicotine levels on the hands of children who lived with smokers (yellow line) and non-smokers (blue line)

Researchers, who published their findings in JAMA Network Open, swabbed the fingers of 500 children who were around six years old for the study. Three-fifths were from non-smoking homes.

Children were considered protected from tobacco exposure if they lived in homes where no one smoked or vaped, and had no contact with tobacco users over the previous week.

Researchers swabbed all five fingers on the child's dominant hand  mostly the right hand  and tested the samples for nicotine.

Out of the 193 children from homes with smokers, 189 (97 percent) were found to have nicotine on their hands.

Among the 311 children who lived in homes where no one smoked, 296 (95 percent) were found to be carrying nicotine.

Children from households earning $15,000 or up to $30,000 a year were six and two times more likely to have carry nicotine compared to families earning more than this.

Black children were also more likely to have nicotine on their hands than those from white households.

Quintana warned children from households earning less than $15,000 a year and ethnic minority groups had the highest amounts of nicotine on their hands.

Scientists said children were at greater risk of picking this up  termed thirdhand smoke (THS)  than adults because they spend more time indoors.

Nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, and is used both in them and associated products such as vapes.

'Low-income children and children of black parents have the most of this involuntary exposure,' Quintana said.

'This is a wake-up call to protect vulnerable children and is an overlooked part of housing disparities.'

Experts warn that nicotine could be lingering around the home, even in households where there is not anyone who smokes

Dr Melinda Mahabee-Gittens, of Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Centre and who led data collection for the project, said: 'One result of this research should be to include thirdhand smoke as part of parental smoking cessation education programs.'

The study relied on just one area of the U.S., and it is not clear whether its results summarize the status in the rest of the country.

About 12.5 percent of adults smoke in the U.S., but in California only 10 percent smoke. It has the second-lowest smoking rates in the country.

West Virginia, Kentucky and Louisiana have the highest smoking rates in the country, where more than two in ten adults use cigarettes.

But Utah, California and Massachusetts have the lowest rates.
Dr Sarah Mason-Whitfield wasnt too worried when she tested positive for Covid-19 in March last year.

The London-based GP, 46, discovered she had the virus after taking a routine lateral flow test. Just days before, shed received her second Pfizer vaccine dose.

'I wasnt feeling great after my jab, so I didnt notice I was ill at first, she says.

Within days, the married mother-of-ones symptoms worsened.

I was incredibly fatigued and had really awful muscle pains, she says. She consigned herself to bed, hoping that rest would help.

But while the muscle pain eased, after two weeks, new symptoms began to plague her.

I realised I couldnt sit up in bed for longer than ten minutes without feeling really dizzy. And when I tried to stand up, I felt a tight upper chest pain.

As the weeks went on, the dizziness and chest pain did not disappear.

In fact, Dr Mason-Whitfield, who had by then placed herself on sick leave, realised it was getting worse. A family doctor with decades of experience, she began to consider her own medical diagnosis.

If I tried to do simple tasks like wipe the kitchen table, it would set it off. It felt like someone was tightening a belt around my ribs, and the pain would shoot up into the back of my mouth and my teeth.

'They were classic cardiac discomfort  the kind of symptoms youd expect with a heart problem like angina or something worse.

Dr Mason-Whitfield went to her local rapid access chest pain clinic, an NHS service that allows people with chest pain who might be at risk of heart attack to get urgent care.

However, she was refused an appointment. I was told since Id had Covid, I didnt qualify for the clinic, because chest pain was such a common symptom of the infection.

Still suffering in June, the NHS doctor booked a private appointment with a heart specialist.

There, she was put through a number of common heart tests, including an angiogram, a special type of X-ray that uses dye injected into the blood to allow doctors to look at the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that supply the heart.

Problems in the coronary arteries are often associated with conditions such as heart attack and stroke.

An angiogram can also flag up angina, chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscles. But Dr Mason-Whitfields angiogram showed no problems  her coronary arteries were clear.

She wasnt satisfied. My symptoms were so bad that even a gust of cold wind, making me tense up, would set off excruciating chest pain. I knew something was seriously wrong.

Her private cardiologist next suggested a test known as a stress perfusion MRI, which examines the blood flow to the heart both at rest and under stress. Its a complicated procedure and is not available at many NHS hospitals.

Luckily, Dr Mason-Whitfield was able to pay the 300 cost, and the results provided an answer.

The scan showed that, under stress, blood was failing to flow through the smallest blood vessels supplying the heart, starving the muscle of oxygen. This is known as microvascular angina, and it is notoriously hard to diagnose.

It suddenly all made sense, says Dr Mason-Whitfield.

This explained the pain. My heart wasnt working properly and no one at first could spot why.

In February, a major US study found that even a mild case of Covid can increases a persons risk of heart problems for at least a year after their diagnosis. Researchers found that patients with Covid were more likely to suffer a range of cardiovascular conditions including abnormal heart rhythms, heart muscle inflammation, blood clots and heart attacks. [File image]

For anyone battling long-term ill-health as a result of a Covid infection, Dr Mason-Whitfields story will make worrying reading.

It is also not an isolated case. In February, a major US study found that even a mild case of Covid can increases a persons risk of heart problems for at least a year after their diagnosis.

Researchers found that patients with Covid were more likely to suffer a range of cardiovascular conditions including abnormal heart rhythms, heart muscle inflammation, blood clots and heart attacks.

The study, which observed more than 150,000 American army veterans and was published by Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, showed Covid sufferers were 72 per cent more likely to suffer heart failure  a debilitating and rapidly worsening condition in which the heart stops pumping effectively, starving the body of oxygen.

They were also 52 per cent more likely to have a stroke.

More alarming, the risk was elevated even for those who were under 65 and had no other heart disease risk factors, such as obesity or diabetes.

St Louis-based epidemiologist and study author Dr Ziyad Al-Aly said that he began to suspect a link between Covid and heart problems at the beginning of the pandemic.

At that time, none of us knew anything about long Covid.

HEART FACT Heart disease deaths rose by nearly 15 per cent between 2020 and 2021, thought to be due mainly to missed diagnoses. Advertisement

Over several weeks, we started hearing about patients who were not fully recovering and had lingering issues, including heart problems.

NHS heart experts speaking to The Mail on Sunday say UK hospitals are seeing a similar pattern.

Its become clear that people who suffer a bad bout of Covid are more likely to experience dangerous heart problems in the months after, says Dr Fozia Ahmed, consultant cardiologist at the Manchester Heart Centre.

But since the beginning of the pandemic weve also seen an influx of younger patients suffering from heart problems, who only had mild cases. These are people who you wouldnt expect to have heart issues.

Thankfully, were seeing fewer of these patients now that the majority of people are vaccinated, but what this has shown is that there is a clear relationship between Covid and heart problems.

One heart condition is already well known for its link to Covid: myocarditis, a rare condition in which muscles in the heart become temporarily inflamed, causing chest pain, breathlessness, a pounding pulse and nausea.

Karen Cook, 59, from West Sussex, was diagnosed with a painful heart condition four months after catching Covid. The clinical pharmacy manager caught the virus in March 2020 and suffered severe breathlessness and fatigue for a week

'They have no idea what's wrong with me' Suzanne Rolf says she was a normal, fit, active mum before she caught Covid. Today, almost a year on, she has been left battling a raft of mysterious symptoms, including crushing fatigue, breathlessness and a racing pulse  and doctors seem unable to find the cause. Suzanne tested positive last June. She was 37 weeks pregnant with her second child. Suzanne Rolf, 34, from Warrington, was a 'normal, fit and active mum' before she caught Covid and has been left battling a raft of mysterious symptoms a year on I hadnt been vaccinated, as theyd only just said it was safe for pregnant women, recalls the accountant from Warrington, 34. I was being careful, but I caught it anyway. Having suffered a few cold symptoms, she recovered and went to hospital to have her son, who is now nine months old, by caesarean section. During the operation my blood pressure dropped really low, Suzanne says. I have been really poorly ever since. Every time I stand up, my heart races and I feel dreadful. At first, I could barely hold my son, I was so exhausted. Suzanne was told she had postural tachycardia syndrome, or PoTS, a term for an abnormally increased heart rate, but no cause has been found. Ive had tests and they tell me my hearts normal. Im under the care of a long Covid clinic, but theyve no idea whats wrong. She longs to discover whether heart problems are causing her symptoms, and to find some treatment. Its hard to stay optimistic, she says. Advertisement

Early reports suggested there was a small risk of young men developing the condition after vaccination  and for this reason, the Government at first chose to offer 12-to-15-year-olds only one Covid jab.

However, studies have since found that myocarditis, which in most cases is thankfully temporary, is far more likely to be caused by the virus itself than the vaccine.

Many doctors point out that viral infections commonly cause transient inflammation in the heart.

In most cases it gets better. But it can, in a minority of patients, lead to more permanent or severe problems.

The phenomenon during the pandemic, though worrying, was expected. People who present with heart problems have often experienced the flu or a cold in the months prior, says Dr Malcolm Finlay, consultant cardiologist at Barts Heart Centre in London.

It tends to be that, although they thought they were healthy, in actual fact they were on the cusp of heart problems, and the infection tipped them over the edge.

Theres been a huge amount of Covid about, so it stands to reason that, especially early on when no one had any immunity to the virus, there were going to be more heart problems as result.

Its unclear whether Covid has any specific impact on the heart which other infections dont have.

While many patients who have developed heart problems following a Covid infection have received a diagnosis, and been treated, it is possible there are thousands still struggling who have not had a proper diagnosis.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there are currently almost 700,000 Britons suffering from symptoms that have lingered for a year or more after the initial Covid infection.

In many cases, no physical cause can be found  but could this be because patients arent being given the right tests?

Shortness of breath and chest pain are often reported by those with long Covid, and these are common signs of heart diseases.

Cardiologists we spoke to believe many long Covid patients may be suffering from undiagnosed heart conditions. Dr Rae Duncan, a cardiologist at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, says: I ran one of the first dedicated cardiac wards for Covid patients in the UK, and what appears to be becoming clear is that Covid increases the chance of blood clots forming and causes inflammation in the blood vessels.

Standard long Covid clinics are not equipped to diagnose or treat these sorts of serious conditions, and it is likely things are being missed.

Dr Mason-Whitfield believes her condition, microvascular angina, could be one cause of long Covid.

I know other doctors who, like me, have pushed for a diagnosis and have been told they have microvascular angina. Its possible that there are thousands of others out there with this.

The condition can be treated. Dr Mason-Whitfields cardiologist prescribed her diltiazem, a drug that dilates blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow through.

My symptoms have vastly improved since I started taking it, she says. My breathlessness has gone, as has my chest pain. Even my other long Covid symptoms, like brain fog and nerve pain, have reduced.

The Washington University researchers' graph shows heart risk of developing heart conditions compared to those who have not been infected (centre panel). A purple dot to the right of the vertical line signals an increased risk compared to the uninfected. The right panel shows how this increased risk translates into an increase in cases for each heart complication

Other doctors say the theory deserves attention. Dr Ahmed said: With long Covid there could be many causes of chest pain, and people have been ruling out scarring in the lungs or blocked major arteries in the heart.

Rarer conditions like microvascular angina should be explored too.

However, she adds that the condition isnt something that many cardiologists immediately test for, saying: Youd have to be actively thinking about it to look for it.

Another problem, doctors say, is that there is a lack of specialist equipment to diagnose microvascular angina. You need a cardiac MRI machine to perform a perfusion stress test, and many NHS hospitals dont have one, says Dr Duncan, who also agrees the condition could account for a large proportion of chest pains in long Covid patients.

When someone with long Covid goes into hospital complaining of heart pain, theyll get a basic heart scan, which cant pick up changes that small.

Dr Mason-Whitfield adds that long Covid patients are often disregarded by clinicians, which may explain why they are not getting the right tests.

It took so much work to get my diagnosis and Im an experienced senior doctor. If were getting this nonsense, then how does the general public stand a chance?

One case in point is Karen Cook, 59, from West Sussex, who was diagnosed with a painful heart condition four months after catching Covid.

The clinical pharmacy manager caught the virus in March 2020 and suffered severe breathlessness and fatigue for a week.

After eight days, I went back to work at the hospital. I didnt feel right, but we were so understaffed I didnt feel like I had a choice and so I struggled through the first couple of months.

Soon after going back, her breathing difficulties returned, and she began to feel tightness in her chest.

However, the mother-of-twos GP repeatedly refused to refer her to a cardiologist.

She said it was all stress from work and I just needed to rest.

Karen took six weeks off work to recover, but when she resumed, she instantly realised that she still wasnt well. I pushed for a heart review at the hospital where I worked and got an appointment with the cardiologist.

HEART FACT Vaccinated people are far less likely to suffer heart problems after having Covid, according to a study at Washington University. Advertisement

Luckily, I knew him well and he instantly realised I wasnt right.

I was fit and healthy, I used to do Zumba, and there I was, not able to get up a flight of stairs.

Karens cardiologist sent her for an MRI scan, which immediately flagged pericarditis, an inflammation in the fluid-filled sac that surrounds the heart.

While not immediately a serious health problem, left untreated pericarditis can lead to more dangerous conditions such as heart failure.

Karen was told to rest in bed for a month, and her symptoms began to improve, but in February 2021, they suddenly returned.

I wasnt getting the chest pains any more, but my body was aching and I was still breathless, she says.

Further scans revealed that Karen had developed a number of blood clots in her lungs.

Doctors started her on the blood-thinning drug warfarin, and she will potentially need to take it for the rest of her life.

They think that Covid has triggered an autoimmune condition, which means my blood clots really easily now, so Ill have to keep taking the medication just in case.

Karen has also developed a severe sensitivity to sunlight, meaning she must wear sunglasses outdoors.

Its only because I pushed that anything got done. If Id just relied on my GP, I wouldnt have got anywhere. I really worry about the patients out there who are being disregarded.

Many doctors believe vaccines mean that fewer of these cases will occur from now on.

We were seeing lots of serious heart problems connected with Covid infections during the first and second waves of the pandemic, but its really settled down since then, says Dr Ahmed.

This is no doubt due to the vaccines, but also because of the mildness of the Omicron variant.

However, others point out that long Covid patients will continue to suffer until they can receive effective treatment.

If you dont do the right tests, you wont get the right answers, says Dr Duncan.

Patients are being told to go away and rest, and itll all sort itself out, when it clearly wont. We know there are treatments that can help conditions like microvascular angina, but you need to know what youre treating, and currently most long Covid diagnoses are effectively being done in the dark.
Experts have hailed a quantum leap forward in lung cancer treatment, thanks to a new double-drug therapy that can reduce the risk of relapse and boost survival by years.

Trial results announced this month showed that patients given the immunotherapy medicine nivolumab alongside chemotherapy prior to surgery were more likely to live longer, compared to those given chemo alone.

Sufferers also remained symptom-free for nearly a year longer after completing treatment.

Nivolumab is already available on the NHS for lung cancer patients, but is given after surgery or chemo. Doctors believe the trial findings will set a new standard in care for patients.

Consultant oncologist Tobias Arkenau, of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK, said: New approaches like these have transformed lung cancer from something that was basically untreatable to a chronic disease.

'The days of only being able to offer chemotherapy, and a fairly bleak prognosis, are pretty much gone.

And with nivolumab, there is even the hope of a cure. Its a ground-breaking trial and life-changing for cancer patients.

One patient who has first-hand experience of the remarkable effects of nivolumab is Norma McAra, 70. The grandmother- of-three from Arbroath (right) was first diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in 2013

Speaking at the American Association for Cancer Research conference a fortnight ago, oncologist Dr David Carbone, of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus, called the results another quantum leap in lung cancer therapy.

He added: Combining immunotherapy with surgery, I think, is the new standard of care and will almost certainly improve overall survival in early-stage disease, for the first time in decades.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for around a fifth of all deaths from the disease.

There are 50,000 new cases a year  and 60 per cent of patients die within a year of diagnosis. Just one in five men, and one in five women with lung cancer live for more than five years.

For those in the early stages of the disease, surgery is typically offered to remove a portion of the lung  and tumour within  in the hope of a cure.

This is normally followed by chemotherapy to kill off any cancer cells that have spread elsewhere in the body, to stop the cancer coming back.

But between a third and a half of patients who undergo surgery have a recurrence and ultimately die of their disease.

During the trial, 358 patients were split into two groups. Both were treated with three doses of chemotherapy, spaced three weeks apart, but one group was given an additional dose of nivolumab via an intravenous drip at the same time.

Gene treatment for advanced disease People with a highly aggressive type of lung cancer are set to benefit from a gene therapy drug after NHS spending watchdog NICE gave it the green light last week. The medication, tepotinib, is the first targeted treatment for advanced lung cancer linked to a genetic fault known as a METex14 skipping alteration. Health chiefs approved tepotinib for patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland after studies showed it slowed disease progression and helped patients to live longer  20 months on average. METex14 skipping alterations are seen in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease. Targeted treatments such as tepotinib require genetic testing to determine eligibility  and the NHS is developing genomic laboratory hubs across the UK, equipped to manage these more complex assessments. Advertisement

Nivolumab is a type of drug known as a checkpoint inhibitor. It works by blocking a protein called PD-1 found on tumour cells, which camouflages cancers, helping them evade the immune system.

By blocking PD-1, nivolumab reveals the tumour, and the immune system then attacks and clears the cancer. Meanwhile, the chemotherapy directly attacks the cancer cells.

After the three treatment cycles had finished, there was a six-week wait before surgery.

The nivolumab patients had a 37 per cent reduced risk of disease recurrence, progression and death nearly two years on compared to those who had chemotherapy alone.

It isnt fully understood why giving the treatments prior to surgery is so much more effective.

However, last year the same research team revealed that the approach shrank tumours dramatically before the operation  making it easier for surgeons to remove all cancerous tissue, leaving a quarter of patients effectively cancer-free.

One patient who has first-hand experience of the remarkable effects of nivolumab is Norma McAra, 70.

The grandmother- of-three from Arbroath was first diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in 2013. Id gone to the GP for some reason  and mentioned that I felt a bit breathless while running for the bus, Norma recalls.

Her doctor sent her for scans as a precaution  and tumours were detected in her lungs. Norma was given chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We thought wed got all of it, as scans kept coming back all clear, she says.

But in 2016, her cancer returned and she endured another year of chemo. The following year she was put on nivolumab as it was by then approved for NHS use.

Norma says: Ive not looked back. I go in for my drip once every two weeks, and thats it. I feel fine.

When I was told I had lung cancer, it felt like a death sentence. Its amazing to think now patients will get just a few doses of the drug Im on before surgery, and be given the same hope.
Every Parkinsons patient could soon be given a high-tech smart watch that allows doctors to remotely monitor their condition.

The 175 gadget has been designed by an Australian firm specifically to care for people with Parkinsons.

It tells clinicians how often the user is moving and sleeping  two key indicators of possible complications from the degenerative brain disease.

If the patient is moving excessively and sleeping less, doctors may decide to change their medication, or offer other interventions such as physiotherapy, to stop the condition getting worse.

The device also buzzes to remind patients to take their daily course of medication.

The 175 gadget (above) has been designed by an Australian firm specifically to care for people with Parkinsons

Two hundred patients at University Hospitals Plymouth Trust have been given the watch as part of a trial, and the scheme could soon be rolled out to the 140,000 Britons living with the incurable condition.

The move has been hailed by NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard, who says the technology dramatically improves patients quality of life.

The watch records information through sensors in the device, similar to those found in an Apple Watch. It is programmed to send data after six months directly to the doctor.

Parkinsons disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged.

Over time, patients will often begin to experience involuntary shaking, slow movement, and stiff and inflexible joints.

Doctors are still unsure what triggers it, and there is currently no cure, but patients can take drugs that reduce the main symptoms.

Parkinson's disease causes muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, tremors, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, an impaired quality of life and can lead to severe disability

To ensure these medicines are working well, patients receive check-ups at hospital every six to 24 months where they are still required to fill out questionnaires detailing their symptoms.

The smart watch, known as a Parkinsons KinetiGraph, will automatically create a report every six months based on the movement and sleeping patterns of the patient, which is then sent to their doctor.

One of the first to try the watch was John Whipps, 69. The retired biologist from Cornwall says the technology removes the stress of having to log his constantly changing symptoms.

He said: It really gives you confidence as you know it gives accurate recordings, and you dont need to rely so much on your own perception.
Anatomy Of A Scandal

Netflix

Rating:

Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof

BBC1, Tuesday

Rating:

Anatomy Of A Scandal is the latest show from David E. Kelley, who gave us Big Little Lies and also The Undoing and, as schlocky as they were, we could not tear our eyes away.

Here, though, the challenge is to keep them open. I needed a constant supply of Red Bulls to make it through to the end. Its the sort of series you want to thrash with a broom, hoping it will leap into some kind of life.

(Leap into life, goddamn you, leap into life!)

Adapted from Sarah Vaughans novel, this stars Rupert Friend as James Whitehouse, a high-flying Conservative MP, and Sienna Miller (above) as Sophie, his shiny wife

Its adapted from Sarah Vaughans novel and stars Rupert Friend as James Whitehouse, a high-flying Conservative MP, and Sienna Miller as Sophie, his shiny wife.

Her wardrobe is fantastic, even if the palette never veers from beige in what is, in essence, a remarkably beige show. (It made me want to thrash it into some kind of colour. Give us red! Give us purple! Give us one of Nicole Kidmans teal coats!)

James and Sophie are fantastically rich, judging from their house, where the furnishings are not just beige but expensively beige. Yet they wear their privilege and entitlement lightly. Im joshing you.

Whats the thing about the Whitehouses? James likes to ask their two children. We come out on top! they always chorus.

Please God make their world come crashing down, youll be praying and, thank God, it does.

Shes at a shiny party for shiny people when he summons her home to confess he had an affair with a researcher  I f***ed up big time  and its about to break in the press.

There are odd omissions throughout. We dont see Sophie reeling from this news. Instead, the action immediately cuts to a later conversation on one of their (expensively beige) sofas when shes asking what the researchers name is.

This isnt the only peculiar directorial choice. Hit by some new revelation, a character might fall through the air, or act as if theyve been literally punched in the stomach, or the frame may spin. This occurs randomly, and its plain bizarre.

I nearly spluttered on my Red Bull on more than one occasion.

Next the news goes from bad to worse. The researcher, Olivia Lytton  a thankless role for Naomi Scott as were not asked to be interested in her character  says their last sexual encounter was not consensual and she is now accusing him of rape.

The matter comes to court almost immediately. No backlog there. And the prosecuting barrister is Kate Woodcroft (Michelle Dockery) who, it turns out, has her own secret.

If only shed said as much at the outset and had divulged what she already knew about James, shed have saved everyone a great deal of trouble, but there you are.

I was also baffled that she received the court documents before hed even been accused.

Although billed as a courtroom drama the courtroom scenes are repetitive and often inert. (Wheres my broom?)

And you do wonder why Sophie, who somehow remains emotionless and bland throughout, is only wising up to her husbands true nature now.

From the flashbacks  they met at the University of Oxford  we are shown that he was a member of the Libertines (based on the Bullingdon Club, presumably), where groping waitresses was par for the course along with far, far worse, and she was always aware of all that.

But then she copied her tutorial partners notes, so maybe they were made for each other? The point is: you couldnt sympathise with anyone here.

Throughout I had a vague memory of this being done better elsewhere, and then it came to me: The Politicians Wife. This was written by Paula Milne and starred Juliet Stevenson and Trevor Eve.

It was aired in 1995 (gulp) and, miraculously, its all available now on All4. This is the show Anatomy Of A Scandal could have been but isnt.

The latest celebrity challenge show is Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof, the Dutch fella noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures and for promoting the therapeutic properties thereof.

The latest celebrity challenge show stars Wim Hof (above, right, with dancer Dianne Buswell) the Dutch fella noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures

Some of the celebrities youve actually heard of  Alfie Boe, Tamzin Outhwaite  while Lee Mack and Holly Willoughby present (where does she find the time?).

The celebrities all want to test themselves and become a stronger etc, etc, and Hof is on hand to tell them how healing ice is. The first challenge is jumping into a hole in a frozen lake.

Holy moly. I wouldnt do it. I dont even think our postman, Pete, would do it, and he wears shorts all year round. But they all do it and are then exhilarated and really proud of themselves.

The trouble is that once youve seen the first one jump, you then have to sit through the others doing it, so thats seven more times. Next, they have to abseil down a rock face, with no sign of Hof, which is weird, given the shows title.

For its genre, it is one of the better ones, and what are the chances, come the end, that theyll have been on a journey? Quite high, I think.
The Seven Last Words Of Our Saviour On The Cross

English National Opera, London Coliseum

Rating:

Joseph Haydn is every bit as great a composer as Mozart or Beethoven, but you could be forgiven for not noticing.

Works of the stature of The Seven Last Words Of Our Saviour On The Cross, given a welcome live performance by English National Opera two days before Good Friday, lurk in undeserved obscurity.

Indeed, while I am familiar on CD with this masterpiece in all three of its manifestations, I have never before heard it live.

Soloman Howard (above), a sonorous bass with a little bit of Paul Robeson about him, turned in a fine performance as one of the four soloists

So well done ENO. And they turned in a fine performance, with the chorus up to its usual high standards, singing with precision and eloquence under the baton of Eamonn Dougan, the assistant conductor of another great British choir, The Sixteen.

All four soloists were black, and all sang beautifully throughout, especially the soprano Nardus Williams, a real rising star, and a sonorous bass with a little bit of Paul Robeson about him, Soloman Howard.

Haydn was commissioned in 1785 by the cathedral in Cadiz to provide sacred orchestral music for Holy Week, the intention being that an orchestral sonata would be played each day as part of the congregations reflections and contemplations.

This group of beautifully turned slow movements obviously caught his imagination, because two years later in Vienna he made them into pieces for a string quartet, no doubt to try to ensure more performances.

Then in 1795 Haydn encountered a choral setting of this music by another, inevitably inferior hand, and was stimulated to do the job himself.

And so this oratorio emerged, providing a thoroughly engrossing and varied experience, much more than might have been expected from seven slow movements, and culminating in a magnificent orchestral tempest, storms being one of Haydns party pieces.

Thought-provoking and often moving music, which could with advantage become a regular feature of Easter at the Coliseum.
Operation Mincemeat Cert: 12A, 2hrs 8mins

Rating:

The Lost City Cert: 12A, 1hr 52mins

Rating:

The Northman Cert: 15, 2hrs 16mins

Rating:

Benedetta Cert: 18, 2hrs 11mins

Rating:

When it comes to the pivotal events that heralded the beginning of the end of the Second World War in Europe, D-Day quite naturally takes historical centre stage.

But its often forgotten that the battle for Europe began almost a year earlier, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Sicily in the summer of 1943.

It was a bold and hugely dangerous strategy, not least because invading Sicily  seen as the soft underbelly of Europe  was exactly what Hitler expected the Allies to do.

This star-studded film, with a cast led by Colin Firth (above, centre), at times seems to employ just about every character actor on British Equity's books

So, somehow, German high command had to be persuaded that the Allies objectives lay elsewhere which is where Operation Mincemeat, the name of a top-secret intelligence plan and the new film it has now inspired, comes in.

Ill leave military historians to argue how important Mincemeat  so-called because of its use of a slowly decaying dead body  actually was, but the star-studded film, which at times seems to have employed just about every character actor on British Equitys books, is seriously classy.

Which is what youd expect given that its directed by John Madden, who made Shakespeare In Love, and has a cast led by Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald.

Firth plays Ewen Montagu, informal leader of a small and hastily recruited intelligence cabal who set out to persuade Hitler that the Allied invasion would actually begin in Greece.

They hope to do so with the help of the aforementioned dead body and a briefcase full of carefully faked documents.

The film oozes wartime atmosphere, Madden skilfully makes time both for intrigue and romance, and there are even moments of comedy as we watch Johnny Flynn playing Commander Ian Fleming, hatching the idea for the future James Bond as he works.

With Jason Isaacs, as Admiral Godfrey, stealing every scene he graces, only a slight dip in energy and an unforeseen shortage of plot in the last lap modestly mar the cinematic occasion.

But still, highly recommended.

The Lost City feels like a remake of Romancing The Stone or, perhaps more accurately, its sequel The Jewel Of The Nile, only this time its Sandra Bullock playing the romantic lady novelist who is kidnapped alongside Channing Tatum as the vain male model who graces her Mills & Boon-style book covers and reluctantly comes to her aid.

The Lost City feels like a remake of Romancing The Stone, only this time its Sandra Bullock (above, with Channing Tatum) playing the romantic lady novelist

This is a formulaic, crowd-pleasing popcorn movie, which is sometimes exactly what many of us yearn for.

But along the gently underwhelming way this time around, we discover that Bullock and Tatum have limited screen chemistry, that giving Brad Pitt a distracting cameo seriously unbalances the film, and that any search for long-lost ancient treasure has become seriously old-hat since Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglass day.

Thank goodness it still has a few funny lines.

The Northman is the latest film from Robert Eggers, maker of both The Witch and The Lighthouse, and has been proclaimed a masterpiece in some quarters.

The Northman, starring Anya Taylor-Joy (above), has been proclaimed a masterpiece in some quarters but once again, I (Matthew Bond) can't quite see what all the excitement is about

But once again, I cant quite see what all the excitement is about, as the American director combines a sub-Shakespearean tale of murder and revenge with Viking mythology, shamanistic ritual and a huge amount of bloody Dark Ages violence.

Quite how it escaped with only a 15 certificate is beyond me.

Yes, it looks magnificent and Eggers certainly goes all out, but its difficult to see much more than muscle and machismo in Alexander Skarsgards central performance as Amleth and, at times, the directors decision to deliver the whole thing in a rich variety of cod-Scandi English is almost comically distracting.

Paul Verhoeven will probably always be best known as the director of Basic Instinct and, to a lesser extent, of the much derided Showgirls too.

So when you hear that his latest film is a medieval religious drama involving lesbian nuns, the first-thought is uh-oh.

And rightly so, it turns out, with Benedetta duly delivering a more than generous helping of titillating, 1970s-style lesbian nun sex but leavened with sufficiently heavy-going scenes of religious fervour, miraculous resurrection and Charlotte Rampling as a disapproving Mother Superior for the whole thing to be successfully passed off as serious drama.

Quite a trick.
The Homecoming

Theatre Royal Bath On tour until May 21, 2hrs 10mins

Rating:

After seeing The Homecoming in 1965, Noel Coward wrote an unlikely fan letter to its young author, Harold Pinter.

You cheerfully break every rule of the theatre that I was brought up to believe in, except the cardinal one of never being boring for a split second.

How true that seems in this terrific touring revival, which I saw in Bath. Pinters play is funny, repellent and obscure in no particular order. It may even leave you wanting a bath. But boy it grips.

The Homecoming is about a coarse father  a retired butcher  played with a stoop and bags of menace by that terrifying actor Keith Allen (above)

Its about a coarse father  a retired butcher  played with a stoop and bags of menace by that terrifying actor Keith Allen. He lives in a bare North London house with his damaged sons.

Remembering their childhoods, he at one point says: What fun we had in the bath, eh boys? with a possible hint of lust.

Cock of the walk is Lenny, played with a razor smile by Mathew Horne (of Gavin & Stacey fame), a dead sinister pimp.

His brother Joey (Geoffrey Lumb) is a dim boxer and Sam (Ian Bartholomew) is a self-effacing chauffeur who ferries businessmen around.

This play is unsettling in its chilliness, its innate violence to women, and its relish of language. Above: Ian Bartholomew as Sam, a self-effacing chauffeur

This fraternal hornets nest is stirred up when their absentee brother Teddy (Sam Alexander), a philosophy professor, returns from America with his elegant wife in tow.

Played with a calm, rippling sexuality by Shanaya Rafaat, Ruth seems oddly at home among these men. The father, Max, chunters on about his days at the racetrack hobnobbing with the toffs. But his misogyny is never hidden for long.

Ive never had a whore under this roof before. Ever since your mother died, he says.

This play is unsettling in its chilliness, its innate violence to women, and its relish of language.

The shocker is that Ruth, instead of returning home, decides to stay on with her weirdo brothers-in-law, abandoning her husband and children, to be pimped out by arrangement with the family.

Actually, its a cold calculation on her part. You get the feeling it is she who will rule the roost, not the men, and on her own terms.

Coward was right. Theres never a dull moment. The evening hums with static electricity. Director Jamie Glover makes this play both a living thing and a timeless classic.

A must for Pinter-heads, or for anyone wanting some gamey drama to get their teeth into.
The Duchess of Cambridge has always paid homage to her late mother-in-law when dressing for key occasions. Claudia Joseph picks the eight outfits that have inspired her most

When the Duchess of Cambridge arrived at a glittering dinner in the Bahamas on the final night of the Queens Platinum Jubilee Tour, she drew comparisons with Hollywood icon Grace Kelly, who wore an ice blue gown to the 1955 Academy Awards when she won an Oscar for her role in The Country Girl. But Kate is not the first member of the Royal Family to bring back memories of Princess Grace: her late mother-in-law Princess Diana channelled the star when she went to the Cannes Film Festival in a chiffon gown reminiscent of Kelly in the 1955 film To Catch a Thief.

According to a source close to the Duchess, Kate often pays homage to Diana with her showstopping outfit choices. Kate admired Dianas taste in fashion before William came into her life, said the source. During her school days shed tell friends that Diana was her style icon.

The Caribbean tour was a poignant moment for the Duchess, who has been a global fashion icon since she became engaged to Prince William in 2010. The Kate effect means that anything she is pictured wearing sells immediately (the Issa dress she wore for her engagement portrait, opposite, sold out in minutes). In 2012 her style influence was credited with boosting the British fashion economy by up to 1 billion. Her power remains unparalleled: recently, a 179 Holland Cooper jumper she wore on CBeebies Bedtime Stories sold out in hours, while designer Grace Wong said her sales doubled after Kate carried one of her handbags.

These are Dianas key outfits that have most inspired Kate

The Grace Kelly gowns

Princess Diana at Cannes Film Festival, 1987 and the Duchess of Cambridge in the Bahamas on the final night of the Queens Platinum Jubilee Tour

Diana When the Princess of Wales wore her Catherine Walker pale blue silk chiffon strapless gown and matching stole to the Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 1987, she sparked comparisons with movie star Grace Kelly. She and Prince Charles were attending a gala in honour of the actor Sir Alec Guinness.

Kate Last month Kate also channelled Grace Kelly during a glittering dinner on the final night of the Caribbean tour. In a nod to the Bahamas flag, which has gold and aquamarine horizontal stripes, she teamed Phillipa Lepleys Vienna Crossover gown with a Lulu Guinness Hayworth bag, Gianvito Rossi pumps and Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery.

The engagement outfits

William and Kate's engagement interview in 2010 and Charles and Diana's engagement announcement in 1981

Diana On 24 February 1981, Lady Diana Spencer showed off her 12-carat oval blue sapphire Garrard engagement ring wearing a royal blue Cojana suit. She had bought the outfit off-the-peg from Harrods after a failed visit to couturier Bellville Sassoon  the shop assistant reportedly didnt recognise the royal-to-be and suggested she shop somewhere more affordable.

Kate When Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement on 16 November 2010, she took inspiration from her late mother-in-law by choosing a royal blue Issa dress to match Dianas ring. Harry had inherited the ring from his mother but gave it to William when he was planning to propose, which he did on holiday in Kenya, after carrying the 300,000 gem in his rucksack for three weeks.

The second son ensembles

Kate and Prince Louis in 2018 and Diana with Prince Harry in 1984

Diana After Prince Harry was born on 15 September 1984, Diana wore a scarlet coat by designer Jan Van Velden, a matching dress with a white Peter Pan collar and red pumps as she left the Lindo Wing of St Marys Hospital in London with her newborn son.

Kate When the Duchess departed the same hospital, after the birth of second son Prince Louis on 23 April 2018, Kate was again inspired by Diana. She chose a bespoke red Jenny Packham dress, with a white lace collar  and her favourite nude shoes.

The bond dazzlers

Diana at the premiere of A View to Kill in 1985 and Kate at the premiere of No Time to Die in 2021

Diana The Princess blazed a glittering trail when she wore a silver backless Bruce Oldfield dress to the gala premiere of the Bond movie A View to a Kill in 1985. There she greeted actor Roger Moore, who was making his final outing as 007. It was the second time she had met the actor: she also attended the 1983 premiere of Octopussy.

Kate When the Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the premiere of the latest Bond film No Time to Die at Londons Royal Albert Hall last year, she stole the show, entrancing its star Daniel Craig and making headlines around the world. You look jolly lovely, he said, complimenting her on her shimmering gold Jenny Packham gown.

The chic checks

Kate in 2018 on the second day of her Scandinavian tour in Sweden and Diana during a tour of Canada in 1991

Diana The Princess wore this Moschino Cheap and Chic houndstooth blazer and skirt during a tour of Canada when she ran to embrace her sons William and Harry as they boarded the royal yacht Britannia in October 1991.

Kate It may have been an unconscious tribute to the late Princess, but the red Catherine Walker houndstooth coat that Kate wore on 31 January 2018  on the second day of her Scandinavian tour in Sweden  nonetheless brought back memories of Williams mother.

The dotty dresses

Diana photographed in a private moment at Kensington Palace on 6 October 1985 and Kate celebrating the 70th birthday of her father-in-law Prince Charles in November 2018

Diana Photographed in a private moment at Kensington Palace on 6 October 1985, Princess Diana wore a blue and white polka-dot dress with an oversized white collar that was copied around the world.

Kate In a touching tribute to Diana, Kate wore an Alessandra Rich polka-dot dress for a family portrait to celebrate the 70th birthday of her father-in-law Prince Charles in November 2018. She wore it again when she visited Bletchley Park the following year.

The black ballgowns

Kate at A Night of Heroes: The Sun Military Awards on 19 December 2011 and Diana at her first public engagement, when she accompanied Prince Charles to Goldsmiths Hall on 9 March 1981

Diana For her first public engagement, when she accompanied Prince Charles to Goldsmiths Hall on 9 March 1981, Diana wore a black dress by designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who would later design her wedding dress. She chose the gown because it was a real grown-up dress but didnt realise how much decolletage it revealed.

Kate The velvet strapless Alexander McQueen gown that Kate wore to A Night of Heroes: The Sun Military Awards on 19 December 2011 drew comparisons with Dianas grown-up dress. However, there was one difference  the sweetheart neckline was higher cut, revealing less of the Duchess.

The smart red coats

Diana at Sandringham on Christmas Day 1993 and Kate at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006

Diana Carrying flowers from fans as she walked with nine-year-old Harry to St Mary Magdalene church at Sandringham on Christmas Day 1993, Diana teamed her festive red Jan Van Velden coat with black accessories. She and Prince Charles had been separated a year.

Kate The Duchess teamed a scarlet Armani coat with a black Philip Treacy hat and long black boots to watch her then boyfriend William pass out from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006. The invitation sparked rumours of an imminent engagement, but it would be another four years  with a break-up in between  before the announcement came.
Chinese museums overcome geographical boundaries after holding online exhibitions

People's Daily Online) 17:25, April 15, 2022

An ongoing exhibition featuring about 1,000 ancient female-themed artifacts and paintings from 32 museums across China is underway both offline and online at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in Hangzhou city, east Chinas Zhejiang Province.

Photo shows the exhibition of female-themed artifacts and paintings held at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum. (Photo/Zhejiang Provincial Museum)

During the exhibition, an animated version of a painting from the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, which depicts a scene in which female intellectuals attend a gathering of scholars and artists during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), vividly provided the viewing public with detailed insight into the premodern lives of women in Chinas traditional high society.

Currently, museums in China are thriving across the country, while the ways in which they display their exhibits and how they make use of their respective collections of cultural relics are constantly being innovated. Meanwhile, many museums have applied digital technologies in order to host exhibitions and have rolled out creative online exhibitions in a bid to reach more audiences.

On the same day when the Zhejiang Provincial Museum kicked off its exhibition, four other museums, including one in Anhui Province, one in Jiangxi Province, one in Jiangsu Province, and one in Zhejiang Province, also unveiled their own respective female-themed exhibitions. Through cooperative efforts among the five museums and thanks to the application of digital technologies, the five museums have provided the general public with a chance to explore the different exhibitions housed at each others exhibition halls conveniently through the use of multimedia screens.

Last year, the Zhejiang Provincial Museum held the first-ever online exhibition featuring over 1,000 female-themed paintings after partnering with more than 30 museums and art galleries across the country.

The museum has also established a special database collecting pictures of women from ancient times. The database can be used to search out specific information and conduct research on cultural relics, as well as for planning new exhibitions and efforts aimed at the popularization of museums. It also can assist in the development of cultural and creative products, as well as for promoting the sharing of data and collaboration between museums and across various disciplines.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
An inescapable truth about the great Easter getaway is that it starts with tales of woe.

There is a vicarious pleasure in reports of other people queuing on accident-strewn motorways, chaos at Dover and mayhem at the airports.

But in spite of the palaver around PCR tests, passenger locator forms and efforts by green fanatics to disrupt lives, there is still undimmed joy and wanderlust for travel.

One cannot but think that journeys would be less stressful if the owners of the infrastructure, the ports, ferries and airports gave higher priority to the interests of consumers and businesses.

Long queues: An inescapable truth about the great Easter getaway is that it starts with tales of woe

The P&O Ferries imbroglio, clogging up highways across Kent and routes to the Eurotunnel, is a case in point.

Despite a grand British heritage, P&O is nothing of the sort. Dubai-based DP World bought P&O ports way back in 2006 for 5billion. P&O Ferries were added for 332million in 2019.

UK-listed companies make blunders. But it is hard to think of any so crassly handled as the P&O efforts to cut costs by sacking experienced crews and replacing them with low-paid, lesser-skilled agency workers who have imperilled ferry safety.

P&O's Spirit of Britain remains impounded at Dover for safety reasons. As a result, the already tough lives of HGV drivers are made harder, strained supply chains become more stretched and downtime in Europe for holidaymakers is blighted.

There is no obvious effort to unpick labour laws at the airports. But benighted overseas ownership provides easy cover from public opprobrium.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye's ultimate bosses are at Spanish construction empire Ferrovial, along with investors from Qatar, China and the US.

Under cover of Covid, car parking charges have been raised to astronomic levels, drop off fees introduced and, at present, the airport is seeking to ladle on extra landing charges to the consternation of carriers and passengers.

The regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, sits on its hands.

Chaos at Heathrow cannot wholly be blamed on the owners. Airlines are also culpable.

But whereas Easyjet and BA have UK investors to answer to, Heathrow is spared such niceties.

As a long-standing critic of foreign ownership of vital infrastructure (my book Britain For Sale was published in 2012) I find it comforting that British asset manager Schroders is coming round to the same view. Recent analysis by the head of its Strategic Research Unit, Duncan Lamont, points out that, in the last decade, one in three British companies has vanished from the London Stock Exchange.

Lamont contrasts the UK experience with other Western markets. In the US, most deals are intra-American. In the UK, 54 per cent of firms representing 70 per cent of value have fallen into overseas hands.

In France and Germany, foreign takeovers account for 30 per cent and 25 per cent of deals respectively and most of those are from EU partners. The study suggests that overseas deals have precarious consequences for UK stock markets and the economy.

As we see at Dover and Heathrow, the loss of command and control has hugely disruptive social consequences.

We live in traumatic times with food, energy and national security under threat. Selling the nation's commercial birthright has been an unmitigated disaster, as vacationers are learning this weekend.
Twitter has launched a fightback against Elon Musk over his 31.4billion bid to take the firm private.

The social media giant yesterday deployed a so-called poison pill  a strategy devised by law firms in the 1980s to protect companies from corporate raiders.

The company will flood the market with new shares if Musk takes his stake above 15 per cent, diluting the value of his holding and slowing down or completely blocking any hostile takeover attempt.

Poison pill: Twitter will flood the market with new shares if Elon Musk takes his stake above 15 per cent, diluting the value of his holding

Twitter said yesterday a 'rights plan' will make it difficult for the Tesla tycoon to pull off a hostile takeover.

But it added that it 'does not prevent' Musk from taking over the business if he can put together an offer the board is willing to accept.

It set the stage for Musk to up his existing $54.20 per share offer or abandon his bid altogether. When Musk initially made the offer he claimed it was 'final'.

Twitter said if 50-year-old Musk crosses the 15 per cent threshold existing shareholders will be offered new shares at a heavy discount, with the opportunity to double their stake.

In 2012 streaming giant Netflix used a poison pill to repel a potential takeover threat after activist investor Carl Icahn acquired an almost 10 per cent stake.

Twitter's poison pill will last until April next year. It said the plan was aimed at 'enabling all shareholders to realise the full value of their investment in Twitter'.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: 'It's a high risk strategy that only works in the short term, because if the bidder is intent on buying the company they will just carry on. 'It's a legitimate defence to ward off unwanted buyers.'

Meanwhile, the social media giant's chief executive Parag Agrawal told a staff meeting late on Thursday night the company would not be 'held hostage' by Musk.

Agrawal, 37, who took over from founder Jack Dorsey in November, told Twitter's 7,500 staff the board is still evaluating the $54.20 per share offer.

Twitter's board acknowledged the offer on Thursday saying it would 'carefully review' the proposal, but in private it is said to view the approach as 'unwelcome'.

Brent Thill, analyst at investment bank Jefferies, said 'no board in America' would accept Musk's bid, raising the prospect of an improved offer.

Thill added: 'No one believes this is the final price.'

Musk threatened to sell his 9.2 per cent stake if his initial offer was rejected, which could cause its share price to crash.
TV presenter Andrea McLean sold her home for 1 million so she could invest in her business This Girl Is On Fire  an online gym for the mind  and the 52-year-old has no regrets about the bold decision.

McLean, who recently returned to TV lunchtime chat show Loose Women as a guest after quitting in 2020, is author of You Just Need To Believe It: 10 Ways In 10 Days To Unlock Your Courage And Reclaim Your Power.

Married to businessman Nick Feeney, McLean spoke to Donna Ferguson.

Smart move: Andrea McLean has invested in a 'gym for the mind'

What did your parents teach you about money?

Not to spend more than you earn. My parents were working class Glaswegians. My mum was a hairdresser and my dad an engineer. He left school with no qualifications, became an apprentice engineer and ended up going to Trinidad to install machinery in a factory.

I spent most of my upbringing in Trinidad. It was a bit like being in the Army. We lived in a furnished house owned by the company that my dad worked for.

We weren't well off and money was tight, but I didn't notice that until we moved back to the UK when I was a teenager.

My parents wanted to buy a property and I think they felt the pinch. I even remember my mum giving up smoking because she could no longer afford it.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

When I was 24 and studying for a postgraduate degree in journalism in London, I only had my student loan to live on.

I slept on a friend's floor until I could get a bedsit that was so small there wasn't even enough room for a bed in it.

I slept on a mattress on top of a wardrobe and I had to put 50p in a meter to get heat and light.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Yes, for an awards ceremony very recently. All I had to do was turn up and read a script. I was done in 20 minutes and they paid me an insane amount of money: several thousand pounds.

It felt so ridiculous earning that much for 20 minutes, I stayed for the whole evening just to justify the fee to myself.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It was 2012. I was hosting Loose Women, I brought out my first book, and I had a successful jewellery range for sale on shopping channel QVC.

I'd rather not say exactly how much I earned, but it was a six-figure sum.

What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

A floor-length black sheepskin coat from fashion retailer Joseph for 1,000 in 2000. I bought it when my son was a newborn because I felt so horrendous.

I decided I needed something pretty. It was beautiful and warm, but I wore it so often it started to look like a wild animal.

I eventually had to give it away to charity before it crawled away of its own accord.

What is your biggest money mistake?

Investing in a pension with Equitable Life in the 1990s. I lost most of it in 2000 when the insurer teetered on the verge of bankruptcy  probably a six-figure sum. It made me feel sick.

But I've accepted it now as extraordinarily bad luck. It didn't put me off saving into a pension. I took the advice of a financial adviser who said I should carry on saving into a different scheme.

I think it makes sense to do so for tax reasons and I like the fact that my savings are squirrelled away, so there's no temptation to dip into them.

I liken my experience with Equitable Life to my experiences with men. I've been married three times. That doesn't mean I don't trust love or I think all men are horrible. I was just unfortunate. You live, you learn, you pick yourself up and start again.

The best money decision you have made?

Selling my home last year to invest half a million pounds in my business, This Girl Is On Fire.

It's an online gym for the mind, a private membership club for women where we teach them how to think differently.

The idea is if you train your mental muscles, it keeps you mentally strong.

When I left Loose Women in December 2020, I took a leap of faith and put all my heart and soul into This Girl Is On Fire.

My salary immediately went to zero. I was really scared  and my biggest fear was what if I have to sell my home? It was this big shadow hanging over me.

In good company: Andrea McLean has recently returned to TV lunchtime chat show Loose Women as a guest after quitting in 2020

About nine months in, I realised that I needed more money to invest in the business because we were building an app and it was taking longer than we'd thought.

So I did have to sell my home  for 1million  and started renting a lovely six-bedroom house in Surrey.

Do you invest directly in the stock market?

Yes. I took some of the money I got from selling my home and put it in the stock market.

What is the one little luxury you treat yourself to?

I have acupuncture with Sarah Bradden every six to eight weeks. It costs 200. I arrive exhausted.

She does acupuncture on my face, my feet, my hands...I look like a pincushion.

When I walk out, I feel all floaty, like I was upside down and inside out and she has balanced me again.

If you were Chancellor, what is the first thing you'd do?

I would stop levying income tax on anyone earning under the living wage, so they could keep all their income.

Then, I would lower the top rate of income tax to 20 per cent and remove tax avoidance schemes so everyone would pay that rate. The Treasury would end up with more money overall.

Do you donate money to charity?

I donate to various charities, but the main thing I do is foster dogs from Battersea Dogs Home.

I take dogs in and I love them until they find a forever home. We have fostered ten so far and kept one  Teddy the cavapoo  because we just couldn't give him back.
In a nation of property watchers, Phil Spencer needs little introduction. Alongside co-host Kirstie Allsopp, Phil has spent countless hours on our screens helping picky buyers to try to find a home on TV's Location, Location, Location.

But what is perhaps less appreciated is that with the show having now run for more than two decades, Phil has been publicly guiding hopeful house hunters through the ups and downs of the property market.

The show began as the property market was accelerating into the 2000s boom, continued through the financial crisis crash and the doldrums afterwards, and is now airing as Britain undergoes perhaps its bizarrest house price sugar rush - the pandemic one.

So what are Phil's views on the current red hot market, what are his tips for buyers and why is is he seeking to help people further down the line than usual - on moving day? Jane Denton caught up with Phil Spencer to find out.

Top tips: Phil Spencer, who has teamed up with Airtasker, has five top tips for home movers

When it comes to buying a home most of the focus ends up on finding one, making an offer, getting it accepted and making it over the completion line, but moving day rarely gets much consideration.

Yet, this is not just theoretically the most exciting day of the process, but can also be a stressful and expensive one.

Britons typically spend 414 more than they intend to when moving home, new findings claim. Nationally, this overspend tots up to 1.36billion a year, research by Airtasker in its latest 'Move Right' shows.

People typically now spend more than 3,000 on moving costs and two in five movers said budgeting was the most challenging part.

In fact, more than half admitted to exceeding their moving budget by up to 1,000.

Top moving costs people often fail to take into account include van hire, moving supplies like protective wrapping, switching utilities and connections, and repair costs, the company which outsources everyday tasks says.

Airtasker suggests one in five people plan to move this year, and if you fall into this category it pays to plan ahead. Phil, who has teamed up with Airtasker, gives his five top tips for buyers looking for a smooth move below.

1. Nail your checklist - and do one early

Write yourself a moving checklist and do it early so you can map out your to-do list and timeline for what's involved with your move.

I'd recommend writing your checklist as soon as you've decided you'd like to move or at three months before you move.

Think methodically when you write your checklist and don't forget to include any small tasks as these often go a long way to help things run smoothly.

I'd always recommend de-cluttering your space, getting rid of any unwanted items (and/or donating to charity) one month before your move so you're not packing any unnecessary items on moving day.

Notifying your suppliers and redirecting mail is another one to add to the checklist, and I'd recommend doing this one month before your move date.

Notify your bank, utility providers and insurance company of your new address to ensure your mail doesn't go missing.

2. Consider recruiting an expert to help

Moving is a big milestone, but it also comes with a pretty big to-do list. Once you've got your checklist sorted, consider which tasks you'll need help with.

For instance, you might decide that you can take care of packing, but that you'll need a tech expert to help with your Wi-Fi set up at your new place.

From removalists to cleaners to furniture assemblers, there are plenty of firms that can help with a range of moving tasks, including platforms where you an post work.

Simply post a task, set your price and choose from rated experts who can help straight away.

Phil Spencer on the property market and his tips Views: Phil Spencer thinks a 'bottleneck' exists in the UK's housing market due to low listing levels We asked Phil about property prices, tips for first-time buyers and the thorny subject of overdevelopment in certain parts of the country. Home moving While the process of moving home 'should be an exciting process', problems typically crop up because it is a 'complex process with many moving parts.' To ensure the home moving process runs smoother, Phil said his ultimate top tip for movers centred on 'thorough planning and preparation.' He said: 'People need to focus on the task and be completely dedicated to it, but this can be tough when a buyer has a full-time job.' Phil said that while he has not actually moved home a lot, when he does, it is always well-planned and thought out. He said he takes 'gentle time' thinking about a move, and doesn't leave anything to the last minute. However, he did get a shock when buying his latest home in Hampshire around seven years ago, when a lady in a shop pointed out to him that stamp duty rates had suddenly been hiked. 'It made me really stop and think about how much it would cost me to move in total', Phil said. Outlook for the property market While conceding that no one has a crystal ball when it comes to the outlook for the property market, Phil said he thought low listing levels were causing a 'bottleneck' in the market. In terms of prices, Phil said that while he did not believe the market would 'pop', 'it does need to calm down.' He added: 'We are in the eye of the storm at the moment.' Amid the rising cost of living, Phil said that over the next six months, more people will be forced to stop ad really think about whether they can afford to move home or not. Tips for first-time buyers Phil said that while the market remains tough for first-time buyers, there are steps they can take when planning to and buying a property. He says that before buying a home, first-time buyers should 'tread very carefully' and look to purchase for the long term. 'First-time buyers need to think about how their life is likely to pan out in five to seven years time, and consider the type of property they really need and want', he said. He also recommended, where possible, buying a home which comes with the opportunity to extend or add value to. 'Buying in a location that will change for the better while you are living there is another important consideration', Phil added. And, for those who have found their dream first home, Phil recommended getting a long fixed-term mortgage secured as soon as possible. Property development in the UK 'We do have a housing shortage', Phil said when discussing the subject of new-builds. He said that in his many years of being an expert, no government of the time had ever successfully reached its housing target. Phil said he found it 'frustrating' that developers can sit on land they have planning permission to build on and do nothing with it for years. As a solution, he thinks such sites could, for instance, be used as 'temporary housing to help vulnerable people.' He thinks modular homes could be a great way to help people in need quickly with housing. What's next for Phil? Phil is on Love It or List It duties with Kirsty Allsopp at present, but will be working on new Location, Location, Location shows after Easter. He is also 'madly developing' new shows for Channel 4, not all of which will be linked to property.

3. Order packing boxes in a variety of sizes

My number one packing tip is to order your packing boxes in a range of different sizes, and if in doubt, order more boxes that you think you'll need as you can always re-use them.

Don't forget to also buy packing tape and any proactive wrap for delicate items.

Start packing in the least-used room of your property, and make sure you label your boxes as you go (you can even take photos of the inside of boxes to help you find your contents quicker).

Save time by leaving clothes on hangers and make sure you protect lids of liquids to avoid any spillage in transit.

Keep daily essentials at the top of your boxes for easy access later  things like your phone charger or toothbrush.

4. Ensure your new home is pet and child friendly

Before you move, consider if the new property is child or pet-friendly and take any precautions like a microwave lock or corner protectors for coffee tables or sharp edges.

If you have a furry friend, consider whether you'll need to get a dog door installed.

5. Do your due diligence on moving day - and change the locks

Do a walkthrough of your new property to ensure everything is in order. It's worth doing your own inventory by taking photos of any damage or concerns which you can raise with the agent.

If you haven't already  ask the agent or landlord where the main stopcock is based and where you can find the gas and electricity meters to take readings.

Remember to change your locks when you move for peace of mind.
Authorities are investigating the cause of death this week after a Mexican migrant was discovered hanging upside down off the border wall after attempting to cross it in Eastern Arizona.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials offered few details, but the local sheriff's office said the woman was a 32-year-old migrant who was attempting to cross the wall Monday night near Douglas, Arizona. Her name was not released.

The New York Times reported that the woman became 'ensnared' in the climbing harness she was wearing.

The Cochise County Sheriff's office said she hung upside down 'a significant amount of time.'

The sheriff's office said it was in contact with the local Mexican consulate and continues to investigate what happened.

It was unknown if there was video surveillance in the area where the woman became entangled. Authorities did not describe the wall she was trying to climb over.

Newly erected border wall separating Mexico, left, and the United States, cuts through through the Sonoran Desert just west of the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge

A US Border Patrol vehicle drives along the border fence at the US-Mexico border wall, on December 15, 2020, in Douglas, Arizona

Pictured: a US Border Patrol vehicle travels along the International border of Mexico, May 27, 2004, in Douglas

Sheriff Mark Dannels made a point to call out those who will try to politicize the migrant's death, and added that law enforcement must 'do better' and 'for the right reasons' when policing the border.

'These types of incidents are not political, they are humanitarian realities that someone has lost a loved one in a senseless tragedy,' Sheriff Dannels said.

'We have to do better in finding solutions to the challenges facing our border, and we have to do it for the right reasons.'

Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection said its Office of Professional Responsibility is working with the sheriff's office on the investigation and would release more information as it becomes available.

Migrants occasionally die while attempting to cross the border wall, including a man who died earlier this month from injuries he suffered when he fell from the barrier in Texas.

The construction of the border wall continues past a gap, blocked with vehicle barriers in Douglas, Arizona

A new section of the US-Mexico wall built as a part of former President Donald Trump's signature project

Pictured: a high steel border wall with concertina wire against the blue sky at the US-Mexico border in Arizona

However, some of the last border wall construction carried out before the end of former President Donald Trump's term was in the Douglas area, with 30-foot-tall steel columns erected on US Bureau of Land Management property.

On April 1, two migrants fell from the border barrier near Clint, Texas, about 12 miles west of the Tornillo port of entry.

Emergency medical technicians rendered first aid and took them to a hospital in El Paso.

One man arrived at the hospital unconscious and died at the hospital on April 5.

The second was treated for a fractured right hand and returned to Customs and Border Protection officials, who returned him to Mexico.
The brave nine-year-old girl who was shot three times while waiting in line to see the Easter Bunny at the mall says she will never return because she's too scared.

Ava Churniack, who was shot at the Mall of Victor Valley on Tuesday when a store owner opened fire at two shoplifters, told DailyMail.com: 'I'm scared. I'm never going back to the mall.'

Churniack, who is recovering at her home in Victorville, Calif., said she and her mom had just bought her a new shirt and a pair of pants that she was planning to wear for Easter, moments before the shooting took place.

'I was waiting on line playing when I heard the gunshots. I took cover. I felt dizzy like I was going to fall down. I didn't feel the pain of the bullets but my bones in my arm were hurting,' she said. 'I told my mom to look at my arm. When my mom started freaking out. I started crying.'

Ava Chruniack, 9, suffered three gunshot wounds on Tuesday night while waiting on line to take a photo with the Easter Bunny. She was released from the hospital on Thursday and is recovering at home

Ava is at her home in Victorville, California resting as she waits to go back to the hospital on Tuesday for an operation on her shattered arm. Her parents expressed gratitude for all the support people have shown sending care packages over

Resting in bed with with a sling on her arm and lots of bandages, Ava appeared fatigued: 'My arm stings and burns a lot now and I am tired.'

Recalling the terrifying ordeal and her feelings about the shooter, she says: 'I don't want to forgive. It is not Ok. He shouldn't be holding a gun. The mall was very crowded. He knows there are a lot of kids in the mall.'

She added: 'It wasn't a big deal that the guys stole the shirt from him to chase him out and shoot at them.'

Ava's father Charles Churniack told Dailymail.com that his daughter has a long recovery ahead. On Tuesday, he said, she is having surgery.

'The doctors said that they are trying to push the nerves that were shattered together,' Charles said.

Ava's brother, Carlos Gudino, 11, who was with his sister at the time of the shooting, said he saw two men running with clothes in their hands out of the store and then out of the mall.

'I was sitting on one of the chairs in the mall. When I heard the gunshots I was so scared my heart dropped. I didn't know what to do. I ran to my mother and she grabbed my sisters and my cousin to a store.'

Charles, who expressed gratitude that all of his children survived the random shooting said: 'You can't just start popping shots in the mall. It just doesn't make sense over a couple of shirts and pants. A life isn't worth it. My daughter could have lost her life and it could have been a whole different story.'

Ava is pictured with her brothers Carlos (left) and Charley (right) and her cousin Madeline

When asked what type of punishment the shooter, identified as Marquel Cockrell, 20, should get, Charles said: 'I haven't gotten a chance to have feelings towards him.'

He continued: "I am a firm believer in second chances, but he has to answer to what he did to my daughter and have some type of punishment.'

Ava was released from Loma Linda Children's Hospital in Redlands, California, on Thursday. The next day, she got a surprise visit from some of the officers from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, who dropped off an Easter basket with some goodies, including candy, toys and other treats.

'They gave me squishy toys to play with,' Ava says, who said she is watching lots of YouTube videos while she is resting.

Charles, 43, an environmental specialist with American Technologies in Riverside, said that since his daughter never did take a photo with the Easter Bunny, she will be getting a special visit soon.

'Everyone has been so supportive. It's been so unreal,' he said.

A well-wisher sent Ava this gift all the way from Texas after she was shot in the mall

Ava's grandmother, Robin Moraga-Saldarelli told Dailymail.com that her granddaughter had gone to the mall with her brother, Carlos Gudino, 11, her sister, CJ Chruniak, 7 and her two-year-old cousin, Madeline Moraga.

She spoke of the panic she felt when her daughter, Natalie Moraga, Facetimed her from the mall after the shooting.

"My daughter is deaf,' Moraga-Saldarelli said, 'She thought it was a bomb or a plane had gone into the building that is how loud it was. She grabbed all the kids and ran into a store.'

'She was talking so fast. I panicked,' the grandmother recalls. 'At first we thought glass had come down from the building and cut Ava's arm that was bleeding. When the shopkeeper started wrapping her arm he noticed it was bullet holes.'

When the San Bernardino Sheriff's office arrived the mall went in lockdown. Once they confirmed that there was no active shooter medics arrived and transported her granddaughter into an ambulance to the nearest hospital, she said.

'There's so much traffic on the freeway so a medivac airlifted Ava to Loma Linda Children's Hospital in Redlands, California.'

Saldarelli-Moraga said the entire ordeal was terrifying.

'Ava's siblings and cousins who were also involved were traumatized,' she said. 'The sounds and screams and the running with the bullet holes in her arm. Ava's little sister was freaking out. Her two-year-old cousin who has epileptic seizures was shaking and screaming during the night, but they are all ok now.'

She said her granddaughter is in pain, particularly when the pain medication wears off, but is 'being a trooper.'

Saldarelli-Morgan told Dailymail.com that her granddaughter kept asking: 'Why did they shoot me? 'Why was I the one who got shot?'

The suspect, Marqel Cockrell, 20, co-owner of the store Sole Addicts at the Mall of Victor Valley where the incident took place appeared in Las Vegas court on Thursday.

During the court hearing, he told the judge that he understood that California authorities had 30 days to extradite him.

Cockrell did not have an attorney present because Nevada does not provide lawyers for extradition cases, sources said.

Victorville Police said Cockrell was chasing two shoplifters out of his store when shots were fired around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Mall of Victor Valley.

Ava suffered three gunshot wounds. One of the bullets fractured an arm bone. Her siblings and cousin were not injured.

After the shooting, police said that Cockrell fled from the city of Victorville in his car and was arrested in Nevada's Clark County, some 180 miles away.

Cockrell had no prior criminal record in the San Bernardino County, which is where Victorville is located, the Daily Press reported.

Marqel Cockrell, 20, is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas. He is waiting to be extradited to California

An exterior photo of Sole Addicts, the shoe store that Cockrell owns inside the Mall of Victor Valley located in Victorville, California, where two shoplifters had allegedly entered before gunfire erupted

On Thursday, Cockrell appeared before the judge in Las Vegas Court. He is waiting to be extradited to California

Cockrell faces an attempted murder charge, CBS News reported.

He is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas with with his bail set at $1million, CBS reported.

An investigative specialist with the fugitive unit at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told the DailyMail.com that Cockrell signed a waiver of extradition on Thursday and the state of California was notified that he was ready for transport.

When Dailymail.com asked Saldarelli-Moraga if she thinks the shooter should stay behind bars she expressed empathy.

'I think because of my age and my experience, I feel personally that he is 20 years old, he made a huge mistake and wasn't thinking," she said. "I think he should be punished. I think as a former business owner, he did have dreams, and everyone deserves a second chance.'

Meanwhile, Natalie Moraga, 34, Ava's mother told Dailymail.com that it has been 'overwhelming.'

Moraga described her daughter as a 'sweet, loving girl who loves to read books,' and expressed outrage over Tuesday's random shooting.

Ava's mother, Natalie Moraga, explains the harrowing moment shots rang out at the mall, and the heartbreaking moment she discovered her child had been struck by a stray bullet

'No little girl deserves this, no child deserves this,' Moraga said in a GoFundMe she created. 'She was at the mall going for Easter pictures with the bunny. She is suffering from two gunshot wounds, and her arm is broken.'

She added: 'He deserves to be behind bars! #justiceforava #prayforava.'

For now, the family prays that their daughter will have a speedy recovery.

'We would really love any donations to help our baby girl with her recovery journey,' she said.

As of Friday afternoon, more than $3,600 has been raised towards their goal of $5,000.
A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.

Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is the also first state prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead.

Moore has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted in the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney in Spartanburg.

If executed as scheduled on April 29, he would be the first person put to death in the state since 2011 and the fourth in the country to die by firing squad in nearly half a century.

Only three executions in the United States have been carried out by firing squad since 1976, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

Moore's would mark the first since Ronnie Lee Gardner's 2010 execution by a five-person firing squad in Utah.

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This photo provided by South Carolina Dept. of Corrections shows Richard Moore. Moore, scheduled for execution later this month has chosen to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair

The state's death chamber in Columbia, South Carolina, including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left

Pictured: the firing squad execution chamber at the Utah State Prison in Draper

South Carolina is one of eight states to still use the electric chair and one of four to allow a firing squad, according to the center.

In a written statement, Moore said he didn't concede that either method was legal or constitutional but he more strongly opposed death by electrocution and only chose the firing squad because he was required to make a choice.

'I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election,' Moore said in the statement.

The state's new law was prompted by the decade-long break in executions, which corrections officials attribute to an inability to procure the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections.

Moore's attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to delay his death while another court determines if either available method is cruel and unusual punishment.

The attorneys argue prisons officials aren't trying hard enough to get the lethal injection drugs, instead forcing prisoners to choose between two more barbaric methods.

A South Carolina prison has scheduled its first execution after updating a $53,600 death chamber in Columbia, where Richard Bernard Moore, 57, who is convicted of a 1999 murder, may be the first to face execution by firing squad

Moore was convicted of the murder in 2001 and now remains as an inmate at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina (pictured). The new death chamber which allows for a firing squad is in Columbia, South Carolina

SOUTH CAROLINA'S DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD PROTOCOL Three firing squad members will be behind the wall, with rifles facing the inmate through the opening. The rifles and open portal will not be visible from the witness room. All three rifles will be loaded with live ammunition. The witnesses will see the right-side profile of the inmate. The inmate will not face the witness room directly. The electric chair faces the witnesses directly. The inmate will wear a prison-issued uniform and be escorted into the chamber. The inmate will be given the opportunity to make a last statement. The inmate will be strapped into the chair, and a hood will be placed over his head. A small aim point will be placed over his heart by a member of the execution team. After the warden reads the execution order, the team will fire. After the shots, a doctor will examine the inmate. After the inmate is declared dead, the curtain will be drawn and witnesses escorted out. Advertisement

His lawyers are also asking the state Supreme Court to delay the execution so the US Supreme Court can review whether his death sentence was a disproportionate punishment compared with similar crimes.

The state justices denied a similar appeal last week.

South Carolina's corrections agency said last month that it finished developing protocols for firing squad executions and completed $53,600 in renovations on the death chamber in Columbia, installing a metal chair with restraints that faces a wall with a rectangular opening 15 feet away.

In the case of a firing squad execution, three volunteer prison workers will train their rifles on the condemned prisoners heart.

Moore is one of 35 men on South Carolinas death row. The state last scheduled an execution for Moore in 2020, which was then delayed after prison officials said they couldn't obtain lethal injection drugs.

Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling reiterated in an affidavit last week that the agency still couldn't obtain the drugs because manufacturers and compounding pharmacies contacted by the state refused to help.

During Moore's 2001 trial, prosecutors said Moore entered the store looking for money to support his cocaine habit and got into a dispute with Mahoney, who drew a pistol that Moore wrestled away from him.

Mahoney pulled a second gun, and a gunfight ensued. Mahoney shot Moore in the arm, and Moore shot Mahoney in the chest.

Prosecutors said Moore left a trail of blood through the store as he looked for cash, stepping twice over Mahoney.

At the time, Moore claimed that he acted in self-defense after Mahoney drew the first gun.

Moores supporters have argued that his crime doesn't rise to the level of a death penalty offense. His appeals lawyers have said that because Moore didn't bring a gun into store, he couldn't have intended to kill someone when he walked in.

The last person executed in South Carolina was Jeffrey Motts, who was on death row for strangling a cellmate while serving a life sentence for another murder.
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Defeated, beaten and bruised, with a swollen eye and a nasty gash across his forehead, Aiden 'Johnny' Aslin's worst fears that he would become a pawn in Putin's deranged 'bulls**t' propaganda if he was captured by the Russians tragically came true this week.

The British former care worker was paraded on Kremlin-backed TV from an undisclosed location after surrendering when he ran out of ammunition in Mariupol, the besieged southern port city which for many has become the lasting image of Moscow's invasion.

Aslin, who appeared to have been tortured, was described as a 'mercenary' who had 'fought on the side of the Nazis in Ukraine' by Rossiya 1 TV news presenter Andrey Rudenko, as he was asked a series of questions about his motives for taking up arms.

Fighting with Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade, who had themselves teamed up with the Azov regiment, a neo-Nazi unit of the National Guard of Ukraine which has allegedly committed war crimes in the east, Aslin was accused of 'shelling kids in Donbas for years', before he was forced to denounce his Ukrainian army comrades as 'criminals'.

Now facing the nightmare possibility that Aslin will be bundled to Russia and executed, the 28-year-old's terrified family today insisted that he is not a mercenary, and begged Putin to abide by the terms of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.

They also pointed out that for Aslin  who has lived in Ukraine for the past four years, has a Ukrainian fiancee and joint citizenship  is not a volunteer, but a 'legit' marine who has made the former Soviet republic's fight for national survival his own fight.

It is a surprising twist in the tale for those unacquainted with Aslin's story  from taking up arms against ISIS maniacs in one of the worst wars to have engulfed the Middle East in decades, to his struggle against the British state after it accused him of terrorism.

Born in Newark, Nottinghamshire in 1994, Aslin worked as a care worker before deciding to join the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the US-backed militia which had spearheaded the fight against ISIS in Syria, to fight the jihadists in 2015.

Having learned of the atrocities committed by ISIS and their abuse of Kurdish people, and convinced that Britain was not doing enough to bring about their defeat, he made the extraordinary decision to run towards the sound of gunfire.

Aiden Aslin is pictured in military gear. Born in Newark in 1994, he worked as a care worker before deciding to join the YPG, the US-backed militia which had spearheaded the fight against ISIS in Syria, to fight jihadists in 2015

Aiden Aslin poses for a photo in military gear. He has lived in Ukraine for the past four years

Aiden Aslin smiles for the camera. He was persuaded of Ukraine's cause against Russia and moved to the country in 2018

A battered and bruised Aslin shows his tattoos as the prisoner of war is paraded on Russian state TV

In an interview talking about his experiences of fighting Islamic State, using a different name for the terror network, Aslin said: 'I support UK air strikes against IS. Anyone who doesn't, feel free to come over and see for yourself the difference the air strikes make.

'Daesh is like a cancer. You leave it untreated and it is going to keep growing. Anti-war protesters have no idea what kind of people Daesh are. They can't be negotiated with.'

That April, he bought a ticket at Gatwick Airport to fly to the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniya, where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had its headquarters in the Qandil Mountains.

But before he could board the plane, he was stopped by UK Border Police who questioned his claim that he was going there on a backpacking trip.

He later described how he eventually admitted to officers that he was joining the fight against ISIS  and was allowed to continue his journey.

Aslin poses for a photo on a tour of Syria in 2015

Aslin spent about 10 months in the YPG's ranks in Syria, where he was linked to the Lions of Rojava unit and involved in the Coalition-backed offensive that expelled ISIS from al-Hawl.

Before his arrest in Britain, Aslin described dodging artillery and incoming bullets as his unit played a key role in capturing enemy territory near Mount Sinjar  to which tens of thousands of refugees headed after fleeing ISIS.

The Lions of Rojava were taking on gunmen from ISIS in al-Hawl when Aslin's makeshift armoured car came under direct enemy fire.

'I was going towards IS fighters who were less than 60 metres away,' he said. 'I was in a home-made tank. I heard the bullets hitting the outside of the tank and waited for rocket-propelled grenades to hit.

'The village had a lot of improvised explosive devices too, so as well as looking out for Daesh, we also had to watch where we stepped. They also tried to counter-attack us using car bombs.

'But mainly, they were driven out of the area by air strikes. We were able to find the frequency for their radios and heard a conversation between Daesh commanders. Our female fighters translated this and said the enemy were running out of food and water.'

It is thought that Aslin spent approximately ten months in the YPG's ranks before making his journey back to Europe.

After negotiating with the British Consulate in Erbil because he had lost his passport, he landed at Heathrow on February 3, 2016, where he was arrested on the plane and taken to Nottinghamshire Police headquarters for questioning over a suspected terrorism offence  all while his family had been waiting for him.

Aslin was held for 30 hours while police quizzed him over claims he had allegedly 'engaged in the preparation to fight against Daesh' and 'possessed articles for terrorist purposes in Iraq/Syria'. He was then arrested and placed on bail before all charges were dropped in October 2016.

Aslin's bail conditions meant he had to report to Newark Police Station three times a week and could not travel abroad.

However, the YPG was not a proscribed terror group in the UK at the time, and his case attracted protests from the Kurdish community in the UK and national politicians  including his then local Conservative MP Robert Jenrick.

'Mr Aslin took an extremely brave decision to fight with our allies,' Mr Jenrick crowed. 'It is now Home Office and police policy to arrest such individuals under counter-terrorism legislation on their return to UK. Even if, as is most likely, they are not charged, that will remain on their record and they will not be able, for example, to enter the United States for the rest of their lives.'

Aiden Aslin is pictured circled left in this image taken from social media in Ukraine

Aiden (circled) is pictured with Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade, who fought with Azov in Mariupol

Aiden Aslin is pictured with a shaven head in Ukraine. He has been fighting the Russian invaders

The misery and desolation of Mariupol Smoke rise after shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 4, 2022 Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week-long war. Home to 400,000 people before Russia's invasion, the city has been reduced to rubble by Russian shelling. Over 20,000 civilians are believed to have been killed, tens of thousands remain trapped in the city, and countless numbers have fled. It is one of a number of sites were international investigators believe war crimes have taken place - including the bombing of a maternity war and of a theatre sheltering hundreds of people. Amid fears that Mariupol could soon fall under complete Russian control, Ukraine said on Friday that it was still trying to break the siege of the city, as fighting raged around the city's massive steel works and port. Russian forces plan to close access to Mariupol on Monday and ban movement within its districts in order to filter Ukrainian men, some of whom will be forced to fight against their own country, an advisor to the city's mayor has said. Petro Andryushchenko said today men in Mariupol would be 'filtered' by Moscow, meaning some would be made to clear rubble, some would be forced to join the Russian army, and those deemed 'unreliable' would be 'isolated'. The Mayor's advisor wrote on Telegram that the process had already reached 'maximum momentum', with Russian forces using filtration camps and checkpoints to determine which of the city's residents could still be of use to them. Those going through the filtration system were being subjected to 'interrogation, gadget testing and body examination,' he said. Andryushchenko also said that the Kremlin plans to shut off the besieged port city from April 18 (Monday) to anyone wishing to enter or exit. Russia is doing this, he said, because the Mariupol is no longer hospitable for the residents who have stayed behind since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Advertisement

After his bail was lifted, Aslin thundered: 'No fighter should have to go through what I went through if it can be avoided. I feel vindicated.

'I have had nine months of being made to feel like a terrorist. I should never have been arrested. I should never have spent any time on bail. I should have been interviewed for any intelligence I might hold on ISIS and allowed to go free.'

After his passport was returned to him by Nottinghamshire Police, Aslin then left the UK for a second time in January 2017 to join the battle to reclaim Raqqa from ISIS.

That July, fearing that he would be arrested a second time if he went back to Britain, Aslin left the Middle East for Greece, where he said he was doing 'humanitarian work' teaching English at a Kurdish refugee camp.

In a fascinating turn of events, he decided to go home on a flight on July 16, before changing his mind. It later transpired that armed police stormed the plane after it landed in the UK, only to find he was not on board.

There appeared to be no love lost either between Aslin and Britain.

'I did my seven months [in Syria] and was just exhausted. So I came to Greece to do humanitarian work at a refugee camp for Kurds to help teach them English so they have a smoother time going though Europe and can better report exploitation and sexual harassment, missing family members and things like that,' he told his local newspaper.

'I'm probably going to live in Greece.'

He added: 'I'm done with Britain's treatment towards us when I was in Rojava. I had met members of the US 82nd Airborne Division just outside the town of Jezra during the operation to take it and, for a few days, got to know them by joking around the fire and socialising.

'Over there we are allies, but when we return we are treated as the enemy.'

In September 2017, Aslin ultimately decided to risk it by flying back to Britain. He was then arrested at Manchester Airport at around 2am under the Terrorism Act, as the Home Office had warned.

It is not clear if any charges were brought against Aslin, but he then moved to Ukraine in 2018 after falling in love with a woman from Mykolaiv.

While he had been fighting with the YPG in 2015, he had met Ukrainian volunteer who had fought against Russian forces in the Donbas.

Whatever was said, Aslin was persuaded of Ukraine's cause against the Russian aggressor, and signed up for the regular military after moving to Kyiv.

Two months of basic training later, Aslin qualified as a private in the Ukrainian marine infantry. He completed three tours of the Donbas frontline before Putin's armies burst through the border on February 24 this year.

Aslin, who uses the nom de guerre 'Cossack Gundi', had been due to get married last week to his Ukrainian fiancee, who remains unnnamed.

But as his unit, the 36th Marine Brigade, became surrounded by Russian forces bombarding the city of Mariupol, his communication with the outside world became increasingly sporadic.

Aiden's younger brother previously told MailOnline the fighter's family had received little information about his whereabouts or his condition, and expressed concern he would be treated poorly by his Russian captors.

It was to their horror that they then saw him paraded on Russian state television this week, appearing as if he had been tortured.

Reports on Russian TV claimed Aslin was 'shelling kids in Donbas for years' and will 'face justice as a foreign mercenary', rather than treating him as a prisoner of war.

In later video, Aslin was interrogated by his captors and forced to denounce his co-combatants as 'criminals'. He was supposedly asked on TV: 'You said [on social media] you came to protect Ukraine, but those who stood with you, they are killers.'

Aslin is pictured with a gash in his forehead as he is held in custody by Russian forces from an undisclosed location

He supposedly replies: 'I think you are correct. I said we must go home. If Ukraine really wants peace it would leave the Donbas. From day one in Mariupol I always said that we needed to leave, because Donbas is recognised as independent, Luhansk too.'

He is also asked: 'Why did they [the Ukrainians] kill peaceful people?'

Aslin supposedly replies: 'Because they are criminals, they killed people when people went for food. The Ukrainian army picked up all the food from supermarkets and forced people to carry water.'

When Aslin is asked: 'What was your post?', he supposedly replies: 'I refused to fire. I told a commander I didn't want to fight. I spent all the time in a bunker because I was scared.'

Rudenko, the TV reporter, then tells viewers: 'Aiden Aslin is a subject of Great Britain. He is an English mercenary and fought on the side of the Nazis in Ukraine. In my opinion he is not an ordinary mercenary but a person who was used [by the West] to perform various delicate tasks.

'And I sure he will be able to shed light on the actions of Western intelligence agencies in Ukraine.'

So what of Aslin's plight now? Outside of further British diplomatic pressure, it is not clear what will happen to the prisoner of war.

Aslin's anguished mother Angela Wood, 50, had told the Mail from Newark: 'I'm in bits. My son will be just as scared as we are.

'I now hold Vladimir Putin to the terms of the Geneva Convention.'

Whether Putin will restrain himself remains to be seen.
Pamela Smart has asked New Hampshire's highest court to hold another hearing to address her request of a reduction to her life-without-parole sentence, after having a third appeal denied last month.

A lawyer for 54-year-old Smart, who was 22 when she recruited teenage lover William 'Billy' Flynn to kill her husband Greggory in 1990, filed a petition on Thursday over her right for a hearing to argue for a shortened sentence.

Smart, who met then 15-year-old Flynn while working as a media coordinator at Winnacunnet High School in New Hampshire, has been in prison more than 30 years - and following last month's rejection, she will now have to go through New Hampshire's Executive Council for any changes to her sentence.

The petition - filed by Mark Sisti, one of Smart's lawyers during her trial in 1990 - seeks to do exactly that.

In the filing, Sisti contended that Smart's rights were violated when the council refused 'to even consider her request for a hearing' last month, and questioned whether Gov. Chris Sununu and the council can 'refuse to consider granting' her another hearing.

Sisti further asserted that the refusal was 'tantamount to a sentence of extermination as it prevents her from being deemed fit to return to society and thus forecloses any chance at having her sentence altered.'

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Pamela Smart (pictured here in a 2020 jailhouse interview with ABC's 2020), is petitioning a New Hampshire court's March decision to reject her appeal for a commuted life sentence after 32 years in prison - a last-ditch effort before she spends the rest of her life behind bars

In this 1991 file photo, William 'Billy' Flynn testifies on his 17th birthday how he shot Greggory Smart in the head and killed him. Flynn pleaded guilty to killing Smart and cooperated with prosecutors during the highly publicized trial. He was released on parole in 2015

Smart was convicted of orchestrating the murder of Greggory Smart (right) only a year after the couple married. The two are pictured in 1989 on their wedding day

Mark Sisti, one of Smart's lawyers during her trial in 1990, filed the petition Thursday, arguing for his client's right for another hearing aimed at garnering a lesser sentence

The attorney also remarked how Smart has completed multiple academic degree programs during her more than three decades of incarceration, and has served as a peer counselor, mentor, and even teacher to other inmates at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility - a maximum security women's prison in Westchester, New York.

'Those charged with supervising her have indicated that her conduct and actions in prison warrant an opportunity to rejoin society,' Sisti insisted in the filing.

The appeal serves as a last-ditch effort by Smart to shorten her sentence before she spends the rest of her life behind bars.

If a commutation hearing is granted, Gov. Sununu, a Republican, would be left to decide whether Pamela Smart should be eligible for parole.

In a written statement released Friday, Smart spokesperson Eleanor Pam said her client is hopeful the state Supreme Court will allow her to resubmit a fourth petition.

'She was never given the opportunity to show rehabilitation after 32 years of incarceration, and that her return to the community would pose no threat upon release,' Pam wrote.

'Both were comprehensively and robustly demonstrated in her petition, which included, among others, support from the long-serving prison superintendent, correctional officials and religious leaders.'

Pam, a feminist professor at the City University of New York who has fought for clemency for Smart for years, went on to declare council members ignored these supposed signs of improvement.

'None of these proofs were discussed by members of the Executive Council or referenced in the opposition writings of the attorney general.'

Teacher: Pamela Smart (seen in 1991) was convicted of conspiring with her teen lover, William 'Billy' Flynn, to kill her 24-year-old husband, Greggory Smart. Smart is serving a life without parole sentence

Smart has denied knowledge of the plot, but was still convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes in 1991, and sentenced to life without parole

The attorney general's office declined to comment on the pending litigation. Messages seeking comment were left with the five council members, two of whom had made brief comments before the council rejected Smart's latest request in March.

'I have always been willing to review the case if new evidence came up to exonerate Pam Smart, or if there was a legal misgiving,' Councilor Joseph Kenney said in an email Friday.

'As much material that I have read over the years on this subject, I see no new evidence. Therefore, my position has not been changed for a pardon or commutation hearing.'

There was some discussion about Smart's most recent request for clemency - in which the convicted killer apologized to the family of her late husband for the first time - back in March.

'I am absolutely convinced that theres no evidence or argument' to grant a commutation request, councilor Janet Stevens said at the time.

The jurist went on to assert that Greggory Smart's 'loss of life and the impact on his family and friends far outweighs whatever adversity the petitioner has faced in prison.'

Councilor Cinde Warmington, meanwhile, argued that a commutations request is 'an extraordinary remedy' given under 'extraordinary circumstances' - something she said she did not see in Smart's petition.

The attempt at contrition ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Smart was an instructor in a self-awareness program at the high school in Hampton, New Hampshire when she seduced the 15-year-old Flynn, a fellow volunteer.

She told him she needed her 24-year-old husband killed because she feared she would lose everything, including her dog and furniture, if she divorced him.

In her last appeal, Smart apologized to her late husband's surviving family for a plot that saw her enlist Flynn and three others to kill her spouse

On May 1, 1990, he and 18-year-old Patrick Randall entered the Smarts' Derry condominium and forced Greggory Smart, a sales representative for an insurance company, to his knees in the foyer.

As Randall held a knife to the man's throat, Flynn shot him in the head.

What's important to me is Pam stays in jail for the rest of her life Rick Smart, brother of the victim

To this day, Pamela Smart denies knowing about the plot. But the state's star witness, a teenage intern in whom Smart confided, secretly recorded her after the killing saying, 'If you tell the (expletive) truth, you'll send me to the slammer for the rest of my (expletive) life.'

Smart, whose trial was the first to be televised nationally from start to finish, was convicted March 22, 1991, of being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy and witness tampering.

Randall got 28 years to life; he comes up for parole in April. Two other teenagers served prison sentences and have been released.

Flynn pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and testified in Smart's 1991 trial that she threatened to break up with him if he didn't kill her husband.

He was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison, minus credit for pretrial incarceration, and was released in 2015 after 25 years of incarceration, at 41 years of age, after cooperating with prosecutors during the initial court proceedings.

The three other teens have since been released as well - meaning Smart is the only person convicted in connection with Gregg Smart's death still in prison.

Smart has denied knowledge of the plot, but was still convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes in 1991, and sentenced to life without parole.

In her last appeal, Smart apologized to her late husband's surviving family.

'I offer no excuses for my actions and behavior,' she said in a recorded statement that was sent as a DVD to the attorney generals office in December. 'I'm to blame.'

In the states response, Jeffery Strelzin, associate attorney general, wrote that Smart has told a false narrative for over 30 years and just because shes decided to change that now 'does not mean that she has truly changed and fully acknowledged all the crimes she committed.'

He said her acceptance of responsibility was 'vague' and a family member of Greggory Smart said she wasn't sure what Pamela Smart was apologizing for.

The trial was a media circus and one of the first high-profile cases about a sexual affair between a school staff member and a student.

Joyce Maynard wrote 'To Die For' in 1992, drawing from the Smart case. That inspired a 1995 film of the same name, starring Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday repealed his traffic-clogging immigration order that had backed up commercial trucks at the U.S.-Mexico border, after a week of intensifying backlash and fears of deepening economic losses.

The Republican governor dropped his new rules that had required all commercial trucks from Mexico to undergo extra inspections to curb the flow of migrants and drugs and ratcheted up a fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy.

Some truckers reported waiting more than 30 hours to cross at some ports. Others blocked one of the busiest trade bridges on the U.S. southern border in protest.

Abbott, who is up for re-election in November and has made the border his top issue, fully lifted the inspections after reaching agreements with neighboring Mexican states that he says outline new commitments to border security.

The last one was signed with the governor of Tamaulipas, who earlier this week said the inspections were overzealous and created havoc.

The U.S.-Mexico border is crucial to the U.S. economy and more of it is in Texas - roughly 1,200 miles - than any other state. The United States last year imported $390.7 billion worth of goods from Mexico, second only to China.

Truckers block the entrance into the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in Ciudad Juarez going into New Mexico on April 12, 2022

The truckers blocked the port as a protest to the prolonged processing times implemented by Gov. Abbott which they say have increased from 2-3 hours up to 14 hours in the last few days

Several dozen commercial trucks wait to cross the Pharr-Reynosa International bridge on April 13, 2022 in Pharr, Texas

On Friday, the governor of Tamaulipas joined Abbott and said they were ready to work together.

When Abbott first ordered the inspections, he did not say lifting them was conditional on such arrangements with Mexico.

Pressure was building on Abbott to retreat as gridlock on the border worsened. The American Trucking Association called the inspections 'wholly flawed, redundant and adding considerable weight on an already strained supply chain.'

One customs agency in Mexico estimated the losses at millions of dollars a day, and produce distributors warned of empty shelves and higher prices if the order was not rescinded soon.

Abbott acknowledged the trade slowdowns but showed no sign of regret. He said he was prepared to reimpose the inspections if Mexican states don't hold up their end of the deal.

'I'm not hesitant to do so whatsoever,' Abbott said.

A long line of trucks is seeing stalled at the Zaragoza International Bridge, one of two ports of entry in Ciudad Juarez going into the US on April 12, 2022

Trucks are inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents upon entering the country. Texas began its own inspections after the Biden administration said pandemic-related restrictions on claiming asylum at the border would be lifted May 23.

Abbott called the inspections a 'zero tolerance policy for unsafe vehicles' smuggling migrants.

He said Texas would take several steps in response to the end of the asylum restrictions, which is expected to lead to an increase in migrants coming to the border.

State troopers inspected more than 6,000 commercial vehicles over the past week, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Nearly one in four trucks were pulled off the road for what the agency described as serious violations that included defective tires and brakes.

Several dozen commercial trucks wait to cross the Pharr-Reynosa International bridge on April 13, 2022 in Pharr, Texas

The bridge reopened to commercial traffic after 5 p.m. after being closed since Monday because of Mexican truckers on strike

Troopers did not turn up any human or drug trafficking during the inspections, said Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw. He described it as unsurprising, saying cartels knew the inspections were taking place.

But migrants are stopped at ports of entry in only about five percent of CBP encounters. The vast majority cross in mountains, deserts and cities between official crossings.

The dynamic with drug seizures is different, with fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and other hard narcotics being seized overwhelmingly at official crossings instead of between them.

Their compact size and lack of odor make them extremely difficult to detect.

Abbott has also chartered buses to Washington, D.C., for migrants who wanted to go.

The first drop-offs happened Wednesday, drawing criticism from the Biden administration.

On Thursday, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said Texas was moving migrants without 'adequately coordinating with the federal government.
Passengers at Manchester Airport (pictured right and inset right) say they are facing a two-hour wait at security check-in this morning, with queues leading outside the terminal and into a nearby car-park. Meanwhile, at Birmingham Airport (pictured left and inset left), passengers have complained of 'ridiculous' queues at departures today, with long queues outside the main terminal building. There are also delays to flights, with at least ten late flights at Manchester and four at Birmingham as of 8am this morning. Meanwhile at Stansted, there were also claims of two-hour delays at passport control last night. It comes as airports up and down the UK continue to face staffing issues in the wake of Covid restrictions. Travel chiefs say the issues have been exacerbated by a huge increase in demand for travel following two years of Covid-enforced disruption. With holidaymakers flocking to airports this morning at the start of a new week, passengers again faced delays at Manchester and Birmingham. Bosses of both airports today said the queues were due to the ongoing staffing problems. It is also understood that Manchester has suffered additional problem, including passengers arriving up to six hours before their flight in the hope of beating the queues - creating bottlenecks at already busy times. However there did not appear to be queues at Heathrow and Gatwick today. Passengers at the travel hubs, the UK's two biggest airports, faced delays over Easter - when millions jetted off for a four-day weekend. One holidaymaker flying out from Manchester Airport today branded the situation a 'sh*t show', while others at Birmingham Airport said they feared missing their flight.
One hundred and ten years ago this week, the Titanic was holed by an iceberg in the mid-Atlantic and sank with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. The tragedy threw up many heroes  and one villain. But has he been unfairly blamed for his actions that night?

Bruce Ismay turned in for the night on the luxury liner that was his latest masterpiece.

A fastidious gentleman, he probably trimmed his immaculate Kaiser Wilhelm moustache and brushed his neatly cut hair before climbing into his pyjamas, freshly pressed and laid out by his valet, Richard, then into the comfortable master bed of what was more a plush suite than a cabin.

B52-56 on the Bridge deck, taking up the space of five normal-sized First Class cabins, was the owners cabin, built with no expense spared for the ultimate boss of the shipping company, the fabulously wealthy American banker J .P. Morgan.

But he had declined a trip on this maiden transatlantic voyage from Southampton to New York, so Ismay, the 49-year-old Liverpool-born chairman of the White Star Line  which his late father had created and Morgan had later bought  had the honour instead.

Official inquiries in both New York and London cleared Ismay of blame, though the Press continued to point fingers at him. He was tempted to justify himself in print but his lawyer advised him to stay silent. The inquiries had exonerated him and he should let that be the last word on the matter

To be fair, it was only fitting that he should have the star accommodation. An inspired businessman and leader, he had set the high standards of customer service that distinguished White Star vessels as something out of the ordinary in the highly competitive transatlantic market.

He had also been the driving force behind the expansion of the company to take on its rivals Cunard with the building, in Belfasts Harland & Wolff shipyard, of its two latest four-funnelled super-ships  the Olympic and the one he was on now, for its first voyage, the even more fabulous Titanic.

Since leaving Southampton four days earlier on April 10, 1912, he had been feted by the First Class passengers, receiving their congratulations for the unrivalled opulence of the new liner: the magnificent Grand Staircase, the Turkish baths, the Palm Courts, the Cafe Parisien, the libraries, the squash court.

Even in steerage, the cheap end, the Third Class passengers seemed happy enough with the facilities. In his careful commissioning of the ship, the meticulous Ismay had been mindful of their needs, too.

So he turned out the electric light  another of the ships innovative selling points  and went to sleep a contented man that Monday night. There would be one more night on board before she was due to dock in New York on Wednesday morning and the 2,208 passengers  not far short of her full complement of 2,453  could disembark on schedule.

That safe arrival never happened, of course. Just before midnight, he was shaken awake by a violent vibration. His first thought was that the ship had lost a propeller  a setback, certainly, but not disastrous. He pulled on a dressing gown over his pyjamas, put on his slippers and stepped outside his cabin into the corridor.

The pumps might only be sufficient to keep the ship afloat for two hours at most, before the weight of water in the hull dragged Titanic down by the bow. The film depicts the evacuation above

He asked a passing steward what had happened. The steward didnt know, so Ismay got an overcoat from his cabin before making his way to the bridge. There he found the captain, Edward Smith, who told him the unthinkable  the unsinkable Titanic was sinking.

An iceberg had loomed out of the dark. The lookouts had seen it at the last minute and warned the helmsman, who frantically turned the wheel hard to port, pushing round the bow of the colossal ship but not fast enough to avoid scraping the side and opening up gashes below the waterline.

Do you think the ship is seriously damaged? Ismay asked.

Im afraid she is, Captain Smith replied. An urgent radio message had been sent out to any ships near by: SOS Titanic calling. We have struck ice and require immediate assistance.

Ismay hurried below to the engine room. There he found the chief engineer, who explained that the ship was taking on water fast and the supposedly watertight buoyancy compartments below deck were rapidly filling.

The pumps might only be sufficient to keep the ship afloat for two hours at most, before the weight of water in the hull dragged Titanic down by the bow.

By now, the lifeboats were being prepared  just 20 of them, room for less than half the passengers and crew. On the boat deck, Ismay took an active part in loading them. He was seen by witnesses ordering the men to stand aside, giving priority to women and children, as was the custom. Allow the ladies to pass, he was heard to say.

But when the last boat came to be lowered from the doomed ship, he did what for ever after would be considered something utterly reprehensible  he jumped in himself. And while 1,500 of those on board died in the icy waters on that terrible night, he survived.

For this he would be universally vilified. American newspapers labelled him the Coward of the Titanic and suggested his name should be changed to Brute Ismay. They also suggested changing the companys name from White Star to Yellow.

But was this condemnation fair? A distant relation of Ismay, Cumbrian Clifford Ismay, thinks not, and in a new book argues that his kinsman not only acted honourably but was haunted for the rest of his life by the thought that he had put his own preservation above that of others.

There is no doubt Bruce Ismay worked tirelessly in those last two frantic hours.

Putting aside his natural aloofness, he helped scores of women to board the lifeboats before they were lowered away down the listing side of the ship.

He persuaded a group of women from First Class who thought themselves too posh (or too scared) to get in a lifeboat to do so. When a stewardess held back because she was only crew, he told her: Never mind that. You are a woman. Take your place.

(Afterwards, her husband wrote to Ismay with the highest praise. She was only a stewardess but that made no difference to you. You saved her. God bless you.)

At times he got overexcited and called out for a boat to be lowered away when it was unsafe. When the ships officer in charge swore at him and told him to back off, he did so without complaint and didnt try to pull rank.

Mr Ismay was just the same as any of us, a crewman remembered. He was doing all he could to assist to get the boats out.

The new book argues that Ismay went from one lifeboat to the next  eight in all  helping as best he could, never letting up .

In the chaos and confusion, men were trying to get in the boats ahead of women and had to be removed. Shots were fired in the air by officers supervising the loading.

Finally, Ismay came to what was designated as Collapsible C. (Sixteen of the Titanics 20 lifeboats were of wooden construction. The other four were rafts of kapok and cork, with canvas sides that could be raised to form a boat.)

He helped load this boat and then, as it was hanging over the side and about to be lowered, a call went out for any more women. None came forward and at that point, with spaces spare in the 47-seater lifeboat, he stepped in and took a seat.

Some reports later suggested he was bundled in by another man, who climbed in, too. Others said he was down in the boat already, helping women and children to settle, when it was lowered.

But Ismays own explanation was that he could see no other women waiting to be rescued and, at the very last minute and without premeditation, as the boat began to lower, he got in.

When it hit the water, he helped to row the boat away.

At 2.20am, her back broken, her stern towering high in the air, Titanic plunged head first into the depths of the ocean. A thousand souls were still on board, hundreds more floundering and drowning in the water or dying from cold and exhaustion.

Lifeboats milled around in the dark, their occupants stunned and frightened, sending flares into the night sky and praying for rescue.

An hour and 40 minutes later, the Cunard liner Carpathia arrived. Having picked up the Titanics distress call at 12.25am, she had steamed the 60 miles between them as fast as she could, dodging ice floes along the way. She came upon an eerie scene of desolation and death.

One by one, the lifeboats discharged their passengers onto the Carpathia. In Collapsible C, Ismay was one of the last to be rescued, hauling himself up a rope ladder and on deck, where he was offered a hot drink and soup.

He refused, just standing there, his back against a bulwark, appearing dazed and distracted. It was only now dawning on him that all the women passengers had not escaped after all, as he had believed. He was inconsolable, too, on learning that his valet and secretary were among the missing.

Seeing his distress and realising who Ismay was, the ships doctor ushered him into his own tiny cabin and he remained there until the Carpathia, with 710 survivors on board, docked in New York two days later.

There was criticism of Ismay for this  why had he had preferential treatment when other survivors were on deck with just a blanket for warmth? But Ismays condition was dire, as a fellow survivor who knew him would later explain.

Jack Thayer was the 17-year-old son of a U.S. railway tycoon and had been a First Class passenger on board Titanic with his parents. His father died but he survived after jumping into the water.

Asked by the Carpathia doctor to see if he could help Ismay, Thayer went into the cabin.

He was seated in his pyjamas on his bunk, staring straight ahead, shaking all over like a leaf. My entrance apparently did not dawn on his consciousness.

Even when I tried to engage him in conversation, telling him he had a perfect right to take the last boat, he paid absolutely no attention and continued to look ahead, with a fixed stare.

On the Titanic his hair had been black with slight tinges of grey, but it was now snow white. I have never seen a man so completely wrecked. Nothing I could do or say brought any response. As I left, he was still looking fixedly ahead.

Charles Lightoller, the most senior of the Titanics officers to survive the sinking, also tried to bring Ismay back to his senses. But he was obsessed with the idea that he ought to have gone down with the ship because women had gone down. He kept repeating it.

I tried to get that idea out of his head. The doctor tried, too. But we had difficulty in arousing Mr Ismay, solely owing to the fact that women had gone down in the ship and he had not.

Meanwhile, as the news of the tragedy reached America, the papers there piled into Ismay, particularly those owned by press baron William Randolph Hearst, accusing him of cowardice.

According to Clifford Ismay in his book, this was unwarranted and deliberately vicious because of bad blood between the two men. Twenty-five years earlier, they had been part of the same fast social circle in New York, until Hearst invited his friend Ismay to become his business partner. Ismay, disliking Hearsts brash brand of journalism, decided to turn him down.

The snub obviously still rankled, as Hearst took his revenge in print, blackening Ismays name far more than he deserved.

One of the charges made against Ismay was that the Titanic was going too fast to avoid the iceberg, and that this recklessness was down to his presence on the ship. Either he had ordered the captain to test her speed to the full, or the captain had been trying to impress the boss and threw caution to the wind.

The evidence was flimsy. An American passenger claimed to have overheard Ismay tell the captain he wanted to get to New York early and beat the record set by Titanics sister ship, the Olympic. But when pressed, she had to admit she could not positively identify either of them with certainty.

To the U.S. inquiry into the disaster, Ismay conceded that there had been an intention to drive the ship at full speed on Tuesday, on the last leg of the crossing, but owing to the unfortunate catastrophe, that never eventuated.

Past experience showed that the White Star Lines policy under Ismay was reliability  arriving on schedule  rather than setting speed records.

Official inquiries in both New York and London cleared Ismay of blame, though the Press continued to point fingers at him. He was tempted to justify himself in print but his lawyer advised him to stay silent. The inquiries had exonerated him and he should let that be the last word on the matter.

He took the advice but was obviously still distraught about what he had done that night, because his lawyer ended his letter: In the meanwhile, my dear Bruce, try to see things as they really are and not through glasses of a morbid tint.

How long that morbid tint coloured Ismays life is impossible to say. The year after the disaster he retired from the shipping line, although that was something he had always intended to do.

He retreated to a shooting estate in Ireland and lived happily enough for the next quarter of a century, until his death from a stroke in 1937, aged 74.

He never offered an elaboration or an excuse for that split-second when he decided to get into the lifeboat, except that he genuinely believed all the women had been saved.

Today, someone in his situation would be quizzed by breakfast news hosts and documentary-makers until every last emotion and explanation had been wrested from him. But not in 1912. He was left to come to terms with his conscience on his own.

There are countless what ifs around the Titanic saga.

What if her sister ship, the Olympia, had not collided with a cruiser, HMS Hawke, seven months earlier in the Solent, damaging a propeller? It was replaced by one from the Titanic, then under construction.

That set back the completion of Titanic by three weeks, delaying her maiden voyage. Without that mishap, she would have sailed on a different day and in different circumstances.

What if a last-minute reshuffle of senior officers on the Titanic had not ended in the demotion of Second Officer David Blair to another ship? That was his good fortune  but he left in a hurry and forgot to hand in the keys to the locker where the binoculars for the lookouts were stored. They were unable to access them that night.

What if the sea hadnt been exceptionally calm and clear that night, merging into the dark sky and making it difficult for lookouts to see far ahead?

But there is no what if about Ismays behaviour. He could have done nothing to save the Titanic. Nothing he did led to loss of life. He didnt shove anyone out of the way to make his escape at their expense.

If he had made a deliberate decision not to step into the lifeboat when it still had room, his self-sacrifice would have changed nothing, except to add one more death to the terrible toll.

The captain went down with his ship, as did 695 crew and Thomas Andrews of Harland & Wolff, her designer, who was on board to monitor her performance. It was said he made no attempt to save himself.

As for Ismay, just how much thought he gave his own decision will never be known. Did he act on the spur of the moment, instinctively choosing life over death? If so, each of us must wonder what we would have done in those circumstances, and judge him accordingly.

Adapted from Understanding J. Bruce Ismay: The True Story Of The Man They Called The Coward Of Titanic, by Clifford Ismay, published by The History Press at 15.99.  Clifford Ismay 2022. To order a copy for 14.39 (offer valid to 30/04/22; UK P&P free on orders over 20), visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

The casualty figures

The records show that 109 women died on the Titanic, the bulk of them Third Class passengers. Only four women from First Class suffered the same fate.

Of the children, 52 out of 109 were lost, all from Third Class. By far the biggest toll was among the men  some 1,352 deaths. By and large, it had been women and children first after all.
Boris Johnson faces a fraught week as he returns to Parliament after the Easter recess to confront growing discontent among MPs.

After being fined by the police for attending an impromptu celebration for his birthday in No10 during lockdown, the Prime Minister is preparing to apologise to the Commons.

He will seek to set the record straight on Partygate and address claims he misled MPs, with more than a dozen Tories now publicly questioning his future.

Johnson will seek to set the record straight on Partygate and address claims he misled MPs

Many of Mr Johnsons toughest critics on the backbenches have said ousting him amid the Ukraine crisis would be a mistake - but dissenting voices are now emerging.

They include Lord Wolfson who quit as a justice minister over the scandal, former Cabinet minister Karen Bradley and senior Tory Tobias Ellwood.

Backbenchers Nigel Mills and Craig Whittaker have called for the Prime Minister to quit - suggesting Mr Johnson could face a tricky period once politicians return to Westminster next week.

Yesterday Andrew Mitchell, the former Cabinet minister, said he still believed Mr Johnson should go.

In February he said the allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in No10 were like battery acid on the reputation of the Tories.

However, he told BBC Radio 4 yesterday that the key issues facing the country now are the war in Ukraine, the Rwanda policy and the local elections.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said yesterday that the Mets decision to fine the PM will not negatively impact his party at the local elections.

He said he is confident voters will back Tory candidates on May 5, adding: I think voters can make the difference between national issues which are rightly angering people. And Im angry.

I think the Prime Ministers actions were completely unacceptable. I said that back in January and had it not been for a war in Ukraine, my position would be the same.

But I also have to look at the situation where we have atrocities happening in Europe and innocent men, women and children being murdered on a daily basis by war criminal Vladimir Putin and his troops.

These national issues are clearly dominating much of the national coverage, but people also know that theyre electing local councillors for the next five years.

But speculation that the party is nervous about the fallout from the PMs fine has been fuelled by an absence of Mr Johnson in Scottish and Welsh Tory campaign literature.

The Telegraph said he has also been kept away from the launch of the local elections in England, and he does not appear in online campaign material.

However, Tory sources said it was nonsense to suggest Mr Johnson had been airbrushed out of the campaign.
A new poll has found that almost two thirds of British people think Boris Johnson should resign if he is hit with more fines for parties in Downing Street.

Earlier this week, the embattled Prime Minister was issued with a 50 fine by London's Metropolitan Police who decided he had broken his own lockdown rules.

The fine, which Mr Johnson quickly paid, was the result of a birthday gathering for the Prime Minister himself in Downing Street's cabinet room on June 19, 2020 - almost thee months into the first national lockdown he announced on March 23.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie, were both also issued with fines - with Mr Sunak's fine coming during a particularly tough time for him politically amid questions over his and his wife's financial affairs.

Since paying the fine, Mr Johnson apologised over the debacle. However, he is thought to have been involved in at least five of the 11 further events inside Downing Street currently under investigation by the police - and it is therefore possible he could be fined again.

The Prime Minister is also facing claims he misled Parliament with his denials of Downing Street parties prior to being issued the fine. He has claimed he did not know he was breaking the rules by attending the party.

What's more, once the police have concluded their investigations, a senior civil servant's detailed report on the scandal - the Sue Gray report - will be published in full, which seems likely to increase the political pressure on Mr Johnson.

A new poll has found that almost two thirds of British people think Boris Johnson (centre) should resign if he is hit with more fines for parties in Downing Street

Were the Prime Minister to be fined again over the parties, 63 percent of the British public say they think he should resign, according to a YouGov poll conducted on behalf of The Times. The poll also found that 36 percent of people who voted for Johnson's Conservative party in 2019 would want his resignation with more fines.

That is compared to 49 percent of Conservative voters who said he should stay on in his position regardless of whether he is fined more or not, The Times reported.

The 63 percent figure is higher than those who think he should resign after receiving the single fine this week, the newspaper noted, which stood at 56 percent.

Just one percent less - 55 percent - said they think Sunak should also resign, suggesting his efforts to distance himself from the on-going row have been unsuccessful, despite him reportedly only briefly being at the birthday party.

The poll also found that votes are not buying Johnson's defences, with just 14 percent of those polled saying they think he is being truthful when he says he did not realise he was breaking his own rules by attending the party.

Currently, once-mutinous Conservative MPs have in recent weeks rallied around their leader as the war in Ukraine and the growing cost-of-living crisis diverted attention away from the scandal over the parties.

But commentators are questioning whether Johnson, 57, can maintain that support if he is repeatedly fined, his party fares poorly in the May 5 nationwide polls and further details of parties emerge.

'A lot more fines and a lot more headlines might change the view of more voters and that in turn might change the mind of Conservative MPs if they do very badly in the elections,' Anand Menon, a politics professor at King's College London, told AFP.

'He's clearly willing and able to brazen some things out in a way other, earlier prime ministers probably weren't... I don't think he's superhuman, though.'

Earlier this week, the embattled Prime Minister was issued with a 50 fine by London's Metropolitan Police who decided he had broken his own lockdown rules

As a possible sign of things to come, Justice Minister Simon Wolfson resigned from the government on Wednesday, citing 'the scale, context and nature' of the rule breaches.

The peer concluded he had no option but to resign considering 'my ministerial and professional obligations to support and uphold the rule of law'.

Conservative former cabinet minister Karen Bradley suggested Mr Johnson should quit.

The Staffordshire Moorlands MP said: 'My constituents know that I have been clear that those that make the rules must not break them, whether intentionally or otherwise. The public are right to expect the highest standards of behaviour from their leaders.'

She said 'law breaking in Downing Street is unforgivable' but the war in Ukraine meant there was a need to 'act responsibly so as to not make the situation worse'.

'But I do wish to make it clear that if I had been a minister found to have broken the laws that I passed, I would be tendering my resignation now.'

Commons Defence Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood said Vladimir Putin would exploit Mr Johnson's position

'How can a lawmaker also be a law breaker? This is not a good look,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He suggested that Mr Johnson should trigger a confidence vote himself.

Mr Ellwood added: 'I think the Prime Minister has made his intentions clear - he wants to stay - but this is bigger than the Prime Minister.

'It's about the reputation of the party for which all colleagues must defend, and I believe he owes it to the parliamentary party, once the reports have concluded and the local elections have allowed the public view to be factored in, to agree to hold his own vote of confidence if those elections go badly.'

After facing accusations of hypocrisy for not following the rules and allegations of lying to MPs, Mr Johnson told a press conference in Kent: 'You are going to have to wait until I come to Parliament when of course I will set the record straight in any way that I can.'

A protester holds up a placard of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak outside Downing Street in London, Britain, 13 April 2022

Johnson's position was hanging by a thread earlier this year following a stream of controversies since last summer that culminated in 'partygate' and an increasingly rebellious mood among his MPs.

Several Conservative lawmakers publicly withdrew their support for his leadership, with more reportedly writing letters of no-confidence in him to the party's 1922 Committee.

If the grouping of backbenchers receives at least 54 such letters from Johnson's 360 MPs, it would spark a confidence vote and his possible removal as leader.

'Boris Johnson will remain PM so long as he... retains the confidence of the Conservative group of MPs,' Robert Hazell, of University College London's Constitution Unit, explained. 'It is they who will decide his fate.'

Johnson is expected to face lawmakers when they return from their Easter break next week to explain why he repeatedly insisted in the House of Commons that no lockdown rules had been broken.

After facing accusations of hypocrisy for not following the rules and allegations of lying to MPs, Mr Johnson told a press conference in Kent: 'You are going to have to wait until I come to Parliament when of course I will set the record straight in any way that I can.'

Knowingly misleading parliament is a breach of government ministers' code of conduct, which states they should resign as a result.

Hannah White, of the Institute for Government think-tank, told the BBC that Johnson's refusal to do so 'puts us in a very difficult situation'.

'If it is now henceforth precedent that if you break the law as a minister, you don't automatically have to resign, that's... quite a difficult precedent to have been set,' she said.

White noted that Johnson was hoping voters' anger over 'partygate' had dissipated.

But Britons across the country made huge sacrifices during the pandemic, including not being able to attend loved one's funerals. Opinion polls suggest that many remain furious at the behaviour in Downing Street.

'They are able to see that Boris Johnson has done a good job on Ukraine but that anger about 'partygate' has continued throughout the entire time,' James Johnson, a Conservative pollster, told BBC radio.

'I think we're going to see this really light that anger up all over again,' he said. It would be 'deluded' to think the Tories could avoid fallout from the scandal at the ballot box, he added on Twitter.

London Metropolitan Police, which is conducting the 'partygate' probe, said Tuesday over 50 fines had been issued so far. The initial March 29 announcement had referred to just 20.

Sebastian Payne, the Financial Times' Whitehall editor, predicted that a poor Conservative electoral performance paired with the prime minister being fined again could be 'the final straw' for its lawmakers.

'If they see electoral evidence that things are not going in their direction and that the 'partygate' situation is causing them to lose votes, that could change their thinking,' he told BBC News.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson faced questions about rumours of a rift with the Chancellor following a series of rows involving Mr Sunak.

Mr Johnson is facing questions about rumours of a rift with the Chancellor following a series of rows involving Mr Sunak (pictured together last year)

The Chancellor's standing has been damaged by the response to the spring statement and the cost-of-living crisis, revelations about his wife's non-domiciled tax status and his former possession of a US green card and the FPN issued over partygate

Asked if Mr Sunak was in danger of being removed as Chancellor or if he had that job for as long as he wants, the Prime Minister simply said: 'Yes.'

The Chancellor's standing has been damaged by the response to the spring statement and the cost-of-living crisis, revelations about his wife's non-domiciled tax status and his former possession of a US green card and the FPN issued over partygate.

In her first public comments on the partygate row, Home Secretary Priti Patel said the Prime Minister should be 'respected' for giving a 'very thorough and fulsome apology' after being fined.

Asked by reporters during her visit to Rwanda whether she was disappointed that Mr Johnson had been fined for breaking the rules, she said: 'The Prime Minister has apologised, the Prime Minister has paid a fine.

'I'm not going to give a running commentary on this, there's an investigation still ongoing.'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged more Tory MPs to speak out against the Prime Minister instead of acting like 'lemmings' in support of him.

'Every Tory MP that cares about honesty and integrity should call for the Prime Minister to resign. They know he's a liar. They know he's a law breaker,' he said.

Sir Keir dismissed the Prime Minister's announcement of a tougher immigration policy, sending some migrants crossing the English Channel to Rwanda, as a 'desperate' attempt to distract from the partygate row.
A top trans psychologist who has helped hundreds of teens transition has warned it has gone too far amid fears many youngsters are making life-changing decisions because it is trendy.

Dr Erica Anderson, who has worked as a clinical psychologist in the US for 30 years, has raised concerns that the rise in trans or non-binary children is the result of peer pressure.

The 71-year-old, who is transgender, said clinicians are failing to carry out thorough mental health evaluations before recommending hormones or surgeries to teenagers.

The 71-year-old, who is transgender, said clinicians are failing to carry out thorough mental health evaluations before recommending hormones or surgeries to teenagers

She is a former clinical psychologist at the University of California San Francisco Child and Adolescent gender Center, where she provided support for hundreds of young people transitioning.

For a while, we were all happy that society was becoming more accepting and more families than ever were embracing children that were gender variant, she told the Los Angeles Times.

I think its gone too far. Now its got to the point where there are kids presenting at clinics whose parents say, This just doesnt make sense.

To flatly say there couldnt be any social influence in formation of gender identity flies in the face of reality. Teenagers influence each other.

Dr Anderson supports puberty blockers and hormone therapy for teens, but says they should be given only after strict examinations to ensure that the youth is ready to transition.

She revealed she has already intervened on a hormone therapy session for a 13-year-old who identified as male but had yet to meet with a psychologist.

And she has warned fellow members of the American Psychological Association committee  tasked with writing transgender healthcare guidelines  to pursue rigorous evaluations for patients to avoid committing malpractice.

She is a former clinical psychologist at the University of California San Francisco Child and Adolescent Gender Center, where she provided support for hundreds of young people

I have a dictum: When in doubt, doubt, she told the paper.

Questioning is a good thing. How are you going to find out if you are in lockstep with whatever conclusion you come to first?

It follows a 2020 lawsuit filed against the UKs only young gender clinic, the Tavistock and Portman Trust, by Keira Bell, 26  who claimed she had only a series of superficial conversations with social workers when she began transitioning at 16, only to regret getting a mastectomy aged 20.

Dr Anderson warned that giving hormones on demand will result in many more cases of poor outcomes and many more disappointed kids.

She first spoke out against the rise in children coming out as trans and non-binary in a 2018 interview with the Washington Post, saying: A fair number of kids are getting into it because its trendy. Her comments oppose the views of another gender specialist who claims that young teens are in the right state of mind to identify their gender and transition.

Dr AJ Eckert, medical director of the Gender and Life-Affirming Medicine Program at the Anchor Health Initiative in Stamford, Connecticut, said being trans or non-binary should not be treated as a mental illness where excessive evaluations are warranted.

Dr Eckert said forcing young people through assessments conveys to them that they are not normal.
A British fighter captured by Russia could be treated as a spy by the Kremlin, raising fears for his safety.

Russias state TV channels have broadcast suspect footage of former care worker Aiden Aslin being questioned by his captors after he was forced to surrender in Mariupol.

Mr Aslin, 28, joined the Ukrainian marines four years ago. He has dual UK-Ukrainian citizenship and a Ukrainian fiancee, yet Russia appears determined to brand him an enemy agent rather than a prisoner of war.

An image uploaded to his social media shows Aiden, 28, bruised, beaten and in handcuffs

A second image, posted by a pro-Russia Telegram account, was closer to captured Aiden's cut

The distinction is significant as under Russian law, those suspected of espionage face interrogation and lengthy prison sentences.

Whereas POWs are released at the end of hostilities, convicted spies may remain behind bars, perhaps until an exchange of agents can be arranged.

Kremlin-approved TV reporter Andrey Rudenko said in a Russian news broadcast Mr Aslin was an English mercenary used [by the West] to perform various delicate tasks, adding: I am sure he will be able to shed light on the actions of Western intelligence agencies in Ukraine.

Mr Aslin, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, was paraded on TV with his face bruised. It is thought he is being held in a military detention facility.

Footage shows him being questioned by one of his captors off camera and he supposedly agrees with the suggestion that those who stood with you [in Ukraine], they are killers.

It remains unclear whether the recording was doctored for political purposes.

But last night Mr Aslins brother Nathan Wood said: People should not believe anything the Russians say or are making my brother say. He is being held against his will and forced to say whatever they tell him to.

Anything that comes out of my brothers mouth now, and the mouths of his Russian captors, are lies.
The Bank of England owned nearly 600 slaves when it acquired two plantations on the Caribbean island of Grenada in the 1770s, new research has revealed.

The startling fact came to light in a study commissioned after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

Now, an exhibition opening this week at the bank's headquarters in Threadneedle Street, London, will commemorate the names of each of the 599 slaves, The Guardian reports.

As a trading ground for sugar, coffee and slaves, Grenada was a place where fortunes were made and lost in the late 18th Century - affected by Britain's wars with France and American independence.

The Bank of England has apologised for its links to slavery - with no fewer than 25 of its governors and directors the owner of slaves.

In June, the bank it that although it was never 'directly involved' in the slave trade, it acknowledged the 'inexcusable' actions of some of its leaders and removed two busts and eight paintings.

Now will present the findings of its historical analysis in full at the free exhibition.

A new exhibition opening this week at the Bank of England's headquarters in Threadneedle Street, London, will commemorate the names of each of the 599 slaves it once owned

A spokesperson said: 'In 2021, the Bank of England commissioned a researcher to explore its historic links to transatlantic slavery, working with the Bank of England museum and archive.

'This research found that in the 1770s the Bank made loans to a merchant company called Alexander & Sons.

'When the business defaulted on those loans, the Bank came into possession of two plantations in Grenada which had been pledged as security for the loans.

'Our research has found that 599 enslaved African people lived and worked on those plantations. The Bank subsequently sold on the plantations.'

Some of the UKs biggest high street banks including Barclays, HSBC, NatWest Group and Lloyds have been examining their historical ties to the slave trade, as has brewer Greene King.

For more information about the exhibition, visit here.
The woman who has accused NRL star George Burgess of 'touching her on the bottom' claims she has been horrifically trolled online after speaking out and it's because she was once 'intimate' with one of the brothers.

The St George Illawarra Dragons forward has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexually touching a person without consent.

Police allege Burgess, a married father-of-three, had gone to the woman's house in Mascot in Sydney's inner south to drop off a signed jersey in March, and when he left he 'touched her bottom' in a sexual way that prompted her to make a complaint.

The woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, said she was 'heartbroken' at the reaction she received on social media, prompting her to shut down her accounts.

(George Burgess with wife Joanna) The woman who has accused NRL star George Burgess of 'touching her on the bottom' claims she has been horrifically trolled online after speaking out

The woman at the centre of the Burgess case said she's had to delete her social media accounts because she has been attacked online

'One guy even said I'm wanting a payout to redo my kitchen. The comments are absolutely vile, being called a money-hungry s**t, a w***e, a b***h, every name under the sun,' she told The Saturday Telegraph.

Daily Mail Australia earlier revealed the woman has had contact with the Burgess family for more than a decade, having first started communicating with Luke in 2012.

A series of messages reveals friendly banter between the woman and Luke, and then with brothers Sam, Tom and George in the following years.

She told the Saturday Telegraph she was 'intimate' with Thomas 10 years ago and believed she was being targeted online because she has known the Burgess brothers socially for years.

She said she felt the need to speak up for women who may be too afraid, but didn't expect to vilified online, claiming some people accused of her wanting to 'cash in' on the Burgess family's fame.

'One online comment from a woman even said, ''She should be named and shamed, if his name gets dragged through the mud, so should hers''. I couldn't believe my eyes,' the woman said.

Text messages reveal all four Burgess brothers were known to the woman prior to the alleged incident on March 8. Pictured: Luke (left) and Sam (sunglasses) with twins Tom and George Burgess

She had arranged for Burgess to sign the jersey and then auction if off for charity, revealing it was to raise money for cancer research after she lost a friend to the disease.

'I don't even want to be at home anymore, I feel uncomfortable in the one place that's supposed to be my safe haven,' she added.

The NRL is allowing Burgess to play in the current season while the case plays out in the courts.

'So as not to prejudice Burgess' criminal proceedings case, the NRL will wait the outcome of that case before taking any action for possible breaches of NRL rules,' an NRL statement read.

George Burgess is pictured above. The NRL has continued to let Burgess play in the current season while the case plays out in the courts

'The decision in no way forms a judgment on the allegations against Burgess which are serious and the NRL reserves the right to impose a No Fault Stand Down in the future.'

Burgess's charge of 'sexual touching without consent' carries a maximum sentence of five years.

His case has been adjourned until June 8 giving police time to provide the brief of evidence, however Burgess has been excused from appearing.

Burgess's wife Joanna has stood by her husband and uploaded a happy selfie with him to her Instagram stories soon after his arrest.

The couple married in 2016 and have three children together- Boston, 6, Birdie, 4, and Blainey, 2.
Teachers will debate how to tackle the growing problem of 'incel' culture in schools, as seven in ten teachers say they have experienced misogyny at work.

A survey of over 1,500 teachers by the Nasuwt teaching union ahead of its annual conference in Birmingham found that 72 per cent said they had been a victim of misogyny at their school.

Of those who had experienced sexism at work, nearly six in 10, 59 per cent, said this behaviour had come from a pupil, while 43 per cent reported that other teachers had been sexist towards them.

In total, 45 per cent of respondents had experienced misogyny from their senior leadership team, while 31 per cent said their headteacher had been sexist towards them.

Teachers will debate how to tackle the growing problem of 'incel' culture in schools, as seven in ten teachers say they have experienced misogyny at work (file photo)

Nine in 10, 89 per cent, said they had experienced verbal misogyny, while 60 per cent said they had experienced non-verbal sexist behaviour, for example through body language.

Over one in 10, 11 per cent, had experienced misogyny through emails, while 5 per cent had been subject to sexism on social media.

Teachers reported that they had been intimidated or undermined at work, while others said the misogyny came in the form of comments about their clothing, body, intellect, abilities and teaching style.

In a minority of cases, teachers were threatened with physical violence (9 per cent) while 3 per cent had experienced physical violence, and 3 per cent had been the victim of sexual violence.

Half of the teachers who had been subject to sexist comments or behaviour did not report it to their senior management, and for those who did report a problem, 45 per cent said no action was taken by their school.

A third of cases were resolved informally, while a fifth (20 per cent) of teachers said they were not believed when they reported abuse.

'A study in October 2021, suggested that there was a 6.3 per cent chance of being suggested an incel-related video by YouTube within five 'hops' of a non-incel related video,' said Kathryn Downs, a secondary school teacher from Leeds (file photo)

What are INCELS - Involuntary celibates? In the late 1990s, a Canadian woman created an Internet peer support forum for people who wanted a sexual relationship but were unable to find a partner. It was intended to be a safe place to seek support for those who felt sexually deprived due to social awkwardness, marginalization, or mental illness. This forum, along with similar communities, was intended to be positive and focused on providing support for overcoming one's 'incel' status. Today, the term 'incel' is often used to describe men who feel unable to obtain romantic or sexual relationships with women, to which they feel entitled. The term is used to describe one online subculture that exists within the 'manosphere'  a network of blogs and forums frequented by groups including incels, men's rights activists (MRAs), Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), and pickup artists (PUAs). Although these groups are known to promote male-dominant views, some members express extreme ideologies involving anti-woman hate, sexual objectification of women, and calls for violence targeting women. Source: Secret Service Advertisement

One teacher said that pupils made comments such as 'is it your time of [the] month miss?' as well as sexualised remarks about other teachers' appearance.

Another respondent said that pupils had exposed themselves during a lesson, and had made sexual gestures and sex noises in the classroom in order to intimidate them.

'On a daily basis I feel boys are disrespectful towards me as a teacher,' one respondent said.

'I constantly hear sexist remarks from students.

'I see boys grab girls and say sexist comments.

'The girls are just used to it and brush it off.'

Teachers reported that pupils had derogatory attitudes towards equal rights for women, with some pupils voicing the belief that feminism equated to a desire to 'kill men', while one teacher said pupils had called them a 'feminazi'.

One teacher said: 'A male student looked me dead in the eyes and asked if I'd ever been raped.'

Staff also reported that other teachers had made derogatory comments towards them.

One respondent said their head of department had said they were a 'real problem' when they were pregnant.

Another reported that their colleagues had been 'complaining about mothers taking time to look after such children, saying 'My wife does that for our family' not understanding that we are the wives!'

Respondents who were pregnant or had had a child said that male colleagues and female colleagues without children made belittling comments about their chances of promotion or capacity to take on extra responsibilities.

When teachers reported issues such as upskirting, colleagues made comments such as like 'I am not surprised, have you seen what the teachers are wearing, no wonder' or, 'If they don't want this to happen they should wear trousers - boys will be boys... they can't help themselves.'

One teacher said that a WhatsApp Group 'which included only male members a member of SLT commented that I was hot and several teachers agreed'.

'A member of male staff brushed his groin across my buttocks whilst I was at the photocopier.

'A male student took a photo of my bottom, when I was helping another student,' they added.

In total, 69 per cent of staff said that misogyny in their school had made their working environment 'unpleasant', while 41 per cent said it had led to a lack of promotional opportunities.

Over a quarter, 26 per cent, said sexism had prevented them from earning more through promotion or moving up the pay scale.

Just 19 per cent said they felt their school was doing enough to tackle misogyny.

Kathryn Downs, a secondary school teacher from Leeds, proposed a motion at the conference on misogyny and incel culture, an online subculture involving men who express hostility and extreme resentment towards those who are sexually active, particularly women.

She said that in the last year, 'we have also seen cases such as the murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and the shootings of five innocent people in Plymouth by a member of the incel community'.

'A study in October 2021, suggested that there was a 6.3 per cent chance of being suggested an incel-related video by YouTube within five 'hops' of a non-incel related video,' she said on Saturday.

'Given the amount of time our young people spend on social media, this is 6.3 per cent too much.

'Clearly this shows the dangers of failing to support and improve the mental wellbeing of boys within schools.

'Language and stereotyping attitudes such as 'cry like a girl' or 'fight like a boy' means that boys as well as girls still struggle to express their own difficulties with their mental wellbeing or feel like they need to suffer in silence.'

The motion calls for Nasuwt to lobby government to make misogyny a hate crime and also calls for more mental health support for boys in schools.
An irritated Scott Morrison told reporters to not interrupt him as he defended controversial Liberal candidate Katherine Deves during a heated press conference.

The prime minister stood by his decision to select Ms Deves as the candidate for Warringah, a key electorate on Sydney's northern beaches.

Ms Deves has come under fire for her comments about transgender people, her opposition to them competing in female sport and her comparison between anti-trans activism and standing up to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.

'We may not always agree, but when we disagree, it is important that we disagree better,' Mr Morrison said on Saturday.

'And so I think the comments that Katherine has made obviously were insensitive and she has admitted that.'

A journalist then interrupted the prime minister before Mr Morrison snapped back.

Scott Morrison has defended controversial Liberal candidate Katherine Deves before telling reporters to not interrupt him during a heated press conference

Ms Deves has come under fire for her comments about transgender people, her opposition to them competing in female sport and her comparison between anti-trans activism and standing up to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany

'No, no, I'm still answering the question,' he said.

'Katherine has been saying there have been ways she has prosecuted her case of which she is very passionate about.

'This is a woman standing up for women and girls in sport. That is the primary issue she has raised. There are ways she has expressed in the past that she no longer feels comfortable with.'

Another journalist tried to cut in prompting Mr Morrison to speak over them.

'I haven't finished this,' he said. 'It is important she understand that and learns those lessons which she has.'

Mr Morrison drew comparisons to the allegations of bullying made within the Labor Party.

'Mean girls' senators Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher were accused of bullying the late MP Kimberley Kitching.

'We have seen female members of our Parliament who have had to apologise for the way they've spoken to other women in Parliament about not being able to have children,' Mr Morrison said.

'We may not always agree, but when we disagree, it is important that we disagree better,' Mr Morrison said on Saturday

Mr Morrison with Liberal member for Chisholm Gladys Liu during a visit to Wallies Lollies in Box Hill, Melbourne, on Saturday

'They have given those apologies in good faith and they have learned from those experiences, and I know Katherine has learned from those experiences.'

'What I'm saying is that when you are going into public life, which Katherine is seeing to do, a strong woman standing up for things she believes in, for women and girls in sport, which is a sensitive issue in so many communities, but it has to be done respectfully.'

Mr Morrison was grilled by reporters who demanded why he was standing by the controversial candidate.

'She is the captain's pick and you are the captain,' a reporter said. 'Would any other candidate be disendorsed by this, or is the reason she hasn't been dis-endorsed because she is running for Warringah?'

Mr Morrison said Ms Deves had been apologetic and addressed her comments,

'Well, she has acknowledged that she has been insensitive and she has done that and that is the right way to respect the trans-community and I don't share those sentiments either,' he said.

'But what I do know is that in life people learn things along the way and as they learn thing as long the way, they learn how to be a better member of Parliament and what is a more respectful way to prosecute the cases that they seek to do in public life.'

Mr Morrison carries a box filled with treats as he leaves Wallies Lollies at Box Hill in Melbourne

Mr Morrison said he was siding with former prime minister Tony Abbott in not participating on a 'pile-on' of Ms Deves, rather than supporting the comments of NSW Liberal treasurer Matt Kean.

Mr Kean said Ms Deves should be disendorsed as the Liberal candidate in Warringah.

'She's got to go,' Mr Kean said.

'There is no place for that vile bigotry in a mainstream political party or quite frankly anywhere.

'I am sick of people turning a blind eye to it.'
A father of four was tragically killed in a Good Friday motorbike accident as his pregnant wife helplessly watched on.

Alex Szilagyi died following a collision in Holmview, Queensland when his motorbike and a car crashed into each other at the intersection of Teys Road and Pepper Tree Drive.

Mr Szilagyi died at the scene while the driver of the car was not physically injured.

Queensland Forensic Crash officers are investigating the incident.

Pictured: Alex Szilagyi tragically killed in a traffic accident on Good Friday, wife Debbie and their children

Queensland Forensic Crash officers are investigating the incident (pictured) after Mr Szilagyi passed away at the scene

Tributes were quickly posted for the respected member of the Queensland Romanian community who had four children with his wife Debbie Szilagyi.

Mrs Szilagyi is also pregnant with a fifth child.

One friend, Patricia Nicula, wrote on Facebook: 'With the tragic passing of Alex Szilagyi, our hearts are heavy and sit in sadness with our Sister Debbie, his beautiful wife left behind with four young children and one on the way.'

'He was a young God fearing man, wonderful husband and father of four and one to come. He loved sharing the Good News of salvation,' said another friend.

'Our condolences to the passing away of your beloved husband. God give you the grace to move forward with your beautiful children,' wrote another on the Gofundme page set up for the family.

'This page has been set up to help my sister Debbie with funeral costs and ongoing living expenses to alleviate some immediate pressure and help her get back on her feet,' organiser Melissa Popa wrote on the page.
Suspected NYC subway shooter Frank James ominously told cops 'I've been waiting for you' before officers arrested the then at-large gunman on a Lower East side street Wednesday, it has been revealed.

The foreboding phrase, law enforcement sources told The Daily News Friday, was uttered by the 62-year-old suspect as officers responding to one of five tips as to his whereabouts approached James on St. Mark's Place at approximately 1:42 pm.

When officers arrived on the scene, one lawman who spotted James walking down the crowded sidewalk called out 'Hey, Frank!' the newspaper reported.

At that point, James slowly turned around and stared at the group of officers, and offered the hair-raising remark.

James, who had evaded officers for nearly 30 hours before calling cops on himself roughly 12 minutes before his arrest at a First Avenue McDonald's, was subsequently cuffed and detained, and is being held without bail.

The strange revelation was among several new details to emerge about the arrest Friday, as it was revealed the five tipsters who reported seeing James jaunt around Manhattan Wednesday will share Crime Stoppers' promised $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture, each getting $10,000.

Suspected subway shooter Frank James ominously told cops 'Ive been waiting for you,' before officers arrested the then at-large suspect on a Lower East side street Wednesday, following multiple sightings of the suspect in Manhattan

James, 62, spent the night after allegedly shooting ten people on a packed northbound N train at a Manhattan hostel, before waking up to take what amounted to a tour of the borough while cops frantically searched for the suspect, then a person of interest in the case

Smartphones across the city lit up Wednesday as push alerts urged citizens to be on the lookout for James, who is accused of popping a smoke canister on a crowded N train as it approached 36th Street station in Brooklyn at 8:26 am Tuesday morning, before opening fire on those inside.

Tips soon began to flood in, leading detectives on a manhunt throughout the five boroughs - with one of the tips even coming from James himself - with at least four of the five credible sightings coming in Manhattan.

When James called the NYPDs Crime Stoppers hotline from the East 6th Street McDonald's, he truthfully told dispatchers he was in the East Village, and even offered them a detailed description, describing what he was wearing and that he was carrying a green backpack, sources said.

An operator asked James for a number they could call him back on - to which he replied he didnt know it, because the phone was new. He then said that his battery was about to die, and told the operator he would be charging the phone at the fast food eatery or somewhere close by, the source said.

Now on high alert, cops quickly mobilized to the area, but were still somehow unable to track down James, who had left the McDonald's before officers arrived.

James was wearing Ugg-style slippers, black pants and a blue t-shirt when he was arrested on St. Mark's Place Wednesday

Frank James is walked out of the 9th Precinct, Manhattan, New York. April 13 2022

James is transported into a police vehicle to be taken to a federal courthouse on Wednesday. He has been charged with carrying out a terror attack on mass transit

At 1:42 pm, however, cops were able to finally put James in bracelets, as the suspect walked casually along bustling St. Marks Place, a couple of blocks from the McDonald's - thanks to Syrian-born security camera company worker Zack Tahhan, of Union City, New Jersey, who recognized the suspect and flagged down a passing police vehicle.

James - who had been charging his phone at a LinkNYC city internet kiosk when Tahhan spotted him - was then cuffed and walked to the local police precinct, where he was pictured by a flood of photographers and press.

When questioned as to why he called in the tip, 21-year-old Tahhan said: 'If you smoke one cigar, youre gonna want to smoke two cigars, you know? Like, this guy is gonna do it again if we dont catch him, and we catch him. Thank God!'

Tahhan and two friends who also spotted James account for three of the five tipsters whose information led to James' capture. The five citizens will split Crime Stoppers' promised $50,000 reward.

'I just wanted to make sure everybody was safe and that America is safe before I even think about the money,' Tahhan told the News Friday. 'There were other people with me too. They helped.'

Zach Tahhan, 21, was fixing a camera outside an East Village store when he spotted James in the street. The 62-year-old had just exited a McDonald's and was walking around casually, a day after shooting ten people on a northbound N train

Tahhan told how he started yelling out that James was the shooter the moment he spotted him on Wednesday

Another Good Samaritan to call in a James sighting was a Twitter user going by the name Jack Griffin, who at roughly 10:30 am, spotted - and photographed - the suspect walking along Canal Street and dining outdoors at trendy Chinatown eatery Dimes.

Griffin shared two photos of the suspect to social media, with the caption, 'possible frank James sighting.'

One of the photos posted by Griffin, at 10:29 am, showed a heavyset man matching James' description walking down Canal Street still dressed in black, while another showed him sitting at Dimes' outdoor dining area 'just staring into space,' Griffin told The News.

The post from Griffin prompted a response from the NYPD's Crime Stoppers unit, who asked the Twitter to provide more details on the then-suspected sighting.

Another Good Samaritan to call in a James sighting was a Twitter user going by the name Jack Griffin, who at roughly 10:30 am, spotted - and photographed - the suspect walking along Canal Street (at left) and dining outdoors at trendy Chinatown eatery Dimes (at right)

In the 30 hours between the attack and his arrest, suspect Frank James (pictured Wednesday waltzing down Canal Street) was seen strolling around Manhattan, seemingly without a care in the world, as thousands of cops scoured the city in a frantic effort to track him down

At roughly 10:30 am, the suspect was spotted - and photographed - dining outdoors at Dimes on Canal St., by a passerby who shared the two photos of the suspect to social media. He is one of five tipsters splitting a promised $50,000 reward

Police have since confirmed that the man pictured in the photos was indeed James.

The fifth person has not yet been identified, as Crime Stoppers reward recipients are offered the right of anonymity.

James, who gave cops the slip by changing clothes following the brazen subway attack that saw a shooter fire off 33 shots, spent the night after the shooting at a Chelsea hostel steps away from a police precinct.

Immediately after fleeing the scene at the 36th Street subway station, James - who donned a orange construction worker-style vest, hardhat, and gasmask during the attack - reportedly boarded a southbound R train for one stop, exiting at 25th Street.

Video footage from a bodega by the station shows James, in all black, emerging from the subway system at 8:30 am, before walking away.

'He was the first one out,' Sulaimen Yehia, 33, a staffer at the nearby Lotto Deli & Grill, told The Daily News. 'He already changed his whole gear. They were looking for gray and construction and he came out all black. Nobody thought he changed his clothes that quick.'

About five minutes later, at roughly 8:35 am James was seen on video, in black, walking past Greenwood Cemetery blocks away to board a bus, which he took to a subway stop at Seventh Ave. and Ninth St. in neighboring Park Slope.

James then bought a mask at the 9th Street Quick Stop, less than two miles from the scene of that attack that occurred just a half hour before. Worker Ismail Hossein, 24, told the News Thursday that a fellow staffer at the store had spoken to the FBI and NYPD about the sighting.

James stayed at the Chelsea International Hostel on West 20th St overnight. It is just a few doors down from the NYPD's 10th Precinct

During his Manhattan day trip, James reportedly dined at famed Lower East Side eatery Katz's Deli - of When Harry Met Sally fame - a claim the restaurant's owner vehemently denies

James, a career criminal who lives in Philadelphia, managed to lay low for the rest of the day, somehow evading thousands of cops mobilized after the attack - until reporting himself to Crime Stoppers the next day.

During the call, James told the unit he was at the McDonald's, and said he was 'seeing his face all over the news,' the law-enforcement source told the News.

James was then spotted again after leaving the McDonald's, according to 18-year-old Salim Brisbane, who said a friend saw the suspect leave the McDonald's to get a beer at a nearby bar.

'We heard he came to McDonalds and then went and got a beer afterwards. Our friend saw him,' Brisbane told the paper. 'What the actual f--k?'

During his Manhattan day trip, James reportedly dined at famed Lower East Side eatery Katz's Deli - of When Harry Met Sally fame - a claim the restaurant's owner vehemently denied Friday.

'We reviewed the video, we didn't see him,' owner Jake Dell told The New York Post Friday, following reports from The Daily News that the 62-year-old suspect was seen eating at the iconic Lower East Side establishment Friday around 12:30 pm, shortly before he was cuffed by cops six blocks away on St. Mark's Place.

'I reviewed the cameras from [11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday],' Dell told reporters who visited the restaurant Friday to confirm the report published by the rival paper the day prior. 'I'm confident [James] didn't come in at that time.'

The restaurateur added that the 125-year-old deli has 'over 60' surveillance cameras, and remained confident that James, the primary suspect in the shooting on a crowded N Train in Sunset Park Tuesday, was not among the bustling lunch crowd.

The Post also reported that six high-level police sources asserted that the NYPD had no record of James dining at the restaurant.

Following James' arrest, Mayor Adams - who promised to crack down on rampant crime in the city's subway system after being sworn into office in January - touted the efforts of the city's police department while James was on the run, while omitting the fact that the suspect had turned himself in.

'He fired 33 shots,' the mayor wrote. 'But less than 30 hours later, thanks to the NYPD, federal and state partners, first responders and every day New Yorkers, we got him.

Frank James is shown entering the subway in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning before the attack. He was held without bond

James is shown 15 minutes after the attack, leaving the subway after committing the attack

'We brought the Sunset Park subway shooter to justice. Keeping our city safe is at the heart of our administration. Always.'

Some 24 hours after his arrest, James was arraigned in federal court in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon, where he was represented by public defenders and said nothing as the judge addressed him, other than answering 'yes'.

When asked if he'd seen the complaint against him, James responded: 'Yes I have.'

Public defenders asked for a psychiatric evaluation to be carried out in custody. They also asked for magnesium tablets for James, who suffers 'leg cramps'.

He said he understood the charges against him. James waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He was held without bond.

Prosecutor Sara Winik told the court: 'The defendant terrifyingly opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their commute in a way that has not been seen for 20 years.

'This was premeditated, carefully planned and it caused terror among our entire city.'

In court documents filed on Thursday, prosecutors detailed how more ammunition was found in James' rented Philadelphia apartment, including an extended round magazine that was fit for a semi-automatic rifle. No such firearm has been found yet in connection with the suspect.

The morning of the attack, James was filmed by traffic cameras entering Brooklyn via the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in a rented U-Haul van at 4:11 a.m.

TUESDAY, 4 AM: James is shown driving into New York from Philadelphia at 4.11am on Tuesday, the morning of the attack, in the U-Haul. A key to the U-Haul was found along with the gun registered to his name inside the subway station after the attack. Police found a tank of propane gas in the vehicle on Tuesday afternoon

Further video showed the suspect ditching the U-Haul at Kings Highway, near where the shooting took place, at 6:12 am, clad in the orange vest and yellow hardhat he wore during the attack.

The footage shows James carrying two bags, which authorities say contained commercial grade fireworks, a gasoline-filled container, a torch, and a Glock 17 pistol.

Subway surveillance footage then shows James boarding a Manhattan-bound N train, where he traveled eight stops before engaging in the attack.

His 9mm handgun was found at the 36th Street subway station on Tuesday, after the attack, along with spent shell casings, fireworks, and a key to his U-Haul.

Police have also searched a storage unit in Philadelphia, where he was keeping more ammunition, a torch and a gun silencer.

James' motive in the attack remains unknown. He is currently being held without bail pending a police investigation.
A 21-year-old man is in custody for the murder of a Georgia gun shop owner, his wife and their teenage grandson who was visiting them on Spring Break.

Police charged Jacob Christian Muse, 21, of College Park, with three counts of malice murder, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Friday.

Last Friday, Coweta County Coroner Richard Hawk, 51, made the gruesome discovery at his parents' shooting range, Lock Stock & Barrel, in Grantville, 50 miles southwest of Atlanta.

When he arrived at the shop around 8pm he found the lifeless bodies of his parents Thomas and Evelyn Hawk, both aged 75, and his 18-year-old son Luke, who was visiting his grandparents for Spring Break and helping in the shop.

The Hawks had operated Lock Stock & Barrel for nearly 30 years. A sign out front proudly proclaims it 'American owned & operated.'

Their teenage grandson was on spring break at the time, helping his grandparents at the shop.

Police charged 21-year-old Jacob Christian Muse, (pictured) of College Park, with three counts of malice murder, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said

Last week Richard Hawk found the lifeless bodies of his parents Thomas and Evelyn Hawk, both 75, (pictured together) and his son Luke, 18, who was visiting his grandparents

18-year-old Luke (pictured) was on spring break at the time, helping his grandparents at the shop

Investigators said that as many as 40 guns and the ranges surveillance camera were also stolen.

Muse was booked into the Coweta County Jail, officials said. Authorities did not release additional information about his arrest and it was not immediately clear whether Muse had an attorney who could comment.

Earlier this week police released the 911 call where Hawk tells a dispatcher the store was 'locked up', and that he could not get in to help his son, who he could see was bleeding, 11alivecom reported.

Hawk starts the brief call by asking the dispatcher to bring officers to the store.

'I think somebody has robbed us and probably shot my family.. oh my God,' he says.

'The door is closed, the door is locked, everything is locked up. I see blood coming from my son's - I see blood coming from my son. I can't tell if anyone is dead or alive or what, but he's not moving, he doesn't look like he's breathing,' he tells the dispatcher.

He tells the dispatcher he believes his parents were also in the store and asked the dispatcher to send someone as fast as possible.

'My parents are also supposed to be here too, just get somebody down here quick.'

When the dispatcher asks him if he can do CPR on his son he says he is not able to get in to help.

'I can't even get in the door. Tell somebody to bring some lock cutters with them because I don't have my keys.'

Finally the dispatcher asks Hawk if he knows who did it and he says he doesn't before hanging up the call.

'No like I said - I am - I don't know, the door's shut up, everything is shut up, oh my gosh.'

The Hawks had operated Lock Stock & Barrel for nearly 30 years. A sign out front proudly proclaims it 'American owned & operated' (Thomas pictured)

The triple murder came as a shock to the small Georgia community and family members organized a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs

Earlier this week police released the 911 call where Hawk tells a dispatcher the store was 'locked up'

The Hawk family had close ties to the community, making the crime all the more shocking, Chief Steve Whitlock said

Following the murders the Hawk family released a statement asking for privacy to grieve.

'Three beloved members of the Hawk family were taken too soon. We are heartbroken and our loss seems insurmountable. Please respect our family's privacy during this time. With God, we must grieve and heal as a family,' the family said.

The Hawk family also thanked the community for pulling together following the horrific crime.

'It is so meaningful that so many in our community cherished them as we did and want to help shine a light in the darkness,' the statement continued. 'Tommy, Evelyn and Luke will forever be in our hearts.'

The Hawks had close ties to the community, making the crime all the more puzzling, Chief Steve Whitlock said.

'These were just nice, easygoing people,' Whitlock told reporters. 'I really have a hard time understanding what happened here.'

The triple murder came as a shock to the small Georgia community and family members organized a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs.

The front entrance to the Lock Stock & Barrel Shooting gun range where three members of the Hawk family were murdered last Friday

Law enforcement agents investigate the scene of a fatal robbery at Lock Stock & Barrel Shooting Range late Friday, April 8, 2022

'Tommy, Evelyn and Luke Hawk. At the ages of 75, 75 and 18, their lives were taken from them,' the fundraiser started by granddaughter Felicia Walker said. 'They were such amazing people who believed in the Lord and loved with all that they had. Each would give you the shirt off of their back if you needed it. Nothing hurts worse than losing loved ones, but losing three at one time is heart wrenching.'

The fundraiser went on to say that the elderly couple were loving and that Luke was ready to graduate high school and had his whole life ahead of him.

The grandparents were longtime members of Emmanuel Baptist Church in the Newnan area, AJC.com reported.

Evelyn Hawk played the piano and Thomas was a 'prayer warrior' for the 50 member church.

Meanwhile Luke worked the soundboard at the church and loved to play 'Leave With Nothing Left,' by the Clark Family, AJC.com reported.

Luke was close to graduating East Coweta High School and planned to attend Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College next semester.

The 18-year-old was enrolled in a work-based learning program which allowed him to help out his grandparents at their gun shop.

'My grandparents were the kind of people who were such sweet and amazing people. They showed love to anyone no matter your background,' Walker wrote. 'Luke, my cousin, was getting ready to graduate in May and came from such an amazing family. No matter what happened, he made sure you had what you needed no questions asked. To say that they will be missed is an understatement.

'No words can describe the pain my family feels. If you feel in your heart to donate, please do. My family would appreciate any prayers, love, and support that you would be willing to give. Thank you in advance..,' Walker added.
A chaotic police chase after a driver failed to stop for a random breath test ended with an officer making a heroic dash after the motorist abandoned the car he crashed into a tree just moments earlier.

A well-aimed CCTV camera on Hedley Street at Greystanes in Sydney's western suburbs captured the wild pursuit, which included the strange moment when the car's female passenger posed as a passerby before returning to the vehicle and retrieved a mysterious plastic bag she had been told to collect by the driver.

The woman then disappeared from view with the bag and remains at-large.

Fleet of foot: The police officer deserted his car in favour of chasing down the man like an 'Olympic runner' (pictured), impressing residents of the quiet street

After a short sprint, the policeman arrested the motorist in a driveway a few hundred metres down the street from the crashed car, impressing local residents including neighbour Dennis Thorn.

'By gee he was good. He looked like an Olympic runner, he was so fast,' Mr Thorn told Nine of the policeman's pursuit.

'And the guy, well he wasn't very fit,' he said of the driver.

The driver was taken to Granville Police Station where he was reportedly charged with a number of offences relating to the pursuit.

Suspected drugs found in the car will be tested on Saturday.

The passenger is yet to be found, her bystander disguise allowing her to go undetected throughout the ordeal.
A new record for border encounters was set last month, new data shows, as the Biden administration readies to end the Trump-era pandemic restrictions in a move critics say will result in a surge in illegal crossings from Mexico.

Former acting ICE director Tom Homan on Friday night accused Joe Biden of doing 'nothing' to deal with the issue, and pointed out that more people had died making the journey under Biden than any president he could recall.

'The Biden administration keeps saying the Trump policies are inhumane,' he told Fox News's Sean Hannity.

'Let me be clear on this. More migrants have died under the first year of Joe Biden on U.S. soil than any year I can remember.

'A record number - more migrants are dying under Joe Biden, and over 100,000 Americans have died over overdose deaths of fentanyl comes across that southwest border.

'His policies are inhumane and they're killing people.'

Former acting ICE director Tom Homan on Friday night said that Biden's immigration policies were 'killing people' because more were encouraged to make the dangerous crossing

Earlier on Friday, Customs and Border Protection said in a court filing that 221,303 migrants were encountered at the southern border in March - a figure 28 percent higher than March 2021 when 173,277 migrants were encountered.

In March 2020, just 34,460 migrants were encountered at the border.

The previous high was set in July last year, when 213,953 people were detained by CBP.

The filing was submitted with more than five weeks still to go before the Biden administration removes the Title 42 health authority over illegal immigrants.

The policy currently allows border authorities to quickly expel migrants, without first hearing their asylum claims, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The order has been in place since March 2020 and has been used to expel more than 1.7 million migrants.

Immigrants arrive to the United States while being smuggled across the Rio Grande from Mexico on Friday

A child is pictured being lifted out of the boat into the arms of a people trafficker on Friday in Roma, Texas

The second bus of migrants from Texas arrived in Washington DC in the early hours of Friday

Critics of the Biden administration are pleading with the government not to lift Title 42, arguing that it will encourage a surge across the border.

Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, has been inviting migrants arriving in his state to go on a one-way journey to Washington DC, organizing buses to transport them to the nation's capital.

The second bus arrived in DC in the early hours of Friday.

Abbott has said he is 'taking the border to Biden' because Biden himself is 'refusing' to come and see the situation for himself.

On Friday, 18 Republican attorneys general have joined a lawsuit seeking to force the White House to keep the order in place.

The suit, first filed by the Republican attorneys general of Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri earlier this month, says that the administration's 'disastrous border policies' would lead to 'unmitigated chaos and catastrophe' if Title 42 is revoked.

John Katko, a Republican congressman representing New York, said that Border Patrol agents were already over stretched.

'They're overwhelmed. They're going to lose complete operational control of the border, if and when that surge happens,' said Katko, who is the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee.

'Everyone, including Homeland Secretary Mayorkas, understands that a surge is coming after Title 42 is gone.'

Even some Democrats have expressed alarm.

'Title 42 was put in place because of a public health emergency,' said Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat representing Arizona.

'It shouldn't be around forever, but right now this administration does not have a plan. I warned them about this months ago.'

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat representing West Virginia, called the decision to end the order 'frightening.'

'We are already facing an unprecedented increase in migrants this year, and that will only get worse if the Administration ends the Title 42 policy,' he said.

'We are nowhere near prepared to deal with that influx.'

On Monday, Psaki said Republicans in Congress were attempting to 'politicize' the end of Title 42 and exploit the crisis rather than work to find meaningful solutions.

Various polls have consistently shown Americans are mostly dissatisfied with how Biden handles immigration. It has been a pillar of Republicans' bid to retake the Congressional majority in November's midterm elections.

'It has been a longstanding open invitation - any Republican who wants to work with us on immigration reform, you're invited,' Psaki told Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich on Monday.

'Let's have a conversation. We have not seen an expression of that interest across the board.'

The Biden official didn't answer when asked whether the White House was embracing a strategy of waiting for Republicans to ask for a seat at the table rather than extend and invitation to them.

Within the Biden administration, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, there 'has been a longstanding open invitation -- any Republican who wants to work with us on immigration reform, you're invited'

'We'd have conversations with Democrats and Republicans all the time, Jackie, but I think it's clear what we're seeing from Republicans is an effort to politicize this and not fix what we all recognize is an outdated and broken system,' Psaki said.

Title 42 was enacted under Donald Trump and allows border agents to turn asylum-seekers away regardless of their status in the name of mitigating COVID-19's spread.

Immigrant advocacy groups have said the policy is 'inhumane' and does little to impact the spread of COVID-19. They've been urging Biden to lift it for much of his presidency, reminding him of his campaign promise to roll back Trump's harsh immigration policies.

Meanwhile Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have blasted the White House for its decision to allow Title 42 to expire on May 23

The White House has on multiple occasions tried to deflect that criticism by deferring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and pointing out it was technically a 'public health policy' and not an immigration rule.

But the CDC, responsible for the policy, said that it was 'no longer necessary to protect the public health' in its announcement lifting the order on April 1. Prior to then the Biden administration had fought in court to keep it in place.

Democrats' refusal to consider an amendment keeping Biden from lifting Title 42 sunk an entire $10 billion COVID pandemic aid package after weeks of bipartisan negotiations. Every Republican in the Senate voted to block the legislation.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted the White House moving to lift the policy as an 'outrageous decision.'

He warned on Fox News Sunday that it 'will produce a gusher far beyond the open border we already have, produce a gusher of additional people coming in.'

'Totally inconsistent, by the way, with them asking us for $10 billion for vaccines and therapeutics,' McConnell added, harkening back to the aid package.

Three GOP-led states -- Arizona, Louisiana and Mississippi -- are suing to block the White House from letting Title 42 expire.

But senators on both sides of the aisle are attempting to cobble out legislation that would pump the breaks on Biden's decision to roll it back next month, before they believe the Department of Homeland Security would be ready to handle an expected surge in migrants at the southern border.

In addition to migrants traveling from Central and South America, Ukrainians fleeing Russia's attack on their homeland have also come to the southwest border hoping to get into the United States (pictured: Refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine await processing of their applications at the Unidad Deportiva Benito Juarez along the border with the United States in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico on on April 9)

The Department of Homeland Security said last month, before the CDC announcement, that it was preparing for an influx of as many as 18,000 migrants per day once the order was lifted (pictured: Vehicles wait to enter the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) San Ysidro Port of Entry along the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico on April 9, 2022)

Democratic Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema warned the federal government was not prepared 'in a way that is both safe for our border communities and respects the humanitarian crisis that is coming,' according to Axios.

Last last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told reporters it was bracing for a scenario where as many as 18,000 migrants are encountered at the border per day, once Title 42 was lifted.

Psaki was asked about White House's plan if that many people try to cross the border each day by Fox's Peter Doocy at a press briefing late last week.

'I don't know where you're basing your specific numbers on, Peter, but what I would tell you --' she began before Doocy cut her off by reading a report on the DHS statement.

Pointing out the language of the projection, Psaki said, 'Well, 'up to,' and we'll see what happens.'

Trump blasted Biden's decision in a campaign-style Save America rally in Selma, North Carolina last weekend.

'With last week's announcement that the Biden administration will rescind the crucial Title 42 protections I put into place to quickly remove illegal aliens, Biden is willfully opening the floodgates to a tidal wave of illegal immigration the likes of which the world has never seen before,' the former president said.
Clive Palmer was rushed to hospital after he was knocked out for 20 seconds following a fall off-stage during an election ad campaign rehearsal.

The United Australia Party chairman suffered a gash to his head after slipping from a stage set-up at his Coolum resort, on the Sunshine Coast, on Good Friday.

Mr Palmer was treated with a first aid kit before he was transported to hospital.

'Well I went to jump on the stage and I can't high jump like I used to,' Mr Palmer told Courier Mail.

'I'm now 68. I hit it and ricocheted off the stage and hit my head ... I was knocked out for about 20 seconds. Had a scan. I really do have a brain in there between my two ears.'

Clive Palmer has been rushed to hospital after falling off stage during an election ad campaign rehearsal

The United Australia Party billionaire suffered a gash to his head after slipping from a stage set-up at his Coolum resort, in the Sunshine Coast region, on Good Friday

Mr Palmer remained in high spirits and compared the knock on his head to his days of playing rugby league for the Southport Tigers.

A UAP spokesperson said Mr Palmer was later discharged from hospital and that he had been resting ahead of the party launch at 3pm on Saturday.

Some 1,000 people were expected to attend with another 1,000 knocked back due to capacity limits, Mr Palmer said.

'I think people are looking for an alternative,' he said.

'Australians are losing their homes. They are really worried about interest rates going up ... and UAP has a solution for that.'

Mr Palmer had also stumbled on stage in a separate incident following his address at the National Press Club last Thursday.

The billionaire mining magnate had finished answering questions from reporters and went to leave the stage.

He misstepped off the raised podium and stumbled forward before catching himself on a nearby chair.

Mr Palmer announced during his speech a populist policy to cap home loan interest rates at three per cent for the next five years.

The UAP leader claimed the policy would protect six million Australians from losing their homes if interest rates soar and their mortgage payments become unaffordable.

'We must protect all Australians, their assets and their way of life,' he said.

Mr Palmer announced during his speech a populist policy to cap home loan interest rates at three per cent for the next five years

The policy would almost certainly increase the rate of inflation and massively reduce credit availability.

It has been tried in African and South American nations with ruinous consequences.

Mr Palmer admitted inflation may rise but said: 'There are other things we can do about inflation'.

The mining billionaire said he would pay down Australia's $1trillion debt in 20 years by introducing a 15 per cent licence fee on iron ore exports.

Mr Palmer's UAP was the most Googled party in the country last week, according to the latest data.

It received 36 per cent of searches for political parties, ahead of Labor on 34 per cent, Google Trends data first reported by the West Australian showed.

The Liberal Party received a dismal 12 per cent, with the Greens on 6 per cent, Pauline Hanson's One Nation on 5 per cent, the LNP on 4 per cent and the Nationals on 3 per cent.

The UAP's search figures were boosted when leader Craig Kelly got egged in Melbourne on Friday.
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A raging New Mexico wildfire has killed two people and destroyed hundreds of homes as fire fighters struggle to contain the flames.

The McBride Fire has destroyed more than 200 homes since it broke out Tuesday near the village Ruidoso, a vacation spot that draws thousands of tourists and horse racing fans every summer.

As of Saturday the wildfire remains zero percent contained and has burned 9.6 square miles of timber and brush.

Hotter and drier weather coupled with decades of fire suppression have contributed to an increase in the number of acres burned by wildfires, fire scientists say.

New Mexico authorities said they suspect the fire was sparked by a downed power line as they continue their investigation into the fire.

An elderly couple were killed in the blaze. Their remains were found near their charred home in the mountain community.

Police investigators and firefighters were alerted by family members after the pair tried to evacuate but never made it out.

Their names have not yet been released.

All that remains of a home after a wildfire spread through the Village of Ruidoso, New Mexico and has burned through over 200 homes

A tree ignites as the McBride Fire spills down a mountainside near Ruidoso as the wildfire remains zero percent contained

A Ruidoso home is turned to ashes after the McBride Fire has destroyed more than 200 homes since it broke out Tuesday

New Mexico authorities said they suspect the fire was sparked by a downed power line as they continue their investigation into the fire

As of Saturday the wildfire remains zero percent contained and has burned 9.6 square miles of timber and brush

Smoke can be seen rising as a wind-driven wildfire, known as the McBride Fire, is seen burning on a ridge in Ruidoso

Their bodies were found after worried family members contacted police saying the couple had planned to evacuate Tuesday when the fire exploded but were unaccounted for later that day.

Late Friday authorities lifted certain evacuation orders that covered about 60 percent of the estimated 4,500 people originally ordered to leave their homes since the fire started but specific numbers weren't immediately available, Village of Ruidoso spokesperson Kerry Gladden told AP.

As residents return to their homes, fire incident commander Dave Bales said crews are working to put out hot spots and clear lines along the fire's perimeter to keep the fire from spreading.

Despite no containment, Bales said he was satisfied with the work done so far and prospects for coming days.

Weather conditions Saturday appeared favorable with reduced wind and increased humidity, Bales said. 'We have lines in. We just want to make sure they hold in that wind,' he said.

The fire and the winds that spread it downed power lines and knocked out electricity to 18,000 customers but since power has been restored to all but a few dozen customers, Public Service Co. manager Wilson Guinn said.

Eric Vaughn surveys the wind damage to his roof at the Unique Boutique in Ruidoso, where hundreds of homes have been damaged by the flames

The fire killed a couple, who authorities have yet to publicly identify. Their bodies were found after worried family members contacted police

Evacuation estimates were previously reported to be around 5,000 people and orders remaining in effect may be lifted in coming days, officials said

As residents return to their homes, fire incident commander Dave Bales said crews are working to put out hot spots and clear lines along the fire's perimeter to keep the fire from spreading

Weather conditions Saturday appeared favorable with reduced wind and increased humidity, fire incident commander Dave Bales said. 'We have lines in. We just want to make sure they hold in that wind,' he said

Residents have been warned to be aware that the strong winds earlier in the week may have damaged trees that could still fall or lose limbs

While evacuation orders have been lifted officials still warned that people returning to their homes be cautious and call utility officials if they encounter downed lines

But Guinn warned that people returning to their homes needed to be cautious and call utility officials if they encounter downed lines.

'We may have missed something,' Guinn said. 'Don't try to touch them, fix them, roll them up, whatever.'

Gladden, the village spokesperson, said residents also need to be aware that the strong winds earlier in the week may have damaged trees that could still fall or lose limbs.

'It's important that what started this whole event was a significant wind storm,' she said.

Hotlines lit up Friday afternoon as residents reported more smoke, which fire information officer Mike De Fries said was caused by flare-ups within the interior of the fire as flames found pockets of unburned fuel.

On Friday, Mayor Lynn Crawford rallied heartbroken residents as firefighters tried to keep wind-whipped flames from making another run at the village. She said the response from their neighbors has been amazing.

'So we have plenty of food, we have plenty of clothes, those kinds of things but we still appreciate and need your prayers and your thoughts,' Crawford said at a briefing. 'Again, our hearts go out to the family of the deceased, to those that have lost their homes.'

A decade ago Ruidoso was the site of the most destructive wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history when more than 240 homes burned and nearly 70 square miles of forest were blackened by a lightning-sparked blaze.

While many older residents call Ruidoso home year round, the population of about 8,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the summer months as Texans and New Mexicans from hotter climates seek respite.

Fans also flock to Ruidoso Downs, home to one of the sports richest quarter-horse competitions. The racing season was expected to start May 27, and horses that board there arent in any danger as fire officials use the facility as a staging ground.

Elsewhere in the U.S., crews have been battling large fires this week in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, where a new blaze forced evacuations Friday along the Rocky Mountain's eastern front near Lyons about 18 miles north of Boulder.

That fire was burning in the Blue Mountains near the Larimer-Boulder county line about 20 miles southeast of Estes Park, the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Forecasters are expecting clear, sunny spells today after a hazy start with the mercury set to reach 22C

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Brits will sizzle in the sunshine again today ahead of splendid Easter Sunday after experiencing the hottest day of the year so far - and could be warmer than Greece and Turkey.

The mercury hit 23.4C in St James's Park in central London on Good Friday afternoon, the Met Office said, making it hottest day of the year so far - and warmer than California.

The new high beat the previous record of 20.8C set in central London on March 23 and at Treknow in Cornwall on March 25.

Amid the record temperatures, Easter holiday destinations like Majorca, Ibiza and Greece will only have highs of between 16C and 20C.

Although today is expected to be slightly cooler, temperatures are still expected to reach 23C for sunbathers and staycationers in parts of southern and central England.

The weather is expected to be dry with temperatures rising to 23C in the West Midlands and eastern Wales, while the northern, central and south eastern parts of England are predicted to see highs of 20C (68F).

It comes as millions of drivers took to the roads at the start of a long weekend desperate to make the most of the Bank Holiday sunshine - with an estimated 22.48million journeys taking places over the four days.

Brits will sizzle in the sunshine again today ahead of splendid Easter Sunday after experiencing the hottest day of the year so far. Pictured: Girls from the Talk of the Coast show at The Viking Hotel in Blackpool show off their beach bodies

Britain is predicted to be warmer than Greece and Turkey today as temperatures are set to hit 23C - following the hottest of the year so far on Good Friday. Pictured: Sunseekers filling up Bournemouth Beach in Dorset

The beach was packed as families and sunbathers made their way Lyme Regis in Dorset to enjoy the sunny, warm spells of the Easter school holidays

A person surfs along the glistening waters at Porthmeor beach during the hot weather on Easter bank holiday weekend in St Ives

Colourful surfboards are out at Porthmeor beach in St Ives as people hit the waves to make the most of the warm, sunny spells today

People enjoying the warm the weather in St Ives as they soak up the sun, build sandcastles and play volleyball at Porthmeor beach today

Paddle boarders having fun on the calm sea at the seaside resort of Lyme Regis in Dorset as they enjoy the scorching hot sunshine during the Easter school holidays

Two women having a picnic in the warm sunshine on Wimbledon Common, south west London after the hottest day of the year was recorded on Good Friday

Two women sunbathing on Wimbledon Common, south west London today as Easter has brought along lovely weather and warmer temperatures

People enjoy the good weather at Bournemouth Beach in Dorset as the UK is set for another day of warm weather ahead of Easter Sunday

Beachgoers soak up the rays in Dorset today. Amid the record temperatures, Easter holiday destinations like Majorca, Ibiza and Greece will only have highs of between 16C and 20C

The seafront is busy as holidaymakers flock to the seaside resort of Lyme Regis in Dorset to enjoy the sunshine during the Easter school holidays

The weather is expected to be dry with temperatures rising to 23C in the West Midlands and eastern Wales, while the northern, central and south eastern parts of England are predicted to see highs of 20C (68F). Pictured: Tourists and staycationers at Boscombe beach in Dorset this morning

Although today is expected to be slightly cooler, temperatures are still expected to reach 22C for sunbathers and staycationers in parts of southern and central England. Pictured: Waves crash over the sand at Boscombe beach in Dorset

Some regions will reach the low 20Cs while parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland will reach the mid-to-high teens. Some central and western areas could see some cloud earlier in the day with mist and fog patches inland at first

Although today is expected to be slightly cooler, temperatures are still expected to reach 22C for sunbathers and staycationers in parts of southern and central England

The strength of UV rays could hit 6, which is considered 'high' on the Met Office's index. This increase has been caused by slightly depleted stratospheric ozone, which helps protect Earth from the rays, a Met Office forecaster said. Pictured: The sun rises over the farmers fields in Dunsden, Oxfordshire

The mercury hit 23.4C in St James's Park in central London on Good Friday afternoon, the Met Office said, making it hottest day of the year so far - and warmer than California. Pictured: Horse riders on Wimbledon Common, south west London

The mercury hit 23.4C in St James's Park in central London on Good Friday afternoon, the Met Office said, making it hottest day of the year so far - and warmer than California. Pictured: Sun-seekers flock to Brighton beach on first day of Easter holidays

Simon Partridge, Met Office forecaster said: 'It's a little bit warmer more widely today than it was yesterday. We will see some rain arriving later in western parts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland but elsewhere, it will be dry and fine.

'Most places will be sunny, we will still see cloud in the far southwest and also across parts of western Wales and into North West England at the moment, but most of that should break up through the afternoon.

'We are expecting the weather to be warmer than Greece. Greece looks like it is going to reach 18C (64.4F) or 19C (66.2F) while Turkey is going to reach 21C (70F) on Saturday, so we'll be warmer than Greece, Turkey and southern Italy.

'Friday and Saturday are the warmest days of the weekend, Sunday is expected to be cooler.'

Met Office meteorologist Steven Keates urged beach-goers to 'stick on the sunscreen' and drink plenty of water to protect against higher-than-average UV levels.

The strength of UV rays could hit 6, which is considered 'high' on the Met Office's index. This increase has been caused by slightly depleted stratospheric ozone, which helps protect Earth from the rays, he said.

Many parts of the country will see clear, sunny spells despite a cloudy start to the day in some areas.

More widely, some regions will reach the low 20Cs while parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland will reach the mid-to-high teens. Some central and western areas could see some cloud earlier in the day with mist and fog patches inland at first.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: 'It will be a fairly cloudy start to the morning before developing into a rather fine and sunny day on the most part.

'Areas in the central and southern England, such as the West Midlands, are most likely to reach the low twenties.

'It will then become gradually cooler going into Sunday, with showers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, while most other areas should remain pleasant.'

More widely, some regions will reach the low twenties while parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland will reach the mid-to-high teens.

Pictured: Sunbathers and dog walks relax in the spring sunshine on Wimbledon Common, south west London

People enjoy the glorious sunny weather at a pub by the River Thames in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

Staycationers and tourists head to Boscombe beach in Dorset for the bank holiday after Britain had its warmest day of the year so far yesterday

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: 'It will be a fairly cloudy start to the morning before developing into a rather fine and sunny day on the most part. Areas in the central and southern England, such as the West Midlands, are most likely to reach the low twenties'

It comes as millions of drivers took to the roads at the start of a long weekend desperate to make the most of the Bank Holiday sunshine - with an estimated 22.48million journeys taking places over the four days

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: 'It will be a fairly cloudy start to the morning before developing into a rather fine and sunny day on the most part'

Some parts, mostly central and western areas, could see some cloud earlier in the day with mist and fog patches inland at first.

Forecasters say Easter Sunday will be cooler, although probably drier than Saturday, with showers confined mainly to the north and west ahead of a wetter Monday.

The Met Office forecast describes conditions for the next week as 'increasingly warm' with 'sunny spells Wednesday interspersed with cloudier periods and scattered showers. Thursday and Friday largely dry and bright. Morning mist and fog patches likely, slower to clear around coasts.'

The outlook from Friday onwards currently reads: 'It is likely to turn dry and become generally much more settled, though perhaps rather cloudy, in the south, with lighter winds through to the end of this period. Temperatures are expected to be above average, and warm at times for the south.'

It had led bookmaker Ladbrokes to slash the odds on a record hot Easter to 5-2.

Spokesman Alex Apati said: 'At last it looks as though Brits will have something to smile about on the weather front, with a record-breaking Easter scorcher potentially on the cards.'

Delays are expected to continue following Thursday's getaway travel chaos  as well as passengers at airports and train stations left waiting for hours in long queues.

Many reported hour-long waits at Manchester and Birmingham airports, while dozens of British Airways and easyJet flights were cancelled at Heathrow.

Meanwhile, those at London St Pancras said they were standing in long queues for services to Europe on Thursday morning.

Rail passengers have also been warned of further delays as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects costing a total of 83million over the weekend.

These include the closure of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes for four days from Good Friday due to upgrades of the existing line and HS2 work.

Parts of the railway between Birmingham International station and Coventry will also be closed, as will lines around Crewe station.

Dover-Calais sailings by P&O Ferries were also still suspended as of Thursday night, which caused large queues of lorries forming on roads approaching the Port of Dover throughout the day.

On top of all the travel disruption, supplies of petrol and diesel at filling stations in some areas of the country have been at around half their usual level as the UK's travel network comes under pressure.
Key Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen has been sidelined from the federal election campaign trail after testing positive to Covid-19.

The shadow climate change and energy minister on Saturday confirmed the news on social media, saying he would spend the next week in isolation.

'I was looking forward to a few days campaigning in regional Queensland and Brisbane but it isn't to be,' he tweeted.

'Can't wait to get back on the trail with our magnificent candidates and make an Albanese government a reality.'

The blow to Chris Bowen (pictured) and his plans to campaign for Labor comes after two major Labor stalwarts also got Covid this week

Mr Bowen posted a picture of his positive RAT to social media after getting the bad news

It comes after Labor's home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews also contracted the virus earlier this week.

Losing the high profile figure heading into the second week of the election campaign is a big blow for Anthony Albanese, who stumbled out of the blocks with a series of embarrassing gaffes.

But Mr Bowen, who holds the crucial western Sydney seat of McMahon, said he expects to be in back in the fight after seven days of rest.

It comes as more than 41,000 new infections were reported across Australia on Saturday along with a further 35 deaths, although seven of these were historical fatalities announced by authorities in Western Australia.

This follows almost 47,000 cases and 34 deaths reported nationally on Friday.

Net hospital admissions were up two dozen patients across the country on Saturday with seven more patients in intensive care.

Chris Bowen (pictured with his wife Rebecca and children Max and Grace) expects to be back campaigning after seven days of isolation

Meanwhile, Health Victoria is monitoring the new BA.4 or BA.5 Omicron variant after samples were confirmed in a catchment at Tullamarine, north of Melbourne.

The sub-variant has been recently detected in a small number of cases in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Germany.

The World Health Organisation says there are currently no known significant epidemiological differences between the new Omicron strain and the more dominant BA.2 strain.

'There is no cause for alarm with the emergence of the new sub-variants,' WHO regional director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti said this week in a statement.

'We are not yet observing a major spike in cases, hospitalisations or deaths.'

Losing Mr Bowen heading into the second week of the election campaign is a big blow for Anthony Albanese (pictured), who stumbled out of the blocks with a series of embarrassing gaffs
A toddler is lucky to be alive after doctors uncovered 22 small magnetic balls in the recesses of his digestive tract.

Two year old Franklin Davis had acquired them from a toy he had been playing with weeks earlier, before he started complaining of stomach pain.

The boy's mother Bree told Daily Mail Australia her son and his two older brothers had found the unique beaded toy at a park before taking it home.

She said she's not sure what brand the toy was or the name of it but is urging parents to be careful.

Little Franklin (pictured at the Sydney Children's Hospital) braved surgery to get rid of his tummy woes which was initially diagnosed as a bout of gastro

A doctor presented Ms Davis with the reason (pictured) for the child's woes after a three-hour surgery, which had been ingested during a three-week playing spree with the colourful beads

Franklin (pictured) went back and forth to hospital before keyhole surgery discovered the problem of the metal magnetic beads inside his digestive tract

The balls (similar to the ones pictured) found in the toddler's intestine and bowel had bored through his organs - Franklin and his brothers had been besotted with the toy after finding it in a Sydney park

The plaything was an immediate hit with all three kids as they spent hours everyday making shapes and sticking the coloured magnetic beads onto other objects.

After three weeks though something was up with her youngest who started to fall ill, which his condition deteriorating with bouts of vomiting.

The mother initially thought he had gastro as it had been going around, and this diagnosis was confirmed after she took him to see a GP.

But Franklin's predicament grew worse as he was ferried back and forth from emergency rooms, as doctors struggled to find the reason for his symptoms.

The family were told to give the boy pain killers and to monitor his symptoms, but after the toddler fell and split his lip open he was once again rushed to ER for the fourth time that week.

Ms Davis (pictured with her family) is raising awareness of the hazards of small magnetic toys

The mother could not thank the amazing nurses and surgical team enough for all that they had done to help get Franklin (pictured getting back onto solids after surgery) back on track

After the boy again complained of having a sore tummy, a surgeon did some keyhole surgery to investigate his appendix, thinking it had been ruptured.

Three hours later doctors showed Ms Davis the 22 small beads they had found inside his body. Some had been sitting in his bowel, while others were in his small intestine and snaking throughout his digestive tract.

Alarmingly, some of the beads had bore into his organs as they tried to connect with each other, corroding two holes.

For up to three weeks, the beads inside his small intestine and bowel had burrowed deep into his organs, trying to reach each other.

Franklin (pictured last week at Sea World) has been doing well and is on the mend since his surgery

Ms Davis told Daily Mail Australia that Franklin had to have the damaged parts removed and stitched back together again.

'The surgeon was amazing and managed to do it all via keyhole surgery so he only has one small scar,' Ms Davis said.

'But he has no long term damage he is completely back to normal... and now back to eating us out house and home.'

Ms Davis said she never saw her boys put the balls into their mouths and is raising awareness of Franklin's plight with the magnetic toys to help other parents.
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Satellite images show the pride of Putin's Black Sea Fleet burning while other vessels are scrambled to rescue those onboard before it sank after it was struck by Ukrainian missiles in an attack which Kyiv has claimed killed all 510 crew on-board including its captain.

Radar satellite imagery of the northern Black Sea on April 13 appears to pinpoint the Soviet-era Moskva warship, which Ukraine said was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired by one of its batteries near the port city of Odesa. Other vessels are also seen in attendance, with reports suggesting they are rescue vessels.

Naval News found the Moskva in satellite imagery that employed synthetic aperture radar (SAR), technology that can 'see' through clouds. The satellite which took the image passed over the area at around 6.30pm local time on Wednesday, the publication said.

It pinpointed the coordinates of a ship matching the Russian vessel and its dire situation to 451043.39N, 305530.54E - a position east of Snake Island in the Black Sea, 80 nautical miles from Odesa and 50 nautical miles away from the closest stretch of Ukrainian coastline.

'Based on analysis by multiple people, we are confident that this shows Moskvas final hours,' Naval News said in its report. It added that Ukraine's claim that it struck the vessel with two Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles would be possible on account of the Moskva being in-range of such weaponry.

It also said that the position of the huge warship matches its previous location patterns since it was positioned off the coast of Ukraine when Russian President Vladimir Putin first launched his brutal invasion on February 24. Naval News added that the location was 'very close' to where it was spotted in other satellite imagery on April 12.

Analysis of the satellite image also found other vessels in the water around the Moskva, suggesting Russia launched a rescue mission to save the crew of the ship that it said was sunk by a fire on board, which resulted in ammunition exploding. Moscow has made no mention of a Ukrainian attack.

While Russia has not released any information of its casualties, Kyiv has claimed that all crew were killed in the attack on the ship. It has been reported the Kremlin's rescue mission failed due to stormy weather at the time.

Radar satellite imagery of the Black Sea on April 13 appears to pinpoint the Moskva warship, which Ukraine said was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired by one of its batteries near the port city of Odesa. Other vessels are seen in attendance

The Moskva - pictured leaving port at Sevastopol for the last time on April 10 - may have been carrying two nuclear warheads when it sank after a fire and explosion on board, experts and analysts have warned

As one of the largest ships lost in combat since the Second World War, the Moskva's sinking is a huge blow to Russian prestige

As one of the largest ships lost in combat since the Second World War, the Moskva's sinking is a huge blow to Russian military prestige.

However, Ukrainian defence experts warned that the Moskva may have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles when it went down. Any such arsenal onboard would likely have been tactical nuclear weapons with a very short range and limited fallout field, experts said.

The attack happened when Ukrainian TB2 drones distracted her defensive capabilities, which then failed to track a pair of Neptune missiles fired from a coastal artillery battery. Ukraine claimed yesterday the warship 'went down in a matter of minutes' with all hands  around 500 sailors  including First Captain Anton Kuprin.

Russian news agencies cited Moscow's Defence Ministry on Thursday as admitting that the vessel sank in stormy seas after what it said was a fire and explosions involving ammunition stowed onboard.

The Kremlin had earlier tried to downplay the damage, and claimed that the Moskva was still afloat and was returning to port under its own steam. Moscow also announced that the crew had been evacuated onto other Black Sea Fleet vessels.

Hours after Ukraine sank the Moskva, Putin took out his anger on losing the warship by ordering a missile strike on Kyiv.

Moskva could have been carrying warheads to fit into the tip of its Moskva's P-1000 supersonic cruise missiles, which are designed to take out American aircraft carriers

The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet - the Soviet-era guided missile destroyer Moskva - has suffered heavy damage and may have sunk after Ukraine claimed to have shot it with two anti-ship cruise missiles

The relatives of the doomed crew of the Moskva held an unofficial memorial. Pictured: A man lays flowers at an unofficial memorial for the sailors of the Russian Black Sea flagship in Sevastopol on April 15, 2022

Russian Telegram accounts with links to the Wagner Group claim Bayraktar drones were used to distract the Moskva's radar systems before a coastal battery opened fire somewhere near Odesa, hitting the ship with two Neptune missiles

The Soviet-era 600-foot missile cruiser: Moskva The Moskva is a 12,500 tonne Project 1164 Slava class guided missile cruiser that was first launched in 1979. She replaced the Kynda-class cruiser Admiral Golovko as the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Although it is not a new ship, the impressive cruiser was named after Moscow and is armed with 16 fixed launchers for P-1000 anti-ship missiles and rail launchers for 40 Osa missiles. The missile cruiser usually has a crew of over 500 and contains intricate vertical tubes for 64 S-300 air-defence missiles and an array of guns, making her fire power one of a kind. Despite Moskva's impressive features, the ship was sunk when ammunition on board blew up, TASS news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying on Thursday. A Ukrainian official earlier said the Moskva had been hit by two anti-ship missiles but did not give any evidence. Russian news agencies said the Moskva was armed with 16 anti-ship 'Vulkan' cruise missiles with a range of at least 440 miles. Interfax did not give more details of the incident. In April 2021, the agency quoted a retired Russian admiral as saying 'this is the most serious ship in the Black Sea'. Advertisement

Russian Kalibr long-range missiles streaked through the night sky towards the capital for the first time in two weeks. Rockets slammed into the factory which produced the two missiles that destroyed the warship, although the official Russian line is that the Moskva was damaged when a fire caused ammunition aboard to explode.

After the factory strike, Russia's defence ministry warned: 'The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or sabotage.'

Life in the Ukrainian capital had begun to return to some sort of normality since Russian forces withdrew two weeks ago. But further attacks will likely add to the death toll around Kyiv.

The region's police chief said yesterday the bodies of 900 civilians had been found in outlying suburbs and towns after the Russia withdrawal.

The Kremlin has so far insisted its invasion is a 'special military operation' rather than a war. But in an escalatory statement yesterday, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'If Ukraine continues its provocations, Russia will be force to declare war against Ukraine.'

In another response to the sinking of the Moskva, there were reports yesterday that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Igor Osipov, had been detained by Moscow.

Captain Kuprin, 44, led the first naval action of the war, ordering the Moskva to bombard Snake Island. Its 13 Ukrainian defenders refused to give up, saying: 'Russian warship, go f*** yourself.'

Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Kyiv Interior Ministry, claimed that 'the explosion was so strong that the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet sank in a matter of minutes'. He claimed to have heard this from sources in Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

'Apparently, as a result of the fire, the warheads of the large P-1000 cruise missile  Vulkan  detonated. And there were 16 of them on board the cruiser.'

As a result 'all the crew of the cruiser Moskva died'. This included the ship's captain, Anton Kuprin, Gerashchenko said.

He claimed: 'The leadership of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation have deliberately hidden the truth from relatives and friends of the crew members.'

His account contradicts other earlier versions, including that a Turkish vessel rescued more than 50. If Kyiv's claim is correct, then the deaths of the sailor would add to the already huge death toll suffered by Moscow's forces during Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed over 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

April 10: The Moskva (pictured last week near the port of Sevastopol) has been helping coordinate Russian naval operation in the Black Sea, which has seen ships set up a distant blockade of Ukrainian ports and open fire on cities with cruise missiles

April 7: The Moskva is pictured in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, which is the home port of Russia's Black Sea fleet. The Soviet-era ship leads the fleet, and is equipped with anti-ship, anti-air and anti-submarine missiles

Ukraine claims the Moskva was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired from a secret location somewhere near Odesa (pictured, a test-fire of the Neptune missile takes place in 2019)

Meanwhile, Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defence Express all warned that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles.

If true, the loss of the warheads into the Black Sea could spark a 'Broken Arrow' incident  American military slang for potentially lethal accidents involving nuclear weapons.

'On board the Moskva could be nuclear warheads  two units,' Samus said, while Klymenko called on other Black Sea nations  Turkey, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria  to insist on an explanation. 'Where are these warheads? Where were they when the ammunition exploded,' he asked.

Meanwhile Ilya Ponomarev, a politician exiled from Russia for opposing Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea, said just 58 of the 510-strong crew have since been accounted for  raising the prospect that 452 men went down with the ship in what would be a bitter loss for Putin's already beleaguered army.

Biggest sea combat losses since WW2: The sinking of the Belgrano The sinking of the Moskva, if confirmed, would mark one of the largest ships lost in naval combat since the end of the Second World War. For decades, that ignominious title had been held by the ARA General Belgrano which was sunk by British forces during the Falklands War. The 608ft vessel - originally built by and serving in the US Navy before being sold to Argentina - sank on May 2 after being struck by two torpedoes fired by nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror. The first torpedo struck near the bow of the ship, blowing it off, while the second struck towards the rear -outside an area protected by armour plating. Punching through the side of the ship, the torpedo exploded in the rear machine room - tearing through nearby crew areas and blasting a 65ft hole in the deck. The blast also took out much of the ship's electronics and radio systems, meaning it was unable to pump out water that was now rushing into the vessel or put out a distress call. Just 20 minutes after the strike, captain Hector Bonzo gave the order to abandon ship. Lifeboats were launched with 772 men rescued from the water over the subsequent days. The attack killed 321 members of the Belgrano's crew and two civilians who happened to be on board - accounting for around half of Argentina's casualties during the entire conflict. Sinking the Belgrano provoked controversy, because it was attacked outside a 200-nautical mile exclusion zone declared by the British who said any ships inside the zone risked being attacked without warning. Permission to attack the vessel was given by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after a request by the Navy, amid warnings the ship posed a threat. Britain had separately warned that vessels outside the zone could be targeted if they threatened its forces. Speaking decades after the war ended, Captain Bonzo said he did not consider the sinking of the Belgrano to be illegal. 'It was an act of war,' he said. Advertisement

The figure, while unconfirmed, is consistent with losses suffered on exploding warships. During the Russian Navy's infamous defeat at the Battle of Tsushima against Japan, an explosion on board the Borodino  slightly smaller than the Moskva  saw all-but one of her 855 crew killed.

Russia claims all the Moskva's sailors were 'successfully evacuated' but video taken in Sevastopol overnight shows dozens of cars purportedly belonging to the sailors still parked in the port  suggesting their owners had not returned to collect them.

Rumours have also begun circulating in Ukrainian media that Admiral Igor Osipov  the commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet which the Moskva led  has been arrested in what would be the latest in a string of detentions linked to the bungled invasion.

Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian-Israeli businessman who fled the country in 2003 after being targeted by Putin, said yesterday that 20 Russian generals have been arrested over the military's failings along with 150 FSB officers for providing false information about Ukraine's defences.

He also claimed that Sergey Shoigu, Russia's defence minister and a long-term Putin ally, has suffered a massive heart attack and is in intensive care after an apparent assassination attempt.

Shoigu, 66, is thought to have fallen out with Putin in mid-March over the bungled invasion and largely stopped making public appearances. He has featured in video calls with Putin since but has not spoken, amid suspicion the Kremlin could be re-using old footage to give the impression he is alive and well.

The Moskva got into trouble overnight Wednesday as it sailed around 60 miles off the coast of Odesa, Ukraine's largest port and main naval base. The Ukrainian military said it was struck with two Neptune cruise missiles fired by a coastal battery, which struck the port side of the vessel.

Russian military sources said the ship had rolled on to its side and caught fire after the blast, while US intelligence sources said the vessel suffered a 'large' explosion that left it heavily damaged before it sank.

Moscow has said only that the vessel suffered a fire and blast before its navy attempted to tow the ship back to Sevastopol, but during the operation it sank in rough seas. The exact location of the wreck is unknown.

The loss of the Moskva - the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet that was told to 'go f*** yourself' by Ukrainian troops as it demanded their surrender on Snake Island - is a huge propaganda win for Kyiv as well as another embarrassing loss for Putin's beleaguered army.

As revenge for the sinking, the Russian military launched a series of cruise missile strikes on Ukraine overnight Thursday  including several rockets which it said struck and destroyed a factory near Kyiv that made the weapons used against Moskva.

Russia's defence ministry warned early Friday that it will step up attacks on Kyiv in the coming days, in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory.

A village in Russia's border region with Belarus, which houses a military base, was struck Thursday - coming after explosions at an ammo dump and oil facility in Belgorod, an along a nearby train line.

Separately, Russia told the US to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, warning of 'unpredictable consequences' if it continues to do do.

The warning was delivered in the form of an official diplomatic note, which was seen by the Washington Post.

It said that American and NATO shipments of the 'most sensitive' weapons were 'adding fuel' to the conflict, which is now nearing its second month.

The two-page note was delivered after Biden had agreed to a new $800million delivery of military aid to Ukraine, including heavy artillery and shells, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers.

'What the Russians are telling us privately is precisely what we've been telling the world publicly  that the massive amount of assistance that we've been providing our Ukrainian partners is proving extraordinarily effective,' a senior US official said about the note.

Aside from providing Ukraine with a propaganda victory, Moskva's sinking also has practical implications for Russia. As flagship, the vessel was likely tasked with coordinating the movements of other ships in the Black Sea which may cause further confusion among Russia's already-strained command structure.

Its role was also to provide cover for Russia's other ships using its anti-air missiles while they launched cruise missiles attacks against cities and military sites. Its loss will make them more-vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes, including by fast jets or drones.

Now entering its eighth week, Russia's invasion has stalled because of resistance from Ukrainian fighters bolstered by weapons and other aid sent by Western nations. The news of the flagship's damage overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, where they have been battling the Ukrainians since the early days of the invasion in some of the heaviest fighting of the war  at a horrific cost to civilians.
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Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell's brother has claimed that Prince Andrew had 'no option' but to settle with his rape accuser Virginia Roberts in order to 'do the best he could' by his mother the Queen, MailOnline can exclusively reveal.

In the second and final part of his interview with journalist Jay Beecher, Ian Maxwell said that Miss Roberts' allegations of sexual abuse against the Duke of York would have caused the British monarch such 'immense pain' that Andrew was forced to 'fold his tent'.

He also said he would have liked to have seen Miss Roberts in the box to try out her evidence against Andrew, whose reputation lies in ruins after he paid 12million out of court to settle claims by Jeffrey Epstein's 'sex slave' that he had sex with her when she was 17 - allegations that he has always denied.

Key to Miss Roberts' case was a picture taken in 2001 showing Andrew with his arm around Miss Roberts at the London home of disgraced socialite Maxwell, Epstein's 'madam' and a friend of the duke. Maxwell could be seen hovering in the background of the photo.

Maxwell was found guilty in December of grooming and trafficking underage girls for Epstein. Days after her conviction, her attorneys requested a new trial because 'Juror 50,' referred to as Scotty David, told newspapers he had been sexually abused as a child, but had not disclosed the information during jury selection, as required. Two weeks ago, a New York judge denied Maxwell's request.

Ghislaine's brother also blasted the BBC's depiction of his late father Robert Maxwell, the notorious media tycoon whose fraudulent business activities became apparent after he fell from his yacht in the Canary Islands and died in 1991.

Asked for his opinion on Andrew's settlement with Miss Roberts, Mr Maxwell, 66, said: 'I suppose we are never really going to know because it's Prince Andrew, and it's all been swept away. This is the Jubilee year of his mother, he is a dutiful son. This really causes her - it's obvious it would any mother - causes her immense pain, he's just exceptionally embarrassed. He doesn't want to do anything to upset the year, and I think that he had to fold his tent, really, and do the best he could by the Crown.

Sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell's brother (pictured) has said Prince Andrew had 'no option' but to settle with rape accuser Virginia Giuffre but would have liked to see him challenge her in court

Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, aged 17 at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London, Britain on March 13, 2001

But in an interview with journalist Jay Beecher, Maxwell's brother Ian, 66, said: 'I suppose we are never really going to know because it's Prince Andrew and it's all been swept away however this is the Jubilee year of his mother, he is a dutiful son' (Ghislaine is pictured with her ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein)

Maxwell (pictured in a court sketch during her trial) was convicted in December of recruiting and trafficking underage girls for the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and faces 65 years in jail

Disgraced duke STILL wants to return to public life, insist friends, who say he 'CAN be rehabilitated' Prince Andrew still has ambitions of returning to public life even after the furious fallout from his remarkable stunt at Prince Philip's memorial and his 12million rape case payout to accuser Virginia Roberts, it has been claimed. Sources close to the disgraced duke insisted last night that he 'still has a lot to give to people who will let him' despite sparking a massive backlash when he escorted his mother the Queen down Westminster Abbey last month. Andrew's reputation already lay in ruins after he paid Jeffrey Epstein 'sex slave' Virginia Roberts Giuffre a reported 12million to settle allegations of sexual abuse out of court - allegations that he always denied. But the duke sparked yet more controversy days by issuing a now-deleted 700-word statement about the Falklands War that was signed off as 'HRH', despite Buckingham Palace saying he would no longer use the title. Aides told The Times that the duke was taken aback by the level of hostility to the post, and is now trying to carve out a new role in public life once again in the belief he still has more to offer. However, another royal insider says the duke's potential comeback is not likely given Prince Charles' stance, who is 'less sympathetic' to circumstances regarding his role in the public eye. Advertisement

'Do I think that he had gone the other way and given evidence? I don't know, I think it would have been very difficult evidence for him to give... we know that he's, we have that example of the performance with Emily Matlis in 2019, so he's not good in that one on one situation, and then a court where he is fighting for his life - I think it would have been very difficult.

'However, I also think that it would have been just as difficult for Giuffre as it would have been for him. He said produce the original of the infamous photograph in London, where allegedly the events that she says happened and she couldn't produce it she's never been able to produce that particular photo.

'At one level I suppose it suited both parties that ultimately it went the way it went but I think that he may well have wished to take his chance and he may well have gone home on it but he had to fold his tent and that was that.'

Mr Maxwell added: 'I think he is very high profile target but we are just not going to know, I think it's interesting that he ended up paying what seemed a very large amount of money to her non-profit organisation and that's unusual. maybe she didn't want too much money coming to her personally and maybe it makes her attackable.'

Sources close to the disgraced duke insisted that he 'still has a lot to give to people who will let him' despite sparking a massive backlash when he escorted his mother the Queen down Westminster Abbey last month.

Andrew's reputation already lay in ruins after he paid Jeffrey Epstein 'sex slave' Virginia Roberts Giuffre a reported 12million to settle allegations of sexual abuse out of court - allegations that he always denied.

But the duke sparked yet more controversy days by issuing a now-deleted 700-word statement about the Falklands War that was signed off as 'HRH', despite Buckingham Palace saying he would no longer use the title.

Aides told The Times that the duke was taken aback by the level of hostility to the post, and is now trying to carve out a new role in public life once again in the belief he still has more to offer.

However, another royal insider says the duke's potential comeback is not likely given Prince Charles' stance, who is 'less sympathetic' to circumstances regarding his role in the public eye.

In his interview, Mr Maxwell also attacked TV producers for constantly painting his disgraced newspaper tycoon father as a bad man in the recent BBC three part series House of Maxwell.

The documentary highlighted Robert Maxwell's links to the KGB and MI6 and when he died after falling from his yacht the Lady Ghislaine off the Canary Islands in 1991.

BBC's House of Maxwell documentary reveals media tycoon Robert Maxwell (pictured centre) had ties to British and Russian intelligence agencies. Ghislane, left, pictured with her father, centre, and mother Betty, at Cannes film festival in 1987

Following his high-profile public appearance at Prince Philip's memorial service, some insiders say Prince Andrew 'can still do a lot of good'

Ghislaine Maxwell told friend her 'sadistic' father Robert hit her with hairbrush, strap or slipper - after allowing her to 'choose which one I want', explosive new book claims Ghislaine Maxwell was thrashed as a 10-year-old girl by her 'sadistic' media mogul father with 'a weapon of her choice', a new bombshell book claimed. The corrupt owner of the Daily Mirror would beat Ghislaine, who is now languishing in a US jail, at his family's home Headington Hill Hall, in Oxfordshire. Maxwell would die in 1991 after falling off the Lady Ghislaine yacht - named after his favourite daughter - after raiding 460million from his own companies' pension funds. Royal biographer Tina Brown has claimed that at aged 10, Ghislaine would tell house guests that her father beat her - but allowed her to choose what with from a hairbrush, a leather strap or a slipper laid out ready for use in her room. The claims are made in her book: 'The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor  the Truth and the Turmoil', which is being serialised this week and also claims that her paedo lover Jeffrey Epstein called Prince Andrew 'an useful idiot' behind his back but was keen to exploit the Duke's status and connections for his own financial gain. Advertisement

Following his mysterious death, his empire began to collapse as it emerged more than 460 million had vanished from the Mirror pension fund which he had taken to prop up his failing businesses.

Mr Maxwell said: 'The executive director of that (House of Maxwell) is man called Colin Barr and he has form as far as my father is concerned. He put out a film, a drama starring David Suchet, I think, 12/13 years ago so it's not the first time he has visited this subject.

'Personally I thought the earlier effort in 2007 was in some parts laughable, so badly wrong was it factually and the way they set out to depict things.

'I think it looks to me like there has been more effort gone into it but as far as my father is concerned there has been a thread in the whole business, this whole case where they wanted to come up with a rather simplistic view that because my father was considered a bad man, that the rotten apple never falls far from the tree.

'Therefore they try and make this link between my father and Ghislaine to such an extent that he is given relatively short shrift and she is given a much bigger role than the reality in terms of their relationship.'

Mr Maxwell also dismissed constant suggestions that Ghislaine was his father's favourite, adding: 'They infer that because he called the boat the Lady Ghislaine, then she must have been his favourite I was there the boat was christened, it was in a shipyard in Holland somewhere, Amsterdam and it was delightful.

'My father said to my sister 'before you get any ideas I wanted to call this boat the Lady Elizabeth for your mother but that name was already taken and you can't have two boats with the same name' so that's the truth about that particular nonsense.

'It's just to set up shorthand to say he was bad, she was bad and somehow the bothers got off in the middle of it otherwise we would have all been bad.

'It's lazy it's inaccurate and as far as the other so called revelations of the House of Maxwell my father allegedly met Epstein before he died and that how the connection with Ghislaine is established and there's some idea that somehow the pension fund was siphoned off and Epstein laundered them, it's just ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous.

'It makes for very good television I'm sure and no doubt the BBC will sell it very successful but you will notice that not one member of my family took part in this film and in fact there were every few people I regard as having some input who could have said something interesting. I don't think the BBC have covered themselves in glory.'

'She is shocked and perturbed by the decision': Child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell's brother blasts judge's 'loaded' refusal to grant her a retrial after 'deeply tainted' conviction

Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell's brother says the family is 'shocked' and 'perturbed' by a judge's decision to reject a retrial request - saying it was 'loaded' against her.

The former socialite and close pal of Prince Andrew was found guilty last year but it later emerged jury member Scotty David had failed to disclose he had been sexually abused as a child.

Her family and legal team say this swayed the jury to find her guilty of being a recruiter of teenage girls for paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and she now could face 65 years in jail.

Defence lawyers had hoped they could secure a retrial for Maxwell, 60, after the juror revelations emerged but last week district judge Alison Nathan dismissed the request.

Ghislaine Maxwell is pictured with her ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell, 60, has been denied a retrial after her December conviction on sex trafficking charges

Maxwell (pictured in a court sketch during her trial) was convicted in December of recruiting and trafficking underage girls for the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and faces 65 years in jail

Speaking for the first time about it, Maxwell's brother Ian said: 'To say we were shocked is understated, clearly Ghislaine was also very perturbed by it, if I had to summarise it, the dice were loaded by the court.

'The verdict was unsafe by virtue of this juror and the decision is deeply tainted.

'This is going to go to appeal. It's just one of many points of appeal pretrial, in trial, post-trial and we are confident that Ghislaine will be successful on appeal.'

He also slammed the US judicial system saying that it was always going to be against his sister and said: 'The prosecution held an infamous press conference the day of her arrest, they pointed to a picture of Epstein and my sister, and the implication was that she was guilty which meant it was open season on Ghislaine and it's never let up.

Her brother Ian Maxwell (above) has blasted the judge's decision to deny her a retrial

'There is no possibility in English system prosecutor hold a press conference and say this woman is guilty before any trial has taken place. Ghislaine was depicted as some evil moll, its grotesque.'

'Numerous accusers who were not called in this trial, lawyers have been vociferous and none of it has been put to the test. It's just drip, drip, drip.'

Speaking to journalist Jay Beecher of his sister's case, Ian, 66, said: 'It's got sex, it's got death, these guys dying in prison, it's got royalty, it's got money, it's got famous people, young girls, everything you could dream of, all the elements are there.'

He also suggested the Me Too social movement against sexual abuse and harassment had also played it's part in Maxwell's guilty verdict last December in a New York court.

Ian explained: 'This has also had an enormous impact, all women must be believed, all victims must be believed

'But we know in this county, that so called victims turn out not to be victims, Carl Beech (invented claims of widespread establishment sex abuse) would be the finest example of that.

'These kinds of things go on and jury verdicts have been overturned time and time again and obviously we hope this is going to happen on this occasion as well.

'All this forms a powerful package of appeal points that for me show this trial was not fair, with on top of that the lying juror.'

Ian added: 'My sister has been banged up now, it will be two years in July, she is in horrendous incarceration, she is in isolation, she is on suicide watch, she continues to have torches shone in her eyes every 15 minutes to make sure she is still breathing.

Maxwell was convicted of procuring underage girls for sex with paedophile Epstein. Court Evidence pics show her giving his a foot massage against the breasts on a private plane

In this courtroom sketch, Maxwell enters the courtroom escorted by U.S. Marshalls at the start of her trial, Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, in New York

Maxwell was found guilty last year but it later emerged that jury member Scotty David (pictured) had failed to disclose he had been sexually abused as a child

'She is denied all kinds of rights and opportunities. It's a shocker, she was already frail mentally and physically at the start of the trial and I think this impacted for sure on whether she would give evidence in her own defence knowing what an aggressive affair that would have been.

'These kind of conditions in a first world country should not be acceptable, they are not acceptable in our country and they should not be acceptable in America but they appear to be.'

He also questioned why given the amount of accusations she has made, Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked by Maxwell and Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew was not called to testify.

Ian said: 'I think they realised she would have had a very difficult time under cross examination and that she could have done more damage than helped the prosecution's cause.

'If you have a powerful witness, whom you believe is telling the truth and whose combination of the truth and the way they can tell that truth sincerely, hand on heart, look the jury in the eye and say this happened, you are going to use that person because it's going to be very effective.

'The fact they didn't use her tells us all we already know; they couldn't not stand her up under cross examination because of the tremendous multiple inconsistences in her prior accounts on almost every subject for years. That is why I believe they did not run with this particular witness.'

When asked how his sister was coping in jail Ian admitted they family was concerned for her welfare.

He said: 'We all have to be worried about that because she has now been banged up for two years.

Ghislaine Maxwell in June 2019 (pictured front) with her six living siblings. Ian Maxwell, her older brother, top right, shared the photo in March 2021. A month after it was taken, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and Ghislaine went into hiding with her husband, Scott Borgerson. The siblings, L-R, are: Anne, Kevin, twins Isabel and Christine, Philip, and Ian

Her siblings left to right: Kevin Maxwell, Christine Maxwell, Isabel Maxwell, and Ian Maxwell were all seen walking to the New York court for her trial on December 20 last year

'She's had this terrible rollercoaster of arrest, then lost three, four, five bail applications consistently turned down for reasons that are wrong because the court doesn't want to find itself on the wrong side of public opinion.

'So, she has really had a dose of it, the way treatment has been dished out in jail has been really shocking but I know that she remains resolute, she is determined to see this through, she believes in her innocence completely of the charges that she faces.

'She is getting on with preparing her appeal, the next thing coming is her sentencing and obviously we are not holding our breath that there is not going to be some incredibly savage sentence and I suspect nor is she, but we are absolutely determined that justice will prevail for Ghislaine.

'However unpopular it is and however counter to the prevailing narrative this is about the justice system doing what it should do and that the basis of why we have appeal courts and it may have to go the Supreme Court.

'Regardless of what this court has decided, on the basis of what it has decided we are confident that on that central point of the appeal, not to mention the other points that Ghislaine will be successful.

'She has hope, she has a strong and supportive family. We have hope we are going to fight.'

Maxwell is due to be sentenced in June.
Regulation campaigners want to force porn sites to remove extreme content

Her case is one of at least 20 where women were killed by porn-obsessed men

At least 20 women have been killed by men who were hooked on violent online pornography, an investigation has found.

Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, heads the list as campaigners demand tougher porn regulation.

The Daily Express compiled the list which was published as MPs are concluding a months-long probe into the links between porn and real-life attacks.

Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, heads the list as campaigners demand tougher porn regulation

Killer cop Wayne Couzens raped and killed Everard in 2021 and hardcore porn was cited as an influence in his case

20 murder or manslaughter cases saw pornography cited as an influence on the killer since 2003.

This includes the 2003 killing of music teacher Jane Longhurst, 31, in Hove, East Sussex by Graham Coutts, who has watched hardcore porn for 10 years before the attack.

It was the same year that Becky Godden-Edwards, 20, was murdered by Christopher Halliwell after she got into his cab in Swindon.

He was caught eight years later after he killed Sian O'Callaghan, 22 and his computer searches showed a fascination with rape, bestality and child abuse.

Becky Watts, 16, was suffocated by her stepbrother Nathan Matthews in 2015 after he had watched porn 'every day'.

Becky Godden-Edwards, 20, and Sian O'Callaghan, 22, were both killed by Christopher Halliwell who had a fascination with rape, child abuse and bestiality shown in his computer searches

Christopher Halliwell was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of murdering Rebecca Godden

Other victims named on the lists include Viktorija Sokolova, 14, Stela Domador-Kuzma, 34, Catherine Burke 55, Iuliana Tudos, 22, Kayleigh Haywood, 15, Nahid Almanea, 31, Tia Sharp, 12, and Cheryl Moss, 33.

Dame Diana Johnson, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on commercial sexual exploitation, told The Express: 'It's time for MPs to confront the role of pornography in fuelling violence against women.

'What in our culture is fuelling men's violence against women - and what do we do about it?

'No answer to that critical question is complete without addressing the role of online pornography.'

Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: 'I wouldn't leave a weapon laying around in the offline world, and yet we're doing something equally as dangerous in the online world.'

Vanessa Morse, of the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation, said: 'The porn industry has normalised violent sex.'

She added porn generated nearly $100billion (76.5million) in 2020 and its websites had more visitors than Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, Pinterest, Zoom and Linkedin combined.

Fiona Vera Gray, of London Metropolitan University, said: 'They are data mining companies. They are not about sexual freedom, they are trying to get you to stay on the site as long as you can and keep coming back to the site.
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has attended a massive civilian parade in the capital celebrating the anniversary of the birth of his grandfather who founded the country.

Thousands of people marched in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family, state media has reported, but there was no mention of a speech or comments made by Kim during Friday's event.

It seems that the country celebrated its biggest holiday without showcasing military hardware amid heightened tensions over its nuclear programme.

Commercial satellite images in recent weeks have suggested that preparations are under way for a large military parade in Pyongyang, which could take place on 25 April, the founding anniversary of North Korea's army.

It is expected that North Korea will then display the most advanced weapons in the nuclear arsenal such as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

There is also expectation that Pyongyang will further escalate its weapons testing in the coming weeks or months, possibly including a resumption of nuclear explosive tests or test-flying missiles over Japan, as it attempts to force a response from the Biden administration, which is preoccupied with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a rivalry with China.

State media images showed Mr Kim waving from a balcony looking over Kim Il Sung Square, which is named after his grandfather, as huge columns of people carrying red plastic flowers and floats with political slogans marched below.

He was also pictured visiting the Kumususan Palace of the Sun with his wife Ri Jol Su for the 110th anniversary of his grandfather.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has attended a massive civilian parade with thousands in the capital celebrating the anniversary of the birth of his grandfather who founded the country (pictured waving to the public)

Thousands of people marched in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family, state media has reported, but there was no mention of a speech or comments made by Kim during Friday's event

Commercial satellite images in recent weeks have suggested that preparations are under way for a large military parade in Pyongyang, which could take place on 25 April, the founding anniversary of North Korea's army. It is expected that North Korea will then display the most advanced weapons in the nuclear arsenal such as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)

Ri Il Hwan, a member of the ruling Workers' Party's Politburo, issued a call for loyalty during a speech, saying that North Koreans will 'always emerge victorious' under Mr Kim's guidance.

The parade came hours before thousands of young people performed a mass dance in the square as fireworks launched from a nearby riverbank lit up the night sky.

Kim Il Sung's birthday is the most important national holiday in North Korea, where the Kim family has ruled under a strong personality cult since the nation's founding in 1948.

This week's celebrations marking the 110th anniversary of his birth came as his grandson revives nuclear brinkmanship aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and remove crippling economic sanctions.

North Korea has opened 2022 with a series of weapons tests, including its first flight test of an ICBM since 2017.

South Korea's military has also detected signs that North Korea is rebuilding tunnels at a nuclear testing ground it partially dismantled weeks before Mr Kim's first summit with then-US president Donald Trump in June 2018.

Mr Kim's defiant displays of his military might are also motivated by domestic politics, experts say, as he does not otherwise have significant accomplishments to trumpet to his people after a decade in rule.

His stated goals of simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and bringing economic prosperity to his impoverished populace derailed after the collapse of his second summit with Mr Trump in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea's demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a limited surrender of its nuclear capabilities.

The Covid-19 pandemic unleashed further shock on his broken economy, forcing him to acknowledge last year that the North was facing its 'worst-ever situation'.

Kim Il Sung's birthday is the most important national holiday in North Korea, where the Kim family has ruled under a strong personality cult since the nation's founding in 1948 (Kim Jong-Un pictured visiting the Kumususan Palace of the Sun with his wife Ri Jol Su for the 110th anniversary of his grandfather Kim II Sung)

This week's celebrations marking the 110th anniversary of his birth came as his grandson revives nuclear brinkmanship aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and remove crippling economic sanctions

There is also expectation that Pyongyang will further escalate its weapons testing in the coming weeks or months, possibly including a resumption of nuclear explosive tests or test-flying missiles over Japan, as it attempts to force a response from the Biden administration, which is preoccupied with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a rivalry with China

Earlier this week, Kim was been seen puffing away on a cigarette and looking back to his usual chubby self just months after slimming down 'for the sake of the country'.

State media video from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed the chunky dictator attending the completion ceremony of major housing project to adoring crowds in Pyongyang.

And while there was little they could do to conceal the return of his protruding belly, they made the decision to show a clip of him smoking while chatting to his generals during celebrations for the completion of 10,000 housing units, including an 80-story building.

North Korea passed a tough new law just 18 months ago forbidding smoking in public places, so the images technically depict their dear leader breaking the law.

The dictatorship has also been grappling with severe food shortages, prompting Mr Kim to eat less 'for the sake of the country', government officials said last year.

Eyebrows were raised when photos and videos of the usually chubby despot looking gaunt last December, with speculation about his health after he had disappeared from public view for for months.

Mr Kim disappeared from public view between January and May last year. He returned 40lbs lighter looking 'emaciated', according to his own state television, sparking speculating as to whether the weight loss was deliberate or due to illness.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves as he attends a national meeting and a public procession to mark 110th birth anniversary of the state's founder, Kim II Sung, in Pyongyang

People lay flowers before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at the Mansudae Art Studio, as part of celebrations marking the 110th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, known as the 'Day of the Sun'

Last week, North Korea praised Kim Jong-Un's leadership in a celebration marking 10 years in charge of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

New exhibitions and portraits were unveiled in the national meeting on Monday, which applauded the North Korean dictator in his development of nuclear weapons and his political achievements.

Kim is considered to have assumed power when he was named supreme commander of the military after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December 2011, but he was elected as the top party and state leader on 11 April 2012.

The Kim family has ruled the one-party state for its entire history.

In a speech at a national meeting on Sunday, Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and one of the most senior officials under Kim, praised the North Korean leader as 'a gifted thinker and theoretician, outstanding statesman and peerlessly great commander'.

Mr Ryong Hae called Kim 'a peerless patriot and a great defender of peace' for making North Korea 'a full-fledged military power equipped with all powerful physical means of self-defence'.

He added that despite facing unprecedented difficulties, Kim had opened up a 'new era for North Korea' as a 'powerful socialist nation' prospering and developing with 'self-sustenance and self-reliance'.
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Deranged despot Vladimir Putin has banned Boris Johnson from entering Russia as he lashes out at Britain over his failing war in Ukraine.

Russian Tass news agency reported that the Kremlin has slapped sanctions on a dozen other British government members and politicians for allegedly 'whipping up anti-Russian hysteria' and 'shamelessly inciting the Kiev neo-Nazi regime'.

Moscow specifically accused Britain of 'deliberately aggravating the situation surrounding Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the behalf of NATO' and threatened to expand its sanctions list 'soon'.

Russia's foreign ministry said it had barred entry to the country for the prime minister, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members and politicians.

The move was taken 'in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British Government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials,' the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would expand the list soon.

Russia's foreign ministry warned: 'This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy.

List of UK politicians blacklisted by Russia in Putin's tit-for-tat sanctions In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry announced the following UK politicians and officials will be banned from entering Russia: Prime Minister Boris Johnson;

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab;

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss;

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace;

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps;

Home Secretary Priti Patel;

Chancellor Rishi Sunak;

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng;

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries;

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey;

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon;

Attorney-General Suella Braverman;

Former Prime Minister Theresa May. Advertisement

'In the near future, this list will be expanded to include British politicians and parliamentarians who contribute to whipping up anti-Russian hysteria, pushing the 'collective West' to use the language of threats in dialogue with Moscow, and shamelessly inciting the Kiev neo-Nazi regime.'

Moscow's entry blacklist includes UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, former Prime Minister Theresa May and even the nationalist First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon.

London has been part of an international effort to punish Moscow with asset freezes, travel bans and economic sanctions, since Putin moved troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Britain has sanctioned more than 1,200 Russian individuals and companies, including Putin and his daughters, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and several billionaire oligarchs including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

The UK Foreign Office said sanctions so far imposed on Russians  including 76 oligarchs and 16 banks  have in effect frozen 650billion.

Mr Johnson has also accused Russia of committing war crimes in Bucha and Irpin, and has insisted that 'Putin must fail'  a mantra he repeated yet again this week in his apology to the British public after being fined by Scotland Yard for breaking Covid lockdown laws.

At a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the PM said: 'What Putin has done in places like Bucha and Irpin is war crimes that have permanently polluted his reputation and the reputation of his government.'

And President Zelensky has hailed Mr Johnson as the 'leader' of the 'anti-war coalition'  a sentiment which is likely to have angered Putin and his cronies.

The Kremlin last month effectively branded Mr Johnson Russia's public enemy No1 over his role in galvanising Western nations against punishing Putin's regime for launching its illegal and barbaric war against the former Soviet republic.

The Russian tyrant's notorious spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has himself been sanctioned by the UK, singled out the PM as the 'most active' opponent of his brutal war, warning: 'As for Mr Johnson, we see him as the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian. It will lead to a foreign policy dead end.'

The PM acknowledged he was 'deeply hostile' to Putin's war, but insisted he was 'not remotely anti-Russian'.

Speaking at an emergency NATO summit in Brussels, he likened Putin's tactics to those of the Nazis, saying: 'What Vladimir Putin is doing, the way he's leading Russia at the moment, is utterly catastrophic  his invasion of Ukraine is inhuman and barbaric.

'And the conduct of that invasion is now moving into the type of behaviour that we haven't seen in the continent of Europe for 80 years, and it's horrific.

'So you can be sympathetic towards ordinary Russians, who are being so badly led, but you can be deeply hostile to the decisions of Vladimir Putin.'

It comes as Russia accused the US and NATO of shipping the 'most sensitive' weapons including long range 'multiple launch rockets systems' to Ukraine, adding that Western involvement was 'adding fuel' to the conflict and could bring 'unpredictable consequences'.

Boris Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, April 9, 2022

Putin chairs a video conference call on the situation in the oil and gas industries, from the official residence at Novo-Ogaryovo, April 14, 2022

SAS troops are now training Ukrainians in how to use British-supplied anti-tank missiles after Russia warned that Western involvement means World War Three has already started A Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces member holds an NLAW anti-tank weapon, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022 British SAS troops have been training Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv in how to use British-supplied NLAW anti-tank missile launchers, it has been reported. The training marks the first time British forces have been instructing their Ukrainian counterparts since Russia's Vladimir Putin launched his invasion on February 24. Two officers from separate battalions stationed both in and around the country's capital told The Times that British Special Forces had trained their troops on two occasions over the last fortnight. British military trainers have had a presence in Ukraine since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, but were withdrawn in February as the likelihood of Putin ordering an all-out invasion of Ukraine increased. Reports of the British training came after Russian TV warned that Western involvement in the war - such as supplying weapons to Ukraine and training its military - meant that World War Three had already begun. A Ukrainian serviceman fires an NLAW anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Joint Forces Operation, in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on Feb. 15, 202 Advertisement

A two-page diplomatic note or demarche, dated Tuesday, was sent to the State Department by the Russian Embassy in Washington.

It was titled: 'On Russia's concerns in the context of massive supplies of weapons and military equipment to the Kyiv regime,' according to the Washington Post which obtained a copy of the note in Russian.

It accused the US and NATO allies of trying to force Ukraine to 'abandon' negotiations with Russia 'in order to continue the bloodshed,' while pressuring other countries to end military and technical cooperation with Moscow.

'We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security,' the note said.

And among the weapons Russia described as 'most sensitive' were 'multiple launch rocket systems'  although the US and NATO have not said they are sending such items to Ukraine.

That amounted to violation of 'rigorous principles' governing transfer of weapons to conflict zones and of ignoring 'the threat of high-precision weapons falling into the hands of radical nationalists, extremists and bandit forces in Ukraine.'

Russia has repeatedly tried to claim that is fighting to 'de-Nazify' Ukraine, claims that do not stand up to scrutiny.

Instead a senior administration official said the note was an admission that the US strategy was working.

'What the Russians are telling us privately is precisely what we've been telling the world publicly - that the massive amount of assistance that we've been providing our Ukrainian partners is proving extraordinarily effective,' said the official.

The latest tranche of US security support was announced this week. The $800million package takes the total to $3.2billion since the invasion began at the end of February, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

On Wednesday, President Biden said: 'This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine.

'These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers.'

Meanwhile, British SAS troops have been training Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv in how to use British-supplied NLAW anti-tank missile launchers, it has been reported.

The training marks the first time British forces have been instructing their Ukrainian counterparts since Putin launched his invasion on February 24.

Two officers from separate battalions stationed both in and around the country's capital told The Times that British Special Forces had trained their troops on two occasions over the last fortnight.

British military trainers have had a presence in Ukraine since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, but were withdrawn in February as the likelihood of Putin ordering an all-out invasion of Ukraine increased.

Reports of the British training came after Russian TV warned that Western involvement in the war  such as supplying weapons to Ukraine and training its military  meant that World War Three had already begun.

The newspaper said it had spoken to two Ukrainian commanders  Captain Yuriy Myronenko and a Kyiv special forces commander who goes by the nickname 'Skiff'.

Myronenko said new and returning recruits in his battalion, stationed in Obolon  a suburb in the northern outskirts of Kyiv that experienced heavy fighting in the early days of the invasion  were trained by British SAS to use NLAWs two weeks ago.

Since February, the United Kingdom has delivered more than 3,600 Next generation Light Anti-tank Weapons (NLAWs) to Ukraine, with Kyiv requesting more following reports that they had proven highly effective against Russian armour.

The launchers are relatively easy to use, and give ground troops a modern, light-weight counter to Russia's vast numbers of slow-moving  and often dated  tanks.

Skiff, meanwhile, told The Times that Ukraine's 112th battalion  to which his unit was attached at the time  had also been given training by British troops last week.

A handout photo made available via the official Telegram channel of the President of Ukraine shows President Zelensky and Mr Johnson sitting for a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 9, 2022

Zelensky says the whole WORLD should be worried about Putin using nuclear weapons and has urged Biden to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Friday Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is warning that Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons during its invasion of Ukraine  and cautioned that it was a matter grave concern for the entire world. 'Not only me  I think all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it can be not real information, but it can be truth,' Zelensky said, speaking in English. 'We should think not be afraid, not be afraid but be ready. But that is not a question for Ukraine, not only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think,' he said. Zelensky was responding to a question by CNN's Jake Tapper about CIA Director William Burns warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin might use a tactical nuclear tactical weapon as a desperate act amid military setbacks in its invasion, which has continued for 50 days. He mentioned nuclear weapons as well as chemical weapons as a potential threat. 'Chemical weapons, they should do it, they could do it, for them the life of the people [means] nothing. That's why,' Zelensky said, speaking in sometimes imprecise English. His dire comments in the interview come as it was reported Zelensky personally asked President Joe Biden to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism  a move with substantial implications for trade and sanctions. Advertisement

His senior commander  nicknamed bear  confirmed Skiff's report to the newspaper. 'They were good guys, the Brits,' he was quoted as saying. 'They have invited us to visit them when the war is over'.

Myronenko said that the training was vital due to the huge numbers of recruits that have signed up to the country's resistance effort since the war broke out, meaning many were not trained on how to use the vital missile launchers before Britain pulled its troops out of the country.

He said that without the British trainers, soldiers around the country who did not receive the training had to go on YouTube to learn how to use the NLAWs  which he said take around five minutes to learn how to use.

'After that we had good training,' he told publication. 'British officers were here two weeks ago in our unit and they trained us really good. And because we have had successes, we have self-confidence now.'

Britain's Ministry of Defence told The Times it would not comment on the reports on account of a long-standing convention that means it does not comment on the activities of the country's special forces.

It comes as Moscow threatened to mount renewed missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities said the bodies of more than 900 civilians were found outside the capital.

Russian forces continued preparations for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine, and fighting also went on in the pummelled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies.

In the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, the shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a seven-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional governor Oleh Sinehubov.

Early on Saturday, Kyiv's eastern district of Darnytskie was struck, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene, and warned residents who have fled the capital not to return for their own safety.

Around Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of the capital's regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.

'Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,' Mr Nebytov said.

More bodies are being found every day under rubble and in mass graves, he added, with the largest number  35  found in Bucha.

According to Mr Nebytov, utility workers gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, had been 'tracking down' people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

President Zelensky accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south of terrorising civilians and hunting for anyone who served in Ukraine's military or government.

'The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves,' he said in his nightly video address.

'Russia's problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted  by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.'

More violence could be in store for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling on Thursday.

'The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory,' Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Russia used missiles to destroy a facility for the repair and production of missile systems in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified. However, Ukrainian officials said forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles.

A senior US defence official backed up the claim, anonymously saying the US now believes the Moskva was hit by at least one Neptune anti-ship missile and probably two.

The Moskva, named for the Russian capital, sank while being towed to port on Thursday after taking heavy damage.

Moscow did not acknowledge any attack, saying only that a fire had detonated ammunition on board. The loss of the ship represents an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.

The sinking reduces Russia's firepower in the Black Sea and seemed to symbolise Moscow's fortunes in an eight-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the Russian retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.

Doomed Moskva Russia warship is 'seen burning in satellite image' after Ukraine missile strike 'killed ALL 510 aboard' Putin's Black Sea flagship

Satellite images show the pride of Putin's Black Sea Fleet burning while other vessels are scrambled to rescue those onboard before it sank after it was struck by Ukrainian missiles in an attack which Kyiv has claimed killed all 500 crew including its captain.

Radar satellite imagery of the northern Black Sea on April 13 appears to pinpoint the Soviet-era Moskva warship, which Ukraine said was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired by one of its batteries near the port city of Odesa. Other vessels are also seen in attendance.

As one of the largest ships lost in combat since the Second World War, the Moskva's sinking is a huge blow to Russian military prestige.

However, Ukrainian defence experts warned that the Moskva may have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles when it went down. Any such arsenal onboard would likely have been tactical nuclear weapons with a very short range and limited fallout field, experts said.

The attack happened when Ukrainian TB2 drones distracted her defensive capabilities, which then failed to track a pair of Neptune missiles fired from a coastal artillery battery. Ukraine claimed yesterday the warship 'went down in a matter of minutes' with all hands  around 500 sailors  including First Captain Anton Kuprin.

Russian news agencies cited Moscow's Defence Ministry on Thursday as admitting that the vessel sank in stormy seas after what it said was a fire and explosions involving ammunition stowed onboard.

The Kremlin had earlier tried to downplay the damage, and claimed that the Moskva was still afloat and was returning to port under its own steam. Moscow also announced that the crew had been evacuated onto other Black Sea Fleet vessels.

Hours after Ukraine sank the Moskva, Putin took out his anger on losing the warship by ordering a missile strike on Kyiv.

Radar satellite imagery of the Black Sea on April 13 appears to pinpoint the Moskva warship, which Ukraine said was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired by one of its batteries near the port city of Odesa. Other vessels are seen in attendance

The Moskva - pictured leaving port at Sevastopol for the last time on April 10 - may have been carrying two nuclear warheads when it sank after a fire and explosion on board, experts and analysts have warned

As one of the largest ships lost in combat since the Second World War, the Moskva's sinking is a huge blow to Russian prestige

Moskva could have been carrying warheads to fit into the tip of its Moskva's P-1000 supersonic cruise missiles, which are designed to take out American aircraft carriers

The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet - the Soviet-era guided missile destroyer Moskva - has suffered heavy damage and may have sunk after Ukraine claimed to have shot it with two anti-ship cruise missiles

The relatives of the doomed crew of the Moskva held an unofficial memorial. Pictured: A man lays flowers at an unofficial memorial for the sailors of the Russian Black Sea flagship in Sevastopol on April 15, 2022

Russian Telegram accounts with links to the Wagner Group claim Bayraktar drones were used to distract the Moskva's radar systems before a coastal battery opened fire somewhere near Odesa, hitting the ship with two Neptune missiles

The Soviet-era 600-foot missile cruiser: Moskva The Moskva is a 12,500 tonne Project 1164 Slava class guided missile cruiser that was first launched in 1979. She replaced the Kynda-class cruiser Admiral Golovko as the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Although it is not a new ship, the impressive cruiser was named after Moscow and is armed with 16 fixed launchers for P-1000 anti-ship missiles and rail launchers for 40 Osa missiles. The missile cruiser usually has a crew of over 500 and contains intricate vertical tubes for 64 S-300 air-defence missiles and an array of guns, making her fire power one of a kind. Despite Moskva's impressive features, the ship was sunk when ammunition on board blew up, TASS news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying on Thursday. A Ukrainian official earlier said the Moskva had been hit by two anti-ship missiles but did not give any evidence. Russian news agencies said the Moskva was armed with 16 anti-ship 'Vulkan' cruise missiles with a range of at least 440 miles. Interfax did not give more details of the incident. In April 2021, the agency quoted a retired Russian admiral as saying 'this is the most serious ship in the Black Sea'. Advertisement

Russian Kalibr long-range missiles streaked through the night sky towards the capital for the first time in two weeks. Rockets slammed into the factory which produced the two missiles that destroyed the warship, although the official Russian line is that the Moskva was damaged when a fire caused ammunition aboard to explode.

After the factory strike, Russia's defence ministry warned: 'The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or sabotage.'

Life in the Ukrainian capital had begun to return to some sort of normality since Russian forces withdrew two weeks ago. But further attacks will likely add to the death toll around Kyiv.

The region's police chief said yesterday the bodies of 900 civilians had been found in outlying suburbs and towns after the Russia withdrawal.

The Kremlin has so far insisted its invasion is a 'special military operation' rather than a war. But in an escalatory statement yesterday, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'If Ukraine continues its provocations, Russia will be force to declare war against Ukraine.'

In another response to the sinking of the Moskva, there were reports yesterday that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Igor Osipov, had been detained by Moscow.

Captain Kuprin, 44, led the first naval action of the war, ordering the Moskva to bombard Snake Island. Its 13 Ukrainian defenders refused to give up, saying: 'Russian warship, go f*** yourself.'

Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Kyiv Interior Ministry, claimed that 'the explosion was so strong that the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet sank in a matter of minutes'. He claimed to have heard this from sources in Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

'Apparently, as a result of the fire, the warheads of the large P-1000 cruise missile  Vulkan  detonated. And there were 16 of them on board the cruiser.'

As a result 'all the crew of the cruiser Moskva died'. This included the ship's captain, Anton Kuprin, Gerashchenko said.

He claimed: 'The leadership of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation have deliberately hidden the truth from relatives and friends of the crew members.'

His account contradicts other earlier versions, including that a Turkish vessel rescued more than 50. If Kyiv's claim is correct, then the deaths of the sailor would add to the already huge death toll suffered by Moscow's forces during Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed over 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

April 10: The Moskva (pictured last week near the port of Sevastopol) has been helping coordinate Russian naval operation in the Black Sea, which has seen ships set up a distant blockade of Ukrainian ports and open fire on cities with cruise missiles

April 7: The Moskva is pictured in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, which is the home port of Russia's Black Sea fleet. The Soviet-era ship leads the fleet, and is equipped with anti-ship, anti-air and anti-submarine missiles

Ukraine claims the Moskva was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired from a secret location somewhere near Odesa (pictured, a test-fire of the Neptune missile takes place in 2019)

Meanwhile, Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defence Express all warned that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles.

If true, the loss of the warheads into the Black Sea could spark a 'Broken Arrow' incident  American military slang for potentially lethal accidents involving nuclear weapons.

'On board the Moskva could be nuclear warheads  two units,' Samus said, while Klymenko called on other Black Sea nations  Turkey, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria  to insist on an explanation. 'Where are these warheads? Where were they when the ammunition exploded,' he asked.

Meanwhile Ilya Ponomarev, a politician exiled from Russia for opposing Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea, said just 58 of the 510-strong crew have since been accounted for  raising the prospect that 452 men went down with the ship in what would be a bitter loss for Putin's already beleaguered army.

Biggest sea combat losses since WW2: The sinking of the Belgrano The sinking of the Moskva, if confirmed, would mark one of the largest ships lost in naval combat since the end of the Second World War. For decades, that ignominious title had been held by the ARA General Belgrano which was sunk by British forces during the Falklands War. The 608ft vessel - originally built by and serving in the US Navy before being sold to Argentina - sank on May 2 after being struck by two torpedoes fired by nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror. The first torpedo struck near the bow of the ship, blowing it off, while the second struck towards the rear -outside an area protected by armour plating. Punching through the side of the ship, the torpedo exploded in the rear machine room - tearing through nearby crew areas and blasting a 65ft hole in the deck. The blast also took out much of the ship's electronics and radio systems, meaning it was unable to pump out water that was now rushing into the vessel or put out a distress call. Just 20 minutes after the strike, captain Hector Bonzo gave the order to abandon ship. Lifeboats were launched with 772 men rescued from the water over the subsequent days. The attack killed 321 members of the Belgrano's crew and two civilians who happened to be on board - accounting for around half of Argentina's casualties during the entire conflict. Sinking the Belgrano provoked controversy, because it was attacked outside a 200-nautical mile exclusion zone declared by the British who said any ships inside the zone risked being attacked without warning. Permission to attack the vessel was given by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after a request by the Navy, amid warnings the ship posed a threat. Britain had separately warned that vessels outside the zone could be targeted if they threatened its forces. Speaking decades after the war ended, Captain Bonzo said he did not consider the sinking of the Belgrano to be illegal. 'It was an act of war,' he said. Advertisement

The figure, while unconfirmed, is consistent with losses suffered on exploding warships. During the Russian Navy's infamous defeat at the Battle of Tsushima against Japan, an explosion on board the Borodino  slightly smaller than the Moskva  saw all-but one of her 855 crew killed.

Russia claims all the Moskva's sailors were 'successfully evacuated' but video taken in Sevastopol overnight shows dozens of cars purportedly belonging to the sailors still parked in the port  suggesting their owners had not returned to collect them.

Rumours have also begun circulating in Ukrainian media that Admiral Igor Osipov  the commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet which the Moskva led  has been arrested in what would be the latest in a string of detentions linked to the bungled invasion.

Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian-Israeli businessman who fled the country in 2003 after being targeted by Putin, said yesterday that 20 Russian generals have been arrested over the military's failings along with 150 FSB officers for providing false information about Ukraine's defences.

He also claimed that Sergey Shoigu, Russia's defence minister and a long-term Putin ally, has suffered a massive heart attack and is in intensive care after an apparent assassination attempt.

Shoigu, 66, is thought to have fallen out with Putin in mid-March over the bungled invasion and largely stopped making public appearances. He has featured in video calls with Putin since but has not spoken, amid suspicion the Kremlin could be re-using old footage to give the impression he is alive and well.

The Moskva got into trouble overnight Wednesday as it sailed around 60 miles off the coast of Odesa, Ukraine's largest port and main naval base. The Ukrainian military said it was struck with two Neptune cruise missiles fired by a coastal battery, which struck the port side of the vessel.

Russian military sources said the ship had rolled on to its side and caught fire after the blast, while US intelligence sources said the vessel suffered a 'large' explosion that left it heavily damaged before it sank.

Moscow has said only that the vessel suffered a fire and blast before its navy attempted to tow the ship back to Sevastopol, but during the operation it sank in rough seas. The exact location of the wreck is unknown.

The loss of the Moskva - the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet that was told to 'go f*** yourself' by Ukrainian troops as it demanded their surrender on Snake Island - is a huge propaganda win for Kyiv as well as another embarrassing loss for Putin's beleaguered army.

As revenge for the sinking, the Russian military launched a series of cruise missile strikes on Ukraine overnight Thursday  including several rockets which it said struck and destroyed a factory near Kyiv that made the weapons used against Moskva.

Russia's defence ministry warned early Friday that it will step up attacks on Kyiv in the coming days, in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory.

A village in Russia's border region with Belarus, which houses a military base, was struck Thursday - coming after explosions at an ammo dump and oil facility in Belgorod, an along a nearby train line.

Separately, Russia told the US to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, warning of 'unpredictable consequences' if it continues to do do.

The warning was delivered in the form of an official diplomatic note, which was seen by the Washington Post.

It said that American and NATO shipments of the 'most sensitive' weapons were 'adding fuel' to the conflict, which is now nearing its second month.

The two-page note was delivered after Biden had agreed to a new $800million delivery of military aid to Ukraine, including heavy artillery and shells, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers.

'What the Russians are telling us privately is precisely what we've been telling the world publicly  that the massive amount of assistance that we've been providing our Ukrainian partners is proving extraordinarily effective,' a senior US official said about the note.

Aside from providing Ukraine with a propaganda victory, Moskva's sinking also has practical implications for Russia. As flagship, the vessel was likely tasked with coordinating the movements of other ships in the Black Sea which may cause further confusion among Russia's already-strained command structure.

Its role was also to provide cover for Russia's other ships using its anti-air missiles while they launched cruise missiles attacks against cities and military sites. Its loss will make them more-vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes, including by fast jets or drones.

Now entering its eighth week, Russia's invasion has stalled because of resistance from Ukrainian fighters bolstered by weapons and other aid sent by Western nations. The news of the flagship's damage overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, where they have been battling the Ukrainians since the early days of the invasion in some of the heaviest fighting of the war  at a horrific cost to civilians.
A notorious drug lord wanted in nearly 200 countries has been seized after sneaking out for sex with a Colombian model who then uploaded his photo to Facebook.

Brian Donaciano Olguin Berdugo - better known as 'Pitt' - was arrested an apartment complex in the city of Cali in the Colombian department of Valle del Cauca, south west of the capital of Bogota.

Mexican national Berdugo, 39, is said to have arrived in the country in February to broker cocaine deals with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army on behalf of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.

But after finishing his deals, he travelled to Cali and frequently met with a model, whose name has not been disclosed.

Notorious Mexican drug lord Brian Donaciano Olguin Berdugo, 39, pictured, has been seized in Cali, Colombia, after sneaking out for sex with Colombian model who then uploaded his photo to Facebook

Berdugo, 39, is said to have arrived in the country in February to broker cocaine deals with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army on behalf of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. But after finishing his deals, he travelled to Cali and frequently met with a model (pictured) who shared a photo of the pair on her Facebook page, sealing his fate

The pair reportedly spent several nights together at a luxury apartment.

Local media said trafficker besotted Berdugo abandoned all security protocols while he was with the model.

She even convinced him to visit the busy tourist spot Cerro de los Cristales where he was photographed in her company.

His fate was sealed when the model uploaded one photo to her Facebook account and agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration informed the Colombian Anti-Narcotics Police of the suspect's location.

Agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration informed the Colombian Anti-Narcotics Police of the suspect's location and he was soon arrested (pictured)

In addition, security cameras at the Jose Maria Cordova International Airport captured him with another attractive woman, according to reports. Colombian intelligence officers then began to follow Berdugo and, after nearly two weeks of surveillance, arrested him (pictured with one of the women in Colombia)

In addition, security cameras at the Jose Maria Cordova International Airport captured him with another attractive woman, according to reports.

Colombian intelligence officers then began to follow Berdugo and, after nearly two weeks of surveillance, arrested him.

The Sinaloa Cartel (Cartel de Sinaloa - CDS) is also known as the Blood Alliance, and works as a huge international drug trafficking, money laundering and organised crime body operating primarily in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja California, Durango, Sonora and Chihuahua.

It also has presence in Colombia and cities across the US. It is considered to be the most powerful drug trafficking organisation in the western hemisphere by the United States Intelligence Community.

The Sinaloa Cartel (Cartel de Sinaloa - CDS) is also known as the Blood Alliance, and works as a huge international drug trafficking, money laundering and organised crime body operating primarily in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja California, Durango, Sonora and Chihuahua. The Mexican drug lord is being held in custody with an extradition order to the US

The Mexican drug lord is being held in custody with an extradition order to the US.

Lawyers are working to prevent his extradition while the police reportedly claimed they were offered $265,000 (202,897) as a bribe for his release.

Police spokesperson General Jorge Vargas Valencia said: 'We believe this result was the most important in terms of capturing Mexican cartel delegates who come to commit drug trafficking crimes with FARC in Cauca.'
Most of us dreamed of being able to fly abroad when we were confined to our homes during the pandemic.

But sadly, we now face forking out huge sums of money to fly to popular European hotspots like Spain this summer.

As families now face paying 1,000 to get to the Continent, it looks like Covid may have killed off budget holidays.

Airlines known for their cheap foreign trips have more than trebled their prices for flights in June, July and August.

Flying from London Heathrow to Malaga on a direct economy return on May 28 and June 4  when most schools break up for half term  will now set travellers back 1,208, or 4,112 for a family-of-four.

Tourists and locals enjoy the sunny weather on a beach at Barcelona, Spain, April 15, 2022

Passengers queue inside the departures area of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London, during the Easter getaway, Friday April 15, 2022

A similar trip to Tenerife over the same dates costs 2,076, while the same holiday to Majorca comes to 1,260, The Telegraph reports.

For Malta, this rises to 1,956, while those hoping to relax in Corfu face forking out a whopping.

Short-haul flights with British Airways have also rocketed to deter ticket purchases as it battles severe staff shortages, according to The Independent.

Experts suggested that airlines have cashed in on the post-lockdown boom in demand for holidays to Europe.

Holidaymakers on the beach at Benidorm, Thursday April 14, 2022

Skyscanner's Gemma Jamieson said: 'The biggest driver for flight prices is supply and demand, and people are just realising tat a holiday is viable option for them this year.

'Demand is really ramping up for people who wouldn't have considered it a few months ago.

'It's achievable because the rules are much simpler, and confidence is much higher. Demand will be massive.

'People are going back to where they know and love.'

Trade body Airlines UK and consumer watchdog Which? also said demand is sky-high and this will have a knock-on effect for prices.
Russian forces plan to close access to Mariupol on Monday and ban movement within its districts in order to filter Ukrainian men, some of whom will be forced to fight against their own country, an advisor to the city's mayor has said.

Petro Andryushchenko said today men in Mariupol would be 'filtered' by Moscow, meaning some would be made to clear rubble, some would be forced to join the Russian army, and those deemed 'unreliable' would be 'isolated'.

The Mayor's advisor wrote on Telegram that the process had already reached 'maximum momentum', with Russian forces using filtration camps and checkpoints to determine which of the city's residents could still be of use to them.

Those going through the filtration system were being subjected to 'interrogation, gadget testing and body examination,' he said.

Andryushchenko also said that the Kremlin plans to shut off the besieged port city from April 18 (Monday) to anyone wishing to enter or exit.

Russia is doing this, he said, because the Mariupol is no longer hospitable for the residents who have stayed behind since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week-long war. Home to 400,000 people before Russia's invasion, the city has been reduced to rubble by Russian shelling.

Over 20,000 civilians are believed to have been killed, tens of thousands remain trapped in the city, and countless numbers have fled. It is one of a number of sites were international investigators believe war crimes have taken place - including the bombing of a maternity war and of a theatre sheltering hundreds of people.

Amid fears that Mariupol could soon fall under complete Russian control, Ukraine said on Friday that it was still trying to break the siege of the city, as fighting raged around the city's massive steel works and port.

Russian forces plan to close access to Mariupol on Monday and ban movement within its districts in order to filter Ukrainian men, some of whom will be forced to fight against their own country, an advisor to the city's mayor has said. Pictured: A Russian armoured personnel carrier drives through the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week-long war. Home to 400,000 people before Russia's invasion, the city has been reduced to rubble by Russian shelling. Pictured: A Russian armoured personnel carrier, April 15

'The occupiers are announcing that not only the city will be closed for entry / exit for everyone from Monday, but there will also be a ban on moving around the districts for a week,' Andryushchenko wrote on Telegram. 'At this time , 100% of men will be filtered . remaining in the city, for which they will be moved to Novoazovsk.'

He continued: 'According to information, some people are planned to be mobilized to the Russian occupation corps, some are forced to be sent to clear the debris, and some of the unreliable are isolated.

'Given all the factors, the occupiers are going to leave in the city only women and men to serve the needs. We attribute this to the impossibility of keeping the civilian population in the city, even in the least liveable conditions.'

Detailing the 'filtration' programme, the Mayor's advisor wrote: 'The filtration procedure has gained maximum momentum.

In filtration camps and checkpoints, one hundred percent of men after standard filtration abuse (interrogation, gadget testing, body examination) are separated from others and separate interrogations are conducted, including instigation of execution.

'In general, we can say that from 5 to 10 percent is not filtered and then exported to Dokuchaevsk and Donetsk. The future is unknown at this time, we are working.'

In recent weeks, Russia's military focus has shifted to seizing the eastern Donbas region, where Russian-backed separatists control the Donetsk and Lugansk areas.

This would allow Moscow to create a southern corridor to the occupied Crimean peninsula, and Ukrainian authorities have been urging people in the region to quickly move west in advance of a large-scale Russian offensive.

Andryushchenko's update would suggest men from Mariupol could be being sent to the region and forced to fight for the Russian invaders.

Service members of pro-Russian troops ride on armoured vehicles in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict on a road leading to the city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

Service members from Chechen Republic look on during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

If Moscow captures Mariupol, it would be the only big city to fall to the Russians so far. Russia's defence ministry said it had captured the city's Illich steel works. The report could not be confirmed.

Ukrainian defenders are mainly believed to be holding out in Azovstal, another huge steel works.

Both plants are owned by Metinvest - the empire of Ukraine's richest businessman and backbone of Ukraine's industrial east - which told Reuters on Friday it would never let its enterprises operate under Russian occupation.

'The situation in Mariupol is difficult and hard. Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city,' defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a televised briefing, although he said the Russians have not completely captured it.

Motuzyanyk said Russia had used long-range bombers to attack Mariupol for the first time since its Feb. 24 invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting on Friday with the country's military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies.

Local residents walk past an apartment building damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

A view shows the Illich Steel and Iron Works, which has seen heavy fighting during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

'The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people,' Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

'The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves,' Zelensky said.

He added: 'The occupiers' problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists.

'Russia's problem is that it is not accepted - and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.'

On Friday, it was alleged that Russian troops in Mariupol are digging up thousands of dead civilians and burning their bodies in mobile crematoriums in a possible bid to destroy evidence of atrocities like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv when the Russians withdrew from the region.

Mariupol's city council - in a post on Telegram - said Moscow's men were exhuming bodies buried in residential courtyards within the city and were assigning watchmen to each square to stop locals from reburying their dead friends and relatives.

'Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,' the council said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.

On Thursday, Mayor Vadym Boychenko warned corpses 'carpeted the streets' of Mariupol as he accused Moscow of incinerating tens of thousands of civilians killed during a siege that has trapped well over 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating.

Russian forces have in recent days made advances in Mariupol with Moscow claiming on Wednesday that its troops had taken control of the final Ukrainian strongholds in the city including the Azovstal industrial complex, where Kyiv's forces have been holed up in a hellish last stand for several days.

But Ukrainian marines who have teamed up with the Azov regiment to defend Mariupol yesterday appeared in a video to rebuff the claims as they denounced more than 1,000 fellow soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces on Wednesday and vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to protect the city.

Service members from Chechen Republic walk during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

A view shows the gates of the Illich Steel and Iron Works damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

Ukraine's richest man, meanwhile, has pledged to help rebuild Mariupol, a place close to his heart where he owns two vast steelworks that he says will once again compete globally.

Rinat Akhmetov has seen his business empire shattered by eight years of fighting in Ukraine's east but remains defiant, sure that what he calls 'our brave soldiers' will defend the Sea of Azov city reduced to a wasteland by seven weeks of bombardment.

For now, though, his Metinvest company, Ukraine's biggest steelmaker, has announced it cannot deliver its supply contracts and while his financial and industrial SCM Group is servicing its debt obligations, his private power producer DTEK 'has optimised payment of its debts' in an agreement with creditors.

'Mariupol is a global tragedy and a global example of heroism. For me, Mariupol has been and will always be a Ukrainian city,' Akhmetov said in written answers to questions from Reuters.

'I believe that our brave soldiers will defend the city, though I understand how difficult and hard it is for them,' he said, adding he was in daily contact with the Metinvest managers who run the Azovstal and Illich Iron and Steel Works plants in Mariupol.

On Friday, Metinvest said it would never operate under Russian occupation and that the Mariupol siege had disabled more than a third of Ukraine's metallurgy production capacity.

Akhmetov praised President Volodymyr Zelensky's 'passion and professionalism' during the war, seemingly smoothing relations after the Ukrainian leader last year said plotters hoping to overthrow his government had tried to involve the businessman.

Akhmetov called the allegation 'an absolute lie' at the time.

'And the war is certainly not the time to be at odds... We will rebuild the entire Ukraine,' he said, adding that he returned to the country on Feb. 23 and had been there ever since.

Akhmetov did not say where exactly he was, but that he had been in Mariupol on Feb. 16, the day some western intelligence services had expected the invasion to begin. 'I talked to people in the streets, I met with workers...,' he said.

'My ambition is to return to a Ukrainian Mariupol and implement our (new production) plans so that Mariupol-produced steel can compete in global markets as before.'

Russia invaded on Feb. 24 when Putin announced a 'special operation' to demilitarise and 'denazify' the country. Kyiv and its Western allies reject that as a false pretext for an unprovoked attack.

A local resident crosses a near-deserted street, damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022.

Konstantin Ivashchenko (C), former CEO of the Azovmash plant and newly appointed pro-Russian mayor of Mariupol writes notes flanked by his bodyguards, in Mariupol on April 12

Akhmetov, long Ukraine's richest man, has seen his business empire shrink since 2014, when Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and two eastern Ukrainian regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - proclaimed independence from Kyiv.

According to Forbes magazine, Akhmetov's net worth in 2013 reached $15.4 billion. It currently stands at $3.9 billion.

'For us, the war broke out in 2014. We lost all of our assets both in Crimea and in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas. We lost our businesses, but it made us tougher and stronger,' he said.

'I am confident that, as the country's biggest private business, SCM will play a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine,' he said, citing officials as saying the damage from the war has reached $1 trillion.

'We will definitely need an unprecedented international reconstruction programme, a Marshall Plan for Ukraine,' he said, in reference to the U.S. aid project that helped rebuild Western Europe after World War Two.

'I trust that we all will rebuild a free, European, democratic, and successful Ukraine after our victory in this war.'


More than 6,000 people have been brought ashore after crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed 181 migrants crossed to the UK on six boats on Good Friday, with more expected during the good weather over the Easter weekend.

As of the evening it is thought that over 300 migrants have arrived in the UK today.

The UK is predicted to be warmer than Greece and Turkey as temperatures soar to 23C (73.4F).

The Royal Navy took over 'operational command' of handling migrants crossing the Channel on Thursday as part of a shake-up which will see the planned transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Today: A number of people wrapped in shawls and warm hats arrive in Portsmouth on a Border Force speedboat

Latest images from today, Easter Saturday, show more irregular migrants swept up by the UK Coast Border Guard

Today: Migrants are brought to the Port of Dover on Saturday April 16 having been recovered from the English Channel by the Royal Navy

Today: A lone migirant is escorted by a Border Guard employee as he arrives in the UK from an illegal Channel crossing

Today: Migrants in lifejackets disembark onto British shores. More than 6,000 people have been brought ashore after crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year

Today: A British Border Force ship comes into port at Dover. The Ministry of Defence confirmed 181 migrants crossed to the UK on six boats on Good Friday, with more expected during the good weather over the Easter weekend

Political commentator Nigel Farage criticised the Navy's involvement on Friday as a 'waste of time and resources', claiming the vessels used are 'too high' to take people on board so their role is limited to towing back empty dinghies.

A MoD spokeswoman said the patrol vessels are being used to bolster the capability in the Channel until 'more appropriate' boats are sourced.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier this week that about 600 people had arrived in the UK on Wednesday, which would make it the highest number so far this year, although this figure has not yet been confirmed by either the Home Office or the MoD.

A further 562 arrived on Thursday on 14 boats, which brings the total for the year to approximately 6,000.

Today: A UK Border Force worker helps new illegal arrivals at the Port of Dover carry their infants onto shore

Today: A young girl is among the new arrivals rescued from the English Channel by the Royal Navy

Migrants arrive at Dover Port after after being picked up in the channel by the border force on April 16

A further 562 arrived on Thursday on 14 boats, which brings the total for the year to approximately 6,000

The Royal Navy took over 'operational command' of handling migrants crossing the Channel on Thursday as part of a shake-up which will see the planned transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda

Political commentator Nigel Farage criticised the Navy's involvement on Friday as a 'waste of time and resources'

A record 1,185 people made the crossing to the UK on November 11, 2021 - the highest recorded so far since the start of 2020.

In March this year, 3,066 people made the crossing.

This is nearly four times the amount recorded for the same month in 2021 (831) and more than 16 times the number in March 2020 (187).

It is also the fourth highest monthly total recorded since the start of 2020, behind July (3,510), September (4,652) and November (6,869) last year.

A total of 28,395 people made the crossing in 2021, compared with 8,417 in 2020.

A MoD spokeswoman said the patrol vessels are being used to bolster the capability in the Channel until 'more appropriate' boats are sourced

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier this week that about 600 people had arrived in the UK on Wednesday, which would make it the highest number so far this year

A record 1,185 people made the crossing to the UK on November 11, 2021 - the highest recorded so far since the start of 2020

It comes as Met Office forecasters said the warm weather that parts of England saw on Friday is expected to expand further across the nation, rather than being concentrated in one area, on Saturday.

The mercury hit 23.4C (74.1F) in St James's Park in central London on Good Friday afternoon, making it hotter than California, with the rest of the warm weather being concentrated in the South East.

On Saturday, the weather is expected to be dry with temperatures rising to 23C (73.4F) in the West Midlands and eastern Wales, the Met Office said, while the northern, central and south eastern parts of England are predicted to see highs of 20C (68F).

Easter Sunday is expected to remain dry with temperatures falling to 19C (66.2F) and lower across England and Wales while Scotland is predicted to see highs of 16C (60.8F) and Northern Ireland with highs of 12C (53.6F).

Western parts of the UK may also see clouds, while rainfall across Northern Ireland may spread to western Britain overnight.
The Biden administration has resumed its secret charter flights of underage migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to Westchester, New York.

Another group of young, undocumented immigrants from El Paso, Texas landed at the Westchester County Airport on Thursday night, the New York Post reports.

The children then boarded three buses waiting for them, with one traveling to the Walt Whitman Service Area in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where several teens disembarked and met up with adults who were waiting for them just after midnight.

Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, called the resumption of flights 'a big middle finger to hard-working New York taxpayers.

'It's frustrating. It's outrageous,' he told the Post.

The Biden administration has resumed its secret charter flights of underage migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to Westchester, New York Pictured, migrants disembarking from a flight in August

President Joe Biden's (pictured) administration said the flights were being used 'transport unaccompanied minors to vetted sponsors or relatives with whom they will await the outcome of their immigration proceedings'

Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino posted a video of buses at the airport last week that he said was carrying migrants coming from the border

Astorino said the ongoing flights are 'a big middle finger to hard-working New York taxpayers'

Just last week, Astorino filmed another set of young migrants leaving the airport last week as part of the after-dark flight program, which was reportedly suspended following an investigation last year.

Analysis of online tracking data suggested that 21 flights, since August 8, have brought around 2,000 migrants caught after crossing the border from Mexico to the Westchester airport.

A White House official said that the flights were being used to 'transport unaccompanied minors to vetted sponsors or relatives with whom they will await the outcome of their immigration proceedings.'

The Department of Health and Human Services, which helps match the young migrants to sponsors, said in a statement: 'It is our legal responsibility to provide safe, appropriate care to unaccompanied migrant children during the time they are in our custody, and that includes transportation to vetted sponsors.'

The White House did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Astorino had previously released bodycam footage of Westchester Police responding to one of the secret charter flights last year.

In the August 13, 2021 footage, Westchester Police Sgt. Michael Hamborsky is seen questioning federal contractors, who are overseeing migrants embarking and boarding American Dream charter buses in the early morning hours on the tarmac of a Westchester Airport.

The footage shows Hamborsky speak to multiple contractors, who are employees of MVM Inc., a private security firm that signed a $136 million contract with the federal government last year to transport undocumented immigrants and unaccompanied children around the country.

'I'm just trying to figure out what's what, who's who and how I'm supposed to keep this secure,' Hamborsky tells the contractors, who give him the lanyards from around their necks.

'We're not allowed to have our picture taken when we get on base,' one of them tells him.

'Un-f**king-believable,' Hamborsky says. 'And who's that by? DHS?'

'Yes, and the United States Army,' the contractor replies. 'You're on a federal installation but DHS wants everything on the down low.'

Astronino said another flight from El Paso landed on April 9 with two shuttle busses waiting to pick up the migrants and transport them across Westchester

Bodycam footage, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, shows migrants arriving at Westchester Airport on August 13, 2021 as part of the secret charter flight program

The continuation of the flights from the Southern border to Westchester comes as the U.S. saw an average of nearly 6,000 people a day crossing the border in February, according to the most recent data from the US Customs and Border Protect.

On Friday, 21 states signed onto a lawsuit against the Biden administration to stop it from lifting the Title 42, aTrump-era policy that allowed instant expulsion of asylum-seekers at the U.S. southern border.

State officals fear lifting the order would bring in a greater flux of migrants into the U.S. after President Joe Biden had announced last month that the policy would end on May 23.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who joined the suit on Friday, said in a statement: 'Ending Title 42 would be a disaster and further the chaos at the southwest border that is making it easier for drug cartels and human smugglers to advance their illicit practices in our country.'

In February, 55 percent of the more than 164,000 migrants encountered at the border were expelled under the order.
Ukraine's richest man has pledged to help rebuild the besieged city of Mariupol, a place close to his heart where he owns two vast steelworks that have been at the centre of heavy fighting with Russian forces in recent weeks.

Rinat Akhmetov has seen his business empire shattered by eight years of fighting in Ukraine's east but remains defiant, sure that what he calls 'our brave soldiers' will defend the Sea of Azov city reduced to a wasteland by seven weeks of shelling.

For now, though, his Metinvest company, Ukraine's biggest steelmaker, has announced it cannot deliver its supply contracts and while his financial and industrial SCM Group is servicing its debt obligations, his private power producer DTEK 'has optimised payment of its debts' in an agreement with creditors.

Rinat Akhmetov (pictured) - Ukraine's richest man - has pledged to help rebuild the besieged city of Mariupol, a place close to his heart where he owns two vast steelworks that he says will once again compete globally

'Mariupol is a global tragedy and a global example of heroism,' Akhmetov said in written answers to questions from Reuters new agency. 'For me, Mariupol has been and will always be a Ukrainian city.

'I believe that our brave soldiers will defend the city, though I understand how difficult and hard it is for them,' he said, adding he was in daily contact with the Metinvest managers who run the Azovstal and Illich Iron and Steel Works plants in Mariupol - that have been the scenes of heavy fighting in recent days.

On Friday, Metinvest said it would never operate under Russian occupation and that the Mariupol siege had disabled more than a third of Ukraine's metallurgy production capacity.

Akhmetov praised President Volodymyr Zelensky's 'passion and professionalism' during the war, seemingly smoothing relations after the Ukrainian leader last year said plotters hoping to overthrow his government had tried to involve the businessman. Akhmetov called the allegation 'an absolute lie' at the time.

'And the war is certainly not the time to be at odds... We will rebuild the entire Ukraine,' he said, adding that he returned to the country on February 23 and had been there ever since.

Akhmetov did not say where exactly he was, but that he had been in Mariupol on February 16, the day some western intelligence services had expected the invasion to begin. 'I talked to people in the streets, I met with workers...,' he said.

'My ambition is to return to a Ukrainian Mariupol and implement our (new production) plans so that Mariupol-produced steel can compete in global markets as before.'

Russia invaded on February 24 when President Vladimir Putin announced a 'special operation' to demilitarise and 'denazify' the country. Kyiv and its Western allies reject that as a false pretext for an unprovoked attack on the country that has a Jewish leader (Zelensky), and where the far-right enjoys little-to-no public support.

Local residents walk past an apartment building damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

A view shows the Illich Steel and Iron Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022. Akhmetov's company Metinvest owns the factory and another in the city. Both have seen heavy fighting in recent weeks

Akhmetov, long Ukraine's richest man, has seen his business empire shrink since 2014, when Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and two eastern Ukrainian regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - proclaimed independence from Kyiv.

According to Forbes magazine, Akhmetov's net worth in 2013 reached $15.4 billion. It currently stands at $3.9 billion - a staggering drop off.

'For us, the war broke out in 2014. We lost all of our assets both in Crimea and in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas. We lost our businesses, but it made us tougher and stronger,' he said.

'I am confident that, as the country's biggest private business, SCM will play a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine,' he said, citing officials as saying the damage from the war has reached $1 trillion.

'We will definitely need an unprecedented international reconstruction programme, a Marshall Plan for Ukraine,' he said, in reference to the U.S. aid project that helped rebuild Western Europe after World War Two.

'I trust that we all will rebuild a free, European, democratic, and successful Ukraine after our victory in this war.'

Pictured: Akhmetov is seen at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol on February 16, 2022 - a week before Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine

Shakhtar Donetsk owner Rinat Akhmetov holds the UEFA Cup Trophy following his team's victory after extra time at the end of the UEFA Cup Final between Shakhtar Donetsk and Werder Bremen at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on May 20, 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey

Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week-long war. Home to 400,000 people before Russia's invasion, the city has been reduced to rubble by Russian shelling.

Over 20,000 civilians are believed to have been killed, tens of thousands remain trapped in the city, and countless numbers have fled. It is one of a number of sites were international investigators believe war crimes have taken place - including the bombing of a maternity war and of a theatre sheltering hundreds of people.

Amid fears that Mariupol could soon fall under complete Russian control, Ukraine said on Friday that it was still trying to break the siege of the city, as fighting raged around the city's massive steel works and port.

If Moscow captures Mariupol, it would be the only big city to fall to the Russians so far. Russia's defence ministry said it had captured the city's Illich steel works. The report could not be confirmed.

Ukrainian defenders are mainly believed to be holding out in Azovstal, another huge steel works. Both plants are owned by Metinvest.

A view shows the gates of the Illich Steel and Iron Works damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

'The situation in Mariupol is difficult and hard. Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city,' defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a televised briefing, although he said the Russians have not completely captured it.

Motuzyanyk said Russia had used long-range bombers to attack Mariupol for the first time since its Feb. 24 invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting on Friday with the country's military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies.

'The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people,' Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation.

On Friday, it was alleged that Russian troops in Mariupol are digging up thousands of dead civilians and burning their bodies in mobile crematoriums in a possible bid to destroy evidence of atrocities like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv when the Russians withdrew from the region.

A local resident crosses a street damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

Mariupol's city council - in a post on Telegram - said Moscow's men were exhuming bodies buried in residential courtyards within the city and were assigning watchmen to each square to stop locals from reburying their dead friends and relatives.

'Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,' the council said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.

On Thursday, Mayor Vadym Boychenko warned corpses 'carpeted the streets' of Mariupol as he accused Moscow of incinerating tens of thousands of civilians killed during a siege that has trapped well over 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating.

Russian forces have in recent days made advances in Mariupol with Moscow claiming on Wednesday that its troops had taken control of the final Ukrainian strongholds in the city including the Azovstal industrial complex, where Kyiv's forces have been holed up in a hellish last stand for several days.

But Ukrainian marines who have teamed up with the Azov regiment to defend Mariupol yesterday appeared in a video to rebuff the claims as they denounced more than 1,000 fellow soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces on Wednesday and vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to protect the city.
A brave Massachusetts teen girl was able to scare away an intruder who broke into her house while she was alone with her sister with a pair of steak knives.

On Friday morning, 58-year-old Joseph Ridge broke into the Middleborough home of 14-year-old Avery Cormie while she and her 12-year-old sister were home alone sleeping, according to Middleborough Police.

Avery was awoken by Ridge as he allegedly attempted to burglarize the home and she bravely confronted him with two steak knives, she told WCVB.com

'He just kind of ran out of the room and then stood there... and I was like 'get out of my house!'' she said.

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'He just kind of ran out of the room and then stood there, he kind of backed up and then I was there and I was like 'get out of my house!'' Avery (pictured) said

On Friday morning, police say Joseph Ridge (pictured) broke into the Middleborough home of Avery Cormie, 14, and her 12-year-old sister while they were home alone

Ridge, described by police as a 'career criminal', was out on bail at the time of the alleged break-in and was apprehended shortly

After that Ridge fled the home and Avery recorded his truck as he backed away from the driveway.

The terrified teen then called 911, asking the dispatcher if she can 'call her parents really fast,' but she remained on the line.

'I'm just really scared,' she tells the dispatcher who tries to keep her calm. 'I got him out of the house. I scared him. I took a video of his truck leaving so I have his license plate number.'

Middleborough police said Avery's quick thinking and recording of Ridge's truck led to his arrest.

Ridge, described by police as a 'career criminal', was out on bail at the time of the alleged break-in and was apprehended shortly after and charged with aggravated breaking and entering during the day, trespassing and disorderly conduct, police said.

Middleborough police said Avery's quick thinking and recording of Ridge's truck (pictured) led to his arrest

Ridge was apprehended shortly after and charged with aggravated breaking and entering during the day, trespassing and disorderly conduct

The terrified teen called 911, asking the dispatcher if she can 'call her parents really fast,' but she remained on the line

'I would like to commend the courageous actions of this girl. Even in the midst of an extremely scary event, her bravery assisted us in identifying the man believed to be responsible for breaking into her home,' Chief Perkins said in a statement.

'I would also like to thank the Middleborough Police dispatcher who took the call and officers who responded for their kindness and compassion when responding to this incident, and the State Police for assisting us in apprehending this individual,' Chief Perkins added.

'The suspect in this case is a career criminal who was arrested after terrorizing a 14-year-old girl in her own home. Hopefully his arrest this time will bring this known felon to account for his crimes.'
An adorable cheese-loving Jack Russell has been helping Ukrainian forces by sniffing out explosives.

The two-year-old dog - called Patron - has gained social media fame after charming followers as well as the pyrotechnicians in Chernihiv - north of Kyiv - where he 'continues to serve'.

He is the 'soul and mascot' of the group and helps the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) in clearing explosives.

The two-year-old dog - called Patron - has gained social media fame after charming followers as well as the pyrotechnicians in Chernihiv, where he 'continues to serve'

Sometimes, at the end of a day of hard work, the dog is rewarded with a cheesy treat and a belly rub.

A Telegram post from the emergency services calls the small, cute pup: 'our militant dog'.

It adds: 'Thank you, friend, for your tireless work!'

Another post read: '(Patron) continues to help pyrotechnicians in the Chernihiv region to clean the land of Russian "gifts".

'So be aware, look under your feet and do not upset Patron.'

He is the 'soul and mascot' of the group and helps the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) in clearing explosives

More recently Patron's valiant efforts have earned him a few fans who have drawn the four-legged soldier.

'Friends, we really want to show you a few more Ukrainian talents,' the emergency services said.

'Our brave baby Patron has inspired an incredible number of talented artists and we are incredibly happy about it.

'This motivates us not to give up, no matter how hard it is, to keep the bar high and to go into battle with new strength, knowing how many people are still waiting for help and how many people believe in us.

'Our Patron also does not lower his paws and conveys his gratitude to everyone. Great heroes are not necessarily great.

'Therefore, believe in your strength, in our defenders, in our victory. Approach it on all fronts wherever you can and do not slow down.'

An emergency services spokesperson said 54,000 mines and unexploded ordnance, which includes nearly 2,000 missiles, have been found and deactivated with more than 600 deminers working across Ukraine, the Washington Post reports.

On Thursday pyrotechnics of the with the Ukrainian emergency services were reported clearing the Kyiv region of ammunition.

Sometimes, at the end of a day of hard work, Patron the dog is rewarded with a cheesy treat

Another post read: '(Patron) continues to help pyrotechnicians in the Chernihiv region to clean the land of Russian 'gifts'

It said: 'Shells are mined in the yards of private houses, along roads, in open areas and infrastructure.

'About 500 munitions were destroyed by sappers alone.

'Twenty pyrotechnic calculations of the State Emergency Service in Buchansky, Brovarsky and Boryspil districts were involved in the works.'

This week Ukrainian authorities in the northeastern city of Kharkiv warned people not to go near what they said were landmines being dropped on the city.

On Monday, security forces cordoned off an area in the east of Kharkiv as they cleared a number of small devices scattered across residential streets.

Lieutenant Colonel Nikolay Ovcharuk, head of the demining unit of the state emergency service, said the devices were plastic PTM-1M mines, which detonate using timers and which were widely used by Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

'They have self-destructing timers,' he said as loudspeakers warned people not to approach the cordoned-off area where mine disposal teams were working.

Reuters could not independently confirm the type of device.

More recently Patron's valiant efforts have earned him a few fans who have drawn the four-legged soldier

A Telegram post from the Ukrainian emergency services calls the small, cute pup: 'our militant dog'

An adorable cheese-loving Jack Russell has been helping Ukrainian forces by sniffing out explosives

Scatterable landmines such as PTM-1M mines are prohibited under the Ottawa treaty on anti-personnel mines because of the risk of civilian casualties.

Last month reports claimed that Russia is using banned landmines that can detect footsteps and kill or injure anyone within a 50ft radius.

Human Rights Watch said POM-3 anti-personnel mines that failed to deploy were discovered in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv despite international treaties outlawing their use.

The campaign group said the 'Medallion' mines have been deployed by Vladimir Putin's invading forces.

The use of landmines is prohibited by the 1997 international Mine Ban Treaty. Russia is not among the 164 signatories but Ukraine is.

Stephen Goose, director of the group's arms division, said: 'These weapons do not differentiate between combatants and civilians and leave a deadly legacy.'

Human Rights Watch said that a delivery canister remnant pictured in Ukraine contained POM-3 mines that failed to deploy properly, with markings indicating that it was produced last year.

Mr Goose added: 'Countries around the world should forcefully condemn Russia's use of banned anti-personnel landmines in Ukraine.

'(It) deliberately flouts the international norm against use of these horrid weapons.'
The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who on Wednesday launched a bid to buy Twitter, has responded to a tweet of his own that itself is more than four years old in which he shared his passion for the social media platform.

'I love Twitter', Musk declared in a December 2017 tweet.

'How much is it?', he responded minutes later.

The tweet, almost certainly forgotten about by all except Musk, received a follow-up response from the billionaire on Friday night with an upside down smiley emoji.

Elon Musk had tweeted in December 2017 of his love for Twitter

Musk referred back to the tweets in the early hours of Saturday morning with an upside down smile emoji

Even if Musk may have been teasing at the prospect of buying social media platform at the time, Musk has now put his money where his mouth is with a $43 billion bid for the company.

The offer itself, which Musk said was final, values Twitter at $54.20 per share - above the closing price ahead of his bid, but below a high of $77.06 hit in February of last year.

On Thursday, the CEO, Parag Agrawal, told staff that they were still weighing up Musk's offer.

But on Friday, Twitter's board announced the dramatic 'poison pill plan' to prevent Musk from further increasing his stake in the company.

The board showed it wouldn't go quietly, saying any acquisition of over 15 percent of the firm's stock without its OK would trigger a plan to flood the market with shares and thus make a buyout much harder.

There were some interesting responses to Musks tweet with some from 2017 and others posted only hours ago

Even with a moderate and inflexible proposal, which could help the board argue for rejection, it's a fraught moment that could end in lawsuits from just about everyone involved.

To succeed in repelling Musk's offer, the Twitter board will need to be on solid ground making an argument that the company is worth more, said Wharton School finance professor Kevin Kaiser.

Shareholders who feel that the board is rejecting a profitable deal will be free to file lawsuits against Twitter.

Musk has the option of sidestepping the board and trying to buy shares directly from shareholders on the market, but that could lead to tedious negotiations with some stock owners holding out for more money.

'The Twitter board has limited ability under Delaware law to stop a tender offer made directly to the shareholders, which Elon Musk hasn't done, but which he could do if he chose to,' said Wharton School finance professor Kevin Kaiser.

'If he does this, and if the shareholders elect to tender their shares, then he can succeed without needing board support or approval.'

Musk, in response, is now said to be recruiting others to join his bid, the New York Post reported Friday night.

Musk said at a TED Conference, pictured above, that he had 'sufficient funds' to consummate the deal, but financial analysts have described the situation as more complicated

Twitter's share price remains below Musk's offer level of $54.20, suggesting that the market is uncertain whether his bid will be accepted by the board

While the serial entrepreneur's net worth is estimated at $265 billion by Forbes, his fortune is not sitting in a bank account waiting to be spent.

Musk said at a TED Conference that he had 'sufficient funds' to consummate the deal, but financial analysts describe the situation as more complicated.

Much of Musk's wealth comes from shares of electric car maker Tesla, which he runs.

Musk would need to turn a chunk of his Tesla holding into cash, either by selling shares or taking out loans with stock as collateral.

'The specifics of how Musk would finance the deal will determine the ramifications for Twitter,' Moody's said in a note to investors.

Moody's estimated it would cost Musk $39 billion to buy all the outstanding Twitter shares, and that there would be 'a strong chance' he would have to repay or refinance the San Francisco-based company's billions of dollars of existing debt.

That was before the poison pill move by Twitter that ramps up the cost for Musk.

Musk tweeted a poll that hinted he might be thinking of taking his bid directly to shareholders.

He asked whether taking the company private for his offered price should be up to shareholders and not the board.

As the poll neared its close on Friday, more than 2.7 million votes had been cast with nearly 84 percent of them in favor of the idea.

Selling a massive amount of shares in Tesla to buy Twitter would come with a large tax bill based on capital gains, and could cause shares in the electric car company to sink as the market is flooded with stock for sale.

Musk could keep hold of his shares and get a loan, absorbing the interest payments. Or he could team up with a deep-pocketed partner, but that could come with the strong-willed executive having someone to answer to regarding his decisions at Twitter.

On Thursday, Musk tweeted, if the Twitter board reject his offer, they will be doing their shareholders a 'titanic' disservice

Musk said that, if the Twitter board reject his offer, they will be doing their shareholders a 'titanic' disservice.

He says he wants to own the platform 'not to make money', but rather to bolster free speech.

'This is not about the economics,' Musk said, speaking at a TED conference in Vancouver on Thursday.

'My strong intuitive sense is having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is important to the future of civilization.

'Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square, so it's really important that people have both the reality and perception that they are able to speak freely, in the bounds of the law.'

He added that he was not sure he would be able to accomplish it - but said he had a Plan B if the board rejected his offer. He refused to elaborate on what that might entail.

Elon Musk responded with a laughing emoji to a version of the classic 'Distracted Boyfriend' meme mocking Twitter's board

Musk himself does appear amused by the drama.

On Friday, he mocked Twitter's board of directors for their attempt to block him from the $43 billion hostile takeover.

A Twitter user tweeted a version of the classic 'Distracted Boyfriend' meme, mocking Twitter's board.

The imaged depicted 'Twitter's board' looking wistfully at the option to 'keep that easy gig that gives me shares' as 'Twitter investors' look on with disgust because they are 'happy with $54.20 a share' - the amount of Musk's unsolicited bid.

Musk responded to the meme with a laughing emoji.

Musk also responded to another account's poll showing a majority of respondents in favor of his plan to take Twitter private, writing: 'Thanks for the support!'

Despite Twitter's latest move, Musk could still defy the board and take over the company in a proxy fight by voting out the current directors - though this strategy could take years to play out.

Musk previously responded to reports that the board was mulling a 'poison pill' plan by tweeting: 'If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty.'

'The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale,' he added, apparently referring to potential shareholder lawsuits.

Twitter's board is led by chairman Bret Taylor, who is also the co-CEO of business software giant Salesforce
Seven-mile tailbacks have been reported at the Dartford Crossing this afternoon

Easter holiday travellers were left stranded at airports and on motorways across the UK today as millions attempted to make getaways for the bank holiday weekend.

There were long tailbacks across the network with the M4 closed in both directions following an explosion at an industrial building 'involving possibly pyrotechnics and fireworks'.

Passengers were also hit by delays at airports amid ongoing staff shortages, there was chaos caused by accidents on the M25 and parts of London came to a standstill thanks to Extinction Rebellion protesters.

An overturned lorry also caused delays of up to 40 minutes on part of the M6 earlier on Saturday, according to AA President Edmund King. He said the M25 has also been 'incredibly slow on both the west side around Heathrow and east side near Dartford'.

The AA predicted a total of 27.6 million journeys will be made over a busier than usual as people enjoy the good weather and embark on staycations for the first Easter weekend without Covid-19 restrictions since 2019.

Engineering works and strikes on railway lines meant more people were using the roads, while delays and cancellations continued to blight airlines and ferries.

British Airways is reported to have stopped loading luggage on some flights and is leaving dozens of planes uncleaned as it struggles to cope with the overwhelming Easter weekend demand.

It follows hundreds of cancellations in recent weeks due to staff shortages, leaving tens of thousands of Brits stranded at airports across the UK.

Large traffic jams were also present on the M20 in Dover due to as P&O Dover-Calais services remained suspended, with some travellers complaining they missed their ferries after waiting for hours.

The M4 motorway in Newbury has been closed in both directions after a large building containing fireworks and pyrotechnics exploded at lunchtime today

Families hoping to get away on a second day of glorious sunshine were met with long queues after a crash in Surrey and a separate 'police incident' at the Dartford Crossing brought traffic to a standstill

Images showed huge lines of cars stretching back for miles.

DFDS advised customers on Friday morning to arrive at least two hours before their departure time, adding it is 'expecting a busy day through the Port of Dover'.

Ashley Griffiths-Beamon, 33, and his husband Damian Griffiths-Beamon, 36, who got married on Thursday and were due to travel to Belgium to celebrate their honeymoon, were left waiting for 180 minutes and missed their ferry.

Amanda Burton, 33, from Peterborough, told PA she arrived in Dover at 4am on Friday morning, but missed her 8am ferry.

The incident on the M4 took place at 1.41pm between Junction 13-14 in Westbrook, Newbury. Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue said they believe there are possible pyrotechnics and fireworks on the scene.

Emergency services have put a large cordon around the area, while National Highways has closed the M4 after debris was showered across both sides of the carriageway.

Fire officers asked the public to avoid the scene while they deal with the incident.

According to National Highways: 'The M4 is closed in both directions between J13 - J14 due to a large building fire near the M4 causing debris to land in the carriageway.

'Thames Valley Police are leading the operation and Berkshire Fire and Rescue are working to control the fire.

'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.

Families hoping for a UK get away on the second day of glorious sunshine were met with long queues after a crash in Surrey and a separate 'police incident' at the Dartford Crossing brought traffic to a standstill.

A statement said: 'We are currently on the scene of an incident on the #Dartford River Crossing.

'We were called to concerns for the welfare of a woman in the area shortly after 10am this morning, Saturday 16 April.

'The crossing has been closed whist the incident is being dealt with. National Highways will be facilitating a diversion through one of the tunnels.

'We will provide an update on the situation as soon as we practically can.'

Motorists have faced a chaotic start to the Easter break, although traffic today is not believed to be as congested as the Good Friday getaway, according to the AA.

Motorists have faced a chaotic start to the Easter break, although traffic today is not believed to be as congested as the Good Friday getaway, according to the AA

Essex Police were urging people to avoid the Dartford Crossing after being called to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge earlier today for a 'police incident'

In Manchester, emergency services were called to a smash involving two cars in Regent Road, Salford, at about 8am today

Firefighters rescued two people who were trapped inside one of the vehicles. The road was taped off between Ordsall Lane and Trinity Way following the crash.

Pictures from the scene showed two badly damaged vehicles inside the cordoned off area. Four people have been taken to hospital, police said. GMP say no arrests have been made but as of 4.30pm, the inbound carriageway remains shut.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: 'At around 8am this morning (Saturday 16 April) we were called to reports of a road traffic collision involving two cars on Regent Road, Salford.

'Two fire engines from Salford and the Technical Response Unit from Leigh were mobilised to the incident, where firefighters used cutting gear and other specialist equipment to rescue two people from a vehicle and convey them into the care of colleagues from North West Ambulance Service.

'Two other people had self-rescued prior to crews' arrival. 'Firefighters made the area safe before departing after around an hour and a half at the scene.'

Four people were taken to hospital and a major road into Manchester was shut following a two-car crash this morning

Emergency services were called to the smash involving two cars in Regent Road, Salford, at about 8am today. Firefighters rescued two people who were trapped inside one of the vehicles

The motoring organisation has predicted a total of 27.6 million journeys will be made over a busier than usual Easter weekend as people enjoy the good weather, embark on staycations and avoid train travel due to engineering works.

A crash caused delays of up to 40 minutes on part of the M6 earlier on Saturday, according to AA President Edmund King.

He added that routes to the South West were not as busy as Good Friday, but there have been some delays on the M4 and M5 near Bristol.

He said: 'Today traffic has been busy but less congested than Good Friday.

'I have driven 176 miles in three and a half hours from Hertfordshire to Old Trafford and charged the car on the way.

'Overall, the picture is busy but generally the traffic is flowing.'

The RAC has suggested the best time to travel on major roads is after 3pm on both Easter Saturday and Sunday, and then either before 10.30am on Easter Monday or after 6.30pm to avoid major queues.

National Highway alerted people to a 'police incident' at the QEII bridge earlier today

Staff shortages brought chaos to Manchester, Birmingham and Heathrow airports amid soaring demand for Easter getaways, with airlines cancelling hundreds of flights.

A total of 1,236 flights in the UK were cancelled by airlines between March 28 and April 12, according to data company Cirium  a 428 per cent increase on the same period in 2019.

The chaos came as temperatures hit 20.2C in Northolt, west London by 1pm, with the mercury expected to hit 23C in the late afternoon, making it the hottest day of the year so far.

The current highest temperature is 20.8C which was recorded in two places, St James Park in London on March 23 and Treknow in Cornwall on March 25.

Edmund King, AA president, said: 'Hot weather, lack of trains and an increase in UK staycations means that the roads will be busier than usual this Easter with 27.6m journeys.

'Jams are already present on the M20 due to Operation Stack and the M25 is suffering heavy congestion on the west side around Heathrow and the east near Dartford.

'Holiday traffic to the SW has led to jams on the M4 and M5 near Bristol.

'The backbone of Britain via the M1 and M6 is also suffering from heavy traffic and crashes with hotspots near Hemel Hempstead, Sandbach and Bamber Bridge.

'Drivers are advised to check their cars before travelling and in particular tyre pressures, oil, windscreen washer and fuel levels, as well as preparing for themselves with water and snacks.

'Give yourselves extra time for the journey and build regular stops at least every two hours or so into your trip.'

There have also been some reports of fuel shortages, although the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents independent forecourts, said it was not aware of widespread problems.

Gordon Balmer, PRA executive director, said: 'We are aware of protests at several fuel supply sites; however, the majority are unaffected.

'Fuel suppliers are working hard to ensure fuels are being delivered as quickly as possible and our members are working closely with them and following their advice.'

One female driver in London said: '(I) haven't been able to (fill up) as of yet, still trying to find some in East London, Newham.

'Tried About five different stations, I've managed to get some now at a Texaco petrol station but only two pumps were working.'
The Florida Department of Education rejected 54 math textbooks from its curriculum on Friday, saying the books were an attempt to 'indoctrinate' students - with more than half of them banned for referencing Critical Race Theory (CRT).

The agency tossed out 41 percent of the 132 math textbooks submitted for next year's curriculum because they were not 'aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies,' the DOE said in a statement on Friday.

'Reasons for rejecting textbooks included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics,' the department added, noting that all three learning practices are banned in the state.

'The highest number of books rejected were for grade levels K-5, where an alarming 71 percent were not appropriately aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies.'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had banned CRT as a component in Florida schools, claiming it promotes hatred among students and makes individuals feel guilty for racism of the past.

'It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students,' he said of the rejected books.

'I'm grateful that Commissioner [of Education Richard] Corcoran and his team at the Department have conducted such a thorough vetting of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law.'

The Florida Department of education rejected 28 math text books for including references to Critical Race Theory on Friday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has championed the state's move away from CRT after pushing his Stop Woke Act bill in December (above)

FLORIDA REJECTS 41 PERCENT OF MATH TEXTBOOKS SUBMITTED FOR ITS CURRICULUM Florida has banned 54 of the 132 math textbooks submitted to the state, a total of 41 percent. Of the rejected books: Twenty-eight, or 21 percent, are not included on the adopted list because they incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT

Twelve are not included on the adopted list because they do not properly align to B.E.S.T. Standards

Fourteen are not included on the adopted list because they do not properly align to B.E.S.T. Standards and incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT In Grades K-5, 71 percent of materials were rejected. Grades 6-8 saw 20 percent of materials rejected, and in grades 9-12, 35 percent of materials were rejected. Advertisement

Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said the other 24 banned books were thrown out for including Common Core and SEL practices, which were banned in the state in 2019, and failing to align to the department's standards of education.

'We're going to ensure that Florida has the highest-quality instructional materials aligned to our nationally-recognized standards,' said Corcoran. 'Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis.

'When it comes to education, other states continue to follow Florida's lead as we continue to reinforce parents' rights by focusing on providing their children with a world-class education without the fear of indoctrination or exposure to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classrooms,' Corcoran said.

Corcoran said he had warned publishers to make sure the books kept up with the state's laws when he invited them to submit the textbooks last year.

The DOE added, 'It is unfortunate that several publishers, especially at the elementary school grade levels, have ignored this clear communication and have attempted to slip rebranded instructional materials based on Common Core Standards into Florida's classrooms, while others have included prohibited and divisive concepts such as the tenants of CRT or other unsolicited strategies of indoctrination  despite FDOE's prior notification.'

The rejected publishers will be able to appeal the state's decision and are granted the right to alter the submitted textbooks as long as it meets that state's specifications.

It's the latest blow against 'wokeness' in the state after the legislature approved DeSantis' bill last month barring schools and private businesses from making students or employees feel 'guilt' or 'any form of psychological stress' because of their national origin, sex or race.

Specifically, the bill would outlaw teachings that assert certain individuals are 'inherently racist [or] sexist] - or 'morally superior' - or that characterize individuals' status as 'privileged' or 'oppressed' based on their race, sex or national origin.'

Florida Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr., who pushed the bill through the senate, said the bill was not meant to cover up America's history with racism, but to not blame students for past wrongs.

'It's not about the feel. We can't control how a person feels about a topic,' Diaz told the Washington Post. 'But what we can control is to have a teacher not go to a student  and impose on a male student that they are sexist simply because they are a considered a male.'

DeSantis signed into law a parental rights bill that bans teachers from giving classroom instruction on 'sexual orientation' or ' gender identity' in kindergarten through third grade

In March, the state also passed the Parental Rights in Education bill, which bans teaching gender ideology for children at elementary schools.

It will become law from July 1, and teachers who breach its regulations can be sued by parents.

Critics, however, say it teaches young kids to believe they are wrong for being different and that forcing schools to report students who are receiving mental health services is taking away a safe space for those students to be themselves.

Even the White House weighed in on what has become the latest culture wars clash, with press secretary Jen Psaki claiming last week it was 'hateful' and 'misinformed'.
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Bill Gates enjoyed a Good Friday dinner with family and friends in New York City, returning to his favorite spot, Nobu.

The 66-year-old looked relaxed and happy as he strode into the Manhattan eatery, dressed in grey chinos and a grey sweater.

He is thought to have been accompanied by his daughter Phoebe, 19.

An aspiring ballerina, Phoebe studied in New York at The School of American Ballet at the celebrated Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the prestigious Juilliard School.

She is now studying at Stanford, expected to graduate in 2025.

The pair dined at the same Nobu in May, shortly after Bill confirmed that he and Melinda French Gates were divorcing.

They are the parents of three children: son Rory, 22; and daughters Phoebe and Jennifer, 25.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is pictured on Friday evening arriving at Nobu in Manhattan, on Central Park

A woman believed to be Phoebe Gates, 19, was pictured with Bill. She is currently studying at Stanford university, and will graduate in 2025

Gates looked relaxed and was smiling broadly following the meal at the esteemed Japanese restaurant

The family were all in the New York area in October for Jennifer's $3 million wedding to fellow equestrian Nayel Nassar, at her estate in Westchester.

After their May dinner, the group were seen leaving with doggy bags of leftovers, but this time the party must have finished every morsel.

Gates, worth $132 billion, now devotes much of his time to his foundation and is preparing for the publication next month of a manifesto, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic.

An autograph hunter is brushed aside as Gates leaves his midtown Manhattan hotel, two blocks from Nobu

Gates was accompanied by a person believed to be his daughter Phoebe, in the pink jacket. Gates himself brought up the rear of the party as they left the hotel

The $132 billion man is pictured arriving back at his hotel after their dinner

Gates was still smiling on Friday as he retired for the night after his dinner at Nobu

Bill Gates, 66, is pictured on Friday at Nobu in Manhattan, where he dined with a group of friends

In 2015, Gates famously warned: 'If anything kills over 10 million people over the next few decades, it's most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war. Not missiles, but microbes.'

He has written the book to urge world leaders to learn the lessons of COVID-19, and put them to use.

On Friday he published a guest essay in The New York Times, writing: 'When an outbreak appears to be headed toward a pandemic, there's no time to count on luck.

'The next time we're faced with a contagion, scientists will need to develop treatments as fast as possible, much faster than they did for Covid.'

He stressed that governments needed to pour money into research and development of drugs, 'investing in large libraries of drug compounds that researchers can quickly scan to see whether existing therapies work against new pathogens.'

On Tuesday, Gates - the fourth richest man in the world, behind Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault - discussed the theme of pandemic prevention at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver.

'This week, I got to do what every nerd dreams of  talk about ideas and learn from others doing big things,' he tweeted, accompanied by a photo of him with fellow attendee Ashton Kutcher.

'I believe that with good ideas and collaboration, we can make COVID the last pandemic.

'Plus, it's not every day you can say thanks for coming to my TED Talk.'

Gates on Tuesday delivered a TED talk in Vancouver and mingled with experts and celebrities including Ashton Kutcher

Asked about the conspiracy theories around his foundation, Gates said it was 'kind of weird'.

'The Gates Foundation is very involved in vaccines, the invention of new vaccines, funding vaccines, and we're very proud that, through joint efforts like Gavi, that saved tens of millions of lives,' Gates told the Vancouver audience, referring to a global alliance getting vaccines to every continent in the world.

'So it's somewhat ironic to have somebody turn around and say we're using vaccines to kill people or to make money or we started the pandemic.'

Gates added: 'Does this turn into something where there's constantly crazy people showing up? Who knows.'

He added: 'I somehow want to track the location of individuals because I'm so deeply desirous to know where everybody is. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that information.'

Gates concluded: 'Hopefully, as the pandemic calms down, people are more rational about, 'Hey, vaccines are a miracle and there's a lot more we can do.''
A migrant boat has capsized off the Libyan coast, leaving at least 35 people dead or presumed dead, the UN migration agency said.

The shipwreck took place on Friday off the western Libyan city of Sabratha, a major launching point for the mainly African migrants making the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean.

The International Organisation for Migration said the bodies of six migrants were pulled out the water, while 29 others were missing and presumed dead.

It was not immediately clear what caused the wooden boat to capsize.

The tragedy was the latest to involve migrants departing from North Africa to seek a better life in Europe.

In the past week alone, at least 53 migrants were reported dead or presumed dead off Libya, according to the IOM.

'Dedicated search and rescue capacity and a safe disembarkation mechanism are urgently needed to prevent further deaths and suffering,' the IOM said.

Investigators commissioned by the United Nations' top human rights body found evidence of possible crimes against humanity committed in Libya against migrants detained in government-run prisons and at the hands of human traffickers.

A migrant boat has capsized on Friday off the Libyan coastal city of Sabathra, north Africa, leaving at least 35 people dead or presumed dead, said the UN migration agency (picture of a wooden migrant boat off the coast of Sabratha in February 2017)

Earlier this month, more than 90 people in an overcrowded boat drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, days after they left Libya, according to the Doctors Without Borders aid group.

Migrants regularly try to cross the Mediterranean from Libya in a desperate attempt to reach European shores.

The country has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the oil-rich country's lengthy borders with six nations.

The migrants are then typically packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and set off on risky sea voyages.

At least 476 migrants died along the Central Mediterranean route between January 1 and April 11, according to the IOM.

Once back in Libya, the migrants are typically taken to government-run detention centres rife with abuse and ill-treatment.

The capsize also comes almost exactly a year after 130 migrants were feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean after their rubber boat heading to Europe capsized off the coast of Libya.

At the time, humanitarian organisations accused the Libyan coast guard and European authorities of failing to meet their responsibilities to save lives.

A Libyan coast guard official said that they searched for the boat but could not find it with their limited resources.

The deadly incidents have raised the question among European Union countries and Libya over who is responsible for saving those at sea.

In Britain, the Royal Navy took over 'operational command' of handling migrants crossing the Channel on Thursday as part of a shake-up which will see the planned transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Earlier this week, at least seven boats carrying around 85 more migrants crossed the Channel, bringing the UK's total this year so far to around 4,578.

Around 40 people were escorted from Dungeness and Dover harbour, Kent, on board an RNLI vessel at 3am on 13 April, with the mostly male group seen wrapped in warm coats and blankets as they were led along the gangway to be processed.

Shortly after 9am a second RNLI lifeboat brought around 15 migrants to shore.

The shipwreck took place on Friday off the western Libyan city of Sabratha, a major launching point for the mainly African migrants making the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean

Less than an hour later, Border Force vessel Searcher escorted at least another 30 people to the port of Dover.

Women and young children were reported to have been among the passengers of several boatloads of people who have crossed the English Channel.

Monday saw UK officials intercept up to 80 Channel migrants as people-smugglers take advantage of clear skies and calm waters.

On 11 April UK officials escorted two small boats of men, women and children into Dover Harbour, Kent at around 7.30am, following a two-week break in crossings due to strong winds and bad weather.

According to official Home Office figures, at least 4,578 people have reached the UK by small boat so far this year, with more than 3,000 migrants making the treacherous journey last month alone.

This is the highest monthly figure since November 2021 when 6,869 people crossed the Channel.
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a man who jumped overboard from a Carnival Cruise ship early Saturday as it approached Florida.

The man jumped from the Carnival Cruise Lines' Mardi Gras ship just after midnight about 55 miles east of Port Canaveral, according to the Coast Guard and Carnival.

The Coast Guard responded with two cutters and an airplane to search for the missing man, with Coast Guard spokesman David Micallef adding that The Mardi Gras and the cruise ship Elation also participated in the search.

Carnival spokesman Matt Lupol said the Coast Guard released the Mardi Gras from the search efforts and it continued to Port Canaveral. It will continue sailing as scheduled.

'The ships crew participated in search and rescue efforts until the ship was released by the U.S. Coast Guard, which continues the search,' Lupoli said. 'The Carnival Care Team is supporting the guest's family.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with the guest and his family.'

A man jumped overboard Carnival Cruise's Mardi Gras ship (pictured) on Saturday, just after midnight, triggering a search by the U.S. Coast Guard near Port Canaveral

Officials said the man was traveling with his family when he went overboard off the deckside just after midnight, with still no sign of him to be found

A passenger who was on the boat at the time of the incident told TMZ that she had heard passengers screaming that someone had gone overboard.

The passengers added that many believed it was a joke until the ship's security began the frantic search for the man.

The Coast Guard was alerted and the search has been on for more than 12 hours, but the man has yet to be located.

The incident comes nearly two months after a 32-year-old woman jumped off the Carnival Valor ship and vanished into the Gulf of Wednesday.

The footage shows three security guards on the Carnival Valor holding the apparently frantic woman's arms behind her back

Shocked passengers are seen rushing to the edge of ship

JUST IN: New cell phone video shows the moments before and after a woman was held by security and jumped from a Carnival Valor balcony: https://t.co/SA68KjjVP7 pic.twitter.com/Bqf455Usnj  FOX 8 New Orleans (@FOX8NOLA) February 17, 2022

The woman was traveling on the Carnival Valor with her husband on a five-day cruise to Mexico that departed New Orleans on February 17 when she suddenly began panicking on deck, Fox 8 reported.

The footage prior to the jump shows three security guards on the Carnival Valor holding the apparently frantic woman's arms behind her back as they escorted her out of the pool deck.

Passengers said the woman then broke free and jumped off the tenth floor of the ship into the ocean.

The Coast Guard has since suspended its search for the woman.
Villagers are demanding closure of the Porus Labs. They claim that its presence was causing more harm to the people and the village. (File photo)

Vijayawada: The state government has neither fixed responsibility nor taken action on officials who failed to ensure that safety norms were complied with at Porus Laboratories Private Limited at Akkireddygudem of Musunuru mandal in Eluru district where a reactor exploded killing six and injuring 12 persons late on Wednesday.

Villagers are demanding closure of the factory. They claim that its presence was causing more harm to the people and the village. They are also demanding the top brass of the factory visit their village and explain why the factory must be allowed to continue.

The villagers sought fixing responsibility on officials who failed to ensure the factory complied with safety norms.

Comparing the mishap to the one at LG Polymers in Visakhapatnam in May, 2020 that claimed 11 lives and the response of the government by announcing ex gratia of Rs 1 crore to the kin of the deceased and suspension of a senior factory official, the villagers resented that the state government was not reacting in the same way except announcing an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh to the kin of the deceased and ordering closure of the factory on temporary basis pending further inquiry.

The villagers are insisting that their demands be met during the visit of government officials and public representatives to their village as they also lost one person from the village in the blast.

Akkireddygudem gram panchayat secretary Yohan said, The chemical factory was set up some 25 to 30 years ago after modifying a sugar factory in about five acres of land and it is surrounded by a residential area. Nearly 100 to 150 local villagers get employment either as daily wages or on regular basis from the factory and the gram panchayat gets Rs 5 lakh annually as tax. It is true the villagers are demanding closure of the factory and seeking to meet the factory top brass. When villagers complained that some villagers and livestock were dying due to water pollution from the factory a few years ago, no proof was found after analysis of water in the labs.

On the other hand, factories department sources claimed that even as a safety audit on all hazardous industries was carried out in September 2020 in the state following LG Polymers mishap, there seemed to be drawbacks on safety at the Porus Lab that resulted in the reactor blast.

They allege corruption and favouritism in the department with regard to posting of officials in places of their choice for pecuniary gains at the cost of compromising industrial safety. They further allege lack of coordination among stakeholders departments to keep regular vigil especially on all hazardous industries in the state to avoid any mishaps in future.
A tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel fuel from Egypt to Malta sank Saturday in the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia's southeast coast, an official said.

'The ship sank this morning in Tunisian territorial waters. For the moment, there is no leak,' Mohamed Karray said, adding that a 'disaster prevention committee will meet to decide on the measures to be taken'.

The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo was headed from the Egyptian port of Damietta to Malta when it requested entry to Tunisian waters on Friday evening due to bad weather.

The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo (pictured above) was headed from the Egyptian port of Damietta to Malta

It began taking water around four miles offshore in the Gulf of Gabes and the engine room was engulfed, according to a Tunisian environment ministry statement.

It said Tunisian authorities evacuated the seven-member crew.

Karray said the Georgian captain, four Turks and two Azerbaijanis were briefly hospitalised for checks and were now in a hotel.

The defence, interior, transport and customs ministries were working to avoid 'a marine environmental disaster in the region and limit its impact', the environment ministry said.
Russia lost its eighth general since the invasion of Ukraine in the latest blow to Vladimir Putin's botched war.

Major General Vladimir Frolov, deputy commander of the 8th Guards Combined Arms unit, was given a military funeral in St Petersburg earlier today.

It's not known how or where he died, but the timing of his funeral suggests Frolov was killed in the past few days.

His 8th Combined Arms Army was fighting in Kherson, near Crimea last month when commander Andrei Mordvichev was killed.

Frolov was buried in St Petersburg today after being killed in an unspecified part of Ukraine

Frolov 'sacrificed his life so that children, women and the elderly in Donbas would not hear bombs exploding again', the St Petersburg governor said as his friend was laid to rest.

The general was from a military family and 'died the death of the brave in battle against Ukrainian nationalists', Alexander Beglov added.

He was 'a true patriot, a brave and courageous man' who 'honestly and to the end fulfilled his military and human duty.

'People will not forget their heroes. Eternal memory to him.'

Russia also lost its 34th colonel of the war, tank battalion commander Miras Bashakov, according to reports today.

Lt Col Miras Bashakov (left) is the 34th colonel killed in the war, while Denis Mezhuev (right) died last week

He became the 42nd high-ranking officer known to have died in a war that has haemorrhaged Putin's top brass.

The scale of the death toll invalidates Vladimir Putin's claim that his 'special military operation' is going according to plan.

The overall Russian losses since the invasion began on 24 February are believed to be in the region of 20,000, but Moscow has failed to give accurate figures.

Frolov is only the second general whose death was confirmed by state media, after Andrey Sukhovetsky (left), who was killed by a sniper on March 4. Oleg Mityaev (right) died on March 15

On Thursday Putin lost Lieutenant Colonel Denis Mezhuev, most likely in the east.

Mezhuev had commanded troops in Kyiv before his unit was redeployed in the Donbas.

A day earlier, surrendering Ukrainian forces showed Russian servicemen the precise location in blitzed Mariupol where one of Moscow's generals lay dead.

The Russians then retrieved the body of Major-General Oleg Mityaev, 47, commander of the armys 150th motorised rifle division.
A second British fighter has been captured by Russian forces in Ukraine while he was defending the besieged city of Mariupol, and has been paraded on TV.

Ex-British Army soldier Shaun Pinner, 48, who served with the Royal Anglians and enlisted in the Marines in Ukraine after marrying a woman from the country and has been heavily involved in fighting against the Russian invasion.

Looking clean-shaven with no visible wounds, he said on the broadcast: 'I am Shaun Pinner. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom. I was captured in Mariupol.

'I am part of 36th brigade, 1st Battalion Ukrainian Marine. I was fighting in Mariupol for five to six weeks and now I am in the Donetsk People's Republic.'

His capture comes after Russia seized 28-year-old former care worker Aiden Aslin on Tuesday. He had also been fighting in Ukraine in the same trenches outside Mariupol as Pinner.

There is concern for his safety amid fears that he could treated as a spy by the Kremlin.

Scroll down for video

Brit fighter Shaun Pinner has been captured by Russian forces after surrendering in Mariupol. He was paraded on Russian television looking clean-shaven with no visible wounds. He said on the broadcast: 'I am Shaun Pinner'

Shaun Pinner, 48, was serving as a Marine in Ukraine, defending the key strategic port of Mariupol

He reportedly told his Russians captors that 'he doesn't want war and wants to go home'

Pinner was shown on a military TV channel linked to war journalist Andrey Rudenko, who works closely with the Kremlin and also shot the footage of Aslin.

He reportedly told the Russians that 'he doesn't want war and wants to go home'.

Pinner now faces interrogation by the Russian Investigative Committee, it was announced today.

Pinners friends expressed deep concern for his safety.

Jayson Pihajlic, a UK-based friend, said: Another former comrade of ours has been captured. Social media seems to be the reason Aiden has not yet been executed.

I hope the same for my brother Shaun Pinner.

His fate in the hands of the Russians and the separatist authorities in Donetsk remains uncertain.

In early March, around a week after Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine, Pinner gave a hard-hitting dispatch from near the front line, describing the situation as 'chaos'.

At the time, he said he had endured a 'week of intense fighting'.

The 48-year-old, who previously served in the Royal Anglian Regiment, also confirmed a number of his squad had died in the early days of the war, saying : 'We've lost a couple of guys today'.

Mr Pinner filmed the dispatch as Vladimir Putin's men laid siege to Kyiv and other major Ukranian cities. In the video he does not reveal his location for security reasons. Since then, Russian forces have pulled back from the Kyiv region to refocus their efforts on the east of the country.

Pinner now faces interrogation by the Russian Investigative Committee, it was announced today

Mr Pinner, who previously served in the Royal Anglian Regiment, said he fought with the Ukrainian army as a 'contract soldier

The first British fighter captured in Mariupol was former care worker Aiden Aslin.

Russias state TV channels have broadcast suspect footage of Aslin being questioned by his captors after he was also forced to surrender in Mariupol.

Mr Aslin, 28, joined the Ukrainian marines four years ago. He has dual UK-Ukrainian citizenship and a Ukrainian fiancee, yet Russia appears determined to brand him an enemy agent rather than a prisoner of war.

The distinction is significant as under Russian law, those suspected of espionage face interrogation and lengthy prison sentences.

Whereas POWs are released at the end of hostilities, convicted spies may remain behind bars, perhaps until an exchange of agents can be arranged.

Kremlin-approved TV reporter Andrey Rudenko said in a Russian news broadcast Mr Aslin was an English mercenary used [by the West] to perform various delicate tasks, adding: I am sure he will be able to shed light on the actions of Western intelligence agencies in Ukraine.

An image uploaded to his social media shows Aiden, 28, bruised, beaten and in handcuffs

A second image, posted by a pro-Russia Telegram account, was closer to captured Aiden's cut

Mr Aslin, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, was paraded on TV with his face bruised. It is thought he is being held in a military detention facility.

Footage shows him being questioned by one of his captors off camera and he supposedly agrees with the suggestion that those who stood with you [in Ukraine], they are killers.

It remains unclear whether the recording was doctored for political purposes.

But last night Mr Aslins brother Nathan Wood said: People should not believe anything the Russians say or are making my brother say. He is being held against his will and forced to say whatever they tell him to.

Anything that comes out of my brothers mouth now, and the mouths of his Russian captors, are lies.

Both Pinner and Aslin are believed to have been captured while fighting with Ukrainian soldiers to defence Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine.

The city has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week-long war. Home to 400,000 people before Russia's invasion, the city has been reduced to rubble by seemingly indiscriminate Russian shelling.

Russian forces have in recent days made advances in Mariupol with Moscow claiming on Wednesday that its troops had taken control of the final Ukrainian strongholds in the city including the Azovstal industrial complex, where Kyiv's forces have been holed up in a hellish last stand for several days.

But Ukrainian marines who have teamed up with the Azov regiment to defend Mariupol yesterday appeared in a video to rebuff the claims as they denounced more than 1,000 fellow soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces on Wednesday and vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to protect the city.

A view shows the gates of the Illich Steel and Iron Works damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

Over 20,000 civilians are believed to have been killed, tens of thousands remain trapped in the city, and countless numbers have fled. It is one of a number of sites were international investigators believe war crimes have taken place - including the bombing of a maternity war and of a theatre sheltering hundreds of people.

Amid fears that Mariupol could soon fall under complete Russian control, Ukraine said on Friday that it was still trying to break the siege of the city, as fighting raged around the city's massive steel works and port.

If Moscow captures Mariupol, it would be the only big city to fall to the Russians so far. Russia's defence ministry said it had captured the city's Illich steel works. The report could not be confirmed.

Ukrainian defenders are mainly believed to be holding out in Azovstal, another huge steel works. Both plants are owned by Metinvest.

'The situation in Mariupol is difficult and hard. Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city,' defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a televised briefing, although he said the Russians have not completely captured it.

Motuzyanyk said Russia had used long-range bombers to attack Mariupol for the first time since its Feb. 24 invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting on Friday with the country's military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies.

'The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people,' Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation.

A local resident crosses a street damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022

On Friday, it was alleged that Russian troops in Mariupol are digging up thousands of dead civilians and burning their bodies in mobile crematoriums in a possible bid to destroy evidence of atrocities like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv when the Russians withdrew from the region.

Mariupol's city council - in a post on Telegram - said Moscow's men were exhuming bodies buried in residential courtyards within the city and were assigning watchmen to each square to stop locals from reburying their dead friends and relatives.

'Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,' the council said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.

On Thursday, Mayor Vadym Boychenko warned corpses 'carpeted the streets' of Mariupol as he accused Moscow of incinerating tens of thousands of civilians killed during a siege that has trapped well over 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating.

From the hellhole of Syria to the ruins of Mariupol: How British care worker accused by Putin of being a Western spy took up arms fighting ISIS... before joining Ukraine's marines to expel the Russian invaders

By Jack Wright For Mailonline

Defeated, beaten and bruised, with a swollen eye and a nasty gash across his forehead, Aiden 'Johnny' Aslin's worst fears that he would become a pawn in Putin's deranged 'bulls**t' propaganda if he was captured by the Russians tragically came true this week.

The British former care worker was paraded on Kremlin-backed TV from an undisclosed location after surrendering when he ran out of ammunition in Mariupol, the besieged southern port city which for many has become the lasting image of Moscow's invasion.

Aslin, who appeared to have been tortured, was described as a 'mercenary' who had 'fought on the side of the Nazis in Ukraine' by Rossiya 1 TV news presenter Andrey Rudenko, as he was asked a series of questions about his motives for taking up arms.

Fighting with Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade, who had themselves teamed up with the Azov regiment, a neo-Nazi unit of the National Guard of Ukraine which has allegedly committed war crimes in the east, Aslin was accused of 'shelling kids in Donbas for years', before he was forced to denounce his Ukrainian army comrades as 'criminals'.

Now facing the nightmare possibility that Aslin will be bundled to Russia and executed, the 28-year-old's terrified family today insisted that he is not a mercenary, and begged Putin to abide by the terms of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.

They also pointed out that for Aslin  who has lived in Ukraine for the past four years, has a Ukrainian fiancee and joint citizenship  is not a volunteer, but a 'legit' marine who has made the former Soviet republic's fight for national survival his own fight.

It is a surprising twist in the tale for those unacquainted with Aslin's tale  from taking up arms against ISIS maniacs in one of the worst wars to have engulfed the Middle East in decades, to his struggle against the British state after it accused him of terrorism.

Born in Newark, Nottinghamshire in 1994, Aslin worked as a care worker before deciding to join the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the US-backed militia which had spearheaded the fight against ISIS in Syria, to fight the jihadists in 2015.

Having learned of the atrocities committed by ISIS and their abuse of Kurdish people, and convinced that Britain was not doing enough to bring about their defeat, he made the extraordinary decision to run towards the sound of gunfire.

Aiden Aslin is pictured in military gear. Born in Newark in 1994, he worked as a care worker before deciding to join the YPG, the US-backed militia which had spearheaded the fight against ISIS in Syria, to fight jihadists in 2015

Aiden Aslin poses for a photo in military gear. He has lived in Ukraine for the past four years

Aiden Aslin smiles for the camera. He was persuaded of Ukraine's cause against Russia and moved to the country in 2018

In an interview talking about his experiences of fighting Islamic State, using a different name for the terror network, Aslin said: 'I support UK air strikes against IS. Anyone who doesn't, feel free to come over and see for yourself the difference the air strikes make.

'Daesh is like a cancer. You leave it untreated and it is going to keep growing. Anti-war protesters have no idea what kind of people Daesh are. They can't be negotiated with.'

That April, he bought a ticket at Gatwick Airport to fly to the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniya, where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had its headquarters in the Qandil Mountains.

But before he could board the plane, he was stopped by UK Border Police who questioned his claim that he was going there on a backpacking trip.

He later described how he eventually admitted to officers that he was joining the fight against ISIS  and was allowed to continue his journey.

Aslin poses for a photo on a tour of Syria in 2015

Aslin spent about 10 months in the YPG's ranks in Syria, where he was linked to the Lions of Rojava unit and involved in the Coalition-backed offensive that expelled ISIS from al-Hawl.

Before his arrest in Britain, Aslin described dodging artillery and incoming bullets as his unit played a key role in capturing enemy territory near Mount Sinjar  to which tens of thousands of refugees headed after fleeing ISIS.

The Lions of Rojava were taking on gunmen from ISIS in al-Hawl when Aslin's makeshift armoured car came under direct enemy fire.

'I was going towards IS fighters who were less than 60 metres away,' he said. 'I was in a home-made tank. I heard the bullets hitting the outside of the tank and waited for rocket-propelled grenades to hit.

'The village had a lot of improvised explosive devices too, so as well as looking out for Daesh, we also had to watch where we stepped. They also tried to counter-attack us using car bombs.

'But mainly, they were driven out of the area by air strikes. We were able to find the frequency for their radios and heard a conversation between Daesh commanders. Our female fighters translated this and said the enemy were running out of food and water.'

It is thought that Aslin spent approximately ten months in the YPG's ranks before making his journey back to Europe.

After negotiating with the British Consulate in Erbil because he had lost his passport, he landed at Heathrow on February 3, 2016, where he was arrested on the plane and taken to Nottinghamshire Police headquarters for questioning over a suspected terrorism offence  all while his family had been waiting for him.

Aslin was held for 30 hours while police quizzed him over claims he had allegedly 'engaged in the preparation to fight against Daesh' and 'possessed articles for terrorist purposes in Iraq/Syria'. He was then arrested and placed on bail before all charges were dropped in October 2016.

Aslin's bail conditions meant he had to report to Newark Police Station three times a week and could not travel abroad.

However, the YPG was not a proscribed terror group in the UK at the time, and his case attracted protests from the Kurdish community in the UK and national politicians  including his then local Conservative MP Robert Jenrick.

'Mr Aslin took an extremely brave decision to fight with our allies,' Mr Jenrick crowed. 'It is now Home Office and police policy to arrest such individuals under counter-terrorism legislation on their return to UK. Even if, as is most likely, they are not charged, that will remain on their record and they will not be able, for example, to enter the United States for the rest of their lives.'

Aiden Aslin is pictured circled left in this image taken from social media in Ukraine

Aiden (circled) is pictured with Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade, who fought with Azov in Mariupol

Aiden Aslin is pictured with a shaven head in Ukraine. He has been fighting the Russian invaders

The misery and desolation of Mariupol Smoke rise after shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 4, 2022 Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week-long war. Home to 400,000 people before Russia's invasion, the city has been reduced to rubble by Russian shelling. Over 20,000 civilians are believed to have been killed, tens of thousands remain trapped in the city, and countless numbers have fled. It is one of a number of sites were international investigators believe war crimes have taken place - including the bombing of a maternity war and of a theatre sheltering hundreds of people. Amid fears that Mariupol could soon fall under complete Russian control, Ukraine said on Friday that it was still trying to break the siege of the city, as fighting raged around the city's massive steel works and port. Russian forces plan to close access to Mariupol on Monday and ban movement within its districts in order to filter Ukrainian men, some of whom will be forced to fight against their own country, an advisor to the city's mayor has said. Petro Andryushchenko said today men in Mariupol would be 'filtered' by Moscow, meaning some would be made to clear rubble, some would be forced to join the Russian army, and those deemed 'unreliable' would be 'isolated'. The Mayor's advisor wrote on Telegram that the process had already reached 'maximum momentum', with Russian forces using filtration camps and checkpoints to determine which of the city's residents could still be of use to them. Those going through the filtration system were being subjected to 'interrogation, gadget testing and body examination,' he said. Andryushchenko also said that the Kremlin plans to shut off the besieged port city from April 18 (Monday) to anyone wishing to enter or exit. Russia is doing this, he said, because the Mariupol is no longer hospitable for the residents who have stayed behind since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Advertisement

After his bail was lifted, Aslin thundered: 'No fighter should have to go through what I went through if it can be avoided. I feel vindicated.

'I have had nine months of being made to feel like a terrorist. I should never have been arrested. I should never have spent any time on bail. I should have been interviewed for any intelligence I might hold on ISIS and allowed to go free.'

After his passport was returned to him by Nottinghamshire Police, Aslin then left the UK for a second time in January 2017 to join the battle to reclaim Raqqa from ISIS.

That July, fearing that he would be arrested a second time if he went back to Britain, Aslin left the Middle East for Greece, where he said he was doing 'humanitarian work' teaching English at a Kurdish refugee camp.

In a fascinating turn of events, he decided to go home on a flight on July 16, before changing his mind. It later transpired that armed police stormed the plane after it landed in the UK, only to find he was not on board.

There appeared to be no love lost either between Aslin and Britain.

'I did my seven months [in Syria] and was just exhausted. So I came to Greece to do humanitarian work at a refugee camp for Kurds to help teach them English so they have a smoother time going though Europe and can better report exploitation and sexual harassment, missing family members and things like that,' he told his local newspaper.

'I'm probably going to live in Greece.'

He added: 'I'm done with Britain's treatment towards us when I was in Rojava. I had met members of the US 82nd Airborne Division just outside the town of Jezra during the operation to take it and, for a few days, got to know them by joking around the fire and socialising.

'Over there we are allies, but when we return we are treated as the enemy.'

In September 2017, Aslin ultimately decided to risk it by flying back to Britain. He was then arrested at Manchester Airport at around 2am under the Terrorism Act, as the Home Office had warned.

It is not clear if any charges were brought against Aslin, but he then moved to Ukraine in 2018 after falling in love with a woman from Mykolaiv.

While he had been fighting with the YPG in 2015, he had met Ukrainian volunteer who had fought against Russian forces in the Donbas.

Whatever was said, Aslin was persuaded of Ukraine's cause against the Russian aggressor, and signed up for the regular military after moving to Kyiv.

Two months of basic training later, Aslin qualified as a private in the Ukrainian marine infantry. He completed three tours of the Donbas frontline before Putin's armies burst through the border on February 24 this year.

Aslin, who uses the nom de guerre 'Cossack Gundi', had been due to get married last week to his Ukrainian fiancee, who remains unnnamed.

But as his unit, the 36th Marine Brigade, became surrounded by Russian forces bombarding the city of Mariupol, his communication with the outside world became increasingly sporadic.

Aiden's younger brother previously told MailOnline the fighter's family had received little information about his whereabouts or his condition, and expressed concern he would be treated poorly by his Russian captors.

It was to their horror that they then saw him paraded on Russian state television this week, appearing as if he had been tortured.

Reports on Russian TV claimed Aslin was 'shelling kids in Donbas for years' and will 'face justice as a foreign mercenary', rather than treating him as a prisoner of war.

In later video, Aslin was interrogated by his captors and forced to denounce his co-combatants as 'criminals'. He was supposedly asked on TV: 'You said [on social media] you came to protect Ukraine, but those who stood with you, they are killers.'

He supposedly replies: 'I think you are correct. I said we must go home. If Ukraine really wants peace it would leave the Donbas. From day one in Mariupol I always said that we needed to leave, because Donbas is recognised as independent, Luhansk too.'

He is also asked: 'Why did they [the Ukrainians] kill peaceful people?'

Aslin supposedly replies: 'Because they are criminals, they killed people when people went for food. The Ukrainian army picked up all the food from supermarkets and forced people to carry water.'

When Aslin is asked: 'What was your post?', he supposedly replies: 'I refused to fire. I told a commander I didn't want to fight. I spent all the time in a bunker because I was scared.'

Rudenko, the TV reporter, then tells viewers: 'Aiden Aslin is a subject of Great Britain. He is an English mercenary and fought on the side of the Nazis in Ukraine. In my opinion he is not an ordinary mercenary but a person who was used [by the West] to perform various delicate tasks.

'And I sure he will be able to shed light on the actions of Western intelligence agencies in Ukraine.'

So what of Aslin's plight now? Outside of further British diplomatic pressure, it is not clear what will happen to the prisoner of war.

Aslin's anguished mother Angela Wood, 50, had told the Mail from Newark: 'I'm in bits. My son will be just as scared as we are.

'I now hold Vladimir Putin to the terms of the Geneva Convention.'

Whether Putin will restrain himself remains to be seen.
A leading GP has angered patient groups by dismissing concerns over the struggle to secure face-to-face appointments with family doctors as 'a lot of noise'.

Professor Dame Clare Gerada, President of the Royal College of GPs, made the remark after describing the shift to online consultations as the most positive development of the pandemic.

She holds a stake in eConsult, a company providing remote consultation software to about half the country's GP surgeries, which has profited hugely from Covid.

In an online conference hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine, Prof Gerada and other panel members were asked what they thought was 'the most positive surprise' to have come from the pandemic.

Professor Dame Clare Gerada has angered patient groups by dismissing concerns over the struggle to secure face-to-face appointments with GPs as 'a lot of noise' (stock image)

She answered that in general practice, it had been moving 1.2 million daily consultations 'almost overnight into the remote space', adding: 'That's either by telephone, but more often than not into digital consultations, and that is quite a monumental thing.

'Digital consultations went up about 1,000 per cent at the start of the pandemic.

'And though there was a lot of noise afterwards about, you know, patients want to be seen face- to-face, in fact research has shown that the vast majority of patients appreciated the fact that you can't catch Covid from a computer or a telephone. So that's a positive.'

Last night, Dennis Reed, of Silver Voices, a campaign group for senior citizens, said: 'Her comment on patients' legitimate concerns about online consultations being 'a lot of noise' is obviously very dismissive, particularly to older people.

'The vast majority of people over 65 would prefer to have face-to-face appointments with their GP.

'In fact, many of them are not technologically adept enough to be able to access digital communication safely and comfortably.'

Before the pandemic, about 80 per cent of GP consultations were face-to-face. Despite calls by Health Secretary Sajid Javid for doctors to see more patients in person, it is still hovering at about 60 per cent.

Campaigner Dennis Reed said her comments were 'dismissive' to older people who may not be 'technologically adept enough' to do online consultations (stock image)

The low figure is mainly down to more appointments by phone, but patients are also being diverted towards a non-GP health worker or given advice on 'self-care'. Software such as eConsult has been vital in enabling GPs to prioritise the patients they see.

Dr Arvind Madan, co-founder of eConsult, said clinicians liked it because they 'can work from home'. It is used by 3,000 practices serving 26 million patients.

Dr Madan has worked for years at the Hurley Group of GP practices in South London with Prof Gerada, who was a director of eConsult from June 2016 until last November, quitting after becoming Royal College of GPs president.

Documents show that in March 2021 she held 6.6 per cent of eConsult shares, potentially worth more than 1 million. Last year, it made more than 1.1 million profit.

She has never hidden her involvement with eConsult and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing.

A Royal College of GPs spokesman said: 'Patients should be able to access GP care and services in a variety of ways. The method of consultation should be a shared decision between patient and GP. It is important that patients' views about their care are listened to.

'We are sorry if some of the comments at the Royal Society of Medicine meeting have been interpreted as suggesting otherwise and have caused offence. This was entirely unintentional.'
For more than a decade, viewers of The Jeremy Kyle Show tuned in hoping to see a familiar parade of chaotic people  and one notorious feature in particular.

For the shows cheating partners and feckless fathers, there was no more sobering prospect than the lie detector.

More often than not, the test would reveal that the subject was a liar! as the day-time host was fond of shouting. Sometimes they were scum.

Yet as a Channel 4 documentary revealed last month, even in perfect conditions, with a highly trained expert administering them, Jeremy Kyles lie detector tests were only 66 to 70 per cent accurate at best.

They were little more than a pantomime.

We shouldnt be surprised, says author Amit Katwala in his new book, Tremors in the Blood. For all the immense harm they can cause, lie detectors, or polygraphs, are not and never have been reliable.

Polygraphs are supposed to work by tracking physiological changes in a person as they answer questions. These could include a rise in blood pressure, sweating on the palms of the hands or a quickening of breath, any of which might indicate that a person is lying

There is no way for an examiner to be sure whether a change in blood pressure is due to fear of getting caught, or anxiety about being falsely accused, says author Amit Katwala, pictured above

They are supposed to work by tracking physiological changes in a person as they answer questions.

These could include a rise in blood pressure, sweating on the palms of the hands or a quickening of breath, any of which might indicate that a person is lying.

Author Amit Katwala says in his new book, Tremors in the Blood, that for all the immense harm they can cause, lie detectors, or polygraphs, are not and never have been reliable

The subjects breathing is measured through rubber tubes on the upper chest and abdomen. Adhesive pads on the hands or fingers measure sweating. A machine called a cardiosphygmograph monitors blood pressure and pulse.

Yet this is little more than junk science:

There is no way for an examiner to be sure whether a change in blood pressure is due to fear of getting caught, or anxiety about being falsely accused, says Katwala. There is no single tell-tale sign of deception that holds true for everyone  no Pinocchios nose.

Millions of polygraph tests are conducted every single year. In the United States, they are regularly used by the police and other law enforcement agencies, even though their findings are inadmissible in court.

In Britain, we use polygraphs to assess whether or not sex offenders have breached parole conditions.

This is despite the fact that they are there are huge discrepancies in test results depending on such things as location, race and gender.

Moreover, there have long been ways of beating the machine, including exaggerating the bodys response to the control questions [straightforward ones used to measure a persons response when not under any pressure] by, for instance, biting the tongue or stepping on a pin hidden in the shoe.

The subjects breathing is measured through rubber tubes on the upper chest and abdomen. Adhesive pads on the hands or fingers measure sweating. A machine called a cardiosphygmograph monitors blood pressure and pulse

Yes, lie detectors have been used to get confessions from some of the worst criminals, says Katwala, but theyve also perpetrated grave miscarriages of justice.

The idea that the actions of the body could betray the mind has been around for centuries.

Tremors in the Blood takes its title from a suggestion by the author Daniel Defoe that the racing pulse of a pickpocket would give them away.

Guilt carries fear always about with it, he wrote in 1730. There is a tremor in the blood of a thief.

Even the main inventor of the modern-day lie detector started to worry about what he had unleashed.

The polygraph machine was created by three men in Berkeley, California in the early 1920s: August Vollmer, John Larson, a young detective, and a teenager named Leonarde Keeler.

For more than a decade, viewers of The Jeremy Kyle Show (above) tuned in hoping to see a familiar parade of chaotic people  and one notorious feature in particular

For the shows cheating partners and feckless fathers, there was no more sobering prospect than the lie detector

Vollmer, the towns chief of police, is often described as the father of modern policing for his efforts to further the use of scientific methods of investigation.

He tasked Larson, who was then the only police officer in America to hold a PhD, with developing a lie detector based on the newly devised  but now standard  systolic blood pressure test.

Vollmer hoped such a device would put an end to the brutal police interrogation methods then widely used.

Keeler, the son of a poet and spiritualist, became involved after he started hanging around the Berkeley police station. At the time, he was known as an amateur magician, yet would he also prove a gifted inventor and played a leading role in developing and refining the contraption.

Larsons pride in their lie detector soured almost immediately when the machine helped acquit a man called Henry Wilkins, charged with arranging the murder of his wife, in 1922.

The test suggested Wilkens was innocent, yet all other evidence pointed clearly to his guilt. Larson viewed the debacle as a spectacular public failure of the lie detector.

That same year saw the machines banned from most American courtrooms on the grounds that the technology was too new.

If Larson was relieved, his partner, had other ideas.

Keeler created his own, updated version of the lie detector and continued to promote it among police officers.

The original aim had been to eliminate violence from interrogations, yet Keelers recommended methods for getting at the truth combined the use of his lie detector with elements of the old brutality  the third degree .

He found commercial outlets, too. In 1931, Keeler struck a deal with the insurance conglomerate Lloyds of London to offer banks a 10 per cent discount on their premiums if they allowed him to test their employees regularly.

Larson was infuriated, saying Keeler had fostered a Frankensteins monster and their relationship became poisonous.

Not only had Keeler taken the bulk of the credit for what was Larsons invention, he had prostituted the polygraph until it was little more than a racket, writes Katwala.

Soon enough, the lie detector would reach into almost every...aspect of the justice system, and beyond, into business and politics.

Even Keeler would be unnerved by the treatment of a man called Joseph Rappaport in 1937.

Rappaport had been on death row awaiting the electric chair for the murder of a man due to give evidence against him for heroin-dealing.

As a last-ditch attempt to save the condemned man, his lawyer arranged for Keeler to administer a polygraph.

The Rappaport test broke every rule Keeler had laid out, writes Katwala. The room was not dark, empty and silent. It was crowded with lawyers and witnesses and journalists hanging around outside.

The test should also have lasted several hours, but was completed in less than one. And Keeler himself was both judge and jury, concluding that: On the basis of my findings, Rappaport is guilty. He was duly executed the same night.

Yet as Keeler would later admit: The whole atmosphere was like a circus.

John Larson wanted to end the third degree, but he ended up creating a psychological form of torture and, as Katwala puts it, a long, dark history of failure and human rights violations.

Larson spent the rest of his life trying to stop the spread of the machine, but he was fighting an unstoppable tide.

Today, lie detectors creep ever further into British policing, with plans to subject convicted terrorists and domestic abusers to the tests.

Dozens of new lie detection technologies have been invented in recent years, including brain fingerprinting and techniques involving artificial intelligence.

But they serve no more than an illusion of justice.

Its been a hundred years since the first polygraph test, writes Katwala. And theres still no such thing as a lie detector.
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New York City Police officers and city sanitation workers clashed with a homeless man when they returned to the homeless encampments at Tompkins Square Park in the East Village to clear out the area for a third time in three weeks despite Mayor Eric Adams' pledge to clear the streets and create 350 new shelter beds.

The latest sweep took place on Saturday after NYPD officials requested the homeless remove their tents and leave the area on 10th Ave between Avenues A and B adjacent to the park.

Officials had posted notices to clear the area days ahead, but vagrants were still in their tents, and John Grima, 37, a homless man who was previously arrested for blocking a sweep at the park last week, was seen arguing with cops when the officers and sanitation workers arrived on Saturday morning.

The city has cleared out more than 300 homeless encampments in less than a month following Adams' vow to crackdown on vagrancy in the city, with the latest sweep coming a week after more than 100 housing advocates and homeless people gathered at Tompkins Square Park to protest the city's actions.

John Grima, 37, (above) was seen arguing with police as they worked to clear out the encampment. The city has cleared out more than 300 homeless encampments in less than a month following Adams' vow to crackdown on vagrancy in the city. Grima was arrested last week for blocking officers when they cleared out the area for a second time

The officers were able to remove Grima from the tent and removed it from where it stood in front of the park

It was the third sweep of the encampments in three weeks as police tossed out the Grima's tent into a garbage truck

New York City Police officers and sanitation workers returned to the homeless encampments at Tompkins Square Park in the East Village on Saturday morning (pictured) to clear out the area for a third time in three weeks

Despite the city's work, the homeless and housing advocates continue to rebuild the encampments in the East Village

Officials had posted notices around Tompkins Square Park informing vagrants that they needed to clear the area on Saturday

On April 8, demonstrators, led by the housing advocate groups the Brooklyn Eviction Defense and the Rent Refusers Network, protested the sweeps in the East Village and shouted slogans like, 'Housing is the solution to homelessness' and 'F*** Eric Adams.'

The crowd also cheered when someone on a bull horn shouted: 'Eric Adams is a cop. Stop acting like an a****** and help your people. Help the poor.'

The protestors had previously helped the homeless in the area rebuild the encampments, twice, following sweeps by police and sanitation workers.

Adams, 61, has likened himself to a disciple of Jesus while defending the city's actions, saying the encampments needed to be cleared to tackle soaring crime rates and preserve the 'dignity' of the homeless.

'We are on the wrong road as a city,' Adams said last week. We have tolerated homelessness, walked past our brothers and sisters who are living in tents on the street, and we've normalized it.'

'I can't help but to believe that if Matthew, Mark, Luke and John was here today, he would be on the streets with me, helping people get out of encampments.'

The mayor has faced continued criticism for failing to say where the homeless would go after being cleared from the encampments as officials cannot force anyone to go to a homeless shelter.

The city said it has provided 350 new homeless shelter beds at existing shelters around the city to help accommodate the individuals being cleared from the encampments.

Although the sweeps are conducted with healthcare workers in tow to help guide homeless individuals to where they can go for help, many are reluctant to go to shelters, claiming they're unsafe.

Those who remained at the camp on Saturday morning had to put their belongings in a bag as their tents were removed

NYPD officers from the Community Affairs division (pictured) were present to assist in the clearing. The city has delivered 350 new beds for homeless shelters across the city to accommodate those being cleared from encampments

Many homeless people, however, continue to reject the city's offer, claiming the shelters are not safe

More than 100 people took to the streets in East Village last Saturday to protest the continued removal of the homeless encampment in Tompkins Square Park

Many of the protestors led with chants cursing at New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who vowed to tackle vagrancy in the city

A New York Sanitation worker (pictured last Wednesday) safely disposed of a syringe at the homeless camp

Grima said he has been homeless for years and has been in and out of the shelters and safe havens, where he has had too many bad experiences.

'Homeless shelters and safe havens are abusive environments,' he told the Gothamist. 'How do you expect people to get help for their mental health issues and their substance abuse issues in an abusive and toxic environment?'

Grima and six activists were arrested last Wednesday when they tried to stop the city from clearing out the Tompkins Square Park camp.

He was charged with obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but was back at the camp on Saturday.

Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the first warnings to the homeless in the city went up on March 17 and the following day the encampments started being cleared in a collaboration between the NYPD and the departments of Social Services, Sanitation and Parks.

An estimated 2,400 people sleep on city streets and in subways every day, according to an annual tally taken in January 2021.

A female activist was one of six arrested on last week after trying to prevent sanitation workers from getting to the camp

Grima (above) refused to leave and joined protestors to help his fellow homeless last week. He was arrested

The city's move to get the homeless off the street comes amid a continued surge in violent crime as the NYPD reported more than a 44 percent increase in crime so far this year compared to the same time last year.

Robberies in the city have seen the greatest uptick, with 4,261 cases reported so far compared to 2,871 reported last year, a 48.4 percent increase.

Felony assaults are also up by nearly 20 percent with 6,204 cases reported this year, and rapes have jumped up by 17.4 percent, rising from 354 cases reported last year to 445 so far this year.

While the number of reported murders is down 11.2 percent, with 103 cases so far, the number of shooting victims have gone up by more than 9 percent with 363 cases reported this year.
Prince Andrew is pretty unlikely to leave Royal Lodge at Windsor despite having no apparent source of income for its upkeep, according to an informed source.

The Duke of York, who can no longer use his HRH status and has no formal role within the Royal Family, was given a 75-year lease on the Queen Mothers former home after her death in 2002.

One of the conditions is that he carries out significant refurbishments.

While major renovations were completed 20 years ago, it is unclear how, with no obvious income apart from a modest Naval pension, he could pay for further repairs.

Prince Andrew is pretty unlikely to leave Royal Lodge (pictured above) at Windsor despite having no apparent source of income for its upkeep, according to an informed source.

Prince Andrew driving on the Long Walk on his way to see the Queen at Easter. Andrew was given a 75-year lease on the Queen Mothers former home after her death in 2002. One of the conditions is that he carries out significant refurbishments

Earlier this year, Andrew agreed a multi-million-pound settlement with Virginia Giuffre, a victim of the serial paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who had accused him of sexually abusing her on three occasions, including once when she was 17.

While the Duke has repeatedly and vehemently denied her claims and any wrongdoing, he was stripped of his official Royal roles and has become a pariah.

With question marks over how Andrew could afford to continue to live at Royal Lodge, the Grade II listed property had been suggested as a potential home for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Mail on Sunday revealed last year that plans were being considered for the family to move to Windsor.

It is understood that one of the properties the couple are now eyeing is Adelaide Cottage. Located in the grounds of the Windsor Home Park and built in 1831 by King William IV, it was designed to be used as a retreat by his wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.

Above: Andrew photographed on March 29. With question marks over how Andrew could afford to continue to live at Royal Lodge, the Grade II listed property had been suggested as a potential home for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Above: Prince Andrew attends the Sunday Service following the announcement on Friday April 9th of the death of his father Prince Philip at the age of 99, on April 11, 2021. The Mail on Sunday revealed last year that plans were being considered for the family to move to Windsor

The official register for Historic England describes the Grade II listed property as picturesque, adding: The principal bedroom has a coved ceiling with gilded dolphins and rope ornament reused from the Royal Yacht Royal George.

The Duchess has been visiting schools around Windsor and is said to favour mixed-sex schools for her children. Prince William went to nearby Eton.

Like the Queen, who has spent much of her reign at Buckingham Palace during the week and Windsor at weekends, the couple would have easier access to the capital with a home in Berkshire than their retreat at Anmer Hall, Norfolk.

Separately, meetings have been taking place between Prince Charles and Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge about how Royal properties might be divided up in future.
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A fourth bus full of migrants who crossed into the U.S. illegally from Mexico arrived in Washington, DC on Saturday morning.

The bus, carrying two women and eight men, drove 1,500 miles from Texas to DC, and arrived just blocks from the Capitol building, disembarking near centrally-located Union Station.

The migrants had come from Del Rio in Texas and had traveled to the U.S. border from Venezuela, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico.

Their travel to the national capital is part of a disruptive initiative by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

A fourth bus of migrants that had been driven from Texas arrived in Washington D.C. on Saturday morning

The migrants were dropped off by the Capitol having been driven 1,500 miles from Texas to Washington D.C.

Pictured a bus carrying migrants from Texas parked close to the US Capital in Washington,D.C.

The migrants came with few belongings apart from the clothes they were wearing, a backpack and an envelope

His office is offering a free one-way ticket to DC for willing migrants in an effort to show President Joe Biden the scale of the problem, and 'take the border to him'.

A first bus carrying 23 people arrived on Wednesday with a further 14 arriving on Thursday. Friday saw even more with another 30 people arriving.

A social services organization, the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), were on hand to support the migrants as they got off the bus.

The group were given food and water after their 1,500 mile bus journey from the Lone Star State.

'We understand that they are pawns in a political game between Governor Abott and the Biden administration,' said Avel Nunes of CARECEN.

The migrants were offered a free one way bus ticket to the capital - a 1,500 mile trip - upon arriving in Texas

The migrants had come from Del Rio in Texas and had traveled to the U.S. border from Venezuela, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico

When the migrants arrived from Texas they were carrying Manila envelops that read '4 Washington, DC'

The migrants were given a quick tour of some of the big sights of Washington D.C. including the Capitol building

Two of the women who traveling on the bus from Texas are seen here in this photograph

The migrants appeared happy to be in the nation's capital. The dome of the Capitol can be seen in the background

'Washington,DC is a welcoming city and we are here to help the migrants get the support that they need. A lot of them do not know what is going on and we want to make sure that they have information that they need, find out the types of needs they may have and if they need help getting to their final destination.'

He added: 'They were offered a free ride to Washington,DC but they were not told how to get to their final destination. We are seeing people from Venezuela, some from Nicaragua and Columbia. Governor Abbot is taking random people and this is not coordinated. We get a big bus with ten people coming out of it from random places. This is the craziness and absurdity of what Governor Abbott is doing.'

When asked if any of the migrants have been coerced or forced to come to DC. Nunes said based on the previous buses and what those migrants told them, they do not believe that any of them have been coerced or forced to come to Washington.

The busing strategy is part of Governor Abbott's response, which is his view is due to President Biden's ongoing failure to secure the border.

The migrants arrived at Union Station, in sight of the Capitol building and were shown a few of the sights

The migrants said they they chose to come to Washington D.C. and were not simply forced to get on a bus and travel 1,500 miles

The migrants were given a bag of snacks which included a banana and a bag of Cheetos

The buses started to leave Texas on April 8 after Abbott announced that Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) officials would be taking the migrants released in Texan a communities to the capital.

Initially, The White House dismissed the bus journeys as a it as a 'publicity stunt,' with many assuming the governor would not follow through.

Abbott has continued to state that the bussing operation was set up as a result of Biden's mishandling of the border crisis as to the scale of the problem.

Abbott says more than 1.6 million have crossed into the country over the Texas within the last 15 months.

DailyMail spoke to Micah Rodriquez, 26, a migrant that got off of the bus Saturday morning who traveled with his nephew to the US Capital, both who started their journey in Mallorca, Venezuela on January 17th.

He said that they were prompted to come to the US because the situation in Venezuela is very bad. One job is not enough to sustain a family, he said. 'I have a young newborn baby girl and I have not met her and I do not know her. My nephew and I are the first ones in our family to come to the United States. I need to support my family, support my daughter and I need to sustain my family for all of us.'

The busses have been arriving in DC at a rate of one per day since Wednesday

First bus carried 24 illegal immigrants, while the second bus  which arrived Thursday  carried just 14. Saturday's had 10

Micah Rodriquez, 26, from Venezuela spoke to DailyMail.com about his journey to Washington,DC.

Pictured migrants from Texas having an intake done by members of the the Central American Resource Center in the food court of Union Station to determine there needs and what supports they will need in getting to their final destination

The U.S. Capitol is pictured on a beautiful spring day in Washington D.C.

When asked what his final destination was he said that Washington, DC was his final destination.

He said that the United States government has given him a phone to keep track of him and every Friday he receives a notification and has to send back a photo of himself.

Although Abbott's sending of migrants to D.C. has a stunt-like quality to it, illegals are often moved around the country, only with less publicity or even public acknowledgement.

The Biden administration had recently restarting flying migrants to airports in suburban New York.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said earlier in the week that the migrants had been processed in Texas and were awaiting the results of their immigration procedures.

'It's nice the state of Texas is helping them get to their final destination, as they await their outcome of their immigration proceedings,' Psaki said at her daily news briefing.

The migrants are seen listening to instructions as to their next steps on the first day of the rest of their life

Some fear and trepidation can be seen on the faces of the migrants, but surely the hardest part of the journey is over?

One of the female migrants looks directly at the camera while sitting in the foodcourt area of Union Station

The migrants were able to grab some coffee and a snack before working out their next steps

The migrants completed a 1,500 mile journey as they arrived in Washington D.C. They had travelled from Venezuela, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico

On Friday, Abbott said that his team had received multiple calls from communities in the Rio Grande Valley requesting buses to transport the migrants.

'Overnight there were multiple communities in the Rio Grande Valley asking us to provide buses for them, maybe even planes,' said Abbott.

He told Fox News: 'When they come across the border, it's not like they want to stay in the Rio Grande Valley.

'They are moving across the entire country.

'What better place to go to than the steps of the United States Capitol - they get to see the beautiful Capitol, and get closer to the people making the decisions.'

The scheme has been condemned by Democrats, with Sheila Jackson Lee, whose constituency encompasses parts of Houston, calling it an 'act of hysteria and grandstanding'.

She added: 'Those are not problem solving. They are adding to the grand march of hysteria.'

But Abbott insisted that it was legitimate.

Since Biden took office in January 2021, CBP has encountered more than 2.2 million migrants and the border  and that number could as much as triple with the end of Title 42 next month

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, on Friday told Fox News that there had been a flurry of requests for buses to take migrants to Washington DC

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, pictured earlier this month, gave about a week's notice of his plan to bus illegal immigrants who cross into the Lone Star State straight to Washington DC

Joe Biden has refused to come to the border to see the chaos that he has created by his open border policies,' he said.

'So we are going to take the border to him by transporting the people that he is dropping off in these local communities in the state of Texas, and sending them to Washington by plane or by bus.

'What is happening is there is an increased number of people coming across the border. They, the federal government, are processing them and letting them loose.

'What has been happening so far is that these people are getting on buses and going to San Antonio, or Houston, or other places like that.

'So I think they just need longer bus rides.'

Abbott said the scheme had 'been happening for weeks if not months now.'

He added: 'We know the process works.

'It's just a matter of relocating the drop off point.'
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Florida sheriffs are hunting for three men who were caught on camera entering a house with a gun, then carrying a body out of an alleged drug den.

Xavier Antonio Johnson, 29, from St. Petersburg, had rented an Airbnb on April 8 in Davenport, 85 miles east of his hometown.

According to Polk County deputies, Johnson and his associates had been selling marijuana from the Acorn Court house, situated in a scenic, tree-lined cul-de sac in the small Central Florida town, which boasts just 9,000 residents.

On April 13, at roughly 8:30 pm, three unknown men entered the house - one of them carrying a gun - and shot Johnson, according to deputies.

The three men were then caught on camera carrying Johnson's body out of the house.

The wanted men can be seen on surveillance camera footage carrying Johnson's body out of the house in Davenport

The trio carry their victim outside - two with his arms, and one behind carrying his legs

The trio then lie Johnson down. It is unclear what then happened to the body

'We're seeking the identities of three men in a homicide investigation,' the Sheriff's Office tweeted.

They published video of the men leaving the house while carrying the body, and still photos of the trio.

'Here are photos of the three unknown men we'd like to identify and speak with regarding the homicide of 29-yr-old Xavier Johnson,' the office wrote on Facebook.

'According to the investigation so far, Johnson and his associates had been selling marijuana from the house since April 8, 2022, when they took occupancy,' the sheriffs office added in a separate release sent to DailyMail.com Saturday evening.

'Around 8:30 p.m. on April 13th, unknown suspects went inside the house, and shot the victim. One of the suspects was carrying a gun.

'If you have any information about this murder please call us at 863-298-6200 or contact Heartland Crime Stoppers to remain anonymous and be eligible for a $5,000 cash reward.'

When questioned about the case by Saturday evening, a department spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the office was not providing additional information on the case at this time.

Grady Judd, the 68-year-old sheriff of Polk County, has served with the force since 1972, and in 2020 became the first sheriff in Polk's 160-year history to be elected to five terms.

When the sheriffs shared details of the manhunt on Facebook on Saturday, residents responded with: 'Grady will find them.'

The department also further detailed how the public can help, writing in a comment: 'With ongoing criminal investigations we are very, VERY choosy with how much information (and photos and videos) we release.

'These photos show three men we want to identify - we showed pics of the one carrying the cross body bag in 2 diff [sic] photos so that you can see his arm tattoo (it doesnt show in the photo where he has the bag).

'He is the one without any facial hair. Refer back to the video and youll see all three of them.'

Polk County Sheriff's Office are looking to speak to this man, who was seen on April 13 entering the Davenport house
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Russia is willing to use nuclear weapons to bring a catastrophic end to its invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky warned last night - as he urged the world to 'prepare' for the worst by stocking up on anti-radiation medicine and building air raid shelters.

The comedian-turned-war time leader made the doomsday warning during an interview with national media, before sharing the clip via his Telegram channel.

He made a similar announcement on Friday, when he said it could not be ruled out that desperate Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would use tactical nukes, as his war against Ukraine continues to stall.

The Russian strongman ramped up his offensive today, taking revenge on Ukraine for the downing of his Moskva warship on Thursday, by mercilessly shelling eight towns including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv.

Elsewhere, a second British fighter was paraded on TV after being captured by Russian forces in Mariupol, while Russia lost its eighth top general in the latest blow to Putin's botched war.

It comes after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN in a recent interview that Moscow would use a nuclear weapon on Ukraine in the case of an 'existential threat', while Russian military doctrine includes the 'escalate to de-escalate' principle of launching a small nuke to regain the initiative in war.

Zelensky said tonight: 'We shouldn't wait for the moment when Russia decides to use nuclear weapons... We must prepare for that.'

Volodymyr Zelensky made the doomsday warning during an interview with national media, before sharing the clip via his Telegram channel (pictured)

Communal workers clear buildings destroyed following bombardment, killing two people and injuring eighteen others, in Kharkiv on Saturday

Zelensky made a similar announcement on Friday, when he said it could not be ruled out that desperate Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would use tactical nukes, as his war against Ukraine continues to stall. (Pictured: Putin on a guided tour of guided missile cruiser Moskva, which sunk this week and may have been carrying nuclear weapons)

A man stands in a building with a collapsed facade at the Vizar company military-industrial complex, after the site was hit by overnight Russian strikes, in the town of Vyshneve, near Kyiv, on April 15, 2022

There are fears that Russia's sunken Moskva cruiser (pictured) could have been carrying nuclear warheads when it was sunk on Thursday

The neptune anti-ship missile believed to have sunk the Moskva this week

A Russian military convoy moves on a highway in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces near Mariupol, Ukraine, on Saturday

Service members of pro-Russian troops ride on armoured vehicles in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict on a road leading to the city of Mariupol

An ambulance car is wrecked following a military strike by Russian forces in Sivierodonetsk, Luhansk, on Saturday

A Ukrainian soldier waits in position amid Russian attacks in Sivierodonetsk, Luhansk on Saturday

Ukrainian service members pictured Saturday as they rest on a street in Sivierodonetsk, Luhansk

A mother hugs her daughter as they wait for a bus to flee from Sloviansk city, in Donetsk district, to travel to Rivne , in western Ukraine, on Saturday

Local residents Serhii and Liubov stand next to their house, destroyed during Russia's invasion in the village of Kukhari, in Kyiv region on Saturday

Members of the Ukrainian military walk amid debris after a shopping center and surrounding buildings were hit by a Russian missile strike on April 16, 2022 in Kharkiv

Damaged Ukrainian Army military trucks are pictured in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, on Saturday

The gutted remains of vehicles are seen at Mariupol's Illich Iron & Steel Works Metallurgical Plant, the second largest such business in Ukraine

A Mariupol resident looks at a damaged apartment building following heavy fighting on Saturday

Servicemen of Donetsk People's Republic militia walk past damaged apartment buildings in Mariupol on Saturday

Mystery surrounds fate of Moskva crew as Russia claims they are safe and well in short video Mystery last night surrounded the fate of the crew of Russias lost Black Sea flagship as Ukraine claimed they had all perished while Russia broadcast footage that it claimed was of the sailors safe and well. In a humiliation for the Kremlin and Russias navy, the Moskva sank on Thursday shortly after being struck by two Neptune anti-ship missiles. It took the Kremlin a day to acknowledge that the guided missile cruiser had been lost, although it claimed the vessel went down as it was being towed to port after a fire broke out on board. Ukraine yesterday claimed the entire 510 crew of 12,500-ton vessel, including Anton Kuprin, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, had died. If true, it would represent the Russian navys greatest loss of life at sea since World War II. Natalia Gumeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraines southern military forces, said: We saw that other ships tried to assist it, but even the forces of nature were on Ukraines side because the storm made both the rescue operation and crew evacuations impossible. The Russian defence ministry denied those claims and insisted the crew had been successfully evacuated and returned to their base in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. Last night, a 38-second video emerged on social media that claimed to show the crew being greeted by Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, commander of the Russian Navy, in a military parade in Crimea. The veracity of the footage could not be verified and several dozen people were pictured on Friday holding a vigil in a town square in Sevastopol. A wreath left by a Russian navy monument bore the message: To the Moskva and its crew. Advertisement

Anti-radiation medicine and air raid shelters would be needed, he said, adding that the Russians 'can use any weapon, I'm convinced of it'.

The interview was broadcast by six Ukrainian news websites.

It came after a tough day of shelling from Russian forces as they sought revenge over the sinking of the Moskva flagship, which is believed to have seen most of the roughly 500 crew perish - although 54 were rescued by a Turkish vessel, according to Lithuanian authorities.

It represented Russia's biggest single naval loss since 1945 - although Russia last night broadcast footage claiming the sailors were safe and well.

Satellite images released Saturday showed the pride of Putin's Black Sea Fleet burning while other vessels are scrambled to rescue those onboard before it sank.

Radar satellite imagery of the northern Black Sea on April 13 appears to pinpoint the Soviet-era Moskva warship, which Ukraine said was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired by one of its batteries near the port city of Odesa. Other vessels are also seen in attendance, with reports suggesting they are rescue vessels.

Naval News found the Moskva in satellite imagery that employed synthetic aperture radar (SAR), technology that can 'see' through clouds. The satellite which took the image passed over the area at around 6.30pm local time on Wednesday, the publication said.

It pinpointed the coordinates of a ship matching the Russian vessel and its dire situation to 451043.39N, 305530.54E - a position east of Snake Island in the Black Sea, 80 nautical miles from Odesa and 50 nautical miles away from the closest stretch of Ukrainian coastline.

'Based on analysis by multiple people, we are confident that this shows Moskvas final hours,' Naval News said in its report.

The sinking this week sparked a number of 'revenge attacks' by Putin's forces yesterday.

Darnyts'kyi, a suburb in south Kyiv, was among the first to be hit before dawn, when a tank repair factory was blown up, killing one.

Four cruise missiles were then fired on Lviv, which Ukraine intelligence says were shot down before they could inflict carnage.

But another Ukrainian was killed and 18 injured when a warship-launched missile rocked Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.

The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet - the Soviet-era guided missile destroyer Moskva - has suffered heavy damage and may have sunk after Ukraine claimed to have shot it with two anti-ship cruise missiles

Moskva could have been carrying warheads to fit into the tip of its Moskva's P-1000 supersonic cruise missiles, which are designed to take out American aircraft carriers

Radar satellite imagery of the Black Sea on April 13 appears to pinpoint the Moskva warship, which Ukraine said was struck by two Neptune cruise missiles fired by one of its batteries near the port city of Odesa. Other vessels are seen in attendance

There was also a missile blitz on the port city of Mykolaiv, where a military vehicle workshop was destroyed, according to Russia, as well as intense shelling in Donbas, Mariupol and Luhansk, which is set to be the focus of Putins fresh offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said between 2,500 and 3,000 Ukrainian troops had died in the war, with 10,000 injured.

The United Nations said it had confirmed the deaths of 1,982 Ukrainian civilians, but that figure does not include those killed in blockaded cities such as Mariupol.

It comes as a second British fighter was captured in the besieged city before being paraded on TV on Saturday.

Ex-British Army soldier Shaun Pinner, 48, was known to have been serving as a 'contract soldier' with Kyiv's forces fighting off the Russian invasion.

Looking clean-shaven with no visible wounds, he said on the broadcast: 'I am Shaun Pinner. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom. I was captured in Mariupol.

'I am part of 36th brigade, 1st Battalion Ukrainian Marine. I was fighting in Mariupol for five to six weeks and now I am in the Donetsk People's Republic.'

His capture comes after Russia seized 28-year-old former care worker Aiden Aslin on Tuesday. He had also been fighting in Ukraine. There is concern for his safety amid fears that he could treated as a spy by the Kremlin.

Brit fighter Shaun Pinner has been captured by Russian forces after surrendering in Mariupol. He was paraded on Russian television looking clean-shaven with no visible wounds. He said on the broadcast: 'I am Shaun Pinner'

Shaun Pinner, 48, was known to have been serving as a 'contract soldier' with Kyiv forces, fighting side by side with Ukrainian marines to defend the key strategic port of Mariupol

He reportedly told his Russians captors that 'he doesn't want war and wants to go home'

Pinner was shown on a military TV channel linked to war journalist Andrey Rudenko.

He reportedly told the Russians that 'he doesn't want war and wants to go home'.

Pinner now faces interrogation by the Russian Investigative Committee, it was announced yesterday.

He was described as 'an English mercenary who served in the 36th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Marines as a stormtrooper and is now in captivity.

'This is the second Englishman caught in Mariupol,' the TV report added.

His fate in the hands of the Russians and the separatist authorities in Donetsk remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, Russia lost its eighth general Saturday since the start of the invasion.

Major General Vladimir Frolov, deputy commander of the 8th Guards Combined Arms unit, was given a military funeral in St Petersburg yesterday.

It's not known how or where he died, but the timing of his funeral suggests Frolov was killed in the past few days.

His 8th Combined Arms Army was fighting in Kherson, near Crimea last month when commander Andrei Mordvichev was killed.

Frolov was buried in St Petersburg today after being killed in an unspecified part of Ukraine

Lt Col Miras Bashakov (left) is the 34th colonel killed in the war, while Denis Mezhuev (right) died last week

Frolov 'sacrificed his life so that children, women and the elderly in Donbas would not hear bombs exploding again', the St Petersburg governor said as his friend was laid to rest.

The general was from a military family and 'died the death of the brave in battle against Ukrainian nationalists', Alexander Beglov added.

He was 'a true patriot, a brave and courageous man' who 'honestly and to the end fulfilled his military and human duty.

'People will not forget their heroes. Eternal memory to him.'

Russia also lost its 34th colonel of the war, tank battalion commander Miras Bashakov, according to reports yesterday.

He became the 42nd high-ranking officer known to have died in a war that has haemorrhaged Putin's top brass.

The scale of the death toll invalidates Putin's claim that his 'special military operation' is going according to plan.

It came after Zelensky had warned on Friday that the world should be worried about the threat Putin poses as he becomes increasingly desperate, echoing comments made by CIA director William Burns.

Mr Burns said Thursday that Russia's battlefield setbacks raised the risk that Putin could deploy a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon.

It came after the Kremlin said it had placed Russian nuclear forces on high alert shortly after the assault began on February 24, although the US says it has not seen any sign of unusual nuclear movements.

US President Joe Biden is 'deeply concerned about avoiding a third world war, about avoiding a threshold in which nuclear conflict becomes possible,' said Burns.

Zelensky reportedly personally asked President Biden to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism  a move with substantial implications for trade and sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Friday Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons

Biden did not commit on the subject, sources told the Washington Post.

Such a designation would lead to economic sanctions on nations that continue to do business with Russia, as well as freezing Russian assets in the US.

He spoke a day after Burns issued his warning in a speech April 14, in which he said: 'Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.'

US officials have long warned that Putin could resort to increasingly reckless actions, particularly after major setbacks in its invasion, including the failure to take Kyiv or decapitate the regime, substantial troop losses and destruction of heavy armour.

The US this week said it was not able to confirm Ukrainian claims that a Russian drone had dropped a chemical weapon on the besieged city of Mariupol due to distance from the alleged event.

The Azov regiment said a 'poisonous substance of unknown origin' was released on Monday.

Leaders have repeatedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin not to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine

The fears of a Russian use of tactical nuclear weapons comes after relentless conventional strikes on Ukraine

Russia warned of 'unpredictable consequences' after the U.S. announced the latest in a series of aid packages for Ukraine  this time including helicopters, 155 mm howitzer long-range artillery, and Switchblade drones as part of the $800 million effort.

Russia's invasion, which began in late February, has already brought fears of a nuclear accident, after Russian troops seized and then later abandoned the Chernobyl nuclear plant after holding Ukrainian plant workers hostage for weeks.

Russian forces also fired on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

And there are concerns Russia's Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, could have been carrying nuclear warheads when it was sunk this week.

The Soviet-era guided missile cruiser, sank near the port of Sevastopol on Thursday after Ukraine said it hit the ship with two cruise missiles. Moscow claims it was due to a fire on board, and says it sank in part due to 'stormy sea conditions.'

Pentagon officials said Friday the US assessment is that Ukrainian forces struck the ship with two Neptune missiles.

Ukrainian rescuers put out a fire on a storehouse after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, 13 April 2022. The city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, has witnessed repeated airstrikes from Russian forces including satellite cities

'Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons,' said Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns

Russia then launched a series of cruise missile strikes on Ukraine overnight in revenge for the sinking  saying it struck a factory near Kyiv that made the weapons used against Moskva.

The strikes illustrated how Moscow can still launch rocket attacks on Ukraine even after withdrawing its forces that had sought to encircle Kyiv.

Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defense Express all warned that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles.

If true, the loss of the warheads into the Black Sea could spark a 'Broken Arrow' incident - American military slang for potentially lethal accidents involving nuclear weapons.

'On board the Moskva could be nuclear warheads - two units,' Samus said, while Klymenko called on other Black Sea nations - Turkey, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria - to insist on an explanation.

'Where are these warheads? Where were they when the ammunition exploded,' he asked.
Interim president of Congress Sonia Gandhi is holding a meeting on Saturday with the election strategist Prashant Kishor. (File)

New Delhi: Close on the heels of the poll rout in the five states where the Assembly elections were held recently, interim president of Congress Sonia Gandhi is holding a meeting on Saturday with the election strategist Prashant Kishor.

The meeting is taking place in the backdrop of speculations running rife about Kishor joining Congress.

Kishor had previously held parleys with the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. However, there had been no forward movement.

According to sources, Gandhi called an urgent meeting at her residence. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken and KC Venugopal are also present at the meeting with Kishor.

The meeting is also taking place in the backdrop of Congress' poll preparations for Gujarat and Himachal Assembly elections this year.

After the recent poll debacle in five states, Congress is seeking to restart negotiations with Kishor. The results of five Assembly polls came as a shock to Congress which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country.

"PK (Prashant Kishor) can be seen taking an advisory role instead of joining Congress. Talks between Prashant Kishor and the Gandhis had collapsed after Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal victory in the state Assembly elections for which he was a strategist," said a senior Congress functionary.

In the past, Prashant Kishor has worked with Congress for the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections. He was credited with helping Congress and Captain Amarinder Singh win 77 out of 117 seats in the 2017 Punjab elections.

Kishor gained acclaim owing to the BJP's landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is set to slam the government's Rwanda plan for asylum seekers as the the 'opposite of the nature of God' tomorrow.

In his Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, Justin Welby will say that Christ's resurrection should be a time for 'repentance and renewal', not for 'sub-contracting our responsibilities'.

The Government announced this week it plans to provide failed asylum seekers, including those crossing the Channel in small boats, with a one-way ticket to Rwanda, where they will have the right to apply to live in the African country.

The Archbishop will also call for a ceasefire in the Russian war on Ukraine and speak of his concern for families struggling during the cost-of-living crisis and for those bereaved by Covid-19.

In his 8.10am sermon, the Archbishop will say: 'The resurrection of Jesus is not a magic wand that makes the world perfect.

The Archbishop of Canterbury (pictured in Kent on Friday) is set to slam the government's Rwanda plan for asylum seekers as the the 'opposite of the nature of God' tomorrow

'But the resurrection of Christ is the tectonic shift in the way the cosmos works. It is the conquest of death and the opening of eternal life - through Jesus, a gift offered to every human being who reaches out to him.'

He will continue: 'Let this be a time for Russian ceasefire, withdrawal and a commitment to talks. This is a time for resetting the ways of peace, not for what Bismarck called blood and iron. Let Christ prevail. Let the darkness of war be banished.

'And this season is also why there are such serious ethical questions about sending asylum seekers overseas.

'The details are for politics. The principle must stand the judgment of God, and it cannot. It cannot carry the weight of resurrection justice, of life conquering death.

'It cannot carry the weight of the resurrection that was first to the least valued, for it privileges the rich and strong.

'And it cannot carry the weight of our national responsibility as a country formed by Christian values, because sub-contracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God who himself took responsibility for our failures.'

Boris Johnson's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda has today been slammed as an 'egregious breach of international law' and 'really unacceptable' by the United Nation's refugee agency. Pictured: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the command room at the 'Maritime rescue coordination centre' in Dover, Britain, April 14, 2022

Migrants wait to disembark at the Port of Dover after being rescued while crossing the English Channel, in Dover, Britain, April 15, 2022

Speaking about the cost-of-living crisis and the pandemic, the Archbishop will say: 'Families across the country are waking up to cold homes and empty stomachs as we face the greatest cost-of-living crisis -we have known.

'The rise in the cost of power and fuel, of basic foods, indeed in the cost of living, will be the first thought of the day and they will feel overwhelmed by the pressures.

'For others it will be the continued deep sense of loss of someone from Covid, or during Covid, to whom they could not say a proper farewell.'

Reflecting on what the resurrection means for us as individuals, the Archbishop will say: 'In dying for us, God sees and knows the wounds that cause us so much pain.

'He hears the cry of the mothers in Ukraine, he sees the fear of boys too young to become soldiers, and he knows the vulnerability of the orphans and refugees.

'Closer to home, he sees the humiliation of the grandparent visiting the food bank for the first time, the desperate choice of parents in poverty and the grief and weariness of the pandemic.'

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby performs the Washing of The Feet ceremony during the Maundy Thursday service at the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in Kent,

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (left) carries a wooden cross during the Walk of Witness at St Mary's Church, Sellindge, Kent, as he carries out his Holy Week engagements

On Saturday, a peer suggested that the Government's plan may breach the Geneva conventions, a peer has suggested.

Former child refugee and Labour peer Alf Dubs said ministers would face opposition in the Lords over the plan unveiled by Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week.

In an interview with The Guardian, Lord Dubs said the Government was attempting to 'ride roughshod' over international agreements.

He said: 'I think it's a way of getting rid of people the Government doesn't want, dumping them in a distant African country, and they'll have no chance of getting out of there again.

'I think it's a breach of the 1951 Geneva conventions on refugees. You can't just shunt them around like unwanted people.'

It comes as it was reported that Ms Patel took the rare step of issuing a ministerial direction to overrule concerns of civil servants about whether the concept will deliver value for money.

As part of the plan designed to curb migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, those who are deemed to have entered Britain by unlawful means since January 1 may be sent to Rwanda where they will be permitted to apply for asylum in the African country.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the claimed use of the ministerial direction by the Home Secretary was only the second deployment of the power within the Home Office in the past 30 years.

The Home Office declined to comment on the matter when approached by the PA news agency.

Migrants travelling to the UK on small boats will be put on jets and sent to Rwanda while their applications are processed. Pictured: A map detailing the plan proposed by the Prime Minister

Speaking to Times Radio on Saturday, shadow prisons minister Ellie Reeves said: 'The UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) has come out really, really strongly condemning the Government's proposals, as have many organisations, and it seems the Government's own civil servants have expressed huge misgivings about the plans, which seem to be completely misguided.'

The Labour politician said: 'The Government is going to be paying 120 million upfront before any asylum seekers will be sent to Rwanda.

'Asylum seekers are saying it won't deter them from crossing the Channel.

'We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis so it doesn't seem the right way to be spending money on an unethical and unworkable scheme that won't deter people from coming over.'

She later added: 'The whole system needs looking at again, so rather than making sweeping statements - these announcements that are completely unworkable and incredibly expensive - what the Government actually needs to do is get to grips with the system and put in place a system that actually works, increase prosecutions and clamp down on criminal gangs.'

But Ms Patel said Denmark could be among those to reproduce the UK Government's 'blueprint'.

'There is no question now that the model we have put forward, I'm convinced is world class and a world first, and it will be used as a blueprint going forward, there's no doubt about that,' Ms Patel said.

'I would not be surprised if other countries start coming to us direct on the back of this as well.'

The Home Secretary said Copenhagen was in talks with Rwanda as well, adding the Council of Europe 'have also basically said they are interested in working with us'.

The Home Office denied its approach was in breach of refugee agreements.

But Lord Dubs, who came to the UK from then Czechoslovakia on one of the Kindertransport trains in 1939, told The Guardian there would be legal challenges and opposition by peers.

'If (Ms Patel) says she'll get rid of the lefty lawyers' claims, well, I think she may have another thing coming. My understanding is that they're going to have real difficulties in getting this through anyway,' he said.

A view of facilities at Hope House, a hostel in Nyabugogo, the Gasabo district of the capital city Kigali, in Rwanda - where migrants shipped from Britain will initially be taken

On Friday, the United Nations also criticised the proposal as an 'egregious breach of international law'. Gillian Triggs, a UNHCR assistant secretary-general, said the agency 'strongly condemns outsourcing the primary responsibility to consider the refugee status.'

Put to her that Australia had effectively deployed a similar tactic to cut migration numbers, Ms Triggs said: 'My point is, just as the Australian policy is an egregious breach of international law and refugee law and human rights law, so too is this proposal by the United Kingdom Government.

'It is very unusual, very few states have tried this, and the purpose is primarily deterrent - and it can be effective, I don't think we're denying that.

'But what we're saying at the UN refugee agency is that there are much more legally effective ways of achieving the same outcome.'

She said attempting to 'shift responsibility' for asylum seekers arriving in Britain was 'really unacceptable'.

Ms Triggs pointed out that Israel had attempted to send Eritrean and Sudanese refugees to Rwanda, but that they 'simply left the country and started the process all over again'.

'In other words, it is not actually a long-term deterrent,' she added.

In response to the UNHCR, the Home Office insisted to the MailOnline that 'Rwanda is a fundamentally safe and secure country with a track record of supporting asylum seekers.' It noted that the UNHCR has previously sad the country is safe for refugees.

'Under this agreement, Rwanda will process claims in accordance with the UN Refugee Convention, national and international human rights laws, and will ensure their protection from inhuman and degrading treatment or being returned to the place they originally fled,' the Home Office's statement said.

'There is nothing in the UN Refugee Convention which prevents removal to a safe country',' it added.
She revealed her dismay at officials from the deradicalisation programme

Now, his teacher has described him as a bright pupil who turned into a fanatic

Ali Harbi Ali, 25, was last week given a life sentence for stabbing David Amess

A teacher has revealed her dismay at officials from the Government's deradicalisation programme shrugging off her concerns about the extremist who went on to murder Tory MP David Amess.

She described how Ali Harbi Ali, who was previously a bright pupil, became increasingly withdrawn and whose eyes went 'dead'. The teacher was so concerned that she referred Ali to Prevent but was later told he was not deemed a threat.

Ali, 25, was last week given a whole life sentence after being convicted of stabbing 69-year-old father-of-three Sir David at his Southend West constituency surgery.

A teacher has revealed her dismay at officials from the Government's deradicalisation programme shrugging off her concerns about the extremist who went on to murder Tory MP David Amess

In an interview with Channel 4's Dispatches programme, the teacher says: 'He [Ali] was very, very bright and very well behaved. He had a great future... As we hit the upper years of the sixth form, his academic performance started to plummet.

'He was preoccupied with particular aspects of Islam. It's almost as if a light had gone out and his eyes were dead. I just got this gut reaction something was wrong.'

She alerted Prevent officials but was told two workers had assessed Ali as carrying no risk.

'They just said, 'We don't think he's a threat. We don't think he's worth taking on any further.' That was it.'

Ali, 25, was last week given a whole life sentence after being convicted of stabbing 69-year-old father-of-three Sir David at his Southend West constituency surgery last April

Tomorrow's programme reveals that half of the terror attacks carried out in Britain in the past five years were committed by extremists who received mentoring on the Prevent scheme.

The Old Bailey heard how Ali was determined to punish MPs who had voted for air strikes on Syria. He considered attacks on various politicians, including Michael Gove, but eventually targeted Sir David.

After Ali was sentenced last week, Sir David's family said: 'It breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with a smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help.'

The Government says Prevent has deradicalised 3,000 individuals since 2006. But Jonathan Hall, its independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, tells the programme: 'There is no evidence that our deradicalisation programmes work.'

Dispatches: Are We Losing The War On Terror? will be broadcast on Channel 4 tomorrow at 7.30pm.
The US Food and Drug Administration is investigating Lucky Charms cereal after dozens of customers complained of illnesses after eating it.

The FDA said Saturday it has received more than 100 complaints related to Lucky Charms so far this year.

'The FDA takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration of a food that may also cause illnesses or injury,' the agency said in a statement.

'The agency is currently reviewing and investigating these reports,' an FDA spokeswoman said.

While it is rare for people to get sick from eating breakfast cereal because cereal is baked, cereal can be contaminated after it is baked, typically when the puffs are glazed with a sugary coating or when it is packaged, food safety experts have said.

Several hundred people have also posted on a food safety website, iwaspoisoned.com, complaining of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting after eating Lucky Charms.

'This is actually my second time experiencing symptoms after eating Lucky Charms and I am certain it is the cause!' one person from Ohio reported to the website.

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General Mills: Delicious Lucky Charms whole grain cereal displayed on store's shelf

Pictured: Lucky Charms cereal, which has left dozens of customers complaining of illness after eating it

'Having extreme abdominal pains time I am holding on to the remaining cereal left in the Box and hoping to get it tested soon!' they wrote, indicating their symptoms were nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, 'something else' and stomach pain.

'I had Lucky Charms for breakfast. After that, about an hour or so later, I got diarrhea and bad gas,' another person from Pittsburgh wrote.

'My son ate the Lucky Charms and later that day he was ill. It come out of nowhere lasted for a couple of days,' wrote another reviewer in North Carolina.

'Ate Lucky Charms for breakfast on 4/12 and 4/13. Started feeling very nauseous and bloated to the point where it felt I was in a big bear hug. On 4/15 continued to feel nauseous and then diarrhea began,' a user from Rochester, New York, reported.

'First looked like chicken noodle soup. Then it was like I had taken a preparation for colonoscopy! Looked like muddy water was gushing out.'

Patrick Quade, founder of the consumer website, said that as of Saturday, his site has received over 3,000 reports from people across the country who have said they got sick soon after eating Lucky Charms.

The majority of those reports have been submitted over the last two weeks, which is the most complaints the decade-old website has ever received for a single product, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Likewise, consumer reports to the FDA about Lucky Charms-linked illnesses have similarly spiked over the last week after reports by the New York Post and USA Today regarding the complaints made to iwaspoisoned.com.

In 2018, a salmonella outbreak traced to Kellogg's Honey Smacks cereal left 135 people sick across 36 different states.

And in 2010, Kellogg recalled 28 million boxes of Froot Loops and other brands after complaints over the taste and smell, with some people claiming they got sick after eating it.

General Mills Inc. Lucky Charms has reportedly left some consumers with nausea, diarrhea and vomiting after eating the breakfast cereal

The problem was elevated levels of a food packaging substance in the cereal box lining, Kellogg found after an investigation into the claims.

Meanwhile, General Mills Inc., the Minneapolis-based company that makes Lucky Charms, Cheerios and other cereals, said it's aware of those reports and takes them seriously.

But the company said its own investigation has not found any evidence of consumer illnesses linked to Lucky Charms.

General Mills said it encourages consumers to share their concerns directly with the company.
A British photojournalist who was captured by the Islamic State pleaded with western governments to pay a $100 million ransom for him and five other hostages.

John Cantlie told his loved ones in a letter smuggled out of Syria that he feared being murdered by the so-called ISIS Beatles gang if the money was not delivered.

He wrote that the US and British governments were 'the most hated' by the terrorist group, and that was why the requested ransom was so large.

The letter from Cantlie, who is the only prisoner held captive by the Beatles whose fate is still unknown, was released following the conviction of l Shafee Elsheikh in the United States on Thursday.

In being convicted, he became the last member of the four-man gang to be brought to justice, after the other three were either also convicted or killed.

Cantlie's handwritten note was secretly delivered to his girlfriend in London, and was released as part of a large cache of documents relating to Elsheikh's trial which painted a clearer picture of the conditions suffered by the Beatles' prisoners.

According to The Times, it had been smuggled out of Syria by Italian aid worker Federico Motka, who was freed by the notorious gang in 2014, just weeks before the Beatles began beheading their hostages on camera.

British photojournalist John Cantlie (pictured right) told his loved ones in a letter smuggled out of Syria that he feared being murdered by the so-called Isis Beatles gang if the money was not delivered. He is the only prisoner held captive by the Beatles whose fate is still unknown

According to The Times , the handwritten note (pictured) was smuggled out of Syria by Italian aid worker Federico Motka, who was freed by the notorious gang in 2014, just weeks before the Beatles began beheading their hostages on camera

Unlike two other British hostages - aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines - Mr Cantlie was not murdered by Mohammed Emwazi (who became known as Jihadi John) on camera.

The letter reads: 'For the six British and American prisoners the group are demanding a total of 100 million. This includes a 7th prisoner, an American female called Kayla Mueller, who will be included in the package of $100 million if 5 million is not paid for her within one month or [name] is not released from American prison.

'The British and American governments are the most hated by this group and therefore they are demanding the most for us. The amount is extremely high but it is the only way the [prisoners] will ever be released.

'In the money is now found, we will remain prisoners here until we die, either by natural causes or

'Didier Francois known all about the situation lease with him on this matter. We are all so sorry to put you in this very difficult situation. We love all our families and pray you are all holding up in this situation.'

Kayla Mueller - an American aid worker - was eventually murdered by the Beatles, while Didier Francois, a French journalist, was released in 2014.

The last public sighting of Mr Cantlie - who converted to Islam during his captivity - was in a 2016 video but a Kurdish official said in 2019 that he was still believed to be in Syria. He has never been found.

Mr Cantlie's skills as a journalist were exploited by ISIS in an attempt to lend credibility to propaganda films.

Pictured: An image shared during the trial shows shackles on the floor of a prison cell

In a video which emerged in March 2016, a thin-looking Cantlie was seen speaking about the bombing of Mosul University in Iraq.

In 2014 he appeared in another video wearing an orange prisoner jumpsuit and revealing how prisoners were waterboarded for trying to escape.

He also read out purported emails between IS and the families of American captives who complained about Washington's refusal to negotiate their release.

Mr Cantlie had worked for several publications, including The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sunday Telegraph.

He was captured in July 2012 but rescued by members of the Free Syrian Army, only to be kidnapped again later that year.

A freed ISIS prisoner said he suffered 'weeks and weeks' of torture after he tried to escape his terrorist prisoners.

Fellow captive Javier Espinosa, a Spanish journalist, said Mr Foley had escaped from a room but waited for Mr Cantlie rather than run for freedom himself.

On Thursday, Elsheikh for his role in an Islamic State group hostage-taking scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners captive a decade ago, resulting in the deaths of four Americans, three of whom were beheaded.

El Shafee Elsheikh (pictured) on Thursday became the last remaining member of the twisted Islamic State 'Beatles' group to be brought to justice as he was finally jailed - watched by the families of those he helped murder

In convicting the British national, the jury concluded that he was one of the notorious 'Beatles,' Islamic State captors nicknamed for their accents and known for their cruelty - torturing and beating prisoners, forcing them to fight each other until they collapsed and even making them sing cruel song parodies.

Surviving hostages testified that the Beatles delighted themselves rewriting 'Hotel California' as 'Hotel Osama' and making them sing the refrain 'You will never leave.'

The guilty finding came even though none of the surviving hostages could identify Elsheikh as one of their captors. Although the Beatles had distinctive accents, they always took great care to hide their faces behind masks and ordered hostages to avoid eye contact or risk a beating.

Prosecutors suggested in opening statements that Elsheikh was the Beatle nicknamed 'Ringo' but only had to prove that Elshiekh was one of the Beatles because testimony showed that all three were major players in the scheme.

Elsheikh, who was captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian defense Forces in 2018, eventually confessed his role in the scheme to interrogators as well as media interviewers, acknowledging that he helped collect email addresses and provided proof of life to the hostages' families as part of ransom negotiations.

But testimony showed that he and the other Beatles were far more than paper pushers. The surviving hostages, all of whom were European - the American and British hostages were all killed - testified that they dreaded the Beatles' appearance at the various prisons to which they constantly shuttled and relocated.

Surviving witness Federico Motka recounted a time in the summer of 2013 when he and cellmate David Haines were put in a room with American hostage James Foley and British hostage John Cantlie for what they called a 'Royal Rumble.' The losers were told they'd be waterboarded. Weak from hunger, two of the four passed out during the hourlong battle.

Elsheikh, 33 (pictured in a court room sketch on April 1) and the other three 'ISIS Beatles'  so-called because they were all from the UK  are said to have captured 26 hostages between 2012 and 2015 in Syria

Then-15-year-old El Shafee Elsheikh, right, seen with his mother and younger brother Mahmoud, who was reportedly killed after also travelling to Syria

The jury deliberated for four hours before finding Elsheikh guilty on all counts. Elsheikh stood motionless and gave no visible reaction as the verdict was read. He now faces up to a life sentence in prison.

Several victims' family members, who were present throughout throughout the three-week trial, fought back tears as the guilty counts were read.

'Praise God! I'm so thankful,' said Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley, after the verdicts came in. 'I'm so proud of the American justice system. El Shafee Elsheikh was treated with a great deal of mercy. He had four attorneys. ... Hopefully we were able to turn this into justice, not revenge.'

She contrasted what she said was the stellar work of the prosecution with what she said was the inaction of government to bring Foley and the other Americans home when they were hostages.

'When we really needed to bring the full force of the government to bear to bring them home, that failed,' she said. 'They were abandoned.'

Victims: Slain American James Foley covering the civil war in Aleppo, Syria in 2012 and US aid worker Peter Kassig - otherwise known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig - in Syria

Victims: Left: US freelance journalist Steven Sotloff. Right: US aide worker Kayla Mueller, 26. Both were killed in Syria by ISIS

Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh, who were 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 Kobani, Syria, Friday, March 30, 2018

She said she hopes the case brings attention to the more than 60 Americans who are being held hostage or wrongly detained around the world.

The convictions on all eight counts in U.S. District Court in Alexandria revolved around the deaths of four American hostages: Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. All but Mueller were executed in videotaped beheadings circulated online. Mueller was forced into slavery and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.

They were among 26 hostages taken captive between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

Defense lawyers acknowledged that Elsheikh joined the Islamic State group but said prosecutors failed to prove he was a Beatle. They cited a lack of clarity about which Beatle was which, and back in the trial's opening statement cited the confusion about whether there were three or four Beatles.

Prosecutors said there were three - Elsheikh and his friends Alexanda Kotey and Mohammed Emwazi, who all knew each other in England before joining the Islamic State. Emwazi, who as known as 'Jihadi John' and carried out the executions, was later killed in a drone strike.

Kotey and Elsheikh were captured together in 2018 and brought to Virginia in 2020 to face trial after the U.S. promised not to seek the death penalty.

Kotey pleaded guilty last year in a plea bargain that calls for a life sentence but leaves open the possibility that he could serve out his sentence in the United Kingdom after 15 years in the U.S.

Kotey will be formally sentenced April 29. Elsheikh will be sentenced Aug. 12. But on Thursday the judge in the two cases, T.S. Ellis III, ordered that Elsheikh appear at Kotey's hearing as well so that he will hear victim impact testimony that will presented ahead of Kotey's sentencing.
The NHS is facing a thalidomide-style scandal over doctors prescribing an epilepsy drug to pregnant women that is known to cause birth defects, it was claimed last night.

Sodium valproate was hailed as a breakthrough drug for epileptics as it helped control fits and seizures, but reports began to surface in the 1980s of babies with abnormalities being born to mothers who took the medicine during pregnancy.

Two years ago, a report criticised the failure of doctors to inform women about the dangers of the drug and said they were still not telling women the full story when prescribing.

According to The Sunday Times, the controversial drug is still being given out by the NHS, in blank packaging without instructions or warning labels.

Campaigners fear an epilepsy drug given to pregnant women could have the same risk as thalidomide (pictured), which killed 100,000 babies and left 10,000 severely disabled

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for a ban on the prescription of Sodium valproate to pregnant mothers and for those who have affected by it to be compensated

The latest figures, published in March, show the drug was given to 247 pregnant women between April 2018 and September 2021. Around six foetuses are exposed to the drug every month.

Campaigners fear the drug could pose the same deadly risk as thalidomide, the medicine prescribed for morning sickness in pregnant women that killed 100,000 babies and left 10,000 severely disabled by the time it was withdrawn in 1961.

Last night, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for a ban on doctors prescribing the tablets to pregnant women and demanded those affected be compensated. He told the paper: 'It beggars belief that after so many warnings this still hasn't been sorted.'

An NHS England spokesman told the newspaper it had established an expert group to help reduce sodium valproate's use by women who can get pregnant by 50 per cent next year.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said patient safety was a 'priority', adding: 'We take all reports and inquiries on this matter extremely seriously.'
Low-income Australians will get free access to the National Broadband Network under a Greens election proposal.

The minor party hopes the policy will benefit school students, carers, low-income families and the unemployed.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the COVID-19 pandemic showed how important internet access was.

The Greens are promising to scrap all student loan debts if the party is able to secure the balance of power at the federal election. Pictured: Leader Adam Bandt

'During the last two years of lockdowns, some families had to park outside the local library to access free internet so their kids could do their school work,' Mr Bandt said.

'At a time when more people are having to rely on the internet to work, study, socialise, shop, and pay their bills, Australia's digital divide is increasing.'

The free high-speed net would be free to anyone with a government healthcare card with about 1.5 million Australians expected to benefit.

Costing by the Parliamentary Budget Office has priced the policy at $800 million per year.

Labor promised last year to spend $2.4 billion on improving full-fibre NBN access for homes and businesses, with the full-fibre technology providing faster speeds.

The NBN has been wracked by concerns over whether it's actually delivering on high speeds, with the competition watchdog last year saying customers were getting lower-than-expected speeds due to the current copper network implemented by the coalition government.

Inside the Greens' very ambitious plan to change Australia

The Australian Greens have pledged to legalise marijuana, wipe student debt, make childcare free and ban petrol cars in an ambitious election agenda.

But the audacious plan - which would cost billions and change Australia as we know it - is mostly pie in the sky with the party only holding one seat in the House of Representatives.

In the latest Newspoll ahead of the May election the Greens have a primary vote of 10 per cent which is the same as their 2019 result.

Last month, the Greens announced they would spend at least $66billion of taxpayers' money to wipe all student debt and leader Adam Bandt is set to announce more big-spending plans in the coming weeks.

Here Daily Mail Australia takes a look at what they have promised so far in policies that will cost hundreds of billions.

Wipe student debt

The Greens want to wipe all student loan debts, meaning Aussies with student loan debt would not be required to pay it back.

'Student debt should not be an added burden on people who are already struggling, especially after the impacts of the pandemic,' said Education spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi.

'Many current MPs, including the Prime Minister, went to university when it was free, but now students are being saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in study debt that often takes decades to repay.'

In 2020-21, the average student debt in Australia was $23,685. The total value of HELP debt in 2020 was $66.6billion.

The Greens also want to make childcare, school, TAFE and university free.

University was free in Australia from 1974 but fees were re-introduced in the 1980s.

Legalise weed

The Greens believe drug use should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal issue.

They would legalise, tax and regulate cannabis, fund pill testing at festivals and establish safe injecting facilities in each capital city.

The Greens want to set up a regulated cannabis market with an Australian Cannabis Agency to issue licences for production and sale and ensure quality.

The Greens believe drug use should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal issue

Aussies would be allowed to grow six plants at home for personal use but there would be big fines for selling without a licence.

Adverts for the drug would be banned.

'The major parties in this countries are intent on pushing forward a policy that criminalises drug users, supports an unregulated and dangerous market and makes people fear seeking help when they need it,' the Greens say on their website.

Ban petrol cars

The Greens want to immediately ban the construction of new coal, oil and gas infrastructure.

Their target is to phase out the mining, burning and export of thermal coal by 2030.

They also want to stop subsidies for fossil fuel companies, ban political donations from these industries and re-introduce a carbon price.

The Greens would also end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, subsidise electric cars and build charging stations across the country

They would spend billions on renewable energy and storage to make sure Australia's electricity comes from 100 per cent renewable sources.

The Greens would also end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, subsidise electric cars and build charging stations across the country.

They want to spend $25 billion on more rail and bus services and build a high-speed rail line from Melbourne to Brisbane.

The Greens also want to end land clearing and native forest logging and plant millions of trees.

Make more healthcare free

The Greens want to make dental care free at the point of use under the Medicare system.

They would also spend $4.8billion to provide unlimited psychologist or psychiatrist mental health sessions under Medicare.

The Greens want to make dental care free at the point of use under the Medicare system

Parental leave at $100,000 a year

The Greens want to shake up parental leave to give parents 26 weeks off.

Their plan involves giving each parent six weeks off on a 'use it or lose it' basis and another 14 weeks on top of that for a couple to share between them.

The leave would be paid by taxpayers at the carer's wage up to $100,000 per year, instead of at minimum wage.

There would also be superannuation paid on all parental leave.

Minimum wage hike

The Greens want to make the minimum wage 60 per cent of the median wage.

The median wage for full-time people in Australia is currently $1,835 a week and 60 per cent of this would be $1,101.

This would make the minimum annual wage $57,264 per year, up from $40,175 per year or $772.60 per week.

Slash defence spending

The Greens - who call their defence spokesman the peace and disarmament spokesman - want to slash defence spending to 1.5 per cent of GDP.

They want to cut down on guns and tanks and instead maintain a 'light, readily deployable and highly mobile force that meets the needs of our place in the world'.

The Greens - who call their defence spokesman the peace and disarmament spokesman - want to slash defence spending to 1.5 per cent of GDP

The Greens also want laws to stop Governments going to war without Parliamentary approval, a move that critics say would damage the nation's ability to act swiftly in face of threats.

The Greens also want to 'renegotiate' the nation's alliance with the US and ban killer drones.

They want to end the offshore detention of illegal immigrants and increase refugee intake to 50,000 a year.

End racism and sexism

The Greens say 'racism is widespread in Australia' and 'racial trauma is an everyday reality for so many people'.

They would mandate anti-racism training for all federal MPs and Commonwealth employees and spend $5million on an anti-racism campaign.

The Greens also say 'we live in a rape culture: one that normalises sexual assault as ''boys will be boys''.'

They would mandate that all MPs undertake regular, comprehensive anti-bullying and harassment training and fund a national respectful relationships program in public schools.

Tax the rich even more

The Greens have proposed a billionaires' tax which takes six per cent of wealth from anyone with a net worth of more than $1billion.

They say this tax on 122 Australian citizens would raise approximately $40billion over 10 years.

They also want a Corporate Super-Profits Tax, which applies a 40 per cent tax to companies with revenue over $100million a year.
Priti Patel is to launch a foreign language information campaign announcing that Britain is closed for business to illegal migrants, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

A Government source said that after striking a dramatic deal, the Home Secretary wants to spread the word internationally and let people know the rules have changed and if you arrive illegally to the UK, you can be deported to Rwanda.

About 28,500 people entered the UK illegally last year after crossing the Channel. More than 200 migrants from small boats are thought to have been brought to Dover yesterday, bringing this years total to more than 6,000  a figure only reached last year in July.

The news came as 200 arrived in small boats yesterday alone (Border Force in Dover today)

Ministry of Defence officials said 1,394 had arrived between Wednesday and Friday.

The 100,000 information campaign will use social media to reach people in source countries in their own languages. In a bid to stop a rush, it will make clear the new measures are backdated to January 1.

A Cabinet Minister who supports the policy said: For this to be the success it needs to be, we need to make sure potential migrants fully understand Britain is closed for business to people-traffickers.

The deal  expected to be the subject of legal challenges  was presented to Cabinet Ministers on Wednesday by Ms Patel and the Prime Minister.

Social media in 'source countries' will be used to dissuade 'potential migrants' from leaving

The Rwandan government will receive 120 million in investment from the UK with the cost of housing each migrant for three months estimated at 20,000 to 30,000.

Ms Patel issued a ministerial direction, only the second in the department for 30 years, to force through the policy after objections from Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft.

Senior Home Office civil servants have expressed dismay at the cost. One said: It will be astronomical. The legal bill alone will be huge.

Last night, the Home Office published an exchange of letters between Ms Patel and Mr Rycroft in which he called for a ministerial direction as he could not justify the policys value for money.

Home Secretary Patel, speaking this week in Rwanda, announced the controversial policy

The package also includes a new immigration centre for 500 men at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire.

The Labour Party has been accused of hypocritical attacks against the plans because Tony Blairs administration proposed deporting migrants overseas in 2003.

Keith Saunders, Border Forces chief immigration officer in Calais between 2001 and 2016, said the two sets of plans were not dissimilar, adding: Whoever is in power, the other side will have a go. It would be more helpful if they all tried to work together.
Taxpayer funds are being spent on anti-deportation lawyers and activists protesting against Priti Patels plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Home Office mandarins signed off 17,647 in grants to a radical campaign group that last week staged a protest outside the department about its own policy.

Government grants have also been given to law firms working to prevent Channel migrants from being returned to France.

Home Office mandarins signed off on grants for campaigners protesting department's own Rwanda policy, which was announced by the Home Secretary in Kigali (pictured) this week

In 2020-21, the Home Office gave Migrants Organise a 17,647 grant, new transparency figures have shown.

This is on top of 11,502 in the previous two years.

Last Thursday, Migrants Organise promoted a protest outside the Home Office against the Rwanda deal.

Its chief executive Zrinka Bralo claimed Ms Patels plan amounted to kidnapping and deportation of refugees.

The chief executive of one funded group said the government is 'kidnapping' migrants

Meanwhile, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a quango set up by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, gave 240,000 to a project aiming to decriminalise activists who help illegal migrants  including those who block deportation planes from taking off.

Elliot Keck, investigations campaign manager of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: Taxpayers cash should not be propping up controversial campaigners.

A UKRI spokesman said: Applicants to UKRI research grants are free to research any topic within our remit.

'The process is highly competitive and the decision to fund these research projects is made via a rigorous peer review process based on excellence.
Boris Johnson will this week face down claims he misled Parliament as opposition MPs plot to make him quit.

The Prime Minister faces the threat of a formal House of Commons inquiry over his previous comments that no rules were broken at No 10.

Sources say Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is likely to allow two requests from opposition MPs for a so-called contempt motion into Mr Johnson's conduct.

Above: Boris Johnson gave a statement after receiving a fine for breaking lockdown rules. The Prime Minister faces the threat of a formal House of Commons inquiry over his previous comments that no rules were broken at No 10

Above: A police officer outside 10 Downing Street. A Cabinet Minister told The Mail on Sunday last night that Tory MPs might not 'hold the line' if Mr Johnson was fined again, adding: 'If he gets two, three or four fines, people can lose their nerve quickly.'

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister will make a statement to MPs about receiving a fixed penalty notice for breaking Covid laws he introduced.

MPs are expected to vote on Thursday on whether a parliamentary committee should look into claims that he misled Parliament over Partygate.

The Prime Minister will be in India on Thursday and Friday to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ongoing free trade agreement talks and to discuss security co-operation.

Few Tories criticised Mr Johnson publicly after he was fined by police, with a number of high-profile MPs saying it was not the right time to switch leaders, praising his response to Ukraine and playing down the fine.

Above: A protester holds up a placard of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson outside Downing Street. Today an exclusive poll for the MoS has Labour 11 points ahead of the Tories  the highest lead Deltapoll has recorded since the 2019 Election

But a Cabinet Minister told The Mail on Sunday last night that Tory MPs might not 'hold the line' if Mr Johnson was fined again, adding: 'If he gets two, three or four fines, people can lose their nerve quickly.'

Today an exclusive poll for the MoS has Labour 11 points ahead of the Tories  the highest lead Deltapoll has recorded since the 2019 Election.

It came as George Freeman became the latest Minister to raise concerns to his constituents about those fined.

In an email seen by The Sunday Times, the Science Minister said he was 'concerned about the damage the saga may be doing to already fragile public trust in our politics, Parliament and Government', adding that he was 'pleased that the PM and Chancellor have issued apologies'.
New safety laws to crack down on fake news on the internet will leave no hiding place for online criminals, Ministers said last night.

They sought to calm fears about the proposed rules by insisting they will protect young internet users and target online crooks.

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said the 'ground-breaking' Bill 'will make the UK the safest place to surf the web'.

She also unveiled a Media Literacy Taskforce to help vulnerable and 'hard-to-reach' people understand what they read online.

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries' (pictured) new Online Safety Bill aims to make the UK 'the safest place to surf the web', but there are concerns it could lead to online censorship

The Online Safety Bill, to be debated by MPs this week, has sparked concerns that it could damage Press freedom and lead to legitimate online content being censored.

Senior Tory MP David Davis said the 'seriously flawed' Bill would still allow a Minister 'and a few MPs' to decide what could be published online in some cases.

The former Brexit Secretary added: 'If Vladimir Putin came up with something like this, we'd rightly condemn it.'

The new online regime, to be debated by MPs this week, aims to crack down on false and harmful information on the internet by requiring social media platforms, search engines and websites to beef up protection for users.

Companies failing to comply face fines of up to 10 per cent of their annual global turnover as well as being forced to improve their practices and block non-compliant sites.

But defenders of free speech say the threat of huge fines will cause tech companies such as Google and Facebook to censor legitimate content, stifle public debate and harm Press freedom.

Tory MP David Davis (pictured) has expressed his concerns, he said if the same Bill was introduced by Putin, it would be 'rightly condemned'

They fear the companies' algorithms will take down legitimate news stories on issues such as terrorism and child abuse.

The News Media Association, which represents news publishers, called on Ministers to go further and ensure news publisher content is 'entirely and clearly out of scope'.

Alison Gow, former president of the Society of Editors, echoed calls for an exemption for news publishers, warning the Bill could otherwise 'stifle' newspapers.

Ministers insist there are major safeguards for journalism, saying journalists will get a fast-tracked right to appeal if any content is removed. They also say they are prepared to make improvements to the Bill as it debated in Parliament.

However, MPs have warned that as many as 20,000 tech businesses will be 'within scope' of the new legislation, and it could affect websites which advertise holidays and restaurants and allow users to leave reviews.
Hyderabad: Alleging that the TRS party leaders indulged in harassing innocent people in Khammam and Ramayampet of Medak district where a mother and son were charred to death in Kamareddy and Sai Ganesh died by suicide, state BJP chief and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar demanded that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao take stern action against TRS ruling party Minister P Ajay and Ramayampet TRS leaders owing responsible of death cases.

Sai Ganesh had posted a video on Facebook against Minister P Ajay and TRS party's illegal activities, alleging that the Minister influenced the police and registered 16 false cases against him. "As police harassed Sai Ganesh by threatening to open history sheet, [he] died by suicide. Gangam Santosh and his mother died by suicide in Kamareddy after Ramayampet TRS leaders harassed them," Sanjay Kumar said.

"Considering three persons deaths as murders committed by the TRS leaders, the Chief Minister must take action or tender his resignation to the post owing responsible to the incidents took place in Ramayampet and Khammam. The TRS party leaders influence the police by misusing powers and indulging in harassing innocent people by registering false and fake cases," the BJP chief said.

"The BJP would take the issue seriously and fight legally against the TRS party leaders and police officers indulged in harassing innocent people," he said, accusing that the ministers and TRS party leaders influenced police with the directions of the Chief Minister in killing innocent people. "Whoever opposes the TRS leaders illegal activities, the TRS leaders misused police powers in harassing people," Sanjay alleged.
Borrowers who take out large mortgages on the basis that they will clear existing debts will be increasingly scrutinised by lenders amid the cost of living crisis, mortgage brokers have warned.

A number of lenders already have criteria in place that protect against people taking out large loans and then failing to proceed to pay off their debts once the mortgage cash hits their bank account.

An example of this is Halifax, which advises brokers that any current credit commitments would be 'deducted in our affordability calculation even where declared as 'to be repaid''.

Higher-risk borrowers who take out large mortgages to repay other debts will be increasingly scrutinised by lenders

Essentially, this means that higher-risk borrowers who mark a debt as 'to be repaid' will still be treated as if that debt will not be repaid. Brokers said that they expect to see more lenders adopting this approach in the weeks and months ahead.

This is not a new lending approach from Halifax, which confirmed it has been advising brokers of this since 2020, with many other lenders also taking a similar stance.

Lewis Shaw, of Shaw Financial Services, said: 'We expect to see more of this from lenders in the months ahead.

'Essentially, this is a major high street lender saying we don't believe you'll pay off the debt but will probably go out and treat yourself to a nice holiday in the Maldives, buy a Rolex or quickly run up more debt. Human nature what it is, they're often not wrong, either.'

And Graham Cox, of the Self Employed Mortgage Hub, added: 'With the huge increase in the cost of living, some borrowers are not using the extra borrowing to clear debts, but instead to supplement their income or maintain their existing standard of living.

'Therefore, expect much more of this tightening of affordability criteria over the next year, particularly if house prices start going into reverse.'

Lenders have taken an increasingly tighter stance on lending criteria since the financial crisis of 2008 to help ensure borrowers do not over-stretch themselves.

But the ability of borrowers to keep up with their mortgage repayments is once again under the spotlight as households face higher bills amid the cost of living crisis.

In what is being seen as the biggest clampdown by banks on mortgage checks in more than a decade, last week Santander made it tougher for borrowers to meet its lending criteria because it told brokers it would reflect the rises in household bills, National Insurance and taxes.

Broker Lewis Shaw says: 'Essentially, this is a high street lender saying we don't believe you'll pay off the debt but will probably go out and treat yourself to a nice holiday in the Maldives'

Taylor Scott-Barr, of Carl Summers Financial Services, said: 'The reality is that many borrowers either do not repay the debts once the money hits their account, or they do but then run up the debts again in the next few years.

'It is not to say all borrowers do this, but a large enough proportion do to create a risk for lenders.'

He suggested that one option would be to make it a condition of the mortgage offer for the solicitor, or even the lender's own advances team, to repay the debts directly.

However, Mr Scott-Barr added: 'That still wouldn't solve the problem of people running up the debts again.'

And for those borrowers who think they can still run up debts and for them to be undetected on their mortgage application, one broker added a stark warning.

Mr Shaw explained: 'The general public often think they can outsmart lenders, but the reality is that lenders have access to incredible tech and so much data that it's impossible to fool them.

'The general public often think they can outsmart lenders, but the reality is that lenders have access to incredible tech and so much data that it's impossible to fool them.

'For example, via open banking and credit checking, lenders can see if debt has been repaid or not, and they share this information with other lenders. I had a case recently where a lender refused a loan because the applicant had said they would pay off a debt a couple of years ago but didn't. In the world of digital banking, there is nowhere to hide.'
The UKs most popular literary festival takes place in Oxfordshire in October  and were giving readers a chance to be part of an unmissable experience a few weeks later as the event takes to the water.

Youll mingle with some of your favourite authors while enjoying wonderful food and drink and breathtaking vistas on the eight-day Henley Literary Festival cruise through the heart of Europe.

Talks, interviews and more from a host of top writers will take place on board an Emerald Cruises Star-Ship during this unforgettable cruise.

Highlight: You'll visit the towns of Melk and Durnstein in the beautiful Unesco-listed Wachau Valley (pictured)

Unforgettable: Talks, interviews and more from a host of top writers will take place on board an Emerald Cruises Star-Ship. Pictured is an Emerald Grand Balcony Suite

MEET YOUR SPECIAL GUESTS Kate Mosse Louis de Bernieres KATE MOSSE is a bestselling author with sales of more than five million copies in 38 languages. LOUIS DE BERNIERESS best-known work is Captain Corellis Mandolin, which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Novel in 1994. It was later adapted into a major Hollywood film starring Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz. Joanna Trollope Ruth Jones JOANNA TROLLOPE OBE is the author of 17 highly acclaimed bestselling novels such as A Village Affair, The Choir and The Rectors Wife. Trollope has written a number of historical novels, many under the pseudonym Caroline Harvey. Actress, comedian and author RUTH JONES is best-known for her award-winning television writing, most notably Gavin & Stacey. Advertisement

The Danube is one of Europes greatest rivers, flowing through ten countries and four capital cities: Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Belgrade. Our unique itinerary starts in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on October 27. Your ship will stop at Linz for Cesky Krumlov, the towns of Melk and Durnstein in the beautiful Unesco-listed Wachau Valley, Bratislava and Vienna, before the cruise finishes in ancient Passau on the edge of Germanys Black Forest.

With a brilliant line-up of bestselling authors set to attend, including recently added Ruth Jones, Joanna Trollope, Kate Mosse and Louis de Bernieres, it promises to be an epic journey through central Europe that book-lovers will not want to miss.

For added peace of mind, Emerald Cruises offers a Flexible Booking Policy which allows you to defer your travel plans and transfer to an alternative departure date or itinerary up to 60 days before departure*.

REASONS TO BOOK

An incredible line-up: You will meet some of your favourite personalities from the world of books, hand-picked by Henley Literary Festival, now one of Britains most popular literary festivals. With more speakers to be announced, youll get to hear them talk and attend exclusive Q&A sessions on board the ship.

Discover the Danube: During this voyage, youll sail through stunning scenery and visit two of Europes great capitals  Vienna, famous for its art and culture, and historic Budapest in Hungary.

Your deluxe Star-Ship: Emerald Cruises fleet offers spacious and stylishly designed staterooms, an indoor heated pool with retractable roof, fitness centre, large open-air sun deck with putting green and an evening cinema.

Flexible booking policy: Emerald Cruises Flexible Booking Policy allows guests to change their travel dates or itinerary up to 60 days before departure at no cost*.

YOUR ITINERARY: DAY 1 Fly to Budapest and board DAY 2 Budapest DAY 3 Bratislava DAY 4 Vienna DAY 5 Durnstein and Melk DAY 6 Linz for Cesky Krumlov DAY 7Passau DAY 8 Disembark and fly home.
Barry Keoghan was arrested in Dublin, Ireland early Sunday in connection with public intoxication while on the balcony of an apartment.

The 29-year-old actor was taken into custody by authorities with An Garda Siochana, the police for the Republic of Ireland, at an apartment complex in Clongriffin, Dublin 13, independent.ie reported.

The outlet reported that authorities were told by 'a resident that a man was outside their apartment window,' and that Keoghan was intoxicated when they made initial contact with him.

The latest: Barry Keoghan, 29, was arrested in Dublin, Ireland early Sunday in connection with public intoxication while on the balcony of an apartment. The actor was snapped in NYC last month

Officials 'were called to the apartments after getting reports of a man on a balcony in an intoxicated state,' a source told the outlet. 'When they arrived he wasnt threatening in any way but was arrested and brought to the garda station, where he was dealt with before being released.'

The Dublin, Ireland native was transported to Coolock garda station and given a caution before he was released from custody with no charge, according to the outlet.

The source told the outlet that the issue is over 'and nothing more will come of it.'

Keoghan - who has been seen in Eternals, The Batman and Chernobyl - is related to a person who resides near the apartment complex where he was arrested, according to the outlet.

The actor was snapped in London at the Eternals premiere last October

The actor was seen opposite co-star Lauren Ridloff in Eternals

Keoghan last August was assaulted in Galway, Ireland, as officials saw him outside of the G Hotel with injuries to his face.

He was subsequently hospitalized at Galway University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries in the incident, according to the Irish outlet Sunday World.

Keoghan was seen playing The Joker character in a deleted scene for The Batman that the film's director Matt Reeves subsequently released.

Keoghan shared a clip of his scene on his Instagram page last month.

'So here is the JOKER and BATMAN scene from THE BATMAN,' he captioned the post to his 978,000 followers. 'Honestly I am stuck for words but I am very very BLESSED to play this role after the AMAZING AMAZING Actors before me. Heres my version ... Enjoy.'
Riverdale star KJ Apa signed on to star in the HBO Max live action DC comedy The Wonder Twins with 1883 actress Isabel May playing his sister.

Apa will play the character Zan, and May is set to portray his sibling Jayna, according to Deadline.

The plotline has remained under wraps thus far, but Jayna is known for being able to transform into an animal while Zan has shapeshifting abilities.

Comic kids: Riverdale star KJ Apa (left; in 2019) signed on to star in the HBO Max live action DC comedy The Wonder Twins with 1883 actress Isabel May playing his sister (right; seen in 2022)

Adam Sztykiel will make his directorial debut with a script he wrote after signing on to the Warner Bros. project in February.

Production is reportedly set to begin this summer in Atlanta, Georgia with Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfreys Temple Hill producing.

Zan and Jayna first made their debuts in Hanna-Barbera's The All-New Super Friends Hour, followed by The Worlds Greatest Super Friends, Super Friends and Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show.

Powerful pair: Zan and Jayna first made their debuts in Hanna-Barbera's The All-New Super Friends Hour, followed by The Worlds Greatest Super Friends, Super Friends and Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Big time: KJ is known for playing Archie on the hit CW/WBTV series Riverdale, and recently became a father with the birth of his first child with girlfriend Clara Berry, a son named Sasha Vai Keneti Apa; seen in 2022

The powerful pair are from the planet Exxor and were being informally trained by the DC superheroes after being orphaned during a plague and adopted by the alien Exorians.

Upon learning the villain Grax is set to destroy Earth, the twins travel to the planet to warn the Justice League of impending doom.

Jayna and Zan ultimately find themselves blending into life on Earth as Swedish teenaged exchange students and attend Gotham City High School.

Star power: May plays Elsa Dutton on Paramount+s Yellowstone prequel 1883, and has also starred in Young Sheldon and the Netflix show Alexa & Katie; seen on Sunday

The Wonder Twins made cameos in other parts of the DC universe throughout the years, including Teen Titans Go!, Smallville and The Flash.

KJ is known for playing Archie on the hit CW/WBTV series Riverdale, and recently became a father with the birth of his first child with girlfriend Clara Berry, a son named Sasha Vai Keneti Apa.

May plays Elsa Dutton on Paramount+s Yellowstone prequel 1883, and has also starred in Young Sheldon and the Netflix show Alexa & Katie.
Pip Edwards is sure living it up on holiday in Hawaii.

After jetting to the tropical island paradise earlier this week for the Easter break, the 41-year-old enjoyed some fun in the sun on Friday.

The P.E Nation co-founder stripped off into another skimpy bikini to enjoy a relaxing day by the pool at her oceanfront hotel on Waikiki beach.

Another day, another bikini! Pip Edwards showed off her incredibly toned figure in a skimpy two-piece on Friday, as she sunbathed by the pool in Hawaii

Pip looked incredible as she showed off her toned figure, which she maintains through her love of Pilates.

She wore a retro-style bikini top in a geometric print, with matching tie-up bottoms.

Pip teamed the look with a blue miniskirt and a blue galaxy shirt.

'Not moving from here': She wore a retro-style bikini top in a geometric print, with matching tie-up bottoms

She tied her hair back off her face and wore a chic pair of beige cat-eye sunglasses.

'Solar charging,' Pip captioned one post.

She also shared a picture of herself soaking up the sun on a sunbed by the pool, with a Gucci/Balenciaga scarf on top, writing: 'Not moving from here.'

On Thursday, she showed off her figure in a stylish black and white striped bikini.

'Officially out of office,' Pip wrote in the caption.

Hot to trot: On Thursday, she showed off her figure in a stylish black and white striped bikini. 'Officially out of office,' Pip wrote in the caption

Holiday mode: She also shared photos of palm trees and the beach, writing: 'Aloha, paradise found'

She also shared photos of palm trees and the beach, writing: 'Aloha, paradise found.'

The Bondi-based businesswoman credits her incredible figure to Pilates.

Pip is a regular at Fluidform Pilates, a movement method by Kirsten King that is popular in Sydney thanks to its celebrity clientele.

'I spent a lot of time in my early thirties doing weight training and HIIT workouts. I had a bad injury and kept training with it and then I hit a wall and realised that I needed to look after my body,' she once said of her Pilates practice.

'A friend then recommended a really good Pilates instructor who specialises in rehab Pilates. Now I make sure that I fit Pilates classes into my schedule three times a week and it's changed my life.'
She is currently soaking up the sun on a romantic getaway with boyfriend Teddy Soares in Santorini.

And Faye Winter showed off her jaw-dropping figure on Friday as she continued to enjoy her luxury holiday in Greece.

The former Love Island star, 26, flashed her tanned skin in a revealing baby blue bikini as she went for a dip in a stunning infinity pool in snaps she shared with her followers on Instagram.

Incredible: Faye Winter showed off her jaw-dropping figure in a revealing baby blue bikini on Friday as she continued to enjoy her luxury holiday in Greece

Faye looked like she was having the time of her life as she beamed while donning a pair or stylish black sunglasses.

The blonde beauty wore her golden tresses in a blown out style to one side, showing off her gold hoop earrings.

The influencer captioned the sizzling snaps: 'Never leaving' with a dolphin and Greece flag emoji.

Sun-kissed: The former Love Island star, 26, looked like she was having the time of her life as she beamed in a pair or stylish black sunglasses while going for a dip in a stunning infinity pool

Faye and Teddy looked loved-up on Wednesday after she surprised him with a trip to Greece for his 27th birthday.

The couple cosied up as they enjoyed a boozy meal while watching the sunset in the stunning exotic location.

Faye wowed in a gold mini dress which showed off her sideboob, while accessorising with gold hoop earrings.

Romantic: Faye also looked loved-up with boyfriend Teddy Soares on Wednesday after she surprised him with a trip to Greece for his 27th birthday

Meanwhile, Teddy looked handsome in a black shirt with white detail as he beamed and put his arm around Faye's waist.

Alongside the joint Instagram post shared with both their followers, they penned: 'Santorini was always a good idea'

Faye updated her 1.2 million Instagram followers on the trip on Monday by sharing a slew of sizzling selfies in front of the sea.

Romance: The Love Island stars cosied up as they enjoyed a boozy meal while watching the sunset in the stunning exotic location

The bronzed beauty donned a cream bralet and matching crocheted cardigan and brought back her famous brown lipstick.

She captioned the stunning snaps: 'I'm on holiday, guess what's back' with a lipstick and brown heart emoji

Teddy flashed his dazzling white smile in front of the sunset and Santorinis recognisable whitewashed buildings, letting fans know he had arrived in paradise, as he wrote: 'Smiling, but at which view?'

Looking good: Faye updated her 1.2 million Instagram followers on the trip on Monday by sharing a slew of sizzling selfies in front of the sea

Teddy flashed his dazzling white smile in front of the sunset and Santorinis recognisable whitewashed buildings, letting fans know he had arrived in paradise, as he wrote: 'Smiling, but at which view?'

It comes after Faye pulled out all the stops to surprise Teddy with the trip for his 27th birthday.

Faye's Instagram post from Teddy's birthday showed a beautifully decorated room which featured white and blue balloons attached all the way up the staircase and a stunning cake.

Teddy didn't realise what his present was until he read the words on the display behind him which said: 'Loving you is easy, fancy a trip to Santorini?'

The blonde beauty captioned the snap: 'Yesterday we got to celebrate you @teddysoars and the incredible man you are. I couldn't be anymore in love with you. Happy Birthday Baby'
Evelyn Sharma is one of Bollywood's biggest stars.

And the 35-year-old actress, who hails from Germany, has relocated to a small town in Queensland with her husband Tushaan Bhindi and their young daughter.

The model is living in Chinchilla, a rural town in the Western Downs Region, after her dental surgeon husband bought the local dental practice.

New home: Bollywood star Evelyn Sharma (pictured) moved to a rural town in Queensland with her husband Tushaan Bhindi after buying the local dental practice

'In the beginning it felt like a mental detox, being in Chinchilla in the country, away from 22 million people in one city,' she told The Courier Mail.

'That constant noise that you have around yourself but also being conscious of paparazzi, that was just my everyday life.'

'At some point here I started getting very uncomfortable if I saw phones pointing at me, but then I was like, they don't know who I am, they're not taking my picture, and it became really relaxing, and I felt so safe.'

A new place to call home: The model is living in Chinchilla, a rural town in the Western Downs Region, after her dental surgeon husband bought the local dental practice

Evelyn married husband Tushaan in May last year and they welcomed their daughter in December.

She admitted it was 'really really tough' being separated from her family and friends during her pregnancy.

But she said the town has been very supportive and has been looking after her and her family.

'At some point here I started getting very uncomfortable if I saw phones pointing at me, but then I was like, they don't know who I am, they're not taking my picture, and it became really relaxing, and I felt so safe,' she said

Evelyn made her film debut in 2006 after appearing in American film Turn left.

She went on to star in Bollywood film From Sydney with Love in 2012, before landing a role in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

She has also hosted her own travel show titled Life Mein Ek Baar.
Rumer Willis showed off her vertiginous legs and taut midriff while stepping out for a spot of shopping in Los Angeles this week.

The 33-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore was spotted out and about in a tiny pair of shorts for her latest outing.

She could be spotted pushing a shopping cart into a location of the upscale health food supermarket chain Erewhon.

Off she goes: Rumer Willis showed off her vertiginous legs and taut midriff while stepping out for a spot of shopping in Los Angeles this week

Rumer teamed the shorts with clinging white crop top and sneakers, accessorizing with a snakeskin stitch handbag.

Warding off the California rays with a pair of large sunglasses, she let her fiery red curls down and wore a bit of fringe.

Her latest sighting comes after Bruce, 67 withdrew from acting amid his struggles with the brain condition aphasia, which causes language abilities to deteriorate.

An insider told People his family is 'doing whatever they can' for him and 'have rallied around him in a big way to help Bruce cope with what is to come.'

Legs for days: The 33-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore was spotted out and about in a tiny pair of shorts for her latest outing

Bruce's blended family issued a joint statement at the end of March announcing that he is 'stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.'

The statement revealed he 'has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities.'

Demi and the three daughters she shares with Bruce - Rumer, 33, Scout, 30, and Tallulah, 28 - were all among the signatories of the statement.

So were Bruce's current wife Emma Heming, 43, and the two little daughters they have together - Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, seven.

A place in the sun: Warding off the California rays with a pair of large sunglasses, she let her fiery red curls down and wore a bit of fringe

The family are now apparently focused on treasuring the upbeat memories they are able to create together such as Mabel turning 10 on April Fool's Day last week.

'Emma is especially grateful for the daughters she shares with Bruce. Everyone is focused on all the happy moments they are able to share,' a People insider said.

Although the root cause of his aphasia has not gone public, a friend told The Sun that some of his loved ones believe his condition may be connected to a head injury he reportedly suffered on the set of Tears Of The Sun in 2002.

Bruce sued the production company, claiming to have sustained 'substantial mental and physical injuries' after being struck by a special effects explosive called a 'squib.' The parties reached a settlement in 2005 with details that have remained private.

Errands: Rumer teamed the shorts with clinging white crop top and sneakers, accessorizing with a snakeskin stitch handbag

However Joe Pancake, the special effects specialist on the movie, said Bruce was not hit by a 'hot shell casing,' not a squib, and 'the judge laughed him out of court.'

'In my 38 years of experience I know that they don't fly up and hit you in the head,' Joe told DailyMail.com last week. 'He tried to blame my department. He dragged my name through the mud for two years. It was bulls***.'

Joe added: 'After all his allegations they made him show his medical records and you know what the doctor prescribed him? Tylenol.'

'We are moving through this': Bruce's blended family issued a joint statement a week ago announcing that he is 'stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him'

Bruce's blended family get along so well that earlier in lockdown Bruce was isolating in Idaho with Emma, Demi and all of his daughters.

Since the family went public with news of Bruce's retirement, fans have flocked to social media to share their love for the Die Hard icon.

The Razzie Awards even decided to rescind a special category they had previously announced: 'worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie.'

'Id hoped for some love and compassion, I truly NEVER could have anticipated the depth and breadth of the love we received as a family yesterday,' Scout wrote on Instagram amid the outpouring of affection for her father.

So sweet: Rumer is pictured as a little girl in a picture of with her father that she posted to her Instagram page last week

In the wake of the news the Los Angeles Times reported that colleagues had been worried for years about his cognitive health.

Sources told the newspaper that Bruce needed to wear an earpiece on set so that he could be given his lines if he went up on them.

While shooting the movie American Siege in 2020, he was even pictured wearing what appeared to be an earpiece.
Bella Hadid on Friday said she was 'shadow banned' on Instagram Stories as she took to the social media site with clips related to the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel.

'My Instagram has disabled me from posting on my story - pretty much only when it is Palestine based I'm going to assume,' the supermodel, 25, said on the social media site, along with a shot of her teary eye amid heightened violence in the Middle East.

'When I post about Palestine I get immediately shadow banned and almost 1 million less of you see my stories and posts,' said Hadid, who is of Dutch and Palestinian descent.

Details: Bella Hadid, 25, on Friday said she was 'shadow banned' on Instagram Stories as she took to the social media site with clips related to the ongoing conflict in between Palestine and Israel. Bella was pictured on Wednesday in NYC

Hadid, who has 51 million followers, shared another screengrab that illustrated restrictions on her account, captioning the shot, 'Won't let me repostfor 2 hours now.'

Hadid went on to share her views about the conflict, which comes during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover.

She shared a clip which appeared to show the Israeli army at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

'Posting this video directly after,' Hadid wrote. 'Let's be reminded that this land is some of the most holy soil in the world. Where Jesus was born. Where every religion has a place to call home. To pray. To be. To live. (Not at all safely as you can see.) With mosques, synagogues, churches

The supermodel said she was being 'shadow banned on the social media site, along with a shot of her teary eye amid heightened violence in the Middle East

Hadid shared another screengrab that illustrated restrictions on her account, cautioning the shot, 'Won't let me repostfor 2 hours now'

'But to do this to only one group, during prayer on the holy month of Ramadan is just truly sick in the head.'

Hadid said in a separate frame that a pair of posts she was 'trying to re-post from Eye On Palestine all day,' and had penned 'long messages' about were 'the only ones that are not uploading.'

Hadid shared multiple frames of posts that did not appear to be uploaded to her Instagram Stories despite her attempts.

In response to a story about the conflict at the mosque, in which at least 152 Palestinians suffered injuries, Hadid said that 'the nation state of Israel attacks, kills and injuries Palestinians while they pray during the whole month of Ramadan in their homeland as they have for centuries.'

In response to a quote from late Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran about worshipping in mosques, temples and churches, Hadid wrote, 'Palestine has always been a haven for the three pillar religions, however the nation state of Israel will only allow Judaism to be practiced.'

Hadid reposted a clip from Eye On Palestine that appeared to show an Israeli soldier attacking a Palestinian woman before darting off.

'Most Israelis do not have a choice to be in the IDF,' Hadid wrote. 'What they do have, is the choice to be royally not be royally horrific like this man. In what world is this OK? In what country, state, planet!!!!!'

She continued: 'To hit an innocent woman, like this, and then run. These are the people who some truly believe are "protecting" anything!?!?!?!

'This is a disgrace of a man. A disgrace. If any single person feels this kind of abuse is morally correct, especially coming from a person of power and "order" then you are the problem. Don't ever come to me trying to justify this. Ever.'

Hadid shared multiple frames of posts that did not appear to be uploaded to her Instagram Stories

Hadid said in a separate frame that a pair of posts she was 'trying to re-post from Eye On Palestine all day,' and had penned 'long messages' that were 'the only ones that are not uploading'

Hadid went on to share her views about the conflict, which comes during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover

Hadid shared another clip that depicted what appeared to be an attack on a journalist by Israeli soldiers.

'I wonder what they are trying to hide by [censoring] me? I wonder what they are hiding when they try to [censor], harass, attack innocent journalists doing their job.... Like this?

'It's laughable to think Palestinians are the problem. Laughable. I'm so done tiptoeing around the fact the Palestinians have been abused, dismantled, humiliated on a regular basis since my father was born in 1948. If you can't see a problem here within the government and their army, again, you are the problem.'

The social media posts came as at least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli riot police inside Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, the latest outbreak in a recent upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict.

Most of the Palestinian injuries were incurred from rubber bullets, stun grenades and beatings with police batons, the Palestine Red Crescent said, at the most sensitive site in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli security forces have been on high alert after a series of deadly Arab street attacks throughout the country over the past two weeks. Confrontations at the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem's walled Old City pose the risk of a relapse into a broader conflagration like last year's Gaza war.

The Al-Aqsa compound sits atop the Old City plateau of East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, and is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as Temple Mount.

Tensions this year have been heightened in part by Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover.

In a statement, Israeli police said hundreds of Palestinians hurled firecrackers and stones at their forces and toward the nearby Jewish prayer area of the Western Wall in the Old City after Ramadan morning prayers.

It said police then entered the Al-Aqsa compound to 'disperse and push back (the crowd and) enable the rest of the worshippers to leave the place safely.' adding that three officers were injured in the clashes.

Police detained hundreds of Palestinians, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a tweet.

In response to a quote from late Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran about worshipping in mosques, temples and churches, Hadid wrote, 'Palestine has always been a haven for the three pillar religions, however the nation state of Israel will only allow Judaism to be practiced'

In response to a story about the conflict at the mosque, in which more than 150 Palestinians suffered injuries, Hadid said that 'the nation state of Israel attacks, kills and injuries Palestinians while they pray during the whole month of Ramadan in their homeland as they have for centuries'

'We are working to restore calm, on the Temple Mount and across Israel. Alongside that, we are preparing for any scenario and the security forces are ready for any task,' Bennett said.

Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations stepped up their mediation between Palestinian factions - led by the Islamist group Hamas, which runs Gaza - and Israel in a bid to prevent further escalation of violence, a Palestinian official told Reuters.

Hamas demanded that Israel frees nearly 500 people it had detained on Friday, stop 'provocative visits' to Al-Aqsa mosque by Jewish groups, and end military incursions into West Bank cities.

In a sign of lowering tensions, Israel released all but 100 of those detained, Palestinians said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, referring to the violence in the holy compound, said it 'holds Israel fully and directly responsible for this crime and its consequences.'

The international community should intervene immediately to 'stop Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa mosque and prevent things from going out of control,' said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who governs self-ruled areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Jordan, whose Hashemite monarchy is the custodian of Muslim and Christian sanctuaries in East Jerusalem, condemned the Israeli police raid into the compound as 'a flagrant violation.'

Israel recognized the Hashemite role as custodian of Al-Aqsa as part of the two countries' 1994 peace treaty, and maintains overall security control over the site.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said tensions should be eased. 'We call on all sides to exercise restraint, avoid provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount,' he said in a statement.

Tor Wennesland, the U.N. special envoy for Middle East peacemaking, urged all sides 'to help calm the situation, avoid spreading inflammatory rhetoric and speak up against those seeking to escalate the situation.'

Last year, there were nightly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police during the Muslim fasting month. Threats of Palestinian displacement in East Jerusalem and police raids at Al-Aqsa helped ignite an 11-day Israel-Gaza war that killed more than 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 people in Israel.

Since last month, Israeli forces have killed 29 Palestinians in the course of carrying out raids in the West Bank after Palestinian assailants killed 14 Israelis in a string of attacks in Israeli cities.

Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam and also revered by Jews as the location of two ancient temples.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital. Palestinians seek to make East Jerusalem, including its Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, the capital of a future state.
Locky Gilbert and Irena Srbinovska have shut down rumours of a breakup following months of speculation they'd split.

The loved-up couple put on an affectionate display as they attended a wedding in New South Wales on Friday.

Irena, 31, shared a series of photos of the couple locking lips at the Calais Estate Winery.

The Bachelor's Irena Srbinovska and Locky Gilbert shut down split rumours as they put on an affectionate display after they unfollowed each other on Instagram on Friday

In another photo, the couple embraced one another as they posed for the camera.

Irena showed off her figure in a strapless black gown while Locky looked dapper in a tuxedo.

The outing comes after the couple bizarrely unfollowed each other on Instagram for a few days.

Loved-up: Irena shared a series of photos of the couple locking lips at the Calais Estate Winery

Split rumours first emerged in January, after Irena announced that she had left Locky behind in Perth and returned to her home city of Melbourne.

Friends close to the couple previously told Daily Mail Australia that they wouldn't be surprised if they had split when she relocated back to Melbourne and decided to keep it low-key.

They also claimed that Irena has been 'a lot more stressed out than normal in the past few weeks'.

Happy in love: In one photo, the couple embraced one another as they posed for the camera

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last month, Locky refuted claims of a breakup.

'We haven't unfollowed each other at all,' he said, seemingly unaware that Irena had temporarily blocked him on Instagram.

Irena had relocated from Perth to Melbourne in January, after telling fans she'd been 'struggling being away' from her family in Victoria.
Radio star Chrissie Swan has added 'night walking' to her rigorous fitness regimen.

The 48-year-old, who has undergone a physical transformation in the past year, told fans on her Instagram that her evening strolls were a 'newish pleasure' and that she highly recommended the activity for others.

The media personality, who hosts Nova's Chrissie, Sam and Browny breakfast show, accompanied the message with a smiling selfie.

Hitting the road: Chrissie Swan has added 'night walking' to her rigorous fitness regime

In the blurry photo, Chrissie is beaming widely while holding the camera up to catch a flattering angle.

She is carrying a yellow back pack wearing a light blue pullover and silver hoops with a matching silver chain.

Fans and followers were quick to comment on the photo, with many praising the star on her recent slim down and health kick.

'What a difference the walking has made to your life,' one comment read.

New look: Chrissie briefly touched on her weight loss in a recent interview with The Australian Women's Weekly, revealing that Melbourne's lengthy Covid lockdown was the catalyst for her health and fitness kick

'You look amazing and guessing feel great. Keep it up legend,' gushed another.

One follower even asked Chrissie if she carries weights in her backpack to create resistance while walking.

Chrissie briefly touched on her weight loss in a recent interview with The Australian Women's Weekly, saying the 'enormous' lifestyle changes she'd made over the last year had improved her life in so many ways.

Active: Chrissie gave up alcohol as part of her health kick and took up daily 10km walks to improve her physical and mental health during Melbourne's 112-day lockdown

'I'm not going to talk about the size of my a**e. I'm not going to tell you what I eat in a day,' she said.

'Because I've read those stories and they make me feel bad about myself.'

However, the former BigBrother star confirmed Melbourne's lengthy Covid lockdown was the catalyst for her health and fitness kick.

During the pandemic Chrissie gave up alcohol, turned to meditation and took up daily 10km walks to improve her physical and mental health.
Melissa Leong recently turned 40 - and the milestone birthday has left her feeling reflective.

The MasterChef Australia judge told The Daily Telegraph on Saturday that women don't need to settle down or have it all worked out at age 40.

'You're supposed to know what you want to do for the rest of your life at the end of high school, meet the person you will spend the rest of your life with in university, and then as women there's the added pressure of when will you procreate,' she said.

Freedom: Melissa Leong (pictured) recently turned 40 - and the milestone birthday has left her feeling reflective. The MasterChef Australia judge told The Daily Telegraph on Saturday that women don't need to settle down, or have it all worked out, at age 40

'But what if you don't want any of those things? What if your ultimate happiness is to live a life of ultimate freedom and travel  should you not be afforded the opportunities to explore that?'

Melissa added that people should feel free to create the life that they want for themselves, not the one that is expected.

'The thing is life never looks like the way you think it should and it certainly never feels the way you think it should, we're all just making it up as we go along,' she said.

Choices: 'What if you don't want any of those things?' she said of women being encouraged to marry and 'procreate'

The cooking show star recently found love with her cosmetic entrepreneur beau Rob Mason.

Melissa debuted her relationship with Rob in October 2021, just 10 months after her split with husband Joe Jones.

She first appeared on Rob's Instagram page in August, before finally making things official two months later.

New love: The cooking show star recently found love with her cosmetic entrepreneur beau Rob Mason (pictured)

The cook revealed she feels 'content' after finding love with Rob, following her split from Joe in December 2020.

Speaking to the Emsolation with Em Rusciano podcast, the star admitted her newfound happiness had been 'very hard-earned'.

'I think every adult that reaches a certain age, if you put in the work, you will get there. But the other thing to remember with happiness is that it is fleeting,' the food writer explained.

Keeping it close: Melissa debuted her relationship with Rob in October 2021, just 10 months after her split with husband Joe Jones

'So, if you just work on being content... Contentment is far more sustainable. That can take into account being really happy and being less happy, but being okay with who you are. That's with you for life,' she added.

'The best investment I've ever made in myself is getting good with who I am. Ugly bits, weird bits, funny bits, you know, all of it.'

Melissa also said she tries 'not to share... the private life stuff', but admitted it can be difficult when you're in the public eye.

Worked for it: The star admitted her newfound happiness had been 'very hard-earned'

'Sometimes that gets forced out into the public. I don't know how I feel about that yet. Actually, I highly detest it. I highly detest it. I don't like being forced into having to talk about things,' she said.

Melissa announced her split from bar owner Joe after almost four years of marriage.

'It has brought us such happiness to walk together, but the time has come for Joe and I to part ways and walk on, apart,' she wrote on Instagram at the time. 
Peter Kay made his hotly-anticipated return to the stage on Good Friday - after largely stepping out of the public eye for the last five years.

The comedian, 48, performed his first Dance For Life show at Manchester Central Convention Complex - marking his first tour since the record-breaking The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour...Now On Tour, which wrapped in late 2011.

In a new video, the star could be seen wearing an 80s-inspired ensemble of a multicoloured headband, a record-print jacket and gold lurex joggers as he gleefully addressed the crowds.

The star has not performed a show since cancelling a huge 14-month stand-up tour in 2017 citing 'unforeseen family circumstances'

There he is! Peter Kay made his hotly-anticipated return to the stage on Good Friday - after largely stepping out of the public eye for the last five years

The tour profits will be donated to Cancer Research UK, with the event billed as 'the dance-a-thon party that will change lives.'

They feature singing and dancing performances from Peter, with further scheduled performances in London and Liverpool.

Inside shots from the fun-filled night saw Peter take his place behind the DJ decks while vintage clips of his Channel 4 sitcom, Max & Paddy's Road To Nowhere, played on the big screen.

He then joined a host of dancers while showing off his own moves and clapping.

Last month Peter joined Instagram to promote his new tour.

Light show: A light show lit up the stage as Manchester welcomed the comedian

Go for it: The comedian was joined by dancers as he took to the stage

Good spirits: Peter showed off his best moves as he partied the night away

Go for it: Inside shots from the fun-filled night saw Peter take his place behind the DJ decks while vintage clips of his Channel 4 sitcom, Max & Paddy's Road To Nowhere, played on the big screen

Sighting: Peter was in his element as he waved at the crowds during his return

Wouldn't miss it: Crowds packed out the show as they celebrated Peter's return

Good to see you: The comedian, 48, performed his first Dance For Life show at Manchester Central Convention Complex - marking his first tour since the record-breaking The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour...Now On Tour, which wrapped in late 2011 (pictured 2011)

In demand: Crowds packed out the convention space as Peter returned to the stage

A pair of tweets from Peter's official Twitter account, the first since September 2021, shared a link to his new Instagram, reading: 'Peter is now on Instagram please give him a follow his new official account.'

The new Instagram account only has two photos  a shot of Peter and a promo poster for his show, Peter Kay's Dance for Life.

'Extra tickets just released for Peter Kay's Dance for Life in Manchester and Liverpool,' the caption teased.

Here he is: Last month Peter joined Instagram to promote his new tour

Promo: A pair of tweets from Peter's official Twitter account, the first since September 2021, shared a link to his new Instagram, reading: 'Peter is now on Instagram please give him a follow his new official account'

It comes after Peter made his long-awaited return to the stage last year, receiving a standing ovation following his three-year absence.

The comedian appeared at a charity gig at Manchester's O2 Apollo in August and fans were delighted to see him.

Surprised by the reaction, he told the crowd: 'I've never in my life had a standing ovation when I came on. I'm going to go away for four more years.'

Peter cancelled his tour in December 2017, citing 'unforeseen family circumstances', and made a brief return to the stage the following year when he made a surprise appearance at a charity screening of his series Car Share.

The tour was due to run across the UK and Ireland from April 2018 through to summer 2019 - and Kay had only announced it one month earlier.

Social media: The new Instagram account only has two photos  a shot of Peter and a promo poster for his show, Peter Kay's Dance for Life

Reaction: Fans of the star were quick to express their delight at the news, saying they were looking forward to the shows

But he said on December 13, 2017: 'Due to unforeseen family circumstances, I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my upcoming work projects.

'This unfortunately includes my upcoming standup tour, Dance for Life shows and any outstanding live work commitments.

'My sincerest apologies. This decision has not been taken lightly and I'm sure you'll understand my family must always come first.'

He had previously been due to make a comeback with the series of Dance For Life shows to raise money for Cancer Research UK in April and May 2020.

But the events had to be postponed in March last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kay did however release a special audio-only episode of his comedy Car Share with co-star Sian Gibson in April last year in an attempt to 'cheer people in some way'.

He also made a brief return last January when he called into Cat Deeley's new BBC Radio 2 programme, as they discussed the New Year and embarrassing stories.

Kay's fans had raised concerns for his health after his appearance on the BBC's Big Night In back in April 2020, with some saying he looked 'far from 100 per cent'.

Last September, it emerged his absence from the public eye had seen money continue to roll into Good Night Vienna Productions, the firm he established in 1999.

Described as a 'writing, performing and TV production' business, its shareholder funds were 24.8million by the end of March 2020 - 1million up on the year before.

Some 23.3million of the company's funds were held in 'cash in bank and in hand', while its only reported spending was limited to just 1,495 - on 'motor vehicles'.

Kay, whose 2010-11 tour made it into the Guinness World Records after he performed to more than 1.2million people, lives with his wife Susan and their three children.

Talented: The Bolton-born comic received a standing ovation as he appeared on stage at Manchester's O2 Apollo during a Q&A last August (pictured in 2021)
Bindi Irwin is head over heels with her husband, Chandler Powell.

And on Friday, she shared an adorable tribute to him, alongside a sweet photo of the pair together.

'So glad I married my best friend,' the 23-year-old Wildlife Warrior wrote in her caption.

Lovely: Bindi Irwin (right) is head over heels with her husband, Chandler Powell (left). And on Friday, she shared an adorable tribute to him, alongside a sweet photo of the pair togethe

In the photo, the pair cuddle up side by side and beam for the camera, looking as loved up as ever.

Last month, Bindi shared a photo of the couple holding lizards at Australia Zoo as part of their conservation work.

'Grateful to spend life with my best friend. I love you,' she wrote in the caption.

Aww: Last month, Bindi shared a photo of the couple holding lizards at Australia Zoo as part of their conservation work. 'Grateful to spend life with my best friend. I love you,' she wrote

Chandler, 25, wasted no time sending his love back to Bindi, replying: 'I'm grateful every single day for you. I love you.'

Bindi and Chandler wed in a secret ceremony at Australia Zoo on March 25, 2020.

They made the 'difficult decision' to host their wedding without any guests due to Covid restrictions.

Baby love: The couple welcomed their first child, Grace Warrior, on March 25 last year - the same day as their first wedding anniversary. She recently turned one

The couple welcomed their first child, Grace Warrior, one, on March 25 last year - the same day as their first wedding anniversary.

Chandler, a former professional wakeboarder, lives with Bindi on Queensland's Sunshine Coast and works at her family's Australia Zoo.

His parents, Chris and Shannan, last month flew from Florida to Australia to meet the couple's daughter for the first time.
Lily Allen, 36, and her husband David Harbour are enjoying a romantic getaway to Italy as they city hop.

And the hitmaker shared a slew of snaps from their visit to Florence in a photodump posted to her 1.5million followers on Saturday.

She shared a loved up shot of the pair in the capital of Italys Tuscany region, with David, 47, planting a kiss on her forehead while Lily beamed for the camera.

Cute! Lily Allen shared loved up snaps with her husband David Harbour in a holiday photodump posted to Instagram on Saturday as they enjoy an Italian getaway

The Stranger Things actor had his arm wrapped around Lily, while she cuddled into his chest.

In another shot, Lily posed for a solo picture in front of some Italian infrastructure, beaming for the snap.

She sported an oversized beige jumper along with navy trousers, with a Christian Dior handbag resting over her torso.

Italian getaway: In another shot, Lily posed for a solo picture in front of some Italian infrastructure, beaming for the snap

Playful: David put on a goofy display in another, as he tilted his head to get into his wife's camera shot - pulling a tight pout while Lily gave a simple smile

Lily's raven locks were bundled up in a tousled bun, with her fringe and some strands of hair left down to frame her face.

David put on a goofy display in another, as he tilted his head to get into his wife's camera shot - pulling a tight pout while Lily gave a simple smile.

The pair stayed in upscale hotel The Place, which overlooks the Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, one of Florence's main squares and attractions.

Getaway: The pair have been city-hopping around Italy this week, as they currently sightsee in Florence

Luxe: The pair stayed in upscale hotel The Place, which overlooks the Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, one of Florence's main squares and attractions

The Smile songstress also shared a glimpse at their lavish bedroom in the hotel - which featured a crystal chandelier and a large mirror above the bed.

The couple certainly embraced the local cuisine, with snaps featuring different pasta for sale at what appeared to be a local market, alongside a coffee shop stop.

Lily attempted a cute play on words in the caption, writing: 'Das ma best Firenze, das ma best firenze'

The Florence trip comes after Lily and David visited Rome and other parts of Tuscany, with Lily posting a range of pictures from their travels.

Food:The couple certainly embraced the local cuisine, with snaps featured different pasta for sale at what appeared to be a local market
Gogglebox star Ellie Warner was seen for the first time on Wednesday since her boyfriend Nat Eddleston was left fighting for his life in after a horror car crash.

The 31-year-old TV star's partner was said to be on life support after suffering collapsed lungs and a broken neck in the horrific incident which happened in the Halton area of Leeds on March 19.

Ellie, who is currently on an extended break from the show as she stays by Nat's bedside, was seen leaving a pub with friends in Leeds.

Sighting: Gogglebox star Ellie Warner was seen for the first time on Wednesday since her boyfriend Nat Eddleston was left fighting for his life in after a horror car crash

She wore ripped jeans and glasses as she spent time with her loved ones.

The Leeds based TV personality has taken a temporary leave of absence from the hugely popular show in order to care for Nat.

The outing comes as it emerged Ellie has reportedly been paid her show fee in full, although she will be absent for the remainder of the current series after her boyfriend was critically injured in a car accident.

According to The Sun, producers have told Ellie to take all the time she needs and have kept her monthly 1,500 per household payment.

Devastating: The 31-year-old TV star's partner was said to be on life support after suffering collapsed lungs and a broken neck in the horrific incident which happened in the Halton area of Leeds on March 19

There for him: Ellie, who is currently on an extended break from the show as she stays by Nat's bedside, was seen leaving a pub with friends in Leeds

Outing: Ellie was seen with her friends, one month after Nat was hospitalised

Chat: She wore ripped jeans and glasses as she spent time with her loved ones

Support: The star was supported by her friends as she spent the day with them

Chat: Ellie spoke with her friends during her day in Leeds

A source told the publication: 'Bosses paid Ellie her full fee for the show - they didn't want her or Izzi worrying about money.

'Of course they've honoured the payments - they take duty of care very seriously on the show.'

MailOnline has contacted Channel 4 for comment.

Ellie has not featured since the incident and is understood to be devoting her time to supporting Nat while he recovers in hospital.

Sighting: The outing comes as it emerged Ellie has reportedly been paid her show fee in full, although she will be absent for the remainder of the current series after her boyfriend was critically injured in a car accident

Break: The reality star spoke to her friends as they exited the pub

Devastating: Nat suffered critical injuries after being hit by a car in the Halton area of Leeds in March (pictured: Nat receiving treatment shortly after the accident)

A source told The Sun: 'Ellies focus, 100 per cent, is on Nat and supporting him in his recovery.

'Shes been told to take as much time off as she needs and it is very unlikely she will be returning during the current series. Producers have told her to take as long as she needs.'

Ellie is said to have 'barely left' her partner's bedside as he remains in critical condition following the crash two weeks ago.

Fears: Ellie is said to have 'barely left' her partner's bedside as he remains in critical condition following the crash two weeks ago

Nat remains on life support after suffering collapsed lungs and a broken neck as a result of the accident in the Halton area of Leeds.

A friend told The Sun: 'Her heart is totally ripped in two by all of this and she is still in a state of shock about how things have ended up. Right now all that Ellie is focusing on is making sure she is there for Nat.'

Ellie - who has yet to comment on the accident publicly - was told by Channel 4 producers in March that she is under 'no pressure to return to filming' and can 'take all the time she needs'.

Critical: Nat (pictured) remains on life support after suffering collapsed lungs and a broken neck as a result of the accident

The source added: 'Channel 4 take duty of care really seriously. Obviously Ellie and Izzi are two of the most loved regulars on the show but it wouldn't be right for them to have to film a light hearted show when Nat is in such a critical condition.

'Producers have made it clear there is no pressure to return to filming and they can take all the time they need.'

In a statement to Leeds Live, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: 'The pedestrian remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital and enquiries into the incident are ongoing.'

West Yorkshire Police recently said there are no updates and that their investigations are ongoing.

There she is: Leeds based Ellie is a popular member of the Gogglebox cast, but will not feature on the show for the foreseeable future

A picture emerged last weekend of the shocking crash, showing West Yorkshire Police at the scene of the serious collision as Nat was attended to by paramedics.

A family member told The Sun on Sunday after the incident: 'Nat is in intensive care with a broken neck, broken back, two collapsed lungs and possible brain damage.

'He is on a life support machine and all the family and Ellie are obviously very worried for him.'
One of South Korea's biggest celebrities has made a surprise trip Down Under.

K-pop star Hyomin, best known as a member of the girl group T-ara, arrived in Sydney on Saturday and has wasted no time enjoying what the city has to offer.

After unpacking at her hotel, the 32-year-old was spotted at Sydney Olympic Park before being chauffeured to the 5-star restaurant Grana in the city.

Surprise trip: K-pop star Hyomin (Hyomin), best known as a member of the girl group T-ara, arrived in Sydney on Saturday and has wasted no time enjoying what the city has to offer

While dining on oysters and torched salmon, the starlet was stopped by a fan who recognised her.

'I'm shell shocked!' the fan gushed as a flattered Hyomin giggled from her seat.

The pair posed for a photo together before the songstress made her way to the Sydney Opera House to watch Phantom of the Opera and to catch the Easter fireworks.

Fine dining: After unpacking at her hotel, the 32-year-old was spotted at Sydney Olympic Park before being chauffeured to the 5-star restaurant Grana in the city

Delicious: The famed hitmaker dined on oysters and torched salmon with a friend

She then made her way to cocktail bar Maybe Sammy, where she enjoyed drinks with friends.

Hyomin has a long career in the K-pop industry, debuting as a member of T-ara back in 2009.

The group went on to become of the biggest acts in K-pop history, releasing hits like Roly Poly, Bo Peep Bo Peep, Day by Day and Number Nine.

'I'm shell shocked!' Hyomin was stopped by a fan who recognised her in the restaurant

Fan service: The pair posed for a photo together before the songstress made her way to the Sydney Opera House to watch Phantom of the Opera and to catch the Easter fireworks

Superstar: Hyomin is one of the biggest stars in K-pop thanks to her time in the legendary girl group T-ara

They later crossed over into the lucrative Chinese and Japanese music markets.

When she wasn't busy with T-ara, Hyomin launched a solo music career and dabbled in acting.

These days, she's more active in the beauty and influencer space.

She's not the only K-pop star to visit Australia in recent years, with 2PM, Blackpink, Stray Kids and many more idols heading Down Under for work and play.
Brittany Hockley is close pals with actress Rebel Wilson.

And the former Bachelor contestant has revealed that being mates with a Hollywood superstar has inspired her to chase her own acting dreams.

'Rebel is so great. I spent a lot of time with her last year and on sets with her in Atlanta, and she really re-inspired me to keep chasing the dream and [reminded me] that nothing comes easily,' the 34-year-old tells this week's Stellar Magazine.

Inspired: Brittany Hockley is close pals with actress Rebel Wilson. And the former Bachelor contestant has revealed that being mates with a Hollywood superstar has inspired her to chase her own acting dreams. Pictured in this week's issue of Stellar

Brittany has even signed up for acting classes at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney - whose alumni include Cate Blanchett, Sarah Snook and Mel Gibson.

'I've been doing some study at NIDA. Even Rebel got rejected from NIDA, like, four times and just hearing her say, '"They were basically saying I'm not good enough, but I kept going", seeing all her success and how incredible she is,' she continued.

'It's really inspiring that there's no age limit, there's no number of times you can get knocked down before you can get back up'.

'Rebel is so great. I spent a lot of time with her last year and on sets with her in Atlanta, and she really re-inspired me to keep chasing the dream and [reminded me] that nothing comes easily,' the 34-year-old tells this week's Stellar Magazine. Pictured with Rebel

Acting up: Brittany has even signed up for acting classes at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney - whose alumni include Cate Blanchett, Sarah Snook and Mel Gibson. 'I've been doing some study at NIDA. Even Rebel got rejected from NIDA, like, four times' she said

Brittany rose to fame on Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins' season of The Bachelor in 2018.

She now hosts the Life Uncut Radio Show on on KIIS FM alongside fellow Bachelor star Laura Byrne.

Last year, Brittany sparked rumours she has a cameo in Rebel Wilson's upcoming comedy film Senior Year.

On set: Last year, Brittany sparked rumours she has a cameo in Rebel Wilson 's upcoming comedy film Senior Year. At the time, she shared some images of herself with Rebel to Instagram after visiting the film's set in Atlanta, Georgia (pictured)

Party time: The friends also spent New Year's Eve together this year, at Rebel's Sydney pad

At the time, she shared some images of herself with Rebel to Instagram after visiting the film's set in Atlanta, Georgia.

'Learning from the best. Thanks legend! Can't wait to see this,' she wrote, adding the hashtag 'Senior Year'.

She added on her Instagram story: 'As someone who's always wanted to be a comedy actor and bought Pitch Perfect on DVD so I could watch it on repeat... Like a kid in a candy store I tell ya. Rebel, thank you x.'

The friends also spent New Year's Eve together this year, at Rebel's Sydney pad.
Danniella Westbrook revealed her beloved bulldog Bruno died after she left him with a friend while she went to a work event.

The former EastEnders star, 48. shared the 'devastating' news with her 88,,000 Instagram followers earlier this week before opening up in a interview.

The 48-year-old, penned to a snap of the pooch looking over one shoulder: 'Rest in peace my Bruno Bear.

RIP: Danniella Westbrook revealed her beloved bulldog Bruno died after she left him with a friend while she went to a work event

'You was such a good boy, full love right till the end. Will miss you so so much.

'I'm truly devastated that you're gone. Sleep well My Bruno Bear.'

Taking to Twitter, Danniella shared: 'Devastated at losing my Bruno last night  feel so empty and sad he was such a lovely old boy.'

The former EastEnders star opened up to The Sun and revealed at the time she had been at a work event when it happened.

RIP: The 48-year-old, penned to a snap of the pooch looking over one shoulder a heartfelt message sharing her 'devastation'

Danniella said: 'My friend was looking after him while I was at an event.

'She had only been in bed an hour when I came home and he was laid in the hallway.

'I was calling him and he wasn't moving. He'd died. He was 13, but it's still horrible. It's awful.'

RIP: The 48-year-old, penned to a snap of the pooch looking over one shoulder: 'Rest in peace my Bruno Bear

Danniella went on to insist, Bruno had 'fallen asleep so he wasn't in pain or anything' and that he 'wasn't ill.'

Just days prier to the heartbreaking lost, the former actress shared videos of herself walking Bruno in the countryside, she was even seen hugging a tree in one.

In the clip, she told fans: 'I've got no make up on today.

'But does anyone else's dog look at them really oddly when they hug a tree? Because mine does.'

Twitter: Danniella took to all her social media account to share the sad lost where her dog Bruno had 'fallen asleep' and died but she says 'he wasn't in pain or anything. He wasn't ill'

Happier times: Just days prier to the heartbreaking lost, the former actress shared videos of herself walking Bruno in the countryside, she was even seen hugging a tree in one.

The news follows after Danniella revealed her plans to adopt a Ukrainian baby with her toyboy fiance David, who is currently serving time in prison.

The former BBC actress, who was forced to live in a bedsit in 2014 due to financial struggles, has now announced she's submitted the application with her partner, 29, because she 'knows what it's like to be homeless'.

It comes after she insisted she will wait until David has been released from behind bars to tie the knot in a Maldives wedding as early as next year.

New baby? The news follows after Danniella revealed her plans to adopt a Ukrainian baby with her toyboy fiance David, who is currently serving time in prison

Now, the ex Albert Square resident is claiming the pair are hopeful they'll be able to welcome an infant amid the country's ongoing war with Russia - in return for 350 per month.

Daniella made the proposal to the convict during a recent prison visit since the menopause has stopped her from bearing more children biologically.

She told the Daily Star: 'Yeah, I'm still going ahead with that. I don't understand why people wouldn't want to do that. Though I can't work out how they give you 350 a month for a family when your local council gets 10k per person a year.

'But I'll take anyone who needs it. I don't need all the space, it's only me at home at the moment and I'm waiting for the process to go further through.'

The actress then let slip that she's going to have to amend her submission since she's set to leave her Yorkshire home and head back down South to chase after TV work while caring for her dementia-stricken father, Andrew.

She continued: 'It's only me at home as my children have moved out and I remember what it was like to be homeless myself and have nobody there to take me in.'
Olivia Bowen gave fans a glimpse of her dream nursery in her sprawling 1 million home on Friday.

The 28-year-old Love Islander shared the happy news she was pregnant with her first child with husband Alex on New Years Day.

Taking to her Bowen Home Instagram account, the mother-to-be gave a sneak peek of the newly-decorated room leaving 'eagle eye' viewers convinced she let slip her unborn baby's gender after they spotted a giveaway clue.

Clever: Olivia Bowen gave fans a glimpse of her nursery on Friday on her Bowen Home Instagram account, leaving 'eagle eye' viewers convinced she let slip her baby's gender

The stunning reel showed a selection of coloured baby grows in the clip, prompting some of the accounts 772,000 followers to question whether it was a hint to the baby's sex.

However, Olivia took to the comments section to say how she has both a pink and a blue baby grow so that she and Alex can be prepared for whatever happens.

She penned: 'Hello Nursery Details are EVERYTHING. I couldnt have managed this level of cuteness & detail without @themodernnursery to guide me!

Cute: Showcasing her eye for style, the stunning decor was topped off with wall art feature which displayed the word 'dream'

'I really can say I was clueless when it came to the nursery side of things. The design & style of the room, fine - but what actually needed to go where & what was available I really had no clue!

'I had never even looked at anything baby related until I found out I was pregnant so it was just so helpful having some nursery experts on hand to help create our dream.

'The room is still not *quite* finished as Im just waiting on delivery of a few bits, so then I can reveal the whole room to you guys and do a proper room tour! For now, I hope these adorable details suffice.

Interior heaven: The stunning room is the perfect fit for the couples Essex mansion

Putting to bed any speculating she continued: 'To the eagle eyes out there, we have a pink AND a blue babygrow hanging up ready to take to the hospital to see which he/she ends up coming home. I loved the idea to have both prepped!

'Just before anyone starts thinking were having twins or we know what were having, we dont.'

The couple revealed earlier this year they are not finding out the sex of the baby before it is born in June, and wanted the space to be 'gender neutral'.

Simba: The couple opted for a safari themed space as the area was decorated throughout with the iconic African animals

The stunning room is the perfect fit for the couples Essex mansion as it featured a tranquil display of cream and white interiors.

The duo opted for a safari themed space as the area was decorated throughout with the iconic African animals including a giraffe, elephant and an adorable Simba figurine from the movie The Lion King.

It also had a baby mobile with a lion, zebra and elephant and a woven bear basket.

Making sure to have time for bonding and reading, a comfy arm chair with a a lion cushion in velvet was tucked away in the corner.

Showcasing her eye for style, the stunning decor was topped off with a wall art feature which displayed the word 'dream'.

Boy or girl? The stunning reel showed a selection of coloured baby grows in the clip

Tidy: The room also included a woven bear basket adding to the rustic theme

Play time: It also included a baby mobile with a lion, zebra and elephant, in keeping with Olivia's wildlife-esque aesthetic

Jungle: The room feature a safari theme throughout

Reading time: Making sure to have time for bonding and reading, a comfy arm chair with a a lion cushion in velvet was tucked away in the corner

Olivia has admitted she is struggling to come to terms with her major new role in life as she counts down to the birth of her first child.

She is expecting a baby in June with her husband Alex, 30, but the 'headstrong' star has admitted in a new interview that she is 'mourning the person I'm leaving behind' as she enters her third trimester.

Speaking to Mirror Online, the reality star said she was beginning to realise how her 'life is going to change quite dramatically.'

Not long now: Olivia has admitted she is struggling to come to terms with her major new role in life as she counts down to the birth of her first child with husband Alex

'I think it is realising your life is going to change quite dramatically and I'm sort of mourning the person that you're leaving behind a little bit,' Olivia explained.

'That's how it feels to me. I'm going into this new life and mourning the girl I was before. It is just a strange feeling, it's not a horrible feeling. It is quite overwhelming.'

Admitting she is 'a headstrong person,' she added that 'it's just been quite hard to get my head around not being able to do what I usually do.'

'I like to go out and do what I want but obviously you have to be in mind that you have a little baby in there that is reliant on you so you do have to stop doing certain things.'

Expecting: She is expecting a baby in June but the 'headstrong' star has admitted that she is 'mourning the person I'm leaving behind' as she enters her third trimester

Olivia announced her pregnancy on New Year's Day and showed a series of instant photos and a pair of booties alongside the caption: 'Happy New Baby Bowen' as she announced their pregnancy.

Alex then shared the same post and penned: 'This year we get to meet Baby Bowen'.

The trio of images included a shot of husband Alex Bowen kissing his wife's stomach, a selfie showing them holding the booties and a baby grow alongside sonogram pictures.
Game Of Thrones actor Joseph Gatt was spotted on Friday for the first time since he was arrested for allegedly having sexually explicit chats online with a minor across state lines.

The 50-year-old television and video game actor was seen in Los Angeles' San Fernando in the afternoon as he ran errands around town.

He had previously been arrested on April 6, though he was released on $5,000 bail on the same day.

On the street: Game Of Thrones actor Joseph Gatt, 50, was spotted on Friday for the first time since he was arrested for allegedly having sexually explicit chats online with a minor across state lines

Gatt was seen heading back to his car on Friday, and he looked as if he had just come from a workout.

The actor, who has done motion capture work for the popular God Of War video game series, had on a black zip-up hoodie over a black shirt.

He paired it with gray sweatpants and wore low key trainers.

Gatt head back to his sporty icy blue vehicle and was seen driving away.

Although he has been out of jail for more than a week, Friday marked the first time that the actor was spotted out in public.

Sporty outfit: Gatt was seen heading back to his car on Friday, and he looked as if he had just come from a workout

Back in black: The actor, who has done motion capture work for the popular God Of War video game series, had on a black zip-up hoodie over a black shirt

During the British actor's arrest on April 6, police also served him with a search warrant to give them access to his home in Los Angeles, TMZ reported at the time.

LAPD sources said Gatt was taken into custody and arrested on an outstanding felony warrant for 'contact with a minor for a sexual offense.'

The LAPD's Juvenile Division, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, are now seeking to identify any additional victims after the arrest.

DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for the actor who have so far been unavailable for comment.

On Wednesday, Gatt posted a statement about his arrest to his Twitter account.

'I obviously want to address the absolutely horrifying and completely untrue allegations recently leveled against me. They are 100% categorically wrong and reckless,' he wrote.

On the move: He paired it with gray sweatpants and wore low key trainers. Gatt head back to his sporty icy blue vehicle and was seen driving away

Booked: Gatt was arrested for allegedly having 'sexually explicit' online chats with minor in another state, TMZ reported earlier this week

'I have confirmed errors and misleading information in todays press release. I am fully cooperating with police and LAPD to get to the bottom of this,' he continued. 'I look forward to clearing my good name. Thank you to all my friends and supporters who know that this is untrue and understand for legal reasons I cannot comment further on social media.'

One of Gatt's most high-profile roles was when he played Thenn Warg on the popular HBO series Game Of Thrones.

His character was a member of the Thenn, a tribe of Free Folk known for their practices of ritual self-scarification and cannibalism.

Gatt appeared in three episodes of the series  based on the popular novels by George R. R. Martin  in 2014.

In and out: Police arrested him and served a search warrant at his LA home on April 6. He was released on $5,000 bail the same day; pictured above earlier this month

Denial: On Wednesday, Gatt posted a statement about his arrest to his Twitter account in which he claimed the charges were '100% categorically wrong and reckless'

Starring role: Gatt played Thenn Warg (pictured right) on the popular HBO fantasy series Game Of Thrones

In addition to Game of Thrones, Gatt has starred in major blockbuster films including the live-action Disney remake Dumbo, Stark Trek Into Darkness and Thor.

He also has a small role in the upcoming DC film Black Adam, which stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

The actor  who was diagnosed with alopecia universalis at the age of 12  is said to reside in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Mercy Malick.

The thespian has been in a relationship with Malick since 2009.

He started his acting career with an appearance on British police drama The Bill in 1999.
He was once a stalwart on the London social scene, hosting A-list stars until he was jailed over a multi-million-pound fraud.

Now Fast Eddie Davenport, 55, is back, and far from keeping a low profile he is hosting exclusive sex parties at his mansion in Marylebone.

He has relaunched his London revels and this month hosted a 300-guest sex party called Passing Fancies.

Clients had to be nominated by someone who had previously been to one of Davenports nights.

Only beautiful people come, only beautiful people are allowed in. Money is no object to these people, he says of his events.

Although the parties seem hardly exclusive, with entry costing 80.

'Fast Eddie Davenport, 55, is back, and far from keeping a low profile he is hosting exclusive sex parties at his mansion in Marylebone

Davenport, a property developer who started his nightlife career in 1986 by founding the raucous Gatecrashers Ball for posh teenagers when he was just 20, later hosted sex parties. He is pictured above with two women in 2016, but there is no suggestion these women were involved in 'sex parties'

Fast Eddie (pictured right on Halloween) has been a fixture on the London party scene since he was young

The partys private Instagram account doesnt make it clear that Davenport is behind it, and one guest told me she was shocked to see him at the most recent party, where attendees were encouraged to explore their hedonistic impulses.

The invitation to next weeks party, which runs from 11pm until 6am, says: Costumes strictly necessary latex, leather and fur always welcome.

There will also be a dungeon and dominatrix.

32 Portland Place (pictured above), is the luxury home of Edward Davenport

Davenport, a self-styled lord, tells me that during the pandemic, he ran events in Thailand, but now that restrictions have been eased in London his parties are booming again.

He left for Thailand in 2019, weeks after a bouncer was stabbed to death outside a Park Lane event he had hosted on New Years Day.

Davenport, a property developer who started his nightlife career in 1986 by founding the raucous Gatecrashers Ball for posh teenagers when he was just 20, was sentenced in 2011 to more than seven years in jail for running a finance firm called Gresham.

It conned clients out of fees as large as 285,000 for sorting out huge loans they never received.

The judge described him as a very, very dishonest man over the 4.5 million fraud.

However, Davenport served only three years because he fell ill and had to undergo two kidney transplants.

In 2001, the government of Sierra Leone said that while the country was locked in a civil war, it had been tricked into selling him its high commission in Portland Place for 50,000  when it was actually worth 5 million.

James Cook seems to be finally moving on after his split from Poppy Delevingne.

The 43-year-old, who married actress and model Poppy in 2014, stepped out at the premiere of new Netflix drama Anatomy Of A Scandal last week without his wedding ring  the first time he has been seen without it in public since they parted company earlier this year.

I hear that ex-model James has signed up to a dating app and is hanging out in celebrity haunt Chiltern Firehouse.

Poppy, meanwhile, has moved into her own place in West London.

Ex-model James Cook was spotted at the premiere of new Netflix drama Anatomy Of A Scandal last week without his wedding ring

The 43-year-old married actress and model Poppy in 2014. They are pictured together in London in May 2019

My lips are sealed, but...

Which son of a celebrity couple had to have personality lessons after he kept putting off potential suitors due to his lack of wit?

Luckily the expert advice seems to have done the trick
Aaron Paul has revealed in a new interview that he initially didn't think it was even feasible for his Breaking Bad character to make a guest appearance on the spinoff Better Call Saul.

The 42-year-old Westworld actor shared with The Hollywood Reporter on Friday that he 'didnt initially see how' the producers and writers of the critically acclaimed series could make his cameo role work.

The TV star also shared that he was 'shocked' that the normally secretive producers would announce his guest role in advance, rather than leaving it as a surprise for fans.

Aaron Paul, 42, admitted to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday that he originally didn't think his Better Call Saul guest appearance could work with the show, though the writers won him over; seen in 2020 in Hollywood

Aaron was tight-lipped when it came to specifics of his and Cranston's return to the Breaking Bad family, though he admitted that he didn't see it coming.

'To be honest, Im such a fan of Better Call Saul that I just didn't initially see how they were going to do it,' he said. 'But of course, leave it to [series creators] Vince [Gilligan] and Peter [Gould] and the rest of the writers to come up with the perfect way. Its fun. I think people are going to be excited.'

Aaron and Bryan's appearance on Better Call Saul was revealed last week at PaleyFest, and star Bob Odenkirk tweeted excitedly after the news broke, writing, 'Kaboom! Let's do this.'

The advance notice of his appearance in the series' sixth and final season was contrasted with the rollout of his Netflix film El Camino, which was a sequel and conclusion to Breaking Bad focused on his character, Jesse Pinkman.

The 2019 film was first announced by Netflix in August of that year, less than two months before it would premiere and after it had already been completed.

Nailed it: 'To be honest, Im such a fan of Better Call Saul that I just didn't initially see how they were going to do it,' he said. 'But of course, leave it to Vince and Peter and the rest of the writers to come up with the perfect way'; still from Breaking Bad featuring Bryan Cranston (R)

Back in action: Aaron and Bryan's appearance on Better Call Saul was revealed last week at PaleyFest, and star Bob Odenkirk tweeted excitedly after the news broke

Although rumors had spread that the mystery-shrouded production might have been related to Breaking Bad, shooting was completed before the news was confirmed.

After the impressive display of secrecy, Aaron was 'shocked' that the Better Call Saul producers would simply announce his high-profile guest appearance in advance, rather than keeping it as a surprise for devoted viewers.

'I was heading to the [final season] premiere party of Better Call Saul, and they go, "Theres a flag on the play. Just so you know, Vince and Peter let everyone know that you and Bryan are going to be in the final season." And I was like, "What?!" So I didnt see that coming.'

However, he admitted that it was a nice change of pace to be able to come clean, rather than having to keep the secret for weeks more.

'But to be honest, Im happy to be able to finally talk about it and not be squirrelly. Its nice to be able to be open about it.'

Didn't see that coming: Aaron was 'shocked' that the Better Call Saul producers would simply announce his high-profile guest appearance in advance after keeping El Camino a secret for months; Breaking Bad publicity still

Missing out: Aaron also admitted that he was 'jealous' of the cast and crew who got to continue on the new series after wrapping Breaking Bad; seen with Cranston on April 2 in Las Vegas

The actor added that he was 'excited' for Better Call Saul fans to see his cameo, though he figured they 'might have been expecting it.'

'Theyve been seeing the Breaking Bad family slowly appear within the walls of Better Call Saul, so I think it would be odd if Walt and Jesse didnt make an appearance,' he continued. 'So Im excited that we did and how we did. I think people are going to be thrilled about it.'

Aaron, who confirmed he was a fan of Better Call Saul, also admitted that he was 'jealous' of the cast and crew who got to continue on the new series after wrapping up Breaking Bad.

'It was odd to see everyone come together and celebrate Bob [Odenkirk]'s new show. It was just such a family, and Id be lying if I said I wasnt a little jealous,' he shared. 'We all had the time of our lives out in Albuquerque, shooting Breaking Bad. But its just so cool to see what theyve accomplished with [Better Call Saul], and I feel so blessed to be a very small part of it.'

The Westworld star shared that his friendship with costar Bryan Cranston has only grown since ending Breaking Bad thanks to their mezcal collaboration Dos Hombres; seen April 2 in Vegas

The Westworld star also opened up about his friendship with his costar Bryan Cranston, which has only strengthened since they finished up their Breaking Bad tenure.

Aside from filming their Better Call Saul appearance, the two have been working together again on their mezcal Dos Hombres.

'This is our baby. This is all self-funded from the very beginning. There wasnt some company that came to us and asked us if we wanted to make a quick buck,' he said. 'This is something that we built. We hire every employee. We talk about Dos Hombres every single day.'

Paul also shared that he was 'taking this entire year off from the film industry' after welcoming a son with his wife Lauren Parsekian.

'I also just had a baby boy, so Im focusing on my family and my company. So were really passionate about it and excited about the road ahead,' he said.

Watch Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul only on Stan in Australia.
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Easter falls on Sunday but the Kardashian family started celebrating a day early as both Kim and Khloe Kardashian shared videos from a brunch at mom Kris Jenner's Hidden Hills, California mansion.

In a video shared to her Instagram Stories, 41-year-old Kim shared images of the cheese plates as she said she was 'so excited' to dog in. The SKIMS founder also noted that her kids were going wild over the corniches, which look like little pickles.

'My mom is the most magical woman,' added Khloe Kardashian as she raved about the party. 'This is the most outrageous party, I love my mommy.'

And her daughter North West was pictured at the egg painting table as she wore her hair in long purple-tinted braids. Also there was her brother Saint, Kourtney's daughter Penelope, Khloe's daughter True and Rob's daughter Dream.

Easter fun at home: Easter falls on Sunday but the Kardashian family started celebrating a day early. On Saturday several members of the reality TV star family posted images to social media where they were having Easter fun outdoors. On the left is North with Penelope behind her and on the right is Saint

So that is how it's done! In this image one of the kids is seen painting their egg with markers in a kit

North had on a pink top that had a handkerchief print as she added a large gold cross around her neck. Her hair was worn down in braids that had a light lavender tint.

She was seen using an Egg Making kit as she used Eggmazing pens to write on the eggs.

Her brother Saint was also there as he had on a white, gray and black camo top with his hair in braids as he added sunglasses.

The glasses said SAINT is all caps in colorful block beads on the bottom of the frame.

Such a sweetie: Also seen at the kiddie fete was Rob Kardashian's daughter Dream who had on a Burberry top and black shirts with white shoe

So much sugar in one place: There was an explosion of sweets with cupcakes, cookies and candy everywhere

Also seen at the kiddie fete was Rob Kardashian's daughter Dream who had on a Burberry top and black shirts with white shoes.

Her hair was pulled back as she sat the the egg designing table. Her mother is model and music video star Black Chyna, who also has a child - a son named King Cairo - with Tyga.

The child also had on small diamond earrings.

Little Nori: North had on a pink top that had a handkerchief print as she added a large gold cross around her neck. Her hair was worn down in braids that had a light lavender tint. She was seen using an Egg Making kit as she used Eggmazing pens to write on the eggs

Kris Jenner thinks of everything, doesn't she? There were bunny aprons for the kids with carrots in the pockets

This comes after Kim Kardashian said she thinks doing photoshoots with her kids is the 'worst'.

The 41-year-old reality star - who is currently dating 'Saturday Night Live' star Pete Davidson, 28, but has has North, eight, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, two, with her ex-husband Kanye West - admitted that while photoshoots with her children can lead to 'amazing pictures', the time on set with them is like the 'worst day of her life', with her eldest taking charge of the family's most recent shoot for Vogue magazine.

She said: 'North styled the whole thing! They were all going to wear black but she walked out and was like 'This is so boring I cant believe this is what we're going to wear. I'm going to style everyone.

'She went in everyone's closet and picked it all out.[She said] 'I'm going to style everyone. She went in everyone's closet and picked it all out. Any time I have to do a photoshoot with my kids or the cousins it's like the worst day of my life and I always say I'll never do it again, but then you get amazing pictures like this.'

Kris can organize the next DailyMail Christmas party: Jenner had out Peeps Cookie Coop kits for the little ones to play with

She seemed very into her project: North did not look up much as she checked out the colorful markers

Sugar served in great style: And momager Kris noted that one of the pretty cakes was from Crumbles Patisserie

What a cutie: Khloe Kardashian's daughter True Thompson was seen in a bright orange swimsuit with a white apron

The Kardashians star then went on to explain that while the spread was meant to be a 'group shot', her children refused to take pictures together and ended up crying during the shoot and needed their mother to step in.

Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she added: 'It was meant to be a group shot but no one wanted to take pictures together and everyone was crying and wanted me to hold them so that's what we got... but it's so perfect and cute!'

When host Ellen, 64, made fun of Kim's 'uncomfortable'-looking for the March cover of Vogue, Kim claimed that she would wear 'anything' when she goes out but will wear pyjamas at home and joked that she would 'wear a diaper' if needed.

She added: 'I'll be in pyjamas and sweats when I'm home but when I go out out I'll wear literally anything. I don't care how uncomfortable or if I have to wear a diaper and not go to the bathroom!'
Andrew Garfield and Laura Dern were spotted stepping out for dinner at Soho House in Malibu over the weekend.

The Spider-Man star, 38, and the Oscar-winning actress, 55, looked to be in good spirits and shared a laugh as they waited at the valet together.

The pair are good friends and have previously worked on Ramin Bahrani's 2014 drama film, 99 Homes, together.

Grabbing dinner: Andrew Garfield and Laura Dern were spotted stepping out for dinner at Soho House in Malibu over the weekend

Garfield looked casual cool in a plaid jacket, grey T-shirt, black pants and white sneakers.

The actor wore his brown hair in a messy do and sported a scruffy beard.

Dern was stylish as ever in a grey blazer on top of a white blouse, and grey jeans which she paired with dark sneakers.

Having fun: The Spider-Man star, 38, and the Oscar-winning actress, 55, shared a laugh as they waited at the valet together

The Jurassic Park star finished off her look with a multi-color scarf wrapped around her neck.

The stylish beauty wore her blonde tresses parted in the middle and loosely curled, gently falling down her shoulders.

In 99 Homes, Garfield plays Dennis Nash while Dern plays his mother, Lynn, as the two are evicted from their home.

Dennis then gets entangled into a shady business scheme with the man who evicted them, as he vows to buy back their home.

Co-stars: The pair are good friends and have previously worked on Ramin Bahrani's 2014 drama film, 99 Homes, together

Drama: In the film, Garfield plays Dennis Nash while Dern plays his mother, Lynn, as the two are evicted from their home.

It's been a busy couple of months for Garfield, who recently attended the Academy Awards, where he was nominated in the Best Actor category for his work in Tick, Tick... Boom!

The biographical musical drama film, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, follows aspiring composer Jonathan Larson in New York City, as he navigates his career choice, his love life and his friendships.

The actor looked dapper as ever, sporting a dark red velvet suit jacket on top of a black shirt, which he paired with black pants and patent leather shoes.
The British Soap Awards are reportedly set to axe male and female categories ahead of its return next month following a two-year absence.

Sources claim that instead of Best Actor and Actress, stars from much-loved British soaps will battle it out for the new Best Leading Performer award.

Last week ITV confirmed that the British Soap Awards - hosted by Phillip Schofield - will return live to ITV this June after being off air for two years due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Axed: The British Soap Awards are reportedly set to axe male and female categories ahead of its return next month following a two-year absence

The move follows The Brits which scrapped gender classifications this year, with Adele beating Ed Sheeran to Artist of the Year.

However, the gender neutral refresh has sparked controversy among soap stars, with several actresses fearing they will 'miss out'.

A soap source told The Sun: 'There are genuine fears that it's going to be even harder for soap actresses to get recognised.

Gender neutral: Sources claim that instead of Best Actor and Actress, stars will battle it out for the new Best Leading Performer award (pictured Lucy Pargeter in 2019)

'There are a number of actresses who feel they are going to miss out because of the woke changes.

The source added: 'It's going to be interesting to see how it all works out and who makes it on to the short-list.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for ITV for comment.

Past winners of the Best Actress award include Lucy Pargeter (who plays Chas Dingle in Emmerdale), Lucy Fallon (who plays Bethany Platt in Coronation Street) and Charlotte Bellamy (who plays Laurel Thomas in Emmerdale).

It follows the award for Sexiest Male and Female, voted by the public, being axed in 2015.

Refresh: Instead of Best Actor and Actress, stars from much-loved British soaps will battle it out for the new Best Leading Performer award

The annual ceremony had been called off for the second year in a row in 2021 due to 'ongoing safety measures' that had been put in place for cast members during filming for their shows to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The awards return this year and will take place in London at The Hackney Empire and will honour the nations biggest and most-loved soap operas.

Hosted by Phillip Schofield, the live awards will be presented by an array of well-known faces from across the TV and showbiz world.

The five biggest soaps - Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks - will be battling it out to win recognition for their work over the past year.

Some of the biggest faces from all five soaps will be hitting the red carpet for the most star-studded and glamorous event in the soap calendar.

The long list categories for the public voted awards will open Tuesday 19 April at 10am.
Xi, Mauritian president exchange congratulations on 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties

Xinhua) 09:06, April 16, 2022

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Mauritian counterpart, Prithvirajsing Roopun, exchanged congratulatory messages on Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Xi pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic relations half a century ago, China-Mauritius ties have seen healthy and stable development, the traditional friendship has withstood the test of time and grown even stronger, and cooperation in all fields has been increasingly deepened.

Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, people of the two countries have helped each other to overcome the difficulties of the times together, showing a profound friendship sharing weal and woe, he added.

Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Mauritius relations, and is willing to work with President Roopun to take the 50th anniversary as an opportunity to enhance traditional friendship, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and promote common development, so as to benefit the two countries and their people.

In his message, Roopun said that over the past 50 years, Mauritius and China have forged a profound friendship, and exchanges and cooperation in various fields have developed in an all-round way.

Noting that the entry into force and the implementation of the bilateral free trade agreement has further strengthened the close ties between the two countries, Roopun said he hopes the two sides will take the 50th anniversary as an opportunity to explore innovation, consolidate and expand cooperation, and deepen friendship and mutual trust.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: After months of negotiation, political strategist Prashant Kishor is expected to join the Congress soon. On Saturday, Kishor made a detailed presentation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders.

However, Kishors meeting with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi has created a buzz in Telangana politics. This sudden meeting has fuelled a debate in political circles over its likely impact on state politics and possible changes in political equations in the run-up to 2023 Assembly polls.

This is because the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has engaged the services of Prashant Kishor only recently and his team is currently engaged in conducting surveys for TRS for upcoming Assembly elections. The Congress is the prime Opposition of the TRS in the state and whether the TRS can go ahead with Kishor if he works for Congress remains the big question.

According to sources, Kishor stressed that the Congress should concentrate on 370 to 400 Lok Sabha seats, and the rest they should leave for alliance partners. AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said a committee would be formed to look at his suggestions and ideas and how to take them forward.

The committee will be required to submit its report within a weeks time. Senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi and Ajay Maken were also part of the meeting.

The meeting at 10 Janpath lasted for almost four hours. In Telangana, if Kishor could strike an alliance between the Congress and the TRS for Assembly polls, it would be a big blow to TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy, who joined the Congress from the TDP in 2017 with the sole aim to dethrone Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's government.

Will Revanth continue to sail with the Congress even after such an alliance takes shape in future is the question that is being hotly debated in political circles. In that case, BJP would emerge as the prime Opposition for the TRS-Congress combine, they opine.

The TRS has been fighting all elections alone since the formation of Telangana state in 2014. It emerged victorious in all the elections with a big majority barring one or two minor aberrations like Dubbak and Huzurabad Assembly bypolls in 2020 and 2021. The TRS has the history of contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2004 in alliance with the Congress and the Left parties and again in 2009 in alliance with the TDP and the Left parties.

Kishors suggestions to Sonia and Rahul in the meeting that the Congress must target up to 400 seats out of 543 for 2024 Lok Sabha polls and work on alliances wherever the party is weak have further fuelled speculations of possible TRS-Congress alliance at least for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, if not 2023 Assembly polls.

Political circles do not rule out such a possibility in the wake of Chandrashekar Rao trying to forge an anti-BJP front for 2024 Lok Sabha polls and several leaders of non-BJP parties including DMK's M.K. Stalin and NCP's Sharad Pawar openly stating that such a front would not be a possibility without the Congress.

Analysts expect sweeping changes in Telangana's political landscape in the event of a TRS-Congress alliance as several leaders in both the TRS and the Congress who fail to secure party tickets to contest elections may switch to the BJP for their political future.

In the last couple weeks there has been a lot of chatter that Kishor will look after the upcoming Gujarat elections for the Congress. In fact, Naresh Patel, one of the influential Patel leaders, was also supposed to be inducted in the party. Insiders claim that if the 2024 plan gets approved, Kishor may also help out the party in Gujarat.

After the recent losses in the five state Assembly elections, the Congress is in disarray. The leadership of the Gandhis is being challenged for the first time openly as well as behind closed doors. The Gandhis are fighting back on two fronts - first quelling the change seekers who are within the party and second, trying to resist the BJP onslaught.

This is the first formal meeting that has taken place in which Kishor outlined a detailed road map. He has an open offer to join the party but is demanding sweeping as well as radical changes.
A few days ago, my yoga teacher surprised me. He is a very pious Hindu, and exhibits his loyalty to the Sanatana Dharma proudly. A strict vegetarian, he celebrates Hindu festivals with enthusiasm, and spends a great deal of time in prayer and meditation. To gauge his reaction to recent developments, I commented that he must be very happy at the attempts to ban the eating of meat in New Delhi during the Ram Navami Navratras. My yoga guru thought for a moment before he replied. I am Bengali sir, he said. In Bengal, we eat fish even during Navratras. So, what is the question of banning non-vegetarian food?

The truth is that the powers that be are lighting a fire (chingari laga rahe hain). They think that in this fire Muslims will be singed. But so will Hindus. Soon enough, if this kind of madness is not stopped, the entire country will burn. This is not good for Hindus or anybody else.

This reaction reinforced my belief that most Hindus do not support the suicidal extremism that is now spreading across the country. True, there are verifiable angsts, even a sense of injustice, in large sections of the Hindu community. There is a backlash against the previous misuse of secularism, in which the rampant perception was that Muslim appeasement was being practiced for vote bank politics. There are legitimate questions that need to be taken on board: Why was only the Hindu personal law changed, while other religious communities remained untouched? Why are Hindu temples under government supervision when those of other religions are not? Why was the Supreme Courts judgement in the Shah Bano case overruled by an ordinance? Why was their relative silence among reflex secularists when the Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes?

The list is long, and valid. A course correction is required. But while most Hindus would like this to happen, none of them, except the die-hard bhakts, want a situation where the entire nation is thrown into anarchy, lawlessness, and a dangerous and endemic instability which jeopardises governance, economic progress, and the safety and security of ordinary citizens. Hindus want a government that does not discriminate between religious communities, does not pursue minority appeasement, and recognises some of the remarkable and verifiable achievements of Hindu civilisation. But they do not want a government that is willing to push the country into chaos in order to derive short-term electoral benefits. Hindus want to receive the same protection as all citizens of this country, but do not want a government that in the name of protecting Hindus uses them as cannon fodder to win elections.

Hindus also realise that much of Hindu extremism implicitly sanctioned by the ruling party is transparently a means to deflect attention from other burning issues that require attention, such as the rampant crisis of unemployment, rising prices, crony capitalism, stagnating agriculture, corruption, and a languishing manufacturing sector. They are also pragmatic enough to understand that whatever the hotheads in the BJP may think, it is just not possible to eliminate the minorities of India. They realise that Muslims, for instance, are not geographically segregated, but some 200 million of them are spread out across the country and that, therefore, the only policy that can work is tolerance and coexistence, in the interests of the harmony and stability so essential for economic growth and prosperity. They know that a country at war with itself cannot progress. They worry about the future of their children in a nation where communities are perpetually at war with each other and the security of the common person is held hostage by a political party that is bent on fanning the flames of discord rather than getting down to governance.

That is why, contrary to what some in the BJP may think, Hindus were not at all pleased when the Haridwar Dharma Sansad had so called Hindu saints making a passionate appeal for the genocide of Muslims and the initiation of civil war in this country. They are shocked that in spite of the sloganeering on sab ka saath, sab ka vishvas, not a single major BJP leader condemned such statements.

They are not amused when the government takes over a month to make a single arrest among those who gave these incendiary speeches at Haridwar. They are not approving when one of the accused in this hate fest, Yati Narsinghanand, is given bail so easily, while others opposed  or seen to be opposed  to the regime have the draconian UAPA law slapped against them. Their indignation rises when this very Narsinghanand makes another hate speech violating the conditions of his bail, and is not immediately rearrested. They are appalled that this Narsinghanandhas also said that all female politicians are mistresses of their male counterparts. They are outraged when another so-called Hindu saint, Bajrang Muni Das, proclaims in a public speech that Hindus should rape Muslim women. They condemn hate speeches made by Muslim extremists, and want them to be punished too, but do not think the answer is the kind of statements made by Bajrang Muni Das. They are pained at the level to which discourse in the country has degenerated, and want sanity to be restored.

The bulk of Hindus are getting fed up of this constant hate-filled turbulence on issues such as hijab, halal, jhatka, vegetarianism, the use of Urdu, love jihad, ban on Muslim traders and how Hindu women should appropriately dress. The attempt to convert this great Sanatana Dharma into some kind of Wahabi faith is doomed to failure. Hindus know how to protect their faith  or else how else has Hinduism survived and flourished since the dawn of time. But they do not want perennial communal riots, uncontrollable instability, the blatantly illegal use of bulldozers, the destruction of the principles of the Constitution, proliferating hate speeches, unending violence and the negation of the rule of law, simply because a political party thinks that this is the only way it can win elections.
Ruckus erupted in Pakistans Punjab Assembly on Saturday as lawmakers from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) manhandled Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari when he arrived to chair the crucial session convened to elect the new chief minister of the province.

The lawmakers from the ex-prime minister Imran Khans party attacked Mazari and pulled his hair for changing his loyalty.

TV footage showed Mazari was slapped, punched and dragged by the PTI members before the security guards managed to rescue him.

Also Read: Ex-Pak PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf appointed Pakistan National Assembly's new Speaker

The PTI lawmakers brought "lotas" to the house and started chanting "lota, lota" (turncoats) as they lashed out at dissident PTI lawmakers who parted ways with the party and decided to support the Opposition.

They said they would not allow 24 dissident members of their party to cast the vote in the chief ministers election.

A tough competition is expected between the two candidates  Hamza Shahbaz and Parvez Elahi. Hamza, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is the joint candidate of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMl-N) and other coalition parties, while PML-Q's Elahi is being backed by the PTI.

If the rebel PTI members are allowed to cast their vote, Hamza is certain to get elected as the chief minister.

As the situation got out of control, the police deployed outside the assembly entered the House.

Elahi and other members protested and termed it a violation of the sanctity of the House.

"In Pakistan's history, police have never entered the Punjab Assembly. We will summon the Inspector General Police of Punjab and punish him for a month under the law," he said.

The proceedings have been suspended for some time even as Mazari said he would resume the session and conduct the election for the chief minister at any cost on Saturday.

"Those who attacked me want martial law in Pakistan but they will not succeed," Mazari told reporters.

Also Read: New PM Sharif orders 'Pakistan speed' to fix stagnant economy

The Lahore High Court on Friday had directed the deputy speaker to conduct the election in a free and fair manner on Saturday.

A candidate needs 186 votes in the 371-member House to become the chief minister.

In the Punjab Assembly, the PTI has 183 lawmakers, its ally PML-Q has 10. PML-N has 165, the PPP seven, while five are independent and one belongs to Rah-i-Haq.

Responding to the criticism for naming his son as Punjabs chief Minister, Prime Minister Shehbaz said: "I don't want to make my son CM. In fact, we had offered this slot to Parvez Elahi but he refused to join hands with us".

The PML-N had kept 24 PTI dissident members of the Punjab Assembly in a hotel for two weeks so that they could not be approached by ex-prime minister Imran Khan and his party leaders to woo them back.

Prime Minister Shehbaz has condemned the attack on the Punjab Assemblys deputy speaker and demanded the smooth election of the new chief minister of the province which has been without its chief executive for two weeks.

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The Sri Lankan Army on Saturday said they would thoroughly uphold the Constitution and not resort to violence amidst the anti-government protests across the island nation against the worst economic crisis.

Referring to the social media speculation that the military may be used by the government to launch a crackdown on the week-long protest near the presidential secretariat, the Sri Lankan Army, in a statement, said it would not resort to violence to quell the anti-government demonstrations.

Troops, as everyone witnessed in the past few days, have not at all interfered with any of those peaceful protesters or organisations, nor have they acted against the interests of the State as disciplined members of an organisation which brought peace to this country through immense and invaluable sacrifices, according to the statement.

Also Read: Twitterati tell Elon Musk to buy Sri Lanka instead of platform

The Army also denied that speculation that it was currently undergoing training to assault and combat the protesters.

Sri Lanka is currently in the grip of the worst economic crisis since it got independence from the United Kingdom in 1948.

The Armys statement comes after former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka commented that the troops must not obey illegal orders inferring a crackdown on the protesters.

Stressing that the Army must rethink "before acting on unlawful orders", Fonseka, in an address to Army Commander Gen Shavendra Silva and Kamal Gunaratne, top bureaucrat of the Defence Ministry, had said the troops must not obey any illegal order.

Fonseka, who was promoted to the rank of field marshal for commanding the Army to victory over the LTTE in 2009, had both Silva and Gunaratne serving under him.

The nationwide anti-government protest entered its eighth day on Saturday, with protesters demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as well as of the entire Rajapaksa family in the wake of the poor handling of the ongoing economic crisis that has brought the nation to a financial standstill.

The Colombo Stock Exchange will remain temporarily closed for a week from Monday to provide investors an opportunity to have "more clarity and understanding" of the current economic conditions in crisis-hit Sri Lanka that would help them "to make informed investment decisions," it was announced on Saturday.

Also Read: Sri Lanka declares 5-day share trading halt over crisis

"The stock market will remain temporarily closed for a period of five business days from April 18, 2022," the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) said in a statement.

With the shortage of forex, an Indian credit line of $500 million for fuel imports has provided a lifeline to the island nation.

India recently announced to extend a $1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its financial assistance to the country to deal with the economic crisis following a previous $500 billion line of credit in February to help it purchase petroleum products.

President Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven with the island nations tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.

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Stating that study, observation and dialogue sharpen the thought process, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Saturday said that Hindutva is currently discussed widely.

He was speaking at RSS affiliated think-tank Prajna Pravah's Akhil Bharatiya Chintan Baithak (All India brainstorming meeting) on the theme 'Global Renaissance of Hindutva in the Madhya Pradesh capital. Apart from Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, several academicians and intellectuals, including vice-chancellors of various universities and eminent historians and economists, are participating in the two-day meet.

Study, observation and dialogue strengthen thinking and right now Hindutva is discussed widely. The nectar from brainstorming will bring forth more positivity and creativity, Hosabale said. Prajna Pravah often organises intellectual sessions on various contemporary social and cultural issues of national importance. These days, people from various corners of the world are again getting attracted to Hindutva. The quest, inclination and acceptance for the Hindu way of life have now become more visible than ever, a Prajna Pravah release said quoting speakers at the meeting.

Especially after the Covid-19 crisis, its (the Hindu way of life) universal appeal has increased manifold. At the global level, the number of foreigners who are enticed by Yoga and Ayurveda has also increased, it added. Today people from across the world, including America, are inquisitive about the Indian knowledge system. Several universities in the USA and Europe are offering courses in this academic stream. Thousands of foreign students and professors are taking interest in such courses, the release said.

The meeting intends to discuss all such global facets of Hindutva, it said

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Leaders of 13 Opposition parties on Saturday expressed "extreme anguish" over the recent incidents of hate speech and communal violence in the country and urged people to "maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation".

The joint statement by the leaders said they were "extremely concerned with the growing incidents of hate speech in the country by people, who appear to have official patronage and against whom no meaningful and strong action" is being taken.

"We are extremely anguished at the manner in which issues related to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by sections of the ruling establishment to polarise our society," they said.

Also read: Fadnavis attacks Pawar on communal issues, appeasement politics

The statement was signed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin and Hemant Soren, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, his CPI counterpart D Raja, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, RSP's Manoj Bhattacharya, Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas, CPI-ML(L)'s Dipanker Bhattacharya and Muslim League's P K Kunhalikutty.

"We are shocked at the silence of the Prime Minister, who has failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and provoke our society," the leaders said.

Strongly condemning the recent "outburst of communal violence witnessed across several states", they said they were "deeply concerned", as reports indicate that there is a "sinister pattern" in the areas where these incidents have occurred. Incendiary hate speeches preceded the aggressive armed religious processions unleashing communal violence, the leaders said.

They also expressed concern over the manner in which social media and audio-visual platforms were being "misused with official patronage" to spread hatred and prejudice.

"We reiterate our collective resolve to work together to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that have defined and enriched India for centuries. We reiterate our commitment to combat and confront the poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness in our society. We reiterate our firm conviction that our country will prosper only if it respects, accommodates and celebrates its many diversities in full measure," they said.

"We appeal to all sections of the people to maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation. We call upon all our party units across the country to independently and jointly work for maintaining peace and harmony," the leaders added.

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The BJP and TMC both faced setbacks in the results of bypolls conducted in Asansol and Kolkata.

While the BJP lost its two-time won Asansol Lok Sabha seat to the Trinamool on Saturday, the TMC retained Ballygunge assembly seat in south Kolkata, but with a sharp dip in votes with a section of Muslim voters, unhappy with Trinamools choice of candidate, voting for the Left.

Veteran actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, who contested the Asansol parliamentary seat on a Trinamool ticket, snatched the seat from the BJP. Babul Supriyo, former central minister was elected MP from this seat in 2014 and 2019 as a BJP candidate. Despite coming to power in the state in 2011, the Trinamool had failed to win this seat so far. Sinha got over 56 per cent votes. Agnimitra Paul, as the BJP candidate received over 30 per cent votes.

Read | Trinamool's Babul Supriyo, Shatrughan Sinha script wins in bypolls

In Ballygunge assembly constituency, after the death of veteran politician Subrata Mukherjee in November, the TMC pitched Supriyo as its candidate. Babul bagged around 50 per cent votes (51,199). This is around 20 per cent less than Mukherjees 70 per cent votes of 2021 Assembly elections. CPI(M) candidate and actor Naseeruddin Shahs niece Saira Shah Halim received around 30 per cent votes (30,971). The Left had stood third with around 6 per cent votes in 2021.

While one bye-election fails to predict a long-term trend, there are lessons for the political outfits - divisive politics is not a substitute for inclusiveness, and Muslims have registered their protest against the Trinamools choice of candidate. A third, by replacing the BJP at the second spot in Kolkata, Left has shown its ability to counter the Trinamool.

For the BJP its a lesson. People no longer have confidence, and the mood is negative in Asansol. Bengal is delivering a message that such politics is undesired here. The party is also a victim of its organisational problems, Shikha Mukerjee, political analyst told Deccan Herald. In Kolkata, confidence of Muslim voters in Mamata as an agent of change that will impact the community across the board is declining. The rise in Lefts votes is an indication, she added.

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The Congress on Friday dubbed Karnataka as Indias corruption capital and alleged that the BJP government is trying to protect senior lawmaker K S Eshwarappa by covering up the death of contractor Santosh Patil.

Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar told reporters that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, his predecessor B S Yediyurappa and other BJP leaders had given a clean chit to Eshwarappa.

Youve become a judge and the investigation officer by saying Eshwarappa is innocent. Karnataka has become Indias corruption capital, he said, after his partys overnight protest at Vidhana Soudha demanding Eshwarappas arrest.

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah claimed that attempts are being made to save Eshwarappa. Thats why we want the investigation to be done by the police under the supervision of a High Court judge. And, I want the chief secretary to seize all documents related to the case as there are chances that Eshwarappa may destroy evidence, he said.

The Congress has decided to fan out across the state and hold protests in all the districts. We want Eshwarappa to be booked for corruption, Shivakumar said. Siddaramaiah said the Congress will make all attempts to take this to its logical end.

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Ten free and subsidised higher education courses have been announced for Louth, as part of the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 1 scheme. The courses are open to people who may be interested in upskilling or reskilling in areas where skills are most needed in the Irish economy.

The programmes in Louth will be run through Dundalk Institute of Technology with courses ranging from pharmaceutical validation technology and business analytics to sustainability. Additional courses at Dundalk Institute of Technology will become available in the coming months, under the same scheme. Additional courses at Dundalk IT will become available in the coming months, under the same scheme.

The HCI Pillar 1 scheme is a government initiative, run by the Higher Education Authority. Courses are open to graduates, those returning to education, professionals and unemployed candidates. All courses are free for people who are unemployed and people who have taken time out of work or education to raise their families or care for loved ones. For those in employment, 90% of the cost of a HCI Pillar 1 course is funded.

Commenting on the news, Dr. Vivienne Patterson, Head of Skills and Engagement at the Higher Education Authority, said: As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, there are a number of areas within the economy that have an immediate skills shortage. HCI Pillar 1 courses aim to address these by upskilling and reskilling people in areas that industry have identified as a priority. These courses are an excellent opportunity for people who may be considering a change in career, or returning to the workforce, to upskill in an area that has future job prosperity  such as ICT, data analytics, and technology.

All of the courses in Louth, and across the country will offer flexible learning options like blended and online learning. So, I would encourage people in Louth who may be considering enrolling in a course, to explore their options under the HCI scheme in colleges across the country, and not just in their home county.

Over 2,000 places are available through the HCI Pillar 1 scheme nationwide. Applications for courses are now open. Further information is available at: https://springboardcourses.ie/
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The Easter Bunny paid a visit to the LMETB Adult Learning Service this week causing great excitement for the children and adults who were doing an arts and crafts programme focused on childrens reading. The room where the workshop took place was at full capacity and the fun of parents and children working together was palpable. The Adult Learning Service provided a Ukrainian speaking member of staff Olga to translate the story being told to the children, so they all understood. The children were in the age range of 3-12 and all joined in the activities. The older children assisted with helping their younger peers.

The workshop was divided into two sections so the adults could learn new skills for engaging their children in reading in English. There were also Irish parents in attendance, and they also supported the children, so the workshop was very integrated. Kinga Byrne the ALO said We put this course on during the Easter holidays to provide parents and children with a fun workshop. The families were delighted to attend as it gave the children a focus for the first week of the holidays. She went on to say that many of these children and their parents have only been in the country a couple of weeks and these types of activities increase their social outlets and expose the families to using and improving their English. We used art as a medium in order to provide something for all levels of English speaking.

Many of the parents are already doing English classes with Adult Learning Service and this workshop was part of the Family Learning programme to encourage parents to become involved in supporting their childs learning in school. If any families missed the workshop and are interested in any of the classes, please contact the Adult Learning Service at: LMETB Adult Learning Service, text 0860132244 or email:alslouth@lmetb.ie
The Frazer Ferry Group, which owns the Carlingford Lough Ferry, Lough Foyle Ferry and Passage East Ferry are partnering up with Adi Roches Chernobyl Children International to raise badly needed funds in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Over the Easter holiday period, between Good Friday 15 April and Easter Monday 18 April, Carlingford Lough Ferry will be hosting local volunteers, who will be taking part in an onboard bucket collection on behalf of Chernobyl Children International to raise vitally needed funds for the Ukrainian crises. In addition to the bucket collection onboard, the Frazer Ferry Group will be donating 2 for every vehicle ticket sold, across each of its ferries at Carlingford Lough, Lough Foyle and Passage East.

Since the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in 1986, Chernobyl Children International (CCI) has cultivated deep, substantive ties in Ukraine, at a personal, professional, and diplomatic level, and as the invasion continues to unfold CCI is providing emergency assistance on the ground to those who need it most.

Commenting on the initiative, Managing Director of the Frazer Ferry Group Paul OSullivan said: We are delighted to work with such a renowned charity as Chernobyl Children International on this fundraising initiative. The scenes of devastation that we are all seeing in Ukraine are truly heart breaking. We hope this collection will be a great success for all concerned

CCI has been working within the Chernobyl Region for over 35 years and is deeply concerned about children and families who are currently trapped there as the war unfolds. CCI is working to get humanitarian aid, which includes food, water, and medicines, to children and their families who are in desperate need.

Speaking about the Frazer Ferry Group Collection, voluntary CEO and founder of CCI, Adi Roche, said: We are thrilled to have the support of the Frazer Ferry Group for their Easter Collection this year. We are absolutely devastated by the ongoing war, but we remain shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine, most particularly the children whose welfare is our responsibility. This collection will help us continue our vital work and we are incredibly grateful for this support.

Carlingford Lough Ferry will be operating a daily ferry service between Thursday 14 of April and Sunday 24 of April with extended sailing times. For more information visit www.carlingfordferry.com.
The European Union needs to prepare for the prospect of a united Ireland, Deputy Ruairi O Murchu has told the penultimate meeting of the Conference of the Future of Europe (CoFoE).

The Dundalk TD was in Strasbourg recently with EU parliamentarians to discuss the papers generated by civic, citizens engagement across Europe on a variety of topics, including the EU in the World. He is a member of this working group.

Speaking at the plenary sessions in Strasbourg, the Sinn Fein TD said the national parliamentarians had met about the recommendations "to deal with certain things that are coming down the line  Irish unity and Scottish independence".

He spoke about the Irelands Future civic group and their engagements across Ireland and said they were carrying out a huge amount of engagement with citizens.

Deputy O Murchu said: "I think that needs to be communicated into this process from the point of view of the fact that these conversations are happening.

"This is going to happen. It is in the document at the moment, but it needs to be more prominent."

Deputy O Murchu, who is the Sinn Fein spokesperson on broadband strategy, also spoke in Strasbourg about the need for a safe internet, free from hybrid and cyber threats, and took aim at the social media companies.

He said: "We cant operate without a safe internet, particularly for remote working. Hackers are hard at work, and we had a huge cyber attack on the health system in Ireland last year.

"Very few people realise how the social media algorithms work, but they can be weaponised and used by states and connected networks to do real, real harm."

He added that Europe also has to do more to bridge the digital divide, which is connected to poverty.

He said: "There needs to be family and community support in order to make connections to digital skill sets as well as education and employment for people who are not as privileged."

In his final submission, Deputy O Murchu said the crisis in Ukraine had brought sharp focus on the need for energy and food security.

He said there needs to be greater engagement with farmers in Ireland, and around Europe, "in order to get the buy-in for the changes that are needed to ensure we have a sustainable food supply".

Mitigations on the VAT rate for fuel, including home heating oil, are needed from the EU, but in the longer term, States have to do the heavy lifting when it comes to renewable energy.


EASTER weekend is once again upon us  a time of year that is steeped in tradition, celebration, and of course, commemoration.

This year, the annual Easter Rising commemorations are back for in-person events for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.

Delving through the archives there are a plethora of images commemorating the seismic uprising, including a significant event to mark the 20th anniversary in Macroom.

Following the 50th anniversary of the Rising in 1966, The Evening Echo published a letter to the editor in which one individual who merely identified themselves as L.F. from Greenmount stated that while they felt the ceremonies marking the golden jubilee commemorations were an unqualified success, half a century had passed and the real aim of 1916 was as far away as ever.

Ahead of an Easter Rising commemoration in the city tomorrow, keynote speaker, Sinn Fein TD Louise OReilly said she believes the 1916 Proclamation remains the mission statement for a new Ireland.

Twentieth anniversary of Easter week commemoration at Macroom, 1936.

It is a freedom charter for the people of this island which guarantees religious and civil liberty and promotes equal rights and opportunities for all citizens.

In 2022, the currents of change in Ireland are powerful. We have a real opportunity to see how we can make the united, independent Ireland envisaged in 1916 a reality.

There is an urgent onus on the Irish Government to establish a Citizens Assembly on Irish unity so that we have the right forum for an historic public conversation about the future of our country, she said.

People attending the commemoration are asked to assemble at 2.30pm at the National Monument on the Grand Parade for the parade to the republican plot at St Finbarrs Cemetery.

Ms OReilly said she is honoured to be invited to address the Easter commemoration in Cork.

It is the first time in three years that we have been able to gather in-person to remember and commemorate those, from all generations, who gave their lives for Irish freedom. We are expecting a big turnout on Sunday.

There is huge respect and reverence from the people of Cork for Irelands revolutionary history.

Members of Cork Junior Red Cross technical school making Easter baskets for local hospitals, 1952.

Traditionally, Easter is also a time where creativity comes to the fore, as the photo of students creating Easter baskets in 1952 illustrates.

In the city today, local suppliers will be showing off their talent at an Easter craft market at Nano Nagle Place in the front plaza from 10am to 5pm.

Typically, the lead-up to Easter is a busy one for other markets in the city, such as the English Market and the Coal Quay as people stock up on supplies and gifts for Easter Sunday.

Easter at the Coal Quay, 1965.

Business and tourism are likely to get a boost over the Easter period with Cork Airport set to welcome over 60,000 passengers.

For April 2022, seat capacity at Cork Airport is at 101% compared to April 2019, building on what has been a very positive start to 2022, acting managing director at Cork Airport, Roy ODriscoll said.
Volunteers from Cork Penny Dinners were said to be devastated at the sight of hundreds of Ukrainian refugees, mainly women and children, arriving in sub-zero temperatures at the border crossing at Medyka in south-east Poland.

The volunteers were completing the fourth and final full day of their humanitarian mission to Poland, helping Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.

The group of eight had flown to Poland early on Wednesday, where they met two articulated lorries carrying 50 tonnes of humanitarian aid donated by the people of Cork.

Over the course of their visit they distributed aid to reception centres welcoming refugees to Poland, and, with the help of the Redemptorist order, to hospitals and orphanages across Ukraine.

Speaking to The Echo from their base in Tarnow in south-east Poland, Penny Dinners co-ordinator Caitriona Twomey said it had been a tough day for the Cork volunteers.

The only thing that matched our feelings today was the bitterness of the weather, Ms Twomey said.

We were stung by everything we saw, and it was a lot to take in, to see so many babies, toddlers, smallies and teens with their parents, trying to get hot food and drinks into them in the freezing cold, was very hard for us all. Ms Twomey said the volunteers were devastated, and were feeling very lonely for their own families.

We are broken by what we saw at Medyka and inside the Ukraine border.

Our Polish friend Jan Skarbek brought us into the Ukrainian side with the permission of Border Control to see the sheer horror and sadness of this war, she said.

One of our volunteers, Dave Feeney, said that within 10 minutes over 100 people went through and nothing only sadness, fear, and tears on their faces. She added that another volunteer, Leslie O Sullivan, had spoken for all of the group when he observed that while scenes of refugees on television could provoke an emotional response, nothing had prepared them for the impact of meeting people who are fleeing terror.

To see this pain in real life is horrific and gut wrenching, and how wrong it is for anyone to have the power to put what could be our children, our sisters, our mothers, our grandmothers or our grandchildren through this, Ms Twomey said.

Its Holy Saturday, but theres not much holy about whats happening except the kindness of our Polish friends and all we have met on our journey. Ms Twomey said the Penny Dinners volunteers had accomplished all they had wanted to on their mission, and she said Polish people had made them feel very much at home, with their friends Jan, Robert and Dariusz giving invaluable help.

She said that the aid donated by Cork people would save many lives, and she added that those receiving the aid had been deeply moved by the kindness of the donors.

Three fully loaded vans went to Katowice and our Redemptorist friends are heading to many locations within Ukraine with vital aid and food, and with massive amounts of heavy-duty hospital supplies. She said 12 generators had been donated, and the makings of a field hospital had been delivered into Ukraine.

Orphanages have power now, and warm clothes and beautiful new blankets for the children, with plenty of food and supplies, she said, adding that everyone who donated had helped save lives.

You have made an enormous difference with your outpouring of love and kindness, she said.

The Cork Penny Dinners volunteers will be collected from Dublin Airport on Sunday afternoon by Gurranabraher Community Garda Tony Gardiner, and they are expected home at Little Hanover Street just after five.
By David Young, PA

Thousands of people have attended vigils across the island of Ireland in memory of two men killed in Sligo.

Aidan Moffitt, 42, and Michael Snee, 58, were found dead in their own homes in the town on the west coast earlier in the week.

A man was remanded in custody at Sligo District Court on Thursday after being charged with their murders.

Scenes at the vigil in Sligo town on Friday were replicated all over the island, with more than 30 events were organised in towns and cities on both sides of the border.

The vigils were held in memory of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee (Carl Brennan/PA)

Many of the gatherings were organised by local LGBT groups.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Town Hall in Sligo to pay tribute to the men. Several speakers addressed the crowd, including the mayor of Sligo Arthur Gibbons.

Members of Mr Snees family were among those in attendance.

Isaac Griffin, from Sligo Pride and the group United Against Racism, told those gathered that the whole town was in shock.

It has been extremely shocking for our community and for Sligo as a whole, he said.

I want to extend my deepest sympathies towards the families and friends as they grieve their losses and process these traumas at this time.

Candles and flowers were laid on the steps of the building as the event, which was organised by Sligo Pride, drew to a close.

In Dublin, a large crowd assembled at the gates of the Dail to hear speeches in tribute.

Catriona Bonner speaks at the vigil in Sligo (Carl Brennan/PA)

A choir sang as scores of rainbow flags were held aloft.

At the Belfast vigil there was a minutes noise to symbolise a need for the voices of people in the LGBT community to be heard.

LGBT activist Jude Copeland told the crowd: Its a really horrible time, but its one where our community can come together and care for each other and bits of solidarity and messages that we can share with each other.

Its a really difficult time for lots of people in the LGBT community where people are isolated, vulnerable and in very difficult situations in their life, and we really must remember that.

People attend a vigil outside Belfast City Hall (David Young/PA)

Mr Moffitt was a prominent businessman and a Fine Gael activist while Mr Snee worked as a care assistant.

Both have been described as well respected and liked in the local community. Their funerals will be held on Monday.

Yousef Palani, 22, of Markievicz Heights, Sligo, appeared before a judge at Sligo District Court on Thursday charged with murdering the men in their Sligo homes

He is charged with the murder of Mr Moffitt at Cartron Heights on April 10 and with the murder of Mr Snee at City View on April 12th.

He was also charged with assaulting another man, Anthony Burke, causing serious harm in an incident at Cleveragh Road, Sligo on April 9th.

Palani is to appear before the same court by video link on April 21st.
Louise Walsh

A shocked mum has revealed how her three-year-old daughter is lucky to be alive after a scrambler bike crossed over her in a terrifying hit-and-run incident on Friday.

Little Holly Lewis miraculously escaped with a broken shoulder after the heavy bike knocked her down and ran across her back and shoulder while she was out for a walk with her family in a public park in Dublin

However, the two people on the bike failed to stop after they hit the little girl and raced off without checking if she was OK.

Holly's mam Sarah has reported the incident to gardai and is now calling for harsher laws on scramblers, especially in public places.

"I was walking across the blue bridge into the Sean Walsh Park in Tallaght at about 2.30pm on Good Friday with my mam, Holly and my new baby," she said.

"The bike had already passed us with two teenage boys on it and ironically, my mam remarked that they were going to hit someone.

"They were obviously doing loops of the park because they came behind us again while Holly was skipping in front of us down the hill.

"I could see they had lost control of the bike, and they did try to swerve and stop, but they couldn't.

"They ran straight into Holly and as she fell, face first, into the ground, the bike went over her, across her back and shoulder.

"One of the lads fell off the back of the bike. I was just screaming at them to get the bike off Holly. As she lay there completely motionless for a minute, he hopped back on the scrambler and the two of them sped off.

"They never looked back, they never said, sorry it was an accident, is she OK? Nothing. They just drove off.

" I was in complete shock. Thank God there was a lady there who stayed on the ground with Holly. She didn't move for a second and all I could see was blood.

"The ambulance arrived very quickly, and she was rushed to hospital where she was treated for a broken shoulder and cuts and bruises.

Holly's mam Sarah has reported the incident to gardai and is now calling for harsher laws on scramblers, especially in public places.

"The paramedic told me that Holly was lucky to be alive. Imagine the weight of the bike with the extra load of two teenagers on it, driving across a three-year-old child.

"I'm still in shock to be honest. It hasn't hit me yet just how lucky she is. It could've been a lot worse.

"The gardai are taking it very seriously and are looking for the bike. Accidents unfortunately do happen, but this one could've been avoided.

"I knew to look at them that these lads hadn't a clue how to handle that bike, and they weren't even wearing helmets. They shouldn't have been driving it, especially in a public park where there are loads of children and elderly people.

"The fact that they never even bothered to check if my little girl was ok, or was alive or dead really gets to me. Even if it was initial panic, we were there for a while waiting for the ambulance, but they never came back.

"If anyone has any information on these lads, please contact the gardai."

In a statement, gardai said they: "attended an RTC involving a scrambler and a pedestrian that occurred in Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght, shortly after 2:30pm yesterday, Friday 15th April 2022.

"The pedestrian (a juvenile) was taken to Tallaght University Hospital to be treated for their injuries."

Investigations are ongoing.
Air travel is not good for the planet, but sometimes its the only feasible option to get to where you need to go. If you find yourself on a flight for one reason or another, its good to know your options for minimizing the impact of your trip. Sure, you can buy carbon offsets, but if youre looking for a more tangible way to make a difference, you can start by reducing the amount of waste associated with flying.

You might purchase little plastic shampoo bottles for your carry-on to comply with the TSA liquid size requirements. Then, on your journey through the airport, you stop for a dreaded plastic water bottle that costs nearly as much as a luxury meal.

Once youre comfortable in your coveted window seat, you might use a wipe to clean off the tray before the flight attendant pours you a drink in a little plastic cup.

Over the course of just one flight, you can accumulate a lot of waste, but it doesnt have to be that way. Here are tips to reduce your impact of air travel, from saying No, thanks to the single-use plane pretzels to packing your own zero-waste personal care items, even in a carry-on.

1. Go Digital

Thanks to modern technology, theres no need to get paper version of your boarding passes at the airport. Instead, download the airline app with which you are flying or ask to have your boarding pass emailed or texted to you. You can even make these selections yourself at a self-service kiosk at the airport.

If you plan to bring other paper items, like a print-out of your hotel confirmation, instructions to your destination, or maps, consider downloading these items onto your phone or taking screenshots instead. This way, you can still access them without data.

2. Pack Snacks

You dont have to resort to airline peanuts or plastic-wrapped snacks from a vending machine at the airport. You can bring your own snacks through security and onto the plane, so long as you follow TSAs guidelines. You can bring liquid or gel foods of 3.4 ounces or less  they may just need to be screened separately from your other belongings.

You can bring most solid foods, from sandwiches to pastries. To keep this process zero-waste, pack items in reusable containers or reusable and resealable bags, and choose items without plastic packaging, like fresh fruits and veggies. (If you are flying to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands, or internationally, avoid packing produce, or you may have to throw it out at the security checkpoint.)

3. Bring a Water Bottle

Taking a reusable water bottle to the airport isnt just sustainable. Its also a smart move for your wallet. Water bottles can cost about $5 when you purchase them at the airport, which can really add up when youre trying to stay hydrated. Make sure the reusable water bottle is completely empty before you head through the security screening, then you can fill it up at water fountains throughout the airport before you get on the plate.

4. Transfer Liquid Personal Care Items to Small Containers

Instead of buying the adorable little travel-sized shampoos and body washes from the grocery store for your trip, make use of the products you already have. Use reusable travel-sized containers to add 3.4 ounces or less of your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, lotions, and other personal care items. Make sure to label the bottles, so you dont mix up which product is which when you get to your destination.

Youll also need to keep all liquid and gel products together in a quart-sized bag. Instead of using a plastic version, pack items in a clear, resealable silicone bag to reduce waste and make screening simple.

5. Switch to Solid Shampoos, Conditioners and Soaps

Even easier than pouring small portions of liquid products into reusable and resealable containers is swapping to solid products. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash and facial cleanser bars are easy to find at most grocery stores or pharmacies. These days, you can even find toothpaste and mouthwash tablets and lotion bars for no-fuss traveling.

6. Put Together a Zero-Waste Travel Kit

Before its time to fly, make a zero-waste kit to keep in your carry-on or personal item for easy access. While the specific items you include can depend on your own travel wants and needs, consider including cloth napkins, a reusable spoon and fork, resealable and reusable food containers and reusable straws. Of course, dont forget to include your water bottle in the kit.

Then, you can adjust your kit to bring other items that are essential to your needs and comfort. You might want to include an extra container to hold food scraps for composting when you reach your destination. Shopping bags will also come in handy if you need to stop off to purchase a book or two.

7. Say No to Single-Use Items

Depending on your flight, the crew might offer you prepackaged snacks and meals, earbuds in plastic packaging, or drinks in plastic cups. Simply, and politely, refuse these items, instead turning to the foods you brought yourself. If you happen to forget a reusable water bottle, you can ask the flight attendant to give you a full can of the soda or juice of your choosing. Then, make sure to rinse out and recycle the can when you leave the plane. While its not guaranteed that theyll give you a full can, most flight attendants are happy to accommodate this request.

Based in Los Angeles, Paige is a writer who is passionate about sustainability. Aside from writing for EcoWatch, Paige also writes for Insider, HomeAdvisor, Thrillist, EuroCheapo, Eat This, Not That!, and more. She earned her Bachelors degree in Journalism from Ohio University and holds a certificate in Womens, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She also specialized in sustainable agriculture while pursuing her undergraduate degree. When shes not writing, Paige enjoys decorating her apartment, enjoying a cup of coffee and experimenting in the kitchen (with local, seasonal ingredients, of course!).
By Sage Lenier

Sage Lenier, an environmental activist and graduate from UC Berkeley, created a wildly popular course at her university dedicated to sustainable solutions and circular systems thinking against the broader backdrop of environmental justice. In Spring 2020, the course enrolled more than 300 students eager to learn how they can drive the shift toward a more ethical and sustainable society. The World Economic Forum sat down with Sage for a quick Q&A.





What Drove You to Start Teaching Zero Waste? When I started at UC Berkeley, I was excited to be going to a school that had  Im told  one of the best environmental curriculums in the nation. But I quickly realized that much of the education I was receiving had little real-life application; the material lacked the call-to-action that is really necessary for addressing the ecological crisis. Thats why I decided to create a course that was solutions-focused and action-based. I started out with the concept of zero waste, but I scaled it up from individual-level action to build a vision for an economy, design system and culture that operate on the premise that natural resources are valuable and limited. I also cover modern food systems, climate change and decarbonization, and green cities, always looking at a global picture of access, equity, and cultural and ecological diversity. The approach I take helps students learn how all of these things come together for a vision of a sustainable future. I want them to be excited about the year 2100, rather than terrified. What Are the Biggest Misconceptions About Your Course? Sometimes my course gets misconstrued as a place where I teach students about what they can do to lessen their individual environmental impact. Its not really that at all. I do try to walk my students through the changes that they can make in their own lives, but the course is really about a societal revolution. Its focused on structural change, political advocacy, and community power. Two-thirds of my students are not environmental majors, and I try to give everyone something that they can do with their lives and their careers. A business major, after taking the class, might tell me: I want to spend my career in businesses that fit with the circular economy. Or a biochemistry major might say: I could operate a green lab. Im focused on big-picture solutions, all of us coming together to accomplish something through so many different avenues with our different skill sets, as well as how we can make our community a little bit better.

When We Talk About Climate Change, Sustainability and Equity, Are We Really Talking About the Same Thing? Absolutely, and I think most people are shocked when they start taking my course to learn that Im not really here to advocate on behalf of trees. Climate change is a social justice issue; it is already exacerbating existing inequalities and will continue to do so. Im first and foremost a human rights activist. Ive been passionate about feminism and racial justice from a very young age and have always done my best to educate and engage those around me. I came to environmentalism a few years ago with the realization that there are no human rights on a dead planet  this one movement really has the potential to encapsulate every social issue we have. What Do You Think Needs to Happen to Enable Us to Move to a Circular Economy More Quickly? If we really want to move towards a circular economy, we have to do a lot of direct targeting of the big corporations who already have the infrastructure, financial power and influence in our society. In our activism work, we need to be demanding that these massive companies that actually run our society and have control over our economy and government are accountable to the people.

College Students Were Heavily Impacted by COVID-19 This Year. What Was That Experience Like for You, as a Student, Instructor and Activist? Ill be honest, I lost a lot this year. I had to give up my dreams of expanding this course to other schools and communities for now, and all of my activism campaigns completely dissolved. After I graduated, I slept on the couch at my grandmothers house for two months. I was very lucky to receive a job offer in July for an environmental nonprofit and be financially stable for the second half of this year, but Ive had to fight very hard to get my mental and physical health back from where they went when I thought I was losing everything Id ever worked for. This year has been transformative in some good ways too, though; I needed to take a step back before I burned out, and I deactivated my social media for six months after a few super viral posts because I wanted to ask myself why I feel qualified to educate people and check my intentions. Im young, and its easy to develop an ego and forget what youre really working towards when you start getting media attention. Whats Next for You? Right now Im just feeling very grateful to be employed and still doing important work. Zero Waste USA recently reached out to me about sponsoring my course on their online platform, so Im very excited to be back to teaching in the new year, and the class is going to be open to everyone! I want to keep going with this curriculum and eventually turn it into a book because I think what Ive created is really unique, and its a lot of the information that the average person really needs. For now, Im getting back into the swing of things with teaching online and making educational content for Instagram. My teaching assistants, Annie Mitchell and Victoria Bartoszewicz, are still teaching it at Berkeley and after the pandemic I still do want to take it to other colleges, high schools, communities  anywhere that wants it. When that eventually comes around, Ill be applying for grants and trying to get the book published. The idea of trying to get funding and hoping I get it and hoping it keeps coming is really scary, but Im also excited because this is the most important thing that I can do  to continue to educate people and create a better equipped and larger environmental movement. Its a huge risk, but this is all Ive ever wanted.

Reposted with permission from World Economic Forum.
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)

Days after the announcement Tesla CEO Elon Musk would join Twitter's board of directors comes word that the headline-making move will not take place after all.

Could his tweets about Twitter have something to do with the sudden and equally news-making reversal? Or were they simply the latest examples of Musk's penchant for tweeting that has landed him in hot water before?

CNN reported that "The announcement that Musk would no longer join the board came after he posted a series of tweets about the company over the weekend, including one in which he suggested removing the 'w' from 'Twitter'an apparent crude joke that has since been deletedand another in which he asked if Twitter is 'dying' because some of its most-followed accounts don't often tweet."

"Corporate board members...typically share their suggestions for the company privately, which might have meant Musk would have had to stop tweeting about his ideas for Twitter."

Opening The Door To A Hostile Takeover?

According to CNBC, "Billionaire Elon Musk's reversal of his decision to join Twitter's board opens the door to a hostile takeover and could lead to additional volatility in the stock, according to analysts.

"Musk's decision not to join Twitter's board means he's no longer limited to owning just 14.9% of the company. Now, many analysts suggest the Tesla CEO could bolster his stake and eventually try and establish control."

Reason Not Disclosed

According to Reuters, "Musk and Twitter did not disclose the reason for the u-turn. Musk said in a regulatory filing on Monday he could now increase his 9.1% stake in Twitter or push the company to pursue transactions, even though he has no such plans at this time.

"There was no sign that Twitter was worried that a hostile bid from Musk was imminent. In announcing the development, Twitter disclosed no shareholder rights plan, known as a 'poison pill,' that would force dilution if Musk tried to raise his stake above a certain threshold."

Statement From Twitter's CEO

In his tweet Sunday night announcing Musk's reversal, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said the company's board had "believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward."

"Elon's appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board," Agrawal said in his own tweet. "I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input."

Other Newsworthy Tweets From Musk

Musk's tweets about Twitter are hardly the first time his comments on the social media platform have created controversies or problems for the billionaire.

In 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported that, "Securities regulators told Tesla Inc. last year that Chief Executive Elon Musk's use of Twitter had twice violated a court-ordered policy requiring his tweets to be preapproved by company lawyers," according to records obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

"Tesla and the Securities and Exchange Commission settled an enforcement action in 2018 alleging that Mr. Musk had committed fraud by tweeting about a potential buyout of his company. Mr. Musk paid $20 million to settle that caseTesla also paid $20 millionand agreed to have his public statements on social media overseen by Tesla lawyers."

Fortune reported last November, "Even by the standards of Elon Muskwho said in 2019 his Twitter feed had pretty much descended into nonsenselast weekend's poll on whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla Inc. stock was outlandish.

"After a clear majority (58%) of 3.5 million Twitter users voted yes, Tesla shares tumbled the most in eight months in New York trading Monday, falling as much as 7.3%. The stake would be valued at about $21 billion based on the 170.5 million Tesla shares he holds.

"Whether he goes through with it or not, the attention-grabbing move was just the latest in a long history of Musk using Twitter and his legions of fans on the platform to stoke interest in Tesla and his other ventures, sometimes pushing the envelope with tweets that veer from tongue-in-cheek to deliberately outrageous."

Advice For Business Leaders

Be Careful Where You Invest Your Time

Barbara Bell is the author of Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life's Turbulence and Learning to Fly High. She said that" As leaders, we need to be careful with where we invest our time, money and energy. We can't choose to be a part of every boardroom, however, we do still have the power to influence. Elon Musk is the perfect example.

"He has already set the precedent that he is watching by becoming Twitter's largest individual shareholder. That alone speaks for itself. Musk participates in the knowledge economy by being a hardware provider, changing the way we view electric cars, rockets, satellites, and advanced battery technology," Bell noted.

"That is his focus area and what he does best. As a leader, knowing where you can make the most influence is critical - and doesn't always require involvement in the boardroom," she concluded.

Risks Of Associating With Unpredictable People

Nicholas Creel is an assistant professor of business law at Georgia College and State University. He pointed out that, "Musk suddenly not being on a path to a seat on Twitter's board of directors illustrates to business leaders the impossibility of safely associating with a high profile billionaire known for their unpredictable nature.

"Twitter essentially tried to moderate Musk's influence over them by offering a place for him on the board, which would've ultimately prevented him from pursuing a hostile takeover and given him a corporate governance role over a long period of time. Now, without that constraint, Musk could suddenly pursue a hostile takeover or drop the stock entirely. Twitter is more or less at his mercy and there really isn't much they can do about it."

Be Thoughtful When Making Decisions

Isaiah Henry is the CEO of Seabreeze, a property management company. He said that "It's important for leaders to be thoughtful in their decision making. Rash decisions or communication, such as tweets usually have consequences. When you're in the public eye, your reputation is everything. Keep your image intact by thinking through everything you do and say. You'll face less backlash and instill more trust within your industry.

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Sixty-two years ago, Beatrice Cortez and her husband bought their home on Crosby, surrounded by neighbors in Government Hill.

Today, the house sits on an access road facing Interstate 35. An exit ramp is 30 yards beyond the doorstep.

Cortez, 83, has worked most of her life to protect her piece of the American dream. When hundreds of houses and other structures were razed for the highway in the 1960s, her community was torn apart. Traffic got worse, polluting the air with exhaust and noise.

Yet she and her husband, Andres, found a way to make their home a peaceful place where they could raise five children. It helped that they drew solid paychecks from their work as civil servants for the Army.

But Cortezs struggles arent over. Shes now contending with yet another threat  the possibility of a huge property tax bill.

In 2021, two years after her husband died from Alzheimers disease, she received a bill for $1,876.

This year, Cortez is facing a more than fourfold increase over that amount. She learned recently that she may have to pay an estimated $8,378 in 2022 property taxes.

Kaylee C. Greenlee Beal

Two factors combined to drive up her tax estimate: She lost her homestead exemption for seniors because her diabetes and high blood pressure forced her to move in with her daughter in Floresville, and the Bexar Appraisal District raised the value of her home by 13 percent, to $299,880.

Thinking about the staggering estimate, she said, Its almost like being at a loss for words.

Like Cortez, thousands of other Bexar County homeowners were shocked this month as they received their appraisals for 2022. Their home values had risen by an average of 23.2 percent, from $250,806 to $309,118, according to the appraisal district.

In San Antonios red-hot housing market  where hungry buyers are chasing too few properties and pushing up prices  homeowners are used to seeing their appraisals rise each year, resulting in ever-higher property tax bills.

Yet for all that experience with steadily rising values and tax payments, this years numbers are striking.

The 23.2 percent increase is unprecedented in San Antonio, said Michael Amezquita, who has served as the districts chief appraiser for 18 years.

Ive been doing this for 41 years, so Ive seen the (savings and loan crisis) and the oil crisis and the boom-bust in Austin, Houston and Dallas. But even during those times, San Antonio never moved like this, he said. What we have here is a population of hardworking citizens.  What you have is a system that does not favor those people, by and large. But thats the way Texas is.

Throughout the late 2010s, home appraisals in Bexar County typically rose between 5 percent and 7 percent each year, district data shows. But even a modest bump in home values can be a burden for homeowners. Increasing by 7 percent a year, a propertys value will double in about 12 years.

While I dont think the price increases will continue to be as steep as they were this year, I dont think theyre going to come down anytime soon, Amezquita said.

With home values spiraling, a younger adult who inherits a home from a deceased mother or father would likely struggle to pay the taxes if their pay is modest. Elderly homeowners on meager fixed incomes, as well as disabled or unemployed residents, are vulnerable, too.

Thats where theres no safety net, Amezquita said.

Some help is available. Homeowners can tap various property tax exemptions in Bexar County: a general homestead exemption for those who occupy the residence they own; an exemption for people with disabilities; an exemption for disabled veterans; and an exemption for residents 65 or older.

Exemptions shield a portion of a homes value from taxation. These benefits ease the pain of rapidly increasing appraisals and tax bills. But they dont kill it.

Some homeowners are getting creative about covering their property tax bills.

Theresa Ybanez, president of the Mission San Jose Neighborhood Association, and her husband decided to lease out part of their property as a short-term rental to help pay their property taxes during their retirement.

Unless youve got a big-time job  Im a teacher, my husbands a civil servant  we would have to get a second job. Our second job now is to do short-term rentals, she said. And its fine, because its a lot easier than going in and working at Walmart.

Im lucky  I have the money, she said. But Id say 80 percent of my neighbors are looking at their homes and saying, Can I keep my home? Can I continue living here?

Struggling with surge

Kaylee C. Greenlee Beal

Along with the home where she raised her children, Cortez and her family own the house next door, which her son lived in before he died in 2006. She is now fixing it up in order to rent it out.

Its almost like the rent is going to be to pay the taxes, she said.

Between 2018 and this year, the assessed value of that property has risen 67 percent, from $153,950 to $256,870. The tax bill has climbed by nearly $3,000  from $4,412 to an estimated $7,176 this year.

That jump is likely a result of whats happening north of the highway and a little bit to the west  where the Pearl has emerged over the last decade as perhaps San Antonios hottest urban neighborhood. The tony mixed-use developments success is one of the factors driving up prices for the historic homes in nearby Government Hill.

The appraisal district uses what Amezquita calls mass appraisal standards to estimate the value of a home. It splits the city into neighborhoods and collects what information it can about how much homes are selling for in each one. Using that information, it compares each home to others in the neighborhood to come up with an estimate of the market value.

By and large, if it looks like sales in subdivision or neighborhood X are going up by 20 percent, then that 20 percentile increase is used across the board, he said.

The district doesnt inspect each property, but it looks at construction permits to determine whether owners have built additions or made renovations that would raise the value.

Many San Antonio homeowners complain that the mass appraisal process is unfair. Why should their homes soar in value when theyve done nothing  just because a developer built something a quarter-mile away?

Its a very sick formula, Ybanez said. I have a lot of neighbors who dont fix their properties. They dont invest anything in their property because theyre afraid that property taxes will go up. And I think thats unjust.

Amezquita admits the appraisal process is unfair to homeowners. He says the district is required to do it that way under state law.

It is especially hard to estimate the market value of a property when prices are escalating at such a frenzied pace, he said.

It is a very broad brush, and it is state policy that we do it that way, he said.

Take Tobin Hill, the neighborhood directly west of the Pearl.

The Pearl has transformed Tobin Hill  as if it wasnt doing it on its own  into a very desirable, highly valuable neighborhood, Amezquita said. The appraisal district doesnt get to decide what development occurs. The city, the county, the elected officials that authorize these developments to occur have more impact on that than we do.

However, home prices are skyrocketing all over the city, not just in the rejuvenated urban core. For more than a decade, since the local housing market recovered from the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 and 2008, homebuilders have struggled to construct enough new homes to meet the demands of a fast-growing population.

More recently, institutional investors have entered the market, spending millions of dollars to flip homes or turn them into rentals, further driving up prices.

Last month, the median sales price for a home in the San Antonio metro area soared to $326,500, a 22 percent increase from the year before and a 61 percent increase from the median of $202,800 five years earlier.

Taxes in Texas

Josie Norris / San Antonio Express-News

It is strange to hear the head of an appraisal district encouraging people to protest its decisions. But thats what Amezquita does.

In a typical year, he and his staff speak at more than 100 community meetings to educate local homeowners about appealing their appraisals.

The appeal process is where we get down to the specifics with each individual property owner, to find out what individual characteristics differentiate that property from the properties that have sold, he said. We try to help them guide us through the process of figuring out where we made a mistake so that we can hopefully cut them some relief.

Property owners in Bexar County have until May 16 to protest their appraised values. They can file their appeals online through the districts online appeals system or mail them to the districts office at 411 N. Frio St., San Antonio 78207.

The best evidence to present in a protest is a recent sales price or refinance appraisal, Amezquita said.

The No. 1 thing they need to do is to be on time with their appeal, he said. The sooner you get it in, the better it is.

With no state income tax, Texas relies more heavily on property taxes to pay for schools, infrastructure and health care than most other states. Last year, the nonprofit Tax Foundation ranked the state third among the 50 U.S. states in its reliance on property taxes, finding that 44 percent of its total local and state tax collections came from property taxes.

In just about every session of the Legislature, elected leaders push for property tax reform. But its a tricky problem for the state to tackle because the taxes are collected by local governments. Also, reducing the amount of property taxes collected would likely require increasing other taxes to avoid cuts in government services.

In the 2019 session, the Legislature passed a reform package barring local governments from increasing their property tax collections by more than 3.5 percent without giving voters the chance to reject it at the ballot box.

In recent months, city and state leaders have declared their support for giving local residents property tax relief by lowering rates or expanding the citys homestead exemption.

Hope Trevino wants the city to put a cap on property taxes for homeowners, especially those who live in homes that have been in their families for generations.

She said she still lives in the three-bedroom home that she grew up in and her father built on Bustillos, just north of Mission San Jose. The land the home sits on has been in her family since the early 1900s, she said.

Trevino, who is 63 and works as a certified nursing assistant, has seen her taxes rise by 23 percent over the last four years, from $1,869 in 2018 to an estimated $2,296 for this year.

Its just too high for someone whos owned this land for so long  and its a lot of us around here. Its not just me, she said. Its a lot of elderly that passes the land on to the children, and they end up not being able to pay, and having to lose the land. Thats what happening right now.

She struggles to save enough money to pay her property taxes along with her other bills.

But I am doing it, Trevino said. I dont want to lose this home  its my heart.
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A new North Side restaurant near Stone Oak has brought the flavors of Mexican street food to San Antonio.

Panfila Cantina opened Monday near the intersection of Bulverde Road and Evans Road. Co-owner Charlie Gonzalez said the new spot serves upscale dishes inspired by the many street stalls and snack shacks found across Mexico.

Gonzalez is joined in the effort by his fiance and co-owner Gaby Hinojosa, a fine dining veteran who previously served as executive sous chef at the restaurant Signature in La Cantera and has cooked at the famed Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, under celebrated chef Rene Redzepi. Gonzalez and Hinojosa hail from Aguascalientes and Monterrey, respectively, and travel to Mexico regularly seeking inspiration for new dishes.

Panfila Cantina is open daily, with brunch, happy hour and dinner menus supported by a full bar serving beer, wine with a craft cocktail option to come this weekend, Gonzalez said. The restaurant can seat about 90 customers across its dining room, bar and outdoor patio.

Early birds can find breakfast tacos on the menu, but dont walk in expecting a San Antonio-style bean and cheese or egg and chorizo tucked into a flour tortilla. Panfila focuses on family-style service with taco fillings prepared in a large clay cazuala for a stuff-your-own experience on corn tortillas. Other breakfast offerings include chilaquiles and an open-faced sandwich version of huevos ahogados with fried eggs over bread that gets drowned in a fiery chile sauce.

On ExpressNews.com: Taste the best San Antonio has to offer with 365 Days of Tacos

The happy hour menu includes light nibbles such as house-made potato chips served with pickled pork skins, jalapenos and salsa. Dinner offerings include heartier fare such as garlic mojo shrimp in a pungent and creamy sauce with rice or a rack of pork ribs flavored al pastor style. And instead of chips and salsa, every table will be greeted with a dish of Mexican street corn inspired by the version Hinojosas grandmother raised her on in Monterrey.

Panfila Cantina, 22250 Bulverde Road, Suite 114, 210-455-0702, Facebook: @PanfilaCantina. Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephen
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Russia's war in Ukraine amounted to "genocide, accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian."

Yes, I called it genocide," he told reporters in Iowa shortly before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington. Its become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian."

At an earlier event in Menlo, Iowa, addressing spiking energy prices resulting from the war, Biden had implied that he thought Putin was carrying out genocide against Ukraine, but offered no details. Neither he nor his administration announced new consequences for Russia or assistance to Ukraine following Biden's public assessment.

Biden's comments drew praise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had encouraged Western leaders to use the term to describe Russia's invasion of his country.

True words of a true leader @POTUS," he tweeted. "Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil. We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.

A United Nations treaty, to which the U.S. is a party, defines genocide as actions taken with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

Past American leaders often have dodged formally declaring bloody campaigns such as Russias in Ukraine as genocide, hesitating to trigger an obligation that under international convention requires signing countries to intervene once genocide is formally identified. That obligation was seen as blocking President Bill Clinton from declaring Rwandan Hutus killing of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis in 1994 as genocide, for example.

Biden said it would be up to lawyers to decide if Russia's conduct met the international standard for genocide, as Ukrainian officials have claimed, but said it sure seems that way to me.

More evidence is coming out literally of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine, and were only going to learn more and more about the devastation and let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, he said.

Just last week Biden had he did not believe Russia's actions amounted to genocide, just that they constituted war crimes.

During a trip to Europe last month, Biden faced controversy for a nine-word statement seemingly supporting regime change in Moscow, which would have represented a dramatic shift toward direct confrontation with another nuclear-armed country. For Gods sake, this man cannot remain in power," Biden said.

He clarified the comments days later, saying: I was expressing the moral outrage that I felt toward this man. I wasnt articulating a policy change.



Miller reported from Washington. AP writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed.
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UPDATE: 4:42 p.m. April 16

The man believed to have been killed by a park police officer Thursday during a shootout at San Antonio International Airport died from a self-inflicted wound, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office.

The gunshot wounds the suspect suffered from the responding officer were not fatal, the medical examiner said. It appears the man shot himself after he was wounded, San Antonio police said.

Authorities identified the officer as John Maines, who will be placed on administrative duty while SAPD conducts an investigation. The case will then be forwarded to the Bexar County District Attorneys Office for an independent review.

SAPD said the man was driving the wrong way in the lower terminal area when he was confronted by Maines. The suspect then got out of the car and began shooting in the direction of the officer, numerous bystanders and passing vehicles, police said.

Maines returned fire, hitting the suspect twice, police said.

UPDATE

A police officer on Thursday shot and killed the man authorities believe was shooting from the U.S. 281-Loop 1604 overpass earlier in the day.

According to San Antonio police, the same man showed up at the airport hours later and began shooting indiscriminately outside a terminal at San Antonio International Airport. An officer confronted the man and critically wounded him, police said.

Police said the man had a .45-caliber handgun and a full box of ammunition.

RELATED: Police shoot and kill 'active shooter' at San Antonio International Airport

The suspect, who was in his 40s, was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said.

McManus said the man matched the description of the person who had been seen shooting from the highway interchange hours earlier.

Police have not identified the suspect.

ORIGINAL STORY

San Antonio police are searching for a man who was firing gun shots off of a North Side highway on Thursday.

Police Chief William McManus said the department received several calls at around 10:30 a.m. reporting a man with a pistol standing on the highest flyover on U.S. 281 at the Loop 1604 interchange. McManus said the man was shooting in the area across from the Northwoods Shopping Center.

On ExpressNews.com: Bill would allow unlicensed Texans to carry pistols in public

Police do not know why the man was shooting and said they have not received reports of injuries from the gunshots.

That may change. We will have to wait and see if anyone shows up at the hospital, McManus said.

The man fired at least 10 shots before he fled southbound on U.S. 281 in either a red Mini Cooper or a gray van, McManus said. Police have not found the man, who was described as bald and wearing a red shirt. Police consider him armed and dangerous.

Three to four shell casings were found on the overpass and another six or seven were found on the ground below the interchange, police said.

McManus said anyone who sees either of the two vehicles or the man should call 911.
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The Texas National Guard has reassigned yet another top general associated with the states mission to secure its border with Mexico, dubbed Operation Lone Star, Military Times and the Texas Tribune have learned.

Brig. Gen. Monie Ulis relinquished command of the task force controlling the mission to focus solely on his (full-time) responsibilities as the states deputy adjutant general overseeing its Army National Guard forces, a Texas Military Department spokesperson confirmed in an unsigned email.

Ulis had commanded Operation Lone Stars military efforts since October, when Gov. Greg Abbott swore him into his post in a ceremony in the border town of Mission, flanked by Humvees and armed troops in body armor.

The missions new commander is Brig. Gen. Win Burkett, who also recently took command of the states 36th Infantry Division. According to the TMD spokesperson, Burkett will simultaneously command the division and the border task force.

The move, which was directed by the states new top general, Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, comes amid a major shift in leadership.

It began March 14 when Abbott removed Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris as the states adjutant general and replaced her with Suelzer.

Less than 24 hours later, Norris civilian chief of staff, retired Maj. Gen. James Red Brown, resigned.

Then on March 17, Burkett replaced Maj. Gen. Charles Aris as the top general for the 36th Infantry Division. Aris had only led the 16,000-soldier unit for five months.

The most recent move, according to the TMD spokesperson, was a realign(ment) of leadership roles that came as part of Suelzers initial command assessment of the entire Texas Military Department.

Suelzer indicated to state lawmakers earlier this month that significant changes could be on the horizon for the border mission, which is hemorrhaging cash. Leaders also have been busy improving previous problems with pay, poor living conditions and a lack of appropriate gear due to the task forces rapid expansion last year.

In a weeks-long span between September and October, Operation Lone Star  which began as a lean, volunteer-only effort in March 2021  ballooned through massive involuntary activations at Abbotts behest.

Some of the Guardsmen at the border have argued the mission was a political ploy by Abbott, a Republican seeking his third term as governor in November. A January survey completed by an Air National Guard unit deployed to the border was leaked to Military Times and the Texas Tribune and revealed widespread discontent with the operation.

Suelzer, who testified alongside Ulis and other military officials, told state lawmakers that he was looking at ways to make the mission more rotational and more sustainable over time.

Its not clear yet whether that will mean shorter deployments or fewer troops on the mission. Right now, there are roughly 6,500 troops at the border on yearlong orders, Texas Guard officials told legislators.

The TMD spokesperson said Suelzers initial command assessment remains ongoing, and changes to (Joint Task Force-Lone Star) will be based on finding the most effective and efficient methods to fully support the requirements of (the mission).

Finding more efficiency will be key. Military leaders told lawmakers they need a fresh $531 million in funding to keep the border mission running through the end of the states fiscal year in August.

Texas Tribune politics reporter James Barragan contributed to this report.

This article is co-published and co-reported by Military Times, an independent news organization reporting on issues important to the U.S. military, and the Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in February mailed letters to 22 U.S. universities: Cut ties with Chinese institutions that have previously ensnared scholars in schemes to steal valuable information, he wrote. Chinas military, he said, is attempting to acquire and develop cutting-edge technology, sometimes through theft under the guise of academic collaboration.

Texas A&M University and its governing system responded one day later with a letter to the Florida senator. They had already mitigated or eliminated 200 instances of activity with evidence of foreign influence, according to the letter written by administrators. The system coordinates with the FBI on a near daily basis, the administrators said. And one affiliation that Rubio specifically questioned - Ocean University in Qingdao - is being severed, according to the letter.

The correspondence provides the clearest picture to date on the Texas A&M University Systems attempts to extensively monitor other countries involvement in its research. But more broadly, it raises questions about the conflict between universities research goals and policymakers concerns about foreign interference in U.S. research and technology.

International research collaboration provides valuable opportunities to advance scientific knowledge, but can also present challenges and risks, all of which we are aware, A&M President M. Katherine Banks and System Chancellor John Sharp said in the note. When the decision is made to enter an international research collaboration, risks are identified and measures are put in place to mitigate those risks.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas A&M moves to sever ties with Russia

A&Ms letter to Rubio went unnoticed for months, being publicly shared only on a brief Twitter exchange between the state university and the senator. The university did not immediately disclose names of the specific instances (which A&M officials said were agreements) that the system altered or canceled, but the security review led the university to relook at one highly anticipated climate research program linked to Ocean University, called the International Laboratory for High-Resolution Earth System Prediction.

That program, which began in 2018, used one of the worlds fastest supercomputers to run complex climate modeling simulations that researchers said would establish Texas A&M University as the leader in climate modeling and provide a more accurate foundation for future climate studies.

The project was abruptly terminated by A&M in February, however, about halfway through its planned five-year timeline. The Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology defaulted on its agreement with A&M after it went about 11 months without making a $2 million payment - the official cause of the programs demise  but the systems research security methods would have led to the eventual cancellation of the program, said Texas A&M University spokeswoman Kelly Brown.

News of the climate laboratorys termination came as a surprise to some in the science community, who worry that deteriorating relationships between the U.S. and countries such as Russia and China could hinder international collaboration around climate research at a time when they say cooperation is most needed.

The idea that we should stop basic scientific research, particularly in problems as pressing as climate change, or curtail it because of geopolitical concerns is deeply counterproductive, said Zeke Hausfather, senior fellow at the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental-research group in California. To the extent that this particular program was a casualty of that, it seems very problematic.

The China Initiative

Concerns about Chinese academic interference stem in part from the Trump administration, which implemented a Justice Department-led effort to crack down on Beijings theft of American intellectual property through espionage. Lawmakers and government agencies have put concerted pressure on universities across the country to be wary - especially of researchers who dont disclose their foreign affiliations.

Some of those universities have fired such professors; other researchers have been federally indicted as alleged risks to national security. (One was from A&M: A longtime professor in 2020 was charged in federal court with wire fraud, false statement and conspiracy for allegedly hiding an association with China that would have prohibited him from participating in a six-figure NASA grant. His case is still pending.)

Civil rights groups all the while criticized the Justice Departments so-called China Initiative for causing a domino effect of discrimination against Asian-Americans, and after years of investigations on campuses, the Department of Justice ended the law enforcement program in February.

Regardless, intellectual property investigations at universities are a priority, FBI officials said.

The FBI Counterintelligence Program has never wavered on investigating the theft of Intellectual Property, said FBI Houston Counterintelligence Task Force Supervisory Special Agent Tam Dao. IP theft threatens our nations economic competitiveness and jeopardizes U.S. leadership in the areas of industrial innovation, emerging science and technology.

Rubios request to the A&M System came Feb. 8, weeks before the end of the Justice Department program. He urged the 22 universities to terminate academic and research partnerships with Chinese universities that support Beijings military-civil fusion strategy - a term that refers to the Peoples Liberation Armys efforts to become the most technologically advanced military in the world. National security experts say that Peoples Republic of China approaches the strategy sometimes through theft of other countries secrets and property.

Two of the 22 universities in Rubios letter are in Texas: University of Texas-Dallas and Texas A&M University.

UT-Dallas President Richard C. Benson also responded to Rubio's specific questions about partnerships with Southeast University in Nanjing, China.

The only current program with Southeast University is a two-week, bi-directional summer exchange program, and that agreement is set to expire in 2023. No joint research takes place, and UT-Dallas doesn't host any faculty, graduate students or visiting scientists, Benson said in a March 14 letter.

We assure you that the University shares your concerns about threats to our national security," Benson said. "We are particularly grateful for the assistance that we receive from our local FBI field office in this regard. The University is very careful about its international partnerships - not only when selecting partners but also in determining the appropriate scope of collaborative activities with each partner. We do not do anything that would advance subject-specific opportunities to harm the United States."

In a statement, Rubio said he remains concerned about intellectual property theft.

The Chinese Communist Party is using our academic and research institutions to gain influence and steal American technology, Rubio said. I appreciate the steps Texas A&M and other U.S. educational institutions are taking to address this threat, and look forward to continuing to work with them and U.S. universities to protect American research.

The climate lab

In 2018, Texas A&M University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and the Qingdao Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, a climate lab based in China, started the partnership in part to address a growing problem in climate research.

As climate models have become more accurate, theyve also required more powerful computers to handle the increasingly complex algorithms used in making their predictions. Researchers say climate models require some 10,000 times more computing power to run today than they did when climate modeling work started back in the early 1990s.

Thats one area where U.S. climate scientists saw an opportunity with their counterparts in China. Of the mere hundreds of supercomputers around the world that are powerful enough to run complex climate models, only a fraction of them are available in the U.S. for such research, scientists sayand even then, the projects have to compete for time on the machines.

By partnering with the Chinese institution, A&M researchers gained access to Chinas Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer, which in 2016 was considered to be the worlds fastest. Its capable of trillions of calculations per second and once simulated the Universe with 10 trillion digital particles.

Researchers with the climate lab were using the computer to generate high-resolution simulations of the Earths climate, capable of delving further into just how complex climate and weather patterns will interact with rising carbon dioxide emissions. By doing so, they hoped to provide a new foundation for climate researchers to better predict the dangers humanity faces as the climate crisis worsens.

But in February, Texas A&M abruptly shut down the program, posting a notice on its website and deleting many of the projects web pages and data.

The laboratory has documented ties to Ocean University - the institution that Rubio asked about in his letter to the A&M System Chancellor. Lixin Wu, the director of Qingdao Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, is also the vice president of Ocean University. And Kehou Pan, a biology professor at Ocean University, sits on the labs steering committee, according to a project overview document obtained by Inside Climate News and the Houston Chronicle.

The Qingdao university supports Beijings military-industrial complex and conducts classified defense research for Chinas Peoples Liberation Army, Rubio said in his letter. Texas A&M University had already closed one Ocean University-affiliated program, the Confucius Institute, after public pressure from lawmakers in 2018, he noted.

Any partnerships that continued with Ocean University no longer exist or are being terminated through an ongoing collaboration with the FBI, Banks and Sharp said in response to Rubio.

When told about the online exchange, Gavin Schmidt, a leading climatologist with NASA, said he was surprised that a university was publicly defending its research to a U.S. senator at all, saying doing so could be inappropriate.

You don't respond to congressional tweets, Schmidt said. If NASA had responded to every tweet accusing us of fraud and criminal conspiracy, then we'd never get anywhere.

Robust relationship with FBI

The Texas A&M University System - which oversees 11 campuses, eight state agencies, a health science center and a research campus in Bryan - has monitored its foreign collaborations for years.

The systems Research Security Office regularly reviews international agreements. And at least prior to the end of the China Initiative, Texas A&M University in College Station and the Texas A&M University System had a robust relationship with the FBI, administrators said in their Feb. 9 response to Rubio.

The research security office had mitigated or eliminated more than 200 instances of Foreign Talent Recruitment activity across the system institutions as of February, according to the system chancellor and university president. Those instances refer to agreements  such as study abroad, gift agreements, book publishing and sponsored research, said A&M System Chief Research Security Officer Kevin Gamache. A portion of the 200 cancelled agreements were at A&M University in College Station.

In national security circles, Foreign Talent Recruitment is a contentious issue referring to foreign state-sponsored attempts to recruit researchers from their posts abroad. Those researchers are often American and primarily employed by an American university - but they later retain simultaneous work or partnerships with foreign institutions.

The programs arent illegal if properly disclosed, but they raise U.S. concerns when they intend to further the military or economic goals of a foreign government, especially by acquiring proprietary technology or software, unpublished data and methods, or other intellectual assets, according to the University of Michigan.

The FBIs China Initiative no longer exists to monitor the issue, but some national security experts and lawmakers believe that interference is still a threat in the U.S. The Chinese government intentionally targets American universities because theyre hotbeds of research and innovation, and because Americans generally respect academic freedom and open research concepts, said Jamil N. Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason Universitys Antonin Scalia Law School.

The reality is that this is a concerted effort by the Chinese government to engage in widespread industrial, economic and national security espionage, and weve got to confront it, Jaffer said.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Civil rights leaders often find the focus on intellectual property theft problematic, however, providing a scapegoat for xenophobia on college campuses and creating tumultuous research environments. Researchers also worry that wholesale elimination of collaboration with China and other countries comes at a cost to US research.

Gamache said that A&Ms efforts have been civically responsible - and they have presented their own research opportunities related to national security.

This review addressed the concerns of many national funding entities related to foreign influence and demonstrates our commitment to the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars, he said.

A&M leaders told Rubio that they didnt anticipate an end to their security efforts.

As the research security threats evolve, we will continue to adapt our research security program to address them, Banks and Sharp said in the letter. Texas A&M University and the The Texas A&M University System remain committed to maintaining this high-level excellence in our research security efforts in the future.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com
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This week marks the anniversary of San Antonio narrowly avoiding a mass shooting when a gunman opened fire at the San Antonio International Airport.

The gunman, 46-year-old Joe Gomez, drove the wrong way on the lower-level road that serves the passenger terminals around 2:30 p.m. April 15, 2021, according to reporting at the time. San Antonio park police officer John Maines stood in the middle of the road to confront the driver nearing Terminal B, but the man got out of the car and began shooting toward people in the terminal.

Travelers inside the airport panicked at the sound of gunshots, frantically running for cover.

Doug Rosini, 49 at the time, was waiting for a 3:55 p.m. flight that day; he was on a business trip. He heard what he thought sounded like a stampede when he was walking past restaurants in the airport, and then heard someone saying to run because there was a shooter.

He quickly started searching for exits amid some passengers who he said were pushing and shoving in their own efforts to get to safety.

The only thing running through my mind was the thought of getting back to my family, Rosini said at the time.

On ExpressNews.com: Officer kills gunman outside San Antonio International Airport, averting a bloodbath, police say

Local advertising and marketing executive Bob Wills was going through a security line when he saw people running and heard a Transportation Security Administration agent yell active shooter, active shooter!

They quickly and calmly got us into a secure hallway and brought us to a lower level, Wills said last year.

As people were fleeing, Maines shot Gomez, police said. Gomez then shot himself.

The officer saved many lives. What we had there was the start of an active shooter situation, Police Chief William McManus said at the time. We are very lucky.

Maines, 41 at the time, had worked with the park police force for 11 years and was working overtime the day of the shooting.

On ExpressNews.com: Security camera footage of airport shooting released by San Antonio police

No one else was shot, and only a couple people inside the airport were injured in the chaos. McManus said one person was struck by shrapnel and was treated on the scene while someone else who fell while running and hurt their ankle was taken to a hospital.

We just know that it was pretty scary, Rosini said. Fortunately, the TSA people did a good job of ushering people to where they needed to be and making sure the panic was at a minimum, as best as you could.

Gomez was taken to University Hospital, according to police, where he was pronounced dead. Though it was originally thought that the officer killed the gunman, the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office said the man died from a self-inflicted wound and that the wounds from the responding officer were not fatal.

McManus said Gomez matched the description of a man who earlier that morning had been firing a gun from the overpass of the Loop 1604-U.S. 281 interchange. The chief also said the police department had dealt with the man before, noting that officers believed there were some mental health issues.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County medical examiner says U.S. 281 gunman died from self-inflicted wound

The military veteran had a criminal history, according to past reporting on court records.

In 1999, he was arrested for attempting to elude police, but the charge was later dropped. In 2007, he was arrested on a charge of possession of marijuana that sent him to jail for 20 days. In 2010, he was arrested on a DWI charge that was dismissed, but six months later once again was arrested on a DWI charge and was eventually placed on probation for a year.

Gomez was indicted on a felony charge of possessing between 4 and 400 grams of amphetamine in 2011, but the charge was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

Police seized Gomezs shotgun, three handguns and two assault rifles after he was arrested in 2014 on a suspicion of possessing between 5 and 50 pounds marijuana. A year later  after Gomez pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of possessing 4 ounces to 5 pounds of marijuana and sentenced to two years of community supervision  a judge signed an order for his weapons to be released, including a .45-caliber handgun.

Gomez was released from community supervision early in May 2016 because he showed progress and adherence to the conditions.

On ExpressNews.com: Airport shooter had history of arrests

Gomez was armed with a .45-caliber handgun and a box full of ammunition the day of the shooting last year.

In June the police department released security camera footage of the airport shooting. Though Maines had a body-worn camera, he did not activate it.

Police blurred a portion of the video when Gomez knelt down and shot himself.

megan.rodriguez@express-news.net
About six years ago, Joe Gomez got his guns back.

Police had seized the firearms  a shotgun, three handguns and two assault rifles  after the military veteran with a criminal history was arrested in 2014 on suspicion of felony possession of marijuana. About a year later, a judge signed an order for police to release the weapons, including a .45-caliber handgun, to Gomezs attorney, according to court records.

On Thursday afternoon, a man armed with a .45-caliber handgun who was identified by a police source as 46-year-old Gomez nearly unleashed a mass shooting at San Antonio International Airport. Police say quick action by San Antonio Park Police Officer John Maines, who was working a post at the airport, stopped a potential massacre.

The Bexar County Medical Examiners Office has not positively identified the shooter.

Armed with the gun and a box full of ammunition, the man drove the wrong way on a road serving the airports passenger terminals, got out of his car and began firing at bystanders, vehicles and Maines, police said.

Police believe the shooter was the same man who was seen firing a gun from the overpass of the Loop 1604-U.S. 281 interchange earlier that morning.

At the airport, the man opened fire as travelers flooded the facility in some of the largest volumes since the pandemic began. After Transportation Security Administration agents reportedly shouted, Active shooter! crowds of people stampeded through the terminals, some ducking to hide behind restaurant counters while others took cover under seats. TSA agents guided some people to a secure area in the lower level of the airport.

Alerted by another officer to a wrong-way driver, Maines was walking toward the mans vehicle when he saw him stop in front of Terminal B, get out and start shooting. The officer returned fire, striking the man twice. The man then fatally shot himself, police said.

Two people were injured in the chaos, police said. Shrapnel struck one of them. The other person injured an ankle while running through the airport.

Police Chief William McManus said the officer saved many lives by preventing a potential mass shooting.

What we had there was the start of an active shooter situation, McManus said Thursday. We are very lucky today.

On ExpressNews.com: Officer kills gunman outside San Antonio International Airport, averting a bloodbath, police say

Maines risked his own safety without hesitation in order to protect the citizens and visitors to the city of San Antonio, Henry Bassuk, president of the San Antonio Park Police Officers Association, said Friday in a text message to the San Antonio Express-News. I am dismayed when any officer is put in a situation such as this, but I am grateful that he was able to protect so many innocent people.

Maines, 41, is an 11-year veteran of the police force.

Maines father declined to share any details of his sons police career when reached by phone. But he expressed his pride.

My son is a very modest person who lets his actions dictate who he is, said John Maines, 65.

The officers Facebook page shows that he graduated from Taft High School in 1998 and that he studied at St. Philips College.

Mass killings dropped amid the pandemic, but in the last month alone, the U.S. has recorded at least six, according to the Washington Post, which tracks shootings in which four or more people are killed.

Just hours after San Antonio avoided a mass tragedy, a 19-year-old gunman shot and killed eight people in a FedEx warehouse near Indianapolis International Airport before shooting himself. Authorities said he appeared to randomly start shooting, beginning in the parking lot and moving inside the building.

The motivations of the San Antonio airport shooter remain murky.

Reached at Gomezs North Side home, a relative requested privacy.

Gomezs Facebook page said he served in the 187th Infantry Regiment as an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon gunner, often referred to as a SAW.

Officials at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the Army in the Pentagon and the National Personnel Records Center did not respond to emails asking where Gomez had served.

A vehicle found at the airport and believed to be owned by Gomez had a disabled veteran license plate bearing the image of an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

Gomezs trouble with the law stretches back decades, much of it involving apparent substance abuse, according to court records.

In 1999, he was arrested on a charge of attempting to elude police. The charge was later dismissed.

In 2007, Gomez was arrested on a charge of possession of marijuana and sentenced to 20 days in jail.

In 2010, he was arrested on a DWI charge. That charge also was dismissed, because of a missing witness. About six months later, Gomez was arrested again on a DWI charge, and he later was placed on probation for a year.

In 2011, Gomez was indicted on a felony charge of possessing between 4 and 400 grams of amphetamine. That charge was later dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

In 2014, Gomez was indicted on another felony drug charge, suspicion of possessing between 5 and 50 pounds of marijuana. A year later, he pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of possessing 4 ounces to 5 pounds of marijuana and sentenced to two years of community supervision.

Three days later, a judge ordered police to release the firearms. Police spokesman Jesse Salame said Friday that such an order was not unusual.

Just being arrested for drugs wouldnt necessarily exclude you from owning a gun, Salame said.

As part of the conditions of his community supervision, Gomez agreed to attend an outpatient drug and alcohol program with the Veterans Administration, according to court records.

After showing progress and adherence to the conditions, he was discharged early from community supervision in May 2016, the records show.
Tributes have been paid to Lord Henry Plumb who has died aged 97, with the NFU calling him one of British farming's 'greatest ever advocates'.

Henry Plumb, who was the president of the NFU from 1970 to 1979, as well as a Conservative MEP and president of the European Parliament, passed away on Friday (15 April).

Minette Batters, the union's current president, paid tribute: British farming has lost one of its greatest ever advocates and the NFU has lost its greatest ever president.

There was no one more passionate about British farming than Lord Plumb and he remained a great champion for the sector throughout his life.

"He worked with a constant energy and determination to ensure the importance of farming was recognised by policymakers and continued to highlight the importance of the sector throughout his time in the House of Lords.

As president of the NFU throughout the 1970s, Lord Plumb, who was knighted in 1973, was at the head of the union when Britain joined the EU.

His success in guiding the NFU through a turbulent period came from his ability to persuade through discussion and well-reasoned argument.

Following his nine-year presidency, he became a Member of the European Parliament and was later elected as its president, becoming the only British person to be appointed in the role.

Mrs Batters added: His impact on British farming during a career in agriculture and politics that spanned decades cannot be underestimated.

"His passion, dedication and sheer hard work on behalf of, and for, our industry was an inspiration to me and to many others.

He was a truly remarkable man. He was committed, fearless and the most charming man you could meet.

His loss will be deeply felt and our sympathies are with his family at this sad time.
Although the information on a possible agreement between the FC Barcelona and Robert Lewandowski finished being denied, the possibility that the Pole land in the City Condal still exists. The attacker still has not signed his renewal with the Bayern of Munich and could finish changing of airs, something that would come him well to his couple, in accordance with one of his 'posts'.

The woman of the still player of the Bayern, Anna Lewandowska, has given to know in his account of Instagram that at present finds taking classes of Spanish. Besides, it has asked to his followers some recommendations on possible tools to facilitate the learning. His message originally was in English: "Hello, boys. I am beginning to learn Spanish. Some councils? Do it to me know".

Later, it has launched another publication in the tongue of Cervantes, possibly already putting in practical part of the lessons that has seen, perhaps with the purpose to establish his domicile in Spain in a near future: "Hello to all! Good morning From Mallorca. It is genial be here again. I am beginning to learn Spanish. What seems them?".

It keeps on being an option the signing of Lewandowski?

Although the directive of the Bayern of Munich has gone out to the step of the rumours on a possible change of airs of the current winner of the The Best, still does not exist an official announcement by part of the Bavarian team on the renewal of the artilleryman further of what stipulates his agreement (summer of 2023), what has given foot to the speculations on a possible signing.

The option to play for the Barca luce something more viable in economic terms for the Barcelona team that the traspaso of Erling Haaland. The cost of market of the Pole is of 50 million euros, although it exists the possibility to receive him in quality of free agent, whereas with the Norwegian is precise to pay the amount by the clause of rescission (75 'kilos'), in addition to the premiums and commissions to the father of the player and to his agent, Mino Raiola.
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According to the police, a nurse was hired to look after the 86-year-old mother of Anand Ahuja. The nurse conspired with her accountant husband to steal the jewellery and cash from the house. The police have recovered more than one crore from the jeweler, Dev Verma, 40, to whom the jewellery was sold to. The theft took place on February 11th, and an FIR was registered on 23rd February at the Tughlaq Road Police Station in Delhi. According to the FIR, jewellery and cash worth 2.4 crores were stolen from the property.According to the police, a nurse was hired to look after the 86-year-old mother of Anand Ahuja. The nurse conspired with her accountant husband to steal the jewellery and cash from the house. The police have recovered more than one crore from the jeweler, Dev Verma, 40, to whom the jewellery was sold to.







The police have also confiscated 100 diamonds, six gold chains, diamond bangles, a diamond bracelet, two tops, and one brass coin. An i10 car has also been recovered which was purchased from the stolen amount by the couple. After the arrests, Sonam Kapoor Ahujas father took to Twitter to thank the Delhi Police. He wrote, Shoutout to @DelhiPolice for their diligence and hard work at solving crimes in the city. Grateful for their service in solving the robbery case at Ahuja home so promptly under the leadership & guidance of @CPDelhi.The police have also confiscated 100 diamonds, six gold chains, diamond bangles, a diamond bracelet, two tops, and one brass coin. An i10 car has also been recovered which was purchased from the stolen amount by the couple.

Meanwhile, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Anand Ahuja are also expecting their first child together.

After the Delhi Police caught the culprits behind the major theft at his daughter Sonam Kapoors residence, Anil Kapoor took to his Twitter account to express gratitude. After a massive theft at Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahujas residence in Delhi, the police finally made arrests connected to the case.
GUANGZHOU, China, April 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) is introducing a debut campaign with 150 online events for companies to showcase their products on its platform, in which the Fair kicked off. The debut events will provide buyers around the world with innovative achievements in advanced technology, intelligent manufacturing, better lifestyle, low-carbon environmental protection and trade services.

"We have decided to present these showcases at the Canton Fair from more than 600 registered companies based on company qualification and product distinguishing features," said Alan Liu, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Canton Fair, "Final presentation includes award-winning manufacturing champions, as well as products that are specialized in technology and innovation."

The campaign is hosted by the China Foreign Trade Centre and forms a partnership between Canton Fair and leading industrial companies. It empowers companies to take an innovative path to foster new competitiveness and development in the domestic and international trade markets through digital approaches. Featured companies, such as Zongteng Group, the first service company in its industry that has a total area of overseas warehouses exceeding 1.2 million square meters, the renowned Cosco Shipping Company (Guangzhou) and so on, will show how the trade ecosystem and global trade efficiency can be further promoted through the "dual circulation".

Intelligent manufacturing meets advanced technology

The campaign will present the new technology while in the meantime introducing the innovation in the traditional manufacturing.

The power and beauty of science and technology will be presented by more than 30 industry-leading companies, which will unveil innovative technologies and products, showing multiple scenarios that have integrated advanced technologies with lifestyle and daily production.

Participating companies not only include industrial giants such as Haier, Changhong, and Unilumin which ranks first worldwide in LED display shipments for six consecutive years, but also leading companies in many sub-sectors such as high-pressure cleaners, plant protection machinery and lifting hoists.

In addition, more than 20 companies in household appliances, machinery manufacturing, hardware tools and medical equipment, such as Foton, Haojiang, Timevary and Deli, will promote industry transformation and facilitate high-quality development through their innovation in manufacturing which integrates traditional production with smart technologies.

Upgraded lifestyle empowers green concept

The campaign also gathers more than 90 leading companies which develop their new products to help improve the quality of daily life with continuous effort in sustainable development.

Among them are more than 70 well-known brands from sectors such as household appliances, lighting products, kitchen utensils, cultural tourism and leisure, kids products, home textiles and pet food to introduce their new products and new designs that can create a better life experience, in addition to 20 companies in energy, industrial manufacturing, textile fabrics and kids products to bring their latest concept through green and sustainable products.

Some signature products will be launched by Midea, Ecovacs, Loctek, an ergonomic solution provider, Longi and Canadian Solar.

Please register https://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en-US/register/index#/foreign-email for more business opportunities.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1798310/Canton_Fair_Online_Debut_Events.jpg
Boundless Life, a Montreal, Canada-based provider of a network of communities in destinations around the world, raised $2M in Seed funding.

The round was led by Idea Fund Partners, Ange Quebec, Avalanche VC, CUBD Ventures, Massive BC, GV Angels, Lightspeed and Sequoia.

The company intends to use the funds for key hires and opening the first four locations of its full-service communities.



Led by CEO Mauro Repacci and Marcos Carvalho, Co-Founder, and Head of Demand Generation, Boundless Life is creating a network of thoughtfully designed communities in destinations around the world where families can develop connections, work remotely, and be culturally immersed while children benefit from a forward-thinking and transformational education system. The educational offering offers a Nordic Baccalaureate program inspired by the Finnish school system, which allows digital nomad families with school-aged children ages 1-12 to participate through experiential, personalized, purposeful, and nature-based learning. The curriculum follows children where they go. So if a family moves to another Boundless Life destination, the child may join a new cohort and learn new skills adapted to their age.

The company just opened their first location in January in the town of Sintra, Portugal with 30 homes and a fully booked first, second, and third cohort of families. Residences are located in the center of the historical town, 5-15 minutes walking distance from all community amenities including the co-working hub, education center, and recreational spaces.

Upcoming Boundless destinations include Spain, Greece, Morocco, Italy, Costa Rica and Bali.

FinSMEs

16/04/2022
The democratic nations idea was developed by leader Abdullah Ocalan that advocates stronger relations between all components; Kurds, Arabs, Persians, Turks, Syriacs and Turkomen that is considered a cultural heritage for the region. This is not a welcoming issue to many regional and global powers.

ANHA met Secretary of the Kurdistan Democratic Party- Syria, Joan Abdul Kareem Siko who called that the Kurdistan Workers' Party be removed from the U.S. and the EU terrorist list. Siko believes that any solution in Turkey or in the Middle East at large lies in delisting the party from the black list.

''keeping the PKK n the lack list is a result of agreements among global powers, that have political, economic and military projects today in the Middle East, a new ideology does suit their projects.

Siko went on to say keeping the party in the black list runs against all humanitarian and international laws. The party was established to consolidate the relations between nations and between the two genders, and to push the Kurdish issue to a truck for solution, Siko confirmed there will be no solution unless the party is removed from the black list. This will benefit the Turkish people before the Kurdish people''.

'' not removing the party from the list of terror is based on agendas of great powers, and in denial of the Kurdish people rights. Global powers seek to terminate the role of the party in the Middle East where it is spreading'', Siko said.

Siko said enlisting the party in the black list is illegal. There a U.S. law that stipulates terror is any damage caused to any land or people', there are vast distances between the United States of America and the Kurdistan Workers' Party that did not carry out any sabotage acts or attack on the lands of any state.

Siko said the ''decision to enlist the party is a politically motivated one, and it is not based on any human grounds. Germany did not end its relations with Turkey or its bargains. The most important step is that their experiments go on. The Kurdish people always victim of such agreements and bargains''.

On the idea of the democratic nation developed by leader Ocalan, Siko says it is the best way to end all hardships and problems of the Middle East. As long as the party remains in the list the crises of the region will deepen. There is no solution in the Middle East without Kurds''.

''Former President of Turkey Abdullah Gul said once the Kurdish question is no longer a regional problem, it is an international one, the Kurds have a lot of friends all over the world, this question ought to be solved. Unless the question is solved the Turkish state would collapse. Today after 25 years the party plays a major role and with a new concept in the whole region'', Siko said.

Siko went on to say the PKK fought terrorism on behalf of the whole world, it was the party that ended ISIS and liberated Shingal, Kirkuk and Mosul. The whole world ought to decorate the party.

Siko said voices are on the rise for the Belgian court to remove the party from the list of terror for the party advocates its rights and fights for its homeland, ''the whole world well knows who supports the terror, Turkey under the nose of the world entered terrorist groups to Syria''.

Since Dersim then up to the Sheikh Sa'id Revolution the genocidal acts against the Kurds are continuing, ''it is the time to establish the rights, and determine the destiny, the diplomacy of the Kurdish people is a significant one. It is by virtue of sacrifices made by martyrs''.

L..A

ANHA
Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter is a 5th generation aircraft that would have been useful as a multi-mission jet with the advantage of stealth.

From the start of the Ukraine war, the Su-34 strike platform and Su-35 air superiority fighter have been used and were able to shoot down five Ukrainian Air Force jets in dogfights.

Despite as top-line fighters, they still got shot down, which is not suitable for the Russian Forces, and something needs to be done.

Ukrainian defense Against the Su-34, Su-35

A large quantity of Ukrainian surface-to-air missiles and the significant number of sorties fired by Russian jets are still relatively low, but losing planes is never good, reported View60s.

Both non-stealth Su-34 and Su-35 have been in use since 2014 and had considerable combat operations before the Ukraine w, supporting counterinsurgency operations in Syria.

Russia was, by 2022, expected to field several squadrons of more advanced Su-57 heavyweight fighters, which would have likely made operations against Ukrainian forces far smoother.

The two other fighters developed from the Su-27 Flanker, a 4th generation heavy fighter, were enhanced with next-generation technologies. Su-57, also called the Felon by NATO, is a brand-new fifth-generation fighter with superior strike and air superiority capabilities.

Su-35 and Su-57 Comparisons

The Felon, which first flew in 2010, was supposed to enter service in 2015, with 50 planes in operation by 2020 and 200 by the end of 2025.

Many essential technologies were inherited from the Soviet MiG 1.42 program; the Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter took time to reach the prototype stage, cited Air Force Technology. This may have affected the aggressive schedule.

Read Also: Vladimir Putin: 3 Facts You Didn't Know About Russia's President - From His Judo Records to His KGB Pseudonym

Due to a lack of backing from a large industrial base or tech sector and a lack of money, the Su-57 only commenced serial production in 2019 and joined the Air Force in December 2020, 25 years after the Soviet collapse.

Su-57 Felon Capabilities

The Felon was developed to go as far as to counter the 6th generation, not only 5th generation F-22 or F-35 that can be handled easily. Next would be fitting newer technology or avionics on the Su-35 to keep it updated longer.

The Su-57 has a low initial production rate, with only 6-8 aircraft in service out of a total of 76 anticipated to be fully operational by 2027, noted Military Watch Magazine.

The planes were used for a short period and in small numbers over Ukraine. However, it is unclear whether they fought or evaluated their sensors or other capabilities in a war zone. The UAF cannot match it, but it does not seem to much use in the conflict; it could make a difference.

Stealth keeps it from radar by complementing Himalayas electronic warfare system to provide additional protection. It is equipped with a unique laser defense system that blinds infrared-guided missiles by disabling the sensor from acquiring a target. Much of the Ukrainian forces will have a hard time hitting it because of masked heat sources that make it useless to fire at.

When in combat, the plane has excellent AESA radar, also can see more with six radars equipped, and next-generation infra-red search and track system.

Hitting targets with the PBK-500U Drel guided bomb can attack with accurate fire and forget system; it can take out Ukrainian assets for close air support or air support for Russian forces, mentioned the National Interest.

Deploying the Su-57 Felon stealth fighter in Ukraine will have advantages over the Su-34 and Su-35, which are good but lack the benefits.

Related Article: 5th Generation Russian Fighter: The Sukhoi Su-57 Felon Gets Major Upgrades With New Engine, Mounts Hypersonic Missiles

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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.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In Uzbekistan, a former territory of the Soviet Union, women are still faced with oppression and are often denied the personal rights many take for granted. Amy Shakhlo Karaman, founder and CEO of E Woman and a native of Uzbekistan, is committed to helping women and girls in her homeland overcome these restrictions. In support of this cause, E Woman announces the launch of its new mentoring program, which will provide Uzbekistan's women with the opportunity to receive an education in the United States.

E Woman, founded in 2021, is a global social networking platform where women can connect to and support each other. E Woman is available on www.ewoman.world and is offered in every language. Members can join categorized groups anonymously or with their usernames to share their stories and connect in a judgment-free space.

E Woman's program will assist women and young girls who believe in their rights outside of what the "norm" is in their culture. Participants will receive financial assistance to attend college in the United States, which will help further their personal growth as well as provide access to education. Karaman is writing recommendation letters and will match donations made through the sale of Bright Soul bracelets and T-shirts to provide financial support.

"It's our hope that through this program we'll give these women and young girls the opportunity to create a better life," Karaman explained. "At E Woman, our goal is to support women in all aspects of their lives. We firmly believe every person deserves the right to have access to an education if that's what they desire."

Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities, both located in Nashville, are partnering institutions for the program. Karaman is also a board member for Sister Cities of Nashville, which has assisted with efforts to increase relations between Uzbekistan and the Nashville community. Karaman attended a meeting with Uzbekistan's U.S. ambassador Javlon Vakhabov, Nashville's Vice Mayor Jim Shulman, and the president of Belmont University during the ambassador's March visit to the city. Ingenium Schools also is providing support for the program.

Karaman created the E Woman app to serve as an online women's support group and give women a safe place to empathize with others who may be going through similar experiences. It also provides forums for different events and stages in a woman's life, including single moms, working moms, finding work-life balance, and coping with a loss.

To learn more, visit www.ewoman.world.

About E Woman

E Woman is a social media platform dedicated to every woman who feels alone. Founded by Amy Shakhlo Karaman, an immigrant who escaped an arranged marriage in Uzbekistan and came to America to build her life from the ground up, this online community allows women around the world to discuss similar struggles. E Woman is now available on www.ewoman.world and offers every language. Members can join categorized groups anonymously or with their usernames to share their stories and connect in a judgment-free space. To learn more, visit www.ewoman.world.

Media Contact:

Alexandra Batista

(786) 374-8286 (Direct)

alexandra@newswire.com

www.Newswire.com

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USA, April 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- What do major international companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Tesla have in common? Each one has turned to Latin America to scale their remote development teams.

For businesses across the United States and Canada, finding great remote talent can be a long and frustrating process. And given the recent labor shortage of the Great Resignation, hiring the best tech talent is harder than ever before.











At Coderio Group , they are on a mission to transform the remote workforce with access to the most talented tech professionals in Latin America. And only 5 years into their existence, they have already made a tremendous impact.

With a roster of over 10,000 pre-qualified developers, they have a robust stable of talent to augment any staff within the United States and Canada.

Staff augmentation is one of our key lines of business, explains Joaquin Quintas , CEO of Coderio Group. We specialize in providing top remote talent from Latin America to firms across America to work on any type of software system development project that the client is working on.

Because of their extensive onboarding process with professional developers, Coderio can match the right talent to their client companies within days  shortening the exhaustive search process and enabling companies to connect with only the best candidates for the position.

We have had a lot of success as a result of our exceptional staff and the premium service we provide, Quintas says. Our agile process gives our clients the ability to set up a completely remote squad (with a delivery team 100% dedicated to them) in less than 3 weeks.

Some of the key advantages to working with Latin American talent, Quintas says, is that remote workers are in the same time zones as all major American companies, and every developer speaks fluent English, making communication easy. And, of course, anyone who wants to join Coderio must undergo an extensive interview process, including two formal interviews and various skills assessments.









As a result, Coderio offers only the very best tech professionals, ensuring that companies get the help they need fast  and backed by trusted experts.

We offer a wide range of talents, from single individuals to entire assembled work teams, Quintas says. Coderio is a tech company, we develop software for our clients and we help them manage their remote teams.

Coderio Group has grown rapidly over the past 4 years, enabling remote workers to enter into different business lines and industries  and at the same time, empowering client companies to achieve impressive goals that may have been unreachable with staff augmentation.

We are helping Fortune 500 companies scale fast with expert nearshore software engineering teams, Quintas says. Our IT experts work on the backend, the front end, in architectures, ecommerce development, even entire teams migrating cores to the cloud.

With a full suite of staffing solutions available to companies across the United States and Canada, Quintas explains that Coderio is addressing a growing need for top-level IT talent to both launch new projects and support important initiatives. And with each developer or team they match with a client company, they take another step toward fulfilling their mission.

Nowadays, there is a need for developers from Latin America to work for companies in the United States, Quintas says. Latin America has the top talent in the industry, so we provide those developers to them in an easy and transparent way.











About Coderio Group

Coderio Group is dedicated to helping companies scale fast and jump-start their businesses with expert nearshore software engineering teams. With commercial headquarters in Miami, FL, and development centers in several countries from LatinAmerica, they work with international client companies in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

To learn more about Coderio, please visit coderio.co . Coderio will also be present in the upcoming eMerge Americas event in Miami on April 18-19.





Contact Information:
China's gross ocean product hits 9 trillion yuan for first time

09:57, April 16, 2022 By Kong Dechen ( People's Daily

Technicians maintain a wind turbine at a wind farm in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong province, April 12, 2021. (Photo by Qiu Xinsheng/People's Daily Online)

China's gross ocean product rose 8.3 percent to nearly 9.04 trillion yuan (about $1.42 trillion) in 2021, the first time the figure has crossed the 9-trillion-yuan mark, said a statistical communique recently released by the country's Ministry of Natural Resources.

According to the communique, the figure contributed 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product expansion.

The added value of the marine primary industry stood at 456.2 billion yuan, while those of the secondary and tertiary industries were 3.01 trillion and 5.56 trillion yuan, respectively. The three figures accounted for 5 percent, 33.4 percent and 61.6 percent of China's gross ocean product.

The marine economy accounted for 15% of total GDP in China's coastal regions, a 0.1 percentage point increase from the previous year.

The last year saw a gradual release of the market potential, and the marine foreign trade kept rising. The number of newly registered enterprises in key maritime sectors increased 5.7 percent year on year, while there was a 5.1-percent drop in the number of the deregistered.

In 2021, the total imports and exports via maritime transport were up by 22.4 percent from a year ago, and the country exported offshore wind turbines for the first time. Coastal ports handled a total of 4.19 billion tonnes of foreign trade cargos, up 4.6 percent year on year. Maritime transport also witnessed rapid growth, with added value in the sector increasing 10.3 percent from a year ago.

Last year, China constantly enhanced its sci-tech innovation capacity in the sphere of the marine economy, with new breakthroughs made in a number of key areas.

According to the statistical communique, the country has further improved its capability in the manufacturing of high-end offshore equipment. China's first 174,000-cubic meter floating liquefied natural gas storage and regasification unit was delivered, and the country's independently developed and manufactured typhoon-resistant floating offshore wind turbine was put into use in south China's Guangdong province, too.

Besides, China's first offshore wind power project that combines power generation and storage will be delivered soon, and its first independently developed subsea Xmas tree system completed sea trials in the Bohai Sea.

Emerging marine industries saw robust growth. In 2021, the added value of marine biomedicine increased by 18.7 percent year on year, while the figures for marine power and seawater exploitation were 30.5 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively. Such growth was obviously faster than that in major marine industries.

Traditional marine industries accelerated upgrading and transformation, and pilot programs of modern marine farming were advanced in an orderly manner. As of the end of 2021, the country has established 136 demonstration marine farms at national level.

Floating bamboo rafts are employed for oyster breeding in Dongmentou village, Wenling, east China's Zhejiang province, June 7, 2021. (Photo by Liu Zhenqing/People's Daily Online)

Besides, the marine shipbuilding companies have become greener. Green energy vessels accounted for 24.4 percent of the shipbuilding orders they received in the past year.

The supply of marine energy and marine products has been enhanced over the past years. Seawater desalination industry was expanded. Tianjin municipality, Hebei province and Shandong province have successively launched major engineering projects of seawater desalination to ensure fresh water supply in places with scarce water resources.

The production of marine oil and gas increased 6.2 percent and 6.9 percent year on year, respectively, and the development of clean energy maintained robust momentum. Last year, China connected 16.9 GW of offshore wind capacity to the state grid, 4.5 times of that from a year ago. It placed the country on the first spot in the world in terms of total installed offshore wind capacity.

Deep-sea aquaculture was further advanced. The largest smart net cage in Asia developed by China welcomed a harvest last year, and the Deep Blue 1 fully-submersible deep-sea fish cage also harvested salmons for the first time.

An oil tanker docks at a terminal in Yantai, east China's Shandong province, Oct. 12, 2021. (Photo by Tang Ke/People's Daily Online)

In recent years, China has rolled out a number of marine policies that make clearer the blueprint for marine economy in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

"The sound momentum for recovery and positive development of the marine economy remains unchanged in 2022, and so do the production factors that support high-quality development of the sector," said Cui Xiaojian, deputy director of the National Marine Data and Information Service.

So far, 11 coastal provinces and some of the coastal cities in China have issued relevant plans to spur the development of the marine economy, and China has also issued state-level documents to promote the development of relevant industries, such as an action plan on seawater desalination between 2021 and 2025 and a national development plan on the fishing industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

China will further optimize the structure of the marine economy, maintain major indexes of the sector in a reasonable range and continue promoting high-quality development of the marine economy.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Two officials said Russia has issued a formal diplomatic note to the Biden administration urging the US against further arming Ukraine.

The message, which was addressed to the State Department, highlighted Moscow's displeasure with President Joe Biden's decision to continue improving weapons exports while the violence in eastern Ukraine intensifies. It utilized the same rhetoric that Russia has been using to criticize Western attempts to strengthen Ukraine's military against invading Russian soldiers for some time, CBS News reported.

Russia Warns US To Stop Arming Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier described the tactic as part of a plan to boost Kyiv's negotiation clout in the hope of reaching a negotiated settlement to the conflict. The diplomatic message from Russia to the United States was originally published by the Washington Post, which described Russian officials as stating that the arms shipments might have "unpredictable repercussions."

The statement comes as President Biden approved an extension of the United States' military support to Ukraine this week, including $800 million worth of armaments and medium-range howitzers that might be beneficial in the next phase of the fight in eastern Ukraine.

The provision of armaments, notably anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, is credited for deterring Russian attempts to overrun Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The Russian Embassy in Washington issued a two-page diplomatic message or demarche to the State Department on Tuesday.

It was titled "On Russia's Concerns in the Context of Massive Supplies of Weapons and Military Equipment to the Kyiv Regime," and it accused the US and NATO allies of attempting to force Ukraine to abandon talks with Russia in order to keep the bloodshed going while pressuring other countries to cut military and technical ties with Moscow.

Multiple launch rocket systems were among the weaponry Russia classified as "most sensitive" although the US and NATO have not indicated they are delivering such systems to Ukraine.

This amounted to a breach of the "rigorous standards" controlling the transfer of weapons to war zones, as well as a failure to recognize the possibility of high-precision weaponry getting into the hands of extreme nationalists, radicals, and bandit groups in Ukraine.

Read Also: China Condemns US Officials' Visit to Taiwan, Warns 'It's Going Down a Dangerous Path'

US Sends New Security Assistance Worth $800 Million to Ukraine

Russia has made repeated allegations that it is seeking to 'denazify' Ukraine, accusations that have been debunked. Instead, according to a senior administration source, the message is an acknowledgement that the US policy is succeeding.

This week, the newest round of security assistance was disclosed. According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, the $800 million package brings the total cost of the invasion to $3.2 billion since it began in late February.

This fresh package of support will incorporate many of the extremely successful weapons systems we have previously delivered, as well as additional capabilities targeted to the broader attack we expect Russia to deploy in eastern Ukraine, according to President Joe Biden.

Per Daily Mail, the United States has previously dispatched lethal kamikaze Switchblade drones, which are one-time-use aircraft that crash into their intended target. To target tanks, some can be outfitted with armor-piercing warheads. According to observers, the diplomatic statement might signal the start of a new phase in which Moscow targets armament convoys entering Ukraine.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin Admits Peace Talks To End Russia-Ukraine War, Fires Back at US Involvement

@YouTube

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In what is perceived as a stern warning to China, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh declared on Friday that if India is harmed, no one will be spared.

"India has emerged as a powerful country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is on its way to become one of the world's top three economies," Rajnath Singh said in a speech to the Indian-American community in San Francisco.

US, India Agree to Additional Exercises To Strengthen Ties

S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh were in the United States for the fourth India-US 2+2 ministerial conversation. With intermittent tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India and China have been embroiled in a border dispute.

In June 2020, a tense brawl devolved into hand-to-hand battle with clubs, stones, and fists, killing 20 Indian troops. In the fight, China says it lost four soldiers. The two parties have undertaken 15 rounds of talks so far to try to settle the standoffs in eastern Ladakh, as per Live Mint.

Both India and China have evacuated soldiers from various areas around the northern and southern banks of the Pangong Tso Lake, as well as Gogra and the Galwan Valley, since February of last year although they have maintained additional personnel as part of their deployment.

Without directly addressing American pressure on Russia as a result of the Ukraine conflict, Singh stated that India does not believe in a "zero-sum game." India believes in a bilateral partnership that is "win-win" for both nations despite Washington's concerns over India's stance on the Ukraine issue and its choice to buy discounted Russian oil.

The amicable messages from US and Indian officials this week contrasted sharply with the unpleasant tensions between the two nations only days before over their respective positions on the Ukraine crisis. Both have agreed to conduct additional "high-end exercises" to strengthen connections with like-minded countries in the face of China's persistent problems. They also agreed to strengthen defense, cybersecurity, space, and marine security cooperation.

Read Also: Ukraine Fires Anti-Ship Missile To Sink Russian Vessel; More Vladimir Putin Troops Get Ambushed

India Still Rejects Condemning Russia

These positive actions, according to analysts, show that the US does not want to alienate India in its attempt to control China, and that the 2+2 meetings have shown that bilateral ties are progressing. Days before the discussions, US President Joe Biden described India's position on Ukraine as "shaky" while a US source cautioned that siding with Moscow would have "severe and long-term ramifications."

According to SCMP, India stayed steady in its refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, instead promoting diplomacy to settle the conflict and implying respect for each nation's sovereignty. The reluctance to criticize Russia arises from the fact that it is India's major armaments supplier, which is thought to be crucial in dealing with China and the border standoff. The fact that India continues to import Russian energy is also a source of disagreement, though Jaishankar believes Western fears are unfounded.

Meanwhile, despite poor ties caused by the extended military stalemate in eastern Ladakh, bilateral trade between India and China climbed by 15.3 percent to over $31 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to trade figures issued by the Chinese Customs on Wednesday.

China's exports to India increased by $27.1 billion in the three months from January to March. Last year, bilateral trade between India and China reached a new high of almost $125 billion, as per NDTV. The increasing trend looked to be continuing, as bilateral trade in the first quarter of 2022 totaled $31.96 billion, up 15.3 percent from the same time last year, according to trade figures issued by the General Administration of Customs.

Related Article: Russia Expresses Irritation, Warns of 'Unprecedented Consequences' if US Keeps Helping Ukraine in War

@YouTube

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TotalEnergies and ENEOS Corporation jointly conduct a feasibility study to assess the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in ENEOS Negishi Refinery in Yokohama, Japan.

The companies have already started to conduct the study for feedstock procurement and production of SAF related to this project. The proposed unit, the capacity of which would be 300,000 tons per year of SAF, would process waste or residuemainly used cooking oil and animal fat. The two companies are considering establishing a new joint venture to produce SAF.

This collaboration would leverage the companies respective areas of excellence and expertise for the development of the sustainable supply chain of SAF in Japan around 2025:

TotalEnergies experience in feedstock procurement and SAF production technology.

ENEOSs available production and loading/unloading facilities of the Negishi Refinery, which is located in the largest aviation fuel demand area in Japan (Narita and Haneda airports) and marketing network of aviation fuel in Japan.
The United States is currently facing a surge of bird flu cases with rising concerns about the H5N1 virus that is spreading among wild birds and poultry and has been reported to have infected roughly 27 million animals in 31 states.

The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota on Wednesday urged residents to start taking down their bird feeders so that it prevents the congregating of songbirds. This could potentially help in curbing an "unprecedented outbreak" of what they consider to be a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds.

Bird Flu Outbreak

Scientists are also recommending caution as there are still many mysterious things about this particular strain of HPAI. However, it is known to be a particularly contagious and hard-to-kill version of the H5N1 virus. Fortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it poses a low risk to the general human population.

Experts said that there will be certain species of wild birds (such as waterfowl and seabirds) that are at greater risk of contracting the virus. The animals spread the infection via feces and respiratory secretions without showing any symptoms and they said it is common for raptor species to quickly develop severe illness and die, as per Self.

In the past week, more than 200 birds have been found dead at Baker's Lake forest reserve in Barrington. On Thursday, officials announced that their suspected culprit for the incident was the new sweeping avian flu strain spreading across the U.S.

Read Also: Climate Change Influences Human Evolution Since the Days of the First Hominid Until the Existence of Modern Man

If the cause is found to be the H5N1 bird flu, which is what local scientists are speculating, the federal government is the only one who will be able to make a declaration. If so, it would become the largest outbreak of the disease in wildlife reported in the area so far, said the Forest Preserves of Cook County.

According to the Daily Herald, the forest preserve district's wildlife biologist, Chris Anchor, said that it was a common occurrence to find one or two dead "anything anywhere." He said that when there was a large concentration of dead animals, that is when an investigation should be conducted to determine what was happening. That is what Anchor and other staff members did on Apr. 6.

Mass Killing of Chickens

The bird flu outbreak also comes as many are calling for the end of the "ventilation shutdown" for mass chicken killing in the United States. There have been documented experiments that were funded by the U.S'. Poultry and Egg Association, which is a major industry trade group.

They took place in the wake of the 2015 outbreak of a highly aggressive bird flu that forced many breeders to cull roughly 50 million farmed birds. While not all of the animals were infected, the process was done across the U.S. to prevent the spread of the infection.

The researchers who were responsible for testing the new set of disease control methods explained that it was a method to kill animals through heatstroke and suffocation, which is similar to dying in a hot car. The Animal Outlook attorney who obtained videos of the process, Will Lowrey, said, "the suffering is extremely profound," The Intercept reported.



Related Article: COVID-19 Cases in the US Rising Amid Spread of Contagious Variant; Philadelphia Brings Back Mask Mandate

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PHOENIX (AP)  Prosecutors have asked the Arizona Supreme Court to call off an upcoming hearing scheduled by a lower-court judge to determine the mental fitness of a prisoner to be executed in what would be the states first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovichs office told the states highest court in a filing Wednesday that the May 3 mental competency hearing scheduled in Pinal County for death-row prisoner Clarence Dixon is likely to delay his May 11 execution. Dixon was sentenced to death for his murder conviction in the 1977 killing of Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin.

The prosecutors are seeking to throw out the lower court's order that concluded defense lawyers had shown reasonable grounds for planning a hearing over whether Dixon is psychologically fit.

Dixons lawyers have said their client erroneously believes he will be executed because police at Northern Arizona University wrongfully arrested him in a previous case  a 1985 attack on a 21-year-old student. His attorneys concede he was in fact lawfully arrested then by Flagstaff police.

Dixon was sentenced to life sentences in that case for sexual assault and other convictions. DNA samples taken while he was in prison later linked him to Bowdoins killing, which at that point had been unsolved.

His attorneys say Dixons inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy in the case involving an NAU student had started to spill into the case over Bowdoins killing.

Dixon had fired his attorney in the case involving Bowdoins death under an irrational belief that the DNA evidence wasnt admissible in the murder case because he erroneously thinks the NAU Police Department wasnt a legal entity when it arrested him on the sexual assault charges, his current lawyers have said.

Prosecutors told the state Supreme Court that even though Dixons attorneys argued their clients focus on the 1985 sexual assault conviction shows he was incompetent to decline his right to a lawyer, the courts in rulings after his murder verdict found that Dixons focus on that legal challenge, though untenable, did not demonstrate a lack of competence. Eric Zuckerman, one of Dixon's attorneys, said in a statement: The states attempt to overturn the lower courts proper decision to grant a competency hearing to Clarence Dixon, who has a history of schizophrenia and previous findings of legal incompetency, undermines the legal process that will determine whether executing him would violate the Constitution.

Dixons attorneys say putting Dixon to death would violate protections against executing people who are mentally incompetent. They cited a psychiatrists conclusion that their client lacks a rational understanding of the reasons for his execution.

Prosecutors said Dixons legal theory isnt legally viable, but argued that his attempts to undo his murder conviction show he has a rational understanding of why the state is seeking his execution.

Defense attorneys say Dixon has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia on multiple occasions, has regularly experienced hallucinations over the past 30 years and was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 1977 assault case in which the verdict was delivered by then-Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sandra Day OConnor, nearly four years before her appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bowdoin was killed two days after the verdict, according to court records.

Authorities have said the 21-year-old Bowdoin, who was found dead in her apartment, had been raped, stabbed and strangled. Dixon had been charged with raping Bowdoin, but the charge was later dropped on statute-of-limitation grounds. He was convicted, though, in her death.

The last time Arizona used the death penalty was in July 2014, when Joseph Wood was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours in an execution that his lawyers said was botched.

States, including Arizona, have struggled to buy execution drugs in recent years after U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies began blocking the use of their products in lethal injections. Last year, Arizona corrections officials revealed that they had finally obtained a lethal injection drug and were ready to resume executions.

In addition to asking the Pinal County court for a mental fitness proceeding, lawyers for Dixon have filed two other lawsuits over the past week.

In one lawsuit, they asked a court to bar the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency from holding his April 28 clemency hearing, arguing the makeup of the board violates a state law limiting the number of people from the same profession from serving on the board. Three of the boards four current members are retired law enforcement professionals, the lawsuit said.

Dixons lawyers also filed a federal lawsuit protesting several conditions of his confinement since the execution warrant was issued and he was moved to another cell where he is observed around the clock and has limited access to personal property.

As of Friday afternoon, no hearings had been scheduled in either lawsuit.

Arizona has 112 prisoners on death row.
Motorola unveiled the Moto G52 earlier this week for European markets, but it obviously won't stay confined to those for long. In fact, a new rumor today, originating with an "industry source", claims that the Moto G52 will get launched in India before the end of this month.

Not just that, but we have a rough price point too, the one that Motorola is targeting with this device, and that's the INR 20,000 bracket or thereabouts. So expect the actual price to come in just under or above this threshold.

Interestingly (or weirdly) enough, the Indian Moto G52 is said to have a pOLED display instead of an AMOLED - with this being interpreted in marketing speak as "more shock-proof than AMOLED". While that may or may not be true, it's clear that there are different suppliers involved, with Samsung providing those AMOLEDs and another company selling the pOLEDs to Motorola for the Indian version of this device.

The Indian Moto G52's screen will also be a tad smaller than the European version's, at 6.5" compared to 6.6", but it keeps the same FHD+ resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate.

The European model is only 7.99mm thick and weighs just 169g, but it's unclear if the Indian variant will keep the same numbers in this area. Both G52 iterations are powered by the Snapdragon 680 SoC, and have a triple rear camera setup, with a 50 MP main unit, an 8 MP ultrawide, and a 2 MP macro shooter. There's also a 16 MP camera on the front, and a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W fast charging support.

Source
Javier Babuta, 14, dives off the Malesso Pier Jan. 3, 2021. The Guam Environmental Protection Agency issued a warning of 11 polluted beach areas, including the Malesso Pier, just before the Easter holiday weekend.
Catastrophic floods in Durban, South Africa, have left more than 300 residents dead in the wake of the horrifying force of nature that has been attributed to climate change that many have been protesting for years.

At 8:00 p.m. on Monday, Mthobisi Gasa, a South African, struggled to cross a bridge that was left submerged in water due to powerful rain in order to get to his home in Inanda. The man, a 24-year-old retail trainee, trekked through waist-high water for over an hour and had to form a human chain with strangers to avoid being washed away.

South Africa Floods

But when he reached his two-bedroom home, Gasa was devastated to see that his door was unable to open. When he looked through the window, he saw that the inside was completely filled with water. Gasa forced the door open and the entire front portion of his house collapsed immediately.

"I decided to save important things and then watched my entire house fall. The floods have destroyed me," said Gasa. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said that heavy rains have swept away many homes in the region and sunk highways and flooded bridges, as per Aljazeera.

On Friday, the KwaZulu-Natal regional government warned residents that there could be more rain and damaging winds expected across South Africa's east coast in the coming days. The government, following a brief rain-free interval on Thursday, said that it received a warning from the South African Weather Service regarding "disruptive rain" and "damaging winds."

Read Also: Climate Change Influences Human Evolution Since the Days of the First Hominid Until the Existence of Modern Man

The local government described the recent turn of events as "one of the darkest moments in the history" of the KwaZulu-Natal province. A spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso, said that the death toll from the storms has risen to as high as 395.

According to CNN, in a statement, the regional government said that more than 40,000 residents have been affected by the floods in one way or another. They added that they were expressing their gratitude for the ongoing support that the province was receiving from various sectors.

Consequence of Climate Change

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa toured the devastated region on Wednesday and said that the severity of the downpours was further proof of the consequences of climate change around the world. The official said that the rains showed how serious climate change is and argued that the world could no longer postpone what it needed to do.

The country's national weather service said that the KwaZulu-Natal province the country experienced the heaviest-single day rain in the last 60 years in recent days. Another resident of Durban, Boniswa Shangase, said the people of the region have been traumatized and were unable to eat.

Shangase said that when the water quickly rose around the hillside where her home was found, which is where she was raising her two daughters, she quickly jumped out the window before it gave way. She said that she and her children were not homeless and were unable to live in the area any longer, Yahoo News reported.



Related Article: Ocean Currents Over the Last 66 Million Years Provide Clues To the Phenomena of Climate Change

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After announcing Saturday that there was no immediate threat from a reported North Korea missile launch, the Offices of Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense retracted the statement Sunday.

At this time, there is no indication a launch was detected out of (North Korea), the retraction stated.

The agency is working to ensure all information is properly received before making any notices of this magnitude but can confirm there are no immediate threats assessed for the Marianas and sends apologies to all concerned, Guam Homeland Security Advisor Samantha Brennan said in the statement. This will be the only statement issued until additional information is received.

North Korea on Friday celebrated the milestone birth anniversary of its late founder with a mass dance, fireworks and calls for stronger loyalty to his grandson and current leader Kim Jong Un, but there was no word on an expected military parade amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

Kim Il Sungs birthday is the most important national holiday in North Korea, where the Kim family has ruled under a strong personality cult since the nations founding in 1948. Kim Jong Un became a third-generation leader after his father Kim Jong Il died in late 2011.

Kim Jong Un has pushed to advance his nuclear weapons while simultaneously reviving the economy. But a mix of pandemic border closures, U.S.-led sanctions and his own mismanagement have caused a massive economic blow in whats become the toughest moment of his decade in power.

North Korea often marks key state anniversaries with huge military parades featuring newly built missiles, especially during anniversaries that end in zero and five. Commercial satellites earlier indicated an apparent rehearsal for a military parade, such as people assembled in formation at the Pyongyang plaza, where such events were held in the past.

After North Koreas ICBM test last month, South Korean and U.S. officials said Pyongyang could soon launch fresh provocations like an additional ICBM test, a rocket to put a spy satellite into orbit, or even a nuclear bomb test that would be the seventh of its kind.

Sung Kim, the top U.S. official on North Korea, is to visit South Korea next week for talks on the international communitys response to the Norths recent missile tests.

Commercial satellite images in recent weeks have indicated preparations for a large military parade in Pyongyang, which could take place on the April 25 founding anniversary of North Koreas army and display the most advanced weapons in Kims nuclear arsenal, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Theres also expectation that Pyongyang will further escalate its weapons testing in the coming weeks or months, possibly including a resumption of nuclear explosive tests or test-flying missiles over Japan, as it attempts to force a response from the Biden administration while its preoccupied with Russias invasion of Ukraine and a rivalry with China.
After last weeks introduction of the Guam Heartbeat Act of 2022, which would ban doctors from performing abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, all 15 senators were asked if they they supported legal abortions and if they would vote in favor of the measure.

Seven of the 15 senators in the 36th Guam Legislature responded. Sens. Amanda Shelton, Telena Nelson, Joe San Agustin, Jose Pedo Terlaje, Telo Taitague, Clynt Ridgell, Sabina Perez and Speaker Therese Terlaje didnt respond to the PDNs questions as of 5 p.m. Friday.

Six of those who responded said they were opposed to abortion, though positions on the Heartbeat Act, Bill 291, varied.

The bill, similar to a Texas law, states the prohibition on abortions shall be enforced exclusively through private civil actions rather than government enforcement. It would give residents the power to file a civil lawsuit in Guam courts for a minimum of $10,000 against anyone who performs or induces an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

It was introduced by Sens. Nelson, Chris Duenas, Shelton, Tony Ada and Frank Blas Jr.

Several Republican senators said they were firmly opposed to abortion.

I am not in favor of legal abortion. I am in favor of everyones right to life, which includes the life of the defenseless unborn, Duenas said.

Blas said, I am actually against any form of abortion.

Sen. Joanne Brown didnt comment on the Heartbeat Act but said, I am pro-life supporter, while Ada, a co-sponsor of the measure, said only that he would vote in favor of it.

Measured

Other Republican senators were more measured in their response.

As a man of faith, I am deeply rooted in the belief that any child in a womb with a heartbeat has an individual right to life, which is why if Bill 291 was up for a vote today, I would support it, Sen. James Moylan said.

However, as an elected official, it is also my responsibility to listen to the community and the options that may be placed on the table, inclusive of amendments toward the measure. My final decision will be based on these conversations and as long as the options dont waver away from my beliefs, said Moylan.

As has been my practice, I will consider all testimony on this proposal should it make it to the floor, Sen. Mary Camacho Torres said. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing from legal experts, medical personnel and the community on the potential impact of this legislation.

While I am personally pro-life, she added, I believe this includes protecting those outside the womb.

She said she has worked to pass laws to protect newborn infants, expand foster homes and enhance protection for victims of sexual assault.

More input

Vice Speaker Tina Muna Barnes was the only Democrat to respond.

I was a young mother who chose life  a decision that I did not take lightly and did not regret for one moment.  However, this bill asks me to weigh the personal rights of women against my own personal beliefs and convictions of faith, she said.

The vice speaker said she needed to hear more input, including from women in the community, before providing an answer on the Guam Heartbeat Act of 2022.

I believe there needs to be more education and dialogue about the implications.  I want to understand who can be sued and how third parties will even know what goes on between a patient and her doctor in the first place. I want to know the impacts of this bill on those who conceive as a result of rape and incest, she said.

Veto

Should the Heartbeat Act pass, a veto from Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero is likely.

The governors spokesperson, Krystal Paco San Agustin, said that statements made by Bureau of Womens Affairs Director Jayne Flores reflected the administrations official position on the legislation.

Flores has voiced strong opposition to the measure, calling it an attempt to control womens bodies, stating that it would potentially force the court system to violate federal HIPPA laws by subpoenaing womens medical records.

The enforcement action for a similar Texas law  allowing private citizens to sue  was deemed unconstitutional in the states district court, she said.

Leon Guerrero has expressed support for womens reproductive rights, including access to abortion.

The Heartbeat Act would need eight votes to pass the Legislature and 10 to override a veto from the governor.
Jose Pedo Terlaje was a sergeant before retiring after 18 years of

service in the Guam Police Department and is a senator in the 36th Guam Legislature.
Puzzled scientists are investigating a recent outbreak of mysterious hepatitis in young children in the United Kingdom and the United States that is not currently explained by known causes.

Several experts have already made theories and speculations as to what has caused the illness, with some saying it is a resurgence of the coronavirus or a novel or mutated virus. Hepatitis is known to be more commonly caused by a group of five unrelated viruses, hepatitis A through E, but it is actually a formal term for any kind of liver inflammation.

Mysterious Hepatitis Reports

Some of the factors that can cause hepatitis include various infectious diseases, heavy alcohol use, toxins, and some medications. Symptoms of the illness range from fever and fatigue to jaundice, which is the yellowing of the skin and the eyes. Victims could also suffer from nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, and in severe cases, liver failure that can result in death.

Doctors in the UK have, since January of this year, reported a concerning rise of severe, sometimes life-threatening hepatitis among young children. The situation is above the normal baseline rate of incidence. There have already been at least 74 documented cases in the country, as per Gizmodo.

Clinicians in Denmark and the Netherlands have also reported similar cases to the ones found in the UK. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it was already working to investigate nine cases reported in Alabama.

Read Also: COVID-19 Cases in the US Rising Amid Spread of Contagious Variant; Philadelphia Brings Back Mask Mandate

As of Apr. 12, none of the infected victims in the UK and Spain have died but some of them have severe illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that all of the children have been admitted to hospitals and seven of them have required liver transplants, six of whom were from the UK.

According to Science, in Alabama, two of the nine affected children have already required liver transplants, said the state's Department of Public Health. A pediatric hepatologist at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England, Deirdre Kelly, said that the situation was a "severe phenomenon."

Investigation of the Illness

Many of the children in the United States who have developed the illness were aged six and under. The district medical officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, Dr. Wes Stubblefield, said that all of the children were otherwise healthy before becoming suddenly ill and noted that there was no obvious link among them.

Scientists have ruled out common hepatitis as the culprit behind the illness, which puts a different virus, known as adenovirus type 41, in the spotlight for potential reasons. Five of the victims in Alabama, who were identified between October 2021 and February, tested for adenovirus type 41.

However, adenoviruses are respiratory viruses that commonly cause colds and are not generally associated with liver damage. Stubblefield said that situation was unusual and noted that the virus has not been associated with the signs and symptoms among victims. The U.S. cases include symptoms of diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Furthermore, blood tests showed they have elevated liver enzymes, NBC News reported.



Related Article: Scientists Make Human Skin Cells Act 30 Years Younger That Could Address Diseases of Aging

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Haiti - FLASH : A form of highly contagious skin infection detected in several areas of the country





"The Ministry of Public Health advises the population that a form of Sarcoptosis, a very contagious skin infection similar to scabies, has been detected in several areas of the country.



The Ministry informs all people with the following signs and symptoms: itching, skin lesions from scratching, especially at night, to go to the nearest health institution for adequate care.



Preventive measures recommended by the Ministry :



1. Avoid direct contact with an infected person;

2. Boil bedding;

3. Disinfect clothing, sheets, pillows and bath towels;

4. Ventilate spaces

5. Bathe in clean water;

6. Above all, avoid scratching your skin despite the urge.



Counting on the cooperation of everyone, the Ministry invites the population to be vigilant in order to curb the spread of this infectious disease."



Outbreak of sarcoptosis in Kenskoff :

Since April 14, 2022, the Ministry of Public Health via the West Health Department has deployed a multidisciplinary team to Kenskoff to stem the outbreak of sarcoptosis in this area. This deployment is part of the investigation and response activities, led by the Ministry, against community sarcoptosis, in the rural areas of the West department.



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Haiti - News : Zapping...





PNH : New head at the North-West Departmental Directorate

Thursday, April 14, 2022, Divisional Commissioner Bruce Myrtil was installed as the new Northwest Departmental Director of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), he previously held the position of Chief of Staff of the Central Directorate of the Administrative Police.



Easter Wishes

Sofia Loreus, Minister for the Status of Women :

"In this period of the Easter holidays, while the country is going through difficult times, we must unite more than ever to save our homeland. Let's work tirelessly for a just and egalitarian society ! May Easter, symbol of renewal, bring peace and unity to our dear Haiti. Happy Easter to everyone !"



Ministry of Tourism :

"On the occasion of the Easter holidays, the Ministry of Tourism wishes everyone : Peace and Fraternity. May this period of meditation revive in each Haitian and each Haitian, the momentum of Patriotism that can guarantee the smooth running of tourist activities."



USA : Haitian Coast Guard Training

"Congratulations to the officers of the Haitian Coast Guard and to the employees of the Aeronautical Search & Rescue (RSA) service of the National Office of Civil Aviation (OFNAC) for their graduation from the Search and Rescue training organized by the Coast Guard. Americans. We give special thanks to the US Coast Guard, without whom this training would not have taken place," said the Aeronautical Search & Rescue Coordination Directorate.





The Embassy of Spain in Haiti announces that it is organizing on May 17 and 18 at the NH El Rancho hotel, an exhibition and sale of Haitian art and crafts from the workshops of the village of Noailles.



Argentina : Military training

At the invitation of Rear-Admiral Marcelo Tarapow Director General of the Naval Military School, the Ambassador of Haiti in Argentina Vilbert Belizaire and other members of the Diplomatic Mission were received with honor on board the Frigate of the Army of the Republic of Argentina "LIBERTAD" where there were two Haitian scholarship holders in training.



All the details of the amending budget framework letter

At the beginning of the month, Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry presented the framework letter for the renewed 2021-2022 amending budget, which includes the main macroeconomic guidelines and the main lines of budgetary policy for the rest of the 2021-2022 fiscal year. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36415-haiti-economy-amending-budget-for-the-2nd-semester.html . Download the framework letter (PDF) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/letter-framing-of-budget-project-2021-2022.pdfhttps://www.haitilibre.com/docs/lettre-cadrage-du-projet-de-budget-2021-2022.pdf



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By Panos Kotzathanasis | Published on 2022/04/15

Lee Kyoo-man has not directed many films, as his works come out every 4-5 years. They do tend to have an impact, however, with "Children..." in particular being a rather memorable production. Lee is back with another crime thriller with intense dramatic elements, based on the Japanese novel "Keikan no Chi" by Joh Sasaki, which has already been adapted for Japanese TV.

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Choi Min-jae is a young policeman in the Major Crime Unit who believes in the integrity of the Force, with his motto being "If the police do something illegal even it has been occurred during the process of investigation, they are also criminals". At the same time, however, he carries a chip on his shoulder regarding his father, also a policeman, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances. This is the issue Chief inspector Hwang In-ho exploits, in order to plant him in the crew of the ace team leader of the most successful investigation team of the Force, Park Kang-yoon. In-ho believes that Kang-yoon is actually corrupt, with the way he receives his financing being rather shady. Min-jae does get in his crew, and begins investigating his ways, but soon finds himself enjoying the way his new boss does things, and particularly his motto, "The chase of crime should be justified even if it's illegal". Furthermore, Kang-yoon seems to be connected with his father, while a relationship of mentor-apprentice soon begins to form. In-ho, however, is not willing to let go, while Kang-yoon has his own obsession, of arresting millionaire criminal Na Yeong-bin, who has managed to escape prison despite being arrested three times.

Lee Kyoo-man directs a captivating crime thriller, exploiting the concept of the "mole", which in this case, is planted within the police and not in some criminal organization. At the same time, the dynamics created by the connection of the four main characters, Choi Min-jae and his father, Hwang In-ho and Park Kang-yoon allow him to analyze his protagonists quite thoroughly, while also instilling his narrative with an intense sense of drama that adds much to the overall appeal of the movie. Furthermore, the concept of the father adds some mystery to the whole story, while also affecting the aforementioned dynamics, in another element that enriches the overall context. Add to that the effort to catch Yeong-bin, and the mystery behind Kang-yoon's power and you have a rather intriguing story that retains interest from beginning to end, particularly regarding the outcome of the protagonists' occasionally contradicting goals and the solving of the various mysteries. Granted, after some point the subplots here emerge as too many (the material is indeed more suited for a TV series) and somewhat far-fetched, but Lee's steady hand does not allow the movie to fall off the rails, neither in that regard nor in melodramatic terms.

The fact that Min-jae finds himself in the middle of the power struggle of two men that are evidently more powerful than him is also quite intriguing, even more so with the addition of the impact his father had in his life. Furthermore, his knack for judo allows for a number of impressive action scenes, which are also implemented as vehicles of progressing the story. These aspects benefit the most by Choi Wooshik's performance in the role, with the way he is both resolved and lost on which path to follow being excellently portrayed. Particularly the scenes where he makes it obvious he begins to enjoy Kang-yoon methods are among the most enjoyable in the movie. Park Hee-soon as Hwang In-ho and Kwon Yul as Na Yeong-bin are also quite good in their roles as the "villains" of the story, with their antithesis as characters working very well here. The one who steals the show, however, is definitely Cho Jin-woong as Park Kang-yoon, who gives another majestic, rather layered performance as a man who thrives under the pressure he feels from all sides as much as a mentor for his subordinates.

Kang Gook-hyun's cinematography is top-notch, instilling the movie with an occasional noir essence that works well for the story, while the overall "polishness" of the images is implemented well in this case. The action scenes are all well-shot and realistic to a point, with Nam Na-yeong's editing finding its apogee in that regard, as much as in the rather fitting, relatively fast pace.

Despite some minor issues in the script, "The Policeman's Lineage" emerges as a captivating crime thriller, which, although does not reach the level of the masterpieces of the category, remains entertaining from beginning to end.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

___________

"The Policeman's Lineage" is directed by Lee Kyoo-man, and features Cho Jin-woong, Choi Wooshik, Park Hee-soon, Kwon Yul, Park Myung-hoon, Lee Eol. Release date in Korea: 2022/01/05.
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Pope Francis is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and Vatican City is the world's smallest fully independent nation-state.

His influence transcends not only to spiritual and moral matters but also to political issues and other societal issues, making him one of the most powerful leaders in the world.

A Historic Pope

Pope Francis' real name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born on Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a pope of first: the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American pope, the first from the Americas, and the first non-European pope in more than 1,000 years, per the Associated Press.

He Pushed For Reforms In Church Laws

Francis issued the most comprehensive reform to Catholic Church law in four decades on June 1, 2021, mandating bishops to prosecute priests who abuse minors and vulnerable adults, perpetrate fraud, or attempt to ordain women.

Before that, Francis abolished Vatican confidentiality laws for cases of sexual abuse on December 17, 2019, thereby permitting the Catholic church to disclose papers and information to civil authorities, as well as keeping victims informed about the status of their cases.

He Was A Teacher

He worked at the Colegio del Salvatore in Buenos Aires as a teacher of psychology and literature in 1963. From 1964 to 1965, he taught the same topics at Santa Fe's Immaculate Conception College.

Before entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto, Pope Francis attended a technical school and received training as a chemical technician.

Despite his substantial teaching experience, Pope Francis continued his academic education. He obtained his doctorate in theology in Freiburg, Germany, in 1986.

Read Also: Taylor Swift Net Worth 2022: How Wealthy Is America's Pop Sweetheart?

Rockstar Pontiff

Pope Francis is really one of a kind-- should we say cool. He produced a progressive rock album titled 'Wake Up!' It was released in November 2015, according to Good Housekeeping.

The album showcases the pontiff singing and delivering speeches or homilies with upbeat music in the background. The album is available on music streaming sites.

He Had A Girlfriend

One interesting part of Pope Francis' is his love life. Pontiffs before him never or rarely touched the matter in their lives, but the Catholic church's current head has been open about his past romance.

Pope Francis had a childhood sweetheart named Amalia Damonte, who was his neighbor in Flores, Buenos Aires. They used to play in the streets.

According to the story featured in Sky News, the Pope was 12 when he wrote a love letter to Damonte.

Amalia Damonte, 76, grew up in the same Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires as Jorge Bergoglio and said that when the Pontiff was 12, he wrote a letter declaring his love.

She claimed that he decided to enter the priesthood after she turned down his marriage proposal.

" Luckily for him, I said no," Damonte said in a TV interview. The pensioner described him as a "good man, the son of a working-class family."

She admitted that she was shocked and "froze" upon seeing his former flame as the Pope on television.

Pope Francis said in a 2010 interview that he had a lover in the past with whom he loved dancing the tango.

Related Article: [Report] Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Secretly Meet Queen Elizabeth; The Sussexes Promise Her Majesty To Hug Archie and Lilibet Soon

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Oprah Winfrey is considered one of the most influential figures in America and the whole world. Dubbed as "Queen of All Media," she successfully made her widely popular television show, which ran for more than two decades, into a media business empire.

OWN, Winfrey's cable channel, debuted in 2011. Her 25.5 percent stake in the network is valued at around $65 million.

But with her success as a media personality and a businesswoman, one may wonder how she spends a massive amount of money. Does Oprah Winfrey have kids?

The answer: She decided not to have kids.

No Regrets for Oprah Winfrey

In a past interview with People magazine, the billionaire media mogul shared the reason behind why she did not want to become a mom.

When she became engaged with her longtime partner Stedman Graham, they discussed having kids at one point after buying an apartment in Chicago. But being busy with The Oprah Winfrey Show at that time, she realized the "depth" of the sacrifice and responsibility that is expected from a mother.

Oprah sees parenthood as a serious job after interviewing hundreds of people whose lives got messed up due to bad parenting.

The media icon admitted that she could not "compartmentalize" the way other women do. That is why she salutes women who choose to take care of their children at home. "Nobody gives women the credit they deserve," she said.

She had no regrets about it. Her reason is that she gets to fulfill motherhood duties through her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, which offers education to AIDS orphans.

Forbes reported that she had donated over $100 million to the charity institution, in addition to the $425 million she granted to various humanitarian organizations throughout her stellar career.

Read Also: Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Trial: Marriage Counselor Shares Heartbreaking 'Mutual Abuse' Between Ex-Couple

Oprah's Tragic Pregnancy

Oprah's passion for taking care of underprivileged girls is most like driven by empathy because she knows how it feels to be disadvantaged.

She was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to young parents: Her mom Vernita Lee, was 18, and her father, Vernon Winfrey, was 20 at that time. Her parents were not together, so she was raised by her grandmother Hattie Mae Lee.

The summer after the third grade, Oprah decided to stay with her mom and two siblings in Milwaukee. But what was supposed to be a happy situation for the 9-year-old girl turned into a nightmare. Oprah was raped by her 19-year-old cousin while babysitting her younger siblings.

A family friend and an uncle began to abuse the vulnerable little girl as time passed on. Oprah subsequently became pregnant as well as traumatized.

She stayed quiet about the events and began misbehaving. The teenage girl kept her pregnancy hidden from her family for seven months. Then she informed her father of her pregnancy and went into labor the next day. Two weeks later, her baby boy died.

In an article she wrote in O Magazine in 2007, she confessed that she "was so ashamed" during her pregnancy.

"I hid the pregnancy until my swollen ankles and belly gave me away. The baby died in the hospital weeks later," she stated.

Years had passed by until one day, Oprah had an interview in Australia in 2015, wherein she opened up about her tragic pregnancy. As per The List, the reporter suggested that she should name the departed baby boy. She named him Canaan.

"I did have a son. And I named him Canaan because Canaan means new land, new life."

Related Article: Queen Elizabeth II Reveals How She Copes up with Prince Philip's Death, Talks About Lingering COVID-19 Symptoms the Monarch Experiences

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Peloton recently announced that it will hike the cost of its all-access subscription for live and on-demand classes from $39 per month to $44 per month beginning on June 1, 2022.

Peloton users in the United States and Canada will be the only ones affected by the increase in Peloton subscription prices. Peleton stated that they are still in the process of expanding their library of content for their global audience, and with that, international membership pricing remains unchanged for the time being.

To attract more customers, Peloton is raising the monthly fee for its on-demand fitness content for the first time in the company's history, while also slashing the prices of its Bike, Bike+, and Tread machines under the leadership of CEO Barry McCarthy.

These are significant changes for Peloton with Barry McCarthy as the newest CEO, in charge of the company for a little more than two months. It comes at a time when Peloton is trying to get its stock price back up after a big drop recently.

Peloton Price Increase in Subscription

Peloton, after eight years of not raising the price of its membership, was the first to announce that it would be raising the price of its all-access membership in North America.

Over the past eight years, Peloton has spent a lot of money on improving the subscription experience.

Its three products, the Peloton Bike, the Peloton Tread, and the Peloton Guide, have all seen consistent content, disciplines, music, instructors, and new features introduced.

As a result, their members are getting more value from their membership: the number of monthly workouts per all-access membership has more than tripled from 4.4 in October-December 2014 to 15.5 in October-December 2021.

According to TechCrunch, Peloton cited the cost associated with producing exceptional content and developing an engaging platform. According to the company, the price increase will allow them to continue to provide value to their members.

As a result, the company will raise the price of its monthly North America All-Access membership fee from $39 to $44 in the United States and from $49 to $55 in Canada, effective June 1, 2022.

Lowered Prices for Peloton Equipment

In addition, according to Peloton, besides the price increase for all-access membership, Peloton announced that they will counter the price increase by lowering the prices of the exercise equipment on their roster. The lowered price will include all of Peloton's Bikes and Treads in all markets.

Peloton stated that they would like to have more customers able to afford our hardware. And, this is a strategic decision made in order to gain market share and scale up operations.

According to CNBC, beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. ET, Peloton will start cutting prices for its fitness equipment.

Peloton Bike price will be reduced from $1,745 to $1,445 effective immediately. Including a $250 shipping and setup fee.

Peloton Tread machine will be available for $2,695, which is a reduction from the previous price of $2,845. The new Price also includes $350 is charged for shipping and setup fee

Peloton Bike+ will be reduced in price from $2,495 to $1,995.

Read Also: Peloton Adds Apple Watch Integration for All Machines - Here's How It Works

Peloton CEO Deploys Changes

Changes in Peloton have been signaled for quite some time now. This comes after Peloton co-founder John Foley decided to step down from being the company's CEO for ten years and instead transitioned himself as the company's executive chair.

Barry McCarthy was asked to replace the CEO position. He is also known for being a former Netflix and Spotify executive. He assumed Peloton's CEO post last February.

McCarthy has been publicly vocal about where he wants the company to head, stating in previous interviews that he intends to reduce costs while also examining the size of its workforce and production levels in the near future.

He also revealed previously that cutting costs on Peloton equipment is a good opportunity. As it would lower the barrier to entry for a consumer, the company could pivot its focus to growing monthly recurring revenues, which is exactly what the public is seeing now.

Read Also: Peloton to Restructure? Company to Replace CEO, Cut Jobs, and Appoint New Board Members
Elon Musk has recently revealed he is "not sure" about a successful 100% acquisition of the social media platform, Twitter.

Musk, famously known as SpaceX and Tesla's CEO, has made public his desire to buy Twitter for $43 billion. However, He is aware that the company's board might not favor his decision.

Elon Musk Twitter Plan B

Elon Musk was first heard addressing this news publicly at the TED 2022 conference in Vancouver. Musk was invited to the event himself for a speaking engagement. He briefly stated that he was "not sure" about the offer he made to Twitter's board, implying that he had a high possibility of being turned down.

According to the BBC, Elon Musk stated at the TED 2022 conference, "I am not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it."

Moreover, he stated in addition that in the event that his bid for Twitter is rejected, he has a "Plan B" to proceed with a larger stake in the social media company. Although he has provided no further details on what that might entail.

Musk expressed his belief that Twitter should be more open and transparent, "I think it's very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech."

It should be noted that Musk wrote a letter to Twitter's board to acquire the remaining shares of the company, buying them for $54.20 a share, totaling $43 billion.

This news only came to the public due to the SEC filing of Twitter. When asked about the resurfacing news, the social media company did not deny and confirmed that they received Musk's offer and stated that they would deliberate it carefully.

Largest Twitter Shareholder Is Not Musk

As previously reported, Musk recently purchased the largest stake in the social media company. Following Musk's purchase of 9.2% of the company's stock, Twitter's new CEO, Parag Agrawal, invited Musk to join the company's board of directors.

Musk was warmly welcomed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and new CEO Parag Agrawal, who were both delighted to have Musk on board. Musk was even appointed to serve on the board of directors by Agrawal.

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO have been, in the past, consistently vocal about their desire to build a social media platform for an "inclusive arena for free speech." And it looked just like that when Musk became the largest shareholder of the company, or so he thought.

As Business Insider reports, his position has now been displaced by asset manager Vanguard Group, which recently disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that, as of April 8, its funds owned a 10.3% stake in Twitter, which was valued at $3.6 billion.

Musk stated that taking over Twitter is not his way to make money, but instead, his "strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization."

Read Also: Did Elon Musk Mislead Investors? Twitter Shareholder Sues Musk Delaying Disclosure of Twitter Acquisition

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Clears the Air

Amidst the whirlwind of news and controversies that involves Twitter, the company's CEO, Parag Agrawal, while speaking at an all-hands meeting with employees on Thursday, sought to reassure employees that the company was not being "held hostage" by news of Elon Musk's offer to purchase the company.

The CEO launched a 25-minute Q&A session with its employees after knowing that a lot of them had several reactions, most of which were anger and confusion about what was to happen with the company. According to Reuters, Agrawal expressed his appreciation for the employees' efforts and urged them to maintain their focus.

Related Article: Elon Musk Offers To Buy Twitter - Will Jack Dorsey Approve? How Much Is Twitter Worth?
The Butterfly Nebula has been captured in an awe-inspiring image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The nebula is officially known as Westerhout 40 or W40 and it is located around 1,400 light-years away from the sun.

The telescope that took the image is part of NASA's Great Observatories Program, which the Hubble Space Telescope is also a part of.

Butterfly Nebula Image Taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

The Butterfly Nebula, officially known as Westerhout 40 or W40, features in a stunning image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

According to a statement posted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL), "The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken with the telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) during Spitzer's prime mission, in different wavelengths of infrared light: 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0 ?m (shown as blue, green, orange and red)."

"Organic molecules made of carbon and hydrogen, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are excited by interstellar radiation and become luminescent at wavelengths near 8.0 microns, giving the nebula its reddish features," the statement further explains.

Related Article: NASA Spitzer Telescope Captures First Objects Post-Big Bang

Butterfly Nebula or Westerhout 40

The Butterfly Nebula is located around 1,400 light-years away from the sun, according to a report by Space. The report further states that its distance is roughly around the same as the Orion Nebula. However, the Butterfly Nebula is located in the opposite direction.

NASA JPL says that the nebula has two "wings" that are actually "giant bubbles of hot, interstellar gas blowing from the hottest, most massive stars in this region."

These wings are made up of material ejected from the cluster of stars located between the wings seen in the image. The hottest one of these stars, which also happens to be the biggest one, can be found near the center.

Spitzer Space Telescope

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is part of the space agency's Great Observatories Program, which is comprised of four observatories. Aside from the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, and the Hubble Space Telescope are part of the program.

According to NASA, the Spitzer Space Telescope is meant to detect infared radiation. It is made up of two components: the Cryogenic Telescope Assembly and the spacecraft.

The Cryogenic Telescope Assembly contains the telescope that the spacecraft controls, along with three scientific instruments. Aside from controlling the telescope, the spacecraft is also responsible for powering up the instruments as well as communicating with Earth.

The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 and was in service for 16 years, according to the report by Space.

Its Spitzer mission was ended by NASA on January 30, 2020. Its decommissioning was due, in part, to the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is also an infrared observatory.

It is currently on its remaining mission, which has been named the "Spitzer Final Voyage."

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DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine, has permanently removed search results for several widely known pirate sites from its results pages.

Several YouTube services have also been undetected by the search engine, and the homepages of the open-source software youtube-dl and youtube-mp3 have been rendered inaccessible as well.

Delisting Pirate Sites

DuckDuckGo's shutdown of shady content now extends to digital bootleggers, as part of its ongoing fight against illegal content.

As of the moment, when searching for several widely known pirate websites, they were no longer appearing in the results of DuckDuckGo's search engine worldwide. The absence of results does not only apply to pirate sites in their own right.

As Engadget reports, DuckDuckGo will return no results when searching for widely used pirate domains such as: The Pirate Bay, 1337x.to, NYAA.se, Fmovies.to, Lookmovie.io, and 123moviesfree.net. The streaming portals Flixtor and Primewire do not appear to have any results, either.

A few well-known stream-rippers have been completely removed from the search engine results page. 2conv.com, Flvto.bid, and a number of other websites fall into this category.

However, searching for RarBG, another third-party pirate website, yields only one result, as opposed to the previous hundreds of thousands of results on DuckDuckGo.

DuckDuckGo Crackdown

DuckDuckGo, just like any search engine, also experiences copyright issues. This first became apparent when it removed several search shortcuts for 'pirate' sites. These pirate sites are also called "bangs", and have been seen as a potential copyright infringement liability.

DuckDuckBang's Tagawa stated, "We operate globally, as do bangs, and products that actively facilitate interaction with illegal content can have us and our employees face significant legal liability, and jeopardizing the entire service."

Recently, it appears that this plethora of pirate domains have now been completely deindexed from the search engine. Despite using a VPN and switching country locations, the failure to produce results is not limited to a single country. DuckDuckGo appears to have removed all URLs from its index, without any explanation.

According to TorrentFreak, another website that the search engine took down is youtube-dl, which is one of the most surprising for some users. When searching for youtube-dl, the search engine will just return no results at all.

Avid users of youtube-dl wonder the reason behind this since the website does not host or link to any content that is infringing on another's intellectual property rights.

In the same event, the youtube-dl code repository had previously been removed from GitHub after being served with a takedown notice by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After spending more time investigating the situation, Github was eventually able to restore it.

Read Also: Google Turning On Search Tracking History: What Does It Mean for Workspace Users?

DuckDuckGo

The DuckDuckGo search engine is the first choice for online consumers who value their privacy. Instead of storing users' IP addresses or other sensitive information, the site, unlike many competitors, does not store this information on its servers.

DuckDuckGo has emerged as one of the most popular Google-alternative search engines in recent years, surpassing even Yahoo! It was founded in 2008 with the promise of creating more open and transparent surveys, free of the data collection that occurs on other platforms at the same time.

The search engine has benefited from its popularity not only in terms of privacy but also in terms of the results that are presented since the search engine does not use algorithms in search results to disallow sites that are not considered "relevant."

However, even if DuckDuckGo made an effort to have a widespread shutdown of numerous pirate websites, there are still a few sites that are findable.

Related Articles: SysJoker Malware Can Damage Your Windows, Mac PC: Warning Signs, How to Remove If You're Attacked
It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind - Branch Rickey.

In many cases, people consider heritage as it relates to ancestry because it often makes us think of family. Maybe we recall old stories that have been passed down, and somehow, we recognize ourselves in the people in those stories, and things just make better sense. Knowing how or why things are the way they are is important in understanding who we are as people. A tree may sway in the wind as it finds its way to the sunlight, but it cannot leave its roots. So, with people, life may dictate different directions, but our heritage holds us firm and lights the path for those that follow.

Last week, the Conroe Noon Lions Club experienced an overwhelming sense of heritage and legacy as we premiered our new Heritage Film at the Star Cinema Grill. If you were able to attend, you know what I am talking about. If you missed the opportunity, stay tuned, as we are seeking plans for more viewing and availability. Written words cannot compare to the experience of hearing the voices from our past and present members as they simply tell the stories that made us who we are. It is easy to recognize myself in so many of the images and the stories that are shared in the film, and it humbles me to know I am the person I am today because of many great Lions. I hope you will take the opportunity to watch the film and share it with others so they too can understand how we have become the Greatest Lions Club in the World!

Thank you for all the dedicated Lions that came and participated in our Service Saturday Project on Saturday. The group built an assortment of carnival games and photo ops for the children and families at Texas Lions Camp to use this summer. Im always amazed at the amount of work this group gets done and has so much fun doing it.

Its hard to believe that there are only a few short months left in the Lions year! On Wednesday, April 20, we will hold club elections for 2022-23. We hope to see everyone there to support their favorite candidate, and vote for the prestigious Lion and the Rookie of the year honors! This year has been one for the record books in so many ways, and we have great confidence in the slate of leadership we have moving forward!

On Saturday, April 30, approximately thirty members of the Conroe Noon Lions Club, led by Workday Coordinator Andrew Perry, will join forces with other Lions Clubs across the state for a Work Weekend at Texas Lions Camp. The group will complete an exhaustive list of projects including painting, building, repairing, mowing, and cleaning to prepare camp for its first session beginning on June 6. This is the last of three work weekends hosted by the camp and is an amazing testament to the Can Do philosophy that exudes from this amazing place. Thank you to all that give of your time and talent. Our special children will delight in the fruits of your many labors!

Interested in joining a long-standing heritage of service? We would love to have you! The Conroe Noon Lions Club meets every Wednesday at noon at the Lone Star Convention Center. For more information, please visit our website, www.conroenoonlions.org, or call the local club office at 936-760-1666. You may also call 936-760-1666 for additional information on any area Lions Club.
Republicans have been focused on Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo since the day she was elected to lead the nations third-largest county in 2018.

Not the day prior, to be clear. Hidalgos election over incumbent Republican Ed Emmett was widely seen as an upset, even given the blue wave that washed over the county that year. We were all surprised, says attorney and businessman Vidal Martinez, who will face off against attorney and businesswoman Alexandra del Moral Mealer in the May 24 runoff to be the GOPs nominee for county judge. Even the Democrats were surprised.

But since then, certainly. And this year, Republicans see a chance to unseat the 31-year-old Democrat  a prospect that is realistic, given the results of the March primary.

Nine Republican candidates vied for the chance to be their partys nominee for county judge this cycle. Mealer placed first, with nearly 30 percent of the vote; Martinez came in just a few points behind her.

It was a striking success for Mealer, 37, a first-time candidate whose trajectory so far recalls Republican Dan Crenshaws successful bid for Congress on his first try, in 2018. Like him, she entered the arena as an outsider, but quickly began amassing support from local GOP power brokers as well as grassroots voters. Some say they were impressed by their conversations with her as well as her resume  military service, Harvard degree. (Two, in Mealers case: she has a JD and an MBA.)

In conversation, Mealer shows little interest in the silly side of politics.

I dont have a lot of respect for people who dont want to be focused on solving problems, whether you have an R or D by your name, she told me Wednesday.

She explained that although shes always been interested in policy, and her cell phone is full of nerdy podcasts, she felt drawn into this race because of alarming and upsetting developments in the county  her toddler being required to wear a mask in certain settings; businesses in her neighborhood, the Heights, being shut down; and merchants there being robbed at gunpoint.

To be frank, I would have continued in the private sector if this was about raising the tax rate 1 percent or keeping it flat, Mealer said.

Martinez, 67, is also a first-time candidate. But hes been active in civic life for decades, having served as a federal prosecutor, chairman of the State Bar of Texas, and on the board of Houston Methodist, among other things. As he put it to me, this means he has relationships with local leaders  including Democratic county commissioners Adrian Garcia and Rodney Ellis  as well as experience.

One thing about Houston, its a big town. Its a big small town. People that are around and active in the public sector or politics or stuff like that  you get to learn each other, you get to make friends, he told me. I wont have a problem talking to anybody.

Both think that Harris County Commissioners Court has succumbed to a bit of mission creep, since Democrats won a majority nearly four years ago  foraying into areas such as early childhood education that are not historically under the purview of the county.

Until we have roads that we can drive on, were prepared for the next flood, and we have a safe community, I dont think we should be dabbling, Mealer said.

Martinez, similarly, points to public health, public safety, and transportation as the issues that should keep the county judge occupied.

It just seems like we strayed away from that, he said. Were trying to do too much social equity engineering. Were trying to engage in programs that are valuable programs, in many instances, but its not the countys duty to do that.

The runoff has had heated moments. At a debate hosted by the Greater Tomball Area Pachyderm Club, Martinez drew boos from the crowd, as well as a sharp rebuke from Mealer, when he pointed out at that Mealer doesnt speak Spanish and also suggested that her grandfather was a supporter of Fidel Castro  or, at least, that Democrats would make him out to be.

You have to look at electability, Martinez said, brandishing a photo of the dictator inscribed to, as he put it, a communist Castro grandfather that gave her all her inspiration. (He said the photo had been sent to his campaign).

Mealer flatly rejected this characterization of her grandfather, and the rival offering it.

The fact that this is your attack? Thats pathetic, she said.

We can hope that the personal attacks are over.

I respect her and shes a formidable candidate and well continue to  lets stick to facts and focus on what voters care about, Martinez told me.

Thats a good plan, both substantively and politically.

Hidalgos political skills are underrated even by her own supporters. As noted, her 2018 victory was seen as a fluke in many quarters. She had been the only Democrat to run for Harris County judge in the first place, and edged Emmett, a moderate and effective officeholder whod held the post since 2007, by a whisker.

Some Democrats evidently saw Hidalgo as vulnerable, heading into this cycle. Five of them ran against her in the primary. But Hidalgo completely smoked them, winning the nomination outright with more than 70 percent of the vote. Last month, Hidalgo was listed as a special guest at a live virtual conversation with Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Among Democratic base voters, clearly, Hidalgos support is robust.

But will that be enough? Theres no question that Hidalgo faced extraordinary challenges during her first term, and earned the confidence of many voters by doing so. Others, however, were left exasperated by, for example, the restrictions she pursued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her office is also embroiled in some controversy, with two of her staffers and a former aide indicted in recent days on charges arising from their alleged communications with a bidder on a vaccine outreach contract before it was awarded. Hidalgo, who later canceled the contract, is standing by her current and former aides.

Beyond that, its expected to be a tough cycle for Democrats nationwide, as the discontents of the day are largely being laid at the foot of President Joe Biden. And Harris County is, at least in midterm elections, more purplish-blue than ultramarine.

There are 2.2 million voters in Houston. Theyre surrounded by 2.5 million in the conservative donut, if you will, around the city, Martinez said. Thats what produced 44 years of Republican county judges.

Also salient, though, is that those county judges  including Emmett  were focused on Harris County, even as our political discourse became increasingly nationalized.

Interestingly, both Mealer and Martinez seem inclined to take a similar approach. Former President Donald Trump did not come up once in my interviews with both. Nor did any of the culture-war issues that have subsumed the attention of state GOP leaders of late. Both candidates were most animated in response to questions about actual local issues  crime, flood mitigation, roads  and both described these as areas in which a bipartisan consensus already exists, or can be built.

At the federal level, everything is fractured and divisive, Mealer said. I think on local issues theres a lot more commonality.

Thats true, and for Harris County Republicans to field a candidate who takes this view of things would be healthy in itself.

The culture wars may continue to rage in the statewide races. But here in Harris County, at least, we can hope for a substantive contest in the county judge race, with debates focused on governance and policy.

erica.grieder@chron.com
A suspect evading police now faces a murder charge after sparking a chain-reaction crash involving multiple vehicles Friday evening in northwest Houston that left one person dead, according to Houston police.

Damian West, 21, was charged with murder and aggravated assault Saturday morning for his role in Friday's crash which began as a high-speed pursuit, according to HPD.

Officers were investigating a report of reckless driving around 6:08 p.m. in the 2900 block of Gessner and tried to initiate a traffic stop, Houston police assistant chief Ban Tien said in a media briefing.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Man shot in the head, found dead near north Harris County apartment, authorities say

The crash happened when West, reportedly driving northbound on Hempstead, sped through a red light at the Hempstead intersection, according to Tien. His Charger hit another vehicle, resulting in a chain reaction in which three other vehicles were struck, authorities said.



A person in one of those vehicles died, and their female passenger was taken to Ben Taub Hospital in critical condition, Tien said. Other drivers involved in the crash had minor injuries, according to Tien.



Tien said West was taken to the hospital and was under observation for possible injuries. Sean Teare, Harris County District Attorneys Office vehicular crimes division chief, said West was in custody and is expected to be discharged Friday night and then brought to the Joint Processing Center to be booked.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Woman killed after car crashes into ditch in south Houston

Teare said the office has accepted charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and unlawful carrying of a weapon at this time.



According to Tien, preliminary findings indicate the suspect was driving at such a high rate of speed that the officers pursuing him were left behind. Police units werent involved in the crash, Tien said.



Teare said there were two pursuits involving reckless drivers in the area.



When the officers came to make it dispersed, there were two pursuits. This one ended horrifically  the other pursuit, I understand, also ended in a crash where no one was hurt, Teare said. It just highlights how lawless these groups are.

West is due back in court on Monday, court records show. He was currently out on a $100 bond for a February 2021 misdemeanor unlawful carry of a weapon charge.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A man crashed and died after leading Conroe police on a pursuit Friday night, according to authorities.

Officers attempted to stop the white Buick sedan for an expired vehicle registration around 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of North Frazier and Hickerson when the man fled, Conroe police said.

After traveling north towards the Conroe-Willis border, the man ran a red light at FM 830 where officers had to slow for traffic, police added. Officers found the Buick less than a mile north crashed into the Southern Tire Mart sign.

More on HoustonChronicle.com: One dead, others injured following chain-reaction crash in northwest Houston involving evading suspect, authorities say

Security footage from the business showed the sedan attempting to go around another vehicle when it lost control and hit the 3-foot-wide sign post, according to police.

The driver died at the scene around 6:46 p.m., while Conroe Fire and North Montgomery Fire spent almost 20 minutes trying to extract the body, authorities stated.

The identity of the man is pending an autopsy from the Montgomery County Forensic Center, authorities added.

Another person died Friday night after a chase with Houston police. That suspect faces a murder charge after sparking a chain-reaction crash that killed a bystander in northwest Houston.

Joel.Umanzor@chron.com
A 27-year-old man dumped near a north Harris County apartment complex had a gunshot wound to the head and has died, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office.

A witness saw him around 8:30 a.m. getting pulled out of a vehicle, believed to be a dark-colored Dodge Challenger, the sheriffs office said. The man was left near the Cambria Cove Apartments at 16350 Ella Blvd., before the vehicle sped off, according to authorities.
A woman was fatally struck Saturday by a car in southeast Houston, according to Houston police.

Officers responded to reports of the crash around 11:52 a.m. at the 8500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the South Park neighborhood where the woman, 19, died at the scene, HPD said.

Witnesses told investigators the victim and a 16-year-old girl were leaving a nail salon and attempting to cross the street when a four-door black sedan traveling northbound struck the woman before hitting a light pole and METRO bus stop, police added.

More on HoustonChronicle.com: Harris Health System discharges only COVID patient, leaving none for the first time in two years

"The vehicle did catch on fire and in that vehicle there was a 20-year-old female and a 2-year-old baby," HPD Lt. Carlos Miller said, adding the driver of the sedan was transferred to Ben Taub Hospital and the child was taken to Texas Children with both undergoing medical evaluations.

"They are both doing OK with superficial injuries at this time," Miller said.

It is unclear if speed, intoxication or impairment were factors in the incident, Miller added. Investigators are canvassing the area for video surveillance to determine what led up to the crash.

Both the HPD vehicular crimes division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office were at the scene assisting in the investigation, authorities said.

No other information is available at this time.

This scene is breaking and updates may be added.

Joel.Umanzor@chron.com
Believe it or not, the beloved saber-toothed squirrel named Scrat, who spent many an "Ice Age" film chasing after acorns, finally got his hands on one.

The long-awaited moment is the focus of the last video from Blue Sky Studios, the animation studio behind the "Ice Age" films. The studio's operations ended on April 10 after Disney, who owned the studio after its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, decided to shut it down.

Scrat From 'Ice Age' Finally Gets His Acorn

Scrat, the saber-toothed squirrel who is best known for chasing after acorns across different "Ice Age" films finally got his hands on one. The much awaited moment features in the last short from the franchise's animation studio, Blue Sky Animation.

According to a report by Screen Rant, the animated short was uploaded as an unlisted video on YouTube. Bearing the title "The End," it description is as follows: "In the final days of Blue Sky Studios, a small team of artists came together to do one final shot. This shot is a farewell, a send-off on our own terms."

Anyone who has ever watched the "Ice Age" films knows that Scrat has been a running gag of sorts as the animal has been seeing chasing after his beloved acorns across the different films. Screen Rant's report has pointed out that the acorn chase has already lasted 22 years.

The final short from Blue Sky Studios shows Scrat as he finally gets his hands on an acorn. "Scrat finds his nut, clutches it to his chest, and hoists it above his head--preparing for someone or something to take it away, as he's been conditioned to expect," GameSpot describes in its report.

Scrat finally gets to eat an acorn and, once he is finished, he moves on. This part is seen by many as a metaphor as Blue Sky Studio has bid its farewell to its audience.

You can watch Scrat's triumphant moment below:

Disney Shuts Down Blue Sky Studios

The animated short featuring Scrat and his acorn is the final video of Blue Sky Studios, which has been shut down by Disney.

It can be recalled that Blue Sky Studios was first acquired by 20th Century Fox, which was then acquired by Disney in 2019. Disney announced in February 2021 that it has decided to simply shut down Blue Sky Studios, citing economic reasons.

According to GameSpot's report, Blue Sky Studios has released a total of 13 films, including the "Ice Age" series. Aside from the series, the animation studio also produced "Rio" and "Spies in Disguise." Blue Sky's IP will remain with Disney.

Read Also: Netflix vs. Disney Plus vs. HBO Max: Pros, Cons, Prices and Best Shows to Watch

'Ice Age: Scrat Tales'

If you are on Disney+, you can enjoy more of Scrats adventures thanks to "Ice Age: Scrat Tales." According to Screen Rant, the six shorts that are part of the series is produced by the Blue Sky team behind "Ice Age." Chris Wedge, who is the co-founder of Blue Sky as well as the voice actor behind Scrat since 2002, voices the squirrel once more.

It should also be noted that an "Ice Age" TV series for Disney+ will still go on as planned despite the closure of the studio.

Related Article: Disney Plus Movies, TV Series January 2022: 'Eternals,' 'X-Men' and 6 Other Shows You Must Watch Out For
David H. Westmoreland still isnt sure if what he remembers of April 16, 1947, are actual memories or a part of an ingrained story he has recited since he was 7.

He thinks he remembers purple and orange smoke billowing from Galveston Bay near his house off of 11th Street in Texas City. Hes sure he went to his neighbors house, where friends his age were getting dressed to look at the multi-color flames and smoke erupting the S.S. Grandcamp. He remembers sitting on their sofa when suddenly the windows blew in over him, embedding shards of glass in his scalp and spilling blood over his face.

He remembers learning his father, volunteer firefighter Marion D. Westmoreland, died instantly aboard the S.S. Grandcamp when it exploded.

This is something youll just always remember. I lost my father, my wife lost her father, Westmoreland said. I wouldnt be surprised if everybody in town lost a relative or a good friend.

Saturday marked the 75th anniversary of what has come to be known as the Texas City Disaster, the deadliest industrial accident in United States history. All told, 581 people died and thousands more were injured after a ship  the S.S. Grandcamp  caught fire and its load of fertilizer with ammonia nitrate and other chemicals exploded, causing a cascade of explosions up and down the coast of Texas City, igniting refineries and leveling entire city blocks.

Dozens gathered at Memorial Park in Texas City to remember those lost and reflect on how the city was able to rebuild from such devastation. Mayor Dedrick Johnson said to outsiders, it may have looked like a city with such promise had been utterly destroyed.

But it did not destroy us. That is the message I want to leave you with today  a message of rebirth, he said. The community came together to rebuild one building and one block at a time. We witnessed our communitys refusal to die.

Johnson walked the crowd through the events of that morning, although most in the crowd did not need the history lesson.

In the days before the explosion, workers had loaded around 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer into several of the ships holds. As eight crew members began loading the last of the fertilizer bags the morning of April 16, they smelled smoke. After they were unable to put out the small fire with water, they closed the holds in hopes steam would douse the flames.

Instead, experts now believe the steam vapors may have liquefied the ammonium nitrate to produce nitrous oxide, and may have produced more oxygen that continued to feed the flames. The heat of the ships cargo soon reached 850 degrees, the temperature at which ammonium nitrate will explode.

Plumes of brightly colored smoke, flashing green, purple, orange and yellow, rose from the ships hull, drawing hundreds of onlookers. Workers in nearby industrial plants rushed to make sure their contents were safe if the fire spread.

Donna Spurlock Falco was three months old when her uncle, Joseph Clarence Luhning Jr., had called her mother to ask her to bring a camera to the dock. He worked for Monsanto and was asked to take photos of the unfolding blaze. Falcos mother handed him the camera and walked toward her car, where her father had just stepped out of the drivers seat.

At that moment, the ammonium nitrate exploded - blowing up the S.S. Grandcamp, setting off explosions and setting fires to nearby ships and industrial facilities. The anchor of the Grandcamp was found a mile and a half inland. The rafters in Westmoorelands home, nearly two miles from the ship, cracked from the shockwave. Burning twine fell, lighting damaged houses of fire.

Falcos mother woke up and saw cars had been tossed around the parking lot like sticks blown over by a gust of wind. Her grandfather had collapsed lungs and hearing damage, and the car he had just left had a hunk of steel pierced through the center. Family members couldnt find her uncle, Luhning, until days later, when another uncle recognized his double-jointed hands among the rows of bodies lined up in the Texas City High School gymnasium.

On Saturday, Falco laid two purple Mexican Petunias under his name, etched into the side of a brick wall at Memorial Park. She said her family was reluctant to talk about what they had lived through.

Even when they told me, I was the one crying, she said, quietly. I just think of what they went through and how awful it all was.

Not all were fortunate to find remains of their loved ones. Maria Carmonas older brother, Roger, died before she was born. He worked on one of the ships that exploded, but relatives never found his body. She had moved away, but learned after moving back the two earthen berms in Memorial Park contained the remains of those who could not be identified. At last, she said, she found a place she knows where he is.

I was so happy that I had found part of the history where my brother had died, she said. He was never found, but I can come here. Its like I can visit him.

Mark Mulligan contributed to this story.

shelby.webb@chron.com
The Easter Bunny is a much celebrated character in American Easter celebrations. On Easter Sunday, children look for hidden special treats, often chocolate Easter eggs, that the Easter Bunny might have left behind.

As a folklorist, Im aware of the origins of the long and interesting journey this mythical figure has taken from European prehistory to today.

Religious role of the hare

Easter is a celebration of spring and new life. Eggs and flowers are rather obvious symbols of female fertility, but in European traditions, the bunny, with its amazing reproduction potential, is not far behind.

In European traditions, the Easter Bunny is known as the Easter Hare. The symbolism of the hare has had many tantalizing ritual and religious roles down through the years.

Hares were given ritual burials alongside humans during the Neolithic age in Europe. Archaeologists have interpreted this as a religious ritual, with hares representing rebirth.

Over a thousand years later, during the Iron Age, ritual burials for hares were common, and in 51 B.C., Julius Caesar mentions that in Britain, hares were not eaten, due to their religious significance.

Caesar would likely have known that in the Classical Greek tradition, hares were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Meanwhile, Aphrodites son Eros was often depicted carrying a hare, as a symbol of unquenchable desire.

From the Greek world through the Renaissance, hares often appear as symbols of sexuality in literature and art. For example, the Virgin Mary is often shown with a white hare or rabbit, symbolizing that she overcame sexual temptation.

Hare meat and witches mischief

But it is in the folk traditions of England and Germany that the figure of the hare is specifically connected to Easter. Accounts from the 1600s in Germany describe children hunting for Easter eggs hidden by the Easter Hare, much as in the contemporary United States.

Written accounts from England around the same time also mention the Easter Hare, particularly in terms of traditional Easter hare hunts, and the eating of hare meat at Easter.

One tradition, known as the Hare Pie Scramble, was held at Hallaton, a village in Leicestershire, England, which involved eating a pie made with hare meat and people scrambling for a slice. In 1790, the local parson tried to stop the custom due to its pagan associations, but he was unsuccessful, and the custom continues in that village until this day.

The eating of the hare may have been associated with various longstanding folk traditions of scaring away witches at Easter. Throughout Northern Europe, folk traditions record a strong belief that witches would often take the form of the hare, usually for causing mischief such as stealing milk from neighbors cows. Witches in medieval Europe were often believed to be able to suck out the life energy of others, making them ill and causing them to suffer.

Pagan origins

In 1835, the folklorist Jacob Grimm, one of the famous team of the fairy tale Brothers Grimm, argued that the Easter Hare was connected with a goddess, whom he imagined would have been called Ostara in ancient German. He derived this name from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, that Bede, an Anglo-Saxon monk considered to be the father of English history, mentioned in 731.

Bede noted that in eighth-century England the month of April was called Eosturmonath, or Eostre Month, named after the goddess Eostre. He wrote that a pagan festival of spring in the name of the goddess had become assimilated into the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

Its interesting that while most European languages refer to the Christian holiday with names that come from the Jewish holiday of Passover, such as Paques in French, or Pask in Swedish, German and English languages retain this older, non-biblical word, Easter.

Recent archaeological research appears to confirm the worship of Eostre in parts of England and in Germany, with the hare as her main symbol. The Easter Bunny therefore seems to recall these pre-Christian celebrations of spring, heralded by the vernal equinox and personified by the Goddess Eostre.

After a long, cold, northern winter, it seems natural enough for people to celebrate themes of resurrection and rebirth. The flowers are blooming, birds are laying eggs and baby bunnies are hopping about.

As new life emerges in spring, the Easter Bunny hops back once again, providing a longstanding cultural symbol to remind us of the cycles and stages of our own lives.

Tok Thompson is a professor of anthropology and communication at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The piece originally appeared in The Conversation.
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April Vacation Events at the Berkshire Museum

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  April break activities kick off at the Berkshire Museum with a full week of indoor playtime plus special performances, screenings, and discussions from Saturday, April 16 through Saturday, April 23.

"The Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Experience" (Monday, April 18) features "Captain Nemo's Adventure Academy" which is created and performed by touring actor David Engel as an homage to the famed captain from Jules Verne's novel. Performances are 11 AM and 1 PM.

Berkshire Museum has been proud to present Voyage to the Deep (in partnership with General Dynamics). Visitors can explore the Nautilus submarine and engage in the interactive exhibit before it "sets sail for the deep blue" May 1.

"David Engel has crafted this performance especially for Berkshire Museum visitors. Seeing this family-friendly show, visiting our Aquarium, and playing in the interactive Voyage to the Deep exhibition will make for a fun-filled, ocean-themed day," Experience Manager Emily Rome said.

Additional April Break events:

Shakespeare Art Talk Saturday

April 23 from 11 AM to 12 PM  In celebration of William Shakespeare's birthday, and led by the Museum's Experience Manager Emily Rome, who holds a master's degree in Shakespeare Studies from the University of Birmingham. Held in the newly renovated second-floor gallery space, "Shakespeare Art Talk" will explore the Shakespeare-connected objects in the Museum' collection, as well as famous paintings inspired by the Bard's plays, by artists including John Everett Millais and John William Waterhouse.

Documentary Screening: "Chasing Coral"

Saturday, April 23, from 2 PM to 4 PM  Chasing Coral a documentary filmed in more than 30 countries, engaging diverse specialists to capture visual proof of what is now acknowledged as the largest global coral bleaching event in history. Environmental science professor Dr. Elena Traister and biology professor Dr. Anne Goodwin, both faculty members of MCLA, will follow the screening with a discussion of our environmental impact on the world's coral reefs.




iciHaiti - Cap-Haitien: 109 Boat-people repatriated by the US Coast Guard





On Friday, April 15, 2022, the US Coast Guard cutter Decisive (WMEC-629) repatriated 109 Haitian migrants (83 men and 26 women, including two minors) to Cap-Haitien, intercepted aboard a 50-meter overloaded sailboat and dangerous about 35 miles east of Punta Maisi, Cuba on April 13th.



"Sailing is always risky," said Coast Guard District 7 Public Affairs Officer Lt. Commander Jason Neiman "There are risks in trying to make the trip to the United States in these overloaded boats in dangerous waters [...]



Maritime migration is always dangerous and often deadly. Smugglers have no respect for the lives of migrants and continue to take advantage of vulnerable people by spreading false information about US laws. The termination of the CDC's Title 42 Public Health Order on May 23 does not impact the Coast Guard's ability to rescue and intercept those attempting these dangerous journeys."



The U.S. Coast Guard reminds "All persons intercepted at sea who attempt to enter the United States without proper documentation are and will continue to be subject to repatriation to their country of origin."



Photo thumbnail : Courtesy US Coast Guard District 7.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36395-haiti-usa-88-haitian-boat-people-repatriated-by-the-us-coast-guard.html



IH/ S/ iciHaiti


















Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are seen in this combination of photos inside a courtroom during Depp's libel suit against Heard at the Fairfax County Circuit Court, Va., April 12. AP-Yonhap





A former personal assistant to Amber Heard said she never saw the actress suffer any physical abuse at the hands of then-husband Johnny Depp  but she said Heard once spit in her face when she asked for a higher salary.







Heard descended into screaming fits of blind rage, sent incoherent text messages at 4 a.m. and was often drunk and high on illegal drugs, Kate James testified in a video deposition that was played in court Thursday during the trial for Depp's libel suit against Heard.







Depp, on the other hand, was very calm, almost shy, ''like a total Southern gentleman,'' James said.







The ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' actor has accused Heard of indirectly defaming him in a 2018 opinion piece that she wrote for The Washington Post. Heard refers to herself in the article as a ''public figure representing domestic abuse.'' The piece doesn't name Depp. But his attorneys argue that it clearly references a restraining order that Heard sought in May 2016, right after Depp told her he wanted a divorce.







Depp denies abusing Heard, but Heard's lawyers say evidence will prove that he did. The actor's denials, they argue, lack credibility because he frequently drank and used drugs to the point of blacking out and failing to remember anything he did.







The video testimony from James offered an inverse view: Depp was the peaceful one, she said, while Heard was frequently intoxicated and verbally abusive, including to her own mother and sister.







''Her poor sister was treated like a dog that you kicked, basically,'' James said.







James, who worked for Heard from 2012 to 2015, said she was paid ''very poorly.'' She said she was hired with an initial salary of $25 an hour and that her duties ranged from picking up Heard's dry cleaning to talking with the actress's Hollywood agents.







James said she also was tasked with picking up two copies of any magazine that featured Heard and storing them in the garage to prevent Depp from seeing them. Heard went into a ''blind rage'' when James failed to place the magazines in the garage, James said.







Regarding Heard and Depp's time together, James said Heard was a ''very dramatic person'' who was deeply insecure in the relationship. Heard often called James to cry and complain about Depp, she said.







''I remember one time she called me when she was alone in New York City, and she was crying and walking around the streets,'' James said. She said she told Heard to go inside: ''I was worried that the paparazzi might take a photo of her.''







Some of the deposition focused on a text message that Depp had sent to James after he and Heard split up. Depp's text read: ''Come over for a spot of purple and we'll fix her flabby ass nice and good.''







A lawyer asked if ''spot of purple'' meant wine and whether ''her'' meant Heard. James said she didn't want to speculate.







''This is the way he writes,'' James said of Depp. ''It's very random and you don't sort of question it. ... He writes in a very abstract way.''







Lawyers also presented a video deposition of Laurel Anderson, a couple's therapist who worked with Heard and Depp in 2015, when they were ages 29 and 52, respectively.







Anderson said both suffered childhood abuse. As a couple, they were engaged in ''mutual abuse,'' she testified.







Heard's father beat her, Anderson said, adding, ''It was a point of pride to her if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight.''







Heard would also rather be in a fight with Depp than see him leave, and ''would strike him to keep him there,'' Anderson said.







The therapist recalled a time when Heard told her that Depp ''was 'stepping up,' as she would say, on a lot of drugs.''







''And she slapped him because he was being incoherent and talking about being with another woman,'' Anderson said. She noted that Depp's mother was in the hospital at the time.







Anderson said Depp told her that Heard ''gave as good as she got.'' She also said that in at least one session in which she saw Heard alone, the actress told her that Depp hit her. She said Heard showed her bruises, both in photos and in person.







Anderson said Heard also told her that Depp at one point allegedly said, ''No one likes you. You're getting fame from me. I'm falling out of love with you. You're a whore.''







Anderson also said that Heard's ''jackhammer style of talking'' and habit of cutting off Depp overwhelmed him.







Heard ''wanted to want to divorce'' but also didn't, and was still figuring out what to do, Anderson said. ''She loved him. He loved her. She wasn't stupid. She knew that what they were doing wasn't healthy.''







Both Depp and Heard are expected to testify at the trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court, scheduled for six weeks, along with actors Paul Bettany and James Franco and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. (AP)


People wearing face masks walk along the Cheonggye Stream in Seoul, April 15. AP-Yonhap





South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 110,000, Friday, as the country is set to gradually return to normalcy starting next week with the lifting of major social distancing rules.







The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 107,916 infections, including 30 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 16,212,751.







The latest tally is a drop from the previous day's 125,846, marking a steady decline in the virus curve from the March 17 peak of more than 620,000 when the Omicron wave gripped the country.







The death toll rose to 20,889, up 273 from Thursday; while the number of critically ill patients fell by 86 to 913.







Starting Monday, South Korea plans to lift all COVID-19 social distancing rules, except the mask mandate, in the first big step toward post-pandemic days since the outbreak of the virus two years ago.







Under the plan, the midnight business hour curfew for restaurants, cafes and other small businesses will be completely lifted. The same will apply to the 10-person cap on the size of private gatherings.







South Korea first introduced social distancing measures in March 2020. At one point, the restrictions were tightened to only allow two people to meet at night and only allow takeout at cafes.







The virus will also be downgraded to Class 2 from Class 1, which means that the authorities will no longer order patients to quarantine. The new rule will be implemented after a four-week transition period.







Health officials, nevertheless, predict that the new daily case numbers could hover between the range of 50,000-100,000 for quite some time.







So far, 44.5 million, or 86.8 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated with at least two shots. (Yonhap)






By Lee Hae-rin







A Korean travel YouTuber was caught by Ukrainian border guards earlier this month after crossing the border of the country in an attempt to film the border area without permission, according to Korea's foreign ministry.







The foreign ministry raised the travel alert for Ukraine on Feb. 13 to "Level 4: Do Not Travel," the highest level in its four-tier system. According to the Passport Act, those violating the regulation could be subject to one year in prison or fined up to 10 billion won ($8,136), as well as having their passports confiscated or invalidated.







According to the ministry, the YouTuber claimed to have accidentally entered Ukrainian territory, April 8, while filming on the border between Ukraine and Romania.







"Someone was waving at me and I went over to film the person. It was the Ukrainian border guard," the YouTuber reportedly said. The YouTuber was then sent back to Romania with the help of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.







Most of the border between Romania and Ukraine is in a field without clearly defined boundaries such as an iron fence or border wall, while a Ukrainian town is within walking distance.







The foreign ministry said it determined the border crossing was unintentional and decided not to take any legal action against the YouTuber.


Police in Agra, Uttar Pradesh have arrested eight men for setting on fire two houses reportedly belonging to a Muslim man.

All the arrested men are said to be members of one Dharam Jagran Samanvay Sangh.

According to the police, a mob had set fire to the two houses in Agra's Runakta locality on Friday after a Muslim man who owned them eloped with a girl from another religion.

Screengrab

In UP's Agra, an interfaith adult couple eloped. On April 15, a mob of right wing miscreants, following a panchayat, set the house of the youth on fire. Police claims an FIR have been registered in the case. pic.twitter.com/qgbaJ0bhOS  Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) April 16, 2022

Here is what happened

Sajid, a gym owner, had reportedly eloped with a woman, who is said to be 22 years old.

There are also some reports suggesting that she was a class 11 student.

She went missing on Monday and was traced two days later by police, but Sajid's whereabouts were not known.

Based on a complaint by the girl's family, a case was also registered under section 366 of the Indian Penal Code.

Twitter

The girl's family demanded action against the man alleging that he abducted the girl.

However, in a video posted on social media, the woman said she is an adult and had gone willingly with the man. She also accused her family of threatening them. The girl said that the couple had already married.

The couple had posted a video message after eloping. The girl can be heard saying that they have tied knots and their respective families should not be harassed. pic.twitter.com/DeKK9oIJ5z  Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) April 16, 2022

Both are adults, Agra's Senior Superintendent of Police Sudheer Kumar Singh said.

Police version of the events

"The stir occurred after he eloped with a girl from another religion on Monday morning. They were in an interfaith relationship. Angry over this, a mob vandalized his house and set it on fire," said the SSP.

"A team of officials reached the incident spot immediately and brought the matter under control. Police arrested eight persons in the matter. For further investigation, six teams have been formed to search for other accused," he said.

According to Agra SSP Sudhir Kumar, the girl has been "rescued". Strict action under Gangster and National security act will be taken against the accused in the case. pic.twitter.com/9zl7FO5NEa  Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) April 16, 2022

UP's love jihad law

In 2020 Uttar Pradesh had become the first state in India to pass a 'Love jihad' law.

The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, popularly known as 'Love Jihad' law provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000 under different categories.

AFP

According to the law a marriage will be declared "null and void" if the conversion of a woman is solely for that purpose and those wishing to change their religion after marriage needs to apply to the district magistrate.

It also has a provision under which if someone returns to their original religion, it shall not be deemed a conversion.

While the onus to prove that the conversion has not been done forcibly will lie on the person accused of the act and the convert.

The legislation in Uttar Pradesh then went on to become the template for similar laws in other BJP-ruled states.

For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Goa Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane has ruled out the possibility of setting up a tiger reserve in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, stating that the big cats are non-residents.

According to estimates, there are 3-6 tigers in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in North Goa, but according to Rane, they are non-residents.

"I have been hearing about tiger for the last few days. The tiger enters Goa through a corridor before exiting (the state). There are no resident tigers in Goa. So there is no need to set up a tiger reserve in Goa and as long as I am the minister, there is no question of a tiger reserve," Rane said.

BCCL/ Representational Image

The coastal state is home to five wildlife sanctuaries and a national park and is a known corridor for big cat movement between Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Long-standing demand

Environmentalists have been demanding to declare the entire area around Mahadayi wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve.

This is not the first time the Goa government has said no to the idea of a tiger reserve in the state.

While the government has argued that the big cats seen in Mhadei are just passing through there, environmentalists allege that mining interests are behind the reluctance.

BCCL/ Representational Image

If Mhadei is declared a tiger reserve, the mineral-rich region will become off-limits to the mining industry.

Minister's opposition well documented

This is not the first time Minister Rane has made his opposition to the idea of a tiger reserve in Mhadei, which falls in his constituency, public.

In February 2020, Rane who was then the Health Minister of Goa opposed the demand by environmental activists and suggested that there should be a tiger corridor to facilitate the movement of the big cats from Karnataka.

"A tiger reserve will impact our development. The laws governing tiger reserves are very strict. The development will get stalled. No one has the right to declare a tiger reserve. It is the peoples land. A tiger corridor is necessary, he had said in February 2020.

BCCL

Tiger deaths in Goa

In 2020, Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary had made headlines after four tigers -- an adult and three cubs were found dead there in four days, in what was later revealed as an act of poisoning.

Some people who were living near the sanctuary had deliberately poisoned the tiger family after the big cats killed some cattle.

Punish the tigers

It was not just Rane, who then took a position against tigers.

BCCL/ representational image

Churchill Alemao, who was then a MLA from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had suggested that tigers should be "punished" for eating cows as humans are punished for the same.

"What is the punishment for a tiger when he eats a cow? When a human being eats cow, he is punished," Churchill Alemao said. As far as wildlife is concerned, tigers are important but as far as human beings are concerned, cows are important, Alemao had said.

For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


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





Sometimes it is difficult for North Korean women to tell their stories because people may judge the situation without understanding how desperate some North Koreans are in China.



Today, I would like to talk about three things.



One, many North Korean defector women are exploited in China.



Two, some of the Chinese people exploiting North Korean women try to control them even after they leave China.



Three, the situations North Koreans face in China are complicated and many people in other parts of the world may not be able to understand them.



A detective from the National Intelligence Service, or NIS, told me this story about a woman I will call "Young-hee." The NIS interrogates North Korean defectors when they first arrive in the country, so they hear many stories when North Koreans first arrive. And they also hear many problems that North Korean defectors later face.



Young-hee defected from North Korea when she was young and lived in China for several years. She was trafficked and sold to a Chinese man. She lived with him for two or three years. She finally escaped from him and went to Shenyang.



But when Young-hee arrived in Shenyang, she had no money, no place to sleep, she couldn't find work, and she was worried about being caught and sent back to North Korea. Desperate, starving, poor, she found a sex bar owned by a Chinese woman.



Young-hee told the owner about her situation. The bar owner hired her to work there. She didn't know what else to do. The owner gave her only 20 percent of the money she made. After three years, Young-hee wanted to get out, but she knew it would not be easy. Her situation changed because the 2008 Olympics were going to be held in Beijing. The Chinese government cracked down on crimes. The bar owner was making a lot of money because of Young-hee, so she wanted to keep her and continue her business.



To protect her from being returned to North Korea, the owner offered to send Young-hee to South Korea for one year. But she would have to return to China. Young-hee accepted the offer.



Young-hee came to South Korea and became a South Korean citizen. She stayed in touch with the bar owner almost every day for one year. Finally, it was time for her to return to China.



The bar owner sent her a flight ticket. But Young-hee did not want to leave.



She started to settle down in South Korea and she could finally see a hopeful future for herself.



Young-hee decided not to return to the bar in China.



She moved to a new house and changed her phone number. She was hoping that, as a South Korean citizen, she would be able to escape from the place. But about a month later, someone sent text messages, photos and videos to her new phone.



The photos were of her naked body and the videos showed her having sex with customers at the bar in China.



The text messages warned her: "If you don't return to China, I will post your photos and videos on the internet. People around world will see you. I will destroy you if you don't return to China."



Young-hee knew that she could not solve this problem by herself. She asked the NIS to help her.



Young-hee has now settled down safely in South Korea.



There are many Chinese people like that sex bar owner who see North Korean defector women as nothing but money. When they become useless, they throw them away without any consideration.



I hope my small voice will help them find their freedom as soon as possible.



I hope people will listen to Young-hee's story without judging her.









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.


The Calcutta High Court has upheld the conviction of a POCSO accused stating that it was immaterial whether the breasts of a 13-year-old girl are developed or not for the commission of the offence of sexual assault as long as it is proved that the accused had touched the specific part of the body of the girl with sexual intent.

According to Livelaw, the court recently upheld the trial court's conviction of Rohit Pal who was accused under Section 8 of the POCSO Act and Section 448 of the IPC.

BCCL

The case

The case dates back to 2017. The accused had gone to the house of the minor victim in the absence of her mother.

The minor girl was playing in the house and the accused caught hold of her hand and dragged her inside the house, pushed her and touched her breast and other parts of her body. He also kissed her on her face and thereby outraged her modesty. He fled the scene after the minor girl cried for help.

The accused was arrested based on the complaint filed by the girl's mother.

Shutterstock

The accused who challenged the guilty verdict awarded by a trial court argued in the HC that since the breasts of the 13-year-old girl were not developed, the question of touching breasts by him did not arise at all.

What Calcutta HC said

Justice Bibek Chaudhuri of the Calcutta HC, however, rejected the argument and said that "It is absolutely immaterial whether breasts of a 13 years old girl were developed or not. The specific part of the body of a girl of 13 years of age shall be held and term as breast for the purpose of Section 7 of the POCSO Act even if her breasts are not developed due to certain medical grounds."

The Court further highlighted that the sexual intent of a person can be gathered from the specific contact of the accused and the surrounding circumstances and that there cannot be any direct evidence of sexual intent.

BCCL

"The accused touched different parts of her body and also kissed her. Why should a grown-up man who is not related with the victim girl kiss her entering into her house when his guardians were not present in the house. The sexual intent of a person can be gathered from the specific contact of the accused and the surrounding circumstances," the court asked.

Bombay HC's controversial order

In January last year there was massive outrage after a female judge of the Bombay High Court ruled that groping a minor's breast without "skin to skin contact" cannot be termed as sexual assault.

BCCL`

The Bombay HC had said that since the man groped the child without removing her clothes the offence cannot be termed as sexual assault but it does constitute the offence of outraging a woman's modesty under IPC section 354.

However, after the verdict sent shockwaves across the country, the Supreme Court in November quashed the order of the HC.

For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
(Trigger warning: This story has details of mental, physical, and sexual assault, which could be triggering for some readers.)

"Log alag ko galat samajhte hain...Badlaav aayega..but 100 saal aur lagenge" (People think different means wrong. A change will come, but it'll take decades.", says Dhananjay Chauhan, a transgender rights activist from Chandigarh.

After years of humiliation and facing abuse by her own family and society, Dhananjay, a trans woman, found her new set of parents who love and accept her for who she is.

Nonagenarians living in sector 30 of Chandigarh opened their doors of heart and home to adopt Dhananjay and her partner Rudra.

(Indiatimes)

Contrary to stereotypical notions around adoptions in India, the Chahal family, who lives in Chandigarh has set an exceptional example of compassion and humanity.

Shamsher, 93, and her husband, advocate Darbara Singh Chahal, 95, welcomed their third daughter Dhananjay and her partner Rudra Pratap Singh, a trans man.

Indiatimes

Mr. and Mrs. Chahal have two daughters  Kathak expert Samira Kosar and America-based gynecologist Dr. Mamta Chahal, who motivated them to adopt.

Instagram/Indiatimes

Talking to Indiatimes, Dhananjay could not stop raving about her 'Mummy Papa.'

"Rudra and I couldn't have been more grateful. It doesn't feel like we have been adopted. We are very close. There is a lot of mutual love between all of us. They care for us, and we are so lucky we have found our parents. Once, it was way past midnight, and they waited for us to return home. We are so attached to them now. We have our food together and spend all our happy and sad moments together. I have connected with their daughters, and their kids call me 'Maasi.' "



Dhananjay shared and spoke about her life and decades of struggle to get accepted into society.

Instagram

Talking about the reality of how her community still struggles to get accepted, Dhananjay said, "In 2014, in a massive victory for India's roughly half a million trans individuals, the Supreme Court recognized transgender as a third, separate identity. It was ruled that Indians had the right to choose their gender. But did it make things better? Sadly, things are yet to improve."



Dhananjay is a transgender rights activist and the first transgender student of Punjab University. She now encourages education among the LGBTQ community. She adds,

Instagram

"Log alag ko galat samajhte hain...Badlaav aayega..but 100 saal aur lagenge.Even after the 2014 judgment when we were declared the third gender- we were supposed to get equal rights-equal opportunities, but nothing happened. It's been eight years, and we are still looked down upon by society. The government has still not done anything. The discrimination continues. People still don't see us as equals. They still dont give us houses for rent or welcome us to their homes. We are still seen as beggars."



"Hume abhi bhi achi nazron sey nahi dekha jaata." (We are still frowned upon by the society) She adds,

Instagram

"While we, as kinnars, are seen as someone who can give them 'dua,' they don't believe in respecting us. They demand 'dua' from us but dua mein hume koi nahi maangta. Parents bhi nikaal dete hain- people suggest conversion therapy. Imagine, there is still no ban on conversion therapy in India. When we enter a restaurant or a showroom, people see us and assume we are beggars and mistreat us thinking we won't even pay after using their services or eating their food."



Dhananjay says even educated people in India are ignorant about the basic concept of gender and sexuality. According to her, people in India spend money on education only to get degrees and jobs. She adds,

Instagram

"People are literate but are not educated. They still have misconceptions related to gender identity and sexuality. There are ingrained biases in people against us. In India, people study to get jobs and earn money. They rarely want to educate themselves. People need to understand diversity and that people can be different. Educated people still understand the basic concept of gender identity and sexuality. Log alag ko galat samajhte hain...Badlaav aayega..but 100 saal aur lagenge"



Sharing her initial years of accepting her sexuality, Dhananjay said she was raped twice.

Representational Image

"In 1989, I used to learn Kathak from Samira Didi. Back then, I was a boy. However, when I finally realized I wanted to be a woman, I had to leave my dance and college. I faced discrimination from my own family. Even though I was a university topper, I had to leave as I was ragged and bullied. I couldn't study after my BA. The worst happened to me in 2002. Some boys kidnapped me from Chandigarh and took me to Ambala. After raping me, they left me at the Ambala bus stand. Somehow I managed to get back to Chandigarh. Police never registered a complaint. In 2004, I was again gang-raped by eight people. After raping me, they urinated on me. I wanted to give up after facing sexual, mental, and physical abuse for years. I even attempted suicide, but somehow, I got saved. That's when I decided to fight back."



Talking about the initial years of fighting for the rights of her community, she said,

Instagram

"In 2009, I started my own NGO and started working for transgender rights. In 2012, we started working on a national level. In 2015 I changed all my ID Cards from male to transgender; in 2016, I enrolled at Punjab University as the first transgender person. I chose the same university and did my MA in the same subject. I still faced discrimination as there was no washroom for trans people. I fought for a separate washroom and got one built. These were my struggles, but I chose not to give up."



Sharing her serendipitous tale of adoption, Dhananjay said,

Indiatimes

"I used to live in a slum area with my partner Rudra. I used to beg to make ends meet. I reconnected with my old Kathak teacher, Samira Kosar didi, during the lockdown. She was the one who used to teach me Kathak when I was a boy. She couldn't recognize me initially, but she realized I was her former student after hearing my story. After we reconnected, she invited me home. She shared my life's story with her parents. Samira didi and her sister Mamta, who lives in the US, inspired their parents to adopt us. Everything kept falling into place, and here we are, living with my parents."

Dhananjay, who is happy that she finally has a home she can call her own, says the best part about getting a new family is feeling loved, heard, and accepted. She concludes by saying,

"Even before we moved in with mummy-papa, I used to meet them every day. We started building a rapport. We wanted to be transparent. We have always faced humiliation from our own families and society. When the time was right, and things fell into place, we moved in with them. All we need is love and affection, and that's exactly what we found. We found acceptance, loved, and heard; this is our home. That's all we ever craved for, and that's what we need."

This beautiful story of compassion, empathy, and resilience proves that we sometimes find 'our home' in people.

(For more trending stories, click here.)
An old video of a firefighter catching a suicidal woman from falling to her death has resurfaced on Reddit.

The clip of heroic rescue by the firefighter from Latvia dates back to 2018 and was shared on Reddit's "Make Me Smile" forum, where over 86,000 people have appreciated his public service as a member of the State Fire And Rescue Service Of Latvia.

Reddit

The incident unfolded four years ago when Latvian fire services received a call to a multi-apartment building due to the suspicion that a suicidal woman may jump from a fourth-floor window.



When the firefighters arrived at the scene, they realised that if they went into the apartment the woman would most likely jump out of the window. So, instead, they entered her neighbours apartment, a floor below, and one of them waited at the window to catch him when he fell.



The heart-stopping video captures the exact moment the fireman catches hold of the woman and pulls her up with the help of his colleagues.

"It was the first time I have done this... We haven't been practising this...It is nearly impossible to tell you what the most difficult thing was during that day because every day in firefighters' lives is different [and] challenging. We just do the thing we do the best: help people!" Tomas Jaunzems, the firefighter who made the heroic rescue, told Bored Panda at the time.

Reddit

Tomas had been in service for five years at that point, saying he wanted to be his "country's patriot" and entered the profession to save people and their properties.



The whole team of firefighters, including Tomas, was praised by the country's Interior Ministry after the daring rescue.

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WASHINGTON, April 15, 2022  The Bureau of Land Management announced today that it will resume oil and gas leasing on public lands, violating President Bidens campaign promise to end new oil and gas leasing and locking in new extraction that thwarts his pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite its pause on new oil and gas leasing and drilling on publicly owned lands and waters, the Biden administration approved more drilling permits in 2021 than President Trump did in the first year of his presidency, according to federal data analyzed by the Center for Biological Diversity.The oil and gas industry continues raking in record profits while communities pay the price. The watchdog organization Accountable.US reported in February that Shell, Chevron, BP and Exxon made more than $75.5 billion in profits in 2021, some of their highest profits in the past decade.The communities most at risk from new fossil fuel extraction are primarily Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples, people of the global majority, and those on the frontlines of fossil fuel industry expansion. These are the same communities that turned out in record numbers to get Biden elected in 2020 and who have since been urging Biden to use his executive authority to fulfill his campaign promise and ban new federal fossil fuel projects.Several analyses show that climate pollution from the worlds already-producing fossil fuel developments, if fully developed, would push warming past 1.5 degrees Celsius, and that avoiding such warming requires ending new investment in fossil fuel projects. Thousands of organizations and communities from across the United States have called on Biden to halt federal fossil fuel expansion and phase out production consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.Statements from climate, social justice and environmental organizations:As frontline community members in the Permian Basin that have been advocating for putting a stop to new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, Citizens Caring for the Future finds it extremely disheartening that BLM is going forward with these lease sales, said Kayley Shoup of Citizens Caring for the Future. Our day-to-day life and health is directly affected by these sales and the subsequent production that comes along with them. It would take a small army to truly enforce regulation here in the Permian, and we know that is the reality in oil and gas regions around the country. We live our lives surrounded by the industry and we understand that in order to take on climate change and make a meaningful dent in emissions the Biden administration must take action that puts a stop to new development.The Biden administrations claim that it must hold these lease sales is pure fiction and a reckless failure of climate leadership, said Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Its as if theyre ignoring the horror of firestorms, floods and megadroughts, and accepting climate catastrophes as business as usual. These so-called reforms are 20 years too late and will only continue to fuel the climate emergency. These lease sales should be shelved and the climate-destroying federal fossil fuel programs brought to an end.The West is drying up and going up in flames. Between extreme drought, the shrinking of the Colorado River, and now urban wildfires in the winter, how much more death, destruction and devastation do we have to see before this administration takes action? said Natasha Leger, executive director of Citizens for a Healthy Community. Its time for climate leadership and to stop leasing our public lands for oil and gas development. We need heroes to break through the political and economic inertia that has us on a collision course to inhabitability.As the Interior Department announces that it plans on continuing oil and gas leasing on federal land, Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic condemns any further extraction, especially within the Arctic, said Siqiniq Maupin, executive director of Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic. Our lands are warming at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world, causing detrimental impact to the fragile ecosystems that call it home and directly impacting the rest of the world, as well. With conservative climate models predicting that we have less than 30 years to radically change our relationship with oil and gas, the future rests in the United States hands. We can no longer commodify our land and water, especially at the rate climate change is occurring. We are nature fighting back.It is unconscionable that the BLM will go forward with these oil and gas lease sales as we continue to see the devastating effects of climate change, particularly in the Southwestern United States, said Deborah McNamara, campaigns director at 350 Colorado. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes August 2021 assessment, there is high confidence that human-influenced rising temperatures are a direct cause of the extension of the wildfire season, increased drought, and decreased precipitation in the southwest United States. In order to curb emissions and do what scientists are telling us we must do in order to avert the absolute worst climate impacts, we need a rapid phase out of fossil fuel production by 2030. Continuing business as usual at the BLM with ongoing oil and gas lease sales will not get us where we need to be in order to solve the climate crisis and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.How much more can Gulf Coast states endure? Most of us weren't born with a silver spoon to get lawyers all the time to fight these civil laws aka environmental acts, or have the luxury of property rights because it was all taken from us so long ago, said Love Sanchez of Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend. Now here we are, working class people, simple people, 95% of the time BIPOC people, that just want to protect our land and water. Then, I'm not surprised, we now have the Interior, who decides they want to continue their projects in the Gulf Coast. It's a very disappointing thing to hear. Fortunately, we will continue to be persistent in protecting these waters.We have heard a lot of rhetoric from President Biden and his administration about the need to take action on climate, said Kyle Tisdel, climate and energy program director with the Western Environmental Law Center. But not only is the administration not doing everything it could  it is not really doing anything. Climate action was a pillar of President Bidens campaign, and his promises on this existential issue were a major reason the public elected him. Achieving results on climate is not a matter of domestic politics. Its life and death.Candidate Biden promised to end new oil and gas leasing on public lands, but President Biden is prioritizing oil executive profits over future generations, said Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager at Friends of the Earth. Biden's Interior Department has even issued permits to drill at a rate faster than the Trump administration. Now, the Bureau of Land Management is preparing to hold its first public lands lease sale, despite having no legal obligation to do so. If Biden wants to be a climate leader, he must stop auctioning off our public lands to Big Oil.This is pure climate denial, said Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians. While the Biden administration talks a good talk on climate action, the reality is, theyre in bed with the oil and gas industry. Rest assured, with the climate crisis raging, we can and will fight back. We cant afford not to.The Biden administration fiddles while Rome burns, said Shelley Silbert, executive director at Great Old Broads for Wilderness. The most destructive fire in Colorado history consumed over 1,000 homes last December. When your house is on fire, you act immediately. Climate disasters hit us harder each day and were out of time. The Biden administration must address the climate crisis now, and a vital step is stopping oil and gas leasing on public lands immediately. There is no other option.Right now, fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters makes up a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions at a time scientists are saying we must move urgently to cut emissions by at least half. Not only does it devastate our planet, its a handout to Big Oil at the expense of average Americans, who will bear the brunt of its societal, health and financial ramifications, said Dan Ritzman, Lands Water Wildlife director at the Sierra Club. We urge the Biden administration to take advantage of this historic opportunity to make good on campaign promises, fulfill a global commitment to acting on climate, and serve American communities by phasing out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans.Let's set aside all the niceties and speak plainly on this: Even people in positions of power and authority are fully aware that nothing goes unscathed in the aftermath of creating and maintaining fossil fuel infrastructures, said Sha Merirei Ongelungel, executive director of Pasifika Uprising. So whether you're trying to reopen the Palau National Marine Sanctuary for commercial fishing and potential exploratory drilling or in the United States pushing to resume oil and gas leasing on public lands, the only safe inference is that our leaders are dishonest and hungry for more money and more power. And that is wholly unconscionable. Whats legal isnt always ethical and too many leaders, the world over, are demonstrating this with their utter disregard for their communities and the climate. Frankly, I'm embarrassed for these so-called leaders. For all their power and authority, they will never have the true power and solidarity needed to lead us into a safer future like grassroots movements.Ramping up exports of liquified natural gas to Europe in response to the invasion of Ukraine is a losing proposition that will take too long to implement to address current energy demands, said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project. Instead of taking decades to build the necessary export terminals so we can keep burning fossil fuels and turning the Earth into a fiery hellscape, we should be investing in solar production in urban settings where the energy is being used, on rooftops and parking lot awnings, so Europe and the United States can both transition to clean power sources and get that production online a whole lot faster.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could not be more clear. It is time to rapidly transition off of fossil fuels. Increasing leasing for fossil fuels on public lands is grossly misaligned with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and ensuring that young people inherit a habitable planet, said Zanagee Artis, executive director of Zero Hour.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Peace activist rally in front of weapons maker

Photos: Leon Kunstenaar / Pro Bono Photo

Among the leafy well manicured lawns and fountains of the of campus-like hi-tech labs and offices, you half expect to see professors and students meeting to discuss academe's latest insights into Victorian literature. But the real business there is killing. Massive and, optimally, remote killing. Courtesy our taxpayer dollars.As the Ukraine war grinds on and Vladimir Putin hands the US the gift of his war crimes, the "defense" industry assumes the posture of all that is good and holy. Companies like Lockheed take in taxpayer billions while the Ukrainians and Russians get to fill the body bags.Some people see through the farce. On Friday April 15th, in a tax day protest, Code Pink, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Raging Grannies and other peace activists paid a Tax Day visit to the Silicon Valley offices Lockheed Martin, to their "Advanced Technology Center" (for killing).They gathered at the corner of Page Mill Road and Camino Real and with signs and a gigantic banner that read "Lockheed Weapons Terrorize the World, marched to the Lockeed buildings. A Code Pink member delivered a message to the Company and the Grannies sang well known melodies with new and improved lyrics. A pie showing Lockneed's huge share of the Pentagon's budget was displayed.From the protest organizers:

Since so much of our taxes go to war and weapons, on "Tax Day" we need to look at Lockheed Martin-- the largest weapons manufacturer on earth, with facilities nearby. LM's thirst for profits has made peace impossible. LM sells killing weapons to countries all over the planet, including to regimes that violate human rights, like the Saudis. LM donates millions to members of Congress who continue to pass gigantic military budgets. Half the federal budget goes to the military, and half of the military budget goes to the war industry, with Lockheed at the top of the list of war profiteers. LM won big in Afghanistan, making 1000% profit on the failed U.S. war and occupation. LM made the 500 pound bomb that killed 40 children in Yemen in 2018. LM is delighted that the war in Ukraine means more weapons sales.



The war industry, led by Lockheed Martin, supplies the military, which is literally killing the planet with their fossil fuel-driven wars and military bases polluting countries around the world. It's time to call out Lockheed for what they are-- merchants of death, war profiteers, terrorists, and the greatest impediment to peace and security on the planet. We are demanding that Lockheed disarm and convert to making things to sustain life, such as clean energy and transportation systems.



We are demanding that Congress stop taking campaign contributions from the war industry and enact the Green New Deal to provide good green jobs for Lockheed employees so they don't have to participate in killing. We aren't going to stand for Lockheed Martin poisoning the earth any longer. Join us.

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Answers

Global Molybdenum Disulfide market trend 2023-2029 High Purity Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder CAS 1317-33-5, 99% by Newsintegra927

The roble had hit a record low after the West imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. Russia's president recently ordered exports of Russian gas to "unfriendly" countries to be settled in robles. The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said Moscow was prepared and could shift supplies to markets such as Asia if Europe refused to buy Russian energy.

European countries, which pay mostly in euros, say Russia has no right to reset contracts. The G7 rejected Russia's demand and urged companies not to agree to pay in robles, saying most contracts stipulated payment in euros or dollars. Wholesale gas prices in Europe have risen further recently on concerns about potential supply disruptions.

The Kremlin spokesman said, "According to the March 31 deadline set by Russia's president, we are developing all payment methods to get a simple, understandable, and feasible system for relevant European and international buyers,"

The markets and prices of more commodities like the Molybdenum Disulfide would be affected because of the volatile international political situations.

About Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder:

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is the main component of molybdenite. Black solid powder with a metallic luster. Chemical formula MoS2, melting point 1185C, density 4.80g/cm3 (14C), Mohs hardness 1.01.5. It starts to decompose at 1370C and decomposes into metallic molybdenum and sulfur at 1600C. It starts to be oxidized when heated at 315C in the air, and the temperature rises and the oxidation reaction accelerates. Molybdenum disulfide is insoluble in water, dilute acid and concentrated sulfuric acid. It is generally insoluble in other acids, alkalis and organic solvents, but it is soluble in aqua regia and boiling concentrated sulfuric acid. Slowly oxidized at 400  to generate molybdenum trioxide:

2MoS2+ 7 O2 2 MoO3 + 4 SO2 can be used to test the generated molybdenum trioxide with ferrotitanium reagent. First, the product is treated with sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide solution (the principle is to convert molybdenum trioxide into molybdate), and then the titanium iron reagent solution is added dropwise, which will react with the generated sodium molybdate or potassium molybdate to produce gold Yellow solution. This method is very sensitive, and trace amounts of molybdate can be detected. And if there is no molybdenum trioxide generated, the solution will not produce golden yellow, because molybdenum disulfide does not react with sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide solution.

Molybdenum disulfide can react with chlorine when heated to produce molybdenum pentachloride:

2 MoS2+ 7 Cl2 2 MoCl5+ 2 S2Cl2

Molybdenum disulfide and alkyl lithium react under control to form an intercalation compound (interlayer compound) LixMoS2. If it reacts with butyllithium, the product is LiMoS2.

Molybdenum disulfide has a high content of active sulfur, which is easy to cause corrosion to copper. It is discussed in many books and papers on lubricant additives. In addition, when the parts made of copper and its alloys need to be lubricated, it is not impossible to use molybdenum disulfide lubricating products, but also to add copper corrosion inhibitors. Feel free to send an inquiry to get the latest price if you would like to buy Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder in bulk.



Features of Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder:

1. Molybdenum Disulphide CAS 1317-33-5 Nanoparticles (Nano MoS2) is shiny dark gray powder which has very good chemical stability and thermal stability.

2. Dissolved in aqua regia and concentrated sulfuric acid, insoluble in water and dilute acid; No general chemical reaction with metal surface; Not erode the rubber material;

3. Can be used for processing and storage of spare parts; Maintenance lubrication adhesion; can form a highly efficient dry lubricating film; Is less wear and friction reduction technology..



Analysis of Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder:

MoS2 MoO3 Insolubles Fe SiO2 H2O Oil Acid Value 99% 0.05% 0.26% 0.14% 0.05% 0.08% 0.10% 0.54



How is Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder produced?

Natural law

MoS2 can be prepared by the natural method, namely the molybdenite concentrate purification method, which is to remove the acid-insoluble matter in the molybdenite concentrate, SiO2, Fe, Cu, by subjecting high-quality molybdenum concentrate to certain physical and chemical actions. Ca, Pb and other impurities are further refined to obtain nano-MoS2. However, the purity of the nano-MoS2 produced by the natural method is not high, and the purification technology needs to be further improved. When the temperature is lower than 400, it is recommended to use the most expensive MoS2 when working in ordinary atmosphere. It has lubricating ability below 1300, and it is recommended to use the cost-based MoS2.

Chemical synthesis

The synthetic method can produce sulfides with high purity, less impurities, and fine particle size, and can prepare sulfides that meet different functional requirements. Therefore, the production of nano sulfides by synthetic methods has always attracted much attention. There are many methods for preparing nano-MoS2, such as ammonium tetrathiomolybdate thermal decomposition method, hydrogen sulfide or sulfur vapor reduction method, high-energy ball milling method, carbon nanotube space confinement method, hydrothermal synthesis method, high-energy physical method and chemical method combination and many more.



Applications of Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder:

Molybdenum disulfide is diamagnetic, can convert linear photoconductors and semiconductors with P-type or N-type conductivity, and has the functions of rectification and energy conversion.

Molybdenum disulfide can also be synthesized as a catalyst for hydrocarbon dehydrogenation.

Molybdenum disulfide is also known as "the king of advanced solid lubricants".

Molybdenum disulfide is a solid powder made from natural molybdenum concentrate chemically purified by changing the molecular structure.

Molybdenum disulfide has good dispersibility and does not need to be added. It can be added to various greases to form a colloidal state and will never replace it, thereby increasing the lubricity and extreme pressure of the grease.

Molybdenum disulfide is also suitable for high temperature, high pressure, high viscosity and high load mechanical working conditions to extend the service life of the equipment.

The main function of molybdenum disulfide as a friction material is to reduce friction at low temperatures, increase friction at high temperatures, and reduce combustion loss. Easily volatilize in the friction material.

Anti-friction: The size of disulfide particles formed by supersonic jet pulverization can reach 325-2500 mesh, the particle hardness is 1-1.5, and the friction coefficient is 0.05-0.1, so it can be used in friction materials to take advantage of the anti-friction effect;

Increased friction: Molybdenum disulfide is not conductive, and silicon carbide, molybdenum disulfide, molybdenum trisulfide and molybdenum trioxide are present. When the temperature of the friction material rises sharply due to friction, the shrinking molybdenum trioxide particles gradually heat up and expand, thereby increasing the friction in the axial direction.

Antioxidant: Molybdenum disulfide is obtained through a comprehensive chemical purification reaction, and its pH value changes 7-8, slightly alkaline. It covers the surface of the friction material, which can protect other materials from oxidation, especially making it difficult for other materials to move and enhancing adhesion.



Storage Condition of Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder:

Damp reunion will affect MoS2 powder dispersion performance and using effects, therefore, Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder powder should be sealed in vacuum packing and stored in cool and dry room, the Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder can not be exposure to air. In addition, the Molybdenum Disulfide powder should be avoided under stress.



Packing & Shipping of Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder:

We have many different kinds of packing which depends on the Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder quantity.

Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder packing: vacuum packing, 100g, 500g or 1kg/bag, 25kg/barrel, or as your request.

Molybdenum Disulfide MoS2 Powder shipping: could be shipped out by sea , by air, by express as soon as possible once payment receipt.









Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd. (TRUNNANO) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12-year-experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials, including boron powder, nitride powder, graphite powder, zinc sulfide, 3D printing powder, etc.





If you are looking for molybdenum disulfide, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry, email address: sales3@nanotrun.com





Molybdenum Disulfide Properties Other Names molybdenum sulfide, molybdenum disulphide,

MoS2 powder, moly disulfide CAS No. 1317-33-5 Compound Formula MoS2 Molecular Weight 160.07 Appearance Black Powder Melting Point 1185 C Boiling Point N/A Density 5.06 g/cm3 Solubility in H2O Insoluble Storage Temperature Ambient temperatures Exact Mass 161.849549 Monoisotopic Mass 161.849549 Molybdenum Disulfide Health & Safety Information Signal Word Warning Hazard Statements H315-H319-H335 Hazard Codes Xi Risk Codes N/A Safety Statements N/A RTECS Number QA4697000 Transport Information NONH for all modes of transport WGK Germany 3

As the duration of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine grows, its impact on commodities is widening amid the tug-of-war. Recently, European and American sanctions against Russia have been issued one after another. In response, Russia has taken advantage of its role as an important supplier of many energy and commodities, requiring exports of commodities, including energy, grain, metal, and wood, to "unfriendly" countries to be settled in robles. Therefore, it is expected that the price of the Molybdenum Disulfide will continue to increase.





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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, attends a parade to celebrate the 110th birth anniversary of its late founder Kim Il-sung, at the Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 15, in this photo provided by the North Korean government. AP-Yonhap



By David A. Tizzard




Senior medical and scientific bodies have warned the Government it must press ahead with the proposed turf-selling ban, insisting the decision simply cannot be delayed.

The intervention by the Climate and Health Alliance, which includes members of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, UCC School of Public Health, and the National Childrens Hospital Ireland, will put further pressure on the Government to act.

A ban on the commercial sale of turf must happen on public health and environmental grounds, the alliance said, pointing to the 1,400 lives needlessly lost in Ireland every year due to air pollution.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said her party does not support the ban. She told Newstalk Breakfast it is the wrong move at this time In many homes, the only way that people are going to heat their homes is by burning peat.

It marks a fresh challenge for the Government on the issue this week, following claims and counterclaims by party leaders and TDs who have spoken in favour of and against the ban.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar told a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting that a firm decision on such a ban in September would be paused, a claim subsequently denied by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan who insisted that no such pause had been agreed.

Political fallout

Such was the fallout that Taoiseach Micheal Martin has felt compelled to insist the issue is not likely to damage or bring down the Government.

Mr Martin said the coalition leaders will continue discussions on the pause.

Climate Change Advisory Council member Cara Augustenborg criticised the Tanaistes intervention on the issue.

I find it very, very strange now that suddenly the Tanaiste  a medical doctor, I might add, who knows the health impacts of these kinds of fuels  would delay this issue for even one more day and not let other people in Ireland outside Dublin avail of this and protect their health, said Prof Augustenborg.

Climate and Health Alliance spokesman, geriatrician Colm Byrne, a leading authority on the link between air quality and stroke, said the burning of smoky fuels, including turf, coal, and wet wood, at home is responsible for the majority of the 1,400 deaths.

"The health impact of domestic fuel burning is devastating. It is the main source of microscopic pollutants known as PM2.5 responsible for an estimated 92% of air pollution deaths in Ireland," said Dr Byrne.

We simply cannot delay the ban on the commercial sale of turf and must introduce the forthcoming solid fuel regulations in full as planned this September.

Home fuel burning has a hugely detrimental impact on the nations health, with children, older people, and those living with chronic diseases the worst affected.

PM2.5, or particulate matter, is all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.

The fact is that when you sit in front of an open fire, you are exposed to similar levels of toxic fumes found in traffic blackspots at rush hour.

"The pollutant PM2.5 can trigger asthma, skin and autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as causing infertility, miscarriage, sight loss, and dementia, said Dr Byrne.

Opponents of the proposed turf ban claim it is unconscionable at a time when utility bills are soaring, and that the most vulnerable would be the biggest casualties.

The Climate and Health Alliance said that the ban on turf must coincide with a serious ramping up of retrofitting.

"Crucially, while we fully support proposed restrictions for sound health reasons, we cannot be blind to the potential for fuel poverty for some people, so it is essential that new regulations are accompanied by measures ensuring that nobody is left without an affordable means of heating their home safely.

This will necessitate an accelerated national retrofitting programme focusing first on people at risk of fuel poverty and increases in the fuel allowance to ensure that nobody on low income is out of pocket due to the legislation.

Among the alliance's other members are Irish Doctors for the Environment, the Irish Heart Foundation, and the Irish Cancer Society.
Is this your coat? The late poet and life-long civil rights activist Maya Angelou once stopped a party in her own home with these words after a guest made a racist, homophobic joke. Not only did the recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees stop the party, she asked the speaker in question to leave the gathering.

This incident happened in the latter part of her life. She said she wouldnt always have had the courage to call out such poison.

No act of solidarity is too small or insignificant. This sentence forms part of a people-powered ad campaign, Greater Than Fear, this weekend, by LGBT Ireland, Uplift, and Irish Network Against Racism. It is just one of dozens upon dozens of acts of solidarity in response to the tragic deaths of Michael Snee, 58, and Aidan Moffitt, 41, in Sligo this week.

What will your act of solidarity be? It neednt be this weekend, it neednt be attending one of the 40-plus vigils planned on the island of Ireland in a stand against all hate speech and crime.

Perhaps your chance might come in the office one day or in the changing room of your GAA club or maybe, like Maya, at a party in your home.

Several years ago, that very incident occurred in my home. A guest  white, male, heterosexual  was telling a story he considered amusing that veered into racist and homophobic territory. Did I laugh? No. But did I have the courage to call him out? No.

The 51-year-old civil rights organisation, the Southern Poverty Law Center, in Montgomery, Alabama, has a guide for this very situation, Speak Up: Responding to Everyday Bigotry.

The comprehensive guide is a practical how to on calling out hate speech when it happens in any of your personal domains.

That hate crimes occur on this land is undeniable, that hate speech is a common occurrence in our everyday exchanges is unquestionable  and we all know it. From the homophobic graffiti scrawled in a juvenile hand in public playgrounds and in the stalls of pub toilets to the casual slurs exchanged under the guise of harmless banter in all sorts of conversation, family, friends, and otherwise, it is now a necessary duty to have the courage and the skill to call out this vile practice.

First things first  privilege. If you have it, use it. Its called being an ally.

However, some of us who have privilege take grave offence at being told we do. Here is a simple quote  from a one-page guide called 10 Things Allies Can Do by YWCA Greater Harrisburg  explaining the role of an ally that incorporates the word privilege: An ally is someone who has privilege but chooses to stand for and with marginalised communities by taking tangible, ongoing actions to dismantle systems of oppression.

One thing an ally can do is to listen and another is to speak up when a friend, family member, co-worker, or stranger says something hateful or ignorant, call them out on it.

But how? The Southern Poverty Law Centers Six Steps to Speaking Up Against Everyday Bigotry includes a how-to template.

The first step is to be ready. Youve been in uncomfortable situations before where you chose comfort over confrontation. Youll find yourself in them again. Have something to say in mind before the inevitable incident happens, advises the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Open-ended questions are often a good response. Stock questions you can ask to rebut hate speech include: Why do you say that? or How did you develop that belief?

If your goal is to communicate, loaded terms get you nowhere, says cultural communications expert Supriya Karudapuram, professor at American University in Washington DC. If you simply call someone a racist, a wall goes up.

Another step is to appeal to a persons principles, especially if the slur or hate speech is from someone you have a longstanding relationship with.

Bob, Ive always thought of you as a fair-minded person, so it shocks me when I hear you say something that sounds so bigoted, is the example given in the Southern Poverty Law Centers guide.

Marsha Houston, a pioneer of the communication studies discipline in the areas of social justice and activism, reminded allies that people are complex.

Appeal to their better instincts, she said. Remember that people are complex. What they say in one moment is not necessarily an indication of everything they think.

The late Ms Houston also spoke of developing the courage to be an ally.

Summon your courage, whatever it takes to get that courage, wherever that source of courage is for you, she said.

This is exactly the same point emphasised by Angelou when she told the story of calling out hate speech in her home. She told the story to Oprah Winfrey shortly before her death.

I remember once being in your house and somebody was telling a joke. And the person made a joke and it was a racist, homophobic joke and you stopped the party, said Winfrey.

I said, Is this your coat? Did you come with anyone? Both of you come this way, recalled Angelou, who then told her remaining guests: I would not allow it in my house.

Any racial pejorative, any sexual pejorative, any of that stuff is created to make a person less than human. And that means its poison.

However, what Winfrey wanted to know was where she summoned the courage to not allow it in her space because people just sort of laugh nervously at [hate speech] because they dont know how to stop it. How do you stop it?

Angelou said you do not stop it immediately, you develop courage. You do it in small ways. I mean if you wanted to pick up a 100lb weight, you dont just go do it. You start picking 5lb and 10lb and 20lb. Well, thats the same way you do with courage.

You do the courageous thing, a small one, and you like yourself. And then you do another two, three, and you like yourself better. And before you know it, you are able to say: Excuse me, not in my house you dont. You dont paint my walls with poison and vulgarity. You will not do it in my house. Out. Is this your purse? Thank you. Bye.

Calling out your brothers homophobic joke is a privilege for some, because it is an actual matter of life or death for others. No act of solidarity is too small or insignificant.
The election of Ivana Bacik as the Labour Partys fifth leader in a decade has been described by some as the last throw of the dice for the oldest political movement in this country.

A month on from her election to replace Alan Kelly, it is still far too early to conclude whether this is or isnt the partys final chapter. It is also too early to form a complete judgement as to what kind of leader Bacik is likely to be, and more importantly whether she is to be a success or not.

However, as this weeks Irish Times Ipsos/MRBI poll showed, there has been no Bacik bounce for the party, which remained unchanged on just 3%. And, more importantly, her public utterances so far have been, to say the least, vague, unconvincing, and at times downright unbelievable.

On the day she was elected as leader, she gave a car-crash interview on RTEs Drivetime, where she allowed host Sarah McInerney to

fillet her on basic points. While increasing numbers of politicians are refusing to go on air with McInerney, given her robust style, Bacik made it easy for her, and at no time was the host over the top.

Firstly, she decided to play coy around the entire circumstances of Kellys departure and her role in it. She sought to portray Kellys assassination as a benign decision taken independently by him, rather than be straight up and honest about what happened.

As if Kelly woke up one morning and said: You know what, Ive had enough of this  Im off. She went as far as to say that people are entitled to resign in politics while refusing to clarify if she was present in senator Marie Sherlocks house when the coup was cooked up the weekend prior to Kellys downfall.

Bacik, the 53-year-old distinguished law professor, portrays this image of the diligent, best-in-class liberal who sought to dismiss inquiries into her role as internal party matters not fit for public consumption. Her evasion was unbecoming and showed that she has a lot to learn about senior hurling, as Seamus Brennan famously described national politics.

Labour pains

What was wrong with her coming out straight and making clear why Kelly was taken out so unexpectedly, why she supported the heave, and finally how and why she emerged from the pack to be the sole candidate to replace him? Had she done so, it would have emphasised the point that she has the requisite steel to make it as a leader. That she can be ruthless when she needs to be and that she drove the process to get the result she wanted.

Instead, we got the cuddly academic Ivana, who doesnt like fighting but ended up looking sheepishly ashamed of what happened and evasive. Not a good start.

Bacik was at it again two days later on RTEs The Week in Politics, where obfuscation and fudge were the hallmarks of her appearance. She came off looking weak, indecisive, and as if she was trying to hide her role in Kellys departure.

She appeared Gerry Adams-esque when she said Labours desire was for a mini-budget, only for her not to be able to recall how much money the party wanted.

In a more recent interview with the impressive Claire Brock on The Tonight Show on Virgin Media, Bacik was again less than forthright and clear as to what kind of leader she is to be and what kind of party Labour is to become under her.

The poor media outings have led the moniker Bambi Bacik to be coined in reference to her portrayed innocence and naivety in her opening few weeks.

A crowded Left

What also has to be examined are the reasons for dumping Kelly in the first place.

As we know, there was some internal row about a staff appointment that caused angst, but the agreed narrative was that Kelly left because of poll ratings. Bacik has naively suggested that Labour always bounces back as it has done in the past.

Such mistakes also point to a rather shambolic organisation around her and, if she is to succeed, she needs to put that structure right  and quickly. However, since its near-obliteration in 2016 after its term in office with Fine Gael, the party has remained stagnant and is even slipping back further.

Read More Daniel McConnell: Micheal Martin now the most popular leader in the country

The 4.4% return and the win of just six Dail seats in the 2020 general election shows the party is in real decline. The difficulty is that, unlike in previous decades, the space for the Labour Party to define itself on the Irish political landscape is an awful lot more crowded than it used to be.

Former Labour Party strongholds have slipped into the hands of Sinn Fein, the far left, the Social Democrats, and left-wing Independents. More ominously, Labours working-class vote has defected to Sinn Fein and the far left, while the Soc Dems are squeezing it on its middle-class, liberal flank.

This squeeze highlights the grave difficulty Bacik has in seeking to define what her Labour Party can be. She has spoken about the need to draw a line under the actions of Labour during that austerity government with Fine Gael, but it is now out of office longer than it was in that coalition, and its fortunes have not improved.

Election fortunes

Also, looking to the next general election, Labour faces the real risk of dropping back even further as, for a start, Kelly is highly unlikely to stand and there is little or no chance of the seat being held in his absence.

Brendan Howlin is also expected to retire at the end of this Dail, and while George Lawlor is there to replace him, there is doubt about whether he can do enough to hold that seat.

Unlike Kelly, who was ousted before he even contested a proper election, Bacik will be in situ when the party contests the 2024 local and European elections. She has to show the party is able to at least hold the seats it currently has if it is to have a future.

It is not unreasonable to say that Labours fortunes will only improve after Sinn Fein enters government and gets its feet dirty from the business of being in power.

With Sinn Fein gone as the rottweilers in chief to the defenders of the system, space will open up for Labour and the Soc Dems to become that credible voice of opposition.

Another key question for Bacik to answer is whether she can convince the likes of Roisin Shortall and Catherine Murphy that a merger of their respective parties is inevitable and necessary if they are to survive.

Whereas in the past, other parties were subsumed under the Labour umbrella, it is now so weakened and tarnished that it is an open question about its survival into the future. It is already being suggested that we could see a Labour and Social Democrat party emerge from all of this.

That is down the line. For now, Bacik needs to cut out the mistakes, get her house in order, and realise that the role of leader requires a vision beyond vague aspirations.

If she can do that, she and her party will survive. If not, Irelands oldest political party will become a thing of the past.
Russias foreign ministry has banned Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members from entering the country.

The ministry said the decision was made in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the UK government.

Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak, Kwasi Kwarteng, Nadine Dorries, James Heappey, Nicola Sturgeon, Suella Braverman and Theresa May have also been banned.

Londons unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy were responsible for its decision, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

It added: In essence, the British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation around Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the part of Nato.

In March, Moscow imposed a similar ban against US President Joe Biden.

The news comes a week after the Prime Minister met with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to pledge Britains unwavering support to the country as they fight against the Russian invasion.

In a statement following the meeting, Johnson said: Ukraine has defied the odds and pushed back Russian forces from the gates of Kyiv, achieving the greatest feat of arms of the 21st century.

It is because of President Zelenskiys resolute leadership and the invincible heroism and courage of the Ukrainian people that Putins monstrous aims are being thwarted.

The Prime Minister also set out plan of military assistance to Ukraine, consisting of 120 armoured vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems, in addition to 100m worth of high-grade military equipment.

Johnson also confirmed further economic support, guaranteeing an additional $500m in World Bank lending to Ukraine, alongside the 394m the UK provided in grant aid to ensure the continued running of vital humanitarian services for Ukrainians.
Public Twitter lists under the names Labor Trolls and Lobotomised Shitheads have been discovered on ABC weekend news presenter Fauziah Ibrahim's account, listing a number of people who make pro-Labor comments on the social media platform.

Ibrahim has been called out for this activity by a number of Twitter users and the lists now appear to have been deleted.

It is unclear whether the lists have been created by Ibrahim herself or whether her account has been breached.

One Twitter user, Rick Harris, pointed out that a breach of the account was likely. "Think you'll find her account's been hacked. Notice how recent her lists are and how prolific they're added to vs how prolific she's tweeted in the past," he said.

Another user, posting under the handle The Sage, pointed out that Ibrahim's lists were public. "They are public lists she has curated and named and added people to it. That means she wants people to see. Each person she adds get a notification. You can make lists private, she wants people to see it," this user said.

iTWire has contacted the ABC for comment. The lists have been trending since late last night, but the corporation has not reacted publicly as yet.

An ABC spokesperson responded: "This is a private Twitter account, not an ABC account. Were looking into what has occurred."

The ABC published a list of guidelines in August last year for personal use of social media by its staff.

In it, the corporation says while personal posts are not required to adhere to the corporation's editorial polices, two areas  impartiality and independence and integrity  should not be compromised.
Devotees help a penitent carry a wooden cross during the "Jesus del Gran Poder" or Jesus of Great Power procession, in Quito, Ecuador, April 15. Easter has been celebrated around the world during Holy Week, commemorating the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. AP-Yonhap



By Scott Shepherd





Once when I was walking out of the British Library, I saw a woman outside on the floor having some kind of fit or seizure. It was a wintery evening  it may even have been snowy if I remember correctly  and the library was just closing, so there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people all leaving through the main entrance, hurrying to beat the rush-hour traffic. And although the woman was lying right outside the main doors and was clearly in need of help, everyone was simply walking past her.



I don't know how long she had been lying there, but I suppose it couldn't have been too long. It may have been that in the gloaming of that London evening she was not easily visible, or perhaps the people passing were all simply absorbed by their phones. I don't know if all of these passers-by really were unable to see this woman or whether they simply chose not to. Either way, there was a person lying in the middle of Central London having a medical emergency and no-one was helping her.



When I realized this, I ran back inside to get help from the library security staff. They came and as soon as they started helping the woman, several more people stopped to help. One of the security guards started providing first aid, and with the small crowd that had now gathered it became clear that there was nothing useful I could do, so I went home.



I don't bring this story up simply because I want to virtue-signal or humble-brag or whatever ugly neologism we're using these days. Obviously I think I did the right thing, but I'm not saying that what I did was somehow noble or glorious. Rather, what I'm suggesting is that my reaction should be the normal one, and that the people who walked past were actively wrong not to act.



I know that psychological studies suggest that people are reluctant to intervene when there are many others around who can help instead. But there are plenty of natural urges that we learn to overcome in order to live in a civilized society, and I repeat: Stopping to help should be the reaction of any human in that situation. I suppose what makes it even worse is that many of those people passing by her were members of the intelligentsia. The researchers and scholars who shape policy and public discourse didn't even stop to help a woman in the snow.






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This is part of a submission to the Korean court to assist judges in understanding the international norms for the case of Adam Crapser vs. the Republic of Korea . The 70-page long submission was fully translated into English by Korean students studying in the U.S. Special thanks to Raymond Ha (M.A. '21, Stanford Univ.), Hyejin Jang (B.A. '21 Princeton Univ.), Do Yon Lena Kwon (J.D. Candidate '22, Penn Law), Hailey M. Lee (J.D. Candidate '24, Penn Law), and Lydia Lim (J.D. '21, Penn Law).



By Lee Kyung-eun





Question: Does the government of the Republic of Korea owe a responsibility to adoptees to confirm whether citizenship in the receiving country was obtained after inter-country adoption?



Answer: Nationality is a fundamental human right, also called "the right to have rights." International norms protecting nationality as an individual's rights have continued to develop through major human rights treaties sine the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.



From the perspective of the child who must start a new life with a new family in a different country, the acquisition of citizenship of the country of his or her residence is the minimum safety net that can guarantee the most basic protections.



Without reference to any international legal standard, the relevant laws of Korea, such as the Act on Private International Law and the Nationality Act, as well as the legislative intent of the Special Adoption Act, collectively imply that the government is responsible for verifying the finalization of these matters.



The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political rights stipulates that upon a child's birth, he or she has the right to be registered, have a name, and acquire a nationality without any discrimination. U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, in particular, imposes the duty upon the state to prevent a child from being discriminated upon due to the child's parents' legal, social status, such as the birth out of marriage.



The 1967 European Convention on the Adoption of Children emphasizes that a child's severance of ties with birth parents as a result of inter-country adoption need not necessarily lead to the loss of citizenship in the country of origin. Rather, this Convention stipulates that it is the state party's obligation to ensure that the child promptly obtains citizenship in the receiving country that is to become the child's country of residence.



The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child states that an inter-country adopted child must enjoy the same safeguards as one adopted domestically and the measures should be interpreted to include the acquisition of citizenship of the receiving country.



The government of the Republic of Korea was aware of the need to confirm an inter-country adoptee's acquisition of foreign citizenship starting from the Korean Nationality Act and Special Adoption Act, which specify the obligations of the related agencies to confirm and report such acquisition.



From the earliest time of implementing the Nationality Act and Special Adoption Act, the legislation stipulated a process of confirming whether a child adopted to a foreigner had obtained the citizenship of the foreign country and reporting to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The MOJ enforced this regulation and canceled the Korean citizenship of a child who obtained a foreign citizenship by inter-country adoption. Additionally, the Ministry has been keeping and publishing a list of names of the adopted children whose Korean citizenship were invalidated in the Official Gazettes.




Lotteria's online notification apologizing to customers for replacing French fries due to a potato shortage / Screenshot from Lotteria's mobile application



By Kim Jae-heun



McDonald's Korea and Lotteria are suffering from potato shortages, scrambling to replace their French fries with chicken nuggets or cheese sticks due to climate change and supply chain problems amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to company officials, Friday. More consumers, as a result, are expressing frustrations over the changes, as both hamburger franchises have been changing their menus frequently, as seen in their response to the previous tomato and lettuce supply crisis.



Lotteria posted an online notification that some of its restaurants may replace French fries with other sides due to the shortage. McDonald's has also been sharing a similar post asking for customers' understanding.



"Lotteria French fries are my favorite and that is why I eat there. But the restaurant chain has been offering cheese sticks instead of French fries occasionally in the past two years and I am getting sick of it," a 27-year-old surnamed Lee said.



Lotte GRS, operator of Lotteria, said it is seeking other global potato suppliers instead of the U.S., where the fast food franchise imports most of its potatoes from.



"We started to import frozen potatoes from Europe last year to cope with repeated supply difficulties. The quality of potatoes may be different (from American potatoes), but the company decided it is better to supply the food stably first," a Lotte GRS official said.



The situation is better for McDonald's Korea. It has notified its customers that some restaurants in the country might offer other sides instead of French fries, but it is not a big issue, the company said.



"We have posted the notice in case we might face difficulty supplying French fries, but it is not a big problem for now. Only a few of our stores are offering chicken nuggets instead of French fries," a company official said.



Most local franchise firms use imported frozen potatoes from the United States. Potatoes are barely produced in Korea due to low profitability.



Idaho is one of the largest potato-producing U.S. states, but the region was affected by a drought and heat wave last year. Additionally, the pandemic caused a labor shortage during the potato harvesting season.


Leslie Norwalk this week from Centenes The board is divided over governance processes and committee leadership.

Centene made public her resignation letter Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Norwalk, a former administrator of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, was named to the insurance companys board in January. She is a strategic advisor to the law firm Epstein Becker Green.

Norwalk did not immediately respond to an interview request.

The governance process surrounding a recent important decision is seriously behind as I and some other board members see fit, Norwalk wrote in his April 11 resignation letter.

She wrote that the full board did not receive enough information and had no opportunity to discuss it before voting on critical matters, contradicting the boards standard process. Centene is best served with board and committee chairs who are aware of the importance of good governance practices, she wrote.

She concluded the letter by saying that after discussions with current leadership, she does not believe that meaningful changes, if any, will be made in time.

The letter was sent to the entire Board of Directors, particularly Acting Chair H. James Dallas and Chair of the Boards Nominating and Governance Committee Jessica Blume.

Centene did not immediately respond to an interview request.

During Norwalks brief time on Centenes board, she served on the boards compliance, environmental and social responsibility, and government and regulatory affairs committees. She previously served on the board of Magellan Health, a behavioral health provider that Centene acquired last year for $2.2 billion.

On the earnings call, Centene executives said they were looking to divest non-core pharmacy assets, and there was speculation that Magellan could be one of those assets. Centene is reserved $1.25 billion to resolve allegations that its now-defunct pharmacy benefits management platform overbilled state Medicaid departments for drugs.

in January, Magellan Takes over the administration of the California Medicaid Prescription Drug Program.

The worker shortage has frustrated thousands of patients awaiting approval for prior authorization, some of whom were put on hold for eight hours at a time at the companys call center. State employees intervened in company call centers, although state employees no longer provided customer support on behalf of the company. Californias health care agency said it withheld $3.8 million, or 64 percent, of Magellans January contract as a penalty.

Norwalks departure comes as Centene is making changes to its board, in part due to the arrival of activist hedge fund Politan Capital Management.

November, Politan invests $900 million At Centene, the goal is to increase the insurers value by selling certain subsidiaries and overhauling Centenes leadership and board of directors.

Since then, five Politan-approved independent board members have joined the board, and six long-term board members have retired or announced plans to step down.

Politam did not immediately respond to an interview request.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Centene said it has also replaced the heads of its nominating and governance, audit and compensation committees since November. The company has also separated the roles of chairman and chief executive, appointed a new lead independent director, and implemented a mandatory board retirement age.

In March, the insurer promoted Sarah London to CEO from its technology and healthcare services division. London replaces longtime CEO Michael Neidorff, people who died last week.

In an SEC filing, Centene said the entire board is in favor of London.
Iran condemns U.S. "hypocritical, deviant" human rights reports

Xinhua) 10:10, April 16, 2022

TEHRAN, April 15 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian human rights official condemned on Friday "hypocritical and deviant" annual reports by the United States on the 2021 human rights situation in other countries, particularly Iran.

In a tweet, Kazem Gharibabadi, the Judiciary chief's deputy for international affairs and secretary of the country's High Council for Human Rights, said the United States, as the main violator of human rights, is in no position to comment on the rights situation in other countries.

He made the remarks in reaction to the U.S. State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released on Tuesday.

The U.S. reports are aimed at diverting the global public opinion from Washington's flagrant human rights violations and its construction of fake models in this field, Gharibabadi noted, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency.

Voicing concerns about the human rights situation in the United States, the Iranian official said the American society in 2021 was still suffering from race discrimination and injustice, while refugees and migrants in the country were widely subject to violence and harassment.

Using coercion as well as cruel, inhuman and unilateral sanctions against some countries were the prominent features of U.S. foreign policy in the past year, Gharibabadi added.

"The U.S. government, with a history full of wars, coups, aggression, assassinations, kidnappings, economic blockades and the killing of innocent people around the world, has been the main violator of human rights and, therefore, it is in no way qualified to speak of such sublime concepts as human rights," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Thursday, also commenting on the U.S. reports.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Local residents ride bicycles as the body of a civilian killed during Ukraine-Russia conflict lies in street near the Illich Steel and Iron Works in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 15. The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding Kyiv following Russia's withdrawal. Reuters-Yonhap





The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following Russia's withdrawal  most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were ''simply executed.''







The jarring number emerged shortly after Russia's Defense Ministry promised to step up missile attacks on Kyiv in response to Ukraine's alleged assaults on Russian territory. That ominous warning followed the stunning loss of Moscow's flagship in the Black Sea, which a senior U.S. defense official said Friday was indeed hit by at least one Ukrainian missile.







Amid its threats, Moscow continued preparations for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine. Fighting also went on in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Gov. Oleh Sinehubov.







Around Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of the capital's regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.







''Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,'' Nebytov said.







More bodies are being found every day under rubble and in mass graves, he added, with the largest number found in Bucha, where there were more than 350.







According to Nebytov, utility workers gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were ''tracking down'' people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.







Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south of terrorizing civilians and hunting for anyone who served in Ukraine's military or government.







''The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves,'' Zelenskyy said. ''Russia's problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted  by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.''







In his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy also said he discussed the fate of Mariupol with top military and intelligence officials. He said he couldn't offer details, ''but we are doing everything we can to save our people.''







Zelenskyy said peace and ''how many more Ukrainians the occupiers have time to kill'' depends on Ukraine receiving more outside support, and echoed calls for more and faster military aid, as well as an oil embargo on Russia.







More violence could be in store for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.







''The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory,'' Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.







Russia used missiles to destroy a facility for the repair and production of missile systems in Kyiv, Konashenkov said.







Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.







However, Ukrainian officials said forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. A senior U.S. defense official backed up the claim, saying the U.S. now believes the Moskva was hit by at least one Neptune anti-ship missile, and probably two. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment.







The Moskva, named for the Russian capital, sank while being towed to port Thursday after taking heavy damage. Though Moscow did not acknowledge any attack, saying only that a fire had caused ammunition on board to detonate, the loss of the ship represents an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.







The sinking reduces Russia's firepower in the Black Sea, although military analysts disagreed on the event's significance to the course of the war. Either way, the loss was viewed as emblematic of Moscow's fortunes in an eight-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.







''A 'flagship' Russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war,'' Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday.







Russia's warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring Friday as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.







In one central park, a small group of people including a woman draped in a Ukrainian flag danced to the music of a portable speaker.







Such tentative signs of prewar life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes. But a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations.







In Mariupol, the city council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials ''of people killed by them.''







''Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,'' the council said on the Telegram messaging app.







Fighting continued in industrial areas and the port, and Russia for the first time used the Tu-22?3 long-range bomber to attack the city, said Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.







Mariupol has been blockaded by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion, and dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against a siege that has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians.







The mayor said this week that the city's death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence in Mariupol of atrocities like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv.







Mariupol's capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.







It's not certain when Russia will launch a full-scale campaign.







Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of the region.







Also Friday a Russian rocket hit an airport at night in the central city of Oleksandriia, Mayor Serhiy Kuzmenko said via Facebook. He made no mention of casualties.







And a regional Ukrainian official said seven people were killed and 27 wounded when Russian forces fired on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near Kharkiv. The claim could not be independently verified.







Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor's office, told the Suspilne news website that authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected ''violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.''







Russia's Defense Ministry said strikes in the Kharkiv region had ''liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company'' of up to 30 people and ''liberated'' an iron and steel factory in Mariupol. The claims could not be independently verified. (AP)


Song Joong Ki's K-drama comeback "The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate" has confirmed its release date.

The 36-year-old heartthrob is set to return to the small screen with a revenge series under JTBC.

Song Joong Ki's New Drama Premieres in June

Finally, the long wait is over as fans will get to see this South Korean hottie with his new K-drama.

In an exclusive report cited by Newsen, Song Joong Ki's new drama has unveiled its release date.

"The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate" is slated to air on June 22 with a total of 16 episodes.

The news comes after the Hallyu star has returned to South Korea after the production of the series.

According to the same media outlet, the actor arrived at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1in the afternoon of April 15 and was welcomed by the fans and press, who were eager to get a glimpse of the A-lister.

'The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate': What to Expect in Song Joong Ki's New Drama

Following the update regarding "The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate" release date, viewers are thrilled to see Song Joong Ki's return following the smash hit K-drama "Vincenzo" with Jeon Yeo Been.

For his new K-drama, the Hallyu star is working alongside Shin Hyun Bin, whose rise to fame is the medical series "Hospital Playlist."

Apart from the duo, joining as lead stars is the "Juvenile Justice" actor Lee Sung Min while the supporting cast includes Jo Han Chul, Kim Nam Hee from "Sweet Home," Kim Shin Rok from "hellbound" and Girls' Generation member Tiffany.

Interestingly, this will be the Kpop star's debut on the small screen and will portray the character of Rachel, a chaebol family's Korean-American daughter.

From the star-studded cast, "The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate" also features an interesting storyline that will surely get all K-drama fans hooked.

It is based on a popular Kakao webtoon of the same name created by San Kyeong.

Helmed by Jeong Dae Yun, the man behind the success of "I'm Not a Robot," "She Was Pretty," and Lee Jong Suk's rom-com fantasy K-drama "W."

In addition, the director also worked with screenwriter Kim Tae Hee, who penned Song Joong Ki's breakthrough K-drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal," "Monstar," and "A Beautiful Mind."

"The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate" depicts the story of the protagonist Yoon Hyun Woo, played by Song Joong Ki.

Despite being loyal and working with the family for almost a decade, he was betrayed and murdered after being accused of embezzlement of funds by the Sunyang Group, a large family-owned business conglomerate.

However, the plot thickens after Hyun Woo is reincarnated and born as Jin Do Joon. He is now the chaebol's family's youngest.

With his connection to the family, Jin Do Joon is set to undergo an ultimate plan to take over the family's wealth as form his revenge.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Song Joong Ki Trends For Looking Expensive in Dapper Suit on New Magazine Cover

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills


Thanks to its rivetingly gripping romance story, fans and viewers couldn't help but demand to see more of Kim Da Mi, Choi Woo Shik, Kim Sung Cheol and Noh Jung Ui's "Our Beloved Summer"!

Will the drama return with season two this 2022? Keep on reading to know more!

Kim Da Mi

Currently, Kim Da Mi is gearing up to return to the silver screen with new films!

She reprised her role in the sequel of award-winning film "The Witch."

"The Witch: Part 2. The Other One" simply continues the story in the first film. It is expected to be just as good. It is slated to air in June 2022 in theaters nationwide.

In addition to that, she will also work together with Jeon So Nee and Byun Woo Seok in the upcoming romance series "Soulmate," which is based on the Chinese film of the same name.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Kim Da Mi Dishes Out Feelings on Reuniting With Choi Woo Sik in 'Our Beloved Summer,' Reveals Ideal Type, More

It depicts the story of friendship, love, longing, and life between two childhood friends. It is slated to air in the second half of the year.

Choi Woo Shik

Like his onscreen partner, Choi Woo Shik is also busy with his upcoming film "Wonderland."

In the sci-fi film "Wonderland," Choi Woo Shik couples up with idol-actress Suzy to showcase the virtual world that simulates a place for people to reunite with the person they wish to see once more through artificial intelligence.

It was slated to air in 2021 but due to the pandemic, it was later pulled from broadcast. It will now be released on Netflix in the later half of 2022.

In particular, he recently appeared in the silver screen with his new crime drama film "The Policeman's Lineage" with Cho Jin Woong, which grossed a total of 6 million USD during its release.

Kim Sung Cheol

Kim Sung Cheol is also gearing up for his new acting role!

This 2022, he will lead the historical film "The Owl," which tells the story of Qing Dynasty's Crown Prince So Hyun's death.

Actor Yoo Hae Jin, Ryu Jun Yeol and his best friend Ahn Eun Jin will also appear in the work.

Moreover, Kim Sung Cheol plays the role of L in the musical "Death Note" along with Kim Junsu, Lovelyz Kei, Hong Kwang Ho and more.

Noh Jung Ui

Noh Jung Ui's drama "Dear.M" with NCT Jaehyun and Park Hye Soo, which was postponed in 2021, is now ready to meet the public!

The KBS coming-of-age drama that follows the story of young adults going through university life, friendships, and more is scheduled to be released in Japan in the summer of 2022.

"Dear.M" will also be released in South Korea in the second half of the year. On the other hand, Noh Jung Ui also returns to the silver screen with big stars Ma Dong Seok and Lee Jun Young!

The rising actress joins the star-studded film "The Wilderness," a sequel to the disaster film "Concrete Utopia," which will start its principal filming this summer.

Furthermore, a second season of the blockbuster series "Our Beloved Summer" is unlikely to happen.

But fret not! The "Our Beloved Summer" cast has a slew of multiple projects in store for fans to anticipate this 2022! Which drama are you most excited to see? Share it with us in the comments below!

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
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SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 12, 2022--

International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP continues its expansion of its Intellectual Property Practice in Salt Lake City with the addition of Richard Green as Of Counsel. He joins a group of five Stoel Rives partners and three associates who joined in March.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220412005904/en/

Richard Green has joined Dorsey's Salt Lake City office as Of Counsel in its Intellectual Property Practice Group. (Photo: Dorsey & Whitney LLP)

Richard is a registered patent attorney with extensive experience helping intellectual property owners protect and commercialize their innovations. He counsels inventors regarding patentability and IP strategy, and prepares and prosecutes patent applications for life sciences and chemical technologies. Richards years of experience in commercializing early-stage technologies have given him a special understanding of the role sound intellectual property strategy plays in moving ideas along the path from conception to actual impact.

Before joining Dorsey, Richard was of counsel with Stoel Rives in Salt Lake City. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Zoology from the University of Oklahoma, a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Utah and a J.D. from the S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah.

We are pleased that Richard has joined Dorsey, noted Bill Stoeri, Managing Partner of Dorsey. He is an excellent addition to our already strong patent and trademark group in Salt Lake City. Richards expertise in our core industries such as technology and healthcare bring additional capabilities that will help us even better serve our clients IP needs.

About Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Clients have relied on Dorsey since 1912 as a valued business partner. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides an integrated, proactive approach to its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including leaders in the banking, energy, food and agribusiness, health care, mining and natural resources, and public-private project development sectors, as well as major non-profit and government entities.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220412005904/en/

CONTACT: Jeri Longtin-Kloss

+1.612.492.5315

KEYWORD: UTAH UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: CONSULTING LEGAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FINANCE

SOURCE: Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Copyright Business Wire 2022.

PUB: 04/12/2022 11:56 AM/DISC: 04/12/2022 11:56 AM

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America and Britain play cold-war games with Russia in the Arctic.

That headline sums up a situation growing steadily more ominous.

The message is not current, but rather from two years ago in the influential British weekly The Economist. Since then, Russias massive infrastructure and military buildup in the Arctic has continued.

Russias invasion of Ukraine, and the continuing bloody war, underscore the importance of the Arctic rivalry. The headline reflects British fondness for irony, but Arctic developments are no game.

Big money and big militaries are involved. Today, Russia gives disciplined, long-term priority to the Arctic.

Today, melting ice encourages both commercial investment and military activity. Other major powers have devoted relatively little attention to the changing geopolitical dimensions of Northern latitudes.

Neither the Obama nor Trump administration gave the Arctic priority, but we no longer can afford that complacency. Both China and Russia are extremely assertive there, as elsewhere.

Russia President Vladimir Putin relentlessly pursues power and influence in this part of the world, as in others. Operations of surface ships go beyond customary presence of submarines.

Early this year, analysts interpreted Barents Sea operations as preparation to invade Ukraine. Russia publicly denied any such intent.

Russias deployments comprise components of a wider disciplined, comprehensive strategy. That nation spearheads organizing a region of tremendous economic potential. In April 2019, Russia hosted leaders from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in an Arctic Forum held in St. Petersburg.

In 2021, Russia succeeded Iceland in chairing the Arctic Council, which also includes Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United States

President Barack Obama did visit Alaska in 2016, but the trip was largely symbolic and rhetorical. This is unfortunate since the U.S. also chaired the Arctic Council at the time.

There has been some Atlantic area assertiveness. In 2018, NATO held the Trident Juncture military maneuvers anchored in Norway. This large operation was unusual since the end of the Cold War.

A U.S. aircraft carrier entered the Arctic Circle for the first time since the Cold War. Also notable, Finland and Sweden participated along with NATO nations.

Historically Britain has led in Polar matters, joined in the nineteenth century by the United States. Germany also emerged as a leader, until disastrously sidetracked by militarism.

Traditional, serious territorial conflicts continue, and Russias aggressive actions exacerbate them. Current disputes align Russia against Canada and Denmark regarding control of the Lomonosov Ridge, most of which is in international waters. Other involved nations include Finland, Iceland, Sweden and the U.S.

Longer term, history is encouraging regarding international Arctic cooperation. International Polar Years occurred in 1882-1883, 1932-1933 and 2007-2009. The first two inspired the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958, during the height of the Cold War.

Discovery of the Van Allen Radiation Belts was among important IGY scientific discoveries. American scientific and government leadership was instrumental in launching and completing this comprehensive global enterprise.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower also initiated demilitarization of Antarctica. This was the first major arms control agreement of the Cold War, and laid the foundation for others.

Eisenhower combined scientific cooperation with attention to national defense. In August 1958, the new nuclear submarine Nautilus made the first undersea voyage to the North Pole. In 2007, two mini-submarines planted Russias flag on the North Pole seabed, far below the surface.

Putins Ukraine invasion is one brutal component of comprehensive strategy. Newly energized NATO must plan, and act, accordingly. Complacency no longer is an option.

Arthur I. Cyr is director of the Clausen Center at Carthage College and author of After the Cold War (NYU Press and Palgrave/Macmillan). Contact acyr@carthage.edu.

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It is April 12, 1963. Good Friday that year. Good Friday is one of the most sacred, most holy days of the Christian church year.

It is the day that Jesus of Nazareth, more than 1,900 years before, is hung on a cross. Jesus of Nazareth, believed, confessed, proclaimed, professed to be by every Christian voice, the savior of the world. Jesus of Nazareth is lynched, as the late Dr. James Cone and others would call his state-sponsored execution, for daring to challenge the powers that be of the time. He dies on the cross and is shut away in what everyone knows is the hopelessness and bleakness and despair from which there is no escape.

This day in 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, is a day  although not the only day  that Christians jail other Christians for daring to challenge the powers that be in Americas Deep South, for having the temerity to stand up against the racial strictures that consign black people to second or even third class status.

Black Christian preachers Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, among others, are jailed for violating Alabamas law against mass public demonstrations. Theirs was part of a campaign of nonviolent direct action (sit-ins, marches, boycotts, etc.) designed to further the cause of integration.

Instead of being free to mark this holy week that includes Easter, the day of resurrection and all that it signifies in the Christian tradition, Dr. King, Abernathy and the others are tossed into their own place of hopelessness, bleakness and despair. While in jail, they are castigated in a letter to the editor from eight white Christian preachers who accuse them of moving too quickly in seeking racial equality.

Five years later, in 1968, Good Friday was April 12; Easter April 14. Dr. King again would be unable to lead Holy Week and Easter worship services because he had been gunned down a few days earlier  on April 4  on a motel balcony in Memphis.

Dr. Kings response in 1963 to those eight white moderate preachers  his Letter from Birmingham Jail  has become a classic of American literature. In seminary, we discussed the possibility that if we were to reopen the Bible, that is consider adding new books to the holy words of Scripture, Dr. Kings letter should be one to get serious consideration.

Dr. King replies that far from moving too quickly, the push for equal rights has moved at horse and buggy pace, often held back by those who profess to be allies, or at least willing to consider the issues fairly. He asks them to commit fully to rooting out injustice because Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Dr. Kings letter is at the same time a snapshot of the movement, and what the racial climate is in the time the letter is written. It is a look at where its come from. It is a hope of where the movement  and not just the movement but the nation as well  can go, what it can be.

On Good Friday this year, 59 years after Dr. Kings letter was written, 54 years after his murder, we could have hoped we wouldnt need to be talking about this but the reality is we absolutely need to. Talk and act.

As we marked again the day of Jesus death and three days later his resurrection, white people need to stop and consider their part in the ongoing struggle for true equality, real equity, for all people who are in any way oppressed, held back, seen as the other.

We need to go beyond our desire for, as Dr. King went on to say, a negative peace which is the absence of tension, to not let that get in the way of the struggle for a positive peace which is the presence of justice.

To read Letter from Birmingham Jail, visit https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/sites/mlk/files/letterfrombirmingham_wwcw_0.pdf.

Jim Lynch is pastor of Lakeside Lutheran Church in Kenosha, a member of the Coalition for Dismantling Racism and a member of the Greater Milwaukee Synod anti-racism team. He was 13 when Dr. King was murdered. He remembers his mom coming out of the house in tears to tell him and his brothers and sisters the horrible news.

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TWIN LAKES  The Adcock Farm & Co. outdoor market in Twin Lakes kicked off its fourth season Saturday with an Easter Spring Fling Market.

I like the vendors here, Heather Hanrahan, who made the trip from Antioch, Ill., to attend the market, said. It is a really good mix.

Patrons perused booths filled with homemade dog treats, baked goods, textiles, jewelry and art.

We have so many new vendors to offer this year from all over Wisconsin, said Kim Adcock, owner of Adcock Farm & Co., who hosts the market. We appreciate all of our customers who keep coming back and I have a feeling this is going to be a very successful year.

Adcock said she will be taking a different approach this year, offering a several special event markets on select Saturdays and bi-monthly markets on the first and third Thursday from Memorial Day through Labor Day. All markets will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Saturday markets will include a Country Market that will take place July 23, the Saturday during Country Thunder, which runs from July 20-24, and a Kris Kringle Market on Saturday, Nov. 26.

The Country Market will have everything catered to the Country Thunder crowd, like cowboy hats, boots, bags and apparel, Adcock said.

The Kris Kringle Market has been one of the more well-attended events, drawing thousands of people to downtown Twin Lakes.

We will have the petting zoo and pony rides for all of our markets this year and we will still have the food truck and live music, Adcock said.

Adcock said second season attendance was bolstered by Illinois shoppers who traveled north because of the pandemic restrictions south of the border. Last summer was hugely successful, she said, though attendance may have been impacted by outdoor events and special occasions resuming.

It has been so hard with COVID to figure out whats really working and whats not working, Adcock said.

Vendors Cheryl and Dave Koehler, of Kenosha, who sell artisan-made tie-dye clothing and other baubles, said they like that the market is family-friendly.

Twin Lakes is a beautiful town with friendly people, said Cheryl Koehler, who grew up in Lily Lake.

Vendor Barbara Rozny, of Parkridge, Ill., agreed. She offers animal treats at her booth for Maggies Munchies.

The community just pouring in support, Rozny said. Its so nice to see.

Amanda Barker, of Happy Thoughts bakery, said she appreciates the diversity of the vendors.

This is really good combination of vendors and crafters, she said.

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The U.S. government took an important step forward to help address the high incidence of health care professionals burnout, depression, and suicides. On March 18, 2022, President Biden signed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act into law. The law outlines several requirements for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Key among them are to:

Award grants to hospitals, medical professional associations, and other health care entities for programs to promote mental health and resilience among health care providers

Award grants for relevant mental and behavioral health training for health care students, residents, or professionals

Develop and implement an awareness campaign to encourage health care professionals to seek support and treatment for mental and behavioral health concerns

Disseminate best practices to prevent suicide and improve mental health and resiliency among health care providers.

Who was Dr. Lorna Breen?

Dr. Lorna Breen was a well-respected emergency department (ED) physician at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital located in Manhattan. Dr. Breen was one of those frontline heroes we heard so much about during the peak of the pandemic. She was in the ED helping the streaming number of patients infected with COVID-19 before vaccines were available and when personal protection equipment was in dangerously low supply. Besides the usual incoming patients in the ED, these COVID-19 patients were putting all of the doctors and nurses at high risk. As a result, many also became infected with the virus. Working long hours under these perilous conditions made even the most resilient professionals, more exhausted and stressed than ever.

When Dr. Breen too contracted the virus, she quarantined at home as required. Right after she recovered, she was back at the hospital helping others. Sadly, the weight of the pandemic, the longer than ever hours, and day after day exposure to so much loss of life took its toll on Dr. Breen, who took her own life on April 26, 2020.

Suicides among health care professionals

Dr. Breen is not alone among her peers in considering and even committing suicide. I can speak from personal experience as someone who attempted suicide. As a lifelong stutterer, and one who also has battled obsessive-compulsive tendencies and depression for decades, and struggled with each of my patients who I was unable to help, I know what it feels like to reach that level of despair.

A study conducted by Statista in 2019 supports the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and acts among health care professionals. Statista found that 22 percent of Millennial physicians, 24 percent of Generation X physicians, and 21 percent of Baby Boomer physicians had thoughts of suicide but had not attempted it. Other studies also shed light on this pervasive problem.

In its report, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that 300 to 400 physicians commit suicide in the U.S. each year. In addition, the ACEPs study noted that suicides are 250 percent to 400 percent higher among female physicians in comparison to females in other professions.

Along with physicians, other health care professionals too suffer from high rates of suicides. Matthew Davis, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, Department of Systems, Population and Leadership, conducted a study which found that the suicides among nurses were at a rate of 17.1 per 100,000 nurses, which is over twice as much as the 8.6 per 100,000 among American women as a whole.

The path to mental and physical well-being

For many health care professionals, the stresses of their roles routinely take a heavy toll on their mental and physical well-being. It did for me. The pandemic and the unprecedented loss of life were more overwhelming than any of us could have imagined, and for some, it simply pushed them over the edge. But, even before the pandemic, our peers have been suffering from depression, anxiety, and exhaustion and needed resources to help them better cope and manage their well-being. For me, I learned the path to a healthier, more balanced, and purposeful life. I took up ultra-running, which has helped me enormously. I also developed strategies and tactics that I can rely on to keep me on an even keel, even when things get extra challenging. My journey is what inspired me to write a book and share what I have learned with others. The resources which will now be made available as a result of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act are vital to supporting more health care professionals. Many medical associations are applauding the new legislation. We as medical professionals should not hesitate to avail ourselves of any and all resources designed to help us improve our mental and physical well-being so we can continue to help and heal others.

Anthony Avellino is a pediatric neurosurgeon and the author of Finding Purpose: A Neurosurgeons Journey of Hope and Healing.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
President Michael D Higgins has offered his support to the LGBTQI+ coomunity after a number of horrific events in recent days.

Although the President didn't mention specific events in his statement on Easter Saturday, his words followed vigils organised by prominent members of the LGBTQI+ community in memory of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee who were murdered in Sligo last week.

Thousands of people have attended vigils across the island of Ireland in memory of two men in recent days.

In a statement, President Michael D Higgins said: So many of all our thoughts over recent days have been with our LGBTQI+ community and it is greatly heartening to see the outpouring of solidarity with them. I know this will have provided comfort to many people in what is a time of great distress, and I would like to express my deepest support and condolences to all those who have been directly impacted by a number of appalling recent events.

"It is important that we take this opportunity to reflect more deeply on the public space which we are creating as a society, and the freedom and safety within it. When it comes to behaviour, freedom and the expression of affection, ask the question if it is an equal space for members of the LGBTQI+ community?

"Seven years ago next month, we will recall how the public voted in overwhelming numbers to extend full and equal marriage rights to members of the LGBTQI+ community. This was an important and significant milestone and was a clear statement by the people of Ireland that all are entitled to equal legal recognition of their relationships, no matter what their sexual orientation is.

"Yet seven years later, when it comes to behaviour, we still hear far too regularly of members of the gay community being faced with homophobic comments and slurs, often unchallenged. Heartbreakingly, we hear friends or family members telling us that they do not feel comfortable holding the hand of their partner, of their husband or their wife, in public. This suggests an environment which somehow allows that while under the law someones sexuality will be tolerated, its expression must not be allowed. We must do better," the President continued.

"Beyond the recent horrific events lies perhaps a challenge to address the lethargy which is impeding the fullest expression of themselves as citizens by members of the LGBTQI+ community in Irish society. As we go forward, it is surely necessary to address the roots of the assumptions that are sustaining these exclusions and such authoritarian actions in our communities and to consider what individual and collective actions we can take to provide a freer, diverse and inclusive space in our communities built on respect for equality and difference, not just in our laws but in our words and actions. In doing so, we will all benefit from the delivery of such full participation of our shared lives by all our citizens.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NYPD personnel gather at the entrance to a subway stop in Brooklyn on April 12. The suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting was denied bail on April 14, and four survivors remain hospitalized.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Sunny. High 74F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

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A few passing clouds. Low 57F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
MCND, who is in a European tour concert, made a surprise appearance at the K-pop "Random Play Dance" site held in Paris.

On April 14, a random play dance event was held in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris by K-pop YouTuber "Let's Eat Medicine, Toekyung." "Random Play Dance" is held for K-pop fans living in overseas cities, and is a participatory content where anyone plays K-pop music outdoors and dances together.

READ ALSO: MCND to Hold First Fan Meeting, Online and Offline Simultaneously

During the random play dance, global fans in Paris were surprised when MCND's song was played. This is because MCND, who was visiting Paris to host the [1ST] MCND EUROPE TOUR 2022, raided the site.

Despite the surprise performance on the street, MCND, the "All-Main Dancer Group," impressed their fans with their solid dance skills. They are proving the potential of the fourth-generation representative talented idol. Global fans at the scene, who were fascinated by MCND, passionately sang "ICE AGE" on the spot. They shared their reviews of MCND's performance through SNS to convey the hot atmosphere of the site.

Since their debut, MCND has emerged as a new player who will be responsible for K-pop's global popularity by standing out on Spotify, the world's largest streaming service, and social video platform "TikTok."

MCND, which is holding a European tour concert starting with the Amsterdam concert in the Netherlands on the 9th, visited London, Hungary, Budapest, and Cologne, Germany, to meet local fans. In addition, they will continue their tour schedule in Paris, France, Toulon, France, and Lausanne, Switzerland, and visit seven cities in six European countries in turn.

RELATED ARTICLE: MCND's Debut Song "ICE AGE" Cover Craze in Europe!
Finding employees to fill positions has been a difficult task for area businesses and municipalities during the past year.

Last summer many businesses had to cut their hours or shut down for a day because of worker shortages.

However, going forward many area business representatives are optimistic that the hiring climate will improve as the summer season approaches and more people are looking for work.

The latest Wisconsin workforce data show positive growth in the states employment rate and labor force participation, which state officials say may be signs of potential recovery from the surge in resignations caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Workforce Development reported April 14 that Wisconsins unemployment rate for March dropped to 2.8%, according to preliminary estimates. Officials also noted that the state had a record 3,056,200 people employed last month, according to preliminary data.

Area business representatives had an opportunity to meet with prospective employees during the Walworth County Spring Job Fair, which was held April 13 at The Ridge Hotel, W4240 Highway 50 in the Town of Geneva.

About 40 businesses participated in the job fair, which was hosted by the Lake Geneva Regional News.

Representatives from the City of Lake Geneva attended the event looking to fill several positions including beach attendant, parking enforcement officer, lakefront attendant, Riviera custodian, boat launch attendant, seasonal workers for the public works department and a full-time human resource specialist/payroll coordinator.

Parking Operations Manager Seth Elder said several city departments have had difficulty finding employees during the past year.

I know public works is looking for a lot of seasonal help. Boat launch still needs some help, Elder said. Were in decent shape parking-wise, but maybe we could use one more parking enforcement officer.

Elder said he hopes positions will be filled for the upcoming summer tourism season.

Its still pretty early. Its the middle of April, Elder said. We got a little time yet, but not a lot of time.

Elder said attending events such as the job fair gives city officials an opportunity to meet with jobseekers in person.

Anytime you can make a face-to-face connection, its much more effective than a want ad or a posting online, Elder said. Face-to-face is really where you can make the connections.

Chris Palmer, recruitment marketing specialist for Walworth County, participated in the job fair to fill nursing positions and clerical positions for the county, as well as positions for the sheriffs office and department of public health.

Theres a wide range of positions in Walworth County that are available, he said.

Palmer said the county has had difficulty finding employees during the past year, especially for nursing positions.

Nursing has definitely been a tough position across the board, Palmer said. Its one of those things that COVID has brought. Were ramping back up and getting everything in order.

Palmer said he is confident more positions will be filled as summer approaches.

We will probably see some ramp up as summer positions become available, Palmer said. We have a lot of positions with public works right now that were trying to ramp up with and being able to hire people into those positions is very, very important.

Palmer said the job fair helps people learn what type of employment opportunities are available in their area.

Representatives from Superior Ambulance Service attended looking for emergency management technicians, paramedics and maintenance technicians.

Martha Augustine, general manager for Superior Ambulance Service, said the emergency medical service industry has been affected by the recent staffing shortages.

I think our industry has definitely experienced a change during COVID, Augustine said. But were all working together, coming up with creative ways to encourage people to come into the industry.

Augustine said the ambulance service company also participated in the job fair to educate people about its emergency medical technician training program.

Were happy to walk them through the process. Its not as time consuming as they think it would be as far as initial training, Augustine said. We offer advanced training, as well.

Drew Hanzalik, recruiter for Superior Ambulance Service, said more people usually apply for positions as summer approaches and students graduate from college.

Usually with graduation, summer is a much higher hiring volume time for us, Hanzalik said.

Tina Erickson, human resource recruiter for Home Helpers Senior Care in Burlington, was looking for caregivers. It has been difficult hiring caregivers during the past year.

Its a challenge right now, Erickson said. But were working to continue to grow.

Erickson said she is confident that the hiring outlook will improve in the future.

Im optimistic. Im feeling as though we can never stop trying, Erickson said. We have to keep moving forward, getting creative, getting out of the box and taking care of business.

Returning to the workforce

DWD chief economist Dennis Winters said with COVID there was a great resignation with many people leaving the workforce. But he said, Were getting a little bit of data in where the older workers, the baby boomers essentially, are coming back into the workforce. The causes of that are uncertain.

Winters added that time will tell whether that workforce trend will continue.

Michael Lavin, special events chef for Lake Life Catering and Gage Marine, is looking to hire catering associates and to fill other positions for Gage Marine.

Were looking for catering associates, but the whole Gage Marine corporation has positions available from our boat division, to our pier division, to our restaurant division, he said.

Lavin said the hiring market is competitive right now, as many area businesses are looking to fill positions.

But he feels more people will be seeking employment as summer approaches.

I think weve seen a lot more interest, more than last year, Lavin said. I think theres more interest in jobs compared to last year.

Lavin said attending events such as the job fair gives business representatives an opportunity to inform people about the positions they have available.

Youre able to tell your story to people and allow them to see what opportunities you have to offer, Lavin said. One-on-one is better than the visibility of a computer.

A Rock County job fair, also sponsored by the Lake Geneva Regional News, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27 from 1-5 p.m. at Janesville Conference Center, 3100 Wellington Place. To pre-register go to go.lakegenevanews.net/rockcountyjobseeker to get your resume in front of all attending employers before the event.

The Wisconsin State Journal contributed to this report with economic data.

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California [US], April 16 (ANI/Newsvoir): (Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth, noted academic researcher & Founder & Managing Director of Hong Kong based Rupus Global Limited, a globally acclaimed research-focused vertically integrated pharmaceutical Company, which contract manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), finished dosage forms (FDFs), and provides contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) with presence in over 75 countries was conferred the prestigious Honorary Professorship at University of California, Berkeley.

(Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth said, "I am "honoured and humbled" by the academic Board of The University of California - Berkeley's decision to confer on him the prestigious Professorship and expressed appreciation for the recognition of his work & look forward to a long-term fruitful association with University of California - Berkeley."

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(Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth joins a prestigious academic group of individuals who have been similarly honored over the years at the University of California, Berkeley. (Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth has been a Doctoral Fellow at the Institute of Professional Financial Managers, United Kingdom. (Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth is best known for co-authoring & publishing notable milestones in the patents of transdermal formulations and Anti-Cancer API's.

(Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth has also been awarded the prestigious The Albert Schweitzer Medal in Science 2017, The Malcolm Adishesish Award for Development Studies 2020, The Professional Academic Award 2019, The American College Dubai UAE & GSIR Foundation, Outstanding Entreprenuer Award 2011, Asia Pacific Entrepreunership Award (APEA). (Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth did Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering in the year 1992-1996 from Maharashtra Institute of Technology in Pune in India, followed by Asia-E-University and Indian Institute of Research and Management India Master's in Business Administration in the year 2008-2009. (Prof) Dr Kannan Vishwanatth further pursued higher studies from the University of Azteca European Programs and Indian Institute of Research and Management India Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management (2009-2012).

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Prof Dr Kannan Vishwanatth is a world leader in strategy and innovation, has presented many research papers in the international conferences, delivered keynote addresses in London, America, Paris, Germany etc.

Rupus Global Limited is a market leader in the Antimalarial API segment and is the world's third-largest contract manufacturer of Quinine salts. Rupus Global Limited product portfolio consists of the second generation, Quinine-based antimalarial APIs, third-generation Artemisinin-based antimalarial APIs; Niche APIs, and FDFs complimented by APIs in HIV, Diabetes, Ace Inhibitor, and CNS.

Rupus Global Limited has a distributor network of over 250 distributors in India and has entered into a marketing and distribution agreement with Rx Pharma (India) to distribute the company's products domestically. It also exports its products to more than 60 emerging countries in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. The Company's API business has grown rapidly since its commencement in FY2018 and currently contributes over 60 per cent of total revenues while its formulations business contributes over 40 per cent of total revenues.

Berkeley alumni, faculty and researchers include more Nobel laureates, Turing Award winners, Fields Medalists, Wolf Prize winners, and MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipients than those of any other public university in the nation; they have also won 30 Pulitzer Prizes and 19 Academy Awards. The university has produced seven heads of state or government; six chief justices, including Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren; 22 cabinet-level officials; 11 governors; and 25 living billionaires. It is also a leading producer of Fulbright Scholars, MacArthur Fellows, and Marshall Scholars. Berkeley alumni, widely recognized for their entrepreneurship, have founded numerous notable companies, including Apple, Tesla, Intel, eBay, SoftBank, AIG, and Morgan Stanley etc.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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New Delhi [India], April 16 (ANI): Expressing deep concern over the "growing incidents of hate hate speech" and "recent outburst of communal violence" in the country, leaders of 13 Opposition parties in a joint statement on Saturday urged people to maintain peace and harmony while demanding stringent punishment against the perpetrators of communal violence.

In a joint statement, the leaders including Congress, Trinamool, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI(M), DMK, RJD among others condemned the incidents of violence across several states and expressed their "deep" concern.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Police Issues State-Wide Alert After Jahangirpuri Violence on Hanuman Jayanti.

They also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been silent on the issue and said that he has "failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and provoke our society."

"This silence is an eloquent testimony to the fact that such private armed mobs enjoy the luxury of official patronage," it added.

Also Read | Jahangirpuri Violence: Amit Shah Speaks to Delhi Police Chief Rakesh Asthan After Stone Pelting, Clashes During Shobha Yatra.

However, some political parties like Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Aam Aadmi Party are not on the list of signatories and this was pointed out by senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid.

"SP, BSP, AAP wither?" he tweeted.

In their appeal, the Opposition wrote, "We are extremely anguished at the manner in which issues related to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by sections of the ruling establishment to polarize our society."

The Opposition statement said, "We are extremely concerned with the growing incidents of hate speech in the country by people, who appear to have official patronage and against whom no meaningful and strong action is being, taken."

"We strongly condemn the recent outburst of communal violence witnessed across several states in the country. We are deeply concerned, as reports indicate that there is a sinister pattern in the areas where these incidents have occurred. Incendiary hate speeches preceded the aggressive armed religious processions unleashing communal violence," the letter reads.

Emphasizing on the "collective resolve to work together", the Opposition called to strengthen the bonds of social harmony, which they said have "defined and enriched India for centuries."

The Opposition also stressed on the commitment to combat and confront the "poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness" in society.

"We appeal to all sections of the people to maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation. We call upon all our party units across the country to independently and jointly work for maintaining peace and harmony," the letter concluded.

The appeal comes amidst reports of communal clashes from states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat among others.

The joint statement has been signed by Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress, Sharad Pawar (President Nationalist Congress Party), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal CM and chairperson of the Trinamool Congress), M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu CM and President, DMK), Sitaram Yechury (Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary) Farooq Abdullah( National Conference president ), Tejashwi Yadav( RJD leader), D Raja (Communist Party of India general secretary) Debabrata Biswas(All India Forward Bloc general secretary), Manoj Bhattacharya(Revolutionary Socialist Party general secretary), P K Kunhalikutty(IUML general secretary) and Dipanker Bhattacharya (Communist Party of India(ML)-Liberation general secretary). (ANI)

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 16 (ANI): A Special CBI court on Saturday refused to grant further custody of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to the Central Bureau of Investigation after it sought his custody for a further three days.

Anil Deshmukh's lawyer Aniket Nikam opposed the CBI's custody demand.

Also Read | Jahangirpuri Violence: Amit Shah Speaks to Delhi Police Chief Rakesh Asthan After Stone Pelting, Clashes During Shobha Yatra.

Meanwhile, the court rejected the plea of the CBI, which had arrested Deshmukh in connection with a corruption case on April 11, for a further three days of custody.

The court instead sent him and the other accused, suspended police officers Sachin Waze, Kundan Shinde and Sanjeev Palande to judicial custody.

Also Read | Maharashtra Weather Update: At 44 Degrees Celsius, Chandrapur Records Highest Temperature.

CBI had filed a plea seeking only the custody of Deshmukh for three more days for interrogation, saying that the others could be sent to judicial custody as their custodial interrogation was not needed.

Deshmukh and the other three accused were in the custody of the investigating agency from April 6 to 11 in connection with an alleged corruption and extortion case.

On April 11, CBI asked the court for further five-day custody of the accused to confront them with more witnesses and suspects. The court granted the custody which ended today.

Following this, the former Minister Anil Deshmukh, Sachin Waje, Kundan Shinde, and Sanjeev Palande were produced in a special CBI court in Mumbai where CBI asked for his further custody.

Notably, the Former Maharashtra Home Minister was arrested by ED in November, last year in connection with the alleged Rs 100-crore extortion and money laundering case.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had accused Anil Deshmukh of asking dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore from hotels and bars in Mumbai every month. ED registered a case against Deshmukh and others based on a corruption case filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze in March 2021 in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani's house Antilia in Mumbai. (ANI)

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Ghaziabad, Apr 16 (PTI) A management student who was shot dead outside the Toronto subway in Canada early this month was cremated in his home town here on Saturday.

Also Read | Maharashtra Weather Update: At 44 Degrees Celsius, Chandrapur Records Highest Temperature.

The body of the 21-year-old Kartik Vasudev was received by his family at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from where it was taken to his residence at Rajendra Nagar in Ghaziabad and was cremated on the bank of the Hindon river in the evening.

Also Read | Andhra Pradesh: 8-Month Old Dies After Police Blocked Traffic For Ministers Procession.

Kartik's last rites were performed by his younger brother Parth, his father Jitesh Vasudev told PTI.

The body of the slain student was flown to New Delhi from Toronto in Canada, where he was doing MBA.

The victim's father expressed disappointment that no help was provided by the local administration for ferrying his son's body from the IGIA to Ghaziabad.

"No representative of the local administration reached the cremation ground either to console the family," he said.

Kartik Vasudev had gone to Canada in January this year to study for an MBA degree.

He was shot dead in Toronto on April 7 outside the Sherburne subway station.

A 39-year-old man, who allegedly shot Kartik dead, was arrested on April 12 in Toronto.

The victim's father said the family will visit Toronto and contact the police there to enquire about the progress in their investigation.

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New Delhi, April 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a three-day visit to his home state of Gujarat from April 18, during which he is scheduled to attend a number of programmes.

The Prime Minister's Office said Modi will visit the command and control centre for schools in Gandhinagar on April 18 and, the next day, he will dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects at Banas Dairy Sankul in Diyodar in Banaskantha. PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates 'Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya' in New Delhi (Watch Video).

The same day, he will lay the foundation stone of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar. On April 20, he will inaugurate the Global AYUSH Investment & Innovation Summit at Gandhinagar and will later attend the Adijati Maha Sammelan in Dahod and inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects.

Giving details, the PMO said the Command and Control Centre for Schools collects over 500 crore data sets annually and analyses them meaningfully using big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, in order to enhance overall learning outcomes for students.

The Centre helps track daily online attendance of teachers and students, undertake centralised summative and periodic assessments of learning outcome of students. It has been deemed a global best practice by the World Bank, which has also invited other countries to visit and learn about it, the PMO noted.

The new dairy complex and potato processing plant at Banaskantha have been built at a cost of over Rs 600 crores. The new dairy complex is a greenfield project.

It will enable the processing of about 30 lakh litres of milk, produce about 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh litres of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk (Khoya) and six tonnes of chocolate daily.

The potato processing plant will produce different types of processed potato products like french fries, potato chips and aloo tikki, patties among other things, many of which will be exported in other countries. These plants will empower the local farmers and give a boost to the rural economy in the region, the PMO said.

Modi will also dedicate the Banas Community Radio Station to the nation. This station has been established to provide farmers key scientific information related to agriculture and animal husbandry. It is expected that the radio station will connect with over 5 lakh farmers of about 1700 villages.

The PMO said Modi will also inaugurate the expanded facilities for the production of cheese products and whey powder at the Banas dairy plant in Palanpur. Also, he will also inaugurate organic manure and biogas plant established at Dama, Gujarat. Foundation stones of four gobar gas plants of 100 tonnes capacity will also be laid by him.

The PMO said Modi will lay the foundation stone of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar in the presence of his Mauritius counterpart Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus.

GCTM will be the first and only global outpost centre for traditional medicine across the world. It will emerge as an international hub of global wellness. The three-day Global AYUSH Investment & Innovation Summit will witness five plenary sessions, eight roundtables, six workshops, and two symposiums, with the presence of around 90 eminent speakers and 100 exhibitors.

The Summit will help uncover investment potential, and give a fillip to innovation, research and development, start-up ecosystem, and the wellness industry. It will help bring together industry leaders, academicians and scholars together and act as a platform for future collaborations, the PMO said.

In Dajod, Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects worth around Rs 22,000 crore. The Adijati Maha Sammelan is expected to witness participation of over two lakh people.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 16 (ANI): With Trinamool Congress (TMC) leading from both the Ballygunge assembly seat and Asansol Lok Sabha seat in the West Bengal by-polls, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee thanked voters for giving 'decisive mandate' to TMC candidates.

"I sincerely thank the electors of the Asansol Parliamentary Constituency and the Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving decisive mandate to AITC party candidates", tweeted Mamata Banerjee.

Also Read | Hindi Language Row: Congress To Oppose Hindi 'Imposition' on Non-Hindi Speaking States.

"We consider this to be our people's warm Shubho Nababarsho gift to our Ma-Mati-Manush organization. Salute to the voters for reposing faith in us, yet again," she added in another tweet.

The results for the Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal's Asansol and the Assembly seat in Ballygunge will be declared on Saturday.

Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Youth Kills 25-Year-Old Man Over Past Dispute in Rakhial; Held While Attempting To Flee.

The BJP has fielded Keya Ghosh while Saira Shah Halim is the CPI(M) candidate from the Assembly by-poll. The TMC has fielded former Union Minister Shatrughan Sinha while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominated Agnimitra Paul from the Asansol constituency for the by-poll.

The by-polls were necessitated after former Union Minister Babul Supriyo resigned as the Lok Sabha MP of Asansol after resigning from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He later joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The Ballygunge Assembly seat by-poll was necessitated after the demise of state Minister Subrata Mukherjee.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Supriyo had defeated TMC candidate Moon Moon Sen by a massive margin of 1,97,637 votes, securing 51.56 per cent of the total votes polled. In 2014, Supriyo's victory margin was 70,480 votes.

Bye-election to a Ballygunge Assembly seat and Asansol Lok Sabha seat was held on April 12. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
If we talk about fashion's biggest events in Hollywood, one that exceeds the others has to be the Met Gala. Interestingly, a name synonymous with the event is Katy Perry. The American pop star Katy Perry is known for her extravagant outfits and red carpet looks at the Met Gala down the years. Katy Perrys Met Gala 2019 Chandelier Dress Inspires Just Sul Who Makes One of His Own!

As per Page Six, Perry previously told that while her 'very colorful, very costumey, very quirky' onstage style isn't going anywhere, she's been favouring more 'sophisticated and streamlined and sexy' looks for red carpets and press appearances. "You know, it would be pretty obvious for me to go play the kooky, crazy, wild, big, fun, colorful card. I think this time I'm going to play a whole different card," says the pop star.

Some of the memorable outfits Katy donned at the Gala include a gold chainmail Atelier Versace mini styled with giant angel wings, which she wore on the red carpet in 2018; a large, lit chandelier dress, and an oversized cheeseburger costume in 2019. "I know what the people want, and I know where I came from. I always want to put a good show on," Perry told Page Six, adding, "I take fashion risks all the time, but I never have any regrets." Katy Perry's Pregnancy Cravings are all about Indian Food, Says 'Never Wanted More Spice Than I do Want In My Life Now'.

Check Out Viral Pics Below:

Katy Perry will be attending the 2022 met gala, she quotes "I'll be playing a whole different card!" pic.twitter.com/j4Ig8nYL18  Who's Katy? (@KatyPerryNow_) April 15, 2022

"Maybe I'm not even going, because I'm going to send someone the armor and they're just going to pretend to be me!" Katy jokes. Taking place on May 2, the Met Gala 2022 will be co-hosted by Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Regina King and Lin-Manuel Miranda, while the dress code at this year's red carpet will call for 'gilded glamour.'

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Arizona, Apr 16 (AP) Prosecutors have asked the Arizona Supreme Court to call off an upcoming hearing scheduled by a lower-court judge to determine the mental fitness of a prisoner to be executed in what would be the state's first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich's office told the state's highest court in a filing Wednesday that the May 3 mental competency hearing scheduled in Pinal County for death-row prisoner Clarence Dixon is likely to delay his May 11 execution for his murder conviction in the 1977 killing of Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin.

Also Read | NATO Membership Unlikely To Help Build Sweden and Finlands International Prestige, Says Russian Foreign Ministry.

The prosecutors are seeking to throw out the lower court's order that concluded defense lawyers had shown reasonable grounds for planning a hearing over whether Dixon is psychologically fit.

Dixon's lawyers have said their client erroneously believes he will be executed because police at Northern Arizona University wrongfully arrested him in a previous case  a 1985 attack on a 21-year-old student. His attorneys concede he was in fact lawfully arrested then by Flagstaff police.

Also Read | Magic Mushroom Helps To Open Up Brains of People Facing Depression, Finds Study.

Dixon was sentenced to life sentences in that case for sexual assault and other convictions. DNA samples taken while he was in prison later linked him to Bowdoin's killing, which at that point had been unsolved.

His attorneys say Dixon's inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy in the case involving an NAU student had started to spill into the case over Bowdoin's killing.

Dixon had fired his attorney in the case involving Bowdoin's death under an irrational belief that the DNA evidence wasn't admissible in the murder case because he erroneously thinks the NAU Police Department wasn't a legal entity when it arrested him on the sexual assault charges, his current lawyers have said.

Prosecutors told the state Supreme Court that even though Dixon's attorneys argued their client's focus on the 1985 sexual assault conviction shows he was incompetent to decline his right to a lawyer, the courts in rulings after his murder verdict found that Dixon's focus on that legal challenge, though untenable, did not demonstrate a lack of competence. Jennifer Moreno, one of Dixon's attorneys, didn't return a message seeking comment on the state's bid to call off the competency hearing.

Dixon's attorneys say putting Dixon to death would violate protections against executing people who are mentally incompetent. They cited a psychiatrist's conclusion that their client lacks a rational understanding of the reasons for his execution.

Prosecutors said Dixon's legal theory isn't legally viable, but argued that his attempts to undo his murder conviction show he has a rational understanding of why the state is seeking his execution.

Defense attorneys say Dixon has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia on multiple occasions, has regularly experienced hallucinations over the past 30 years and was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 1977 assault case in which the verdict was delivered by then-Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sandra Day O'Connor, nearly four years before her appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bowdoin was killed two days after the verdict, according to court records.

Authorities have said the 21-year-old Bowdoin, who was found dead in her apartment, had been raped, stabbed and strangled. Dixon had been charged with raping Bowdoin, but the charge was later dropped on statute-of-limitation grounds. He was convicted, though, in her death.

The last time Arizona used the death penalty was in July 2014, when Joseph Wood was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours in an execution that his lawyers said was botched.

States, including Arizona, have struggled to buy execution drugs in recent years after U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies began blocking the use of their products in lethal injections. Last year, Arizona corrections officials revealed that they had finally obtained a lethal injection drug and were ready to resume executions.

In addition to asking the Pinal County court for a mental fitness proceeding, lawyers for Dixon have filed two other lawsuits over the past week.

In one lawsuit, they asked a court to bar the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency from holding his April 28 clemency hearing, arguing the makeup of the board violates a state law limiting the number of people from the same profession from serving on the board. Three of the board's four current members are retired law enforcement professionals, the lawsuit said.

Dixon's lawyers also filed a federal lawsuit protesting several conditions of his confinement since the execution warrant was issued and he was moved to another cell where he is observed around the clock and has limited access to personal property.

Arizona has 112 prisoners on death row. (AP)

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Islamabad, Apr 16 (PTI) Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan has appealed to overseas Pakistanis to donate money for a campaign launched by his party against the new "imported government" led by Shehbaz Sharif.

In a video message posted on Twitter on Friday, Khan said a "corrupt government" was imposed on Pakistani people through a "foreign conspiracy" for regime change.

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"This is an insult to the 22 crore Pakistani people," Khan asserted, nearly a week after the 69-year-old was succeeded by Sharif, the Leader of the Opposition and President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Terming his campaign as 'Haqiqi Azadi' (real freedom), Khan said his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has launched the website, namanzoor.com, to raise funds from overseas Pakistanis for the purpose.

Also Read | Pakistan National Assembly To Take Up No-Trust Vote Against Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri Today.

"Let's thwart the foreign conspiracy for regime change and take the country towards elections. Let the people of Pakistan decide their government," he said.

The PTI party also tweeted the party chairman's "message for overseas Pakistanis who also have rejected the imported government".

Khan, who came to power in 2018, reportedly with the backing of the military, became the first Pakistan prime minister who was defeated in a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly on Sunday last.

Khan has been claiming that the Opposition's no-trust motion against him was the result of a foreign conspiracy because of his independent foreign policy. He has named the US as the country behind the conspiracy, a charge bluntly denied by Washington multiple times.

Khan has alleged that Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the Department of State was involved in the foreign conspiracy' to topple his government.

Hours after his unceremonious removal, Khan in his first comments on Sunday last had said that Pakistan's "freedom struggle" has begun again with the ouster of his government due to a "foreign conspiracy".

"Pakistan became an independent state in 1947; but the freedom struggle begins again today against a foreign conspiracy of regime change," he wrote on his official Twitter handle.

"It is always the people of the country who defend their sovereignty and democracy," he had said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Peshawar, April 16: A local Sikh trader in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has distributed "Ramadan packages" among residents to promote religious harmony in the Muslim-majority country, according to a media report on Saturday.

Parlat Singh, a resident of Tirah valley in the restive province, on Friday distributed 200 kg of dates and hundreds of packs of sugar as part of a "Ramadan package", The Express Tribune newspaper reported. According to the residents, Singh also donated 100 bags of cement for the construction of three mosques, as well as mattresses to the mosques.

Charity is an essential part of the Sikh religion and members of the Sikh community regularly feed the poor through their community kitchen service across the world. Ramzan 2022 Time Table: Sehri and Iftar Timings for 15th Roza of Ramadan on April 17 in Mumbai, Lucknow, and Delhi.

Thanking Singh for his services, Haji Sher Muhammad Afridi, the president of local traders association, said that "today, Parlat Singh not only distributed edibles but also donated cement for local mosques. The Sikh community is an integral part of our society." Adding that Tirah Valley was "badly affected by the wave of terrorism," Afridi said the people of the locality were "really in need of help".

(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 16 (ANI): The South Asian community in New York has been shaken in recent weeks by a string of hate crimes against Sikh men in Richmond Hill, a neighbourhood sometimes called Little Punjab that is home to a large Sikh community and a prominent Sikh temple.

Liam Stack and Samira Asma-Sadeque, writing in The New York Times (NYT), said that within 10 days, three Sikhs were attacked in the New York City block. Residents are fearful in a quiet Queens neighbourhood, where younger Sikhs have begun to escort their elders to the temple.

Also Read | Easter 2022: From Giant Omelette To Kite Flying, Unique Easter Sunday Traditions Around The World!.

Gulzar Singh was walking to work on Tuesday morning, chatting with his wife on a video call, when he was attacked. Two men beat the 45-year-old Sikh across the back of the head, ripped off his turban and left him bleeding on the sidewalk in a quiet Queens neighbourhood.

Ten minutes later, on the same block, another Sikh man, Sajan Singh, 58, was attacked from behind by two men who beat him, robbed him and ripped off his turban. Nine days earlier, Nirmal Singh, 70, yet another Sikh man, had been assaulted on the same tree-lined street, reported NYT.

Also Read | Pakistan National Assembly To Take Up No-Trust Vote Against Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri Today.

"I thought the first attack was isolated and did not think anything beyond that," said Gulzar Singh, a construction worker who came to the United States from India in 2015.

The second round of attacks that happened on the same morning as the mass shooting that injured at least 23 people on the subway in Brooklyn, has left many Sikhs deeply afraid, said Stack and Asma-Sadeque.

"Incidents like this make you think again," said Sukhjinder Singh Nijjar, a representative of the Sikh Cultural Society, after a rally in Richmond Hill on Thursday.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the attacks. Vernon Douglas, 19, was charged on Thursday with assault as a hate crime, robbery and aggravated harassment, in connection with the April 4 attack.

Hezekiah Coleman, 20, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with assault as a hate crime, robbery as a hate crime and aggravated harassment.

But Sikhism remains widely misunderstood in the United States. Many Sikh victims of hate crimes were mistaken for Muslims, a religious community that has faced widespread discrimination in the United States in recent decades, said Stack and Asma-Sadeque.

In the first month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Sikh Coalition documented more than 300 instances of violence and discrimination against Sikhs in the United States.

The attacks this month in Queens are part of an alarming increase over the last few years in the number of anti-Sikh hate crimes reported to federal law enforcement.

According to the latest FBI hate crimes report, 94 anti-Sikh incidents were reported to law enforcement in 2020, compared with 44 in 2018, reported NYT.

Earlier in April, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too had raised the issue of attacks on Sikhs in America during his US visit.

Answering a query about US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remarks at the joint press conference after the 2+2 dialogue, Jaishankar said India also takes a view on other people's human rights situation, including that of the United States and raises matters concerning the Indian community. (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, April 16: The Congress is gearing up to oppose any move to implement Hindi in the non-speaking states after a controversy erupted since Union Home MInister Amit Shah said that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative language to English.

The Congress said that the BJP is testing the waters by creating an issue and promoting division in the country but the party will oppose any such move when the government enforces it. Congress Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council B K Hariprasad told IANS: "It's not an easy thing as the non-Hindi speaking states will not accept it and we will oppose any such move. However I speak Hindi, but people will not accept this, the government should see the history, see what had happened before on the issue." Hindi Language Row: BJP Leaders Say Time Is Right for One Nation One Language.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, presiding over the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee, had said unless we make Hindi flexible by accepting words from other local languages, it will not be propagated.

He informed the members that now 70 per cent of the agenda of the Cabinet is prepared in Hindi and over 22,000 Hindi teachers have been recruited in the eight states of the North East. The nine tribal communities of the North East have converted their dialects' scripts to Devanagari while all the eight states have agreed to make Hindi compulsory in schools up to Class 10.

The BJP too knows the implications and its Tamil Nadu unit has said that there is no move to implement any language forcefully. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has alleged that this is language imperialism.

"Hindi is Raj Bhasha, not Rashtra Bhasha, as Rajnath Singh said in Parliament when he was HM. Hindi imperialism will be the death knell for India. I'm very comfortable with Hindi, but I don't want it rammed down anybody's throat. Amit Shah is doing a disservice to Hindi by imposing it," he had tweeted.

Amit Shah had emphasised that there is a need to give elementary knowledge of Hindi to students up to Class nine and to pay more attention to Hindi teaching exams.

The Home Minister said that after meeting all the concerned Secretaries, an Implementation Committee should be constituted to review the progress of implementing the recommendations of the 1st to 11th volumes of the Official Language Committee report.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided that the medium of running the government is the Official Language and this will definitely increase the importance of Hindi.

Congress ally DMK too has opposed it vehemently. 'Murasoli', the mouthpiece of the party, said that party patriarch and former Chief Minister, the late M. Karunanidhi, had, as a 14-year-old student, marched across the streets of Tirupattur against the then Central government's move to impose Hindi on the people of the state.

The people of Tamil Nadu have still not forgotten the rally taken out by Karunanidhi against Hindi, it said, adding: "Do not forget it". In a direct call to the people of Tamil Nadu to strongly oppose the imposition of Hindi, the article asserted that there were no cowards in the state and that Hindi cannot be imposed on them.

Karunanidhi's son and present Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin has strongly come out against the Union Home Minister's statement, saying that it would destroy national integration.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2022 02:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The Delhi BJP president said he will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and urge him to order a probe into the violence. He also questioned how the settlement of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis living illegally in Delhi were provided water and electricity connections.
Elon Musk's Twitter takeover offer was hindered by a measure from the social media company on Friday.

According to CBS News, Twitter adopted a poison pill plan that can prevent the Tesla founder and any other group or company from significantly increasing their stake in the social media company.

Twitter named its poison pill plan "The Rights Plan," claiming that the measure will "enable all shareholders to realize the full value of their investment in Twitter."

In addition, The Rights Plan will also diminish the possibility that any person, group, or entity, has control over Twitter through open market accumulation without giving other shareholders a control premium on the social media app, and giving enough time to the board to make sound decisions.

CBS News noted that the poison pill plan will be effective once an entity, group, or individual were able to buy at least 15 percent of Twitter's stock in a purchase that is not approved by the board.

Twitter emphasized in its statement that its poison pill plan will end on April 14 next year.

The poison pill plan was first used in the 1980s when lawyers from an oil company targeted by corporate raider T. Boone Pickens advised the company to fill the market with new shares, making it difficult for Pickens to buy a controlling stake.

READ NEXT: Elon Musk Slammed by Truth Social CEO David Nunes for Being Twitter's Biggest Shareholder

Tesla Founder Elon Musk Buys Twitter

The poison pill plan was announced by Twitter a day after Elon Musk offered to buy the social media app 100 percent.

Musk reportedly offered $54.20 per share in cash, according to an updated regulatory filing on Thursday, per The Verge.

Musk's offer also valued Twitter at around $43 billion, the outlet noted, citing CNBC.

"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy," Musk said in a letter addressed to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor.

Musk also claimed that he will have to reconsider his position as a shareholder if his offer is not accepted by Twitter.

However, not everyone was impressed with Musk's offer.

According to Bloomberg News, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the prince of Saudi Arabia, blatantly said that he rejects Musk's offer, per CBS News.

The prince of Saudi Arabia reportedly controls more than 4% of Twitter.

Elon Musk and Twitter

Earlier in April, the Tesla founder became the biggest shareholder of Twitter after he acquired a 9 percent stake in the company.

According to the Securities Exchange Commission, Musk owns 74,486,938 Twitter shares. He reportedly bought the shares on Twitter after he questioned the media platform's dedication to free speech and the First Amendment.

READ NEXT: Twitter Net Worth 2022: How Much Is Twitter Valued After Elon Musk Made $43 Billion Offer?

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: AP Explains: Twitter's 'Poison Pill' for Elon Musk - From Associated Press
SNAP Benefits 2022 in New Mexico can be distributed through the New Mexico Fiesta EBT card, which can help residents purchase their food items.

New Mexico residents can buy their food products at participating grocery stores or wherever they see the Quest logo, according to Go Banking rates report.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is formerly known as Food Stamp Program, provides financial assistance to eligible New Mexicans with low income and limited resources to put food on their tables.

The New Mexico Human Services Department uses federal guidelines to SNAP eligibility, with factors considered such as the household's countable income.

READ NEXT: SNAP Benefits 2022: Texas, California, Florida, Other States Payment Updates

New Mexico EBT Card

Residents who are approved for certain benefits will be issued a New Mexico EBT Card. The EBT card is used like a bank debit card with your benefit amount deposited into your EBT account each month.

EBT cards can be used at grocery stores with the card being inserted into the Point-Of-Sale terminal or handed to the cashier, according to HSD New Mexico website.

Retailers will not hand out changes for SNAP benefit purchases as only the exact amount of your food purchase is deducted from your SNAP benefits account.

Cash benefits can also be used to purchase both food and non-food items. Retailers can provide changer or cash-back from your Cash account.

However, not all store policies are the same and some may not offer a cash-back.

The New Mexico Human Services Department will mail your EBT card if this is the first SNAP or Cash assistance benefit you will receive.

Your EBT card should arrive within seven days of applying. If it is lost or stolen, recipients should immediately call the 24-hour Fidelity Information Services Customer Service Help Desk at 1-800-843-8303.

Your card will be immediately canceled and a replacement card will be ordered.

To be eligible, one must be a U.S. citizen or a qualified lawful resident. One must also list who lives and eats in the household.

Those who want to apply for the benefits must also list down what property and bank account the household has, including other expenses such as rent, utilities, and child care.

SNAP Benefits 2022

The United States Department of Agriculture noted that more than 41 million people receive SNAP to help with food security.

SNAP is administered by the states despite it being a federal program.

U.S. Census Bureau noted that the way benefits are calculated can vary from one state to the next while eligible requirements and benefit levels are the same across all states, except Alaska and Hawaii, according to another Go Banking Rates report.

Just six percent of the population participates in SNAP in New Hampshire. In addition, they receive a relatively low $110 monthly payment.

States with bigger populations have more SNAP recipients and states with higher poverty rates have a larger percentage of their residents in the program.

Certain states have been named for the SNAP benefits program. In California, it is called CalFresh; FoodShare in Wisconsin; and Food Stamps in Utah.

READ MORE: SNAP Benefits 2022 Schedule for California, Florida, Texas and More: When to Get Food Assistance Each Month

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: New Mexico households to receive extension of SNAP benefits for March - from KRQE






Honduran teen Cristopher Alvarado Sabillon was trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border with his two cousins and sister to reunite with his mother in Texas.

However, the 14-year-old drowned while crossing the Rio Grande River that divides Mexico's city of Piedras Negras with Eagle Pass in Texas on Saturday night, NBC News reported.

His family said the teen embarked on a trek from Honduras to the U.S.-Mexico border with his two cousins and sister, who are all minors.

Alvarado Sabillon's sister reached her hand out toward her brother as she tried to help him through the strong currents, but she was never able to hold on to her brother.

The 16-year-old girl said it was dark, and she could barely see anything, so she started yelling out her brother's name, but she never got an answer.

According to the family, Alvarado Sabillon's sister and her cousins are currently in the custody of Health and Human Services.

READ NEXT: Dozens of Russia's Refugees Allowed to Cross U.S. Border Under Secret Deal With Mexico

Honduran Teen Drowns in Rio Grande River

Border Patrol agents had started searching for the Honduran teen after learning that he went missing while trying to cross the Rio Grande River.

Cristopher Alvarado Sabillon's mom, Roxana Sabillon, received a photo confirming her son's death four days later. The teen's body was reportedly found floating on the Mexican side of the river.

"They took half my life. They took it from me. All I have left now is to stand by a wooden box to give him his last goodbye. And that hug I didn't give him," Roxana told Noticias Telemundo.

Roxana immigrated to the U.S. in 2016 and left her two children with their grandparents in Honduras. She said it was likely that years of widespread crime and gang activity may have pushed her children to cross the border with their cousins without her knowledge.

More People Drowned While Trying to Cross U.S.-Mexico Border

Ten more people drowned while trying to cross the river in the same place during the four days that the Honduran teen was missing. Border patrol agents said Wednesday that they had rescued 12 people who were also being swept away by the river's fast current.

Last October, federal officials noted that one woman drowned, and 13 people were pulled from the water after up to 70 people tried to illegally enter the U.S. from Tijuana by swimming around the barrier at Border Field State Park in San Diego, according to USA Today.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said border patrol agents found the woman unresponsive after being notified that immigrants were trying to swim.

The CBP noted the agents performed CPR and brought in an emergency medical services team, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Coast Guard then managed to rescue 13 people from the water. The Border Patrol, Coast Guard, San Diego fire crews, and California State Parks officers searched the area and took 36 Mexican nationals into custody, including 25 men and 11 women.

Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke of the Border Patrol's San Diego Sector said at that time that it was "another example of the ruthless tactics smuggling organizations use to bolster their power and profits."

READ MORE: Border Patrol 'Robot Dogs' Soon to Be Deployed Along U.S.-Mexico Border

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Six Migrant Children Rescued From The Rio Grande In Border Crossing Attempt - From NBC News






China firmly opposes U.S. congressmen's visit to Taiwan: spokesperson

Xinhua) 10:16, April 16, 2022

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Friday slammed the visit to Taiwan by some members of the U.S. Congress.

The visit is a deliberate provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, said Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense.

It is extremely hypocritical and untrustworthy for the United States to pledge not to support "Taiwan independence" on one hand and send a seriously wrong signal to the secessionist forces on the other hand, Wu said.

China firmly opposes this and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side, Wu noted.

The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has conducted a combined combat-readiness patrol and carried out targeted training exercises in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island, according to Wu.

The PLA has been in full combat readiness and will take all measures necessary to resolutely defeat the interference of external forces and thwart the secessionist attempts at "Taiwan independence", Wu stressed.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Johnny Depp's camp reportedly showed footage of his ex-wife, Amber Heard, having late-night "meetings" with Elon Musk and James Franco to the jury in his defamation suit in Virginia.

According to Marca, the black and white videos wherein Heard was seen getting into an elevator with Musk and Franco on separate occasions were shown to the jury.

The outlet noted that there were moments in the elevator footage where the actress did not have clothes and was only covered with a blanket. Heard reportedly showed physical affection to Musk and Franco, but mildly.

"Under VA law there is no way Musk or Franco can be forced to attend proceedings. Neither side can compel them to appear although first listed on Heard's witness list.

They likely won't show up."



It's ok, we got you on tape and seen by witnesses who will testify. We keep going. pic.twitter.com/kGrLV7Txsq  Sienna (@winonasrider) April 8, 2022

Marca reported that the Tesla founder and the "Pineapple Express" actor were expected to go and testify at the trial, but they most likely will not show up.

Depp's lawyers have accused Heard of having "extra-marital affairs" with Musk and Franco. The two celebrities were included in the actress' list of 80 possible witnesses she plans to call upon to back up her story of being beaten and abused by her ex-husband.

.Video of just how intimate James Franco and Amber Heard were on the private elevator owned by Johnny Depp. pic.twitter.com/pKwTWVwPQq  Justice for Johnny Depp (@1009REDkml) December 25, 2021

Franco's apartment was reportedly in the same block as Depp and Heard's at the time. Franco and Musk can tell the court if the actress told them about any fights or if any bruises were visible on her face during the visit to their apartment.

However, Daily Mail reported that Musk would likely be a no-show at Depp and Heard's defamation trial that kicked off early this week.

Under Virginia law, the outlet noted that Musk, a non-resident of the state, could not be forced to attend proceedings at the Fairfax County Circuit Court, either in person or via video link.

Lawyers can instead draw upon their deposition as evidence if a witness decides not to participate. However, the Daily Mail reported that the Tesla CEO never sat down for one with either side.

During the third day of the trial, another recording from the security cameras of the Art Deco Eastern Columbia skyscraper that showed two officers of the Los Angeles Police Department appearing at the building on the night of May 21, 2016 was also shown to the jury.

The surveillance footage was reportedly significant because that was when Heard alleged that Depp threw a phone at her face earlier that day, which the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor denied. Depp owned several apartments at the said Los Angeles building, where the couple has lived.

READ NEXT: Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard Defamation Lawsuit Continues as Judge Decides Not To Dismiss It

Amber Heard and Elon Musk Open up About the 'Affair' While She Was Married to Johnny Depp

In a 2020 statement, Amber Heard said Elon Musk did not visit her in their apartment in 2015 while Johnny Depp was away, BBC reported. The actress said she did not have any "illicit relationships," and she was not in touch with the SpaceX founder until the following year.

In the same year, Musk echoed what Heard claimed and said that he and Amber started going out about a month after the actress' divorce filing, Geo reported.

"I don't think I was ever even in the vicinity of Amber during their marriage!" Musk noted.

But in a 2020 written statement by a witness in the high-profile case of Depp against a British newspaper at the High Court in London, Alejandro Romero, a concierge at the Eastern Columbia Building, said he saw Musk visiting Heard when "Depp was in Australia."

Romero noted that "from March 2015 onwards, Ms. Heard was visited regularly late at night, at around 11pm to midnight, by Mr. Elon Musk." He added that Heard even gave the Tesla CEO Musk his own fob to access the building. The "Aquaman" actress has denied all these claims.

Heard has confirmed that James Franco was the one recorded in the elevator with her on May 22, 2016. However, she claimed that they were only talking and the actor was asking her what happened to her face.

She noted that she collected Franco from downstairs, adding that she did not sleep much at night "in those days."

Depp lost the case at the High Court in London in 2020. The actor sued "The Sun" and its executive editor Dan Wootton after he was labeled as a "wife-beater" in the paper's 2018 headline.

Depp has accused Heard of being the "abusive one," arguing that the actress faked photos to make it look like he injured his ex-wife.

Depp further noted that the actress came into his life and took everything that was "worth taking" and allegedly destroyed what remained in his life.

But despite his claims, the actor lost the libel case, and the judge concluded that he "regularly beat" her ex-wife.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's Defamation Trial

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are battling over a 2018 op-ed the actress wrote for the Washington Post, calling herself a domestic violence survivor.

The piece did not mention Depp by name, but the actor claimed he was booted from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise due to the "clear implication" that he was the abuser in his ex-wife's op-ed.

Depp further alleged that Heard was the actual "perpetrator" of the violent encounters that damaged their relationship. He is asking for $50 million in damages.

On the other hand, Heard has filed a $100 million counterclaim against the actor, who she divorced in 2017, for nuisance.

On Tuesday's hearing, Heard's attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, threw some explosive new sex assault allegations against the actor.

Bredehoft told the jury that Depp penetrated the actress with a liquor bottle during a three-day, drug-fueled bender in Australia in 2015.

Describing the incident, the lawyer noted that Depp had his ex-wife jammed up against the bar, hurled bottles at her, dragged her, punched her, and kicked her before penetrating her with a liquor bottle.

But Depp's spokesman has vehemently denied those claims. The spokesman said the claims were "fictitious" and were never made at the onset of Heard's allegations in 2016.

On Thursday, Dr. Laurel Anderson, who treated the couple starting in 2015, said the pair has a "dysfunctional and volatile" relationship, Fox News reported.

Anderson noted that the couple engaged in a "mutual abuse" but added that Heard, on more than one occasion, "started it."

The clinical psychologist also said that Heard admitted that she had hit, socked, and hurled a can at her ex-husband in various brawls. She noted the actress also told her that the actor had also smacked her and showed her bruises to prove it.

But Anderson said Heard had a "jackhammer style of talking" that made it difficult for the actor to a get word in, adding that "he was cut off a lot."

Heard's personal assistant from 2012 to 2015, Kate James, also testified and said that her former boss was extremely demanding.

James noted that the actress called her at all hours and on weekends but refused to pay her overtime. She added that the actress was also "verbally abusive" to her, her late mother, and her sister.

James also claimed that she never witnessed the couple arguing, Insider reported. She noted that she never saw any evidence of domestic violence during her regular visits to the couple's respective homes.

James added that over the years she worked with Amber Heard, she regularly interacted with Johnny Depp, and she never saw the actor yell or be rude to anyone.

The defamation trial has adjourned until Monday. It is expected to last more than a month.

READ MORE: Johnny Depp Decries Cancel Culture, Says He's a Victim and That 'No One Is Safe'

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Proof Amber Heard Cheated On Johnny Depp With Elon Musk - From InformOverload
A man charged with a Section 3 assault and with threatening to kill came before Judge Patricia Cronin at last weeks district court.

In his evidence Garda Sergeant James OSullivan said that at 7.30pm on January 11, 2022 Gardai were called to Esker End road,Tullamore, where a domestic dispute had occurred.

It was alleged that Maxsims Selickis (42) assaulted a woman and threatened to kill her.

Sgt James OSullivan said the woman alleged she was terrified of Maxsims Selickis and what he could do. The couple's 18 year old daughter was present but refused to make a statement, said Sgt OSullivan.

Judge Cronin accepted jurisdiction in the case. Mr Selickis faces further charges as set out by Garda Stacey OBrien. She said when Mr Selickis was cautioned in the usual manner he made no reply.

Legal aid was granted in the case to Ciaran OBrien Solicitors and a Russian interpreter was ordered for the defendant.

Mr Selickis was granted court bail and the case was put back to May 4 when the defendant will either have to plead guilty or be given a date for a hearing.
Suzuki has introduced its two-seater Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) version of its small and lightweight Jimny off-roader to the Republic of Ireland and it will be available in very limited numbers.

The new Suzuki Jimny arrived in Europe in 2018, but it wasnt offered for sale in the Irish market at the time. Unfortunately, the Jimny fell foul of European emissions regulations, so sales stopped almost as soon as they started.

Now, Suzuki is selling the Jimny LCV due to less stringent emissions legislation that commercial vehicles must meet.

Flat Cargo Area

The Jimnys two back seats have been replaced by a flat cargo area that has a capacity of 863-litres and a payload of 150kg. The space on offer wont be big enough for many, but it is sure to appeal to a certain audience who will appreciate the fact that the Jimny is one of the best compact off-roaders on the market right now. The only addition inside the Jimny Commercial is a steel mesh partition to prevent items falling forward into the cabin.

One Spec Grade

The Jimny LCV is available in one specification grade which includes air conditioning, All Grip Pro selectable 4WD with low transfer gear, DAB radio, electric windows, remote central locking, and cruise control with speed limiter.

Externally, the chunky styling of the Jimny remains as appealing as ever, with black wheel arch extensions and black steel wheels providing a rugged look. Additionally, a full size spare wheel is located on the rear door, with a black plastic cover for a smooth appearance.

The Jimny Commercial measures in at 3,645mm in length (including the spare wheel), 1.645mm in width and 1,720mm in height, with the wheelbase measuring in at 2,250mm.

Uncompromising Off-Road Performance

The Jimny Commercial features uncompromising off-roading performance desired by professionals with key essentials  a ladder frame, three ample body angles, three-link rigid axle suspension and All Grip Pro 4WD.

For enhanced peace of mind when driving both on and off-road, the LCV model comes equipped with a high level of safety features including Dual Sensor Brake Support (DSBS) which employs automatic brake to help avoid a collision, and hill hold and descent control that support driving on slopes.

In addition, eCall (an emergency messaging function following a collision) is also available as standard equipment.

Test Vehicle

The Suzuki Jimny Commercial I had on test was finished in white paintwork which highlighted the contrasting black cladding on the wheel arches to great effect. Powering the Jimny LCV is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine which is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox with relatively short ratios, while a second lever selects between 2WD, 4WD or low range for tougher off-road conditions.

The short gearing means it is noisy at higher speeds. Driving around an urban environment is a relatively fuss-free and serene experience, but a considerable amount of engine noise is present at motorway speeds.

The Jimny adapts to every situation, featuring a part time 4WD system with low range transfer gear. Drivers can shift the lever to the 4L mode (4WD  low gear) when the going gets tough for maximum torque and better traction on steep slopes and rough terrain.

The naturally-aspirated petrol engine in the Jimny produces 100bhp and 130Nm of torque, and can achieve a top speed of 145km/h. Suzuki quote an official WLTP combined driving cycle fuel consumption figure as low as 6.8l/100km and that is not far off the 7.3l/100km I achieved in real world driving.

Interested? Act Now!

The new Suzuki Jimny Commercial is priced at 20,995 (including Commercial Vehicle VRT) with optional single-tone metallic paint available at 370 and dual-tone metallic at 750.

However, due to an extremely limited number of new Jimny Commercial vehicles coming to Ireland, interested buyers must act without delay.

A three-year/100,000km warranty comes a standard with the vehicle.
The Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has issued a safety alert over a hoodie sold to consumers in Ireland recently.

A safety issue has been identified with the IUBBKI Hoodie with Cristiano Ronaldo print which was sold online through Amazon.fr, and may have been available through other stores or marketplaces or other Amazon websites.

"A safety issue has been identified with the affected products, where there is a risk of entrapment by the drawstring cords in the hood, which could lead to strangulation," the CCPC alert read.

It's understood there are two affected products in the Republic of Ireland.

What to do if you have one?

"If you purchased one of these products, please discontinue use immediately, and discard the product immediately. You may wish to contact the online store from where you purchased this product to see if there are any remedies available to you. This can be done via your user account on the relevant platform."
A pro-Russian demonstration in Bamako, Mali, February 19, 2022. FLORENT VERGNES / AFP

The euphoria that accompanied democratic transitions in Africa is over. Poor governance, economic crises, and military and constitutional coups have all undermined the fragile political institutions that were created 30 years ago in the wake of national conferences. On the continent, like in the West, populism is flourishing.

However, Francis Laloupo, a Beninese journalist, instructor and author of Blues democratique, Afrique 1990-2020 ("Democratic blues, Africa," untranslated), points out that this ill also feeds on the crises that affect old democracies. This phenomenon is all the more prevalent as Russian and Chinese autocracies have also exported their political models during their exchanges with Africa.

For the third time in 20 years, the far right has reached the second round of the French presidential election. How is this rise in power perceived in French-speaking Africa?

Francis Laloupo: Emerging African democracies cannot help but notice the fragility of older democracies. The Capitol insurrection 3by Donald Trump's supporters was a good example. The presence of Marine Le Pen in the second round is another. But while the process is never completely finished, democracy has shown that it is also a system capable of overcoming difficulties. In the United States, like in Europe, it holds up despite the onslaught of far-right parties. People continue to vote, even if the turnout remains low.

Nevertheless, this populist upsurge that is sweeping the world, from the United States to Brazil and Europe, is also resonating in Africa. There is concern for diasporas facing racist discourses, particularly in France. But on the continent as well, there is a disturbing fascination with the far-right discourse that tends to reinforce emerging populisms. It can be said that, since the French defend themselves against foreigners, we Africans are also justified in doing so, especially against France. We have entered a cycle of revenge. The inward-looking attitude promoted by supporters of Le Pen and Zemmour legitimizes the nationalist positioning of the current Malian authorities and their anti-French discourse.

How have the emerging populisms in Francophone Africa been structured?

Populism is not a recent phenomenon. Robert Mugabe [former president of Zimbabwe, 1987-2017] excelled at it in his time. But new forms have emerged as a result of the collapse of traditional parties. In Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, the recent coups d'etat were carried out in response to the mistrust of historical parties. The current political discourse is fueled by nationalist diatribes and a refusal to reconnect with the past.

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GARDAI investigating a fatal assault in Limerick city on Good Friday say their investigations are at a "very early stage" and that it's too early to speculate about what happened.

The deceased, who has been named locally as 48-year-old Alan Bourke, died at University Hospital Limerick a short time after he was assaulted at Parnell Street, near Colbert Station.

"Shortly before half ten last night, Good Friday, April 15, gardai at Roxboro Road responded to a report of a male in his 40s found here in Parnell Street in Limerick with serious injuries. The male was removed to University Hospital Limerick for treatment where he passed away shortly afterwards," said Superintendent Dermot O'Connor at a media briefing this Saturday evening.

The scene of fatal assault has been sealed off and has been technically examined. The services of the State Pathologist have been requested.

"An incident room has been set up at Roxboro Road garda station and the circumstances surrounding this fatal assault are being fully investigated," said Supt O'Connor who issued a number of specific appeals.

"Our first appeal is for any person who was in the Parnell Street area here in Limerick last night, Good Friday, between 10pm and 10.40pm to contact us; for any person who was in Parnell Street and the nearby Lord Edward Street and Davis Street who may have camera footage, including dash-cam footage, to make that footage available to our investigating gardai and (thirdly) for any person who has information relevant to our investigation to contact Roxboro Road garda station at (061) 214340.

Supt O'Connor told reporters the death of Mr Bourke is "being fully investigated" and that it is too early to speculate.

He declined to comment when asked if gardai believe a weapon had been used.

No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.

The deceased, who was originally from St Mary's Park in Limerick, was a talented striker with Mungret Regional FC in the 1990s. He also represented the Republic of Ireland at junior level.
A MOTORIST who struck a pedestrian while turning into a housing estate in Newcastle West has been fined 300.

Bruno Pilav, aged 24, who has an address at Cluain Arra, Newcastle West pleaded guilty to a single charge of careless driving.

The charge, under section 52 of the Road Traffic Act, relates to an incident that occurred at Kilcolman Drive in the town on December 18, 2020.

Inspector Liam Wallace told the local court the incident happened at around 7pm and that it was dark at the time.

He added that there is public lighting at the location of the incident and that the weather was dry on the night.

Judge Carol Anne Coolican was told gardai attended the scene of the incident and that it was subsequently established the pedestrian was around three quarters of the way across the road when they were struck.

Inspector Wallace said the pedestrian sustained relatively minor soft tissue injuries when they were hit by the Renault Megane car as it entered the housing estate.

Solicitor Michael ODonnell (pictured below) said his client, who has no previous convictions, has a full driving licence and was 100% insured on the night.

He said there was no suggestion that the Croatian national was travelling at speed and he asked the court to note the injured party was wearing dark clothes and was not wearing a hi-viz vest despite the time of night and year.

He told the court Mr Pilav was tested by gardai at the scene and that there were no issues relating to drugs or alcohol.

Judge Coolican was told a civil claim has been lodged with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and that it is being processed in the usual way.

Noting the circumstances of the incident and the defendants guilty plea, she imposed a 300 fine.

The judge did not impose a disqualification and Mr Pilav will automatically receive penalty points on his driving licence as a direct consequence of his court conviction.
FOUR years ago on a hot June evening in Corks Pairc Ui Chaoimh Limericks hurlers began a journey that supporters couldnt even dream of.

In a pulsating encounter, 14-man Limerick, and minus Declan Hannon to injury, got a draw thanks to a last-minute Kyle Hayes point.

John Cregan, Limerick GAA chairman, said it is one of the greatest memories we all hold. Another thing we couldnt imagine back then was Covid.

I think you had close to 38,000 supporters in there that night. I dont believe that figure has been surpassed since. It was a beautiful June summers evening and a fantastic atmosphere. The game went down to the wire. We got a vital point which really set us up and gave us the confidence to drive on, said Mr Cregan.

Fast forward four years and Limerick return to Leeside having won three of the last four All-Ireland hurling finals. Throw in this Easter Sunday is at 4pm.

We are really looking forward to it. I am sure it will be a fantastic occasion with all those thousands of loyal Limerick fans there joining in with the Cork fans  it promises to be a great occasion for Limerick GAA and for all of sporting Limerick.

Were looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be a classic and we might get the rub of the green again down there and come out with a result we desire so much. I am sure that the men, women and children will come out in their droves to be there for this game. said Mr Cregan.

Hes not wrong as the public allocation of stand tickets sold out in jig time. Remaining stand tickets have been allocated to the Cork and Limerick County Boards to distribute through the club network. All Munster GAA games in 2022 are all-ticket and must be purchased in advance on Ticketmaster or at Centra / SuperValu stores.

Mr Cregan expects a crowd of around 40,000.

Over the last couple of years  yes, we had half an attendance at last years All-Ireland hurling final  but there were thousands of supporters who were unable to attend due to the reduced capacity. This year, touch wood, so far, were back to full attendances.

I think it will touch on 40,000 for different reasons  the momentum we have in Limerick for the last four years and for the momentum Cork have gathered over the last few months in particular and the fact people have been deprived of going to games over the last few years, said Mr Cregan.

However, he warns this will be no stroll in The Park.

It is always difficult to play Cork any place let alone going to Cork to play them in their back yard. We need to forget about the All-Ireland final, that is history, water under the bridge, its gone, its done, its dusted, this will be a whole new ball game. Cork have momentum - we saw that built up through the National League. They will be waiting for us and will come all guns blazing to upset our plan, said Mr Cregan, who urges supporters to leave home in loads of time.

Match day parking is not available on site. Gardai recommend people walk the 15 minutes to the ground from the city centre where possible or avail of public transport.

Whatever time you have then you will have it in Cork or near the stadium or in the stadium and you can relax and enjoy the match day experience, concluded Mr Cregan.

Ahead of tomorrow's game, gardai have appealed to match-goers to give themselves adequate time and to park legally in Cork city centre before walking to the stadium or using public transport.

There will no parking at Pairc Ui Chaoimh and road closures will be in place from 10am (at Ardfoyle/Park Avenue, Blackrock Road/Maryville, Monahans Road / Link Road) and from 1pm (at Boreenmanna Road/Churchyard Lane, Blackrock Road/Churchyard Lane, Boreenmanna Rd/ Crab Lane, Blackrock Rd/Crab Lane).

There will be restricted access onto Centre Park Road and Monahan Road prior to and after the match.

Given the expected crowd, gardai are appealing to supporters to be patient - particularly when leaving the stadium at full time.

See Leader sport for full coverage on the build-up to the big game which will be broadcast on the Sunday Game on RTE 2 televisions
BUDGET supermarket chain Aldi has revealed it spent more than 8.5m with local suppliers.

The news comes as the firm released details of its economic impact report for 2021.

Locally, the German supemarket giant has partnered with five local producers.

This includes long-term relationships with Twomeys Bakery in Dromcollogher and Ishka Irish Springwater at Ballyneety.

Locally, Aldi employs 104 full-time staff, meaning it spends more than 3, on wages each year.

The company said these stores support multiple charities across Limerick at a local level.

Each store is part of Aldis food waste reduction programme, with Aldis Limerick stores having donated almost 42,000 meals through FoodCloud to local charities.

The outlets are also part of Aldis community grants network, with Killeline Nursing Home and Milford Hospice some of the many local charities that availed of a 500 bursary grant the firm handed out last year.

Niall OConnor, the group managing director of Aldi Ireland said: Our goal is to make a positive impact in every local community that our stores serve. Our operations and stores contribute to businesses, communities and families right across Limerick.

We have invested 18.5M in our Limerick stores over the last number of years, while we sourced more than 8.5M of locally produced food and drink from Limerick based suppliers last year. Multiple local charities have also availed of our support through our FoodCloud partnership and community grants initiative, he concluded.

Locally, Aldi has stores at the Dublin Road, the Childers Road, Newcastle West, Charleville and Killaloe. New outlets are planned for Roches Street, Dooradoyle and Moyross.
A CANDLELIGHT vigil will take place in Bruff this Saturday evening in memory of Michael Snee and Aidan Moffitt who were murdered in separate in incidents in Sligo earlier this week.

A number of vigils have taken place around the country in recent days while Limerick Pride has announced it has organised a vigil which will take place at Arthur's Quay at 6pm on Monday.

This evening's vigil in Bruff will take place at 7pm at the Fitzgerald Centre.

"The aim of this vigil will be to remember the two men and to stand by our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. The abhorrent treatment of the two men by a homophobe has no support in our area and it is important that we loudly stand for equality for all in our locality," said organiser Pat Hayes.

"Throughout the centuries we, as a society, have belittled and treated with disdain those who are seen as not fitting the preordained roles we cast on others. Great heroes of the past like Roger Casement have been besmirched by those who know nothing but condemnation in their hearts. It is time that the people of Bruff show that we live in a community where everyone is respected," he added.

A 22-year-old man has been charged in relation to the two murders and is currently before the courts.
TEAM LIMERICK clean up returned this year and is much needed.

It took place throughout the county on Good Friday morning and saw people of all ages and from all walks of life take part.

The amount of rubbish collected is amazing and it is still only a fraction of what can be seen all over our country.

Dumping rubbish sends out the wrong message and it will have to be addressed as it spoils our beautiful green isle.

Visitors to our country must think we are a very untidy people who have no pride in its appearance. Cleanliness is next to godliness goes the old saying but how many people abide by it.

In my young days litter and rubbish were words that were seldom used, and our roads, hedges and ditches were rubbish free.

The number of items people bought was fewer and they used the old style message bag instead of plastic to collect their shopping from the local shop.

Glass bottles were used to store milk minerals and spirits. Tin cans were widely used as well for peas, beans, shoe polish and cooking ingredients. Washing powder and other such powder items came in cardboard boxes and the flour for baking in cloth bags.

Shops used brown paper as packaging to parcel up a lot of items and greaseproof paper to wrap up meats and fish.

We collected all the glass bottles and returned them to the local shop for to be reused and we got a few pence in return. A lot of the tin cans were used around the house to keep items in them such as buttons, hair items and small toys got in lucky bags.

The cans were used to grow geraniums and flowers and start off seeds for vegetables. The men used them as containers for nails bolts nuts and other small items around the house and farm.

The cardboard boxes and paper were used to start the fire and the cloth from the flour bags for making pillowcases, and cleaning cloths. The majority of items were being recycled.

The arrival of plastic packaging bags and food containers has led to an increase in waste items that has to be discarded. This in turn has seen a serious decline in the management of rubbish and an increase in litter. The ever increasing cost of Refuse Collection has added to the problems as many households simply do not have the money to pay for the service.

Walk along any stretch of primary or local roads at present before vegetation take over and in a short distance a bag of discarded items can be collected. The most obvious items include plastic and tin bottles, discarded takeaway containers, coffee cups, cigarette boxes and face masks.

EASTER

HAPPY EASTER to all our readers as we recall the hot cross bun and other Easter traditions. During the six weeks of Lent, people looked forward to eating hot cross buns.

They generally only appeared during the Lenten season, in order to preserve their Christian significance. However, the hot cross buns are actually pagan in origin, as the Anglo-Saxons ate sacramental cakes to honour the goddess Eastore, the goddess of light.

Early Roman missionaries tried to stop the custom but as they could not, they found a way around the difficulty by blessing the cakes and drawing a cross upon them.

The cross was a pagan symbol before the crucifixion. Bread and cakes were sometimes marked with it in pre-Christian times. Two small loaves each with a cross on them were discovered under the ruins of Herculaneum, an Italian city buried beneath volcanic ash in A.D.79.



One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns,

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons,

If you have none of these

Merry little elves

Then you may keep them all

For yourselves.

This verse may be familiar to some people but few of them probably realise that the custom of eating hot cross buns on Good Friday actually predates the day itself.

Another version states it is a continuation of part of the Jewish feast of the Passover which celebrated the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt's domination.

As part of their feasting, they ate unleavened bread (this meant it contained no yeast).Over the years as part of the Christian celebration of Easter the unleavened bread became the now familiar Hot Cross Bun.

If you ate one of these special buns on Good Friday, you were guaranteed good luck for the coming twelve months. Along with this, it was supposed to protect your home from fire, and some was also put aside to prevent any member of the family suffering from whooping cough.

It was quite a commonly held belief that any baking done on Good Friday had special properties. For instance, anything baked on the day would never go mouldy.

Because of this, the families of sailors would put some Hot Cross Buns to one side, in the belief that as long as the buns remained fresh, the seafarers would not drown.

Not all superstitions connected with Good Friday are concerned with food. The housewife was advised to avoid hanging out her washing and if she disobeyed, the clothes would become spotted with blood.

On the other hand, if she broke a dish, she could be sure that no harm came to her family in the next twelve months. The wise woman would also have her ring blessed for she would then be free from illness as long as she wore it.

Another long-held Easter tradition was the wearing of new clothes on Easter Day. To do so ensured prosperity for the following year. This tradition is thought to stem from an earlier festival celebrating the renewal of life in the spring. And the people wore new clothes as a sign that life was being reborn after the dark winter months.

Others favour a different explanation for this tradition. Originally, they say people wore mourning clothes during the period of Lent.

Therefore, by the time Easter arrived the mourning garment had become somewhat dirty and so it was a part of the celebration that clean, new clothes be donned for the time of rejoicing.

After all that is what Easter is, a time to rejoice for a world which is filled with new life.
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After the Grammys earlier this month, comedian Rebecca Corry got hit with a flood of press requests, and not for any part shed played in the proceedings. Everyone wanted to know what she thought of Louis C.K. somewhat shockingly being awarded the Grammy for best comedy album, when it was assumed by many who dont pay much attention to the comedy community that he remained in some kind of industry exile after being accused of, and admitting to, serial sexual misconduct. Corry, who had been among multiple women in the entertainment business to speak up in a 2017 New York Times investigative story about being harassed by C.K., made it clear on Twitter that she was not up for talking about it: Dear media, Im happy to speak with you about my 30 years in comedy, my national life-saving nonprofit, [or] what Im working on now and will further accomplish. Perhaps reach out to his girlfriends for comment. And Daily Beast, you spelled my name wrong.

In other words, for a silence breaker, Corry has stayed pretty quiet, declining to talk to the press about the sordid encounter and its aftermath since she wrote a 2018 Vulture essay about it  and not addressing it in her stand-up. But even before this months Grammy win refocused attention on the C.K. scandal (along with raising new questions like What was the Recording Academy thinking?), Corry had already been coming to a conclusion that it was something to process into her act after all. In a set at L.A.s UnCabaret alternative comedy night in March, she was trying out some material about it that could ultimately come into play in a touring act  or a special, if she gets one. Its clear Corry has some doubts about whether thats possible, since she believes cancel culture is mostly running one way in this case, and shes been a real recipient.

With no little initial reluctance, Corry agreed to talk with Variety for her first interview in years about how the situation has shaken out and continues to shake out for her. She says she doesnt regret speaking up in 2017, and that the damage didnt begin with the New York Times expose  it began in 2005, she says, when she turned down C.K.s on-set request to masturbate in front of her. Unlike some of the women in the article who assented, Corry had some real agency on that set, as the co-writer, co-producer and co-star of a Fox pilot C.K. was hired for as an actor. Shes still exercising that agency today, looking at finding a way to reclaim narratives so that a victimizer is not the main character in her story. And all these years later, she may finally be coming to terms with how to make an ordeal into the stuff of comedy, even comedy thats at least half-serious.

Youve turned down requests to talk about the Louis C.K. thing since 2018, and when he won his Grammy a couple of weeks ago, you basically tweeted to the media that they  we  should go away. Its not a surprise that people are curious to hear from you on this, though.

Why am I constantly being asked to speak on cancel culture, the joke that is the #metoo movement and C.K. every time hes in the news cycle? I dont care what that guy does, and of course cancel culture is real. Im living proof. The moment I was sexually harassed at my job, I was canceled. Thats how it works, kids. And referring to me as a victim, accuser, silence breaker or one of five women has grown tiresome and is now intolerable. My name is Rebecca Corry  take note, Daily Beast, fix it.

I am an actress, writer and comedian and have been for 31 years. I have a career, credits and talent. I didnt run away and hide for a decade when things got hard like (Dave) Chappelle did. I stayed and have never stopped doing stand-up comedy and creating and never will. Ive done my time and paid my dues and then some. So lets talk about what Im doing and when my Netflix special is happening. There are people who have been doing stand-up for five minutes with comedy specials and others with multiple specials who suck. So whens mine? Im ready when you are, Ted.

Do you think Netflix might take you up on it?

No. I will never get a Netflix special, ever. [Laughs.] Im gonna be canceled again when this comes out. I wish being canceled caused weight loss. Id be so cute.

So you do feel you got blacklisted?

Is a frogs ass water-tight? That line would kill on a Netflix special. Listen, I cant prove Im blacklisted, but I feel and see it. Being on the one of five women list absolutely affects potential opportunities and makes the Hollywood lemmings want to distance themselves from me. Im currently pitching two shows, and while I know how hard it is to sell a show, being on the list is not helping. Certain people wont touch it because of their past or current affiliations. I also wont work with assholes, so the playing field is narrow. But Im lucky to have the best agent on the planet and we arent giving up.

Do you think you got canceled because of the 2017 New York Times article?

No, I was canceled in 2005, the day it [the encounter with C.K.] happened. This bullshit about the predators being the ones who get canceled is a cute idea but not true. They dont get canceled, they just get an adult time out. Their behavior is interrupted momentarily, but fear not, they have hardcore fans, millions of dollars and will always hold the power. The people who get canceled are the ones whose lives and careers have been fucked with, and mine has. [With C.K. apparently operating mostly independently right now, Variety has been unable to reach reps for comment.]

You have had a charitable organization for years, Stand Up for Pits, and you do annual fundraising events in different cities. How has that been going?

Its absolutely amazing. We have one coming up April 24 at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. Pit bull-type dogs are discriminated against, theyre abused, victimized, wrongly vilified and murdered every single day in this country. And so my organization is dedicated to educating, advocating and saving the lives of these voiceless victims. And one thing I want to address right now is how incredibly generous, kind and amazing comedians have been. Im grateful to every comic that has and continues to perform at Stand Up for Pits events over the past 12 years. These events have and continue to save millions of lives through comedy. There are so many good-hearted comics and so much about the comedy community I love  one bad apple doesnt spoil the bunch.

Have there been any repercussions because of you being in the public eye for these other reasons that have affected the charity?

Yeah, a few. One worth mentioning is a club owner who didnt allow my charity events for dogs back at his clubs  which I sold out all of but one  because he said I threw my dirty tampons all over the green room. He also said one of his club managers said I was difficult because I wanted everything to be perfect. Thats true; I do want everything to be perfect and when a club manager is apathetic and careless I will voice how I feel about it because I want whatever is going wrong to be fixed. Thats my job as a producer. If that makes me difficult, so be it. As for the being accused of throwing used tampons all over a green room [Laughs.] I said, Im sorry, what are you saying? And he repeated it. I said, Im not sure my brain can handle what youre saying. And he was like, Yeah. I mean, I dont know if its true or not. I was livid and later sent him an email that said, Please let whatever manager who said the tampon thing about me to stop. If I find out from anyone that kind of defamation is being said about me, it will be a problem. To which he replied, You can count on my sealing this up, but I would expect the same in return.  Think about that. This club owner actually told me that he expected the same (silence) in return, which is grotesque and mind-numbing, to say the least.

You riffed on that the other week in your UnCabaret set, where you said you were talking about any of this for the first time in years  painting the picture of thrashing a comedy-club green room, like an out-of-control rock star, but with used tampons. Its fair to say it was a highlight of the set.

It sure was. Its turning out to be a hilarious bit. Itd be great on Netflix.

So, after keeping things related to this out of your act for the five years since you went public, you are ready to include some of it, and do it in a special, if anyone steps up?

A hundred percent. Yes. Im absolutely going to be talking about this. Its part of my story and its my story to tell.

Are you building an entire set around this?

Hell no. My life and experiences are so much more than this gross debacle.

You were back on stage in 2017 within two weeks of the New York Times article coming out. What was that like, coming back out but not wanting to talk about it in your act at the time?

I walked out on stage and it was so quiet. It was packed and everyone was just staring at me, and I was just like, So anyways, hows everyone?  I still get nervous when I go on stage that someones going to hurt me, because of the death threats and dick pics I got sent, and because of how some of his fans come for me. Ive gotten some really scary and mean emails and still do whenever hes in the news cycle. So theres still this lingering feeling of like, am I in danger? Its really fucked up when you have to hire security while performing stand-up but I have to.

Do you feel like the one who put you in this position has come out on top, in the public eye? A lot of people who dont follow comedy closely were surprised by the Grammy win. There was an assumption maybe he had gone away. But the people who vote on the Grammys in that division are largely members of the comedy community, the way the voting rules have been reconfigured. If its comedy-world people largely responsible for that voting, does it feel as if the stuff of five years ago never happened?

The thing is, I dont care. I also dont care who voted or who likes or dislikes him. I dont care what people assume or think they know. I simply dont care about any of it.

He named his special Sorry, and that blatantly sarcastic album title is what won the Grammy.

Its a cute title. Has a real ring to it. Something only a comedic genius would think up.

If it seems like all is forgiven and forgotten in some parts of the comedy community, thats puzzling to some people. Is there maybe an aspect where, because comics and people who love comedy have it ingrained in them that irreverence is king maybe behavior that seems sexually assaultive to one person gets written off as just the most extreme example of irreverence to someone steeped in shock value?

I wasnt sexually assaulted, so I would never speak to that. In fact, if I could make this a glass-half-full moment: I, unlike some of the others, was lucky enough that I never had to see him ejaculate. But can you imagine if Dr. Fauci did this to someone at his work? Would it be brushed off as aaahhh its just his thing? I know Fauci wont be reading this, but just in case he does, I want to congratulate him and the millions of men all over the world who go to work every single day with women and dont harass them. One of the easiest things to do is not masturbate at someone, and you guys are living proof. Keep up the great work.

Why are you willing to address all these things in your act coming up, when you werent at the time or since?

It takes time to process it. And so much about it was so unbelievably painful and disappointing and sad and hurtful, and many times I feared for my safety, as I said earlier. Im now able to process it and find some of the funny in what is a disgusting and absurd circumstance. I think it just takes time to process trauma into humor.

Is that a key part of being a comedian?

I have no idea, but Ive been processing trauma into humor my entire life. Even when I was a kid. It just took me five years to be able to find the humor in this specific situation.

But to be very clear, him wanting to pull his little peen in front of me did not traumatize me. It was more pathetic, shameful and infuriating, but not traumatizing. Its being on this list, his call sheet: losing opportunities, the comedy community not being supportive and all the other shit that comes with this. That stuff is traumatizing.

Have you felt sorry for speaking up?

Nope. Not Sorry. Great title for a Netflix special, Ted.

You talk about the negative reactions, but there have been positive, too  some have regarded you as heroic for being a whistle blower.

No, no, no. That makes me uncomfortable. All of that has felt ridiculous from day one  hashtag MeToo, or [as Time magazine said in a cover story] silence breakers. Im no whistle blower or silence breaker. I didnt uncover some dark secret. All I did was tell the truth about something that was well known for years by most everyone in my industry. I am no hero and to suggest that is absurd. When he called me in 2015 on what we like to call his fake apology phone tour, I was like, Fuck Im on the call sheet. Im still on the list. I spoke out [two years later] because of how I was treated at an event in 2017 by someone in his circle. It was clear I had no option. You know, that whole lose-lose thing. Id had enough.

And finding some humor in it, this many years later

Im a comedian. Thats what I do.

Like the alleged tampon tantrum incident?

Did you just say tampon tantrum? [Laughs.] Yes, no matter how you look at it, its absurd. So is how many times Ive used the word masturbate in my adult life.

Maybe you dont think of yourself as a role model, but in thinking of other people who might be in comparable positions, do you have anything youd say to them?

Im a role model for eating carbs and then laying down, but not this crap. I would say that I would never tell anybody how to handle anything like this or comparable to it in any way. You handle it however you feel is best for you. If that means staying silent, so be it. If it means screaming it from the mountaintops, so be it. No one else has a right to judge how someone handles being put in a lose-lose situation. Oh, and spay and neuter your pets. Adopt, never shop.

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Like an Island (Lilot), a hybrid documentary fable tinged with magical realism by Swiss director Tizian Buchi, has won the Grand Jury Prize at international documentary film festival Visions du Reel in Nyon, Switzerland.

The debut feature had its world premiere at the festival, bearing testimony to the events reputation as a launchpad for new talent and its tradition for hybrid fiction-reality films. A total of seven first features are among the winners. It is the first time since 2013 that a Swiss film has picked up the festivals top prize.

A small urban island becomes the metaphor of contemporary Europe and lends itself to a deep reflection about the absurdity of borders, rules, fences and barriers. A brilliant observation, a surprising wondering, that rewrites the coordinates of geographical spaces in universal terms, said the jury, composed of filmmaker Jessica Beshir, the winner of last years Grand Prix, Beatrice Fiorentino, general delegate of the Venice Film Festivals Critics Week, and Jovan Marjanovic, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

The runner-up Special Jury Award went to Bitterbrush by Emelie Mahdavian, a doc about two female range riders in the American West, which made a splash when it premiered in Telluride, for its cinematically triumphant, raw, yet tender, portrayal of two womens nomadic existence in this rewrite of the classic Western genre, the jury said.

Russian director Marusya Syroechkovskayas debut feature, How to Save a Dead Friend, received a Special Mention, for its punk rock attitude in skillfully piecing together a story of another lost generation in Russia, according to the jury.

The festivals more experimental Burning Lights section was judged by Chiara Maranon, director of content at MUBI, Switzerlands Cyril Schaublin, who won best director for his debut feature Unrest in this years Berlinale Encounters section, and Argentinian producer Gema Juarez Allen (Lina From Lima).

They awarded their top prize to yet another first feature, A Long Journey Home, by Wenqian Zhang, a family portrait about cohabitation, emancipation and the search for ones place within the family.

With an equally tender and formally bare approach, the film humbly draws our attention to the intimacy of a household. With precise cinematic decisions, domestic situations unfold before the camera, weaving together a family portrait of strong emotional resonance, that raises important questions about the ties that bind us, as it bridges an intergenerational gap in contemporary China and beyond, said the jury.

The Special Jury Award in the Burning Lights segment went to Herbaria by Argentinas Leandro Listorti, who delicately combines archival and fresh images to chronicle the immense work that goes into plant classification and preservation.

A film of extraordinary lucidity, said the jury, that brings together two universes  plants and cinema  in a revelatory game of analogies. Taking the time to explore the multi-layered nature of preservation, the film finds unsuspected warmth in scientific and methodical processes, rendered visible in an act of poetic justice.

A Special Mention went to Europe by Philip Scheffner, for dealing with the subject of immigration in a novel way and with a great sense of humanity while showing that silence and the out of frame are remarkable tools to discuss the fiction of borders.

In the National Competition, Swiss-Japanese filmmaker Julie Sando picked up the Jury Prize for Fuku Nashi, a moving encounter between two lonely souls that tells the story of Yukiei who returns home to her grandmothers house after years of absence. Sando also nabbed the Zonta Award for a female filmmaker whose work reveals mastery and talent.

The National Competitions Special Jury Award went to Le Film de mon pere, Jules Guarneris first feature, described by the jury as an intimate portrait of a family whose members live close to each other and yet seem far apart. The filmmaker succeeds in making an honest and entertaining film that tells of house spirits and control freaks, of searching for and cutting ones roots, and at the same time asks the question: what does family mean?

Serbian filmmaker Luka Papics absurd comedy Without, about an eccentric artist who embarks on a journey to find his pet dog, won the International Medium Length and Short Film Competition Jury Prize.

Best Short Film went to Aralkum by Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko, the story of the last inhabitants on the shores of the Aral Sea, who have lost their way of life to desertification  a film that opens a door on a landscape swept by human excess, said the jury.

Jaime by Francisco Javier Rodriguez, the portrait of a young man affected by a mental disorder, received a Special Mention in the Short and Medium category.

The Interreligious Award went to Iranian artist and director Vida Dena for Ma vie en papier, in which drawings she shares with the daughters of a Syrian refugee come to life to relate the memories, dreams and destiny of the family in exile.

Swiss photographer Manuel Bauers debut feature, Steel Life, a fascinating journey across Perus Altiplano to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, won the International Critics FIPRESCI Award.

The Audience Award went to Sara Dosas poetic archival montage Fire of Love, which has been blazing through the festival circuit since premiering at Sundance.

The festivals artistic director Emilie Bujes welcomed the prizes, which she said reflect the wealth of diversity at Visions du Reel. New voices rub shoulders with the films of established filmmakers and engage in a dialogue with the works of our guests Marco Bellocchio, Kirsten Johnson and Hassen Ferhani. We are particularly pleased that the diversity of film genres, generations, approaches and geographies that guide us have been rewarded and welcomed by the public and the juries, she said.

The 53rd edition of Visions du Reel ran from April 7 through April 17. The festivals first full physical edition in three years  the event was one of the first to go completely online in 2020 and held a limited on-site hybrid edition last year  drew an estimated 45.000 people, around the same number as 2019.

We made the bet to reinvent the festival, and we won  thanks to a very strong return to face-to-face events and an increased virtual dimension acquired during the pandemic, said festival president Raymond Loretan, for whom the Visions du Reel team has transformed a crisis into an opportunity in an exemplary manner.

See the full list of Visions du Reels 2022 awards below:

International Feature Film Competition

Grand Jury Prize

LIlot by Tizian Buchi

Special Jury Award

Bitterbrush by Emelie Mahdavian

Special Mention

How to Save a Dead Friend by Marusya Syroechkovskaya

Burning Lights Competition

Jury Prize

A Long Journey Home by Wenqian Zhang

Special Jury Award

Herbaria by Leandro Listorti

Special Mention

Europe by Philip Scheffner

National Competition

Jury Prize

Fuku Nashi by Julie Sando

Special Jury Award

Le Film de mon pere by Jules Guarneri

International Medium Length and Short Film Competition

Jury Prize for the best Medium Length Film

Without by Luka Papic

Jury Prize for the best Short Film

Aralkum by Daniel Asadi Faezi & Mila Zhluktenko

Special Mention

Jaime by Francisco Javier Rodriguez

Special Youth Jury Award for a medium length film

Churchill, Polar Bear Town by Annabelle Amoros

Special Youth Jury Award for the best Short Film

Marianne by Rebecca Ressler & Lara Porzak

Interreligious Award

Ma vie en papier by Vida Dena

Zonta Award

Fuku Nashi by Julie Sando

International Critics Award  FIPRESCI Award

Steel Life by Manuel Bauer

Perception Change Award

Children of the Mist by Ha Le Diem

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The former assistant who says she suffered horrific sexual, physical, and psychological abuse at the hands of Marilyn Manson is gearing up to fight the rockers latest attempt to have her lawsuit kicked out of court, her lawyer tells Rolling Stone.

In a statement Friday, lawyer James Vagnini said his client Ashley Walters isnt backing down after Manson filed his third demurrer to her claims on Tuesday.

In his latest challenge, Manson argues Walters is hoping her creative writing skills, not facts, will help her revive her expired claims. The musician born Brian Warner says Walters allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment, discrimination, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, and battery dating back to 2010 and 2011 are all time-barred by the same two-year statute of limitations.

Whereas Walters asserts she qualifies for the delayed discovery rule that allows some plaintiffs to start the clock on their statute of limitations when they first fully comprehend their injury or loss, Warner argues Walters descriptions of feeling fear around him and locking herself in a room prove she understood his alleged conduct was wrong as soon as it purportedly happened.

Plaintiff contradictorily claims that throughout her employment she was cognizant of a need to hide from her employer, while simultaneously arguing that she did not know that her employer was committing arguably actionable acts towards her, Warners new demurrer filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court states.

Meanwhile, Vagnini tells Rolling Stone, [We] believe our amended complaint specifically addresses the courts concerns and establishes that Ms. Walters suffered such severe harm while working for Mr. Warner that she repressed the vast majority of abuse she was subjected to, and that the nature of the abuse should strip [Warner] of any statute of limitations defense. Regardless of the outcome, we will continue to work to expose Mr. Warner for exactly who he is, a narcissistic predator and pathological violator.

A hearing on the matter has been set for next month.

In her paperwork, Walters claims she didnt discover her injuries until October 2020, when she met with a group of Warners former girlfriends that included Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood and Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco. It was after joining this support group and entering therapy that Walters was able to fully understand that Warners alleged actions caused her near-immediate repression of the alleged abuse, she says.

Walters and Bianco are now among the four women suing Warner in California. Theyre also in the group of more than a dozen women who claim Warner abused them under the cover of his celebrated living-demon Marilyn Manson persona. Warner has denied any wrongdoing and even went on the offensive with Wood last month, suing her for defamation.

When she first stepped forward last year, Walters claimed Warner started abusing her on the night they first met for a photo shoot in May 2010. She said after the shoot ended and without her consent, Warner pushed her onto his bed, pinned her down, bit her ear and forced her hand into his underwear. She says she moved away and left, feeling confusion and fear.

She said Warner bombarded her with text messages, praise, and an offer to double her pay if she agreed to come work for him as an assistant. Over the next year, she was subjected to Warners drug-induced fits of rage, in which he threw dishes at Walters, threatened to commit suicide, and even pushed her into a wall, her lawsuit states.

Walters claims that one day in December 2010, she witnessed Warner throw a prop skull so hard at Wood that it left a large raised welt on the actress stomach. On another occasion, Warner forced Walters to stand for 12 hours straight on a chair without moving while taking pictures of him and fed her cocaine to keep her awake, she alleges.

Warner filed his first demurrer challenging her lawsuit in October, saying Walters claims were too old for a civil court judge to even entertain.

Walters responded by filing a first amended complaint three weeks later, further explaining why she should qualify for delayed discovery and adding two news claims of battery and assault. Her new filing said Warner threw hatchets into a wall when he was angry and physically whipped her and others in her presence while joking they could take it.

Warner filed a second demurrer in December, and after a hearing in January, a judge agreed in February that Walters claims, as written, were outside the two-year statute of limitations. The judge gave her a chance to file again, and her second amended complaint was submitted last month. Again, it further expanded on Walters claim that she buried her memories of the abuse because they were so traumatizing.

Plaintiff was unable to recall many of the physical and emotional abuses until the Fall of 2020 when countless repressed memories flooded back to Plaintiff after meeting numerous other victims of Defendants and obtaining counseling from a mental health professional, the second amended complaint read.
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Actor and club owner Rio Del Valle Hackford, who appeared in films and TV shows including Jonah Hex, Swingers, Treme and The Mandalorian, died Thursday in Huntington Beach, Calif. He was 52.

His brother Alex Hackford said he died after an illness.

Rio Hackford, who was the son of director Taylor Hackford, was remembered by friends for being a connector of all sorts of people, said his friend, screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis.

Not simply obsessed with movies and how they mirrored and compelled, he was something more: a superfan of innumerable scenes, of particular gestures of unsung actors, weird career turns, roaring comebacks, cinema swan songs, DeVincentis wrote on Instagram.

Hackford was known for his joie de vivre and generous embrace of artists at his clubs including Matador and One-Eyed Jacks in New Orleans, where he also owned Pals Lounge. One-Eyed Jacks was a popular venue for alternative acts, and reopened in a new location after closing during the pandemic.

In San Francisco, he owned Homestead, and in Los Angeles he renovated the Monty bar just west of downtown.

He was a great magnet to creative people, with a Zelig-like path that could make a page-turner of a biography. He loved the alchemy of personalities and talents, and was one of the great facilitators in this respect, DeVincentis continued.

In The Mandalorian, he was the on-set performer of the droid IG-11, who was voiced by Taiki Waititi.

Most recently, he played a manager in Pam & Tommy.

Hackford had small appearances in movies like playing a junkie in Pretty Woman and a bartender in Strange Days before appearing as Skully in Swingers. The Skully character, who has a beef with Sue, was known as House of Pain or Hip Hop in the 90s indie favorite.

In supernatural Western Jonah Hex, he played Graydon Nash, and in New Orleans-set Treme, he was Toby on several episodes.

He also directed music videos for acts including Josh Hommes Desert Sessions and Corrosion of Conformity.

He is survived by his wife, musician Libby Grace; two children; brother Alex; his father; and stepmother Helen Mirren.

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The National Gallery of Ireland seeks applications from Longford artists, children and young people for this years Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize.

The competitions opened last Thursday.

For the Zurich Portrait Prize, the competition showcasing contemporary portraiture, the Gallery invites submissions from across the island of Ireland, and from Irish artists living abroad. The Zurich Young Portrait Prize, now in its fourth year, is open to young people aged 18 and under.

The Zurich Portrait Prize aims to encourage interest in contemporary portraiture and to showcase the National Portrait Collection at the National Gallery of Ireland.

The winner of the competition will receive a cash prize of 15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the national portrait collection, for which they will be awarded a further 5,000. Two additional awards of 1,500 will be given to highly commended works.

The Zurich Young Portrait Prize, which aims to foster and support creativity, originality and self-expression in children and young people returns for its fourth year in 2022.

The competition is split into four age categories and is open to young people of all abilities aged up to 18 from across the country. Winners in each age category and an overall winner will be chosen from a shortlist of 20 works. Winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize.

The closing date for entries to the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize is 22 June 2022. Exhibitions featuring shortlisted works in both competitions run at the National Gallery of Ireland between 26 November 2022 and 2 April 2023.

Find out more at www.nationalgallery.ie.
Thousands of people have attended vigils across the island of Ireland in memory of two men killed in Sligo.

Aidan Moffitt, 42, and Michael Snee, 58, were found dead in their own homes in the town on the west coast earlier in the week.

Longford stops to remember tragic Sligo murder victims A vigil has taken place this evening in Longford town in memory of tragic Sligo murder victims Michael Snee and Aidan Moffitt.

Gardai in 1k cocaine seizure following Co Longford search Gardai have recovered around 1,000 worth of suspected cocaine during a search of a house in Ballinalee.

A man was remanded in custody at Sligo District Court on Thursday after being charged with their murders.

Scenes at the vigil in Sligo town on Friday were replicated all over Ireland, with more than 30 events organised in towns and cities on both sides of the border.

Many of the gatherings were organised by local LGBT groups.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Town Hall in Sligo to pay tribute to the men. Several speakers addressed the crowd, including the mayor of Sligo Arthur Gibbons.

Candles and flowers were laid on the steps of the building as the event, which was organised by Sligo Pride, drew to a close.

In Dublin, a large crowd assembled at the gates of the Dail parliament to hear speeches in tribute.

A choir sang as scores of rainbow flags were held aloft.

At the Belfast vigil, there was a minutes noise to symbolise a need for the voices of people in the LGBT community to be heard.

LGBT activist Jude Copeland told the crowd: Its a really horrible time but its one where our community can come together and care for each other and bits of solidarity and messages that we can share with each other.

Its a really difficult time for lots of people in the LGBT community where people are isolated, vulnerable and in very difficult situations in their life and we really must remember that.

Mr Moffitt was a prominent businessman and a Fine Gael activist while Mr Snee worked as a care assistant.

Both have been described as well respected and liked in the local community. Their funerals will be held on Monday.

Yousef Palani, 22, of Markievicz Heights, Sligo, appeared before a judge at Sligo District Court on Thursday charged with murdering the men in their Sligo homes

He is charged with the murder of Mr Moffitt at Cartron Heights on April 10 and with the murder of Mr Snee at City View on April 12.

He was also charged with assaulting another man, Anthony Burke, causing serious harm in an incident at Cleveragh Road, Sligo on April 9.

Palani is to appear before the same court by video link on April 21.
GRAY, La. (AP)  A California man has died of injuries 11 days after a wrong-way driver on a Louisiana highway ran into an SUV in which he was a passenger, Louisiana State Police said Friday.

The Terrebonne Parish Coroner notified state police Friday that Wayne Thomas, 63, of Los Angeles, had died Thursday evening, said Trooper Ross Brennan.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Two of the Virginia Parole Board members whose appointments were blocked by Senate Democrats earlier this year have found new jobs in Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration.

Carmen Williams and Cheryl Nici-O'Connell will serve as policy advisors, Williams in the Department of Juvenile Justice and Nici-O'Connell in the Department of Corrections. Their appointments were included in more than two dozen Youngkin's office rolled out Friday afternoon.

Williams and Nici-O'Connell were among Youngkin's initial picks for the Virginia Parole Board, the five-member panel that decides whether to grant parole to the limited pool of inmates who are eligible. But Democrats who control the state Senate rejected their appointment, along with two other members, in March as part of a partisan fight over appointments that went on for weeks during the General Assembly's regular session.

Williams previously worked for the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance and has provided legal advocacy services for crime victims, according to a biography provided by Youngkin's office.

Nici-O'Connell is a former Richmond police officer who was shot in the head while on duty in 1984 and has become an anti-violence advocate, Youngkin's office said. Last year, she help lead an effort to halt the parole of the man convicted of shooting her and killing three others, and she was featured in a Youngkin campaign ad that criticized the parole board, which had been under scrutiny since it engaged in an accelerated and sometimes chaotic release of inmates at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Youngkin's office also announced Friday that Dr. Colin Greene, who had been serving as acting health commissioner, would officially take over the role. Greene, a former Army physician, served as the director of a local Virginia health district before stepping into the commissioner spot.

Also among the announced appointees was Jackson Miller, a former longtime Republican member of the House of Delegates, who will serve as director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The agency conducts research on criminal justice issues, provides criminal justice training, sets minimum training standards for law enforcement and licenses the private security industry, among other tasks.
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MANISTEE  Not everyone gets the sort of welcome Al Laaksonen received when he first moved his business to Manistee in 2021.

Laaksonen is the owner/operator of Manistee Harbor Tours and captain of its 65-foot cruise ship, the Princess.

The most meaningful accomplishment to me was the outpouring of genuine support from the community of Manistee, Laaksonen wrote in a letter to the News Advocate. The multitude of people walking the river boardwalk who stopped to express their gratitude that we brought the Princess to Manistee was massive.

Since his arrival in the city, a number of business owners, local officials and workers from the downtown area stopped by to greet Laaksonen and see the Princess, he said.

People were walking that boardwalk coming over to congratulate me and thank me ... It was genuine  they were really thankful that I was in Manistee, he told the News Advocate. I dont know how they even knew about (it).

Laaksonen says he appreciates the warm welcome, and it has become the sort of response that has come to expect from people in the city.

Of course, I appreciated it then, but it was a surprise. Now it doesnt surprise me when people come around, because everybodys so genuine about it, he said with a chuckle.

That welcome continued in March, when his Manistee Harbor Tours was named the emerging business of the year by voting participants at the 2022 Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Gala.

I wasnt seeking something like that  I didnt even know it existed, he said. I didnt know that we were making that kind of an impact in the community.

Despite recognition as the citys top emerging business, it was largely happenstance which brought Laaksonen and the Princess to Manistee.

Laaksonen, 83, is retired from 37 years operating a charter fishing vessel out of Ludington.

I had already retired, he said. Starting a new business right during COVID ... was probably the worst thing I could have done. Im not smart I guess  I just do what I want to do and sometimes it works out.

Upon his retirement in 2012, he was contacted by the Mason County Historical Society to donate his fishing boat to their maritime museum.

I did, and in appreciation of that gesture, I wanted to do something to help them generate funds to cover some of the expenses of operating the maritime museum, he wrote.

It took two years to locate the perfect vessel, the Princess, which he bought sight unseen in 2020 from a company that operated it for sightseeing tours.

"The Princess comes to Lake Michigan from Lake Superior. It was built in 1973 in Bay City, Michigan where it served its entire existence carrying passengers to Mackinaw Island, Pictured Rocks and the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin," reads part of the Manistee Harbor Tours website.

The first season it ran cruises out of Ludington and the second it started running them from the harbor in Manistee.

Laaksonen said he had docked the Princess for one year at a private marina in Ludington in 2020, but was informed that he needed to find a new location by 2021.

The city of Ludington owned the only dockage available for a vessel the size of the Princess that could also provide space for boarding passengers and parking vehicles, but he said an impasse with the city caused him to consider other options.

If the truth be known, the decision (to move) was a result of the relentless and persuasive pursuit by the Manistee Director of Economic Development, Marc Miller, Laaksonen wrote.

After hearing of the inability of the city of Ludington to provide adequate dockage for the Princess, Laaksonen said that Miller, harbormaster Jeff Mikula and others invited him to Manistee.

This is after I told them I wasnt  gonna go to Manistee, Laaksonen said. I immediately fell in love with the facilities that they had set aside for me  And everything that he said and did resonated with me and I ended up in Manistee and that was even better than what he said it was going to be.

In its first year in Manistee, the Princess entertained close to 4,000 visitors, including 18 private cruises for weddings, celebrations of life, anniversaries and other celebrations.

While operating in Ludington, Laaksonen reported his revenue had been outpaced by his expenses, but added that his time in Manistee has been a different story. His 2021 season operating out of Manistee not only allowed him to keep up with expenses, but also wiped away his remaining debt from his time in Ludington.

Laaksonen said that he has already begun receiving inquiries for the 2022 season, booked through his newly revamped website, manisteeharbortours.com, and that he will continue working with local charities this summer.

Our involvement in Manistee has centered around giving gift certificates to numerous charitable events, he wrote. We have given many free cruises to charities and to individual fundraising activities for illness, high school sports, suicide prevention, homeless shelters and substance abuse. We have never refused a request and look forward to continuing supporting these worthy causes.
MANISTEE COUNTY  The following includes reports made to the Manistee County Sheriffs Office from March 15-20.

All calls may not be reported. This is part of a lengthy report and is compiled by assistant editor Arielle Breen.

March 15

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 1:30 a.m. in Dickson Township.

 Deputies were called to dispatch a deer at 8:22 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 6 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies conducted a well-being check at 11:09 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies conducted a joint child protective services investigation at 10:33 a.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 A person was reported to have been suicidal at 12:24 p.m. in Dickson Township.

 Deputies transported an inmate at 9:44 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies conducted a well-being check at 2:10 p.m. in Dickson Township.

 Trespassing was reported at 2:25 p.m. in Filer Township.

 A dog was reported as running loose at 10:46 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 A barking dog was reported at 1:06 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A hit and run was reported at 4:44 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 6:54 p.m. in Pleasanton Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 7:11 p.m. in Cleon Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 10:27 p.m. in Filer Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 9:03 p.m. in Manistee Township.

March 16

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 7:09 a.m. in Stronach Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 8:22 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Animal control was called to Manistee at 9:45 a.m. for a complaint.

 Larceny and a drive-off were reported at 9:37 a.m. in Dickson Township.

 People were reported to have been acting suspicious at 2:23 p.m. in Filer Township.

 Deputies assisted Michigan State Police at 3:14 p.m. with a lost license plate in Dickson Township.

 A child protective services referral was made at 5:01 p.m. in Emmet County.

 A debit card was found at 8:14 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 9:13 p.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 A wild animal was reported as being dead at 5:15 p.m. in the county.

March 17

 A domestic incident was reported at 12:26 a.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 A liquor inspection was conducted at noon in Arcadia Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 8:08 a.m. in Brown Township.

 Malicious destruction of property was reported at 8:14 a.m. in Filer Township.

 Deputies conducted a property check at 9:34 a.m. in Norman Township.

 A dog was reported missing at 11:21 a.m. in the county.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 11:49 a.m. in Cleon Township.

 A domestic assault was reported at 12:27 p.m. in Dickson Township.

 Assault was reported at 10:42 a.m. in Maple Grove Township.

 Fraud was reported at 1:38 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies assisted a person at 9:30 a.m. in Dickson Township.

 A civil dispute was reported at 7:13 p.m. in Stronach Township.

 Deputies helped a person at 7:20 p.m. in the county.

March 18

 A property damage crash was reported at 7:48 a.m. in Brown Township.

 A property damage crash was reported at 7:29 a.m. in Onekama Township.

 A domestic incident was reported at 4:12 p.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 Deputies helped the Little River Band of Ottawa Public Safety Department at 5:59 p.m. in Pleasanton Township.

 Lost hikers were reported at 7:01 p.m. in Marilla Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 11:13 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A property damage crash was reported at 5:17 p.m. in Cleon Township.

 A person was reported to have been suicidal at 4:40 a.m. in Norman Township.

 A vehicle was reported as being abandoned at 2:38 p.m. in Maple Grove Township.

March 19

 A suspicious situation was reported at 9:38 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 Animal control was called to a suspicious situation at 12:54 p.m. in Maple Grove Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 2:41 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 A scam or fraud was reported at 5:41 p.m. in Onekama Township.

 A person was reportedly being disorderly at 7:42 p.m. in Onekama Township.

 Deputies conducted a well-being check at 9:17 p.m. in Manistee Township.

March 20

 Deputies investigated a reported criminal sexual conduct incident at 12:07 a.m. in Filer Township.

 A personal protection order violation was reported at 5:45 p.m. in Pleasanton Township.
Puerto Rican rapper Residente has set fire on social media with his new song and video called "This Is Not America", a contrast and wordplay to Childish Gamino's song and video "This Is America". The Calle 13 rapper has always been outspoken on behalf of Latin America, empowering and promoting the multicultural endeavors of its citizens.

You think that you're the center of the world and that's why you're 'America.' Anything that's outside, you don't care Residente

Residente started playing in the rap duo Calle 13, with politically charged lyricism, heavy Latin American beats and playful orchestration with some strokes of reggeaton. With the duo Resident and his brother won 27 Latin Grammys, more than anyone ever, He then started his solo career in 2017, he took a DNA test to find out about his heritage and then went on to record an album with musicians from each part of the world where he has blood from.

Residente claims that he sees it as an egocentric thing

Recently Residente made headlines when got in a media feud with reggaeton artist J Balvin when Balvin wanted to boycott the Grammys because of apparent disparage from the awards towards Reggeaton and Urban genres, to which Residente responded by making a video questioning him why wasn't Balvin boycotting them last year when he was nominated several times. He then released an 8-minute song about the feud.

The song is called This is not America

According to the rapper, by US Citizens calling themselves Americans erases all of the rest of the countries that make the entire continent, during the powerful song he sings that Tupac is called that because of Tupac Amaru from Peru, that before the European settlers came here there were already nations, he also addresses that when people from the United States call themselves Americans, it's like if Morroco would call itself Africa or Fance calling itself Europe.


Fifty-year-old Rudo Sithole from Manase village in Chimanimani was inconsolable as she waited to be served at a Nyaradzo funeral parlour in Mutare yesterday.

Sithole was waiting to collect the body of her husband, who died in a bus accident that claimed 37 lives in Chipinge in the early hours of Friday.

The accident occurred five kilometres from Jopa turn-off along Chimanimani-Chipinge highway just after midnight.

The St Charles Lwanga High School bus was carrying members of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) from Chimanimani Easts Tilbury Estate, who were travelling to an Easter pilgrimage at Mbungo Estates shrine, Masvingo.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said the bus which was overloaded with 106 passengers veered off the winding road near Chimanimani and hurtled into a deep ravine.

Yesterday police said 37 people had died and 70 others were injured.

The police is still investigating the fatal road traffic accident, which occurred at the 5km peg along Jopa-Skyline Road, Chimanimani where 37 people died and 70 others injured, police said.

The ZRP wants to assure the nation that names of victims will be released once the identification process has been completed.

Sithole, who lost her husband Wilbert Garikai (52), was distraught.

On the day I had weird feelings, sadly when my husband was leaving he said we might not see him very soon and I did not take it seriously until I heard that they had been involved in an accident, she said

When I heard of the accident I started crying fearing for the worst, which was confirmed early in the morning by my relatives.

He died on the spot.

Noah Mchakubvura (39) lost a relative in the accident, while two other family members are admitted in hospital.

I lost my brothers son Delma and the mother of the now deceased Tsitsi Parara is admitted at Chipinge hospital while Dylan Muchakubvura (8) is admitted at Victoria Chitepo Hospital, Muchakubvura said.

At Victoria Chitepo hospital in Mutare, families were lining up to see their injured relatives.

A survivor of the accident Thelman Kauyeza (39) who was admitted at Victoria Chitepo said he was travelling with his wife and two children and they all survived.

The bus fell into a valley after the driver lost control, he said.

Red Cross Manicaland provincial manager Munyaradzi Chikukwa yesterday said they were providing medical supplies and blankets as well as other interventions.

Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe road safety ambassador Emmanuel Machikwa said the bus was overloaded.

They were travelling at night on a dangerous road, which is known for being covered with mist, and therefore visibility was compromised, Machikwa said.

On a road which is curved with steep descending, drivers depend more on brakes and it is not surprising that the brakes could have failed leading to the driver losing control of the bus.


The survivor of a horrific crocodile attack in Lake Kariba, Alexander Chimedza who has been hospitalised for the past month needs at least US$150 to settle hospital bills.

Chimedza was discharged six days ago but cannot leave the hospital owing to an outstanding balance of US$150 in service costs.

In an interview, a distressed Chimedza said he could not leave Mutenderi Hospital in Zambia, despite being discharged as he has not raised the required amount to clear his hospital bill.

My brothers are trying whatever they can do to ensure the money is raised but so far it has been to no avail. I am still admitted in hospital until I raise the required amount, said Chimedza.

He said those willing to assist should get in touch with Mr Chimedza on +263717921812 and his brother Ngorezha on +263 78 618 5020. Herald
RTHK: More than 150 hurt in Jerusalem clashes

More than 150 people were wounded on Friday in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the first face-off at the flashpoint holy site since the start of Ramadan.

Israeli police said dozens of masked men marched into Al-Aqsa setting off fireworks before crowds hurled stones towards the Western Wall  considered the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Witnesses said Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who fired rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 153 people were hospitalised and "dozens" of others were treated at the scene. Israeli police said at least three officers were hurt.

Around 400 people were arrested, the Palestinian Prisoner's Club said.

The clashes come after three weeks of deadly violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, and as the Jewish festival of Passover and Christian Easter overlap with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Al-Aqsa is Islam's third-holiest site. Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount, referencing two temples said to have stood there in antiquity.

Last year during the Muslim fasting month, clashes that flared in Jerusalem, including between Israeli forces and Palestinians visiting Al-Aqsa, led to 11 days of devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Friday's "riots" were "unacceptable".

"The convergence of Passover, Ramadan and Easter is symbolic of what we have in common. We must not let anyone turn these holy days into a platform for hate, incitement and violence," he said.

UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland urged "the authorities on both sides to immediately de-escalate the situation and prevent any further provocations by radical actors".

The US, European Union and the Arab League have also voiced their concern.

Washington on Friday said it was "deeply concerned" by the events in Jerusalem.

"We call on all sides to exercise restraint (and) avoid provocative actions and rhetoric," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Police said crowds had hurled rocks "in the direction of the Western Wall... and as the violence surged, police were forced to enter the grounds surrounding the mosque," adding officers did not enter the mosque.

But Al-Aqsa mosque director Omar al-Kiswani said that an "assault was made inside the Al-Aqsa mosque".

"More than 80 young people inside the holy mosque were displaced," he said, adding: "Al-Aqsa mosque is a red line".

Before Ramadan, Israel and Jordan stepped up talks in an effort to avoid a repeat of last year's violence.

Jordan serves as custodian of the mosque compound, while Israel controls access.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said there was "no place for the invaders and occupiers in our holy Jerusalem".

Analysts say Hamas wants to keep the conflict alive in the West Bank and in Jerusalem but avoid escalation in the Gaza Strip after last year's war, and with thousands of Gazans' Israeli work permits at risk.

"Hamas does not want a new confrontation," said Mukhaimer Abu Saada, professor of political science at Gaza's Al-Azhar University.

An Israeli security source said the Islamic Jihad militant group  which controls neither the West Bank nor Gaza  would be more inclined towards an escalation with Israel.

The group warned "the confrontation will be closer and harder" for Israeli forces if "they do not stop the aggression against our people".

Along with Hamas, Islamic Jihad mobilised thousands of people in Gaza on Friday in solidarity with Palestinians at Al-Aqsa.

Israel has poured additional forces into the West Bank and is reinforcing its wall and fence barrier after four deadly attacks in the Jewish state in the past three weeks.

A total of 14 people have been killed in the attacks since March 22, including a shooting spree in Bnei Brak, an Orthodox Jewish city in greater Tel Aviv.

Twenty-two Palestinians have been killed over the same period, including assailants who targeted Israelis.

On Thursday, Israel announced it would block crossings from the West Bank and Gaza into Israel from Friday afternoon through Saturday, the first two nights of Passover week, and potentially keep the crossings closed for the rest of the holiday.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who lost his parliamentary majority last week, has given Israeli forces a free hand to "defeat terror" in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Some of the attacks in Israel were carried out by Arab citizens of Israel linked to or inspired by the Islamic State group, others by Palestinians, cheered by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Three Palestinians died on Thursday as Israeli forces launched fresh raids into the West Bank district of Jenin, a week after a deadly gun attack against a Tel Aviv nightlife district. A fourth died of his wounds on Friday. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-04-16. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Top Chinese legislator holds talks with Russian Federation Council speaker

Xinhua) 10:17, April 16, 2022

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko via video link at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, held talks with Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko via video link on Friday.

Commending China-Russia ties as mature, resilient, and stable, Li said that the bilateral relationship, which is based on the principle of non-alliance, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of any third party, is driven by strong internal dynamics and valued for its independence.

Li called on the two legislative bodies to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and promote the implementation of the Treaty of Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between China and Russia to facilitate the development of bilateral relations.

The two countries should give full play to the cooperative committee platform between the two legislative bodies, promote exchanges, consolidate the legal cooperation foundation, safeguard political security, and step up cooperation across the board, according to Li.

He called on both sides to continue with exchanges across different legislative levels and enhance experience sharing on state governance.

Regarding multilateral cooperation, Li voiced support for true multilateralism and economic globalization and called for the joint safeguarding of the UN-centered international system, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

Matviyenko said the Russian Federation Council stands ready to work with the NPC to contribute to bilateral cooperation spanning the economy, environmental protection, local issues, youth and sports, to cement the friendship between the two peoples.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson today recognized April as National Donate Life Month at a press conference with Dorrie Dils, President and CEO of Gift of Life Michigan, and organ recipient Amy Bacon. National Donate Life Month is an annual celebration of the lives saved by heroic organ, eye and tissue donors across the country and call for Americans to join organ donor registries.

Adding your name to the organ donor registry saves lives and families in your community and across our great state of Michigan, said Benson. Were proud to partner with Gift of Life Michigan to help Michiganders join the registry in numerous convenient ways, including through our website, at our self-service stations, by mail and at our offices.

The Michigan Organ Donor Registry is a confidential database that documents an individuals decision to become an organ, tissue and eye donor. The Michigan Organ Donor Registry can only be accessed by Gift of Life Michigan to assist hospitals in the recovery and transplantation of organs and tissues. One person can save and improve the lives of 75 people through organ, tissue and eye donation.



We truly appreciate the partnership with the Michigan Secretary of State and the continued commitment to help us expand the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and save lives, said Dils. We cannot do this alone. We are grateful for Secretary Benson and the hard work of her team throughout the state.



Benson was also joined by Amy Bacon, a Flint resident who received a donated heart about 10 years ago. After a sudden heart attack in 2009, Bacons health deteriorated until she was diagnosed with end stage heart failure and placed in hospice care in 2012. After her life-saving transplant, she went on to earn a bachelors degree in public health administration and a masters and doctorate in public health. She recently joined Gift of Life as a public education specialist.

Im living my best life. Im trying to reach as many people as I can, she said. Thats why Im here. I want to do my part to help other people.



Approximately 85 percent of Michiganders who join the registry do so when applying for or renewing their drivers licenses or state ID with the Michigan Department of State. But residents can join the registry at any time by visiting Michigan.gov/OrganDonation or going to one of the departments more than 160 new self-service stations, most of which are located at grocery stores. Those who join the registry receive a heart emblem on their drivers license or state ID indicating their decision to be a donor.



Gift of Life Michigan is the state's federally designated organ and tissue recovery program, providing all services necessary for organ donation to occur in Michigan, and anyone can join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, regardless of their health or age. Those considering joining are encouraged to discuss the decision with their family.



More information is available online at Michigan.gov/OrganDonation and GiftofLifeMichigan.gov. Video of the press conference can be found on the Michigan Department of State Youtube page.

# # #




Central Michigan University President Bob Davies sent a campus-wide email on April 6 to address recent headlines about the university's continued enrollment decline.

Throughout a lengthy note, he attempted to defuse concerns of some CMU stakeholders due to a few articles published by Michigan media outlets, which Davies said have caused distress. One of the people he cited to support his outlook on enrollment was a Mount Pleasant bar manager.

Davies asked the university community to consider a statement from the Bird Bar & Grill manager published in a recent article by The Detroit News, who Davies said had reportedly said, the university will figure it out, regarding a concern with enrollment numbers.



Yes, we will, Davies said in reference to those six quoted words.

The full quotation reported by The Detroit News actually reads as follows: "It's scary, but the university will figure it out, which is attributed to Allison Curtiss, one of the managers at the Bird Bar & Grill.

The overall enrollment decline is approaching one decade. The pandemic has had its own negative impact on CMU's enrollment, like it has on most public universities across the country.

Davies's April 6 email also follows a March 17 announcement from the CMU Division of Student Affairs of its planned closure of some campus residential halls due to estimates for the next semester enrollment, estimates which CMU did not provide to the News Advocate's sister publication, the Midland Daily News, following the announcement.

As we reflect on the years since 2012, when CMU had its highest enrollments, we can see the steady progression of enrollment declines, Davies said in the email. During the decade that followed, one can debate what CMU could have done differently to curb those declines. Regardless, we are taking action now to address these issues.

Central Michigan University

Davies also said in the campus email that he wanted to open dialogue to address enrollment after the distressing headline of The Detroit News article, which he said raised alarms across campus.

The headline of the April 3 article reads, CMUs enrollment is plummeting. Some worry about its viability. In the email, Davies said some stakeholders are concerned with the question of viability. The Detroit News article cites several stakeholders who are concerned about the future of the university, including students in addition to a Mount Pleasant salon, plus the bar.

There is no doubt that recent headlines about CMU were intended to evoke those strong feelings, Davies said.

While urging the CMU community to be reassured in his letter, he also quoted Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., a non-partisan, nonprofit organization which aims to be a source of new ideas on how Michigan can "succeed as a world class community in a knowledge-driven economy." Davies also referred to a Bridge Michigan article, Central Michigan University blames 'complacency' for enrollment dive, from March 29.

Both (The Detroit News and Bridge Magazine) stories correctly indicate that CMU has seen significant enrollment declines  that is not new information, Davies said. We have been talking openly about our declining enrollment frequently since my arrival in 2018 in a variety of forums  which is not always common in higher education.

Davies said enrollment is a top priority for him, the CMU Board of Trustees, all university leaders and the entire university community.



CMU Vice President for Student Recruitment and Retention Jennifer DeHaemers told The Detroit News that the university's declining enrollment is partly because the school is behind in recruitment strategies used by competing schools.

Davies offered DeHaemers's perspective, which she also expressed in a recent letter sent by her to some stakeholders of the university.

A general sense of complacency overtook some areas of the university, creating a sense of satisfaction with outdated technology and leading to a failure to employ new and updated best practices of recruiting," DeHaemers wrote on March 24.

Davies said we are being transparent in conversations regarding current steps and acting swiftly to rebuild our enrollment with a sense of purpose and urgency.



In February, Davies was given a $35,000 raise by the university Board of Trustees. Before the pay increase, Davies was one of the lowest-paid university presidents in the region and in the Mid-American Conference  according to Central Michigan Life, the student newspaper on campus.

On Feb. 17, Central Michigan Life reported the board did not discuss several campus controversies of the past year, including a nearly 2,000 student enrollment decline for the fall, at the meeting where Davies was given the pay increase.
Courtesy photo

The Caseville Community Food Pantry was able to serve more than 300 families during its monthly drive-thru pantry thanks to a $1,700 donation from the Caseville Community Chest.

Amy Redwantz, who runs the Caseville Community Food Pantry, said the donation allowed them to purchase extra food for Saturday's popup pantry, an extra half trailers worth. Semis from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan delivered about 26,000 of food for Saturday's pantry. The Community Chest's James Stahl and Janice Prill were on hand to present Redwantz with their donation.
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MANISTEE  The public will have a chance to comment on Manistee's 2022-23 budget and capital improvement plan.

A public hearing is slated for 7 p.m. on April 19 during Manistee City Council's regular meeting at city hall. The budget must be adopted no later than May 15 each year.

An optional budget session is slated for April 26; it is expected that the budget will be adopted during the council's May 3 meeting.

The budget was introduced during the April 5 city council meeting, and a work session was conducted on April 12.

On April 5, City of Manistee Chief Financial Officer Ed Bradford gave an overview of the 2023 budget.

Bradford's presentation noted the following key points:

The general fund (exclusive of American Rescue Plan Act) is balanced but contributes $100,000 of reserves to the city Motor Pool.

There is a taxable value increase of 5.4% for properties in Manistee.

A Headlee Rollback decreases the millage rate from 17.5533 to 17.2443.

A 3.5% water and sewer rate increase is proposed.

A 4.3% refuse rate increase is proposed.

There is a proposed 0.5 mill increase in the refuse millage for PFAS remediation.

The citywide budget funds $9,676,800 in capital improvement projects.

However, during the April 12 work session, council members were concerned about a proposed 0.5 mill increase in refuse millage for PFAS remediation as well as proposed water and sewer rate increases.

"On the refuse side, we have a fixed contract with Republic Services that escalates every year. As to our other costs and that fund  we have to be able to cover those," Bradford said on April 12.

Mayor Lynda Beaton said that while she understood the reasoning, the budget lacked any relief for Manistee residents.

She proposed freezing water and sewer rates this year and using a portion of the $900,000 the city received from a combination of American Rescue Plan Act funds and money from the state excise tax as part of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act that exceeded what was expected.

The proposed budget is available for review on the city's website manisteemi.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=822 or at city hall.

"The property tax millage rate proposed to be levied to support the proposed budget will be a subject of (Tuesday's public hearing)," according to agenda documents. "A rate adjustment to water and sewer and refuse services will also be reviewed."

On Tuesday, council also will consider a demolition bid for a house at 150 Monroe St. Courts have ordered the demolition, according to the city council agenda, after the house sustained damage in a fire in May 2021.

Bolle Contracting LLC, of Clare, submitted a bid for $12,960 for demolition. The city has received $13,000 for the work from the insurance company, according to the agenda documents.

The following items are also on the agenda:
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Midland will be without a planning director at the end of this month.

During a planning commission meeting Tuesday, Director of Planning & Community Development Grant Murschel announced he was stepping down from his role for another opportunity. The city is already conducting a search for his replacement.

Murschel said he has been in this role since 2013. While he will no longer be working with the city, his new job will keep him in the community. He will be working for SPACE Inc.

Midland has a very exciting thing that is going on and is obviously attracting a lot of new investment, Murschel said. I will still be local and excited to move the community forward, just in a different role.

Midland City Manager Brad Kaye said Murschel has been a valuable member of the citys leadership team.

(Murschel) quickly integrated himself into the community, effectively advocating for change that will help us continue moving forward as a city, Kaye said. While it is unfortunate (that) he is leaving before his work on the new master plan, City Modern, can be completed, we expect to benefit from his work on this forward-looking document for years to come. We wish him well in his new endeavor.

There will be no interim planning director, Kaye said. Murschels last planning commission meeting will take place Tuesday, April 26.
Legendary chef and cookbook author Julia Child taped her first TV appearance nearly 60 years ago, on a public TV station in Boston.

It was a landmark moment, as Child essentially invented food television, which has gone on to become a behemoth industry in the television, film and now social media industry.

Its only apropos, then, that Childs legacy continues to loom large, especially with the boom of Julia Child-related content thats amassing on the airwaves right now.

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel producer Daniel Goldfarb has a new biography series out celebrating the American chef who taught the country to cook French. Now streaming on HBO Max, Julia stars British actress Sarah Lancashire as Julia Child, in the eight-episode series named after different dishes for which Child was known. David Hyde Pierce stars as her loving husband Paul, and the series charts her rise to the top as a beloved household name and presence in Americas kitchens.

Also titled Julia, the new documentary from RBG directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen depicts the life of Child in this breezy biographical doc, which was released in late 2021. The film charts her early life and courtship and her storied career as a television innovator in the early days of the medium, as well as her lasting legacy for chefs who have followed in her footsteps and home cooks who have been inspired by her recipes. Rent the film on all platforms for a $5.99 rental.

Of course, the renaissance of Julia Child mania started back in 2009 with Nora Ephrons hit film Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep as Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, a New York City blogger cooking her way through Childs oeuvre. Her embodiment of the chef earned Streep one of her many Oscar nominations for Best Actress. Stream it on Starz or rent it for $2.99 elsewhere.

Also new to the Food Network, The Julia Child Challenge, which tasks amateur chefs to follow along and master some of Childs most iconic recipes in this twist on a reality competition cooking show. The prize for the winner is pretty good too: a trip to Paris to study at Childs legendary alma mater, culinary school Le Cordon Bleu. Stream through discovery+ on Amazon or Hulu, or check it out on Food Network.

But if all you want is the real thing (remember, Julia always advocated for cooking with the real thing too), PBS, Childs TV home, has a wide variety of her programs available to stream in The Julia Child video collection. Just sign in with your local provider and get watching on series like The French Chef and Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. Or, Amazon has season one of The French Chef available as well. Heres to finding some culinary inspiration from the woman who taught America to make an omelette almost 6 decades ago.
In last week's column I wrote about how much I love the technology that I have available to me, but the technology gods must have read that column and decided to punish me this week.

You probably know the old saying, "technology is great as long as it works."

While my home is not exactly a full-fledged smart home, over the years I've worked to increase the technology in my house. When we moved into our current home a couple of years ago, I installed a number of security cameras that can be viewed online, so we can check in on our house when we are gone. Our TV watching is all done on smart devices, like the Apple TV. And I installed Phillips Hue lights throughout much of my house, which can be turned on and off with one of the Google Nest Home devices in just about every room.

In some ways, my home can feel a bit like Star Trek, as so much of it is connected to the internet. This includes the washer and dryer we purchased with the house, which allows them to send us a notification when the laundry is done.

All this is great, and makes life so much easier when it all works. I walk downstairs in the morning and say, "OK Google, turn on downstairs lights," and they all turn on. No looking for multiple switches, just one command and all the lights I want on turn on.

However, on the occasion that something doesn't work, it can be quite an exercise in frustration. Such was the case earlier this evening as I write this column.

I'm still not sure exactly what made our router stop working  maybe the power went out for a few seconds thanks to the high winds. Maybe one of my children knocked it off the shelf when they were playing with a ball in the house for the 6,847th time despite being told the exact same number of times that they aren't allowed to do that. Who knows? All I know is that when I came home from work, the internet was down.

In some houses, the internet going down means just that  you can't get online. But in my house, you might as well just leave, because nothing works.

"OK Google," I said, before immediately being cut off by the Google Assistant informing me, "there is no Wi-Fi signal available."

The first thing to do, of course, is check the router. So I stumble through my living room in the dark, because the Hue lights won't work, stepping on and tripping over the 387 dog toys littered across our floor. There are approximately 83 lights on the front of our router  it looks eerily like the spaceship from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"  and about half of them are blinking while the other half are dark. Despite my knowledge of technology, I have absolutely zero clue what this means.

So I use my phone, which thankfully has data service, to access my internet service provider's website to see if there is an outage in my area. There is not. So the question becomes, is it the router that is the problem, or is it the modem?

The best way to check, of course, is to plug a computer into the modem via ethernet and see if we have internet. That's great, except not a single device we have in our house actually has an ethernet port.

I managed to find my wife's old computer, an HP laptop that weighs roughly the same amount as my car, which fortunately does have an ethernet port, and plug it into the modem. After some finagling, I found the internet was working. So the router was the problem.

I discovered then that the router's Wi-Fi wasn't working at all. So I needed to log into the router and reset the Wi-Fi.

Quick question: Do you remember the password for your wireless router? Neither do I.

I tried about 85 different combinations of username and password that I may have used, including the default one for the router, and nothing worked. Finally, I started the list over and was able to log in with the very first one I tried 45 minutes prior.

Rather than bore you with the rest of the nitty gritty of this story, I managed to get the Wi-Fi working again, though I'm still not sure exactly what I did. As far as I can tell, I picked up the router and held it upside down, and that seemed to fix it. I'm not sure.

So approximately two hours after I came home from work, I was finally able to turn on the lights.

Maybe a smart home wasn't such a great idea.
MIDDLETOWN  A bill currently being considered by the Connecticut General Assembly would revamp how the state determines its education funding distribution, which could potentially mean an additional $2.6 million for Middletown schools.

H.B. No. 5283 was passed by the states Education Committee on March 25, and is now being considered by legislators in Hartford. The bill proposes a new, simplified way of doing business.

Michael Morton is the deputy executive director of communications and operations for the School and State Finance Project, a nonpartisan organization founded in 2015 with the goal of ensuring that all Connecticut students are funded equitably and transparently.

He said H.B. No. 5283 is a step in the right direction. It would make significant progress, and actually ensure were funding based on student needs, Morton said.

A few of the reasons Morton said he supports the bill are that it assesses public school students based on their learning needs, fully funds the Education Cost Sharing grant and public schools of choice, and gives districts the financial stability to make meaningful, long-term investments in resources, such as teachers, counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and student support services and programs.

Moreover, the bill would mean that changes would begin in fiscal year 2025.

The most exciting thing is that, finally, students will be fully funded, Morton said. Generations of students have graduated without ever being fully funded.

Morton said the bill would also reduce the racial and economic funding gaps by 50 percent, by taking things such as town wealth and student demographics into account.

It will provide valuable resources and supplies to struggling districts, Morton said.

If the bill becomes law, the introduction of the new funding formula will be expedited, meaning money will be available in fiscal year 2025 rather than 2028.

Part of the reason for choosing 2025 is because that is when federal COVID-19 relief funding expires, which, Morton said, is another positive. This also lets districts use those federal funds more effectively, he explained.

Under the bill, Middletown would receive an estimated $26.5 million in fiscal year 2025, which is $2.6 million more than the district would receive under current law.

It would also mean that Middletown students would remain fully funded every year going forward.

At least 41 state legislators have already signed on in support of the bill, including state Rep. Quentin Williams, D-Middletown.

Mayor Ben Florsheim has also expressed his support of the bill.

We would like to see that happen for Middletown, as it would resolve a long-term equity issue for school funding, he said.

Its important to note, especially as the city is now working with the school district to finalize its budget, that the bill would also benefit municipalities, which would be able to spend funding elsewhere that would have otherwise gone toward education.

Its not just a bill that benefits one district, Morton said. It provides help to every corner of the state.

Morton said he expects the act to be referred to the states Appropriations Committee sometime soon, before eventually being considered by the General Assembly.

Were hopeful well see it passed this year, he added.
Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo

CROMWELL  A state police cruiser was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver, who was later charged with operating under the influence, in Cromwell early Saturday, according to Connecticut State Police.

Police said they received reports of a wrong-way driver going south in the northbound lanes on Route 9 at around 4 a.m. A state trooper responded and saw the wrong-way vehicle, a Honda Civic, in the right lane and traveling at him at a high rate of speed, according to an incident report from state police.
In the days following the death of actor and comic Gilbert Gottfried, Dr. Zara Kahn bristled a bit when she heard the illness that he suffered and eventually died from described as rare.

Gottfried  known, among other things, for his voice work in the Disney film Aladdin  died recently at age 67 from myotonic dystrophy type 2, which news reports are calling a rare form of muscular dystrophy.

But the reality is that its not known how common myotonic dystrophy type 2 is, said Khan, a general neurologist and neuromuscular specialist with the Stamford-based Hartford HealthCare Ayer Neuroscience Institute Chase Family Movement Disorders Center.

I think type 2 myotonic dystrophy is probably under-recognized, Khan said. Its challenging to diagnose.

There are two kinds of myotonic dystrophy  type 1and type 2. Both illnesses affect muscles and other organs in the body, and are characterized by an inability to relax muscles after contracting them and progressive muscle weakness.

According to a February 2020 report from the Journal of the American Heart Association, the incidence of myotonic dystrophy type 1 may be as high as one in 2,500. According to the National Library of Medicine, type 1 appears to be more common than type 2, though recent studies suggest that type 2 may be as common as type 1 among people in Germany and Finland.

However, Khan said, no one knows exactly how prevalent type 2 is, largely because its symptoms can be mistaken for other problems, such as fibromyalgia.

It can present very pain-predominant, without noticeable weaknesses, she said.

Because of this, she said, there is reason to believe it is underdiagnosed.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is more easily spotted, Khan said, as it causes facial weakness and other changes that can be spotted in the patients appearance.

(Those with type 1) have very distinct facial features, she said. Its very striking.

Myotonic dystrophy type 2 isnt as noticeable in a persons appearance, Khan said.

A lot of times type 2 patients look very normal, she said. Sometimes they have facial weaknesses, but its very subtle. You have to look for it.

Those with type 1 can also have a cognitive impairment that is more severe than in those with type two, Khan said. There isnt a noticeable problem with cognition in those with type 2, she said.

Khan said there are symptoms prevalent in both types of myotonia that people should be aware of. These include cataracts, problems with the muscles, a family history of any kind of myotonic dystrophy, and a family history of premature sudden cardiac death.

These people should be the ones to pursue further testing, she said.
Ron Chapple / Getty Image

KILLINGLY  A group broke into a Killingly home, assaulted a person and stole before taking off Friday afternoon, according to state police.

Police received a report of a disturbance at a home on Birchwood Drive around 1:30 p.m. At the home, troopers found a victim with minor injuries who was taken to an area hospital for evaluation, according to state police.
Editors note: This weeks column is written by one of Middlesex United Ways funded partners, STEAM Train CEO Donna Hylton.

MIDDLETOWN  It is important to its work to showcase the achievements of its partners. STEAM Train currently funds over 40 programs throughout Middlesex County.

STEAM Train Inc. received the Excellence in Education Award at the Midstate Chamber of Commerces annual meeting and awards dinner April 6 at the Aqua Turf. CEO Donna Hylton accepted the award on behalf of the organization and thanked the Steam Train family that has worked tirelessly to make its vision a reality.

I am grateful to God for the privilege of this assignment of empowerment and transformation and for His divine favor in so many ways, she said in her remarks. She went on to explain that Steam Train got its start during her 2017 sabbatical leave from Middlesex Community College.

She also thanked her husband, Dr. Paul Hylton, who thought that she should pursue funding from Microsoft. Even though it seemed like a far-fetched notion at the time, today, STEAM Train is in partnership with Microsoft. We are very grateful to Yvette Highsmith-Francis, Vice President of Community Health Centers eastern region, for the email that nudged Donna to apply for this amazing opportunity.

In addition to the award from the Midstate Chamber of Commerce, Donna also accepted a citation from the Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati and certificates and citations from U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and the Connecticut General Assembly presented by state Reps. Cathy Abercrombie and Michael D. Quinn.

STEAM Train is incredibly grateful for the Midstate Chamber of Commerces recognition, and for the unwavering support of President Rosanne Ford and Frank Ridley. We are equally thankful for the financial support we receive from the Middlesex United Ways Racial Equity and Inclusion grant to fund the Fast Track Academy, and for their vow to continue our fight in making sure individuals and families can thrive in an anti-racist, equitable, and inclusive community.

Funding from equity champions such as the Middlesex United Way, Hallam-ICS, Connecticuts Youth Services Prevention Initiative, and Microsofts Skills for Employability Grant make the work that we do in changing lives possible.

Fast Track Academy is STEAM Trains core workforce development program that is designed to offer under-employed, underrepresented and unskilled individuals, especially those who are single parents with dependent children who live below a living wage, opportunities to develop skills for the digital marketplace, specifically, for technical support positions.

One of the students in our current cohort is Mary Hicks, an African-American single mother of three sons who lives in Middletown. Mary is certified as a personal care assistant, and has worked in the CNA field and also as a private care home health aide, but she is currently unemployed.

When she heard about Fast Track Academy program, Mary was unsure about enrolling. I dont know anything about technology, and I dont think I can do this. I dont think this could be for me, she said. And I literally sat for maybe two to three days and said Mary, You have to do something out of your comfort zone, and thats all I kept thinking about.

If you dont take a chance or take a risk, youll never know if this is something you can do, or if you cant do it, and so that was really my motivation. To be honest, I was scared, she said.

Mary was admittedly afraid to venture into the world of technology, but she had many conversations with herself, and finally she concluded that she could do it. She could try something new that would allow her to tap into different things.

Today, she is very happy that she did. To date, Mary has successfully completed several modules in the Google IT Support course, and she has also attended all the hands-on classes, where she learned how to reassemble a desktop computer, make ethernet cables, and connect laptops to a network.

When asked what her sons think about what she is doing, Mary said, Theyre excited. When I first started school before, they were smaller. So now that theyre a little bit older, they say, Wow, mom, youre going to school. Thats cool. Youre going to school like us.

She proudly tells her sons that she is trying to do something different, and she wants to be an example to them.

Previous Fast Track Academy graduates have launched into full-time positions in IT, at companies like Hartford-based Infosys, and Mary hopes to do the same. Her desire is to be able to work in a job that pays her a decent salary so that she can take care of herself and her three sons.

Its hard being a single mom, and I want something that you know will have us settled. Mary is very happy that she chose to invest in her future by enrolling in this unique workforce development program. It is the best decision Ive made for myself and my childrens future. Things will change for us.

STEAM Train is honored to be a change agent in our community since 2017, offering STEM camps to children, computer camps to teens, workforce development to adults, and special programs for public school districts in Middletown, Meriden, Waterbury, New Haven, and Hartford.

With the commitment of a dedicated staff, the investment of supportive partners, the vision to empower the marginalized, and the grace of God to do this important work, STEAM Train is confident that the underserved among us will no longer be underestimated.

To learn more about STEAM Train, visit steamtraininc.org.
A Wisconsin National Guardsman who pleaded guilty to charges related to his role in the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is being removed from the military, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. However, he has been allowed to continue his military training for a year after he was first charged, and is still receiving a paycheck from the state.

Pfc. Abram Markofski serves as an infantryman in Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment  based in River Falls, Wisconsin. He was first charged in April 2021, and pleaded guilty to one of four charges as part of an agreement with prosecutors. In December, he was sentenced to two years probation and a $1,500 fine. Prosecutors were initially seeking prison time.

Yet, Markofski has been allowed to continue his weekend training drills with the National Guard, meaning he has been able to take part in combat training with weapons and continued to draw a paycheck from the service component long after Jan. 6, 2021. A spokesperson with the Wisconsin National Guard did not return a request for comment ahead of this storys publication.

Read Next: Breakdowns, Ripped Clothing and Dying Batteries: Army Commits to Arctic But Still Figuring Out What Soldiers Need

It is unclear when exactly Markofski will be officially separated from the service component, a source told Military.com on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the subject, but Guard officials in Wisconsin have begun paperwork to remove him. However, he was flagged, meaning he was not allowed to be promoted since charges were filed after the Capitol siege.

Since Markofskis charges became public, Military.com has asked the Wisconsin National Guard numerous times if he was being removed from service. In each instance officials declined to answer, citing concerns for Markofskis privacy, though the status of a service members career is routinely disclosed by other units, especially during criminal investigations and after sentencing.

Court documents say Markofski and a friend traveled more than 800 miles to Washington D.C. from Madison, Wisconsin to attend the rally held by then-President Donald Trump just before the assault. Court records say Markofski was in the Capitol for over an hour, based on GPS tracking records of his phone.

Ahead of the attack Trump gave an inflammatory speech laced with conspiracy theories that the election was stolen. He urged his supporters to march on the Capitol and confront police and lawmakers amid the largely ceremonial process certifying the peaceful transfer of power to President Joe Biden.

Ahead of Markofskis sentencing, company-level leaders in his unit penned letters to Guard officials and the court asking he be allowed to continue his service. That included his platoon leader, 2nd Lt. Joel Stevenson and his platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Tristan Babl, both of whom said he was an asset to the Army. Just before the Capitol attack, Markofski was removed from Special Forces Selection for failing the Armys physical fitness test.

The news comes after Cpl. Jacob Fracker, an infantryman with the Virginia National Guards 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 29th Infantry Division is also being removed from the service component following his guilty plea in March. The Virginia Guard did not allow Fracker to take part in his military duties since charges swiftly after the insurrection.

It is unclear why seven months after his guilty plea, the Wisconsin Guard has allowed Markofski to continue his service.

Related: Soldier Who Was First Service Member Charged After Jan. 6 Riot Is Being Removed from the National Guard

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.
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Frontrunner Vaccine Will Affact the Price of Potassium Chromate (K2CrO4)-Crystalline - Market Trend

CEO of Pfizer partner BioNTech says coming winter will be hard but by April, 300 million immunization units should be ready, which will have an impact on the global pandemic.

If coronavirus vaccinations are rolled out widely, life could return to normal by next winter, one of the scientists behind the front-running coronavirus vaccine told British television on Sunday.

Ugur Sahin, the Turkish co-founder of the German firm BioNTech, told the BBCs The Andrew Marr Show that this winter will be hard, without any major impact from vaccinations.

Together with US giant Pfizer, BioNTech is developing the leading candidate in the worldwide chase for a vaccine. Israel has ordered millions of units of the vaccine, hoping that the first deliveries will arrive in the country by January.

Affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, the Potassium Chromate (K2CrO4)-Crystalline market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth. This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next November 2020-2026 will show an oval but steady growth.

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One of our favorite rumors about the iPhone 14's camera has been debunked

After all, one of the most anticipated iPhone features won't be in next year's models. According to reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will reportedly put a 48-megapixel rear camera on the iPhone 14 before adding a periscope lens to the iPhone 15 in 2023, which means we'll have to wait for a good super-zoom feature.

This latest news is especially notable because Guo Ming   led the iPhone 14 hype last year when he said the iPhone would have a periscope camera in 2022That revision, along with one he made earlier this year, means android phone makers are likely to maintain a clear advantage over the iPhone for the next two years.Periscope lenses, or "folding" lenses, are already being used by Samsung, Huawei, Google, and others to achieve a longer focal length (greater zoom range) in a compact footprint by using mirrors to reflect light to sensors (traditionally located behind the lens). Huawei and Oppo have already demonstrated the technology in some of their flagship phones; In the U.S., Samsung Electronics Galaxy S21 Ultra is a typical product 100 times larger than Space Zoom.There is some good news for those hoping to upgrade their iPhones next year. In a research note with TF International Securities, Guo Ming   wrote that the iPhone 14 can output images at 48mp and 1,200 mp, suggesting that the camera will use something called pixel diversity that is, four smaller pixels are combined into one large "superpixel" to enhance low-light photos.Apple won't confirm product details until the event, but there are multiple rumors that the iPhone 14 series will retain its 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screen sizes (not including the iPhone mini), but will drop the selfie camera and under-displayed facial recognition.

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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina continued his wonder run at the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday with a three-set victory over 10th seed Taylor Fritz to reach the semi-final for the first time at a Masters 1000 tournament. The Spaniard will play Grigor Dimitrov for a place in Sunday's final.

Davidovich Fokina, the world number 46, rocked the tournament on Tuesday when he beat the top seed Novak Djokovic in three sets in the second round.

He followed that with a straight sets victory over David Goffin in the last 16 on Thursday.

And the 22-year-old displayed the same grit and determination that had steered him past Djokovic to reach the last four at an event - rated just below the four Grand Slam tournaments in terms of prestige.

I am so, so happy, Davidovich Fokina said in his on-court interview.

Last year I reached the quarter-finals. The emotions to be in the semi-finals are so high.

"In the first set I had a lot of chances to break but I didn't do it. But I just stayed focused and believed in myself.

Last year at the event, Davidovich Fokina beat the top 10 player Matteo Berrettini en route to the last eight.

Earlier this year he enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals in Doha. But he arrived in Monte Carlo off the back of three straight defeats.

Boost

When you beat the world number one it gives you a lot of confidence physically, mentally and technically, Davidovich Fokina added.

I am pushing myself every match to play harder and harder.

Davidovich Fokina will play Dimitrov after the former world number three saw off the 11th seed Hubert Hurkacz in three sets.

Dimitrov took the opener 6-4. But Hurkacz hit back to claim the second 6-3.

Hurkacz staved off two break points while serving to level at 4-4 in the decider. And in the next game, the 25-year-old Pole set up one of his own with a running forehand pass after a badly placed Dimitrov volley.

But Hurkacz fluffed his chance to serve out the match at 5-4.

However, he showed nerve and good hands at the net to match point on two occasions while serving to make it all square at 6-6.

But from 1-1 in the final set tiebreak, Dimitrov went on a four-point winning streak to take command at five points to one.

Although Hurkacz stopped the rot with a service winner, Dimitrov won the next point to notch up four consecutive match points.

The 30-year-old wrapped up proceedings after two hours and 27 minutes with a service winner.
The Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) Mr. Edwin Provencal, has explained that, though BOST Management budgeted to make a loss of GHC86 million in 2020, we did not only get to zero, but we crossed zero and made GH31 million profit.

He reiterated that its positive net profit before tax attained in 2020 implies a massive turnaround of the operational fortunes of the company.

He stated that it achieved a profit before tax of GHS9,844,673 versus an estimated GHC30million in 2020 as against a loss of GHS158,478,676 in 2019 and refuted the purported loss of GHC400 million being speculated in a session of the media.

He said BOST is profitable the purported report of the GHC400 million losses is not accurate, to measure the profitability and operational efficiency of a business one must determine whether the underlying operations (core business) of the company are profitable.

Mr. Provencal in interaction with Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) at Dzowulu that the strategy was to enhance operational excellence and aggressively promote businesses.

We think there is a good opportunity for BOST. We think BOST can work and we know it can work because weve seen things turning around.

The thing about government institutions is that when government institutions work very well, we create a private sector drive because the private sector depends on the government.

We, by this publication, seek to correct the erroneous impressions created by the publication and wish to set the record straight, he said.

Mr. Provencal explained unpaid tax obligations over the five years to date, the reduction in the value of its shares at GOIL Company Limited, and forex difference on dollar-denominated loans may turn the profit before tax into a net loss for the period.

This enhanced performance was driven by extensive operational efficiency initiatives including, but not limited to massive repair works of our storage tanks, pipelines, and marine assets, replacement of outmoded parts across the facilities of the company in the last two years supported by improved marketing and customer service, he said.

Mr. Provencal, therefore, reiterates the fact that BOST is on its way to becoming a profitable state-owned enterprise, and nothing will derail the resolve of management and staff to achieve this.

According to BOST MD the management of the company has taken notice of a series of publications making the rounds on several online portals suggesting that contrary to an announcement that BOST has made an operating profit before tax of GHC30million, a report from SIGA indicates BOST has incurred losses to the tune of GHC400 Million.

Mr. Provencal explained to newsmen that during a presentation in Accra when he took his turn at the maiden weekly media engagement series for State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) explained that the profit was attained in 2020 through the efforts and sacrifices of staff, management, and the board.

The programme, organized by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), is aimed at enabling the SOEs CEOs to share success stories with their various stakeholders and the citizenry.
Staring at the mound of mud where a house once stood, flood survivor Mluleki Hlophe is in a state of disbelief.

"I'm still shocked and I still don't believe... my daughter and my sister, my young sisters, my nephews. I still don't believe," he says.

More than a dozen South African rescue workers on Friday painstakingly combed through a lush green valley where 10 people from Hlophe's family have been missing for five days since violent floods tore through Durban city, killing 395 people.

The 32-year-old survivor and other men from the KwaNdengezi township outside Durban have been helping search crews dig through the mud.

Only the body of Hlophe's mother has been found in the river after the storm cleared.

An officer warns him that the sandy soil will make it harder for the dogs to trace the scent of any other bodies.

An officer warns that the sandy soil will make it harder for the dogs to trace the scent of bodies. By Phill Magakoe AFP

Others believe the bodies have most likely been swept away by the swollen river.

Divers search the dirty waters of the river while the dogs unit scours the floodplain.

But after four hours' searching they find nothing.

'Many people are lost'

All along the river, families approach the search teams, begging them to let the dogs try to find their missing loved ones.

Police "didn't answer our calls and if they did answer, they said there is no help for now because there are many people that are lost", says Sinenhlanhla Menela, 30, whose sister, 26, and two-year-old nephew are missing.

The head of the search team explains to desperate residents that their resources have been stretched to the limit by the disaster.

With more rain forecast this weekend, any further flooding or mudslides could further hinder efforts to recover more bodies.

At least 395 people are dead and dozens more are still missing following violent floods that tore through Durban city. By Phill Magakoe AFP

Officials have described the heavy rains that hit the southeastern coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal as one of the worst weather disasters in the country's history.

Dozens of people are still missing.

Police, military and volunteer rescuers have joined forces to respond to the endless stream of calls for help.

"Even with everybody pulling together, the devastation is so vast, we're very sparsely spread out," said Travis Trower, director for the volunteer-run organisation Rescue South Africa.

A woman in her late twenties, Hlophe's sister, was the only survivor from the landslide that swept way the family home.

She had gone to check on an uncle next door, whose house was closer to the river, when the larger homestead was swept away in front of her, Hlophe says. Her one-year-old son was among those lost.

Officials have described the heavy rains that hit the southeastern coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal as one of the worst weather disasters in the country's history. By Phill Magakoe AFP

"I don't even believe anymore that God is here. Because why would he allow us to feel this much pain?" says Mesuli Shandu, 20, a close relative of the family, looking down at the devastated hillside spot where generations of the same family had lived.

"It's better that we know that this is someone's grave. Maybe we'll be able to move on, accept it, because it's very hard to deal with this," she says, fighting back tears.
The Reverend Benjamin Tettey, Associate Pastor, Ring Way Gospel Centre, Assemblies of God, Osu, says Jesus' death on the Cross of Calvary took away all of man's curses in exchange for blessings.

He said that meant that anyone who believed in and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Saviour was guaranteed a life of true freedom.

Rev Tettey said this whilst delivering the sermon on Easter Good Friday in Accra.

He preached on the theme: From the Cross to the Grave and to the Rise.

The Clergyman quoted from Galatians 3:13-14, saying: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

He said the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most powerful and most important event in Christianity and in the history of mankind.

Rev Tettey said through Jesus' deed on the Cross, man had been reconciled back to God, restoring the broken relationship which existed due to man's sins.

What happened on the cross was that Jesus took our unrighteousness so that we will take on his righteousness. That means we now have power over sin and are righteous in the sight of God, he said.

He said Jesus also took away man's state of wretchedness, lack and poverty, thereby giving man unlimited access to God's wealth.

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after his crucifixion. It is the fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted, die, and rise on the third day, according to Isaiah 53.

Easter follows a period of fasting called Lent, in which many churches set aside time for repentance and remembrance. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Good Friday, the day of Jesus' crucifixion. The 40-day period was established by Pope Gregory 1 using the 40-day pattern of Israel, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus' time in the wilderness.

The week leading up to Easter is called The Holy Week, or "Passion Week", and includes Palm Sunday (the day Jesus entered Jerusalem and was celebrated), Maundy Thursday (the "Last Supper" where Jesus met with his disciples to observe Passover), and Good Friday (when Jesus would be crucified on the cross).

GNA
The Public interest and Account Committee (PIAC) has asked the Ministry of Finance to provide further details on how GH32.4 million disbursement to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) was utilised.

The request, which was captured in the 2021 PIAC Annual report on petroleum revenue utilisation and management, was part of recommendations made by the Committee in accordance with its mandate to ensure transparency and accountability in the disbursement of oil funds at the sub-national level.

The report noted that it was the first time since Ghana started receiving petroleum revenue in 2011 that the DACF received an amount of GH32.4 million though there was no report on the utilisation of the amount.

Disbursement was made in fulfilment of a Supreme Court of Ghana decision in the case of Kpodo and Another v. Attorney-General in 2019, which asked that five per cent of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) be allocated and disbursed to the DACF.

The ABFA is the account set up by the government to receive not more than 70 per cent allocation from oil and gas revenue in support of government budgets on current and recurrent expenditure as well as PIAC funding.

DACF, as the latest recipient of the ABFA, was expected to receive the five per cent, amounting to GH129.26 million.

However, only 25.05 per cent of the amount which translates to 1.74 per cent of the ABFA was disbursed in 2021, contrary to the percentage specified by the Supreme Court, the report revealed.

PIAC has, therefore, emphasised the need for the decision of the Court to find expression in the Public Revenue Management Act (PRMA) which is under review as is the case with the ABFA and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund.

PIAC recommends strict compliance with the 2019 judgement of the Supreme Court in the case of Kpodo vs The Attorney-General, PAIC said in a statement released on Wednesday.

It also urged the Ministry of Finance to collaborate with relevant institutions to develop appropriate guidelines on the utilisation and reporting of ABFA disbursed to the DACF.

GNA
An Accra Circuit Court has granted GH80,000.00 bail with three sureties to a petty trader for allegedly stealing a motor tricycle, popularly known as Aboboyaa.

Gerald Yovo, age 28, was charged with stealing, which he denied.

The Court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah adjourned the case to May 12, 2022.

Prosecuting Chief Inspector Benson Benneh told the Court that, the complainant, Abigail Sackey was a proprietress at Chorkor.

The prosecution said the accused person resided at Beach Road a suburb of Dansoman.

It said the complainant owned a pure water factory situated at Chorkor.

The prosecution said the factory started its operation a few months ago and needed someone to supply the water with a tricycle and that a witness in the case, one Timothy Wayne, recommended the accused person to the complainant.

It said in March 2022, the complainant hired the accused person and bought a brand new Luojia tricycle valued at GH14,000.00 with registration number M-22-GR-8353 and gave it to him for supply work.

The prosecution said the accused person was asked to park the tricycle at the factory after work, but he ignored the directives.

It said on Friday, April 1, 2022, the accused person took the tricycle home without the consent of the complainant.

The prosecution said on Monday, April 4, 2022, the accused person failed to turn up for work and the tricycle could not be found.

It said several calls were placed to the accused person but he failed to answer.

The prosecution said the complainant became worried and informed the witness and that on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at about 0930 hours, the witness led the complainant to the accused person's hideout at Agege, a suburb of Dansoman where the accused person informed the complainant that the tricycle was missing.

It said the accused person was arrested and brought to the Police Station and a case was lodged against him.

The accused person in his caution statement alleged that, on Sunday, April 3, 2022, he woke up and detected that the tricycle had been stolen.

The prosecution said he did not inform the complainant though he saw her calls.

It said the accused person claimed he had reported the missing tricycle to Shiabu Police, but investigations revealed that there was no case reported at the said Police Station.

GNA
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), have pledged their unflinching support behind governments flagship program, the Green Ghana Day, slated for June 10.

This came to light when the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor (MP) paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) to court support from the Military High Command and the rank and file of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to support the 2022 Green Ghana Program.

The Minister said, "We cannot mobilize the major stakeholders of the country without the Ghana Armed Forces and so I'm here on behalf of the President to ask for the support of GAF with respect to the upcoming 2022 Green Ghana Day".

The Green Ghana Day, the Minister said is a day that the President has set aside for Ghanaians to plant 20 million trees.

He added that, "last year, we planted five million trees and this year, we have set a very ambitious target of planting 20 million trees on June 10th 2022".

The Minister said after the review of the 2021 Green Ghana Day initiative, the Ministry has introduced the Compartment Forest Reserve System, where institutions can adopt compartments in degraded Forest Reserves across the country and co-own.

Mr Jinapor also called for a joint standing committee between Ghana Armed Forces, The Forestry Commission and the Ministry to facilitate discussions and further implementation on activities on Green Ghana Day between the parties.

The Minister also used the opportunity to express his outmost appreciation to the Military High Command for their role in protecting the Natural Resources of the country and in particularly the Operation Halt II, which is aimed at fighting illegal Mining.

The Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), Vice Admiral Seth Amoama expressed his deepest appreciation to Mr. Jinapor for choosing GAF to actively join the National exercise of planting trees, saying that it falls in line with GAFs mandate to protect and preserve the territorial boundaries of the country which includes forests reserves and described the call by the Lands and Natural Resources minister as "a noble one".

The CDS, also nominated Col. Richard Kinney, the Director of Lands at General Headquarters (Logistics) to represent GAF on the joint committee and hoped the collaboration between the two parties will help make this year's tree planting exercise a success.

The CDS also used the occasion to present the Minister, a plaque for his maiden visit to the Military High Command.

The CEO of the Forestry Commission, Mr. John Allotey said as part of the Green Ghana strategy, the Ministry has constituted five committees which includes Operations and Logistics and hoped the GAF representative role on the Operations and Logistics Committee will be of immense benefit.

He added that, "we have two prompt strategies that is to plant 10 million trees in the forest reserves and 10 million for households, medians of roads, waterbodies, schools, recreational grounds, degraded watershed areas, amongst others.

To help support the efforts of the Ministry, Mr. John Allotey disclosed that all the 16 Regional Coordinating Councils have been briefed on the targets for the planting of 20 million trees and hoped that their role will help government's aggressive afforestation drive and the quest to fight deforestation and climate change.

Also at the meeting with the CDS were the Honorable Deputy Minister responsible for Lands and Forestry, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio and Major General Nicholas Peter Andoh, Chief of Staff at General Headquarters.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited has commenced the 26th edition of the Ghana International Trade Fair from 14th April to 18th April 2022 at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.

The fair is organized by the Ghana Trade Fair Co. Ltd under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade & Industry as part of the company's core mandate to be a bridge between Research Institutions and Industries, as well as Foreign and Local Consumers for the advancement in marketing exportable products and produce.

The fair which is on the theme: Building A Sustainable Entrepreneurial Nation: Helping SMEs Rebound" is set to offer a unique platform for manufacturers, suppliers, buyers, and users of a wide range of goods and services as well as opportunities for investment promotion.

Dr Agnes Adu, the Chief Executive Officer of Trade Fair Company, in her remarks, indicated that the global pandemic has dealt a devastating blow to the economy especially Small and Medium Size Ghanaian companies. He noted that the 26th Ghana International Trade Fair would enable the G.T.F.C to present a very unique and enviable opportunity to showcase available domestic products and services to participating foreign and local exhibitors and visitors alike.

"Through this, the G.T.F.C. facilitates the creation of export trade linkages between Ghanaian and Foreign Exhibitors/Visitors, Business representatives and Embassy staff etc. who visit the fairgrounds.

"Essentially, the 26th Ghana International Trade Fair is therefore aimed at offering a professionally organized and equipped forum for making direct and measurable contacts, and opportunities in Ghana. The Fair is also aimed at offering a platform to introduce various products and services from across the world to major decision-makers and prospective buyers on a one-on-one basis".

She emphasised that the Fair would offer the Ghanaian manufacturers/businesses the opportunity to assess, evaluate and appreciate product quality; and standards required by foreign markets. "It will encourage exporters to improve on the quality and standards of their products and services so that they could effectively compete on foreign markets.

"This platform offers enormous opportunities to Ghanaian Businesses to clinch deals to supply intermediate inputs and raw materials to foreign manufacturers."

"The Companys exhibitors profile includes participants from Morocco, Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Syria, Guinea, Senegal, and Benin and this continues to expand. This means we would have more than the usual showcasing of goods and services," she stated.

Dr. Agnes Adu noted the fact that the International Fairs have contributed immensely to the growth and expansion of the Small and Medium Scales Enterprise in the Country.

"It is our fervent hope that the Fair will foster unity and innovation among the numerous participating companies, individuals and trade associations that will converge at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel. Come find your next business trading partners at the 26th GITF, grow with us and also benefit from everlasting economies of cooperation".
Nairobi, April 15, 2022  Authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland should unconditionally release without charge 13 journalists detained since April 13 and should not pursue any charges against two others who were detained and later released, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 13, security personnel  including police and intelligence officers  arrested a group of at least nine journalists, working for seven local private media outlets and two international outlets, who were covering a fight between inmates and guards at a prison in the regions capital, Hargeisa, according to multiple media reports and statements by press rights groups. Two of the detained journalists were released after a few hours in custody, according to the press rights groups and a statement by the Human Rights Center, an advocacy group.

Later that day, security personnel raided the Horn Cable TV offices, which was one of the stations that aired breaking news dispatches from the scene of the prison fight, and arrested another six journalists, according to statements made at a news conference by Sakaria Muhumed Ahmed, the chairperson of the Somaliland Journalists Association, a local media industry body; a joint statement by the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and the Somali Media Association, Mogadishu-based press rights organizations; and Abdikarim Saed Salah, a Horn Cable TV journalist who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Abdikarim said that the men who raided the station were police officers.

The detained journalists colleagues said that none of them had been produced in court. CPJ was unable to independently verify the whereabouts of the 13 journalists who remain behind bars or what allegations police have leveled against them.

These sweeping arrests expose the intolerance for independent reporting that has made Somaliland a hostile environment for members of the press, said CPJs sub-Saharan African representative Muthoki Mumo. Authorities must release all journalists detained for their work, allow them to go back to their jobs without interference, and ensure that security personnel no longer harass or detain journalists for doing their jobs.

At a news conference, shared online by state media, Justice Minister Saleban Warsame Guled accused journalists of rushing to the scene to report unconfirmed news. At that same press conference, Ahmed Awale Yusuf, the head of Somalilands Custodial Corps, which is in charge of guarding the prison, vowed to file a case against those who exaggerated the incident for damaging the moral of the soldiers and lying.

According to media reports, including by some the journalists employers; the statements; and the colleagues who spoke to CPJ, the nine journalists detained near the prison were:

Naima Abdi Ahmed, founder of Carro Edeg Media

Hassan Galaydh, a BBC correspondent

Sagal Mustafe Hassan, a stringer for U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America (VOA)

Mohamed Abdi Ilig, a reporter and chairperson of MM Somali TV

Mohamed Jamal Jirde, a cameraperson with MM Somali TV

Aidarus Mohamed, a reporter and regional bureau chief with the Mogadishu-headquartered Goobjoog Media Group

Ahmed Nur Samrawi, a Bulsho TV reporter

Ahmed Said Hassan Shimali, a Horn Cable TV reporter

Ahmed Mohamud Yusuf, a Saab TV camera operator

Police and intelligence officers at the scene also tried to arrest another journalist, CBA TV reporter and manager Hamza Hirsi Hayd, but he was allowed to go free after the officers argued and failed to agree about whether he should be taken into custody, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and another person familiar with his case who requested anonymity for safety concerns.

Sagal and Naima were released after about three to four hours in custody, according to the same sources, a VOA statement shared with CPJ via email, and Naima, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. VOA said that authorities did not provide a reason for Sagals arrest.

Naima told CPJ she was held at the intelligence headquarters, where officers searched her phone and accused her of undermining national security and recording sensitive matters. She said that the officers beat and kicked her, including hitting her in the face. She said she suffered aches all over her body and on one of her hands, that eight of her teeth in fragile condition, and that she visited a local dentist who gave her painkillers.

After raiding the Horn Cable TV offices, security personnel arrested reporters Abdijabar Mohamed Hussein, Mohamed Suldan Ahmed, and Khalid Mohamed Aleeli, as well as camera operators Ayanle Abdi Buni, Mustafa Muhumed Abdi, and Abdifatah Mohamud Ismail, according to Abdikarim. Sakaria, at the April 13 press conference, said that security personnel also confiscated two cameras.

During the April 13 press conference, Sakaria said five journalists were held at the Hargeisa Central Police station while the whereabouts of the rest were unclear. The SJS reported that seven of the journalists were held at the intelligence headquarters while the rest were held at the central police station in Hargeisa, a report corroborated by Abdikarim and Abdishakur Dayib Mohamed, director of MM Somali TV, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Bulsho TV director Ali Farah Hardi and Goobjoog Medias deputy director Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye told CPJ via messaging app that they were unsure where the journalists from their stations are detained.

CPJs calls and messages to Somaliland Police Commissioner General Mohamed Adan Saqadhi, Intelligence Chief Mohamed Salebaan Hasan, and Justice Minister Salebaan Warsame Guleed were not answered. CPJ could not immediately find contact information for the prison security head Ahmed Awale Yusuf. CPJ sent queries for comment via Facebook and Twitter to Somalilands ministries of justice, information, and foreign affairs but did not receive a response. A query sent via Twitter to the office of the Somaliland president was also unanswered.
Member of Parliament for the Salaga South constituency, Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah over the week joined his constituents to outdoor a new MTN tower that will end the "no network " trouble in the area.

The beneficiary communities include Abromase, Kigbatitor, Silmunchu, Telkpa, Kiyaghe, Kijewu, Jemtutu, Akamade, Sarkingonaku, Buma and surrounding areas all in the Salaga South constituency of the Savannah Region.

The official commissioning of the MTN Network Tower witnessed sub chiefs from the area, Assembly members, religious leaders, staff of MTN, and the youth joining the Member of Parliament to grace the all-important occasion.

Addressing residents at the durbar to hand over the facility, the Member of Parliament expressed delight in the fact that the project was a huge step forward in enhancing economic activities and the general security of the area, while improving the standard of living of indigenes of the Kluw enclave.

She expressed gratitude to ATC Ghana, the Telecommunication Service Provider (MTN), Kluw Wura, Kasawura, Chiefs of area, Assemblymen and the people for supporting the initiative to become a reality.

The Assemblyman for the Abromase Electoral Area, Karimu Sulemana popularly known as Accra Boy indicated that access to network had been a major developmental challenge and concern for the people of the Kluw area for decades.

He was full of praises to the Member of Parliament for facilitating the completion of the project, adding that,"the project is a life changer for my people".

The Kasawura, Kwame Kwabena who spoke on behalf of the chiefs requested for special prayers to be said for the Member of Parliament and conveyed the appreciation of the chiefs to all stakeholders who played diverse roles in ensuring the realization of the project.

Background

In February 2021, Adom news carried a report in the Kluw area titled " Abromase: a Ghanaian community where residents hang phones on tress for signal, " and depicted it with a picture.

This and many other concerns from the people of Kluw enclave motivated the MP for the area, Hajia Zuwura Ibrahima to commit herself to end the "zero signal" situation in Kluw.

By sheer providence, Accrape, a community in the Kafaba ward of the Salaga South constituency which had also been suffering from "the no network syndrome" also got the signals when the 80-foot Abromase tower was commissioned.

The Member of Parliament had earlier commissioned a similar network tower project for residents of Yakubupe.
This week's hearings were the last chance for the 14 men accused in connection with the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks to give their version of events. Some spoke, some chose the silence to which they are unconditionally entitled under French law. Principal suspect Salah Abdeslam surprised everyone by choosing to speak.

We've come a long way since 8 September 2021.

When this trial opened eight months ago, Salah Abdeslam let it be known that he was a soldier of Allah, a radical tough guy unprepared to recognise any justice other than that administered by Almighty God.

Abdeslam, now 32 years old, and the only one of the ten terrorist attackers still alive, strode into the special criminal court full of fight. On Friday, he sat down in tears.

There are those who believe Abdeslam to be a liar, an arch-manipulator, the clever creator of his own image, a hopeless man playing for leniency. He may, indeed, be all of those things.

If he is pretending, on Friday he was doing it very well.

He answered repetitive, frequently impossible, questions. He was calm, cooperative, polite.

He reiterated the Islamic State propaganda line - innocent French civilians had to die to avenge the deaths of innocent victims of international coalition air strikes in Syria and Iraq. An eye for an eye . . . But the old vehemence was missing.

The suffering of his mother

He started to weep at the mention of his mother, and the suffering he has caused her.

"She tells me that I remind her of both her sons, that I make up for the loss of the first." Brahim Abdeslam, Salah's older brother, was one of the terrace killers. He died in the suicide explosion at the Comptoir Voltaire cafe.

Then Salah Abdeslam said, "the story of 13 November is written in the blood of those who died. It is their story, and I was part of it. The victims are linked to me and I am linked to them.

"I want to present my sympathies to all the families, and I ask them to forgive me.

"I know that there are those who hate me even today. I know we have our differences, that we will never agree. The Prophet says 'Love your friend with moderation, in case he becomes your enemy; hate your enemy with moderation in case he becomes your friend.' I ask you to hate me a little less. I ask you to forgive me."

He also asked for pardon from three of his co-accused . . . Hamza Attou, Mohammed Amri and Ali Oulkadi, all on trial for helping him after the Paris attacks. "I never intended to get you so mixed up in this. I'm sorry."

He gave his final thought to the families and friends of the dead, the injured.

"I know that your sadness can not be cured, but if my testimony has helped even one of the victims, then that's a victory for me. I have nothing more to say."

Testimony from a Turkish prisoner

The hearing continued after a 30-minute suspension. The atmosphere could not have been more dramatically different.

Neither Mohamed Bakkali, suspected of having helped to organise the Paris killings, nor Osama Krayem, believed to have planned a terrorist attack at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, wish to give evidence. Their silence is an absolute right.

Ahmed Dahmani, another of the accused, has no choice, because he's serving 10 years in a Turkish jail for using a false identity card while trying to return to Syria. He left western Europe for Turkey on 14 November 2015, the day after the Paris attacks. The authorities in Ankara refused to allow his transfer to France for this trial.

The court had to be satisfied with the reading of an account of Dahmani's questioning by Turkish investigators, shortly after his arrest.

The trial continues.
Yes, we will not see her again on this side of eternity, but her piercing, anointed, generational voice and the ripples of the revelations coming out of her marriage experience will still be with us for a long time to come. The painful and untimely passing of one of the Nigerias leading Christian worship leaders / musicians Osinachi Nwachukwu has brought mourning to many hearts and also turned the searchlight once again to the increasing incidents of domestic violence and abuse in our society. We were initially told that she died from a battle with throat cancer, but from the stories that are trending now, its like she was also going through very deep and protracted domestic issues. We are hearing that the husband mentally, physically and financially tortured her. The relations and friends have said so. The minister for woman affairs and others were also reported to have spoken with her kids while visiting her home. We have also read that the police arrested and is currently investigating the man. Sure, no victim of domestic violence has attracted so much attention in this part of the world. No doubt the death of this fast-rising and anointed talent is an irreparable loss to this generation, the church, the nation and the world. I have personally been in a mourning mode since I got the news. It is still shocking that such angelic, genuine and terrific worship was coming out of a pained and traumatized heart. I can now see that she was using all her strength to cry out for a rescue, but unfortunately we did not decode the message in her voice, tears and look. But why did heaven allow this to happen? Tell me.

There are so many questions over this avoidable loss. Why would a man, a human being treat a wife or even another person that way (that is if what we are hearing is true)? Sorry, I added that caveat because most of us are still confused about what actually killed the woman. Was it the throat cancer as initially reported or the beating of the man as we later heard? This must be made clear. Have an autopsy been conducted? If not, please those concerned should do so immediately and release the result to the public. Her case is no more private. Nigerians, government, NGOs, the church, her colleagues and fans all over the world are interested. I think I also read it was mentioned in the senate or by one of the leaders. Facts must be properly verified before any conclusion or vilification. What was the immediate cause of Osinachis death?? Did the relations, husband, church do everything within their power to save her? We must not rush into any conclusion or be carried away by emotions now. We want the facts from the experts and nothing but the facts. That will help to cool the nerves and console the grieving hearts. Then, why was she going through all these and the ministers and associates were not able to pick the signals and help her on time? Are we sure we showed her enough love or were we just exploited her gifts and service? Ministers, friends must look beyond the gifts and services to see what is going around and in the life of the gifted. Look into the spirit of your members, look at their faces. See their pains, their needs, hunger and their fears and not just their numbers, resources and talents. Release the time and the resources back to the people. I am still shocked that a worship leader of Osinachis statue was going through all that and her pastor didnt know. Your worship leader is always like your close daughter in any ministry - a priceless asset. In fact, they help to grow the church. Most people come to church to enjoy good worship and praise sections.

I also want to blame our late sister, if what we are reading is true. Why did she remain in that hell called home without crying out? She had access to many other great, genuine ministers that could have also helped her. She did not have to die that way. I do not support careless divorce, but you can separate at extreme cases, at least to see if things can be repaired before you continue. It is better and cheaper to be alive. When you die prematurely, you lose everything and your kids will suffer and float for as long as the grace will carry them. I am a victim of this and I dont wish any child such experience. And it is not just about men because some women also mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually abuse their husbands and children. The things we are hearing are the extreme form of slavery. I dont have a problem with husbands and wives managing their resource together, but it must be done in love, faithfulness and the resources must also be evenly used to take care of every member of the family. It is gross wickedness, satanic for somebody to produce and you deny them the benefit and joy of their efforts. Finance, lack of respect, lack of commitment and unfaithfulness are behind most of the marital issues we are having today. There is always a struggle over these and you are safe not to pass judgments until you know the genesis of the matter. Marriage is work and commitment. I wish our dear sister is alive today to tell her own side of the story. It could be deeper or shallower than we are hearing. Peter and Osinachi Nwachukwu would have ruled the world. Maybe, she would have also told us to leave and pray for her husband, that he would eventually change. That was what she kept telling her relations and friends till the end. Yes, she was indeed a true Christian, but just needed a little information and courage to avert this avoidable sad end. The man just mismanaged what most men are looking for. Just imagine that angel in the hand of a loving, committed and caring husband or even in the hands of a very loving, powerful minister of the gospel. Imagine that lady singing before or after you powerful preaching. Yes, they would have indeed ruled the world.

Now, that oil has spilled, it is not time to keep shading tears and looking for a way to punish her husband. We must urgently put in place the mechanism to draw out and help those that are going through the same level of abuse. Note that I said level of abuse, because we must not encourage people to walk out of their marriages at the slightest misunderstanding or conflict. No! There is no marriage, partnership without conflict. But if you cannot handle the situation please speak out. Talk to your family. Talk to your pastor and mentors. Talk to genuine marriage counselors. And also pray and work on yourselves. The problem may even be from you and you are busy blaming others. Also be careful how you swallow the advices of these many unmarriablemarriage counselors who are against marriage institution. Yes, some people are indeed unmarriable and they may not be qualified to advise others. You cannot give what you dont have. Be careful! Marriage is divine, desirable, sweet and can be honorable and enjoyable. Marriages are increasingly suffering and crashing today because this generation does not appreciate divine love, faithfulness, submission and commitment. The bible said that men should love their wives as Christ loves them and women must submit to their husbands as the head of the family. But this generation does want to hear all of that. If you ignore the word of God, you suffer. We also want to ask the Nigerian government, her church and fans to think of immediately establishing a foundation in her name that will fight for other women (and men) who are abused, take care of her childrens well-being and education and her beautiful works. It will also be good for the government, woman affairs ministry and the Dunamischurch to immortalize this rare gem, visiting angel, by naming monuments after her. Pastor Enenche, please take note. We must not stop at visiting her home, interviewing her kids, shedding tears or looking for a scapegoat to jail or punish. She was just like that angel that periodically came to stir the pool at Bethesda. They come once in a while. Good night Sister Osinachi!

Rev Gabriel Agbo is of the Assemblies of God and author of the books / audiobooks: Power of Midnight Prayer, Receive Your Healing, Breaking Generational Curses: Claiming Your Freedom, Never Again!, I Shall Not Die, Move Forward, Power of Sacrifice and many others. Tel: +2348037113283 E-mail: [email protected] Website www.authorsden.com/pastorgabrielnagbo Twitter: pastorgabagbo
16.04.2022 LISTEN

Russia and Ukraine war is the starting point for the superpower of today to step back into the second line of world politics. An atomic bombs superpower will see its deadly arsenal rust in underground bunkers, a waste of time and money. The country by landmass is the biggest in the world, blessed with natural resources but a relatively small population compared to its size.

Russia depends heavily on the export of gas and oil to Europe. The war in Ukraine has pushed Europe to reposition and faster cut the dependency on Russia in this sector. It is a matter of 1-2 years before Europe can distance itself from the import. Other commodities made in Russia are not important to Europe or the Western World. Many companies in Europe have declared their disinterest to do business in Russia after the war has ended with a Putin regime and will be hesitant to jump on the wagon with the next regime. The Russians supporting or ignoring the war will still be around in support of the next regime.

The effects of the Ukraine war and sanctions on the Oligarchs and Russia at large in the light of the expectations of the Russians will see a collapsed economy even hackers cannot save from going down under. The level of profitable production will stagnate at its current limited level based on the political system of the country.

Exporting more oil and gas and other communities to Russian friendly China is a dead end as the most populated country in the world has its specific agenda to keep the USA and Russia under its feet for generations to come.

Where is space for Russia to make money? Africa is the most likely target to sell goods and services besides taking cheap natural resources from the continent at a much larger scale as seen today. The race is on as China does not want to lose out on the play. Europe will stand idle stranded in between the superpowers struggling with moral guilt and economic migrants in their numbers hitting their shores.

Russia will hit hard on Africa hoping and trusting to use money and further corrupt African leaders to sneak into their economies and societies like a spider going out for its meal. The current well known African problems will increase but bear a chance for the wisest African countries. As the old saying goes: when two parties fight the third party will smile.
The beleaguered James Gyakye Quayson, has gone back to the Court of Appeal to file a stay of execution of the courts decision to strike out his earlier appeal against a judgement delivered by the Cape Coast High Court nullifying the 2020 parliamentary election held in the area.

Mr. Quayson, has also filed another motion seeking to have his appeal, which was struck out, re-listed by the Court of Appeal at Cape Coast.

This comes days after the Supreme Court, in a 5-2 Majority decision on Wednesday, restrained Quayson from carrying himself out as the Member of Parliament for Assin North.

The Supreme Court had explained that its indefinite restraint of James Gyakye Quayson, as Assin North MP, was to protect the constitution and the sovereign will of Ghanaians without subverting it, until a case challenging the legislators eligibility is determined.

The applicant [James Gyakye Quayson] has filed a motion to re-list the said appeal. The applicant has also filed an appeal against the decision of this Honourable Court to strike out the appeal. This Honourable Court also has the power under Rule 27 of the Court of Appeal Rules, 1997 (C.I. 19) to stay [the] execution of its decision, embattled legislator noted in his writ.

Mr. Quayson in his writ further argued that there were serious errors of law in the decision of the Court [of Appeal] on March 22, 2022 and that if a stay is not granted in respect of that decision, it would amount to the Court of Appeal being allowed to infringe the Rules of the Court under which it is required to operate as well as to ignore binding decisions of the Supreme Court and fundamental rules of natural justice with impunity, and thus undermining fundamental tenets of constitutional governance and the rule of law.

He also insisted that if the execution of the High Court decision is not stayed, there would likely be a multiplicity of suits in respect of the representation in Parliament of the people of the Assin North constituency as the applicant would challenge any attempt to hold a by-election in the constituency while the applicant has been gazetted and sworn in to represent the said constituency.

That if the Court of Appeal decision striking out the appeal is not stayed, success in the re-listing or the interlocutory appeal could be rendered nugatory because the judgement of the High Court and the striking out of the appeal by the Court of Appeal would have taken effect, he added in the writ sighted by citinewsroom.com.

Mr. Quayson in his writ, also explained that failure to put a hold on the decision of the Court of Appeal which will directly affect the High Court judgement, will not only occasion an irreparable injustice and damage to the people of the Assin North Constituency and the Applicant, but would also lead to the 2nd Respondent [Electoral Commission] having to expend significant financial resources in organizing a by-election.

---citinewsroom
Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, has urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to be Road and COVID-19 safety ambassadors during the Easter season.

In a speech read on his behalf before the House went on a recess by Mr Andrew Amoako Assiamah, Second Deputy Speaker, he noted that MPs were in a special place to contribute towards preventing road accidents and an upsurge in COVID-19 cases throughout the festivities.

Let me also draw your attention to the fact that this period is usually characterized by so much insecurity across the length and breadth of the country.

"It is a time when many road accidents also occur. I, therefore, advise that you take a paramount interest in your safety on our roads. Drive cautiously and keep safe at every material moment as the house needs every one of you back safe," he said.

The Speaker also encouraged commuters on the various roads to be protective of their lives, and the lives of other road users.

He said: "Road accidents aside, following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, it is expected that many recreational centres will again see the gathering of thousands, particularly our beaches. Let us advise our constituents to endeavour to keep themselves safe during this season."

In a related development, the Ghana Police Service in a statement on Thursday announced that it was working to enforce holistic security measures during the Easter festivities.

It said: "Stringent measures have been put in place to provide security coverage across the country for the 2022 Easter Celebrations.

All Regional Commands, with the support of the National Operations, the MTTD and the Police Intelligence Directorate are working to ensure that all persons who travel for the celebrations do so in safety," said.

The statement added that it would also ensure that all events organised in various communities were secured and incident-free.

GNA
The Constitution [1992] did not permit Ghanaians to hold dual citizenship. Therefore, article 94(2)(a) is not a dual-citizenship office-holding exclusionary clause.

Article 94(2)(a) provides that a person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana.

It does not provide that a person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he is a citizen of a country other than Ghana.

Because the Constitution did not even permit dual citizenship, article 94(2)(a) was directed to mono-Ghanafuo who owed allegiance to other countries, through actions such as joining their military, spying for them (e.g., the Soussodis exchanges), giving comfort to Ghanafuos enemies, or affirming allegiance to other countries for other non-citizenship related reasons!!!!

The distinction between allegiance and citizenship, which is challenging for many people to understand, let alone to appreciate, was well illustrated in Bilson v Rawlings where Rawlings affirmed that he was born a Britishfuo in 1949 and also became a Ghanafuo in May 1957, an affirmation that was of no consequence to his qualification to run for office because Justice Esslifie-Bondzie properly focused on his allegiance not citizenships.

So a proper resolution in this Assin North case has nothing to do with when or if Canadian bureaucrats acted on the MPs application to renounce his citizenship but rather what the MP did, and when, with respect to his allegiance to Ghana.

After all countries may choose to make it difficult for citizens to renounce their citizenships. US for instance has bumped the renunciation fee from a mere $100 to $2,350 in recent times and has made it difficult for people seeking to renounce to get access to their consular offices. There is actually a pending lawsuit against the US State Department by the Association of Accidental USfuo on this very issue. Then there is the issue of the exit tax that they impose on such renouncers.

Can USfuo compel allegiance, whatever it means, and thereby disqualify natural born Ghanafuo who seek to serve their birthright country by this strategy?

In this global village, where countries compete on the basis of their human talents, which rational or serious birthright country will allow other countries to force their natural born citizens to owe allegiance to them?

Which serious country will deny her people of the talents of its own natural born citizens because of the citizenship law of another country?

The British developed the allegiance doctrine to ensure they have control of their natural born subjects at all times and we seem to have imported it to help other countries to control our natural born citizens. Pay attention!

Once that subtlety is understood and once allegiance is properly framed as formulated in the Calvin case and further illuminated by Blackstone, the answer to the Assin North question is remarkably simple.

The MP is qualified to be an MP. Further, all these dual citizenship related article 94(2)(a) disqualifications are based on a misunderstanding of allegiance and its inapposite equation to citizenship.

Merely because it is easy to identify dual citizens, especially those who hold foreign passports, does not mean we should equate it to allegiance to a country other than Ghana.

People acquire and countries confer citizenships for many reasons, unrelated to allegiance. Turkey promotes its housing sector by conferring citizenship on anyone who buys a property that is worth $250k. We confer Ghanafuo citizenship like confetti on Diasporafuo, who we actively woo. A donation of $100K will get you a Dominican citizenship. Frequent Ghanafuo travelers acquire citizenship of other countries to facilitate their travels, etc.

Frankly, people who equate citizenship to allegiance are stuck in the 18th century, where the relationship between citizens and the state was likened to that between vassals and their lords. The rest of the world have longed moved past this feudal conception of allegiance and citizenship to a regime where citizenship is conceptualized in terms of political rights and democratic participation.

In any event, the statute (PNDCL 284) does not permit the cancellation of the MPs election and the repudiation of the voters wishes because allegiance is to be measured on the day of his election, regardless of what it was prior to the election.

To sum up, whether it is the common law or it is statutory law, there is no lawful basis to invalidate the Assin North election or to injunct the duly elected MP from discharging his constitutional functions.

As for his criminal prosecution, it is nothing but petty vindictiveness and an impermissible abuse of the prosecutorial process.

#SALL is the cardinal sin of the 8th Parliament.

Da Yie!
A 2-day stakeholders consultative workshop on Collaborating to Operationalize Landscape Approaches for Nature, Development, and Sustainability (COLANDS), has been organized on April 12th and 13th, 2022, in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Region.

The workshop was organized by the Centre for International Forestry Research - World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), which is anchored on CGIAR research partnership, with the focus to introduce COLANDS project to key stakeholders in the Western Wildlife corridor in Ghana and socialize on the landscape approach, share relevant experiences from stakeholders related to sustainable landscape management, engage stakeholders in a landscape approach to managing the Western Wildlife corridor and identify capacity building needs to implementing a landscape approach.

The workshop was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety of Germany (BMUB funded COLANDS project). COLANDS project aims to balance improved local livelihoods with sustainable landscape management by supporting collaborative decision making, and conflict resolution processes.

Participants were drawn from government agencies (Forestry Commission of Ghana, Wildlife Division (WD) of the Forestry Commission, Forest Service Division (FSD) of the Forestry Commission, the Ministry Of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), regional office, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Water Resources Commission, White Volta Basin, Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project), local governments (district assemblies of Builsa North, Builsa South, Kasena-Nankana West, Mamprugu Moagduri, Sissala East, Wa East), academia and research institutions (University for Development Studies  UDS, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology  KNUST, Forestry Research Institute of Ghana - FORIG), Traditional Authorities.

Among other stakeholders were Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community Service Organizations (CSOs): Shea Cooperatives Union, Global Shea Alliance, ORGIIS Ghana, TREE AID, and A Rocha Ghana; and private sector (Savannah Fruit Company  SFC).

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Professor Terry Sunderland at the University of British Columbia, and a senior associate fellow of CIFOR, indicated that, the COVID-19 pandemic took away two years of the three-year project without any activity.

That notwithstanding, he noted that it was remarkable to have met with discerning people and institutions with diverse backgrounds to introduce the project in Ghana, the first time for the remaining one-year period.

Prof. Sunderland stated that COLANDS project has gathered enough experience operating in Zambia, Indonesia, and are now being introduced in Ghana. The project he said intends to work on a bottom-up approach perspective and not a top-down approach and it depends on how the project was designed. "Against this backdrop that efforts must be galvanize from the grass-root kind of approach and move on," he concluded.

The Upper East Forest Service Division Regional Manager, Emmanuel Yeboah, in a speech read on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission said, the COLANDS project seeks to address the major challenges across the tropics that border on land-use conflicts where agriculture, livestock (tans-humans), mining, and other production processes are in contest with environmental, social and biodiversity conservation goals, by testing landscape approach principles.
The Sagnarigu Municipal Directorate of Ghana Education Service has expressed gratitude to the Member of Parliament for the area, Alhaji A. B. A. Fuseini for providing a three-unit classroom block for the people of Sorigu.

Speaking on behalf of the Municipal Director at an event to hand over the project, deputy director, Abukari Ayamba said, "Teaching and learning can not be effective without infrastructure. And the structure he (MP) has provided will improve teaching and learning. I therefore stand here on behalf of the Sagnarigu education directorate, to express our profound gratitude to the honourable."

He continued, "I also appeal to the stakeholders in education; the community chief. The headteacher and the staff. The PTA chairman and everyone that matters to take the classroom block very seriously by treating it as community property."

Addressing the gathering, the MP disclosed that the project was the fourth of its kind he has constructed since his party, the NDC left office in 2016.

"Since my party went into opposition this is the fourth classroom block I have constructed. We went to Kogani on the airport road and inaugurated 4 classroom block. We also inaugurated another 6 classroom block and science resource center in Jiso-Naa Yili. Including this and other places", Alhaji A. B. A. Fuseini indicated.

The residents of Sorigu however believed the MP who doubles as minority ranking member on communications has done so much for the community, adding that this gesture was a true definition of leadership.

They also used the opportunity to call on the MP, individuals and organisations to come to their aid by providing them with furniture to support teaching and learning.
April 16, 2022 Ukraine Open Thread 2022-48 Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ... Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ... Posted by b on April 16, 2022 at 16:54 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
US drillers continue to put rigs back to work amid the call for the industry to add more oil and gas production.

Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said Thursday its US rig count rose by four to 693 for the week. Its report was shortened by the Good Friday holiday. It marks the fourth consecutive weekly increase, and the count continues to be at its highest since March 2020. There were 439 rigs drilling last April, 254 less than this week.

The number of rigs seeking crude inched up by two to 548  204 more than the 344 reported last year. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas also rose by two, to 143  49 more than the 94 reported last April.

Texas added four rigs for 346 at work within the state, 132 more than the 214 counted last year. New Mexico declined by one rig to 95. Alaska (1), Oklahoma (1) and West Virginia (2) joined Texas as producing states to see an increase in the rig count while Louisiana (1) and Pennsylvania (2) joined New Mexico in seeing declines.

The Permian Basin saw two more rigs go to work for a count of 334  107 more than the 227 reported last year. Reuters quoted analysts as saying that the drilling increase being sought is likely coming, at least in the Permian Basin.

Lea County, New Mexico, remains the most active county in the Permian with 50 rigs, down four for the week. Eddy County, New Mexico, is second with 41 rigs, up three.

Midland Countys rig count jumped by seven  the largest increase among Permian counties  to 39. Martin County reported 31, down one for the week.

Reeves County added three rigs for 30 and Loving County also added three rigs for 29. Howard County reported 22 rigs for a second week. Upton County had 18 rigs, down one for the week. Glasscock County reported the steepest decline in rig activity, dropping five rigs to seven at work within county lines.

Ector County saw no drilling activity with the loss of the two rigs reported the previous week.

Enverus Rig Analytics, in its weekly rig count for the week ended April 13, said its US rig count was up seven over the week to 766. Activity levels are down 0.4 percent in the last month and up 48 percent year over year. The count was as high as 770 in the last week, which is up nine compared to the prior weeks peak.

According to the company, the largest weekly gain was in the Gulf Coast, where four rigs were added, bringing the total to 98. Activity is at pre-pandemic levels in the play. The most active counties are LaSalle (nine rigs), Webb (nine), DeWitt (eight) and Karnes (eight). By operator, ConocoPhillips and EOG Resources are the most active at five rigs each.

Another area that has rigs at or above pre-pandemic levels is Ark-La-Tex. At 81 rigs running, the region is up 50 percent year over year and up around 65 percent compared to pre-pandemic 2020 (January and February average). Aethon Energy is the most active operator and has doubled its rig count in the last year to 14. The next most active are Southwestern Energy (10), Chesapeake Energy (six) and Comstock Resources (six). While counties in the Louisiana Haynesville rank as the most active  DeSoto Parish has 17 rigs running, while Caddo Parish has 11  the next three are in the Texas Haynesville, with seven rigs each running in Harrison, Panola and San Augustine counties. The most notable on that list is San Augustine as it had no rigs running a year ago. Aethon is responsible for six rigs of that San Augustine surge.

The Appalachian Basin is also running eight more rigs than the pre-pandemic 2020 average and is up 18 percent year over year at 53 rigs. Range Resources, Tug Hill Operating, Ascent Resources, EQT and Southwestern Energy are running four rigs each. Of the total, 50% are running in Pennsylvania, 29 percent are in West Virginia and 20 percent are in Ohio. One rig is also running in New York.
Midlands labor market continues to recoup the losses seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Texas Workforce Commission figures released Friday showed unemployment in its Midland metropolitan statistical area (MSA)  which includes Midland and Martin counties  fell to 3.5 percent in March from 4.3 percent in February. It is also well below the 6.7 percent reported last March.

Odessa fared even better, seeing its unemployment rate fall to 5.1 percent from 6.2 percent in February and from 9.8 percent in March 2021.

The region continues to trend in the right direction, Willie Taylor, chief executive officer of the commissions Workforce Solutions Permian Basin, told the Reporter-Telegram by telephone.

No one would have believed this region would have 74,000 drawing unemployment at one time, he said, referring to the numbers reached in 2020 as the pandemic began to impact the economy. Now, he said, theres between 10,000 and 15,000 in the region covered by his office, which oversees 17 West Texas counties.

A number of those who lost their jobs have gone on to become entrepreneurs, starting their own businesses, he said. Some may work as contractors and its difficult to track those numbers.

Taylor said he is hearing from his board members, and even from his peers at other workforce solution offices about the difficulty finding or retaining workers. Companies are getting creative to attract or retain workers, he said, from allowing working from home to alternating days off.

And the need for workers has provided a significant boost in wages, he added. The Mining, Logging and Construction sector  Midlands dominant industrial sector alone paid $693.45 million in wages in the third quarter of 2021, the most recent available. Thats almost twice the next sector, Trade, Transportation and Utilities, which paid $351.88 million.

The concern is, we wonder how long that can continue before it levels off, he said. People are changing jobs for 50 cents or $1 more an hour.

The population is growing, he said, but what is needed are skilled workers. There may some opportunities in the upcoming generation of workers. Taylor estimated there will be 5,000 high school seniors will be graduating this year. Some will join the workforce, he said, while others will enlist in the military, others go to college and still others leave the area.

Ive been talking to the colleges, they have young adults going into education and training. But they have issues retaining instructors, Taylor said. They can make more money in the workforce.

He continued to urge those hesitant to reenter the workforce because of childcare concerns or concerns about paying for workforce training to contact the workforce center.

We have childcare dollars, we have training dollars, he said. Use those resources instead of going into debt.

Its that same old song, he said, If you have skills, you will be put to work.

Taylor said Midlands civilian labor force  104,383 in March, up from 104,169 in February  is nearing pre-pandemic levels. The high was 114,600 in August 2019 and Marchs total is about 4,000 higher than in March 2021.

Of those in the labor force, 100,733 are employed, more than1,000 more than in February and almost 6900 more than the 93,848 in March 2021. The number of unemployed fell by about 800 to 3,650 and is 3,000 less than the roughly 6,700 unemployed last March.

Midland added 300 nonfarm jobs from February to March for 105,300. The Mining, Logging and Construction sector added 500 jobs, the only sector to do so. Trade, Transportation and Utilities and the Education and Health Services sector each lost 100 jobs.

For the 12 months from March 2021 to March 2022, Midland has added 7,200 jobs for a growth rate of 7.3 percent.

Mining, Logging and Construction led with 3,000 new jobs over the year. The Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector and the Leisure and Hospitality sector have each grown by 1,500 jobs. The Manufacturing sector and Professional and Business Services sector each added 400 jobs and the Other Services sector has seen 300 new jobs. Financial Activities added 200 jobs and the Information sector 100 jobs. The Government sector was the only sector to lose jobs over the year, down 200 jobs.

Statewide, the unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent from 4.7 percent in February and from 6.4 percent in March 2021. For the fifth consecutive month, the state has set record employment as total nonfarm jobs reached 13,207,600 in March. Texas added 30,100 jobs in March and has added 731,600 jobs since last March.

Amarillo and Austin-Round Rock reported the lowest unemployment at 2.7 percent each, followed by College Station-Bryan at 2.9 percent and Lubbock at 3 percent. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission reported the highest rate at 7 percent.

Midland Unemployment

January 2022 4.4 percent

January 2021 7.8 percent

February 2022 4.3 percent

February 2021 7.3 percent

March 2022 3.5 percent

March 2021 6.7 percent

Preliminary numbers for March with February numbers in parentheses:

Amarillo 2.7 (3.4)

Austin-Round Rock 2.7 (3.3)

College Station-Bryan 2.9 (3.5)

Lubbock 3.0 (3.7)

Abilene 3.1 (3.8)

Dallas-Plano-Irving 3.3 (4.0)

San Angelo 3.3 (4.1)

Sherman-Denison 3.3 (4.0)

Waco 3.4 (4.1)

Fort Worth-Arlington 3.4 (4.2)

Midland 3.5 (4.3)

San Antonio-New Braunfels 3.5 (4.2)

Tyler 3.5 (4.3)

Wichita Falls 3.6 (4.4)

Killeen-Temple 4.1 (4.9)

Texarkana 4.1 (4.9)

El Paso 4.3 (5.3)

Laredo 4.3 (5.3)

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land 4.4 (5.3)

Longview 4.4 (5.3)

Victoria 4.4 (5.4)

Odessa 5.1 (6.2)

Corpus Christi 5.3 (6.3)

Brownsville-Harlingen 6.1 (7.3)

Beaumont-Port Arthur 6.6 (8.0)

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 7.0 (8.4)

Source: Texas Workforce Commission
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With towering pine trees and cool mountain breezes, a pocket of southern New Mexico draws thousands of tourists and horse racing fans every summer. It's also a community that knows how devastating wildfires can be.

It was a decade ago that fire ripped through part of the village of Ruidoso, putting the vacation spot on the map with the most destructive wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history when more than 240 homes burned and nearly 70 square miles (181 square kilometers) of forest were blackened by a lightning-sparked blaze.

Now, Mayor Lynn Crawford is rallying heartbroken residents once again as firefighters on Friday tried to keep wind-whipped flames from making another run at the village and the hundreds of homes and summer cabins that dot the surrounding mountainsides.

More than 200 homes already have burned, and an elderly couple was found dead this week outside their charred residence. While power has been restored to all but a few hundred customers in the area, evacuations for close to 5,000 people remain in place.

Crawford said the village is overflowing with donations from surrounding communities.

"So we have plenty of food, we have plenty of clothes, those kinds of things but we still appreciate and need your prayers and your thoughts," the mayor said during a briefing. "Again, our hearts go out to the family of the deceased, to those that have lost their homes."

Authorities have yet to release the names of the couple who died. Their bodies were found after worried family members contacted police, saying the couple had planned to evacuate Tuesday when the fire exploded but were unaccounted for later that day.

Near where the bodies were recovered, in Gavilan Canyon, the fire reduced homes to ash and metal. An 18-home RV park was completely destroyed.

"I had like 10 people displaced, they lost their homes and everything, including my mom," said Douglas Siddens, who managed the park.

Siddens said his mother was at work when the fire broke out "with just the clothes she had on and that's all she has left."

Everyone got out of the RV park safely before the flames hit but "it's completely leveled. Like, all that's left are metal frame rails and steel wheels," Siddens said.

While many older residents call Ruidoso home year round, the population of about 8,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the summer months as Texans and New Mexicans from hotter climates come seeking respite. Horse races at the Ruidoso Downs also draw crowds, as it's home to one of the sport's richest quarter-horse competitions. The racing season was expected to start May 27, and horses that board there aren't in any danger as fire officials use the facility as a staging ground.

Part-time residents have taken to social media over the last few days, pleading with fire officials for updates on certain neighborhoods, hoping their family cabins weren't among those damaged or destroyed.

The hotlines lit up Friday afternoon as people in the village called in to report more smoke. Fire information officer Mike DeFries said that was because there were flare-ups within the interior of the fire as the flames found pockets of unburned fuel.

While the fire didn't make any runs at the lines crews had established, he said it was still a tough day for firefighters due to single-digit humidity, warmer temperatures and the wind.

Authorities reiterated that it was still too early to start letting people in to see the damage. They asked for patience as fire crews continued to put out hot spots and tried to build a stronger perimeter around the blaze.

"It's still an active fire area in there and it's not a safe place," DeFries said. "It's going to require patience. At the same time, every step that we're taking is designed to suppress this fire and to get people back home as soon as possible."

New Mexico authorities said they suspect the fire, which has torched more than 9.5 square miles (24 square kilometers) of forest and grass, was sparked by a downed power line and the investigation continued Friday.

Elsewhere in the U.S., large fires were reported this week in Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma.

Hotter and drier weather coupled with decades of fire suppression have contributed to an increase in the number of acres burned by wildfires, fire scientists say. The problem is exacerbated by a more than 20-year Western megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change.

The National Interagency Fire Center reported Thursday that since the start of the year, 18,550 wildfires have burned about 1,250 square miles (3,237 square kilometers). That's well above the 10-year U.S. average of 12,290 wildfires and 835 square miles (2163 square kilometers) burned for the same period.
Bluffs treasurer, village clerk resign positions The village's treasurer  who has held the position for about 46 years  is leaving, as is the...

Pittsfield council buys building for city hall expansion Pittsfield City Council has approved the purchase of a neighboring building to expand city hall.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden will host leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian nations in Washington next month for a summit, the White House said Saturday.

The May 12-13 gathering is meant to demonstrate the United States' commitment to being a partner with countries in the region.

The White House previously had announced that the summit would be held March 28-29, but the regional grouping of countries known as ASEAN sought a postponement due to scheduling concerns among some of its members.

The summit will commemorate 45 years of relations between the U.S. and the ASEAN nations. The gathering follows Biden's participation in an October 2021 summit where he announced $102 million in new initiatives to help these countries with COVID-19 and health security, climate change, economic growth and gender equality.

"It is a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration to serve as a strong, reliable partner in Southeast Asia," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Saturday in a statement. Our shared aspirations for the region will continue to underpin our common commitment to advance an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, secure, connected, and resilient.

ASEANs 10 members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Its members have been at odds with each other over Myanmar, which has been wracked by violent unrest since the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February last year.

ASEAN is seeking to implement a five-point plan for Myanmar it reached last year stressing dialogue, humanitarian assistance and an end to violence. But Myanmar's ruling military council has delayed the plans implementation even as the country has slipped into a situation that some U.N. experts have described as civil war.

Myanmars lack of cooperation led ASEAN last year to bar its leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, from attending its annual summit meeting, an unprecedented step for the body whose members traditionally have avoided public criticism of each other and have operated by consensus.

It has applied a similar policy for subsequent meetings, saying that it would allow Myanmar to send only non-political representatives.

Biden hosted Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, for talks last month in which the president tried to assure Singapore and other Pacific allies that the administration remains focused on the region even while working with Europe and other allies to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On an overcast spring morning, eight Rotarians and one guest speaker gathered in the Holiday Inn Express meeting room. Those in attendance were Don Pigg, Sonie Smith, Sarah Edmiston, President Jane Becker, Sarah Robinson, Pat Pennell, Cindy Boehkle and Gordon Jumper with Luke (not Allan) Worrell of Worrell Land Services.

After sharing news and passing the new Polio Jar, President Jane Becker rang the April 5 meeting to order at 7 a.m. Sarah Robinson led the Pledge of Allegiance, Cindy led the recitation of the Four-Way Test and Pat gave the invocation.

Rotations were made by Don, Cindy, Sarah Robinson and Jane. Pat did her best, no matter the stretch, to include every Rotarian with Recognitions. Next, Cindy gave a report on the Noon Rotary bass fishing tournament that took place a couple days earlier. A hardy group of fishermen set out in their boats very early and had a successful catch, if a little on the small side.

Next, Jane reminded members to register to attend District Assembly. We also were reminded of the Food-Raiser at County Market from 8 a.m. to noon April 9. Our club will be joined by the Interact Club.

Joey Henry stopped by to drop off coupon donations for the Troop-on project. Finally, Luke strode to the podium and gave an excellent program on the state of farmland sales in the Morgan County area. We learned about the latest trends, data that is collected, changes in land classification, who is buying land and what the award-winning Worrell Land Services provides. After fielding several questions, Luke received the promise of a unique thank-you gift, geraniums to beatify their building, delivered by Don himself.

A wonderful idea. President Jane Becker rang the meeting to a close at 7:49 a.m. and all stepped out into the windy, rainy weather to begin the rest of their day.

 Submitted by Sarah Edmiston

West Central Leathernecks Marine Corps League 1177 and Auxiliary

Members of the West Central Leathernecks Marine Corps League 1177 and Auxiliary met at 8 a.m. April 12 at Kim's Cafe for the weekly breakfast social.

Present were Larry and Connie Evans, Rick and Earlita Howland, Earl Turner, Dick Matthews and Tim Ritzo. Discussion topics included the upcoming raffle, set for May 13-14, the annual Veterans Day ceremonies, members illnesses and general mumblings and solutions to the worlds problems.

The Marine Corps League supports local and national organizations such as the Quincy Veterans Home, Toys for Tots, several hospitals and retired Marines and Navy corpsmen organizations. Any Marine, former Marine, Navy or former veterans are invited to attend the weekly casual breakfast "meeting" at Kim's Cafe, 236 E. Court St.  previously Norma's Cafe  across the street from the Amvets.

 Submitted by Tim Ritzo

Jacksonville Area Landlord Association

Shawn Artis of the Morgan County Geographic Information System Department, spoke to the Jacksonville Area Landlord Association during its April 12 meeting.

Shawn presented information on the countys GIS, which can be accessed via Morgan Countys website. The GIS provides a wealth of public information about properties in Morgan County, including lot size, sales history, photos, owners name, tax history, flood zones, local zoning, voting precincts, and other useful information for landlords and homeowners.

This presentation from helped JALA members be better informed about the GIS to help them manage their properties.

JALA members meet at the Morgan County Fairgrounds at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month, with a 5:30 p.m. social, to discuss topics involved in property rentals, repairs and real estate investing. More information about JALA and local properties available for rent is available at jville4rent.net.

 Submitted by Richard Vollmer

Kiwanis Club of Jacksonville

April 7 meeting recap:

Jae Prince says: And the winner of the meat feast is  the team with Jared Maggart on it.

The program was Megan Ryan of Rammelkamp Bradney, who spoke on the Illinois State Bar Associations Rural Practice Fellowship Program.



There will be three new members inducted on April 14.

The BBQ committee will meet at 6p.m. April 21 at Golden Eagle.

The improvement initiative will be on April 23  the fourth Saturday of each month  and Koerts Krew will hit the streets again on April 26.

Dont forget, our April 28 meeting will be at Hadden Farms.

I want to give a shoutout to Erin Kleinlein and Sam Bobor for chairing our Pancake and Sausage event this year.

I also want to give a shout-out Gary Scott for being the chair of the 0.5K. Thank you very much for taking on such large roles for our club.

With a unanimous vote, the following were elected to the offices to which they were nominated: Jared Maggart, president; Samantha Bobor, president-elect; Mike May, treasurer; and Lisa Galloway, Brian Ganz, Stephen Symons and Phil Langdon, board of directors.

 Submitted by Heather Wardlow

Jacksonville Noon Rotary Club

President Cathy Jo Littleton Wahl called to order the April 7 meeting of Jacksonville Rotary Club at noon at Hamiltons. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and America was sung.

Volunteers were thanked, including Karen Walker, Madison Rever, Alberta Robinson and Breanna VanMatr, greeters and 50-50; Steve Holt and Jenna Tucker, sergeants-at-arms; Cathy Jo Littleton-Wahl, Reflections; note taker Anne Jackson; song leader Dave Fisher; Joey Henry, Recognitions and Rotations; and tech person Craig Albers.

Announcements:

 Jan Ryan announced that the Scholar-Athlete Banquet is back after a two-year hiatus. We are seeking 28 Rotarians to host tables and, as of now, two more are needed. The event will be at 6 p.m. April 28.

 Bass Tournament was April 3. Dave Fisher thanked all who helped with the event. We made around $7,400.

 The Polio Plus Jars are on the tables!

 Jenna reminded the group that she is looking for host families for the exchange program.

 Mike Schneider encouraged people to participate in Rotary Day at the Ball Park.

Upcoming events:

 April 12: Board of Directors meets at noon

 April 16: District Assembly will be at John Wood Community College in Quincy

 April 18: Fourth of July Parade Committee meets at 5 p.m.

 April 21: Oktoberfest Committee meets at 5:15 p.m.

 April 23: Positive Impact Project starts at 8:45 a.m.

 April 27: Jacksonville Area Museum (volunteer opportunity)

 April 28: Scholar-Athlete Banquet

 April 29: Fifth Friday Social; there will be no noon meeting.

Woo-hoo!:

Emily Evans was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship. Congratulations, Emily!

Joey Henry was in charge of Recognitions and Rotations. We heard from and collected $1 from Colleen Cooksey, Jean Hembrough, Sydney Hembrough, Joey Henry, Dave Fisher and Steve Holt.

We welcomed Larry, Connie, Laurie and Emily Evans, all of whom accompanied Todd The Magnificent Evans.

Todd Evans introduced his daughter Emily, who gave the program on Going Nuclear. Great program, given by a really great person.

Tom Luber drew unsuccessfully for the 50-50 drawing.

The Four-Way Test was recited and the meeting was adjourned at 1 p.m.

 Submitted by Anne Jackson

 Compiled by Angela Bauer
A state appellate court ruled this week that it will not block enforcement of the Pritzker administrations mandate that certain categories of public employees either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing.

The 2-1 ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeals upheld a Sangamon County judges decision on April 1 not to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the policy.

The decision involved three consolidated cases in which public employees are seeking to overturn the mandate. The cases include suits against Gov. J.B. Pritzker, various state agencies, the Pekin Fire Department and the Deland-Weldon school district.

Pritzker first issued a vaccine mandate on Aug. 26, 2021, through an executive order that applied to health care workers, school employees, higher education personnel and students, and state employees who work in congregate facilities. The order also authorized other entities, both public and private, to enact their own vaccination and testing requirements.

The employees sued to block enforcement of the order citing the states Health Care Right of Conscience Act which, among other things, makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone for refusing to receive any particular form of health care that they find contrary to their conscience.

That law was originally enacted to shield health care workers from liability for refusing to perform or assist in abortions. During last years fall veto session, however, lawmakers passed an amendment to that law making a specific exception for health care measures that are intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

That provision does not officially go into effect until June 1. But lawmakers inserted language in the measure stating the section is a declaration of existing law rather than a new enactment.

In other words, the General Assembly said it was only clarifying something that was ambiguous in an existing law, which in this case involved the word discriminate.

The Sangamon circuit court cited that law in denying the plaintiffs request for a temporary restraining order, saying that even though it hasnt taken effect yet, it can still be used as an aid in understanding the original statute.

But the plaintiffs appealed, noting that the new law has not yet gone into effect while also arguing that even though the amendment claims to be a declaration of existing law, the legislature cannot retroactively change the meaning of an otherwise unambiguous statute.

In their appeal, the plaintiffs cited a 2020 decision from the 2nd District Court of Appeals involving the same statute that said there was nothing ambiguous about the word discriminate.

To the contrary, the ordinary meaning of the word is set forth in its dictionary definition, the 2nd District court wrote.

That case involved a nurse in a public health clinic who claimed religious objections to providing family planning services or referring patients for abortions.

In its ruling Wednesday, however, the 4th District appellate court said that simply because a word has a dictionary definition does not make its meaning within a statute unambiguous. In this case, the court said, it would only be discriminatory if an employer punished workers who refused to be vaccinated or tested as a matter of conscience but did not punish those who refused for other reasons.

The vaccine and testing requirements, the court wrote, could actually be seen as merit-based policies because those who are vaccinated or tested are less likely to spread COVID-19 in the workplace.

The plaintiffs also challenged the vaccine and testing mandates under the Illinois Department of Public Health Act, which gives that agency supreme authority in matters of quarantine and isolation.

But the appellate court rejected that argument as well, saying that the employers in the three cases had not quarantined or isolated anyone, but had instead only threatened loss of employment.

To be fired is not to be quarantined or isolated from the community at large, the majority wrote.

The opinion was written by Justice Peter Cavanagh, with Justice James Knecht concurring.

Justice Robert Steigmann wrote a dissenting opinion. He argued that the word discriminate has a clear and understandable meaning and that the legislature included in the statute numerous examples of the kinds of discrimination that are prohibited.

He also argued that the 2021 amendment to the Health Care Right of Conscious Act could be used as an interpretive aid in understanding the original statute because he found nothing unambiguous about the original law.
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

 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

 Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary, 7 a.m. Holiday Inn Express meeting room, South Jacksonville. 217-243-6895.

 American Legion Post 279, first Tuesday of every month, 7 p.m. at 903 W. Superior Ave.



Wednesday

 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
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MEXICO CITY (AP)  Rosario Ibarra, whose long struggle to learn the fate of her disappeared son helped develop Mexico's human rights movement and led her to become the country's first female presidential candidate, died Saturday at age 95.

The National Human Rights Commission now headed by her daughter Rosario Piedra announced the death on its Twitter account, calling her a pioneer in the defense of human rights, peace and democracy in Mexico.

She died in the northern city of Monterrey following several years of failing health.

Ibarra's son Jesus Piedra belonged to an armed communist group and disappeared, apparently at the hands of authorities, after being accused of killing a police officer.

Ibarra founded the Eureka Committee, a movement demanding information about the fate of her son and other disappeared persons, though his case was never fully clarified.

She was the first woman to appear on a Mexican presidential ballot in 1982, though she won relatively few votes for the Revolutionary Party of the Workers. She was twice a federal deputy and once a senator.

We will always remember her most profound love for the children and her solidarity with whose who suffered because of the disappearance of their loved ones," tweeted President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whom she considered a friend.

Still, even during Lopez Obrador's administration, in 2019, she refused an honor voted by the Senate, saying she would only accept it when Mexico learns the truth about its disappeared, who now number nearly 100,000  98% of them from 2006 onward, during an era of cartel violence rather than dirty war politics.

I don't want my struggle to be unfinished," she said then in a text read by her daughter because health prevented her from appearing.

Referring to the president, she added, I leave in your hands the custody of so precious a recognition and ask you to return it to me with the truth about the whereabouts of our loved and missed children and relatives.

Her decades-long demands for information  as well as amnesty for political prisoners  took the form of marches, hunger strikes, visits to military prisons and to United Nations offices and made her a widely respected figure on the left.

When Lopez Obrador alleged fraud in the 2006 presidential election that he very narrowly lost, he chose Ibarra to present him with a presidential sash of office in a ceremony declaring him legitimate president.

After his universally recognized victory in 2018, Ibarra urged him in her message before the Senate not to permit that the violence and perversity of the earlier governments continues to lie in wait.

She lamented that force disappearances continued in Mexico and called once more for progress:

The families of Eureka continue today the same as a few years ago, she said in the letter read by her daughter. The open wound will stop bleeding only when we know where our (loved ones) are.
In the remote community of Victory, Vermont, Town Clerk Tracey Martel says she's regularly frustrated watching a spinning circle on her computer while she tries to complete even the most basic municipal chores online.

Fast internet would be really good, said Martel, whose community of about 70 was one of the last in Vermont to receive electricity almost 60 years ago. The DSL service she has now works for basic internet, but it can be spotty and it doesn't allow users to access all the benefits of the interconnected world.

About 5 miles away as the bird flies in the neighboring community along Miles Pond in the town of Concord, a new fiber optic line is beginning to bring truly high-speed internet to residents of the remote area known as the Northeast Kingdom.

Im looking forward to high-speed internet, streaming TV, said Concord resident John Gilchrist, as a crew ran fiber optic cable to his home earlier this year.

The fiber optic cable that is beginning to serve the remote part of Concord and will one day serve Victory is being provided through NEK Broadband, a utility of nearly 50 Vermont towns working to bring high speed internet service to the most remote parts of the state.

NEK Broadband Executive Director Christa Shute said the groups business plan calls for offering services to all potential customers within five years, but given current supply constraints and the shortage of trained technicians, shes beginning to think that goal isnt achievable.

I think our build will take seven to 10 years, she said.

Congress has appropriated tens of billions of dollars for a variety of programs to help fill the digital gap exposed by the pandemic when millions of people were locked down in their homes with no way to study, work or get online medical care.

The first of those funds are reaching municipalities, businesses and other groups involved in the effort, but some say supply chain issues, labor shortages and geographic constraints will slow the rollout.

The demand for fiber optic cable goes beyond wired broadband to homes and businesses. The cable will help provide the 5G technology now being rolled out by wireless communications providers.

But there's a bottleneck in the supply. Michael Bell, of Corning Optical Communications based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the issue lies with supply of the protective jacket that surrounds the hair-thin strands of glass that carry information on beams of light.

Currently, some working to expand broadband say delays in getting the fiber optic cable they need can exceed a year.

Based on the capacity were adding, and the capacity we see our competitors adding, wait times will start going down dramatically as the year progresses and into next year, Bell said. And I think as we get into next year, the lead time for most customers is going to be well under a year.

Meanwhile, there's a labor shortage for installing the cable. Many in the industry are setting up educational programs to train people to work with the fiber, said Jim Hayes, of the Santa Monica, California-based Fiber Optic Association.

It needs to be done now, Hayes said. Were going to need to train probably ten techs for every tech that weve got whos competent to lead them.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill passed last fall, says areas that receive broadband speeds of less than 25 megabit downloads and 3 megabit uploads are considered unserved. To qualify for different federal grants through the infrastructure bill and other programs, most finished projects must offer speeds of at least 100 megabits per second for downloads. Upload speeds differ, but most federal grants have a minimum of 20 megabit uploads.

For comparison, it takes 80 seconds to download a 1 gigabyte video at the speed of 100 megabits per second. It takes four times as long  320 seconds, or more than 5 minutes  at 25 megabits per second.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration  a part of the Agency of Commerce, which is funding broadband projects across the country through the infrastructure law  is neutral about about how internet service providers reach the speed requirements. Many providers say the key to bringing true high-speed internet service to the entire country is to install fiber optic cable to every nook and cranny.

Deploying high-speed internet in tribal communities and rural areas across the western United States where distances dwarf those of rural northern New England will be even more challenging.

Broadband access on the Navajo Nation  the largest reservation in the U.S. at 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah  is a mix of dial-up, satellite service, wireless, fiber and mobile data.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, which has broad oversight of tribal affairs, said federal appraisals, rights-of-way permits, environment reviews and archaeological protection laws can delay progress.

The argument against the wireless options currently being used in some areas is they cant offer speeds needed to qualify for the federal grants.

Mike Wendy of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association said wireless technology is getting faster and more reliable, and wireless connections could be the only way to reach some of the most remote locations.

The challenge of all this money is to make sure that the unserved are served, said Wendy, whose organization represents about 1,000 fixed wireless internet providers. Our guys are in those markets right now and theyre growing.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said $233 million in state dollars will be used in his state to expand broadband to over 43,000 households. Other internet service providers have agreed to expand broadband to another 51,000 households. Ohio is expected to receive an additional $268 million in federal funding to further broadband expansion in the state.

Husted said Ohio is focused on infrastructure while groups and organizations are needed to provide computers and to help people adapt to the fast-growing digital age.

Were building the road, Husted said. Access to broadband is like the highway system. Thats where were focused. It doesnt mean there are people who dont need cars or need drivers licenses.

There are still scattered locations across the country that rely on dialup and some people in remote locations use satellite internet services. Some people have no internet options whatsoever.

Martel, the Victory town clerk, said that when the people from NEK Broadband visited, they told residents it would be five to seven years before fiber optic cable would reach the community.

But Shute said her organization hopes to get a grant to connect the most rural areas, which could move the timeline for Victory up to three years.

Back in East Concord, after having the service for several weeks, Gilchrist said he and his daughter Emily, who is 19 and headed to college in a few months, no longer have to go to the local diner to use the internet. He canceled his expensive satellite TV service, his daughter and her friends have been using it to play online video games and in a few months she will be using the connection while doing college studies.

It's been working great, as far as I'm concerned, all I do is check email, Gilchrist said. I don't watch TV, but my daughter loves it.
Live Updates | Celebrity chefs kitchen bombed in Kharkiv View Photo

KHARKIV, Ukraine  Russias bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.

Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.

The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andres tweeted that the non-governmental organizations staff members were shaken but safe.

The organization says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andres said the attack in Kharkiv shows that to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance and that his groups chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Mother, grandmother weep over a 15-year-old killed in shelling of Kharkiv

 Elderly mother feels lost, seeks sons body in Ukrainian town of Bucha

 Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, other cities

 We pray for you: Ukrainian Jews mark Passover, if they can

 Ukraines port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

Follow all AP stories on Russias war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke Saturday with the leaders of Britain and Sweden about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city.

Mariupols fate can be decided either through battle or diplomacy, he said.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

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NEW YORK  A Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol for weeks.

Gov. Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Frolov died a heroic death in battle without saying where or when he was killed. Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St. Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.

Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war.

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WASHINGTON  Austrias chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is in his own war logic when it comes to Ukraine.

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told Meet the Press that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and it was not a friendly conversation.

He said Putin said he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesnt trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future.

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VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily Saturday in St. Peters Basilica, attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three Ukrainian parliamentarians.

The pontiff noted that while many writers have evoked the beauty of starlit nights, the nights of war, however, are riven by streams of light that portend death.

Franciss call for an Easter truce in order to reach a negotiated peace appeared in vain Saturday, as Russia resumed missile and rocket attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond in a reminder that the whole country remains under threat.

At the end of his homily, Francis directly addressed directly Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov and Ukrainian lawmakers Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko and Rusem Umerov, who sat in the front row.

In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer, Francis said, then with emotion he added that the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen, the last three words in Ukrainian.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The Invictus Games for injured and ill service personnel and veterans opened with a standing ovation and a tribute from Prince Harry for Ukrainian team members who left their war-torn nation to compete.

With Harry and his wife Meghan in the front row for the opening ceremony Saturday night, competitors cheered for nearly a minute as the Ukrainian team waved their nations blue-and-yellow flag after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed them.

Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military service members and veterans, by giving them the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.

Welcoming all competitors to the event that was delayed by two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, Harry singled out the 19-strong Ukrainian team and their supporters.

Your bravery in choosing to come and for being here tonight cannot be overstated, he said, a day after meeting the Ukrainians at a reception.

You know, we stand with you. The world is united with you. And still you deserve more. And my hope is that these events, this event, creates the opportunity  of how we as a global community can better show up for you, Harry added.

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FORT IRWIN, Calif. __ U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary.

The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in Californias Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

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RIYADH  Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday, their second call since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields.

The Saudi readout of the call said the crown prince affirmed support for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The kingdom recently announced $10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlins statement added the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war for years, as well as their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+. The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.

Ukraine has urged nations around the world to cut their dependency on Russian oil imports that it says finance Russias military war on Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces shelled an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk on Saturday, and a large fire erupted, a regional governor reported.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said it wasnt the first time the refinery was targeted and accused the Russians of trying to exhaust local emergency services. He underlined there was no fuel at the refinery at the time of the attack and the remains of oil sludge were burning.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv in the east, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kirovohrad in the central Ukraine and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. The strikes underlined that the whole country remained under threat despite Russias pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

In Kharkiv, nine civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded on Friday, while in the wider region two were reported dead and three wounded, according to the report.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of regional legislature, Hanna Zamazeyeva, said Saturday that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

Zamazeyeva said the targets included several residential blocks where there are no military facilities.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised remarks on Saturday that 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians  more than half of them women  are being held captive by the Russians.

Vereshchuk said Kyiv intends to swap the captive soldiers, since Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops but demands to release the civilians without any conditions.

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ROME  Italy is barring all Russian ships from its ports starting Sunday, as part of expanded EU sanctions announced earlier this month. Ships already in Italian ports must leave immediately after completing their commercial activity, according to a notice sent to port authorities.

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BERLIN  Peace activists took part Germanys traditional Easter marches on Saturday, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine but also in at least some cases opposing helping Ukraine defend itself with weaponry.

A Berlin event drew 400 people and one in Hanover 500, the dpa news agency reported, citing police. Marches took place in cities including Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Duisburg. Banners included End the war in Ukraine and He who sends weapons reaps war.

The countrys vice chancellor, Greens politician Robert Habeck, warned demonstrators against sending the wrong message, saying there will only be peace when Putin stops his war of aggression. He said in an interview with the Funke media group that it was clear who the aggressor is who and who are defending themselves in an emergency and whom we must support, also with weapons.

Ukrainian officials say Germany has sent anti-tank and anti-aircaft weapons as well as night vision equipment, body armor and machine guns.

Germanys locally organized peace marches date back to the days of the Cold War and focus on issues such as disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person died and several more were wounded in Saturday morning airstrikes on the Darnytski district of the capital, as Russian forces resumed scattered attacks in western Ukraine.

Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks, which the Russian Defense Ministry said targeted an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital, were an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat even as Russian forces refocus on the east, where a new offensive is feared.

Klitschko urged Ukrainians not to return to Kyiv just yet, warning in televised remarks Saturday that strikes on the capital are likely continue and its suburbs are rigged with explosives.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. We cant prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

The mayor added that because of the mines, Kyiv residents are barred from visiting parks and forests in the northeastern areas that border liberated territories formerly occupied by Russians.

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MOSCOW  Russia has barred the UK prime minister and a dozen other top British officials from entering its country in response to British sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Russias Foreign Ministry announced the move that targets Boris Johnson, a number of British ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, on Saturday.

The ministrys statement cited unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials in Russia.

The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas are detrimental to the well-being and interests of the residents of Britain. Any sanctions attack will inevitably backfire on their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, the statement said.

On Friday evening, the ministry announced the expulsion of 18 European Union diplomats from Moscow, in retaliation for the blocs declaring 19 diplomats from the Russian mission to the EU and to the European Atomic Energy Community persona non-grata.

The European Union said the expulsions were groundless, and that EU diplomats targeted were working in the framework of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting that Kyiv was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district in the eastern part of the capital.

He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene of explosions and that victims details would be released later. Klitschko urged residents to heed air raid sirens.

Thick smoke rising from the site on the eastern side of Kyiv could be seen from parts of downtown near the Dnipro River.

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WASHINGTON  Ukraine is sending top officials to Washington for next weeks spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where discussion will focus on the Russian invasion and its impact on the global economy.

Coming to the gathering are Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to a World Bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been officially announced.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the U.S. has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

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TIJUANA, Mexico  A Russian man and a Ukrainian woman were married in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in hopes of entering the U.S. together.

Daria Sakhniuk was allowed to enter the U.S. as a Ukrainian refugee but her partner, Semen Bobrovski, was unable to travel there following Russias invasion of Ukraine. They left Ukraine as the war began.

Bobrovski told El Sol de Tijuana that he believed the marriage Thursday would bolster his chances of entering the U.S. with his new wife. The U.S. allows only Russian nationals with family members in the U.S. to enter the country.

Without it, we wont be able to cross because, still to the official American government, we are strangers to each other, he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the nations military and intelligence agency leaders.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said.

He added: The occupiers problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.

By The Associated Press
First Lady drama spotlights Roosevelt, Ford, Obama spouses View Photo

LOS ANGELES (AP)  The First Lady presents three influential women, three acclaimed actors playing them, and a century of history encompassing wars, presidential scandal and Americas stubborn gender and race fault lines.

The ambitious Showtime drama series proved an irresistible challenge for Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier. While its subjects  Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama  each have a compelling and gripping story, the sum is even greater, Bier said of her first biographical project.

It was interesting to me that it wasnt one biopic by focusing on first ladies of disparate experiences and eras in a way it puts womens situation in the world very much in perspective, Bier said in an interview.

The First Lady, debuting 9 p.m. EDT Sunday, stars Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Viola Davis as Michelle Obama. Davis was an executive producer for the series, as were showrunner Cathy Schulman and Bier.

In their younger iterations, the future first ladies are played by Eliza Scanlen (Roosevelt), Kristine Froseth (Ford) and Jayme Lawson (Obama). The presidents  secondary to their wives in this telling  are portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland as Franklin D. Roosevelt; Aaron Eckhart as Gerald Ford; and O-T Fagbenle as Barack Obama.

The series examines both personal and political chapters, but it is historical fiction and doesnt pretend to be a documentary, Schulman said. We had to imagine what happened in between the events and the things that have been written about, she said during a panel discussion.

Bier said the first-lady role doesnt exist in her native Denmark. While she was familiar with the women portrayed in the series, she gained new respect for them.

What was striking to me was the fact was they realized how to navigate within the White House without actually having a political position, and became much more influential than one would have thought, she said. They did so while managing to serve the expected role of Americas beautiful-looking, successful first hostess.

Betty Ford was open about her breast cancer at a point it time when it was so stigmatized and nobody talked about it, Bier said. She obviously saved a lot of peoples lives and changed attitudes in the U.S. and other countries as well.

The First Lady approaches the stories as a tapestry, weaving together moments that, at times, show how similar the womens experience was despite the decades that separated them.

All fought to be taken seriously as first ladies after spending part or much of their adult lives supporting their husbands ambitions. Ford and Obama are depicted as deeply reluctant to make the White House their temporary home  Ford because she had spent so long in the political trenches after giving up her own dreams, Obama because she feared for her husbands safety as the first Black president.

Despite the passages of decades, there are striking similarities in the walls that these three women banged up against, Bier said. Yes, our society has changed, history has changed. But it still is very much a mans world we are living in, which is way I find it incredibly important to do (such) a show.

The parallels involving the women is strictly thematic since their lives dont overlap in history or the series. Bier, who came on board after the approach was determined, felt that the arc of the womens individual stories wasnt fully developed in the script.

With the three first ladys scenes to be shot independently, Bier suggested creation of a cohesive script for each. Even then, changes were made along the way, as Ford, then Obama and Roosevelt were filmed one after the other.

As we were shooting Betty, the scripts for Michelle Obama were being rewritten, she said. So there was never actually a finished roadmap for how to interweave the stories.

That was accomplished during the editing in London, said Bier, who won the best foreign language Oscar in 2011 for Hvnen (In a Better World), received a directing Emmy for 2016s The Night Manager and whose other credits include The Undoing and Birdbox.

Bier, a master filmmaker in various genres, was right for the Showtime series that moves in and out of comedy, tragedy and everything in between, producer Schulman said. Also, Susanne is an actors director, and the level of detail with which she approaches characterizations was crucial in bringing the first ladies to life.

The First Lady is envisioned as an ongoing anthology series, with new presidential spouses part of future editions. Among the possibilities that Schulman and Bier find intriguing: Dolley Madison, Jacqueline Kennedy and Hillary Clinton.

Im at the moment obsessing over Martha Washington, Schulman said during the panel discussion, citing her intrigue with the origins of the first ladys role. But I also would be so interested to see if we could figure out a way to do Jackie Kennedy that didnt tell the same old story.  Each of them is so interesting, and they become more interesting in combinations.

By LYNN ELBER

AP Television Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Three people were found shot to death Friday inside an Indianapolis apartment, police said.

Police officers found the three adults dead after being called to the Oaks of Eagle Creek apartment complex on the citys northwest side about a reported shooting, said Officer Samone Burris with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

She said there was no threat to the public and police were not looking for a suspect.

Investigators believe the shooting was a murder-suicide, police said in a news release.

Homicide detectives were on scene talking to witnesses and gathering evidence, Burris said.

Conflict resolution cannot be solved with gun violence, she said. People lose their lives. Communities are shaken, they are broken because we continue to answer violence for violence and that is not acceptable in our community.

Chelsea Laureano, who lives in the building across from where the shooting happened, told The Indianapolis Star that she was unloading groceries when she heard people screaming and a woman yelling to call the police.
Georgia man accused of leaving grandmother in freezer to die View Photo

ARMUCHEE, Ga. (AP)  Police say a northwest Georgia man killed his grandmother by stuffing her in a freezer while she was still alive.

Floyd County Police discovered the body of Doris Cumming, 82, late Thursday in the Armuchee home she shared with her grandson, 29-year-old Robert Keith Tincher III.

Tincher was charged with murder, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another. He remains jailed in Rome. Its unclear if he has a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

Police said Cummings family believed she had moved out of state, but grew concerned after not hearing from her and reported she might be missing.

Police said they believe that Cumming was injured in a fall in December and that instead of getting her medical attention, Tincher dragged her through home. Criminal charges say Tincher heard and saw numerous bones break. He then wrapped her in plastic bags and placed her in a large freezer, with the charges saying Tincher acknowledged her back broke going into the freezer. Charges say there was no altercation or provocation leading up to the acts.

From what we determined, at the time, he believed she was still breathing and had some movement at the time she was going into the freezer, said Floyd County Investigator Brittany Werner told WAGA-TV.

Tincher continued living in the home with the body inside the freezer for months, but moved it to a storage unit in March, fearing Cummings body might be found.

Werner said Tincher told police he didnt call 911 because he was wanted for arrest because of terroristic threats made in 2018 against his wife.

Tincher also told investigators how much he loved his grandmother.

He said she was the only family member that gave him the courtesy and love and attention he needed, said Werner.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an autopsy to determine Cummings cause and time of death.

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This story corrects that suspects last name is Tincher, not Fincher.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated  and refuted by witnesses  throughout 52 days of war.

The toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine. An infant and at least eight other people died, officials said.

In the towns and villages just outside Kyiv, authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago. Smoke rose from the capital again early Saturday as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike that killed one person and wounded several.

The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

It was not immediately clear from the ground what was hit in the strike on Kyiv's Darnytskyi district. The sprawling area on the southeastern edge of the capital contains a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shopping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas and railyards.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said an armored vehicle plant was targeted. He didnt specify where the factory was located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

He said the plant was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with air-launched high-precision long-range weapons. As the U.S. and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraines defenses ahead of whats expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area since the Russian military vowed this week to step up missile strikes on the capital. Another hit a missile plant Friday.

The Russian missiles hit the city just as residents were emerging for walks, foreign embassies planned to reopen and other tentative signs of the city's prewar life started resurfacing, following the failure of Russian troops to capture Kyiv and their withdrawal.

Kyiv was one of many targets Saturday. The Ukrainian presidents office reported missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours in eight regions across the country.

The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, which has been only sporadically touched by the wars violence, reported airstrikes on the region by Russian Su-35 aircraft that took off from neighboring Belarus.

In apparent preparations for its assault on the east, the Russian military has intensified shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in recent days. Friday's attack killed civilians and wounded more than 50 people, the Ukrainian presidents office reported.

On Saturday an explosion believed to be caused by a missile sent emergency workers scrambling near an outdoor market in Kharkiv, according to AP journalists at the scene. One person was killed, and at least 18 people were wounded, according to rescue workers.

All the windows, all the furniture, all destroyed. And the door, too," recounted stunned resident Valentina Ulianova.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Saturday's toll was three dead and 34 wounded.

Nate Mook, a member of the World Central Kitchen NGO run by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said in a tweet that four workers in Kharkiv were wounded by a strike. Jose Andres tweeted that staff members were unnerved but safe.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met with Vladimir Putin this past week in Moscow  the first European leader to do so since the invasion began Feb. 24  said the Russian president is in his own war logic on Ukraine.

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Nehammer said he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war and we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Nehammer said he confronted Putin with what he saw during a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where more than 350 bodies have been found along with evidence of killings and torture under Russian occupation, and it was not a friendly conversation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists that the continuing siege of the port city of Mariupol, which has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians, could scuttle attempts to negotiate an end to the war.

The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol  what they are doing now  can put an end to any format of negotiations, he said.

Later, in his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs more support from the West to have a chance at saving Mariupol.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said, or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

Zelenskyy said the situation in Mariupol remains inhuman and Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.

Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had been driven out of most of the city and remained only in the huge Azovstal steel mill.

Capturing Mariupol would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraines eastern industrial heartland.

Zelenskyy estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, and about 10,000 have been wounded. The office of Ukraines prosecutor general said Saturday that at least 200 children have been killed, and more than 360 wounded.

Russian forces also have taken captive some 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday. Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops as prisoners and intends to arrange a swap but is demanding the release of civilians without any conditions, she said.

Russia's warning of stepped-up attacks on Kyiv came after it accused Ukraine on Thursday of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed hitting targets in Russia.

Russian Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov, whose troops have been among those besieging Mariupol, was buried Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, Gov. Alexander Beglov said. Ukraine has said several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed in the war.

In the Vatican, Pope Francis on Saturday invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily at St. Peters Basilica that was attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three members of Ukraine's parliament. Francis did not refer directly to Russias invasion but has called, apparently in vain, for an Easter truce to reach a negotiated peace.

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Chernov reported from Kharkiv. Yesica Fisch in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Robert Burns in Washington and Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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The Plainview City Council once again renewed the juvenile curfew, per a recommendation from the Police Department.

The curfew makes it illegal for any kids 16 years old and younger to be out between midnight and 6 a.m. without good reason, said Captain Bill Bridgwater.

From 2019 to 2021, the PD responded to 17 calls for service resulting in 41 citations for curfew violations, he said.

The call types varied from burglaries, suspicious person callouts and traffic stops, to name a few, according to visual data charts Bridgwater presented to the Council. A majority of the calls stemmed from officer observations.

The curfew ordinance, which was last passed in 2019, creates an enforceable tool for law enforcement, Bridgwater said.

The council voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance with a 7-0 vote.

My Navy captain told me nothing good ever happens after midnight, said Mayor Charles Starnes after the vote.

The council also voted unanimously to purchase furniture and office equipment for the new Fire Station and later the Police Department.

A total of $165,000 was approved for the fire station and $200,000 was approved for the police station.

City Manager Jeffrey Snyder gave presented the second reading of minimum standards and regulations for the Plainview-Hale County Airport. The council passed the reading unanimously marking the end of a lengthy process to adopt reasonable rules and regulations, per requirements by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.

This is a tool to manage the overall operations of the airport that will be used to guide any future development. The plan was approved by TXDOT and meets FAA compliance. Its been approved by the County Commissioners and on Tuesday, it was approved by the City Council.

The final item on the nights agenda was the consideration of an Encroachment License and Agreement between the city of Plainview and Hale County Compress Limited Partnership.

Assistant City Manager Jeff Johnston told the Council the Hale County Compress has been purchased by the Luis Dreyes company.

Its a multinational company with deep roots in France, he said, but it has a main office in Lubbock so its had a presence here in West Texas.

The purchased property is rather large, Johnston explained. Through the purchasing process, it was discovered that it encroaches on existing city right-of-ways and utility easements.

They did want assurance that those encroachments were going to be OK, he explained.

Discussions about them began in August 2021 with legal representatives pulled in to the discussion on both sides. It was determined that the encroachments are permissible so the purchase moved forward.

When the new company takes over the property, they will do some re-platting, Johnston said.

The council unanimously approved the agreement with a 7-0 vote before adjourning.
Saint Francis Ministries will partner with the Advisory Committee on Promoting Adoption of Minority Children will host a forum in Lubbock on May 5.

The event  called Closing The Gap In Lubbock: Minority Children In The Foster System  will be at the YMCA of Lubbock in Phase Room 2. The event will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Ellysa Harris/Plainview Herald

A love fund has been set up at Happy State Bank for the family of Plainviews fallen fire captain.

Those interested can ask to donate to the Harrison Hart Family love fund.
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A Plainview businessman was given the green light from City Council Tuesday night to continue the pursuit of his liquor license that would allow him to open a microbrewery downtown.

David Greve recently invested in the old Marse & Son building (also recognized as the Cobb Department Store) and has big plans for the empty space.

Driving through San Angelo, he said, he likes the feel of that citys downtown. The center of that districts activity is a brewery. People stop in for a drink or a meal as they shop in the local stores. Its a focal point when the city blocks the streets for downtown activities.

Thats what he envisions for his own business here in Plainview.

Greves building is at 623 and 625 Broadway nestled between The Pastors Class and the Salvation Army.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code regulations prohibit the sale of alcohol by a business within 300 feet of any church, public school or public hospital.

Since Greves business location is considerably close to The Pastors Class, which is considered a church, he asked permission from the Council for a variance to the regulation.

The request opened the floor to a public hearing that drew three citizen comments  two in support and one in opposition of Greves request  before the variance request was granted with a 5-1 vote.

Shelley Thrasher, current acting director of the Plainview Salvation Army, said shes personally against opening a brewery so close to the Salvation Army. While its a ministry of several services, she also considers it a spiritual ministry  a church of sorts. Addicts are some of its clientele, she mentioned, and she doesnt feel right about them seeking services so close to an establishment that serves alcohol.

I do not believe that has to be a drawing point to our downtown, she said.

She did not speak on behalf of the Salvation Army Board. She mentioned she believes she may be one of the few who feels this way.

I honestly and truly believe that where one variance is given, there will be multiple variances given, she said.

Downtown Business owner Terra James took the podium after Thrasher and shared the opposite message.

Shes excited to see someone interested in investing in the property, James said.

It sounds to me from whats being presented is this is going to be a classy establishment that we can take pride in, James said.

The vision fits in with the trajectory of the transformation of the historic district, she added.

The microbrewery will primarily be a dining establishment. Greve plans to serve beer and wine. He wants part of the brewery equipment to be part of the business decor.

If downtown guests dont want to dine where alcohol is served, James said, there are other alcohol-free dining establishments down the block. Its just another option. Following the meeting, she and Thrasher connected to acknowledge no hard feelings were intended.

During the big downtown celebration, James said, she spoke with people who are excited to see the changes in store for the district.

Guess what folks, it is coming back to life, she said, noting her belief that the brewery is expected to aid those efforts.

The third speaker, Greg Cronholm, another downtown stakeholder, told the Council (after James) that the brewery is a great opportunity for tourism.

He also spoke with the owner of The Pastors Class and does not foresee any issues.

It was also noted that the brewery will be closed Sundays.

Mayor Charles Starnes closed the public hearing following those comments and opened the floor to the council.

We do want to give new birth to our downtown and help those businesses because were about to run out of real estate  and thats a good thing, said Councilman Larry Williams.

In the past seven years, an estimated 35 businesses  old and new  have relocated downtown, renovated their existing downtown spaces, made facade improvements to their buildings or rehabbed long-vacant buildings for new ventures.

That estimation includes only buildings from the south side of 5th Street down Broadway and Ash Streets to 8th Street.

Property owners have created a place that businesses want to be, said Melinda Brown, Main Street Manager.

Its taken efforts from the city, business owners, dedicated volunteers and countless others to gain this traction and draw in businesses like Greves microbrewery, she said.

During Tuesdays meeting, Councilwoman Susan Blackerby acknowledged Thrashers concerns and said its in the greater interest of the city to grant Greve the variance.

Its a known fact, like it or not, whether youre a drinker, not a drinker, however you feel about it, that alcohol sales do help build the tax base and the economic development of a community, Blackerby said.

It bring tourism, more business development and it will draw more downtown visitors and economic activity, she added.

In the overall picture and scheme of things, it is a good thing for the community, Blackerby said.

The request passed with a 5-1 vote. Councilmember Lorie Rodriguez voted against and Mayor Starnes abstained from the vote and acknowledged that he would not share comments for or against the item since he is on the Salvation Army Board. Councilmember Norma Juarez was absent.

While it was a victory for Greve, theres still a lengthy wait before the restaurant opens. The requested variance was the next step toward getting licensed to sell alcohol but theres more work to be done before its up and running. The official opening is at least six to nine months away, he said.

Hes also still trying to figure out exactly how he wants to utilize the space since its a big building.

Greve is just as excited as James about the growth of the downtown district and hes looking forward to taking his place in that vision.

As the growth continues, he said, we can play off each other.
Growing up in a religious (in my case, Catholic) household, having a hearty meal with the family came with going to church. Sometimes that meant heading to my grandparents house for barbecue and all the sides after getting out of mass. But if we were going out to eat, then we, more often than not, were going to Lubys.

And I know Im not the only Texan with that experience.

Sure, heading to a taqueria or Tex-Mex hole-in-the-wall is probably a go-to for many San Antonio families. But Ive also witnessed firsthand how folks in the 2-1-0 head to Lubys to score their LuAnn plate on a Sunday. You know how it goes. While chit chatting in the parking lot or church lobby, someone suggests going out to eat and eventually Lubys is the place everyone decides on because everyone can find something there.

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And its really true! Yes, even for the little ones. Take a kid to Lubys and theyll most likely eat whatever you give them as long as they get their cup of brightly-colored Jello. As a chubby-cheeked kid, I had my fair share of Jello cups either before or after church when my family would dine at the Lubys inside Westlakes Mall until it closed (RIP). Of course, there were other families from our church, St. Rose of Lima, there too, and wed all acknowledge each other from afar and then slap the tartar sauce onto our fried fish in peace.

For a moment, I wondered if the Texas chains iconic square fish was the reason why Lubys is synonymous with church. Ash Wednesday kicked off seafood restaurants busiest time of year last month. On the day, my parents and I planned to hit up the Lubys off of Roosevelt until we saw how packed the parking lot was. We opted to go somewhere else since all the other Catholics on the Southside had the same idea.

While it may not be as packed on any regular Sunday as it is on the holy days, theres no denying that folks in the Lone Star State are used to making their way down the cafeteria line in their church clothes.

Of course, Texans have had their fun acknowledging our shared experiences.

Even the big names at Lubys, which opened its first-ever restaurant right here in the Alamo City in 1947, know what the chain means to the Jesus-praising crowd.

Thats no humble brag, but one that Lubys wants its diners to feed into and practice for themselves. The chain went all in on its Texas roots in terms of its marketing, especially when it has a tagline of Tastes like Texas. Feels like home. Do we hit up Luby's for a bit of home cooking without having to cook at home?

Despite Texans association with, and soft spot for the Houston-based cafeteria chain, its hard not acknowledging that Lubys has been going through it the past couple of years. Though the company has dwindled in size over the years, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that forced Lubys to furlough half of its corporate staff, liquidate its existing assets, and take advantage of a $10 million loan just to stay afloat.

Today, there are six Lubys locations in San Antonio, including the iconic Main Avenue and Las Palmas outposts.

If your granny has been asking why you dont go to church anymore, let this be an invitation to head to church this Sunday. Because what is Texas without the create-your-own LuAnn platter? Just dont forget to say grace before scarfing down a butter roll.
San Antonio has a list of unbeatable duos. There's chained chairs to Broadway sidewalks and Fiesta, barbacoa and Sundays, and camping at Brackenridge Park on Easter. The latter is returning after a two-year COVID-19 pandemic pause, reuniting families and San Antonio with one of it's most time-honored traditions.

Frank Sanchez, 67, is the patriarch of his family who has taken on the responsibility of staking out a spot at the park for about 30 years. He's been checking in on the Sanchez section of the park daily since Monday, April 11. The retired father of five and grandpa of 11 spends his days preparing the area for the Easter celebration and making sure no one tries to commandeer their spot.

The city curfew lifts at 11 p.m. on Thursday, April 14 and will resume at 11 p.m. on Easter Sunday, April 17. Sanchez says he will be camping out over the weekend.

Courtesy, Dominick Sanchez

Sanchez says he took over the reigns from his parents, who started the tradition when he was a teenager, and takes pride in ensuring his family has a fun-filled Easter. He says the week-long process is "fun." San Antonio's weather, though a bit humid and warm, has been favorable for camping. Sanchez says previous years have been less lucky and he's been stuck in the rain, but that doesn't stop him.

"We never give up," he says.

Courtesy, Dominick Sanchez

His son, Dominick Sanchez, is always impressed by his dad's Easter enthusiasm. He tells MySA that even when he was living in New York in 2012, his dad would call to let him know he was holding down the fort.

"His dedication for making everyones Easter (it's) great and fun is really what its all about," the younger Sanchez says. "Now Im not quite there yet with the camping for a spot, but I know when the time comes Ill definitely be up for the challenge!"

Courtesy, Dominick Sanchez

While the Sanchez family is excited to reunite with their loved ones and tradition, they're not forgetting the heartbreak that's been collectively endured as the world navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 celebration will be different. Frank Sanchez says he's adding a tribute to loved ones lost due to COVID-19 at their patch of land.

"It was bad and it's good to see people enjoying themselves again," Frank Sanchez says. "It was like a nightmare that you couldn't believe was happening.."

Courtesy, Dominick Sanchez

Everything else about the holiday will be as it was before. Frank Sanchez will cook his favorite beef fajitas with perfectly grilled onions and bellpeppers, everyone else will fill in the gaps with their homecooked meals, and when the last cascarone is cracked, everyone will pitch in to clean up, pack up and head out in 15 minutes, he says.

"I like to make fajitas, it's like I'm pretending that I'm at the Market Square selling tacos or something," Frank Sanchez jokes.
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WASHINGTON  Ukraine is sending top officials to Washington for next weeks spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where discussion will focus on the Russian invasion and its impact on the global economy.

Coming to the gathering are Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to a World Bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been officially announced.

 reported by Paul Wiseman.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Police: More than 900 civilian bodies found in Kyiv region

 We pray for you: Ukrainian Jews mark Passover, if they can

 Ukraines port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

 War Crimes Watch: The woman who would make Putin pay

 Ukrainian moms pain at watching daughters burial on phone

 Go to https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine for more coverage

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the U.S. has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

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TIJUANA, Mexico  A Russian man and Ukrainian woman were married in the Mexican border city of Tijuana after they were unable to travel together to the U.S.

Daria Sakhniuk was allowed to enter the U.S. as a Ukrainian refugee but her partner, Semen Bobrovski, was unable to travel there following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They left Ukraine as the war began.

Bobrovski told El Sol de Tijuana that he believed the marriage Thursday would bolster his chances of entering the U.S. with his new wife. The U.S. allows only Russian nationals with family members in the U.S. to enter the country.

Without it, we wont be able to cross because, still to the official American government, we are strangers to each other," he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the countrys military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said.

He added: The occupiers problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.

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ATLANTA  CIA Director William Burns says no one can take lightly the threat that Russia could use tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons but he has seen no practical evidence suggesting it is imminent.

Speaking to an audience Thursday at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Burns said that potential desperation from Russian leaders to portray a victory in Ukraine increases the risk to the use of nuclear weapons.

None of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons, Burns said. We dont.

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ROME  The war in Ukraine loomed over the traditional Good Friday procession at the Colosseum in Rome because the Vaticans choice of a Russian woman as one of the cross-bearers angered Ukrainians.

Participants in the solemn torchlit procession in the ancient arena Friday night took turns carrying a plain, tall and slim cross as part of the commemoration of Jesus suffering and death by crucifixion.

Ukraines ambassador to the Vatican and the archbishop of Kyiv earlier this week denounced the Vaticans plan to have a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman carry the cross together during the procession. They objected to projecting what they saw as the idea of reconciliation while Ukraine is ravaged by war unleashed by Russia.

The Vatican didnt respond to the protests. Pope Francis has denounced the Feb. 24 invasion and attacks on Ukraine as a sacrilege, but has refrained from naming Russia as the aggressor.

Other faithful applauded the decision to pair the two women. They work together in a palliative care section of a Rome hospital and are friends.

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BELGRADE, Serbia  Hundreds of protesters have joined a right-wing gathering in support of Russia, carrying pictures of Vladimir Putin and T-shirts with the letter Z that has become a symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The rally Friday in central Belgrade was organized to protest Serbias vote last week in the United Nations in support of Russias expulsion from the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Serbia remains the only country in Europe that has not imposed sanctions on Russia, but right-wing groups are angry that Belgrade voted against Moscow in the U.N.

Local media say that masked protesters lit flares and smoke bombs outside the offices of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during the protest and placed a Russian flag on the presidency building.

Several similar protests have been held in Serbia since the start of the Russian invasion on Ukraine. Many Serbians remain loyal to Russia, convinced that Moscow was provoked by the West to launch the invasion.

Anti-western sentiments in Serbia stem from a 1999 NATO air war that forced Belgrade to give up control of the Kosovo province. Belgrade has enjoyed Russian support in trying to retain a claim on the territory, which declared Western-backed independence in 2008.

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The governor of the Kharkiv region says seven people, including a seven-month-old child, were killed in shelling of a residential neighborhood in the city.

Oleh Sinehubov said Friday in a Telegram post that 34 other people were wounded.

Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, has been heavily hit by shelling and rocket attacks during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The citys position about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Russia and 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of the separatist eastern regions of Ukraine gives it significant strategic importance.

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A senior U.S. defense official says the U.S. believes the Russian guided-missile cruiser that sank Thursday in the northern Black Sea had been struck by at least one Ukrainian anti-ship missile, as claimed by the Kyiv government.

Pentagon officials had previously said they could not confirm the Ukrainian claim, but they also did not refute it. The senior U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment, said the Moskva was hit by at least one, and probably two, Neptune missiles on Wednesday, creating the large fire aboard.

The official offered no further details beyond saying the U.S. believes the Russians suffered some number of casualties aboard the ship.

 reported by Associated Press writer Robert Burns

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LVIV, Ukraine  The bodies of more than 900 civilians were discovered in the Kyiv region following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the regional police chief said in a briefing Friday.

Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyivs regional police force, said the bodies had been abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% of the casualties had died from sniper fire and gunshot wounds.

Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said. The number of killed civilians has surpassed 900  and I emphasize, these are civilians, whose bodies we have discovered and handed over for forensic examination.

He added that more bodies were being found every day, under the rubble and in mass graves.

The most victims were found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 corpses, he said.

According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha had been gathering up and burying bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Nebytov added that Russian troops were tracking down people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Two civilians died of shrapnel wounds after a rocket was shot down near the southern Ukrainian city of Kakhovka, according to a Facebook post published by Kakhovkas municipal authorities that same day.

It was not a peaceful morning in Kakhovka. Five civilian residents with injuries were admitted to the Kakhovka Municipal Hospital. Two killed, three injured (one of them is in critical condition in intensive care, two have moderate injuries), the Kakhovka Municipal Territorial Community wrote.

The municipal body added that all five were hit by shrapnel after they left their homes to see the remnants of a rocket downed over the nearby town of Tavriisk.

It was not immediately clear which of the warring sides had launched the weapon, and which had shot it down.

The post went on to urge local residents to stay inside and keep away from windows if they hear gunshots or explosions.

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The website of Frances state-owned radio broadcaster, RFI, appeared to become unavailable in Russia on Friday after the countrys media and internet watchdog added one of its pages with critical coverage of the war in Ukraine to its registry of blocked websites.

The communications agency, Roskomnadzor, has been restricting access to news websites this week in line with a ruling by Russias Prosecutor General on Tuesday, which mandates the blocking of outlets publishing information inciting mass disorder, extremist activity or participation in mass (public) events violating the established order, and unreliable information which is of public significance.

According to the Roskomnadzor registry, the authorities blocked an RFI article citing a story by French magazine Le Figaro which alleged Russian servicemen rape women in Ukraine, but the broadcaster said its entire website ended up being unavailable in Russia.

Earlier on Friday, Roskomnadzor apparently cut access to the Russian-language site of Russias top independent English-language news outlet, The Moscow Times, citing the same ruling.

On Wednesday, Russian state media also reported that the agency ordered a Russian streaming platform to remove all podcasts published by the BBC, whose Russian-language website was blocked in March alongside those of U.S. and German news organizations.

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MOSCOW  The wife of a Ukrainian politician held by Kyiv on a treason charge has accused Ukrainian security services of torturing her husband and fabricating his escape from house arrest in a press conference held in Moscow on Friday.

Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, referred to her husband as a political prisoner, and claimed that she does not know where he is.

Medvedchuk was detained on Tuesday in a special operation carried out by Ukraines state security service, or the SBU. The 67-year-old oligarch escaped from house arrest several days before the hostilities broke out Feb. 24 in Ukraine. He is facing between 15 years and a life in prison on charges of treason and aiding and abetting a terrorist organization for mediating coal purchases for the separatist, Russia-backed Donetsk republic in eastern Ukraine.

I have no doubt that my husband was beaten within hours after his capture, she said at the press conference. I am appealing for help in establishing (his) real whereabouts. I call for help to stop the physical and mental torture.

She did not offer evidence to back up her claims, but referenced a televised statement made by Ukrainian officials on Wednesday, which said that Kyiv will aim to try Medvedchuk as soon as possible, give him the appropriate sentence, obtain evidence from him and then exchange him for Ukrainian captives held by Moscow.

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Russias top independent English-language news outlet says Russian authorities have blocked its Russian-language website over critical coverage of the war in Ukraine.

The Moscow Times said Friday that its Russian-language website has become unavailable for some users and cited a ruling by the Prosecutor Generals office to restrict the access.

According to the news outlet, the authorities have separately blocked a page on the website with a story about 11 riot police officers who refused to fight in Ukraine. On Thursday, a journalist who first broke the story was jailed on the charges of spreading false information about the Russian military.

The Moscow Times said it hasnt received any formal notification from the government.

The Kremlin has sought to control the narrative of the war from the moment its troops rolled into Ukraine. It dubbed the attack a special military operation and increased the pressure on independent Russian media that called it a war or an invasion, blocking access to many news sites whose coverage deviated from the official line.

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KYIV, Ukraine -- Mariupol City Council said Friday that local residents report Russian troops are digging up bodies previously buried in residential courtyards and not allowing any new burials of people killed by them.

A watchman has been assigned to each courtyard and is not allowing Mariupol residents to lay to rest dead relatives or friends. Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown, according to a statement on the messaging app Telegram.

The claim could not be independently verified.

Earlier this month, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told the AP that Russian forces have brought mobile cremation equipment to the city to dispose of the corpses of victims of the siege.

Boychencko said that the Russian forces were taking many bodies to a huge shopping center where there are storage facilities and refrigerators. Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned, he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Seven people died and 27 were injured after Russian forces opened fire on buses carrying civilians in the Ukrainian village of Borovaya, near the northeastern city of Kharkiv, a spokesman for the regional prosecutors office told Ukraines Suspilne news website Friday.

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are working to establish the circumstances of the attack, Dmytro Chubenko said. He added that investigators are also establishing the routes and destination of the vehicles transporting civilians across the Russian-controlled territory around Borovaya.

Chubenko said that Ukrainian authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.

The claims could not be independently verified.

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MOSCOW  Russias Defense Ministry on Friday promised to ramp up the scale of missile attacks on Kyiv in response to Ukraines diversions on the Russian territory.

The statement comes a day after Russian authorities accused Ukrainian forces of launching airstrikes on residential buildings in one of the countrys regions on the border with Ukraine, in which seven people sustained injuries.

According to Russian officials, some 100 residential buildings were damaged in Thursdays attack on the Klimovo village in the Bryansk region. The Defense Ministry said that the Russian forces in Ukraines Chernihiv region shut down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter that was allegedly involved in the attack on the Bryansk region.

Authorities in another border region, Belgorod, also reported Ukrainian shelling on Thursday.

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LONDON  Britains defense ministry says the loss of Russias naval flagship will likely force Moscow to change the way its naval forces operate in the Black Sea.

The Moskva sank after being damaged in disputed circumstances. Ukraine says it struck the vessel with missiles, while Moscow acknowledged a fire on board but not any attack.

In an update posted Friday on social media, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said the Soviet-era ship, which returned to operational service last year after a major refit, served a key role as both a command vessel and air defence node.

It said the sinking means Russia has now suffered damage to two key naval assets since invading Ukraine, the first being Russias Alligator-class landing ship Saratov on 24 March. Both events will likely lead Russia to review its maritime posture in the Black Sea.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday that Russia's bloody offensive in Ukraine would continue until its goals are fulfilled and insisted the campaign was going as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of stiff Ukrainian opposition and significant losses.

Russian troops, thwarted in their push toward Ukraine's capital, are now focusing on the eastern Donbas region, where Ukraine said Tuesday it was investigating a claim that a poisonous substance had been dropped on its troops. It was not clear what the substance might be, but Western officials warned that any use of chemical weapons by Russia would be a serious escalation of the already devastating war.

Russia invaded on Feb. 24, with the goal, according to Western officials, of taking Kyiv, the capital, toppling the government and installing a Moscow-friendly regime. In the six weeks since, the ground advance stalled and Russian forces lost potentially thousands of fighters and were accused of killing civilians and other atrocities.

Putin insisted Tuesday that his invasion aimed to protect people in parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed rebels and to ensure Russias own security.

He said Russia had no other choice but to launch what he calls a special military operation, and vowed it would continue until its full completion and the fulfillment of the tasks that have been set.

For now, Putin's forces are gearing up for a major offensive in the Donbas, which has been torn by fighting between Russian-allied separatists and Ukrainian forces since 2014, and where Russia has recognized the separatists claims of independence. Military strategists say Moscow appears to hope that local support, logistics and the terrain in the region favor its larger, better-armed military, potentially allowing Russia to finally turn the tide in its favor.

In Mariupol, a strategic port city in the Donbas, a Ukrainian regiment defending a steel mill claimed a drone dropped a poisonous substance on the city. It indicated there were no serious injuries. The assertion by the Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian military, could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while experts try to determine what the substance might be, The world must react now. Evidence of inhuman cruelty toward women and children in Bucha and other suburbs of Kyiv continued to surface, he added, including of alleged rapes.

Not all serial rapists reach the cruelty of Russian soldiers, Zelenskyy said.

The claims came after a Russia-allied separatist official appeared to urge the use of chemical weapons, telling Russian state TV on Monday that separatist forces should seize the plant by first blocking all the exits. And then well use chemical troops to smoke them out of there, the official, Eduard Basurin, said. He denied Tuesday that separatist forces had used chemical weapons in Mariupol.

Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said officials were investigating, and it was possible phosphorus munitions  which cause horrendous burns but are not classed as chemical weapons  had been used in Mariupol.

Much of the city has been leveled in weeks of pummeling by Russian troops. The mayor said Monday that the siege has left more than 10,000 civilians dead, their bodies carpeted through the streets. Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the death toll in Mariupol alone could surpass 20,000.

Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak acknowledged the challenges Ukrainian troops face in Mariupol. He said via Twitter that they remain blocked and are having issues with supplies, while Ukraine's president and generals do everything possible (and impossible) to find a solution.

For more than 1.5 months our defenders protect the city from (Russian) troops, which are 10+ times larger," Podolyak tweeted. Theyre fighting under the bombs for each meter of the city. They make (Russia) pay an exorbitant price.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the use of chemical weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict, while Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said it would be a wholesale breach of international law.

U.S. President Joe Biden for the first time referred to Russias invasion as a genocide. He was even blunter later Tuesday, repeating the term and saying: It's become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that the U.S. could not confirm the drone report. But he noted the administrations persistent concerns about Russias potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents.

Britain, meanwhile, has warned that Russia may resort to phosphorus bombs, which are banned in civilian areas under international law, in Mariupol.

Most armies use phosphorus munitions to illuminate targets or to produce smoke screens. Deliberately firing them into an enclosed space to expose people to fumes could breach the Chemical Weapons Convention, said Marc-Michael Blum, a former laboratory head at the Netherlands-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Once you start using the properties of white phosphorus, toxic properties, specifically and deliberately, then it becomes banned, he said.

In Washington, a senior U.S. defense official said the Biden administration was preparing yet another package of military aid for Ukraine possibly totaling $750 million to be announced in the coming days. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans not yet publicly announced. Delivery is due to be completed this week of $800 million in military assistance approved by Biden a month ago.

In the face of stiff resistance by Ukrainian forces bolstered by Western weapons, Russian forces have increasingly relied on bombarding cities, flattening many urban areas and killing thousands. The war has driven more than 10 million Ukrainians from their homes  including nearly two-thirds of the country's children.

Moscow's retreat from cities and towns around Kyiv led to the discovery of large numbers of apparently massacred civilians, prompting widespread condemnation and accusations of war crimes.

More than 720 people were killed in Kyiv suburbs that had been occupied by Russian troops and over 200 were considered missing, the Interior Ministry said early Wednesday.

In Bucha alone, Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said 403 bodies had been found and the toll could rise as minesweepers comb the area.

Ukraines prosecutor-generals office said Tuesday it was also looking into events in the Brovary district, which lies to the northeast.

It said the bodies of six civilians were found with gunshot wounds in a basement in the village of Shevchenkove and Russian forces were believed to be responsible.

Prosecutors are also investigating allegations that Russian forces fired on a convoy of civilians trying to leave by car from the village of Peremoha in the Brovary district, killing four people including a 13-year-old boy. In another attack near Bucha, five people were killed including two children when a car was fired upon, prosecutors said.

Putin falsely claimed Tuesday that Ukraine's accusation that hundreds of civilians were killed by Russian troops in the town of Bucha were fake. Associated Press journalists saw dozens of bodies in and around the town, some of whom had their hands bound and appeared to have been shot at close range.

Speaking at the Vostochny space launch facility in Russia's far east, in his first known foray outside Moscow since the war began, Putin also said the West would fail to isolate Russia and its economy has withstood a blitz of sanctions.

Addressing the pace of the campaign, he said Moscow was proceeding calmly and rhythmically to achieve the planned goals while minimizing the losses.

The Russian defense ministry said Tuesday that it used used air- and sea-launched missiles to destroy an ammunition depot and airplane hangar at Starokostiantyniv in the western Khmelnytskyi region and an ammunition depot near Kyiv.

___

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Robert Burns in Washington, and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
China is not interested in challenging or replacing others: FM spokesperson

Xinhua) 10:20, April 16, 2022

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China pursues development in order to bring better lives to the people, without any interests in challenging or replacing others, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on CIA Director William Burns' speech on Thursday, in which he called China a "formidable competitor lacking in neither ambition nor capability," and said that China is "intent" on replacing the United States as "the preeminent power in the Indo-Pacific."

Zhao said the United States has been constantly disseminating disinformation about the Ukraine crisis, flagrantly slandering China and driving a wedge between China and Russia with an agenda of profiting from the repercussions of its blame-shifting and the confrontation it incites among others.

"The United States should focus more on its responsibility for the outbreak and escalation of the Ukraine crisis," Zhao said.

He stressed that China pursues development in order to bring better lives to the people, without any interests in challenging or replacing others.

"For too long, the United States has been whipping up the 'China threat theory' and throwing dirty water at China. But lies remain lies, no matter how many times they are repeated. The world can make a fair judgement about China's contributions to world peace and development," the spokesperson said.

Certain U.S. politicians should view China's development in an objective light, cease fabricating lies, stop sowing discord between China and other countries that China has normal relations with, and do more that is conducive to the development of China-U.S. relations, Zhao said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
MattGush/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A Texas man was arrested in connection with shooting and killing the husband of his child's mother earlier this week, according to the City of Lewisville. Dallas television station WFAA reported the man and the woman's husband got into an argument.

Officials told the station the child invited his father, Austin Garrett Bovey, 36, over to the house in the 600 block of Hardy Street in Lewisville, outside of Dallas-Fort Worth. Bovey and his son hadn't seen each other in a while and the mother didn't object to Bovey going to the house, according to the report.
(Natural News) Shrimp is one of the most widely used seafoods in cooking, but it may also prove to be one of the most dangerous due to the presence of pathogens resistant to antibiotics.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) discovered this concerning issue by looking at 51 packages of imported shrimp sold in Canadian groceries. CBC reporters purchased shrimp from supermarkets in different parts of the country. The imported shrimp that came with organic labels and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certifications were then sent to a laboratory at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) to be tested for dangerous bacteria.

While Canada has banned the use of antibiotics on shrimp, it imports the seafood from several countries in Asia, such as Vietnam, Thailand, China and India.

USask microbiologist Dr. Joseph Rubin tested the shrimp sent by CBC for different types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and food-borne pathogens. These include Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus which have the potential to become superbugs. Rubin, whose expertise is antimicrobial resistance, has a particular interest in the spread of superbugs from animals to humans via food contamination. (Related: Scientists link chemicals used on apples to the rise of a DRUG-RESISTANT pathogen thats plaguing healthcare facilities.)

The microbiologist returned rather concerning test results on the 51 imported shrimp packages. Three of the packages tested positive for bacteria that can produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL). ESBL-producing bacteria can create an enzyme that allows them to break down commonly used antibiotics  rendering common treatments ineffective.

Furthermore, two of the imported shrimp products sent to the lab contained multidrug-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). This pathogen is often resistant to many antibiotic treatments and requires much more powerful drugs to address.

Six of the nine shrimp products with drug-resistant bacteria had BAP certifications on the label, while one shrimp package from Vietnam that tested positive for ESBL-producing bacteria was labeled as organic.

Indias overuse of antibiotics plays a role in shrimp superbugs

The testing conducted by Rubin found that shrimp from India had the highest percentage of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Of the nine shrimp products with superbugs he tested  five came from India, two from China, one from Vietnam and one from Thailand. Canada imports about 700 million Canadian dollars ($555 million) worth of shrimp each year; imports from India comprise the lions share, with 15 million kilograms (33 million pounds) in 2018 alone.

According to Rubin, fully cooking the shrimp should mitigate the risk of such pathogens. However, he warned that ESBL-producing bacteria and MRSA in uncooked shrimp could potentially undermine health. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, if ingested, can have the potential to share resistance genes with the other bacteria in [the] gut, explained the USask microbiologist.

The presence of drug-resistant pathogens in Indias shrimp imports can be attributed to a spike in its use of antibiotics. A report by the Hindustan Times said antibiotic use in India more than doubled  from 3.2 billion defined daily doses (DDD) in 2000, this rose to 6.5 billion DDD in 2015. It cited rising incomes, over-the-counter sales, a poorly regulated hospital sector, high rates of hospital infection, inexpensive antibiotics and frequent infectious disease outbreaks as the main reasons for this overuse.

Misuse and overuse of antibiotics have made once easily treatable bacterial infections harder and often impossible to cure because bacteria evolve rapidly to evade antibiotics, leading to drug resistance, added the Times.

The background burden of bacterial infections and misuse [of antibiotics] for all fevers  regardless of whether they are caused by parasites, viruses or bacteria  is another major causal factor. Unless we improve regulation, we can expect that the resistance problem will get worse, said Ramanan Laxinarayan, the director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in Washington, D.C., which does research on public health issues.

Superbugs.news has more stories about drug-resistant pathogens in food.

Watch this video citing five examples of natural antibiotics that address superbugs like MRSA and ESBL-producing bacteria.

This video is from the Natural News channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

About 50% of lamb mince sold in Australian supermarkets contains a dangerous parasite that may cause brain damage.

Americas poultry giants have sold tens of thousands of meat products contaminated with DEADLY BACTERIA.

BOMBSHELL: USDA turns a blind eye to meat supply contaminated with banned pharmaceutical drugs.

Deadly black fungus infection spreads among coronavirus patients in India.

Drug-resistant bacteria add another layer to Indias coronavirus battle.

Sources include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

CBC.ca

HindustanTimes.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The Democrat Partys embrace of gender lunacy, divisive philosophies, anti-white racism and anti-Semetic bigotry are finally beginning to take a heavy toll on their candidates ability to win local, state and federal elections.

The most recent case in point comes from the battleground state of Wisconsin, where Republican candidates managed several stunning victories in local school board races earlier this week.

Republicans in Virginia followed the model of focusing on the economy and getting Critical Race Theory and LGBT propaganda out of our schools and won big last year, 100 Percent Fed Up reported. Now Republicans have done the same in Wisconsin.

Looks like a backlash is underway in Wisconsin tonight. Republicans/conservatives are crushing the local elections.  Election Wizard ?? (@ElectionWiz) April 6, 2022

For instance, in La Crosse County, which has historically been dominated by Democrats, GOP candidates picked up a half-dozen seats, and now the county board of commissioners is almost equally divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Big gains for conservatives on the La Crosse county board, nearly flipping, likely taking 13 of 30 seats. Entered the night with only seven. Great work by Bill Feehan and the La Crosse county GOP, Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party, tweeted.

Big gains for conservatives on the La Crosse county board, nearly flipping, likely taking 13 of 30 seats. Entered the night with only seven. Great work by Bill Feehan and the La Crosse county GOP.  Mark Jefferson (@MJ_Jefferson) April 6, 2022

Then-President Donald Trump helped to shift Wisconsins Kenosha County to the right in a major way, becoming the first GOP president to carry the county in a half-century in the last election. Now, Kenosha County residents have elected their first Republican county executive (guess Kenosha residents also didnt care much for BLM-induced riots, either).

In 2016, Trump was the first Republican to win Kenosha County since Nixon. In 2020, he won it again and increased his margin of victory. Now, Kenosha just elected its first Republican County Executive. Let the red wave begin, GOP strategist Greg Price tweeted earlier in the week following the victory.

In 2016, Trump was the first Republican to win Kenosha County since Nixon. In 2020, he won it again and increased his margin of victory. Now, Kenosha just elected its first Republican County Executive. Let the red wave begin. https://t.co/o0ZvnlHkwW  Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 6, 2022

Manitowoc School District, which is home to over 5,000 students, now has an entirely conservative school board as the pushback against left-wing propaganda in schools continues to intensify, 100 Percent Fed up noted further.

Manitowoc school board flips completely to conservatives pic.twitter.com/G66q9dGc9r  Sara Eliza (@blue_rose_sara) April 6, 2022

The slogan for this win was 2 Matts and a Tony! Make it go viral! These 3 men will literally change the woke agenda this district has fallen prey too!! Watch the red tide do its thing!!!!  Sara Eliza (@blue_rose_sara) April 6, 2022

Thank you!! Manitowoc is elated and flooded with red tears of joy!!!  Sara Eliza (@blue_rose_sara) April 6, 2022

In what became one of the most hopeful stories of the evening regarding statewide elections in November in Wisconsin, conservative candidate Maria Lazar massively defeated Democrat Lori Kornblum, who was appointed to the State Appeals Court by left-wing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. She was winning by double digits with more than 90 percent of the votes counted.

ELECTION ALERT: Maria Lazar has defeated incumbent Lori Kornblum, a Gov. Evers (D) appointee, in a Wisconsin Court of Appeals election. Kornblum was backed by the Wisconsin Democratic Party and labor unions.  Election Wizard ?? (@ElectionWiz) April 6, 2022

In another Wisconsin school board race  this one in Menomonee Falls  three conservative mothers ran together against left-wing libtard indoctrination and they all won their races, unseating a pair of liberal incumbents.

The American people are pushing back  hard  on the lunacy of the hard Democrat left, and its a good thing to see.

Sources include:

100PercentFedUp.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The establishment is already contesting that snake venom is used in the development of pharmaceuticals, calling it a conspiracy theory. But the evidence is there for anyone wanting to investigate it.

Many life-saving drugs, the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced back in 2018, are made from the venom of snakes. And it is not just the king cobra: There is also the pit viper, the cone snail and the Gila monster as well.

Each of these reptiles produces a different type and composition of venom that the drug industry has figured out how to manipulate in order to develop what are known as peptide therapeutics, which differ from small molecule therapeutics.

Peptide therapeutics belong to an entire field of scientific analysis known as venomics, which the WEF says offer groundbreaking solutions to health problems ranging from heart disease to diabetes to chronic pain, and so much more.

There are at least six different snake venom-based drugs that are currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States. One of them is Captopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor that is used to treat high blood pressure and improve survival after a heart attack.

The main ingredient in Captopril comes from a unique species of pit viper found in Brazil.

Another drug called Prialt that is used by some 22 million adults in the U.S. who suffer from severe and chronic pain. That ones main ingredient comes from the venom of cone snails.

Then there is Byetta, a type of drug that lowers blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. Its main ingredient, exendin-4, comes from the saliva of the Gila monster, a large lizard species that is native to the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico.

An expert in venomics by the name of Dr. Mande Holford explained how it all works to the WEFs Alex Gray.

Prialt is a breakthrough in treatment for pain that is non-addictive, he said. Prialt doesnt target the same thing, so it doesnt have the same side effects.

This has ushered in a whole new way for pharmaceutical industries to treat pain, they are now looking for things that target something other than opioid receptors.

The reason why venom works so well in these applications has to do with the way it works in the animal kingdom. It is a weapon that snakes use to defend themselves, or to catch prey.

I like to describe venom as a cluster bomb, Holford said. Its job is to shut down the normal function of the prey and in doing so, it fans out (and) hits several targets, which is a great thing for pharmaceutical development because you have several avenues to explore.

Because its so fast acting, so potent and highly specific to its target, venom has all of the ingredients necessary for making a drug.

Does the covid bioweapon contain snake venom components?

On April 12 of this year, a company called Venomtech announced a collaboration with Charles River Laboratories, International Inc. to explore more ways to utilize venom-derived compounds in pharmaceuticals.

Calling snake venom a unique natural resource, the Venomtech announcement explains how venom-derived peptides can be manipulated to target highly specific areas of the body, including the hardest-to-hit drug targets.

Venomtechs Targeted-Venom Discovery Array (T-VDA) libraries provide researchers with a straightforward solution to rapidly screen thousands of individual venom fragments, with each array specifically designed to maximise hits for a specific target, the announcement explains.

Through the new collaboration, Charles River will be able to use this innovative resource  closely supported by Venomtech  to accelerate its clients pipelines, addressing difficult therapeutic targets, uncovering new mechanisms of action and minimising off-target effects.

Company CEO Paul Grant added that such research has been going on for at least the past decade at Venomtech, and that a wider array of therapeutic options is available to the industry because of the innovative technology.

In collaboration with Venomtech, we can now offer our clients access to bespoke venom libraries, potentially accelerating their discovery pipelines using this powerful natural resource, added Charles Rivers Director of Biology Vad Lazari.

This arrangement will enable us to draw on Venomtechs specialist biological knowledge to quickly follow up hits and promising leads, helping our clients to overcome longstanding specificity challenges and exploit novel modes of action.

The reason we are drawing your attention to this is because there is mounting evidence to suggest that the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) may actually be a snake venom-based bioweapon of some sort, which is why anti-venom remedies such as green chiretta work well at treating it.

It is also important to bring this all up in order to counter the propaganda claiming that snake venom use in medicine is just some wild conspiracy theory. Snake venom has clearly played a prominent role in emerging therapeutics over the years, and continues to do so as science discovers how to manipulate it using DNA and RNA as well.

These peptides have a particular structure and that structure dictates their molecular target, Holford is quoted as saying about the DNA and RNA use of snake venom in pharmaceuticals. So when we get the primary sequence, we look for those codes that indicate what the structure of this peptide would be like.

The latest news about the plandemic and the new snake venom revelations can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

WeForum.org

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

News-Medical.net

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Theologian and Pennsylvania congressional candidate Dr. John Diamond called on people to expose the darkness during the April 13 episode of America Unhinged on Brighteon.TV. Rev. Marty Grisham of LoudMouth Prayer joined Diamond on his program, citing several hosts on the network that did exactly just that.

I remember as a young kid, my parents hired a professional photographer. They came into our living room and put up all these big lights. Of course, this was the early 1970s and it was amazing that when the lights were shining, you could see things that you didnt even know were there. There were cobwebs in the corner, [even though] my parents kept [a] pretty clean house, Diamond said.

But thats what light does. It manifests, it exposes things. Were supposed to be the light, and thats what our job is.

The congressional hopeful cited a Bible verse where Apostle Paul said have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

This is one thing that churches fail to do. Understand that there are things that are acceptable and not acceptable. Half the church doesnt even know what that is, because you can tell by what theyre endorsing, Diamond said.

[Meanwhile,] there are certainly the ones that do know the difference between right and wrong but dont expose anything because theyre more worried about butts in the seat [and] money in the plate than [if] they are actually preaching Gods word.

Grisham: Brighteon.TV hosts are exposing the darkness today

Grisham concurred with the passage that Diamond mentioned, saying that several Brighteon.TV hosts are exposing the evils that have clouded the world.

[I have thought] about how they are bringing in so much truth today to the world  because the media that weve listened to, the mainstream media, has lied [and] deceived us. It hasnt brought the truth and weve been seeing this for 20, 30, 40 years  and its only multiplied and gotten worse and worse. So Im very thankful for what God has done. 

Grisham mentioned the names of Brighteon.TV program hosts who are exposing the darkness  including Ann Vandersteel of Steel Truth, Clay Clark of Thrive Time Show and Dr. Bryan Ardis of The Dr. Ardis Show.

Ardis spoke with fellow Brighteon.TV host Stew Peters on The Stew Peters Show, where the Texas chiropractor revealed the role of snake venom in the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He also touched on the links between snake venom, COVID-19 vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. For his role in exposing this darkness, Ardis was listed as the No. 1 target for liquidation on Big Pharmas hit list. (Related: Dr. Bryan Ardis releases huge allegations: The covid-19 virus, vaccines and some treatments are all derived from SNAKE VENOM.)

Clark, on the other hand, exposed the names of the globalists that seek to depopulate the world, which include Israeli intellectual Yuval Noah Harari and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Clark has been hitting home run after home run, exposing some crazy, insane people that want all of us dead. I appreciate how God has used him [and] I want to give a big thank you to Clark because hes just exposing the darkness, said Grisham, the prime mover behind LoudMouth Prayer.

Grisham explained that Clark and Ardis fall under the category of Brighteon.TV hosts that expose the darkness. On the other hand, he classified Diamond and other preachers as among the category of program hosts that provide solutions by means of the light that is Jesus Christ.

Find stories about people exposing evil deeds at Whistleblower.news.

Watch the full April 13 episode of America Unhinged featuring Rev. Marty Grisham below. Catch new episodes of America Unhinged from Monday to Friday at 9-10 a.m., Saturday at 8-9 a.m. and Sunday at 9-10 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

This video is from the BrighteonTV channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Clay Clark discusses government CORRUPTION and globalist COLLUSION  Brighteon.TV.

Thrive Time Show: Covid vaccines part of bigger plan to ELIMINATE free will  Brighteon.TV.

America Unhinged: Dr. Bryan Ardis warns about the medical establishments COVID lies  Brighteon.TV

Rev. Marty Grisham tells Dr. John Diamond: We need to pull down strongholds of the enemy  Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

RedVoiceMedia.com
(Natural News) The use of venom as medicine has been occurring for quite some time now, even if much of the world was unaware of it. Currently, there are six drugs made from the venom of snakes and other poisonous species that have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Captopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, is FDA-approved for use in treating high blood pressure, as well as to reduce the risk of heart failure following a heart attack. Its primary constituent comes from a species of pit viper found in Brazil.

Byetta, which is part of a new wave of drugs designed to lower blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes, is another snake venom-containing drug with FDA approval. Its main ingredient is exendin-4, which is found in the saliva of the Gila monster, a large lizard species native to the United States Southwest and northwestern Mexico.

Prialt, which is used by roughly 22 million adults in the U.S. who suffer from severe and chronic pain, could not be made without the venom of cone snails.

This is merely a small sampling of the many potential uses for venom that are either currently approved, in the works, or slated for possible research. Fifteen percent of the worlds animals produce venom, it turns out. And the World Economic Forum (WEF) told us back in 2018 that we have really only just begun to scratch the surface of their potential contribution to medicine.

Safe or not, snake venom is used in all sorts of emerging drug treatments

Not only is snake venom used to make pharmaceutical drugs, but it is also used for research purposes to learn more about how drugs work and how they interact with the human body.

Venomics expert Dr. Mande Holford, who teaches chemistry at the Hunter College and City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, told the WEF in 2018 that snake venom has ushered in a whole new way for pharmaceutical industries to treat pain, they are now looking for things that target something other than opioid receptors.

One of the reasons why venom works so well in drugs is because it works so well in the creatures it is derived from to keep them protected against predators. Humans can benefit from this as well, apparently, since venom can be manipulated to target pathogenic predators.

Snake venom was used even in traditional and ancient medicine systems in primitive form to treat all sorts of things. Medicinal plants were also used with it to target various diseases.

I like to describe venom as a cluster bomb, Holford is quoted as saying.

Its job is to shut down the normal function of the prey and in doing so, it fans out (and) hits several targets, which is a great thing for pharmaceutical development because you have several avenues to explore. Because its so fast acting, so potent and highly specific to its target, venom has all of the ingredients necessary for making a drug.

Holfords specialty has been to investigate how cone snail venom might be useful in developing new treatments for chronic pain and cancer. The peptide compounds contained inside of it appear to target tumors, for instance.

These peptides have a particular structure and that structure dictates their molecular target, Holford said. So when we get the primary sequence, we look for those codes that indicate what the structure of this peptide would be like.

Then we use that as a clue to try to understand if its going to hit, lets say, for example, potassium channels versus sodium channels versus calcium channels, all three of which have different functions.

More related news can be found at Medicine.news.

Sources for this article include:

WeForum.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A second bus from Texas carrying illegal aliens arrived in Washington, D.C., less than a day after the first one reached its destination. The buses loaded with illegal migrants were part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts efforts to address the crisis at the southern border.

Based on footage captured by Fox News, the second bus arrived at the federal capital at around 4:30 a.m. on April 14. The first bus reached D.C. at 8 a.m. on April 13 and dropped off its passengers between Union Station and the Capitol. The second one dropped off passengers at First Street  which was a block away from where the first bus stopped.

U.S. Capitol Police officers asked questions to the illegal aliens from the second bus, who were then allowed to continue to Union Station several minutes later. On the other hand, two officers believed to be from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processed the arrivals on the first bus the day before. (Related: First busload of ILLEGAL ALIENS from Texas arrives in DC, passengers dropped off near Capitol.)

Abbott told reporters at a press conference in Laredo, Texas that additional migrants will be bused or flown to Washington. This, he said, aims to make the White House and Congress respond and deal with the same challenges [Texas] is dealing with.

Theres one thing that is perfectly clear, and that is the Biden administration and a lot of leaders in Congress have no idea about the chaos they have caused by their open border policies. And they refuse to come down and see first hand and talk to the people who are really most adversely affected. If theyre not going to come to the border, Im going to take the border to them.

The nonprofit Catholic Charities has been providing the newly-arrived passengers from both buses with food and bus tickets. Sister Sharlet Wagner, executive director of the charitys Newcomer Network, told NTD TV: Most are choosing to move on [because] most of them do have family or friends in the place where they really want to go. [But] were happy to help them if they want to stay here.

Lone Star State receiving no help from D.C. on the border crisis

Abbott first announced the plan to bus migrants to D.C. during an April 6 press conference. He defended the measure as necessary due to Texas being overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the Biden administration. Transporting them to the federal capital would allow the federal government to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border, the Republican governor added.

Luis Alberto, an illegal immigrant who hails from Venezuela, shared his experience with NTD TV. He told the outlet that he was robbed by cartels and Mexican police officers before crossing into the U.S. with other migrants on April 12.

When we got to Texas, we had nothing because they had taken everything. We heard there was help and a bus to Washington, and there would be someone to facilitate travel  because in Texas, there is no help, said Alberto.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters during an April 13 press briefing: Its nice the state of Texas is helping them get to their final destination as they await the outcome of their immigration proceedings.

She added during the briefing, which happened hours after the first bus from Texas arrived, that its migrant passengers have been processed by Customs and Border Protection and are free to travel. Psaki earlier dismissed Abbotts threats to bus illegal aliens to D.C. as a mere publicity stunt.

OpenBorders.news has more stories about Texas response to the southern border crisis.

Watch the Fox News report about Abbotts plan to transport illegal aliens to Washington, D.C. below.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Texas braces for 60,000 migrants arriving from Haiti.

Abbott deploys Operation Lone Star at Texas-Mexico border to fight illegal immigration.

Border mayor sounds the alarm: Whats coming on the 23rd of May wont even be describable.

Migrant invasion of U.S. worsens as 10,000 Haitians crowd under Texas bridge and lawmaker calls on governor for answers.

Texas AG Ken Paxton suing Biden administration for ignoring coronavirus rules and encouraging it to spread at the southern border.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com 1

TheEpochTimes.com 2

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) By now, most plandemic skeptics are aware of the fact that ivermectin, a cheap, off-patent anti-malaria drug, is a powerful remedy for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), hence why the government does not want people to have it. But did you also know that ivermectin treats cancer?

At least nine different peer-reviewed studies demonstrate how safe and effective ivermectin wards off the Big C, threatening the multi-billion dollar cancer industry. There are two industries, in other words, that ivermectin threatens: the covid industry and the cancer industry.

1) In 2017, research published in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications found that ivermectin preferentially treats renal cell carcinoma (RCC) while protecting normal kidney cells. RCC tumor growth is also delayed by ivermectin, which induces mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress while increasing mitochondrial biogenesis.

2) A year later, research published in the journal Molecular Medicine Reports found that ivermectin preferentially targets stem cell population in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells.

Ivermectin has been demonstrated to be safe, following treatment of millions of patients with onchocerciasis and other parasitic diseases, which makes it a strong candidate for further studies investigating its potential use as a repurposed drug for cancer therapy, reported the National Cancer Institute in Mexico City.

3) Another study published that same year in the American Journal of Cancer Research, also out of Mexico, determined that ivermectin is a strong candidate for repositioning as an anti-tumor remedy.

4) An earlier study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine back in 2014 similarly found that ivermectin inhibits the expression of WNT-TCF targets, which are implicated in both intestinal and lung cancers.

Ivermectin selectively inhibits TCF-dependent, but not TCF-independent, xenograft growth without causing any obvious side effects.

In vivo, Ivermectin selectively inhibits TCF-dependent, but not TCF-independent, xenograft growth without obvious side effects. Given that Ivermectin is a safe anti-parasitic agent used by 200 million people against river blindness, our results suggest its additional use as a therapeutic WNT-TCF pathway response blocker to treat WNT-TCF-dependent diseases including multiple cancers, researchers wrote.

Ivermectin works wonders against cancers of all types

5) In 2020, research published in Pharmacological Research identified ivermectin as a drug that promotes the death of cancer cells by regulating the tumor micro-environment in breast cancer.

Ivermectin also preferentially targets leukemia cells at low concentrations while leaving normal hematopoietic cells alone. The drug also targets various ovarian cancer cells lines and also inhibits the proliferation of five renal cell carcinoma cell lines without affecting normal kidney cells.

6) Also in 2020, a study published in the EPMA Journal found that ivermectin hits specific targets in ovarian cancer, suppressing ovarian cancer cells. The drug worked so well that researchers said it can be used to make personalized drug therapy, also known as predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM), for ovarian cancer.

7) Researchers from the Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia in Mexico City discovered that same year that ivermectin reduces both cell viability and colony formation capacity while fighting against tumors.

8) In 2021, research published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology concluded that ivermectin increases ROS production and inhibits the cell cycle in the S phase to inhibit colorectal cancer cells.

9) Also in 2021, research published in the journal BMC Cancer found that ivermectin inhibits the proliferation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells by inducing mitochondrial dysfunction, suppressing NF-?B signaling and promoting apoptosis.

As you can see, ivermectin is something of a wonder drug when it comes to cancer. This is precisely why it is off-limits, and why Americans need to speak out and start demanding access to this inexpensive, life-saving medication.

More related news coverage can be found at Cancer.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheCovidBlog.com

NaturalNews.com

ScienceDirect.com

TheCovidBlog.com

TheCovidBlog.com

TheCovidBlog.com

TheCovidBlog.com

TheCovidBlog.com

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

TheCovidBlog.com

TheCovidBlog.com
(Natural News) Never has our future been more unpredictable, never have we depended so much on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interestforces that look like sheer insanity, if judged by the standards of other centuries. Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (paperback, hardcover, Kindle, audiobook)

(Article by Margaret Anna Alice republished from MargaretAnnaAlice.Substack.com)

I am writing to urge No votes on AB2098, SB1390, AB1797, SB1464, SB871, SB866, and SB1479, and part of a decalogue of medical tyranny bills (down to seven now that SB1184 passed on April 5 while AB 1993 and the HIPAA-violating SB 920 were pulled).

AB2098 threatens to strip physicians and surgeons of their licenses for unprofessional conduct, which it defines as:

disseminat[ing] or promot[ing] misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19, including false or misleading information regarding the nature and risks of the virus, its prevention and treatment; and the development, safety, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

Similarly, SB1390 criminalizes the amplification of harmful content on social media platforms.

Who is to decide what is misinformation, disinformation, false, misleading, or harmful? To claim the State has the right to override medically trained physicians is to subject medical science to political science, consequently putting not only individual patients but all of humanity at grave risk.

You would be fulfilling Carl Sagans darkest fears, which have already become manifest over the past two years of politically-formulated COVID absolutism:

Weve arranged the society based on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science and technology, and this combustible mixture of ignorance and power sooner or later is gonna blow up in our faces. Science is more than a body of knowledge. Its a way of thinking, a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then were up for grabs for the next charlatanpolitical or religiouswho comes ambling along.

Passing AB2098 and SB1390 would establish a totalitarian Ministry of Truth, and none but the bravest would dare speak against the authoritarian edicts of political forces, themselves lavishly funded by corporations whose bottom line takes precedent over human rights and patients health.

Orwell describes this totalistic hubris as follows:

At all times the Party is in possession of absolute truth, and clearly the absolute can never have been different from what it is now.

Over the past two years, every single COVID policy championed by tyrants, experts, colluders, and Covidians yielded grotesque profits for megacorporations; dictatorial powers for governments; and enormous losses of life, health, and rights for individuals.

The more research and data that has accumulated, the more evident it has become that the physicians who courageously challenged the propaganda machine were correct, while the policymakers were deadly wrong.

Lets look at a few examples:

Masks: FAIL Lockdowns: FAIL Experimental injectable products (vaccines): FAIL Antiearly treatment protocols: FAIL Antinatural immunity: FAIL Discrimination against the unvaccinated: FAIL Censoring information that contradicts the narrative: FAIL Abrogating human rights in the name of the public good: FAIL Incentivizing lethal CDC hospitalization protocols: FAIL Turning the world into an open-air prison: FAIL

Indeed, the chiseled commandments issued from on high by the WHO, NIH, CDC, and FDA were so catastrophic, its like they were designed to fail.

Even Anthony The Science Fauci agreed with the traditional health recommendations these truth-telling doctors advocated before he contorted his decrees to fit political and profiteering aims:

If the doctors you want to strip of their licenses had formulated public health policies, there would have been little to no loss of life due to COVID or any of the additional interventions that have caused what has been described as the worst-ever excess mortality  in history.

Life insurance and health insurance companies have seen spiraling fatalities and injuries, including a 40-percent increase in mortality in the 1864 groupa 12-sigma eventand an 84-percent increase in Millennial deaths (2544) according to a former Blackrock portfolio manager. The funeral industry, on the other hand, is booming. Embalmers are also finding never-before-seen white worm-like elastic clots in cadavers.

When world-renowned pathologists conducted autopsies on several of the innumerable people who have died suddenly, 93 percent of those deaths were found to have been caused by the injectable product sold as our salvation.

The CDCs adverse events reporting system supports this conclusion, having received 1,216,787 reports (including 26,693 deaths and 46,317 reports for kids) associated with these products through April 1, 2022.

The injuries millions of victims are experiencing are excruciatingly real, not rare. Athletes have been hit particularly hard, witnessing record-high numbers of deaths, injuries, and dropouts due to health issues such as myocarditis.

Californias excess mortality is especially shameful at 13.5 percent in 2020 with 38,799 excess deaths. The year the injectable products were introduced, 2021, saw an even greater increase in excess mortality at 18.7 percent or 52,278 deaths beyond the expected number.

Even though were only a few months into 2022, Californias excess mortality has already reached 19.9 percentthats 12,947 unexpected deaths in the first quarter alone.

Children are especially at risk; British children, for example, were found to be 54 times more likely to die if injected. For these and the reasons outlined in Letter to a Governing Body and Letter to a Tyrant, you must vote No on SB871, SB866, and SB1479, all of which put childrens lives and long-term health at risk.

And there are the Pfizer clinical trial documents gradually being released due to an FOIA request by attorney Aaron Siris team. Initially, the FDA (which, incidentally, received $2,875,842 from Pfizer for their application) wanted 55 years to release the data, and then they had the gall to ask for 75 years.

Fortunately, the judge rejected this request and ordered the FDA to release the documents at a rate of 55,000 pages per month. The pages that have been released to date reveal the FDA knew over a year ago that Pfizer/BioNTechs product was associated with 1,223 deaths in the first 90 days, 158,000 adverse events, and 1,291 side effects, many of which are not only debilitating but life-threatening. They also show both Pfizer and the FDA were aware their experimental gene therapy product was associated with menstrual cycle disruption and miscarriages.

Here is a three-minute video of a nurse reacting to the nine pages worth of side effects released in the data dump. Long-time vaccine proponent and nurse educator Dr. John Campbell was appalled by the Pfizer documents and has subsequently realized he and others have been egregiously deceived. Dr. Chris Martenson also provides an accessible walk-through of the pages that had been released at the time of filming.

This Canadian COVID Care Alliance presentation uses Pfizers own data to prove their product is both unsafe and ineffective.

Additionally, life-saving early treatment protocols were libeled because their long-term safety records and demonstrable efficacy threatened pharmaceutical corporations ability to secure the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) that guaranteed them immunity from liability for any harm caused by their experimental products. Simultaneously, necrotic medications like remdesivir and noxious protocols like intubation/ventilation were financially incentivized, and deaths with (not from) COVID were tallied to inflate the COVID death count and buttress the fear-whipping propaganda being used to justify the worldwide push to authoritarianism.

COVID policies such as lockdowns resulted in small businesses being macerated by big-box and online stores. They also caused profound psychological harm and skyrocketing suicides, deaths of despair, and drug overdoses. More than 100 million additional people were plunged into famine and povertyall while billionaires funneled trillions into their bank accounts during the greatest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the elites in history.

The average citizen doesnt hear anything about these pernicious repercussions because the billion-dollar-bribed legacy media, Big Tech, and governments connived with BigPharma to conceal the sky-falling evidence about the lethality and inefficacy of these injections, aided by corrupt regulatory-captured agencies like the FDA, CDC, and NIH.

History has repeatedly shown that when policy is guided by political science instead of medical science, people die. Lots of people.

As Groucho Marx said:

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.

If you care about saving lives and protecting the health of California citizens, you must begin listening to the physicians who have been censored and silencednot blacklisting them like AB2098 proposes.

AB1797s proposal to develop an immunization tracking system would grant all government agencies access to citizens vaccination records. If you want a glimpse of the dystopian surveillance state this bill would contribute to the creation of, watch this video of a drone telling the Shanghai COVID prisoners:

Residents of Jiuting. During the pandemic, we request that you strictly abide by COVID-19 restrictions and related guidelines. Control your souls desire for freedom. Do not open the window or sing. This increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

As seen on Weibo: Shanghai residents go to their balconies to sing & protest lack of supplies. A drone appears: Please comply w covid restrictions. Control your souls desire for freedom. Do not open the window or sing. https://t.co/0ZTc8fznaV pic.twitter.com/pAnEGOlBIh  Alice Su (@aliceysu) April 6, 2022

SB1464 threatens to withhold state funding from law enforcement agencies and reallocate those funds to the county public health department if the agency publicly announces that they will oppose, or adopts a policy to oppose, a public health order.

This is the most Gestapo proposal of all these fascistic bills and would coerce sheriffs and law officers to potentially violate their conscience in the name of what have already been demonstrated to be calamitous public health policies.

Martin Luther King Jr. had something to say about such unconscionable behavior:

There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

So why is it that Assembly Member Evan Low, Senator Richard Pan, Assembly Member Akilah Weber, Senator Scott Wiener, and Senator Dave Cortese have introduced such a treacherous set of bills?

Could it have something to do with being beholden to their pharmaceutical donors and corporate paymasters?

We know, for example, that the pharmaceutical industry has a record of committing fraud, knowingly keeping asbestos in its baby powder for decades, and peddling heart-stopping drugs like Vioxx, whose manufacturer even drew up a hit list for doctors who heroically attempted to expose the carnage wreaked by this drug:

During a class-action case in Australia over Mercks heart-attack and stroke-inducing drug, Vioxx, it was revealed that a doctor hit list circulated within the ranks of the hierarchy. This list contained names the doctors who spoke out against the drug using labels such as neutralize, neutralized, and discredit. During the testimony, Julian Burnside, QC, acting for the plaintiff, read one email from a Merck employee that said, We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live. Also reported in the Australian were documents that surfaced in the Federal Court in the Melbourne hearing regarding the criminal intent of Merck staffers who admitted they intended to stop funding to institutions and interfere with academic appointments. Milanda Rout, Vioxx Maker Merck and Co Drew Up Doctor Hit List, April 1, 2009, The Australian, cited in Dissolving Illusions (paperback, Kindle, audiobook)

But these pharmaceutical corporations with an uninterrupted history of murderous coverups, fraud, bribery, corruption, extortion, and exploitation are all miraculously on the side of good instead of being profit-drunk psychopaths now, right  right? Yeah, right.

Perusing Open Secrets, we learn Assembly Member Low has garnered funding from pharmaceutical-industryserving EcoLab, Inc., which has its own WEF page describing it as a trusted partner at nearly 3 million customer locations, as well as KPMG LLP, which also has a WEF page and appeared at Davos 2019 and Davos 2020.

Amazon, FedEx, and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings have all donated to one or more of these politicians (e.g., Hastings to Low, Pan, and Wiener).

What do these multinational corporations have in common? Lets just say they all profited magnificently from pandemic protocolsNetflix making record profits in 2020, FedEx nearly tripling its income, and Amazon tripling its profits in the first quarter of 2021 alone.

Weber collected nearly a million dollars in donations and PAC money, including:

a $200,000 check from the California Medical Association, $100,000 each from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America IEC and the California Dental Association Independent Expenditure PAC 

Those organizations also benefit from continuing and escalating the unsafe and ineffective COVID protocols and despotic measures these proposed bills seek to deliver.

Frederic Bastiat writes:

When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.

If you are one of the rare uncorrupted politicians in possession of moral character, independent thought, compassion, wisdom, sanity, reason, respect for science, and a backbone, you will vote No on each of these venal, tyrannical bills.

Otherwise, be prepared to say goodbye to the few remaining Californiansincluding your most skilled, knowledgeable, and ethical physicians and surgeonsas they hightail it to a free state that respects their rights and protects their health like Florida.

Read more at: MargaretAnnaAlice.Substack.com
(Natural News) Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said his company is developing an annual Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to ensure greater compliance among populations.

He made this revelation during an April 15 press briefing organized by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations. The CEO of the New York-based drug company also discussed the creation of a new COVID-19 vaccine.

What the world really needs is a vaccine that can last a year. A vaccine that will be taken once a year is way [easier] to administer and [to] have the population be compliant with it, said Bourla. Touting it as the optimal public health solution, he argued that a yearly shot made compliance with vaccine mandates easier compared to shots injected every three to four months.

Bourla also lamented peoples lukewarm reception toward booster doses, citing the dwindling number of recipients for subsequent doses after the second. This, he explains, is one of the main reasons why Pfizer is working to create an annual vaccine. (Related: BioNTech co-founder echoes Pfizer CEO, expects people to get vaccinated against coronavirus annually.)

The issue is that right now, we are  in many, many countries  in the fourth dose, and that creates fatigue. Way more people got the second [dose] than the third, [and] I think the compliance with the fourth dose will not be as high. [We] realized that people will not comply with the fourth or fifth vaccination. This is why we need to come [up with] scientific innovations that will allow us to have a vaccine that is annual.

Aside from the lack of enthusiasm toward boosters, Bourla also denounced the politicization of vaccines during the press briefing.

I think that what didnt help at all, and this was a very big issue, was the fact that there was a politicization. It became a political statement [to get] a vaccine or [to] wear a mask or not, and that caused tremendous damage to global health.

Bourla earlier pushing for boosters against omicron

The Pfizer CEO said SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is very difficult to eradicate and admitted that vaccine-induced protection against the pathogen does not last long. The most likely scenario is that the virus will continue being with us for years to come, he said in response to a question from event host Claire Doole about COVID-19 and the need for vaccination.

Bourla has been at the forefront of Big Pharmas push for subsequent COVID-19 booster doses amid the spread of the B11529 omicron variant. While more infectious than the earlier B16172 delta strain, omicron has been shown to cause milder symptoms.

In December 2021, the Pfizer bigwig remarked that a fourth dose may be needed in light of omicron. [The first point is] when we see real-world data, [it] will determine if the omicron [variant] is well-covered by the third dose and for how long. [The] second point [is] I think we will need a fourth dose, he said during a Dec. 8, 2021 appearance on the CNBC program Squawk Box.

He earlier predicted that a fourth vaccine dose may be required 12 months after the third. Bourla, however, changed his stance and explained: With omicron, we need to wait and see because we have very little information. We may need it faster.

Later in March, Bourla remarked that people may need to get a fourth booster dose soon. He said during an interview on Face the Nation on CBS: [From] the way that we have seen, a fourth dose is necessary right now. The protection that you are getting from the third [dose]  [is] actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths, [but] not that good against infections.

He also mentioned Pfizers attempts to create a vaccine that protects against all SARS-CoV-2 variants for at least a year during the CBS interview, which he echoed during the April 15 press conference.

BigPharmaNews.com has more stories about Pfizer espousing vaccines to respond to COVID-19.

Watch Albert Bourlas December 2021 CNBC appearance below where he defends the need for subsequent vaccine doses against omicron.

This video is from the Zbest News channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Fauci claims fourth COVID dose is entirely conceivable.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla declares that fourth COVID shot is now necessary.

No surprise here: Fauci now insists FOURTH Covid vaccine doses are very LIKELY to be needed.

Pfizer CEO aggressively pimping FOURTH booster shot, proving it was always going to be a SERIES of shots that didnt stop covid.

Pfizer CEO pushes for more boosters just as studies show vaccines actually make people MORE likely to catch Omicron after 90 days.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

CNBC.com

CBSNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) As the concept of venom theory has reverberated around the world this week, many people are shocked to realize how many pharmaceutical medications are derived almost entirely from rattlesnake venom, Gila Monster reptile venom, pit viper venom, scorpion venom and other such sources.

A pain treatment drug named Prialt (see Prialt.com) is actually synthesized by copying the poison of the Magical Cone Snail (conus magus). This poison produces hallucinations, confusion, altered states of consciousness and more. The insert sheet for the Prialt drug carries bizarre warnings such as, Patients have become unresponsive or stuporous while receiving PRIALT.

Patients who are made unconscious by the drug may appear to be perfectly conscious, almost as if they are in a zombie state. The warning sheet explains, During these episodes, patients sometimes appear to be conscious and breathing is not depressed. If reduced levels of consciousness occur, discontinue PRIALT until the event resolves

We acknowledge that drugs like Prialt may have practical, beneficiary applications for people who are suffering chronic pain, yet who are unable to take highly addictive opioids for a variety of reasons. However, we take issue with the fact that drug companies and doctors seem to be hiding the origins of these medications from patients. Most doctors arent even aware that toxins, poisons and venoms are used as the templates to synthesize extremely toxic peptides that are frequently used in prescription medications, including drugs for heart attacks, diabetes, high blood pressure and more.

Reptile venoms can be weaponized and turned into large-scale chemical weapon systems

Even worse, these reptile venoms can be weaponized and mass produced, then used in a large-scale chemical attack on the population by introducing these toxins into food, water, air or contact surfaces. Just as fentanyl can be weaponized through aerosolization and drone delivery, these reptile venom peptides can also be weaponized and used to mass murder large numbers of people.

Some observers believe this has already happened, and that the mRNA vaccines currently being injected into people may deposit instructions for venom peptide synthesis into the cells of the body. If true, this would turn your body into a reptilian venom factory from the inside.

It might also explain why so many side effects of covid vaccines seem to align so closely with the known effects of envenomation (being bitten by a snake, a viper, a scorpion, etc).

Dr. Bryan Ardis covers this in detail in part 3 of my recent interview with him. Many people say this third part is by far the most informative, and its all backed by meticulous scientific research:

Brighteon.com/0d74ac38-dcf9-44e6-99f6-96c6a59abcf9

As ToxinTech.com explains on their website, touting the pharmaceutical potential for the venom peptides in their library:

The biological function of animal venoms is to immobilize and kill prey or predator in seconds to minutes venom toxins target neuromuscular, cardiovascular, hemostatic and other life functions. Toxins bind to targets with high affinity and are chemically stable.

For the record, we do not ascribe nefarious intent on the part of ToxinTech. However, we recognize that ToxinTechs venom library may be exploited and misused by bad actors to create weapons of mass destruction, all based on venom peptides which are engineered to kill.

Interestingly, the ToxinTech home page feature image asks a rather blunt question that could be easily misconstrued: Designed Toxins Have a Target?

In the context of biosciences, this means a molecular target such as a specific enzymatic pathway or channel such as calcium channels or sodium channels. But to the mind of a bad actor with nefarious intent, they might wish to target humanity, for example, with a venom-based depopulation weapon.

13 irrefutable facts about snake venom, Big Pharma and bioweapons

Weve spent much of this week researching the venom peptide industry, and what weve found is rather astonishing. In fact, I think its one of the biggest stories in the history of modern pharmaceutical medicine. Heres what we know so far:

Fact #1  Big Pharma routinely uses venom and venom peptides for drug discovery. Around 150,000 animal species are known to produce toxins, and scientists estimate that 20 million toxins exist (only a small fraction have been studied).

Fact #2  Massive venom libraries already exist (20,000+ venom peptides) and are marketed to the pharma industry for drug discovery. Two such companies are Venomtech (UK) and ToxinTech (USA).

Fact #3  One venom library company celebrates how its venoms for Big Pharma are able to immobilize and kill prey .. in seconds or minutes. They explain that venoms are Perfected by millions of years of evolution in order to target neuromuscular, cardiovascular, hemostatic and other life functions. (ToxinTech.com home page, sourced April 14, 2022) This means that venom library licensing companies recognize the toxicity of the compounds they are offering to drug companies. In fact, they state so in their own marketing materials.

Fact #4  Reptile venoms can be weaponized and made into biological weapons. Protein sequences are provided by the venom library companies, allowing gain-of-function research to engineer venom peptides into viral payloads or mRNA therapeutics. Because venoms are poisons, the knowledge of how to engineer and synthesize those poisons at the amino acid level is also knowledge of how to build biological or chemical weapons.

Fact #5  Dozens of pharmaceuticals derived entirely from animal venom already exist. Many are FDA approved. A full chart has been published by Natural News and is also shown below.

Fact #6  Pharma appears to be HIDING the venom origins of their products, making few or no disclosures on marketing websites about the actual origin of their drugs. You would have to read the insert sheets and understand latin names to know that their drugs come from animal venom.

Fact #7  Nearly zero doctors or patients know about the venom origins of venom-derived medications. Thus, patients are swallowing actual reptile venom molecules but being told by their doctors that it is medication. The FDAs approving of a venom as a medication does not magically transform it into something that is non-toxic. The toxicity is simply reframed as therapeutic by the FDA, which then hands the pharmaceutical company a market monopoly to sell a molecule that was actually pirated from nature.

Fact #8  Venom molecules and venom peptides are mass synthesized in pharmaceutical factories. This is a common practice. This is referred to by numerous scientific and bioscience resources, including the World Economic Forum.

Fact #9  Venoms and venom peptides are synthesized as chemically stable (ToxinTech.com) and are routinely delivered via liquid solutions without any preservatives. (They need no special preservatives to maintain their structure and function.) Nanocarriers are also available to further stabilize the venom peptides. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31223083/).

Fact #10  Venoms can be touted by pharmaceutical companies as naturally occurring, because they are. Yet this label can be misleading since people equate the word natural with healthful or safe.

Fact #11  Because venom peptides are stable in solution, they can be weaponized and mass produced, then distributed via air, water, food or contact surfaces. This means that it is entirely plausible that mass poisoning via venom peptides could be accomplished through the water supply, or the food supply, or dropped on cities via drones, etc. These are not outlandish ideas in the least. The US Dept of Homeland Security just recently conducted chemical weapons simulation tests in New York City, releasing non-toxic gas in city parks and subway stations in order to study this very thing. If its a crazy conspiracy theory, then somebody needs to tell DHS, because theyve been drilling for this exact scenario.

Fact #12  Some toxins are skin-penetrating and can be absorbed merely by TOUCHING. (Not a venom, but a toxin or poison.) This was all admitted in an Ecohealth Alliance proposal to DARPA, as covered in this story: Leaked DARPA document, DRASTIC analysis confirms attack on humanity using aerosolized, skin-penetrating nanoparticle spike proteins.

Fact #13  Venoms and venom peptides produced for pharma are so stable that they survive stomach acid, which means the venom peptides are stable in solution, including in rather acidic (reactive) solutions. This means they do not automatically break down in city water, either. If venom toxins were not highly stable molecules, they would not be very good venoms in the first place. As ToxinTech explains, millions of years of evolution has perfected the functionality of these molecules.

Heres a list of some of the pharmaceuticals which are derived from venom, as sourced originally from The Encyclopedia of Toxicology, 3rd edition, vol. 1:

Todays Situation Update podcast discusses venoms, Big Pharma, vaccines, mRNA transfection, animal-reptile transhumanism and more:

Brighteon.com/9c7dbfe4-8acb-424d-be9c-2e12e556d19d

Discover more information-packaged podcasts each day, along with special reports, interviews and emergency updates, at:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/HRreport

Also follow me on:

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(Natural News) Dr. Mehmet Oz is running for the United States Senate in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and former President Donald Trump is endorsing him.

In a public announcement, Trump wrote that Dr. Oz will help to stop the Radical Left maniacs from destroying our country. He added that Oz is brilliant and well-known, and is tough and smart, which is what the country needs.

I have known Dr. Oz for many years, as have many others, even if only through his very successful television show, Trump said. He has lived with us through the screen and has always been popular, respected and smart. He even said that I was in extraordinary health, which made me like him even more (although he also said I should lose a couple of pounds).

Trump went on to highlight Ozs academic pedigree, including his Bachelors degree from Harvard University and his joint MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School of Finance.

He has authored more than 350 original publications, written eight New York Times bestsellers and received patents for developing medical devices that have improved countless lives and performed thousands of life-saving heart operations, Trump added.

Rick Perry of Texas also supports Oz

According to Trump, Oz is also pro-life, very strong on crime, the border, election fraud, our great military and our vets, tax cuts and will always fight for and support our under-siege Second Amendment.

Oz will also help the United States to become energy independent again  ever since Joe Biden was installed in the White House, America has become energy dependent.

The greatest potential for Oz, Trump said, is that he actually stands a chance at winning a general election against a Radical Left Democrat looking to do unthinkable harm to our country.

Trump said that women are especially drawn to Oz because of his advice and counsel, which can help him win an election, even in a usually blue state like Pennsylvania.

He knows his job is to serve every single Pennsylvanian, Trump added. Dr. Oz is smart, tough, and will never let you down, therefore, he has my complete and total endorsement. Good luck, Dr. Oz. Our country needs you.

Rick Perry of Texas has also endorsed Oz, and the doctor also recently appeared in an interview with Fox News Sean Hannity, who also sees Oz as a viable candidate for the Senate in Pennsylvania.

Not everyone is convinced that Oz is a good choice, however. Commenters on news items about Trumps announcement were critical of both Trump and Oz, with one suggesting that Oz is another Mitt Romney: saying what he thinks conservatives want to hear.

A United States Air Force veteran wrote that Oz is a RINO [Republican in Name Only] and may not actually be a real conservative.

Dr. Oz pushed gender ideology on children, defended abortion standards, called for red flag gun laws, helped craft Obamacare, and more, wrote another.

It was actually quite difficult to find any comments of support for Oz, including someone who said he supports Trump and that he was the best president ever, but cannot get on board with Dr. Oz.

Mattis, Bolton, Barr, Wray, Sessions, Omarosa, Pence, Scaramucci, Tillerson, the list goes on, wrote another about all of the people Trump endorsed or brought on board in his administration who turned out to be bad picks.

Trump is and was a great president  but a horrible judge of character, this same person added.

More related news about Donald Trump can be found at Trump.news.

Sources include:

CitizenFreePress.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized the Chinese government on Monday, April 11, for starving its own people in the latest Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown of the more than 25 million residents of Shanghai. He said the lockdown has created the largest prison camp in human history.

The government of China has just completely shut down the city of Shanghai. The lockdown there is by all accounts more brutal and more far-reaching than anything we saw in Wuhan two years ago, Carlson said.

Videos have emerged on social media showing citizens and foreigners being locked inside their homes by Chinese police using bicycle locks and padlocks.

Carlson recalled that in the 2020 lockdown in Wuhan, doors were sometimes welded closed from the outside to prevent people who tested positive for COVID from leaving their homes. He said that this has caused some people to die of starvation.

The Fox News host showed a recent video in which a child was taken alone by van to a COVID internment camp. The COVID quarantine camps, according to Carlson, occasionally lack water and other basic human necessities for the many individuals isolated in them.

Videos also showed Chinese citizens screaming from the skyscrapers of Shanghai because they are starving in their homes.

Has there ever been a clearer picture of what hell is like? Twenty five million people imprisoned in concrete apartment blocks and slowly starving, Carlson said.

Based on local reports, stores have already run out of food supplies and carriers cannot keep up with the demand of online orders. A man was seen on video shouting in the street, What am I supposed to buy? What am I supposed to eat? (Related: To keep its residents safe from covid, Shanghai officials are starving people to death in their homes with new citywide lockdown.)

This is the biggest, richest, most international city of China and people are starving, without medicine and without freedom, reported a Western journalist in Shanghai.

Protests have erupted in the streets, with people shouting at the police, We are starving.

The government has tried to control the crowds with on-the-ground officers and patrol drones that announced by loudspeaker: Control your souls desire for freedom.

Given the size of Shanghai and the huge presence of foreign nationals, the city poses the biggest threat to the dominant Chinese Communist Party (CCP)  especially this year, as Chinas leader Xi Jinping gets ready for re-election for a third straight term. His re-election became possible when the CCP lifted the present term-limit four years ago. With no limit on the number of terms, the Chinese dictator can now rule indefinitely.

Shanghais totalitarian COVID-19 lockdown could be arriving in America soon

Carlson warned that Shanghais totalitarian COVID-19 lockdown could be arriving in America soon. According to Carlson, the cruel lockdown of one of Chinas biggest cities could serve as a blueprint for despotic leaders in the West on how to keep the population controlled with an iron hand.

The restrictions have left Shanghai wavering on the border of civil unrest. Under the stringent lockdowns, residents are not allowed to leave their homes or exercise, and pet owners infected with COVID-19 risk having their pets taken away and killed by health officials.

Horrible images and video footage of men in hazmat suits brutally killing cats and dogs have reaped broad anger on Twitter.

Apart from beating citizens who refuse to stay indoors, China sent the Peoples Liberation Army in anticipation of food riots.

Were just beginning to see the outlines of the repression that COVID has made possible. If you believe in democracy, this is repugnant. Twenty-five million people just lost their most basic human rights. So, the question is, has anyone in the Biden administration, which is constantly lecturing us about democracy and human rights, said anything about this? Carlson said.

Has the State Department issued an angry denunciation of Xi Jinping? Is the U.S. government threatening sanctions against China for building the worlds largest prison camp? Well, of course not.

The Fox News host also pointed out that its not about COVID anymore. While Shanghai did have a COVID crisis, recent experience will show that this was not the way to handle a COVID crisis.

So, from the perspective of Chinas central government, the problem is not COVID. The problem is Shanghai itself. Shanghai is probably the freest place in China. If you watch carefully, you can see all of this taking shape, and why wouldnt it be taking shape in this country? If we want to know what the future looks like, you can look at China and shiver, Carlson said.

Watch the video below about Shanghais latest COVID lockdown.

This video is from the andamon channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Shanghais latest COVID lockdown has left the city in shambles: pushed to the brink of collapse.

Shanghai extends covid lockdown indefinitely, sparking rebellion.

Forced covid lockdowns in China are starving people to death.

Sources include:

Life Site News.com

Rebel News.com

Brighteon.com
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Windy. Cloudy skies will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 78F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low around 65F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
For the past 10 years, the Medicare system has tried to improve the quality of health care that millions of older Americans receive, while slowing the growth in costs to the federal budget, by encouraging health care providers to join Accountable Care Organizations.

Today, ACOs coordinate the care of 11 million people, most of them with traditional Medicare coverage. The better the ACOs do, the more they're rewarded.

But the improvements haven't reached all older Americans equally. ACOs that include a higher percentage of patients who are Black, Hispanic, Native American or Asian have lagged behind those with higher percentage of white patients in providing preventive care and keeping patients out of the hospital.

Now, a new study shows that some of this inequity stems from how an ACO's patients get their primary care. Even if they see specialist physicians who belong to an ACO, older adults aren't required to see a primary care provider who belongs to the same ACO.

In the new issue of JAMA Health Forum, a team from the University of Michigan shows that ACOs with higher percentages of members of racial and ethnic minority groups also tended to have higher percentages of out-of-network primary care. That meant the patient's routine care was delivered by a provider with no connection to the ACO, and therefore no potential financial benefit if they hit the quality benchmarks.

The study used data from nearly 4 million Medicare participants whose providers belong to 538 ACOs in the Shared Savings Program. The percentage of patients who got their primary care outside the ACO was nearly 13% in the ACOs that had the highest percentage of participants from racial or ethnic minorities, compared with about 10% of the patients in the other ACOs.

But even when the researchers left out the ACOs that had the highest percentage of out-of-network primary care, they still saw differences in quality of care. Older adults in ACOs with the highest percentages of minority participants were less likely to get diabetes and cholesterol checks, and those who had been hospitalized were more likely to end up back in the hospital within a month.

On the other hand, in the ACOs that had the lowest percentage of patients who got their primary care out of the ACO network, there were no differences in quality performance between ACOs with different percentages of members from minority groups.

These findings suggest that efforts by ACOs to encourage use of in-network primary care may reduce health care disparities among racial and ethnic minority patients, which has policy implications for the Shared Savings Program that includes most ACOs." John Hollingsworth, M.D., M.S., U-M physician and health care researcher

Hollingsworth led the analysis with Shivani Bakre, a former research associate at U-M.

Hollingsworth and several co-authors are members of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation; Hollingsworth and his team are part of the Dow Division of Health Services Research in the Department of Urology at Michigan Medicine.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees Medicare and the ACO program, recently announced a new kind of ACO that will launch in 2023, called ACO REACH. It specifically focuses on health equity and bringing the benefits of the ACO model to underserved communities.
(Newser)  The British government on Thursday announced a plan under which some asylum-seekersgenerally single menwill be put on a one-way flight to Rwanda. It's part of a deal that involves an up-front payment of $158 million being made to Rwanda. Once the asylum seekers arrive in that country, some 4,000 miles from the UK, their asylum claims will be processed; those who are successful may remain. PM Boris Johnson said the plan would stop "vile people smugglers" from making the English Channel a "watery graveyard" and throw a wrench into the business of people smuggling, reports the BBC. The plan would "over time prove a very considerable deterrent," he said.

The AP reports more than 28,000 migrants entered the UK via the Channel in 2021, a staggering jump from the 8,500 who did so in 2020. Johnson said roughly 600 people crossed the Channel on Wednesday alone, and the figure is projected to hit 1,000-per-day within weeks. The New York Times reports nearly two-thirds of those who applied for asylum last year were determined to be "genuine refugees" from countries including Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. But there were dozens of deaths along the way, including in this high-profile November tragedy. Refugee groups and humanitarian organizations are casting the plan itself as vile.

The United Nations Refugee Agency called on Britain and Rwanda to rethink the deal, saying, "People fleeing war, conflict and persecution deserve compassion and empathy. They should not be traded like commodities and transferred abroad for processing." Critics of the Conservative government say Johnson is just trying to deflect from his own political issues. Others cast the plan as unworkable. The Times reports research into a similar program that saw Israel send asylum seekers to Rwanda and Uganda found they received inadequate protection there and turned to smugglers to get them to Europe. A top Johnson adviser said the flights could begin "in weeks or a small number of months," though the plan is expected to be challenged in court. (Read more asylum seeker stories.)
(Newser)  Indignant over what it called Ukrainian strikes in Russian territory and following the stunning loss of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow threatened renewed missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities said the bodies of more than 900 civilians were found outside the capital. Most had been shot dead, police said, and likely "simply executed." The AP provides an update on what's happening in other cities:



Russian forces prepared for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine, and fighting also went on in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where the city council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials "of people killed by them." "Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown," the council said on the Telegram messaging app.

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Gov. Oleh Sinehubov.

Early Saturday, Kyiv's eastern district of Darnytskie was struck, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting. He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene. He warned residents who have fled the capital not to return for their safety.

In the towns around Kyiv, said Andriy Nebytov, who heads the regions police force, bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds. More bodies are being found every day under rubble and in mass graves, he added, with the largest number found in Bucha.

President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south of terrorizing civilians and hunting for anyone who served in Ukraines military or government.

"The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. Russias problem is that it is not acceptedand never will be acceptedby the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.

(Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
(Newser)  The case of a teenage couple killed and tossed down an abandoned mine shaft culminated in murder convictions Friday for a Utah man who prosecutors said killed the pair because he found them hanging out with his girlfriend. Jarrod Baum, 45, faces up to life in prison without parole after a jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, and other counts in the 2017 slayings after a monthlong trial. Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson, 17, and Riley Powell, 18, disappeared days after Christmas. Their bound and stabbed bodies were found months later in Utahs west desert, 100 feet down an abandoned mine shaft.

Prosecutors said they died after meeting up with a friend, Morgan Lewis, on Dec. 30 at her home in Eureka, a former silver mining town. While they were there, her boyfriend, Baum, returned home. He grew angry because he had forbidden Lewis from having male friends over, and she previously dated Powell, reports the AP. Lewis told police her boyfriend tied up Otteson and Powell, duct-taped their mouths and threw them in the back of Powells Jeep. Then he drove them, along with Lewis, to the site of an abandoned mine outside town.

There, he beat and stabbed Powell before cutting Ottesons throat, then tossed them down. "He retaliated against Riley and Morgan and made her watch so she would know this is what happens when you break my rules," said prosecutor Ryan McBride. The couples family and friends searched for months before Lewis was pulled over during an unrelated traffic stop on March 25. She eventually agreed to cooperate with police. Much of the prosecutions case was based on her testimony, which was questioned by the defense. Attorney Dallas Young said there was a lack of DNA evidence linking the slayings to Baum.

"You cannot believe (Lewis), and you cannot be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt," he argued, according to KSL. Prosecutors countered that Lewis and Baum had burnt and bleached important evidence, obliterating DNA. Young pointed to DNA found on the duct tape that covered Otteson's mouth that didn't belong to any of the four people said to be present, arguing another person must have been there and that Lewis is staying closed-lipped about that person. Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty, but Utah County Attorney David Leavitt later took it off the table as he vowed to no longer pursue capital punishment. KSL reports Baum will be sentenced June 1.

(Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  A dolphin that became stranded on a beach in Texas died before rescue crews arrivedafter being harassed by crowds that tried to ride it. The female dolphin had become stuck Sunday on Quintana Beach, the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network reported. "Park staff was called to assist in keeping the public away from the dolphin until rescuers could arrive from Galveston," the Quintana Beach County Park posted on Facebook, per NPR. A photo in the post showed people crowded around the sick dolphin. "Unfortunately it was a retrieval, not a rescue," the post said.

Officials pointed out that harassing stranded sea animals disrupts their natural behavior and stresses them and that interacting with them can be dangerous to people. It's also illegal; violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act could bring a year in prison and civil penalties up to $11,000, per NBC. The network's executive director said its workers see people attempting to feed or swim with dolphins, chasing them with boats or jet skis, or trying to pet them. She said it's rare to see someone try to ride a dolphin. All of those actions are against the law.

"If a live dolphin or whale strands in Texas, please do not push the animal back to sea, do not attempt to swim or interact with them, do not crowd them," the organization said. In this case, the people who harassed the dolphin had left by the time rescuers arrived, per CNN. The dolphin's body has been taken for a necropsy to try to find why it became stranded on the beach. (Read more beached dolphins stories.)
(Newser)  A US ban on seafood imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine was supposed to sap billions of dollars from Vladimir Putin's war machine. But shortcomings in import regulations mean that Russian-caught pollock, salmon, and crab are likely to enter the US anyway, by way of the country vital to seafood supply chains across the world: China. Like the US seafood industry, Russian companies rely heavily on China to process their catch. Once there, the AP reports, the seafood can be reexported to the US as a "product of China" because country of origin labelling isn't required.

The result is that nearly one-third of the wild-caught fish imported from China is estimated to have been caught in Russian waters, according to an International Trade Commission study of 2019 data. For pollock and sockeye salmon, the rate is even higher50% to 75%. "China doesnt catch cod. They don't catch pollock. But yet, they're one of the largest exporters of these whitefish in the world," said Sally Yozell, a former policy director at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Having it labeled as a Chinese product is really not fair to the consumers and to restaurants."

It's unknown exactly how much of Russia's seafood manages to land in the US by way of China, which sent another $1.7 billion in fish to the US last year. Nor does the US ban require companies importing from China to find out. Even before the invasion of Ukraine, pressure had been building to prevent what Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, called "authoritarian" pollock from entering the US Putin banned U.S. seafood in 2014 following American sanctions to punish him for the invasion of Crimea. Since then, Russian exports entering the US duty free have nearly quadrupled in value. Russia's poor record caring for the oceans has caused concern, too. Only China scored worse in a recent study of nations' efforts to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing.

At a congressional hearing, Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman led calls for expanding NOAA's Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which aims to prevent illegal seafood from entering US supply chains by tracking shipments from the point of catch. The program now covers just 13 species, only two of whichred king crab and Atlantic codare fished by Russia. "Until that happens, Russian seafood will continue to line grocery store shelves and American consumers will continue to unwittingly support Putins war machine," Huffman said. Peter Quinter, a former Customs Service attorney, said the US can close the China loophole by requiring importers to inspect their supply chains to make sure none of their fish comes from Russia. "They can and should fix this, said Quinter. "The old days of being sure your fish is caught in a single place or country is no longer the case." (Read more fishing industry stories.)
(Newser)  Update: The man being held in the shooting attack on a New York City subway train last month that wounded 10 people has been indicted. A federal grand jury charged Frank James on Friday with committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and discharging a firearm during a violent crime, the AP reports. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Arraignment hasn't been scheduled. James is jailed without bail. Our story from April 16 follows:

A $50,000 reward that was offered in connection with last Tuesday's Brooklyn subway shooting will indeed be paid outand split five ways, officials say. The NYPD says tips from five people, who it declined to identify, "contributed directly to the arrest" of alleged gunman Frank James some 30 hours later. They will each receive $10,000, which is being provided by the Police Foundation, the MTA, and TWU Local 100, reports ABC News. New York City residents received a cellphone alert with James' description at 10:21am Wednesday, and multiple people have gone public to share what they believed to be sightings of James.

NPR reports Zack Tahhan, 21, was installing security cameras and told reporters what he experienced, "I thought, 'Oh my God, this is the guy, we need to get him.' He was walking down the street, I see the car of the police, I said, 'Yo, this is the guy!'" Mayor Eric Adams expressed gratitude, per the New York Post: "Thanks to the help of these five good Samaritans, the NYPD was able to do its job and get a dangerous suspect off the streets just hours after his picture was released." The 10 people who were shot are all expected to survive. (Read more subway attack stories.)
(Newser)  Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be getting back the $75,000 in fines he paid to a Connecticut court for failing to appear at a deposition last month in a lawsuit over his assertions that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, a judge has ruled. Relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, massacre sued Jones for defamation, saying they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from his followers. A judge found Jones liable for damages, the AP reports, and a trial on how much he should pay the families is scheduled for August.

Judge Barbara Bellis in Waterbury ordered the return of the money Thursday, because Jones eventually did show at a rescheduled deposition last week. The fines, which escalated daily, were aimed at making sure Jones did appear for questioning. Jones said he missed the March 23 and 24 deposition in Austin, Texashome to Jones and Infowars  because of a medical problem that included vertigo. He said his doctors first thought it was a serious heart issue, but it later turned out to be a sinus infection. Bellis said there wasn't enough evidence that Jones was too ill to attend the deposition.

Jones paid a $25,000 daily fine for April 1 and another $50,000 daily fine for April 4. He then attended a deposition in Bridgeport on April 5 and 6. A lawyer for the Sandy Hook families declined to comment Friday. A message was left for Jones' attorney. Jones was also found liable for damages in similar defamation lawsuits by victims' relatives in Texas, where a trial is scheduled to start later this month. Jones has since said he believes the shooting did occur.

(Read more Alex Jones stories.)
(Newser)  This is not where Nadiya Trubchaninova thought she would find herself at 70 years of age, hitchhiking daily from her village to the shattered town of Bucha trying to bring her son's body home for burial. The questions wear her down, the AP reports, heavy like the winter coat and boots she still wears against the chill. Why had Vadym gone to Bucha, where the Russians were so much harsher than the ones occupying their village? Who shot him as he drove on Yablunska Street, where so many bodies were found? And why did she lose her son just one day before the Russians withdrew?

Now 48-year-old Vadym is in a black bag in a refrigerated truck. After word reached her that he had been found and buried by strangers in a yard in Bucha, she has spent more than a week trying to bring him home for a proper grave. But he is one body among hundreds, part of an investigation into war crimes that has grown to global significance. She last saw her son on March 30. She thought he was taking a walk as part of his recovery from a stroke. She wonders whether he went driving to search for a cellphone signal to call his own son to wish him happy birthday. She wonders whether Vadym thought the Russians in Bucha were like those occupying their village, who told them they wouldn't be harmed if they didnt fight back.

More than a week later, she found his makeshift grave with the help of a stranger with the same name and age as her son. The next day, she spotted the body bag containing Vadym at a Bucha cemetery. He always stood out as tall, and his foot stuck out from a hole in the corner. Worried about losing him, she found a scarf and tied it there as her marker. She is desperate to find an official to hurry the process and issue the documents to release him. The cemetery where she wants to place her son can be seen from Vadym's old room, where his canes are still propped against the door. On Thursday, she waited outside the Bucha morgue again. After another day without progress, she sat on a bench in the sun. "I just wanted to sit in nice weather," she said. "I'm going to go home. Tomorrow I'll come again."

(Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
(Newser)  Anecdotes about Sen. Dianne Feinstein's memory issues ring true to Ruth Marcus, based on her own reporting. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle detailed the experiences of colleagues and aides with what they said seem to be the 88-year-old senator's fading mental acuity. Writing in the Washington Post, Marcus looks at the factors involved. The Democrat's colleagues of both parties have been critical before, she says, noting their reaction during Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings when the senator didn't tell anyone about Christine Blasey Ford's allegations.

"The Feinstein story evokes broader issues," Marcus writes, "the unwillingness of so many who hold power to cede it voluntarily, with their identities and support systems so bound up in their jobs; and the inability of our political system, in the absence of term limits (which I oppose for other reasons), to deal with those unwilling to recognize when it is time to step down." A board of directors in the private sector might well push a deteriorating executive aside, while the only real remedy in government is action by voters.

Marcus doesn't see evidence of sexism behind the whispers about Feinstein, but she acknowledges there are reasons the whisperers might want her to step down. Progressives want someone more liberal in her seat, for starters. And there are reasons others might want her to stay, Marcus notes. The aides enabling her to stay in office by doing her work could be acting out of loyalty. But then, in a situation like this, aides filling the gap become all the more powerful. Feinstein maintains that she's fine, and her staff hasn't said otherwise. "Covering up is not public service," Marcus writes. You can read the full piece here. (Read more Dianne Feinstein stories.)
(Newser)  Russian forces were close to seizing Mariupol on Saturday, with defense officials in Moscow saying the only significant opposition in the city was the 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers surrounded at a huge steel plant. There's no way out for the troops, a Russian defense ministry spokesman said, per the New York Times. "The only chance to save their lives is to voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender," he said, the Russian state news agency, Tass, reported. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian forces in the strategically important port are better equipped and six times the size of his. "Nevertheless, our guys are heroically defending," Zelensky said. "We are grateful to them for that." Other developments involve:

Atrocities: If the Russians inflict atrocities in Mariupol like those in Bucha and other cities, Zelensky said, it would be the end of negotiations. So would "the destruction of all our boys in Mariupol," he said, per the Washington Post. Conditions in Mariupol are "just inhuman," Zelensky told the nation in his nightly video address.

Strikes: Russia hit military targets throughout Ukraine on Saturday. Explosions were heard in Lviv, in the west, as well as the capital of Kyiv, which Russia had threatened. The strikes could be both a response to the sinking of Russia's Moskva warship and an attempt to lay the groundwork for an offensive. One target hit was a tank factory in Kyiv, where the Neptune anti-ship missile that struck the Moskva was made.

The next phase: Russia could launch an offensive in the next few days, US officials said. Ukraine is running short of ammunition, per NBC News, and US officials are lobbying allies to send more in time to help counter the offensive.

'A Heroic Death': The governor in St. Petersburg announced that a Russian general whose troops have been fighting for Mariupol was buried Saturday. Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov "died a heroic death in battle," Gov. Alexander Beglov said in a statement. Frolov was the 8th Army's deputy commander, per the AP. (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Snow this morning will change to rain showers this afternoon. High 41F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain and snow showers this evening. Snow showers overnight. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 50%.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

In celebration of the holy month of Ramadan and recognition of the ongoing support and efforts made by media members, stc Bahrain hosted its annual Ramadan Media Ghabga at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Bahrain.

The event was attended by Nezar Banabeela, stc Bahrains CEO and the companys senior management along with representatives from Bahrains top media publications and social media influencers.

The annual event gathered media members to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and as a token of appreciation for the medias position in communicating stc Bahrains role in the market as a world-class digital enabler.

Nezar Banabeela, stc Bahrains CEO said: We are excited to host our media partners and friends at one of the most anticipated events of the year. The annual Media Ghabga has always gathered the local media to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan together, and we are grateful for the endless and continuous efforts that journalists put forth in their professions.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain is pursuing legal measures to ensure the rights of the six sailors who were on board a vessel seized by the Qatari coastal and border security patrols.

What happened is a violation of the principles of Gulf brotherhood and good neighbourliness, said the Ministry of Interior in a late-night statement on Thursday. Qatari actions under the pretext of breaching its territorial waters transgress all human values, customs and traditions of the Gulf, and Arab and Islamic charters, the statement said.

The Qatari intransigence and insistence on targeting Bahraini sailors and fishermen violate a more than 200-year-old tradition allowing the people of the Arab Gulf to hunt for pearls and fish without restrictions or threats as practised by our fathers and grandfathers, said the ministry.

Qatari forces took into custody two Bahraini and four Asian sailors and seized two boats on Wednesday on charges of encroaching into Qatari waters for fishing. The actions, the ministry said, also represent a clear violation of the rights of Gulf citizenship affirmed by the statute of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and the relevant Gulf agreements.

Interior Ministry said the ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is pursuing legal measures to preserve the rights of fishermen and seafarers, within the framework of ensuring the security, freedoms and safety of citizens and taking care of their interests.

This, however, is not the first time that Qatari Coast Guards have targeted Bahraini fishermen. In October last year, Qatari authorities intercepted and seized a Bahraini boat on charges of breaching territorial waters.



Two Asian nationals were on board the seized vessel. Before that in November 2020, Qatari coastguard vessels intercepted two Bahraini coastguard vessels conducting a maritime exercise. At that time, Bahrains interior ministry said it would report the incident to the Gulf Cooperation Council, which both states are members of, and that it hoped it would not happen again.
After a small bump, COVID-19 cases declined in the last week in Connecticut schools, but remain slightly higher than the past few months, figures from the state show.

While COVID-19 infections have been increasing across the state, there has not been a dramatic rise in the schools, figures show.

The state reported on Thursday that in the past week, there were 1,182 cases among students, down from 1,215 the previous week. Of those students who tested positive in the past week, 284 were not fully vaccinated, according to the data.

Among teachers and staff, there were 373 COVID cases, down from 385 the previous week, figures show. All but 17 teachers and staff were fully vaccinated.

While there was a slight week-over-week decline in cases, the number of infections overall among students and teachers and staff are trending higher than the past few months when the figures hit lows of 647 cases among students and 141 among teachers and staff in late February and early March.

Connecticuts overall COVID metrics continue to see an uptick. On Friday, the state reported a seven-day positivity rate of 6.51 percent with 3,939 new cases among 60,505 tests in the past week. Hospitalizations have also been increasing. Compared to last week, there are 44 more patients in the hospital with COVID-19 for a total of 161  still far lower than peaks seen earlier this year.

New reported deaths continue to remain relatively low despite an uptick in cases and hospitalizations. On Thursday, the state reported 14 people had died in the past seven days, one of the lowest figures in months.

Amid the uptick in cases, several state leaders have contracted COVID-19. Gov. Ned Lamont finished a five-day quarantine after testing positive last week. Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Attorney General William Tong and Treasurer Shawn Wooden all tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week.

While it is unclear where each contracted the virus, Lamont warned there is wide community spread in Connecticut.

Look, theres community spread out there. And theres community spread especially among folks that havent been infected before. I think you see that here  I think you see that all over our region now, Lamont said this week.

Despite the recent uptick, state officials remain steadfast against reinstating a broad mask mandate, opting instead to allow people to make the decisions they feel are right.

When asked about masking requirements, Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said in an interview this week that they likely wouldnt return.

The reason I say that is because, unfortunately for us, the public is in a very different place than we were two years ago, she said. When you mandate something, the reality is, then you enforce, and how would we do that? Enforcing a mask mandate, at this point, is not something our society, I think, in my assessment, is in a place to fully accept.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to impose additional inspections of trucks entering Texas from Mexico was his latest move in an unprecedented foray into border security, which has long been the federal government's domain.

The two-term governor, like many Republican Party leaders, calls illegal immigration and drug smuggling from Mexico a crisis and fully blames President Joe Biden. His latest actions follow the Biden administration's decision to end pandemic-related restrictions on claiming asylum at the border on May 23.

Here are some facts about conditions on the border and Abbott's response:

HOW MANY MIGRANTS ARE APPEARING AT THE BORDER?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped migrants 164,973 times in February, a daily average of nearly 5,900. March figures will be released soon, but CBP said it stopped migrants an average of 7,101 times a day during the week that ended March 28.

That's an unusually large number; The last week in March was on pace to establish a new monthly high in Biden's presidency and one of the busiest ever. The Border Patrol stopped migrants nearly 1.7 million times in the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30  among the highest since the agency was founded in 1924  but that number masks a critical difference.

Since March 2020, U.S. authorities have expelled migrants more than 1.7 million times under Title 42 authority, named for a 1944 public health law, using the threat of COVID-19 to deny migrants a chance to seek asylum as required under U.S. law and international treaty. Expulsions carry no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. In the 2021 budget year, more than one of four migrants at the border had been stopped multiple times, with repeat crossers stopped an average of more than three times in the previous year. Consequently, the number of migrants who crossed the border is much lower than the number of times authorities have stopped migrants.

WHAT HAS BIDEN DONE?

The Democratic president undid many measures introduced by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, who belittled asylum as a scam and said the country was full. The Biden administration reversed a rule that generally prohibited domestic and gang violence as grounds for asylum and ended bilateral agreements to send some migrants to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to seek protection there instead of in the United States.

Biden suspended the Remain in Mexico policy on his first day in office after the Trump administration forced about 70,000 asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. He was forced to reinstate the policy in December under court order but numbers have been modest. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments April 26 on whether and how Biden can end the policy.

With COVID-19 infection rates dropping, the administration announced April 1 that it will end Title 42 authority on May 23. Some Democratic members of Congress joined Republican leaders to argue the move was premature and the administration unprepared. The Homeland Security Department says it is preparing for as many as 18,000 daily crossings.

On Thursday, 18 states joined Louisiana, Arizona and Missouri in a federal lawsuit to keep Title 42 authority in place. The additional states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Texas is conspicuously absent.

WHAT IS TEXAS DOING?

Last year, Abbott launched a multibillion-dollar border security mission, deploying thousands of state troopers and National Guard members, installing new border barriers and jailing migrants on trespassing charges. Abbott, who is running for reelection in November, made it the cornerstone of his administration.

Texas, assuming a role like California's during Trump's presidency, has been a top legal adversary to changes in immigration policy. It joined Missouri in the case before the Supreme Court on ending Remain in Mexico.

After the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that Title 42 authority was ending, Abbott began inspecting commercial vehicles in addition to CBP's independent inspections, creating significant delays and backlash from his pro-business allies. He also chartered buses to Washington, D.C., for migrants who volunteered to take them.

On Friday, Abbott fully repealed the inspections after announcing agreements with neighboring Mexican governors about border security, but said he would not hesitate to reimpose them in the future. Migrants are stopped at ports of entry in only about 5% of CBP's encounters. The vast majority cross in mountains, deserts and cities between official crossings.

The dynamic with drug seizures is different, with fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and other hard narcotics being seized overwhelmingly at official crossings instead of between them. Their compact size and lack of odor make them extremely difficult to detect.

IS ANY OF THIS NEW UNDER BIDEN?

No, there have been several spikes in migration since 2014, with a broken asylum system dogging three presidents. The United States became the world's most popular destination for asylum-seekers in 2017.

Immigration experts refer to push factors that compel migrants to leave their homes and pull factors that refer to policies in destination countries that may influence decisions on where to go.

Push factors include hurricanes, violence, political repression and poverty, while pull factors include real or perceived changes in U.S. policy. One widely cited pull factor is a heavily backlogged U.S. asylum system; it takes an immigration judge four years on average to decide a claim for people who are not in custody.

Last month, the Biden administration unveiled a long-discussed and potentially significant change to expand authority of asylum officers to decide claims, not just initial screenings. It is designed to decide cases in months instead of years but officials say there are no additional funds for its launch, expected in late May, and to expect a slow start.

___

Spagat reported from San Diego.
In March 2019 I traveled to El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to witness conditions on the United States-Mexico border. Three years later, after many changes in our world, I returned to the border region, visiting a migrant shelter in San Diego, again witnessing the brokenness of the immigration system in our country. In preparing celebrate the Jewish festival of Passover, detailed in the book of Exodus, I will explain to my children (as written in Exodus 13:8) this is because of what the Eternal did for me when I went free from Egypt.

The story of Passover is the ultimate story of human migration. The ancient Israelites fled oppression and violence, seeking safety and opportunity. As a Jew, as a United States citizen, as a member of the human family, I believe in our fundamental responsibility to welcome the stranger.

My beliefs are rooted in our Scriptural tradition: the audacious hospitality of our patriarch Abraham, described in Genesis 18 is a model for my sacred work. When strangers approached, Abraham ran to greet them. The preceding verses suggest that Abraham was recovering from a major medical procedure (at the age of 99) when he rushed to greet approaching strangers and welcome them into his tent. Elsewhere in Scripture (Leviticus 19:18) we are commanded to "love your neighbor as yourself" and in Numbers 15:15 we are reminded that citizens and strangers are the same before God. Thirty-six times in the pentateuch we are commanded to support the stranger, widow and orphan. None of these commandments are dependent upon immigration status.

My beliefs are shaped by familial experience: four generations ago my family fled violence, antisemitism and scarcity in Eastern Europe hopefully seeking safety and opportunity in the United States. My experience is not unique; how many of our families came to America fleeing persecution or seeking safety and opportunities for a better life? HIAS (the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), one of nine official refugee resettlement agencies recognized by the United States government and the United Nations, has a tagline: We used to support refugees because they were Jewish; now we support refugees because we are Jewish.

My beliefs are informed by personal experience. Today I am blessed to lead and worship with congregants who fled persecution in foreign lands, arriving in the United States seeking freedom of religion, freedom from oppression. When I walk the streets and woods of Ridgefield and Danbury carrying or holding hands with our 7 and 2 year old, I think of the detained families I witnessed along our nations southern border, carrying or holding the hands of their young children behind barbed wire fences, seeking the freedom and safety I enjoy without fear. And I think of the parents I witnessed in an ICE detention center, facing civil charges, awaiting deportation hearings, unable to hold the hands of their children. When I read from Psalms I remember the bedside Bibles opened to the book of Psalms at a shelter/dormitory for unaccompanied minors in El Paso, psalms expressing a hope for a better future, and I am struck by the similarities and differences in my hopes and the hopes of someone fleeing violence and oppression.

This March, informational signs in the shelter we visited were written in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Russian, reflecting the origins of most clients. A Russian family arrived during our visit. They fled St. Petersburg, afraid of what would happen because they opposed the Russian government. Because EU countries were closed to Russian airlines they transited Tajikistan, Turkey, and Amsterdam before flying to Mexico, requesting asylum upon entering the United States. We were told that an increasing number of clients were arriving from Russia and Ukraine, seeking safety from violence and war.

I believe a person cannot be illegal. An individual may have entered the United States without permission or appropriate documentation; calling a trespasser illegal dehumanizes and denies agency, and ignores the complexity of human migration. After witnessing conditions on our border I am amazed by the simplicity and complexity of systems and processes for non-citizens, migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees to enter our country. And, as I reflect upon what I witnessed, I am reminded of my obligation to welcome the stranger. Whether we are welcoming a family fleeing the fear of war in Ukraine, the fear of political oppression in Russia, the fear of gang violence in Central America, or the fear of scarcity anywhere in the world, I believe in our responsibility to teach ourselves and our children what was done for us in generations past. Nearly all of us came to the United States of America seeking freedom and safety with a responsibility to share those opportunities.

Rabbi David Reiner lives in Ridgefield and serves Congregation Shir Shalom of Westchester and Fairfield Counties in Ridgefield. He can be contacted at RabbiReiner@OurShirShalom.org.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed conservative Republicans proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls and womens sports and a GOP proposal aimed at making it easier for parents to try to remove materials from public school classrooms and libraries.

Kelly also vetoed a measure that would tighten the state's rules for obtaining food assistance for non-disabled adults without children and another extending protections from lawsuits that health care providers received during the coronavirus pandemic.

None of the four measures cleared the Republican-controlled Legislature with the two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate necessary to override a veto. Kansas lawmakers are on their annual spring break but are scheduled to reconvene April 25 to wrap up business for the year.

While conservatives don't appear able yet to enact the proposals over Kelly's vetoes, the measure on transgender athletes and the education bill that Republicans call a proposed "parents' bill of rights are likely to be issues in Kelly's tough race for reelection this year.

Both issues have become big ones for Republicans across the U.S. ahead of this years midterm elections. In her veto messages to lawmakers, Kelly suggested that politics drove their consideration, but Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, responded by saying that the governor's actions show she is largely controlled by the hard left.

Kelly's presumed Republican opponent, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, has said he would sign the transgender athletes measure. She called the measure divisive and said it would hurt the state's ability to attract businesses.

Its harmful to students and their families, and its bad for business, Kelly said in a statement.

Fifteen states have enacted laws on transgender athletes, including Kentucky this week. Kelly vetoed a similar measure last year.

Supporters of such bans argue that theyre trying to preserve scholarship opportunities for girls and young women. They repeatedly refer to transgender women and girls as biological men, males, or boys.

Its about protecting the woman who worked and trained all her life and should not have her hard work wiped out by being forced to compete on unlevel playing fields," Masterson said.

Besides attacking proposed bans as anti-LGBTQ discrimination, critics across the U.S. have noted there have been relatively few transgender athletes. In Kansas, the state association overseeing extracurricular activities for grades 7 through 12 says it has been notified of only six or seven transgender athletes in those grades. Some lawmakers say only one is a transgender girl, but the association could not confirm that.

The measure also would apply to colleges and club and intramural sports.

Republicans across the U.S. also have seen parental control in public schools as a potent issue since Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia governor's race last year after raising it.

Some Kansas conservatives wanted to ban teaching concepts from critical race theory, the scholarly movement that focuses on the legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination in examining U.S. history and modern society. But they settled on what they call transparency as the better response.

The bill vetoed by Kelly would require local school boards to develop policies for allowing parents to review classroom and library materials and handling demands that they be removed.

"By choosing secrecy over transparency, the governor is indicating she believes parents are the enemy and that schools have a right to hide what they are teaching our children, Masterson said.

But critics said schools aren't hiding what they teach and teachers make lesson plans available to parents regularly. They suggested the measure would lead to burdensome rules that get in the way of teaching.

Kelly said having parents engaged greatly impacts children's learning but added that the measure would create more division in our schools and would be costly.

Money that should be spent in the classroom would end up being spent in the courtroom, she said.

The measure dealing with food assistance would require non-disabled adults without children to enroll in job training to receive assistance if they're not working 30 hours a week. Republicans argue that it would move people receiving assistance into the workforce and make them self-sufficient.

Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, suggested that Kelly's action shows why employers' struggles to fill jobs has become a crisis.

Critics said some poor adults who are working part time would be forced to quit to do the job training, and they suggested the result of such a policy will be to simply deny people assistance. Kelly said the bill would harm 30,000 poor, hard-working Kansans.

As for the bill shielding health care providers from COVID-19-related lawsuits into January 2023, Kelly said lawmakers made it too broad. She pledged to work with them on a new version.

But House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican, said Kelly kowtowed to trial lawyers who generally support Democrats.

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
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SOUTHBURY  The westbound lanes of Interstate 84 reopened after a one-car crash shut the highway down and sent one person to the hospital Saturday morning, police said.

Just before 5:30 a.m. Saturday, a State Police trooper came upon a vehicle on the shoulder of I-84 westbound, near Exit 14, in Southbury. An investigation revealed the vehicle had veered into the right shoulder and collided with the metal guard rail twice before coming to a stop.
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Local towns plan to support infrastructure, small businesses, public safety and other needs with the infusion of $2.55 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds going toward Connecticut municipalities.

Towns and schools in the Danbury area received millions from the American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress over a year ago to help the country recover from the economic effects of COVID-19.

The money may be used toward COVID-related expenses  like the about $344,000 Ridgefield used to purchase COVID test kits. But towns may also use the money to support nonprofits and government services affected by the pandemic, as well as invest in water, sewer or broadcast infrastructure.

Several local towns are committing the money toward various projects in phases, seeking public feedback and approval along the way. Towns have until 2024 to allocate the money and 2026 to spend it, so other projects could be proposed in the future.

Meanwhile, Danbury City Council voted on Wednesday to recommend approving the mayors plan to divvy up the $32 million in federal COVID relief for various projects and to offset revenue losses.

Towns were scheduled to receive the first tranche of money from the American Rescue Plan Act, known as ARPA, last year and a second tranche this year.

Here are some of the ways municipalities in the Danbury area plan to spend the money:

Small businesses

Bethel and Brookfield set up financial assistance grants to support small businesses in their towns.

After approving $200,000 for the program last month, Brookfield launched its grant application in April for small businesses negatively affected by COVID. Applications are due at 2 p.m. May 6. Eligible businesses may apply for grants up to $5,000.

Businesses may use the money toward costs such as payroll, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, costs associated with compliance with health measures and the construction of an outdoor dining area.

The business must be able to demonstrate satisfactorily that it has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that funding will enable the business to continue to operate, the town said in an announcement. The business must have a clear and specific use for the grant money and the grant money can only be used toward future expenditures.

In Bethel, the town allocated $350,000 to be split up between up to 70 small businesses that employ 25 or fewer people. The town granted over $127,000 to 34 Bethel businesses in its first round of grants last year.

Public safety

More Information How much are local towns set to receive in COVID relief? Bethel: $5.86 million Brookfield: $5.02 million Danbury: $32.1 million New Fairfield: $4.12 million New Milford: $7.93 million Newtown: $7.77 million Redding: $2.7 million Ridgefield: $7.39 million *According to figures from the state See More Collapse

Danburys ambulance service suffered some of the largest negative economic effects of the pandemic because the number of transports and associated revenues fell. The city wants to contribute $5 million over six years to stabilize the ambulance fund, which lost about $500,000 in 2019-20 and $600,000 in 2020-21, according to the citys finance director. Losses of $1.1 million are estimated for this fiscal year.

Public safety is among the main ways New Fairfield could use its funding. The town plans to use about $22,000 to purchase 12 portable radios for the police. The town also wants to replace the police departments 12-year-old communications console and complete security improvements to the exterior of the police station.

Ridgefield has proposed $300,000 to purchase a truck for the Ridgefield Fire Department. In Redding, funding could go toward a water pump system to support Redding Fire District. No. 1 and Redding Elementary School, which does not have a sprinkler system. The $163,000 cost for body-warn cameras and evidence software for the police department could also be paid for through ARPA.

Brookfield approved $117,000 to be split among members of the towns volunteer fire department, as well as $39,000 to hire a consultant to help overhaul the emergency communications system.

Revenue losses

Almost a third of Danburys federal relief could go toward offsetting the town revenue lost due to COVID. The city estimates that it lost about $12.1 million in revenue due to the pandemic, basing this number off of historical revenues.

Separately, Danbury wants to put $2.5 million toward losses to the grand list from the reduction to commercial property values.

Similarly, Ridgefield allocated $1.5 million to replace revenue the town missed out on due to COVID. This should help to reduce a tax rate increase, officials have said.

Infrastructure

Danburys mayor aims to put $8 million toward capital improvements that could include various upgrades to infrastructure.

One major way Ridgefield will use its funding is toward its Route 7 sewer project. Voters already approved putting $2.9 million in ARPA money toward the cost to construct a new force-main sewer line connecting the District II plant on Route 7 to the upgraded District I plant on South Street.

In Newtown, the American Rescue Plan Working Group has considered $1.5 million to replace the water distribution system at Fairfield Hills, according to meeting minutes. The Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity has asked for $600,000 to connect sidewalks in Sandy Hook Center.

New Milford has approved $600,000 to repair a bridge on Cherniske Road that has become a major controversy in town. Droves of residents have called for the road to remain one lane, although the town is considering widening the bridge to two lanes to receive a state grant for 50 percent of the cost.

Another $126,000 is set to go toward the temporary repair of New Milfords Harrybrooke Park Bridge, which is in danger of collapse.

voted this past week to recommend $200,000 for transfer station improvements, $100,000 to upgrade the municipal building,

Boosting social services, nonprofits, community programs

Officials have said the pandemic exacerbated challenges such as mental health and financial security for many residents, so towns plan to bolster social services, nonprofits and other community programs.

Danburys authorities, such as Tarrywile Park, the parking authority, and the Danbury Museum and Historical Society, could get $1 million. Those groups lost event fees, donations and activity-based revenues, the city said.

The Housing Collective, a nonprofit, would receive $238,500 for a rental assistance program in Danbury, while United Way of Western Connecticut would get $200,000 to help needy families.

Danburys mayor also wants to provide $250,000 toward public safety wellness programs, $220,000 toward a summer youth camp program and $100,000 toward public safety training programs.

In Ridgefield, the amount of money that would go toward nonprofits is yet to be determined. But the Ridgefield Arts Council and Economic & Community Development Commission requested $740,000 be split between 24 nonprofits.

Brookfield plans to put $200,000 toward the towns behavioral health and case management. The town also wants to give $25,500 to its library and around $20,400 to a theater program.

Redding hopes to expand the hours for its senior center coordinator, as well as establish a $50,000 fund to be administered by the towns social services director directly to community members who in financial distress as a result of the pandemic.

Reporting from Trevor Ballantyne, Sandra Diamond Fox, Alyssa Seidman and Kendra Baker contributed to this story.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  A special election will be held in November to fill a state Senate seat left vacant by the resignation of Karen Carter Peterson, officials said.

Qualifying will be July 20-22, with the primary election to coincide with congressional elections on Nov. 8 and the runoff, if needed, will be held on Dec. 10, Senate President Page Cortez said.

Cortez said he chose that schedule because it gives candidates enough time to decide whether to qualify, and it ensures a good turnout by having the race on the congressional ballot, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported. Three Democratic state representatives whose House districts overlap with Petersons Senate District 5 are considering the race. They are: Royce Duplessis, Mandie Landry and Aimee Adatto Freeman, the newspaper reported.

Other potential candidates include Jay Banks, a political ally of Peterson who lost his re-election to the New Orleans City Council last year, and Carling Dinkler, a lobbyist for Carvana, which sells used cars online. Dinkler finished third, just behind Landry, in the 2019 House race.

The New Orleans-based district includes Central City, the Central Business District, Broadmoor, Uptown, Hollygrove and a tiny slice of Metairie.

In the fall of 2023, the winner will have to run for re-election in new boundaries approved during the redistricting session in February. Under the new map, the district will extend across the Mississippi River to include Marrero and gain a sizable majority of Black voters.

Peterson, first elected to the Louisiana Legislature in 1999, resigned April 8 after 12 years in the Senate to address a nearly 30-year struggle with depression and gambling addiction. The newspaper reported the next day that she is under federal investigation and is fully cooperating with federal authorities, according to her lawyer.
EVERETT, Wash. (AP)  Employees at Verizon stores north of Seattle in Everett and Lynnwood won their union election on Friday, making them the first unionized Verizon stores in the country outside of New York.

The near-unanimous victory represents the latest in a growing labor movement across the country that includes the unionization of Starbucks stores and the first Amazon warehouse union.

A group of workers and supporters watched the vote count streamed on Zoom by the National Labor Relations Board on Friday, in the parking lot by the Everett Verizon store, the Daily Herald reported.

The victory earns workers the right to bargain with Verizon over pay and working conditions. Austin Hitch, a Verizon employee and organizer in the union campaign, said employees want cost-of-living raises and more control of their schedules.

We really want to codify what we already have  we have pretty good benefits and 401Ks, but Verizon has been systematically taking things away from us, and we want to put a stop to that, he said.

Workers voted to be represented by the Communications Workers of America, which has more than 700,000 members nationwide.

Verizon did not respond to messages from the newspaper seeking comment.

Verizon stated it respects our employees rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining  including the right to join or not join labor unions in a February filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Steve Yu, a sales representative at the two Verizon stores, came out to celebrate with coworkers and supporters during his break Friday. Yu has been with the company for 22 years and voted for a union. His biggest frustration has been changes Verizon made to employees commission pay.

We dont want any more taken away from us, and we dont want any more taken away from future employees," Yu said.
The Kashmir Freedom Fighters have claimed the responsibility of killing Manzoor Ahmad Bangroo, an independent sarpanch in North Kashmirs Baramulla on Friday evening. In a statement issued by the terrorist group, the terrorist said that their cadre carried out an operation in Goushbugh Pattan area of Baramullah and a BJP Sarpanch was sho dead. Claiming that they did not target innocent, the organisation added that they only targetted the ones who have sold the blood of our beloved martyrs for some pennies.

However, Kashmir Zone police has clarified that the sarpanch was an independent sarpanch. Meanwhile, a senior police officer told a Kashmir daily that Manzoor was missing since 5:30 pm. His family called him but his phone was switched off. Later, his body was found near iftar time and his body was found in an orchard. After the attack, police said that the area was cordoned off and a search was on to track the involved terrorists.

Since past one month, five panchyat members have been targetted by terrorists in Kashmir. As per Jammu & Kashmir Panchayat conference, 26 panchayat members have been killed by militants in Kashmir since 2014.

Jammu and Kashmirs Lieutenant Govenor Manoj Sinha has condemned the terror attack and said that perpetrators of this despicable act must be published. He further extended his deepest condolences to the bereaved family in this hour of grief.
Sending out an indirect message to US, Rajnath Singh stressed that New Delhi does not believe in a diplomacy of zero-sum game and its relationship with one country cannot be at the expense of the other.

In a strong message to China, Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who is attending the India US 2+2 dialogue, said that if harmed, India will not spare anyone. Lauding the valour of Indian soldiers at the border, he said that he cannot openly say what the Indian soldiers did and what decisions his government took but he can definitely say that a message has gone to China that India will not spare anyone if it is harmed.

Sending out an indirect message to US, Rajnath Singh stressed that New Delhi does not believe in a diplomacy of zero sum game and its relationship with one country cannot be at the expense of the other.

Pointing out that India believes in having a bilateral relationship based on a win-win situation, Singh said that the image of India has changed and its prestige has improved. He highlighted that no power in the world can stop India from becoming the worlds top three economies in the next few years.

He added that if any country in the world wants to develop and prosper, they should think about establishing a vibrant trade with India, adding that globally, people have realised that India is no longer a weak country. Today India has the potential to lead the world. This potential of India is something that the world has now realised, he asserted.
World War III has already started after the sinking of naval vessel Moskva in the Ukraine war, declared Russian state television on Friday. While Russia played down the incident by stating that Moskva was was damaged after a fire, Ukraine has claimed the credit of destroying the flagship vessel of Moscows Black sea fleet through its Neptune missile.

However, the sinking of the ship has led to political meltdown. After the incident, Russian presenter Olga Skabeyeva made the chilling statement that What its escalated into can safely be called World War III and insisted thats entirely for sure.

On the sidelines of the Black sea incident, Russia formally protested the US ongoing shipment of weapons to Ukraine this week. It sent a diplomatic note to the state department warning of unpredictable consequences should the support continue. The note, known as a demarche, was sent earlier this week as the US was preparing to announce that it would be sending an additional $800 million military aid package to Ukraine.

As the war completes 50 days, a Veteran journalist and geopolitical expert Fareed Zakaria said Russias invasion of Ukraine is a much bigger event than the 9/11 terror attack. Calling Russias invasion the most significant international event in the post-cold war era, Fareed Zakaria said, Just as the fall of the Berlin wall ushered in a new world order, the Russian invasion of Ukraine will have those seismic and systematic implications.
NEW HAVEN  The program to send civilian responders to calls when there isnt the need for a police officer is moving ahead with a new name and $2 million in federal money.

Elm City COMPASS, originally known as the citys crisis intervention team, is jelling with community partners including Continuum of Care, the Consultation Center at Yale, Connecticut Mental Health Center and the citys Department of Community Resilience.

Its an effort two years in the making with a pilot program launching within the next few months.

The reason this is important is police officers are asked to do more and more that is outside the historical scope of work of a police officer, Mayor Justin Elicker said. Theyre asked to be a social worker. Theyre asked to be an individual that has mental health expertise, expertise in substance abuse.

Responding to homelessness, calling on people others are concerned about, known as welfare checks, directing someone who has arrived by bus from another city and has nowhere to go are other tasks police take on that dont require law enforcement and someone with a gun.

The goal is to start it this summer, Elicker said. Im the first to admit its more complicated than I ever imagined. We want to be deliberate and take our time.

This is something that the community was clamoring for, said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, who included the $2 million community project in the federal omnibus spending bill passed in March. DeLauro brought back such projects, commonly known as earmarks, after 12 years in her role as chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Two million people who have a serious mental illness are booked into prisons every year and they may need treatment, she said. Theres no need to be arrested and incarcerated.

Part of the planning was a lengthy community-engagement process, Elicker said. People with lived experience could share their thoughts on how this program could be crafted to ensure its success.

A major concern was to make sure the civilian teams would not be put in harms way, Elicker said. Theres a lot of thought that has gone into how we can keep everyone safe and accomplish our goals, he said. We struggled to find the right subcontractor and weve landed on Continuum of Care, which we think is going to be excellent.

If someone calls 911, the 911 call takers will have a very clear procedure as to what questions to ask to understand the situation and who and how to dispatch, Elicker said. It may be the COMPASS team goes in because the assessment team evaluates theres no risk to them.

Im really enthusiastic about this program and the ability well have to respond to situations, he said. It will allow us to be much more successful in addressing some of the challenges facing the community.

I think the motivation behind this idea started on the heels of the killing of George Floyd, when we had a fairly substantial call to municipal governments across the country, said Dr. Mehul Dalal, the citys community services administrator.

He said that, especially after Floyds murder on May 25, 2020, which was followed by major protests in New Haven and across the country, officials felt compelled to take a close look on how we do policing and what impacts that may have and whether there are alternatives for folks.

Dalal said the 911 dispatchers receive about 50 calls a day and 10 percent to 20 percent do not require police or fire response. They include calls about people with mental health or substance abuse issues, homelessness or welfare calls, for example if a family member hasnt heard from an elderly person for several days.

Dalal gave an example of someone sleeping in front of a business. A police officer can do little more than tell the person to move on, he said, whereas if someone from a crisis team would come, they would have that ability to engage a person and connect them to services and really try to set them on the right path.

Elm City COMPASS stands for Compassionate Allies Serving Our Streets, and the name was conceived to avoid the stigma of the word crisis, according to Carlos Sosa-Lombardo, acting director of the city Department of Community Resilience.

In the field well have a licensed master social worker and a peer recovery specialist who is a person with lived experience, Sosa-Lombardo said. They will be supervised by a licensed clinical social worker. The peer recovery specialist will be certified by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

The two-person teams will connections with social services in the community, so they can give a warm handoff to give people the appropriate help, Dalal said. We really want that tight network of referrals to be part of this program, and thats what were working intentionally, he said. There may be times when the COMPASS team accompanies police to a call, or they may be called in once any risk has been removed.

While the team will not be sent to drug overdose calls, Sosa-Lombardo said, we are developing an overdose response team that will complement the work of the crisis response team. And well be able to connect with people who overdose within 48 hours after American Medical Response has been called in.

The main goal is to make sure that the right person with the right training is addressing whatever reason that someone called in, Dalal said. So we will learn through the pilot what those scenarios are in quite a bit of detail

Police Interim Chief Renee Dominguez said COMPASS will help bring the right professional to a situation. Our officers are aware of the homeless individuals in their neighborhood, and rather than putting a Band-Aid on something when there is a root issue that needs to be addressed, police can turn to the civilian professionals, she said.

If there were some more options for an individual, whether its mental health, whether its jobs  it would allow the officer to deal with some of these issues that they do take home with them in a better way.

Dominguez said police will accompany the COMPASS teams when theres a threat of violence. Dispatch only has the information from the caller, so it may seem like A when its actually B, she said. What it looks like at the start is going to look very different in five years because weve worked out the kinks.

In addition to having professionals address issues they are trained to handle, it will reduce police calls for service and allow the police to do things the community has enjoyed in the past, such as enforcement of crosswalk and speed laws, Dominguez said.

Jacob Jack Tebes, director of the Consultation Center, will serve as project director, including evaluating the program with the Connecticut Mental Health Center. Continuum of Care will provide the teams. Carlos-Lombardo said Tebes and his staff will also ensure connections with DMHAS and the Police Department.

Its very unique for these type of services to have such a rigorous evaluation, Carlos-Lombardo said. But we want to make sure that we hold our contractors accountable to ensure the highest quality of services for residents. A community advisory board also is being formed, with applications accepted until Dec. 31.

Tebes said he sees his role as project director as leading a collaboration with many partners, including community members, community service providers and agencies and the city.

I recognize that in every community theres very talented people who have more to offer their community, he said.

Tebes said 14 focus groups and three community forums helped shape how the teams respond and how to offer follow-up services. A team response, which is critical, is not enough, he said. After you receive COMPASS services, theres going to be services available, so people get the care they need.  Those services need to be integrated and coordinated because many in the public dont know what services are available.

Tebes said he expects the faith community, schools and child-care settings to be involved and issues like language barriers and stigma will be addressed, so that when someone gets our service through COMPASS they dont drop through the cracks.

Patti Walker, president and CEO of Continuum of Care, said the agency has a peer support program where we train individuals with life experience to work in the field professionally.

The goal of this program is to treat everybody when we go out on a call with dignity and respect and that will almost always give you a positive result, she said.

Continuum has been a fixture in the city of New Haven for 55 years, Walker said. Weve been running crisis programs in New Haven and Bridgeport for 31 years. People can stay at Continuum for two to 14 days to pull together all the case-management needs that they have.

People need a place to put their head, to think, Walker said. She said she expects COMPASS will expand the services and need for case management. We expect that what will clearly happen as a result of this COMPASS program is that there are other needs to be addressed, she said.

People are more likely to reach out for help if they know the people who are going to meet with them are not going to arrest them, Walker said. The police do a wonderful job working with our folks when we call, but they dont need to come out on every call.

One of the ways New Haven has developed Elm City COMPASS has been by consulting with other cities. Eugene, Ore., has been operating a similar program, Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets, or CAHOOTS, for more than 30 years. Unlike Elm City COMPASS, however, its run through Eugenes Police Department.

It kind of started off small and its grown and kind of blossomed over the years, said Lt. Ron Tinseth. Five to 8 percent of our police and fire calls are diverted to the program.

Each van is staffed with a nurse or emergency medical technician and an experienced crisis worker. The most important things, when youre setting up a program like this is, one, do you want to do it in-house [or] do you want to do it with a nonprofit public health agency.

Eugene, like New Haven, contracted with an agency, the White Bird Clinic, which was founded in 1969 by a group of medics, activists and social workers who didnt trust police  people a newspaper article tagged as hippies. Now theyre in cahoots with the police, Tinseth said.

If theres any question whether a call is appropriate, the dispatchers have a good relationship with the CAHOOTS crews and theyll call and say, how do you feel about this? Tinseth said. They might be very familiar with the person and be comfortable or uncomfortable and say, yes, well need police on this.

CAHOOTS is a gateway to services in our community that the police and fire are not, such as housing, substance abuse and public health, Tinseth said. The teams might also follow up with a burglary victim after the initial call.

In Denver, STAR  Support Team Assisted Response  began its pilot program in June 2020, just as COVID-19 was rising. They added three units in fall 2021 and were working our way up to six as we hire staff and get them onboarded, said Carleigh Sailon, STARs operations manager.

Each team consists of a mental health clinician, with a masters degree or higher, and a paramedic or EMT. Among the calls are those including trespassing, welfare checks, low-level behavioral health issues, intoxication, referrals to food banks and housing.

Having a paramedic or EMT as part of the team has been very helpful. They can do that assessment and triage from the medical side, and we arent funneling folks to the Emergency Department, Sailon said. They can also do wound care and medical consultations, she said.

STAR had responded to 3,678 calls as of Thursday, Sailon said, and we have not had to call for police backup on any of those calls.

Like other agencies, however, STAR has faced challenges. Currently, were having difficulty with the supply chain getting our permanent vans, Sailon said.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a massive civilian parade in the capital, Pyongyang, celebrating a milestone birth anniversary of his state-founding grandfather in which thousands marched in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family, state media said Saturday.

The reports didnt mention any speech or comments made by Kim during Fridays event and it appeared the country passed its biggest holiday without showcasing its military hardware, amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

Commercial satellite images in recent weeks have indicated preparations for a large military parade in Pyongyang, which could take place on the April 25 founding anniversary of North Koreas army and display the most advanced weapons in Kims nuclear arsenal, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Theres also expectation that Pyongyang will further escalate its weapons testing in the coming weeks or months, possibly including a resumption of nuclear explosive tests or test-flying missiles over Japan, as it attempts to force a response from the Biden administration while it's preoccupied with Russias invasion of Ukraine and a rivalry with China.

State media images showed Kim waving from a balcony looking over Kim Il Sung Square, which is named after his grandfather, as huge columns of people carrying red plastic flowers and floats with political slogans marched below.

Ri Il Hwan, a member of the ruling Workers Party Politburo, issued a call for loyalty, saying in a speech that North Koreans will always emerge victorious under Kims guidance. It appeared Kim didnt deliver a speech and state media didnt mention any comments regarding the United States or rival South Korea.

The parade came hours before thousands of young people performed a mass dance in the square as fireworks launched from a nearby riverbank lit up the night sky.

Kim Il Sungs birthday is the most important national holiday in North Korea, where the Kim family has ruled under a strong personality cult since the nations founding in 1948. This weeks celebrations marking the 110th anniversary of his birth came as his grandson revives nuclear brinkmanship aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and remove crippling economic sanctions.

North Korea has opened 2022 with a slew of weapons tests, including its first flight test of an ICBM since 2017. South Koreas military has also detected signs that North Korea is rebuilding tunnels at a nuclear testing ground it partially dismantled weeks before Kims first summit with then-U.S. President Donald Trump in June 2018.

Kim Jong Uns defiant displays of his military might are also likely motivated by domestic politics, experts say, as he doesnt otherwise have significant accomplishments to trumpet to his people after a decade in power.

His stated goals of simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and bringing economic prosperity to his impoverished populace derailed after the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Koreas demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a limited surrender of its nuclear capabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed further shock on his broken economy, forcing him to acknowledge last year that the North was facing its worst-ever situation.

Sung Kim, the top U.S. official on North Korea, is scheduled to visit South Korea next week for talks on the international communitys response to the Norths recent missile tests.

North Korea has recently resumed its trademark harsh rhetoric against its rivals. One of its international affairs commentators labeled U.S. President Joe Biden as an old man in senility, while Kims powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, called South Koreas defense minister a scum-like guy and threatened to annihilate South Korea with nuclear strikes.

Kim Jong Uns stated goal of deploying tactical nuclear weapons, Kim Yo Jongs recent threats toward Seoul and satellite imagery of tunneling activity at Punggye-ri all point to an upcoming nuclear test," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Additional missile launches are also expected for honing weapons delivery systems."
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Biden administration has given the green light for Nigeria to buy advanced attack helicopters worth nearly $1 billion despite concerns about the countrys human rights record as it battles threats from criminal gangs and extremists in the north.

The State Department on Thursday announced the approval of the $997 million sale of 24 Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters and related equipment to Nigeria. The related equipment includes guidance, night vision and targeting systems as well as engines and training support, the department said in a notice to Congress.

The sale went ahead after a November visit to Abuja by Secretary of State Antony Blinken during which he raised concerns about Nigerias rights record. At the time, though, Blinken also made clear that the United States regards Nigeria as a partner in combating terrorism and Islamic extremism in West Africa and the Sahel, a region along the Sahara Desert stretching across North Africa, and is looking to increase cooperation with it in those areas.

This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a strategic partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, the department told Congress.

The deal will also "better equip Nigeria to contribute to shared security objectives, promote regional stability and build interoperability with the U.S. and other Western partners and will be a major contribution to U.S. and Nigerian security goals," the notice said.

Nigerias security forces have long been accused of human rights violations in their operations, with personnel involved often escaping justice.

In October 2020, the army opened fire at a demonstration in the countrys economic hub where hundreds were protesting against police brutality, killing 11 people and injuring many others, according to a government-backed panel.

During Blinken's visit on November, he said the U.S. was looking forward to seeing the full results of the investigation and would make a decision on arms sales to Nigeria based in part on the findings and whether those responsible were held accountable.

Nigeria is also facing a growing threat from armed gangs and extremist rebels who are now working together in the country's troubled northwest and threaten to further destabilize an already volatile region.

Nigeria, Africas most populous country with 206 million people, has been battling violence in the north and an alliance between the two groups could worsen the crisis, analysts believe.
Washington DC, US (PANA) - The US is to sell military equipment worth US$997 million to Nigeria, which has been battling jihadists in the north as well as the Sahel, following the approval of the US State Department, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency has reported
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a man who jumped overboard from a cruise ship early Saturday as it approached Florida.

The man jumped from the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Mardi Gras just after midnight about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of Port Canaveral, according to the Coast Guard and Carnival.
TORRINGTON  The Warner Stage Company will hold auditions for a Summer Main Stage Musical Production of Roald Dahls Matilda. Visit warnertheatre.org to learn more about the auditions and the stage company, including a list of available roles.

Auditions will be held for ages 8-17 May 8, for ages 18 and older May 9-10, by appointment.

The production is directed by Richard McKenna with Jim Luurtsema as music director and Caitlin Beaudry as choreographer. It will be presented on the Warner Theatre Main Stage, July 30-Aug. 14 for eight performances.

Auditions are open to the community and no roles have been cast in advance. Some parts may be cast with actors of any ethnicity and gender neutral. The stage compani is also seeking male and female children, teens and young adults who can play ages 13-19 for the dance ensemble.

All actors are required to be at least 8 years old at the time of auditions. Additionally, roles may be cast without callbacks.

All who are auditioning can schedule an audition time online at www.warnertheatre.org, and read all audition requirements and complete the online audition form.

Song/Monologue preparation: Select, prepare and perform 1 minute (16 measures) of any song in the style of the show or any song from the show. Be prepared to act it as well. An accompanist will be provided

Select, prepare and perform the appropriate monologue from the resource list on the website using a British accent. If you are auditioning for more than two roles, prepare the monologues for each role (no more than two).

The company would prefer auditioners to perform without sheet music or the monologue in your hand; rather, memorize and tell a story.

Dance preparation: All auditioners will learn a short dance combination. Not all roles require strong dancers. Wear appropriate clothing for dance/movement that allows the company to see your movement.

The stage company will accept video auditions for ages 8-17 until May 8 and for performers 18 and older until May 10. Perform a song in the style of the show, and upload a recorded audition to Vimeo or YouTube and provide the link on the online registration form, with any required passwords.

Callbacks will be held at 7 p.m. May 12, if needed.

The Warner Stage Company is a regional community theatre company and does not offer compensation or housing for performers.

Based on the Roald Dahl childrens book of the same name, this Tony-winning musical is a heartfelt and heartwarming story of empowerment. Precocious Matilda faces a bleak childhood, saddled with shallow and unappreciative parents along with the wickedly cruel Headmistress of her school. But with the help of invention and spirit, and a friendly librarian, Matilda uses the magic of books, words, and ideas to save herself and her friends.
Rivers State Governor and 2023 presidential aspirant, Mr Nyesom Wike, has said he would remain in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), even i...





Rivers State Governor and 2023 presidential aspirant, Mr Nyesom Wike, has said he would remain in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), even if he does not win the presidential ticket.





Wike said this while addressing stakeholders of the Niger State chapter of the PDP at the party secretariat in Minna on Saturday,





The Governor said there was nothing wrong with a consensus candidate if it is based on equity, justice and fairness.





While soliciting the stakeholders support he said he is the only candidate who is capable of defeating the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election.





I am here today to tell you that I have made myself available to run for the seat of the president of this country under our party, PDP, I have been a member of the PDP since 1988, I have never left the party and I will never leave.





I can become the president if I get the mandate of delegates to make me the flag bearer. The country needs someone will who sees white and call it white and black and call it black and that person is me, he said.





He promised to address the security challenges in the country, alleging that the present administration had not adequately protected lives and property.
Relatives of passengers abducted during an attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train have warned the federal government against resuming operations ...

Relatives of passengers abducted during an attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train have warned the federal government against resuming operations along that route until their loved ones have been rescued.

On March 28, a Kaduna-bound train was attacked by gunmen. Eight people were killed, over 20 injured and a number of others were abducted.

The families of the abducted train passengers had, on Monday, given the federal government a 72-hour ultimatum to rescue the captives.

As of Friday, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had begun repairing the track ahead of resumption of operations along the Abuja-Kaduna route.

Speaking at a media briefing in Kaduna on Friday, Abdulfatai Jimoh, on behalf of the families, said the authorities should not be speaking about resuming train services until their loved ones have been rescued.

It is true that we gave the federal government a 72-hour ultimatum which expired yesterday midnight, Jimoh said.

We are grateful to God that before the expiration of the 72 hours, we heard from the federal government after the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday, through the minister of information, that the government is already on top of the situation with what has happened.

We acknowledge it and we appreciate it. But what we want to add is that the government should speed up the process of discussion with them (kidnappers) so that they can come out to release our people soonest. This is our appeal now.

The NRC should not be talking about reopening their services now when our people are in captivity, because what is the assurance that if they start services now, the people that will board the train are safe?

What measures have they put in place to guarantee the security of those that are going to patronise their services? We dont want a recurrence.

The first thing should be to get the captives out and then, they can put adequate measures in place and resume services so that this does not happen again in future.

We want to believe that they will not do it [resume rail operations], because if they do, we will not take it lightly with them. We believe they will not because they know what is at stake.
President Muhammadu Buhari says he does his best to avoid interacting with judges in order to avoid the assumption that he interferes with...

President Muhammadu Buhari says he does his best to avoid interacting with judges in order to avoid the assumption that he interferes with judiciary matters.

The president spoke at an iftar he organised for the leadership of the judiciary on Thursday evening.

According to a statement by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, Buhari also reassured the judges that the executive arm of the government will continue to respect the judiciary within the boundaries laid out in the constitution in order to strengthen the countrys democracy.

I assure you that I have tremendous respect for the judiciary. Order and discipline can only be established when the law applies to all, irrespective of position or status, who you are or who you like and without fear or favour, he was quoted as saying.

I try to keep my distance from you to avoid the perception of interference.

According to the statement, Ibrahim Muhammad, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), said Buhari has never asked a favour from the judiciary.

In all your years in office, at no time, no moment did Mr. President or any other person from you attempt to talk or ask for favours from the courts, he was quoted as saying.

We can recall no such attempt by you or anyone on your side to interfere with judicial decisions.

This is a mark of your maturity and sagacity. I am convinced that as you do with the judiciary, so is the case with ministries and other agencies of government.

With leaders like you who do not interfere with judicial decisions, the country can rest assured that all is well.
The Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has announced the postponement of toll collection at the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge. In a statement ...

The Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has announced the postponement of toll collection at the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge.

In a statement on Friday by Yomi Omomuwasan, managing director of LCC, the company said a new date would be announced soon.

The company had suspended operations at the tollgate after the shooting incident during the #EndSARS protest in October 2020.

Toll collection was due to resume on April 17, following the reopening of the toll plaza on April 1  despite controversy over the resumption of tolling operations.

However, LCC said the decision to suspend tolling was taken to give residents more time to register for electronic toll devices.

As a responsible organisation, we must take full cognizance of everyone within the axis. Therefore, we want to continue with the ongoing engagements with our stakeholders, the LCC MD said.

The preparatory operations to resume tolling on the Bridge have been smooth so far, and we are grateful to all the key stakeholders for their cooperation.

The planned commencement of toll collection has now been postponed, allowing more of our customers to register for the electronic toll devices to enable seamless passages at the toll plaza.

More to follow
Police in Kano State have arrested 33-year-old Agbo Victor, a notorious drug dealer, with 250 parcels of Indian hemp. Spokesman of the comma...





Police in Kano State have arrested 33-year-old Agbo Victor, a notorious drug dealer, with 250 parcels of Indian hemp.





Spokesman of the command, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa confirmed the arrest in a statement issued to DAILY POST.





He said the suspect, who is from Edo State, was arrested along Kwanar Dangora in Kiru Local Government Area, Kaduna-Kano border, with over 250 parcels of marijuana.





According to him A Highway Patrol team in Kano State, while on surveillance patrol along Kwanar Dangora, Kiru LGA, Kaduna-Kano border, intercepted the suspect driving a dark green Honda Hennessy Motor Vehicle containing Two Hundred and Fifty (250) parcels of Dried Leaves suspected to be Indian Hemp, valued One Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N1,750,000:00) packed inside the Motor Vehicle boot





Kiyawa said on investigation, the suspect confessed that he transported the Indian Hemp from Edo State en-route Kano State, with the intent to deliver it to one Alhaji.





He said the expected receiver of the Indian hemp had taken to his heels after realizing that the suspect was arrested.





The State Commissioner of Police, however, directed that the case be transferred to the Commands Criminal Investigation Department, Narcotics Section for discreet investigation.





He said the suspect will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.
Moscow on Saturday announced it was banning entry to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other top UK officials, after London imposed...

Moscow on Saturday announced it was banning entry to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other top UK officials, after London imposed sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

This step was taken as a response to Londons unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry accused London of unprecedented hostile actions, in particular referring to sanctions on Russias senior officials.

The British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation surrounding Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the behalf of NATO, the ministry said.

Russias entry blacklist includes UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, former Prime Minister Theresa May and the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon.

Britain has been part of an international effort to punish Russia with asset freezes, travel bans and economic sanctions, since President Vladimir Putin moved troops into Ukraine on February 24.

AFP
Twitter says it has adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, known as a poison pill. In a statement on Friday, the comp...

Twitter says it has adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, known as a poison pill.

In a statement on Friday, the company said its board of directors voted unanimously to adopt the strategy.

The poison pill is often used to intercept hostile corporate bids by diluting the stake of the entity eyeing the takeover.

The development comes a day after Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla Inc., offered to buy the company for $43 billion.

Under the new structure, if any person or group acquires beneficial ownership of at least 15 per cent of Twitters outstanding common stock without the boards approval, other shareholders will be allowed to purchase additional shares at a discount.

The plan is set to expire on April 14, 2023.

The Board adopted the Rights Plan following an unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire Twitter, the statement reads.

The Rights Plan is intended to enable all shareholders to realize the full value of their investment in Twitter.

The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium or without providing the Board sufficient time to make informed judgments and take actions that are in the best interests of shareholders.

Twitter added that the rights plan would not prevent the board from accepting an acquisition offer if the board deems it in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.

Commenting on the development, Dan Ives, Wedbush analyst, said the poison pill is a predictable defensive measure for the board, although it will not likely be viewed positively by shareholders given the potential dilution and acquisition unfriendly move.

Musk had announced a 9.2 per cent stake in the company earlier this month, making him the largest shareholder.

But he has been bumped out of the top spot by Vanguard Group.

Musk had said he has a Plan B if his offer is rejected.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said there is a need for frank discussions among Nigerians on issues that cause division. Osinbajo beli...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said there is a need for frank discussions among Nigerians on issues that cause division.

Osinbajo believes this would find lasting solutions and also chart the way forward towards building a better and more united nation.

The VP spoke on Thursday during the public presentation of Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyis memoir in Lagos.

On the significance of the book and the lessons, Osinbajo noted that citizens need to talk more to ourselves not at ourselves.

We need frank discussions on the issues that divide us, we need openness about our fears and prejudices. Perhaps, that way we may gain each others confidence, he said.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) described Ogunbiyi, who clocked 75, as a brilliant university teacher, newspaper executive, debonair, connoisseur of wine and collector of fine art.

In attendance were Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Ogun and Ekiti Governors, Dapo Abiodun and Kayode Fayemi, ex-Ogun and Osun Governors, Segun Osoba and Rauf Aregbesola.

Others were former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Prof. Femi Osofisan, who reviewed the book.
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
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map published April 14 shows which New York state counties are at low (green), medium (yellow) or high (orange) community levels of COVID-19. Masks are only recommended indoors in areas with high levels of COVID-19. CDC map
West bears partial responsibility for Russia-Ukraine conflict: former French politicians

Xinhua) 10:21, April 16, 2022

PARIS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The West bears some responsibility for the ongoing escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, two former French politicians have said in two separate articles, during which they expressed their concerns over sanctions against Russia.

In an article published in Le Figaro, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, a senior former diplomatic adviser to former French President Jacques Chirac, said that since the end of the Soviet Union, the hubris of the West has resulted in the loss of sight of the fact that security must be "arranged."

Russian warnings went unheeded or were ignored, Gourdault-Montagne said, adding that possible trust between Russia and the West has turned into mistrust and then into defiance.

Russia's request for a stop of NATO's eastward expansion and for the neutrality of Ukraine deserves to be heard, Gourdault-Montagne said in the article.

Similarly, former French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine has pleaded for dialogue with Russia. In another article published in Le Figaro, Vedrine wrote that the West bears some responsibility for the current situation.

In addition, both Gourdault-Montagne and Vedrine expressed their concerns over sanctions against Russia.

Vedrine warned that sanctions are not a panacea, noting that the United States' use of extraterritorial sanctions citing honorable reasons has only served its own interests for decades.

"We must be careful not to punish the peoples or to punish ourselves," Vedrine said, adding that "Russia will always be our neighbor, it is a geographical remark, not a political one."

Gourdault-Montagne, in his article, also called on people not to be deluded about the effectiveness of sanctions.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Only 5% to 6% of the 46 million tons of plastic waste generated annually in the U.S. gets recycled, a big dip from the last estimate of nearly 9% just a few years ago, according to a new study by Beyond Plastics and the Last Beach Cleanup, two environmental groups.

You voted:
Pink balloons shaped like teddy bears rose in columns from the floor of Southport Hall in Old Jefferson on Tuesday night, as Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry took the microphone to urge on a crowd of mothers and allies.

Ive been waiting to see faces like this for almost six years now, said Landry, who has yet to announce an expected run for governor.

The faces looking back were supporters of the Bayou Mama Bears, a newly formed advocacy group that recently allied with the Republican attorney general in a pair of lawsuits challenging mask and vaccine mandates imposed by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Gov. John Bel Edwards.

With the mandates gone, at least for now, Landry was aiming to unleash those moms on some fresh political bait. Instead of hammering the mandates, Landry rhapsodized over what he described as the evils of a federal consent decree that has governed the New Orleans Police Department for nearly a decade, while railing against crime coverage in the local press.

Landry said the pandemic clampdown unleashed a political grizzly, armed with pink T-shirts and yard signs.

Those mothers woke up during the pandemic, and all of a sudden the government was sitting on their couch, and that government was not invited in their house, Landry said. You are an absolutely powerful movementI cannot do it alone, but I will do it with you.

If it sounded like a political courtship, records suggest more of an arranged marriage between Landrys office and the group, which has drawn a national and local TV spotlight by mocking Cantrell for going maskless at a Mardi Gras ball or raging over New Orleans jarring surge in carjackings and other violent crime.

Also speaking at the event, which drew about 60 people on a tornado-watch Tuesday, was Landrys top criminal deputy, former Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, whose daughter, Laura Rodrigue, helped found the Bayou Mama Bears.

Rodrigue, a former Orleans prosecutor whose law firm represents several sheriffs offices in the state, said in an interview that the group has filed to become a political action committee and plans to spread its reach statewide. She declined to talk about plans for the gubernatorial race.

Right now we are very supportive of Jeff Landry as the attorney general. We are very pleased with what he has fought for, she said. We have never been secretive about Jeff Landrys involvement. Hes been at every meeting weve asked him to attend.

Rodrigue declined to say how much the group has raised thus far. For awhile, she acknowledged, it funneled donations to A Great Louisiana, Inc., a tax-exempt group set up several years ago by Landry backers. The Bayou Mama Bears web site also links to the pro-Landry Louisiana Citizens for Job Creators PAC.

Rodrigue said she formed the group after Christmas when a mother at her childrens school asked for help fighting mask mandates. She said numbers are hard to figure, but that the group garnered 6,500 followers primarily on Instagram. Others have signed on through Facebook or by email.

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The group claims victory in New Orleans, arguing that the lawsuit, joined by Landry's office, and a subpoena for the mayor hastened Cantrell's decision to drop the mandates. However, Cantrell's administration has said it was following CDC guidance.

The group continues to press to keep the COVID-19 vaccines off school requirements for the fall. But, to hear Rodrigue and Cannizzaro tell it Tuesday, the Bears have turned their focus squarely on New Orleans crime.

One major goal, they said, is trying to persuade U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan to end the consent decree that governs reforms to the New Orleans Police Department.

Cannizzaro ripped former mayor Mitch Landrieu for agreeing in 2012 to federal oversight without a fight. He also hammered at a wave of criminal justice reform in the city, in an impassioned defense of the lock-em-up philosophy that guided him over two terms as district attorney.

People that go out and commit these heinous crimes and cruel crimes, in my opinion, Im not sure you can rehabilitate or help them, Cannizzaro said. I just dont think you can.

Landry has often found a political foil in New Orleans crime troubles while railing against hug-a-thug justice policies. On Tuesday he portrayed the citys police force as handicapped by the consent decree and low manpower. He pledged to push Morgan, an appointee of President Obama, to release the city from federal oversight.

What were going to try to do, working with the Bayou Mama Bears, is try to find an avenue under which we can influence this judge such that she understands that we can walk and chew gum and put bad people in jail, Landry said.

Rodrigue insisted that interest in the group has grown with the shift in focus on crime, because every female is scared to death at a carjacking right now.

She declined to say what share of the groups followers hail from within New Orleans.

Baton Rouge-based pollster John Couvillon said it was hard to gauge the impact the Bayou Mama Bears might have on a gubernatorial race without knowing their ability to raise money or the shape of the conservative field. But Couvillon noted that women tend more than men to vote Democratic, and also tend to favor mask mandates, possibly limiting the groups reach.

Given the heavily Democratic politics of New Orleans, Couvillon also said it was clear that any electoral impact would be provided outside of Orleans Parish, as opposed to within it.

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly located Southport Hall.
Much has been said, including by me, about the shameful behavior of the state Legislatures Republican majority during the recent redistricting process.

First lawmakers, in mostly party-line votes, flouted U.S. Census figures showing that about a third of the states population is Black by refusing to create a second Black-majority seat in the six-member congressional delegation, even though the spirit and quite possibly the letter of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires it. Such a change would likely push one of the states five Republican districts into the D column.

Then they celebrated their override of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards veto with gusto, as if it the debate were only about political power and not gut-level concerns over fairness, inclusion and the historic discrimination that led to the VRA in the first place. If it wasnt already obvious that partisanship trumped just about everything else, that was clear once the proceedings ended.

I say just about, because while party matters a lot in this process, theres something that often matters even more.

To see how, check out a curious story by reporter Tyler Bridges, which focuses on the Louisiana delegations lone Democrat and only Black member, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter of New Orleans.

Under the party-comes-first logic, Carter should have been an aggressive advocate for the second Black district, at least as committed to the cause as the governor was.

The politics would suggest as much. Shifting a seat from safe R to likely D could help Carters party keep its tenuous House control in the fall midterm elections, and its clearly better for any member of Congress to be in the majority than the minority. And Carters constituents, who presumably support the priorities he ran and won on, would benefit from the additional voice, and vote, on those issues.

But some advocates for the new district say he wasnt there when it mattered most.

Its very unfortunate he wasnt a champion like we needed him to be, said Jared Evans, a onetime Louisiana Senate staffer and now attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. We asked him to fight with us. He was absent. Thats what made us so angry.

Other members of the coalition backing a second district voiced frustration as well and argued that as the highest-ranking Black official in Louisiana, Carter might have changed the outcome.

Thats debatable, and anyway, Carter rejects the premise that he didnt step up. Still, his comments on the subject suggest he might have something else on his mind.

I said I am supportive of a second majority-minority district, but be careful, because the devil is in the details, he said. We have to make sure we draw districts that are winnable (for Black candidates) in both districts.

Kind of sounds like hes happy with his district, which is rooted in New Orleans but stretches up through the River Parishes to Baton Rouge, the way it is  or is at least comfortable that its well-suited to someone like him. A second minority district would be based in Baton Rouge, which means Carter would have to give up some friendly voters (advocates disagree that the changes they proposed would dilute the Black vote enough to put either proposed district on the margin).

Underlying the dispute is one of the unspoken realities of congressional districting: Some of the polarization we see these days is the result of all politicians favoring districts where theyre likely to be reelected without much worry. That goes for Louisianas five incumbent Republicans, all of whom got easily winnable districts out of the process. Its also true for a Democrat like Carter.

And here, the two sides arent necessarily at cross purposes. A winnable district for Carter, packed with enough voters who are likely to seek a representative like him, also creates a friendly suburban district for someone like House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Jefferson, whose like-minded supporters are apt to live on the other side of the line. And that Baton Rouge part of Carters district makes it easier for U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, who represents adjacent Republican and largely White areas, to get reelected.

This same dynamic plays out around the country, and has helped produce both under-radar alliances across partisan lines, and a Congress where few members from either party have to appeal to the middle.

Call it the safe space theory of districting. Safe for them, anyway.
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SCHERERVILLE  Students will meet a new principal at Grimmer Middle School this fall.

Ryan Bounds, principal of Angola Middle School on the east side of Indiana, will be moving to Schererville to join the Lake Central School Corp.

Bounds said his decision was motivated by his distance from family and friends, along with the strength he saw in the school district.

One of the biggest transitions for Bounds is that Grimmer is a school with students from fifth grade through eighth grade, while his previous school was only sixth through eighth.

Im really excited that this is a 5-8 building. Its just that many more kids to have a positive impact with, Bounds said. He said with more grades, you can see more growth in students.

Mario Castaneda, the assistant principal at Grimmer, said the fifth- and sixth-grade years are fundamental, because kids are still so moldable at those ages. He said seventh- and eighth-graders have more of an understanding of who they are.

Bounds biggest goal at Grimmer is to be a visible principal. For many students, the first time they meet the principal may be a situation where they are in trouble. He does not want that to be the case.

Students who see their principal often are able to feel more cared for, Bounds said. He plans to be present for bus duty and be active during lunch periods.

Its tough meeting a child for the first time in the principals office. You want to have 10 to 20 good conversations before that moment happens. And hopefully the moment doesnt happen, Bounds said.

Bounds and Castaneda also plan to use social media and keep parents in touch with what is happening at Grimmer, as it will show how much they care.

A lot of the most meaningful conversations I have with kids are during lunch time, Castaneda said.

The administrative team at Grimmer also has to continue to address behavior issues, as middle school students have been one of the largest grades that struggle with social norms of school after the pandemic.

Castaneda said the issue was present at the beginning of the year, but the teachers are committed to working together and being visible.

Whenever the routine is shaken, it is natural to test boundaries. No matter what middle school you were at, you saw kids testing boundaries. You just had to reestablish them, Bounds said.

Bounds will finish up the academic year at Angola Middle School and his first day at Grimmer is July 1.

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CROWN POINT  A Lake Criminal Court judge denied a motion Thursday from a man charged with murdering his former daughter-in-law in 2020 after finding that prosecutors had not violated his right to be brought to trial in a timely manner.

Frank Zyzanski, 60, has been in custody since his arrest in Lansing, Illinois, on April 4, 2020, in connection with the shooting death of Crystal M. Zyzanski, 29, at his family's home in the 600 block of West 63rd Avenue in Merrillville.

He's pleaded not guilty to one count of murder.

Zyzanski's attorney, Gojko Kasich, filed a motion March 30 for Zyzanski's release pending trial under Indiana Criminal Rule 4, which requires the state to bring defendants to trial within six months if they're in custody. Exceptions to the rule include continuances requested by the defense and delays due to a congested court calendar.

Kasich wrote in court filings that his calculations showed Zyzanski had been in custody for at least 247 days without waiving his Criminal Rule 4 rights.

Judge Natalie Bokota disagreed.

While the court's docket was silent in some instances about whether Zyzanski waived his rights, her staff listened to audio recordings of his prior hearings and calculated prosecutors still had 58 days to bring Zyzanski to trial while he remains in custody.

Kasich said the law states that when the docket is silent, any delay should be attributed to the state.

Bokota said the law states "record" not "docket."

"The record is not the (chronological case summary)," Bokota said. "It's the totality."

Kasich said he planned to research the issue and asked if Bokota would certify an interlocutory appeal. She said she would, but the Indiana Court of Appeals is selective in what cases it reviews.

Bokota scheduled Zyzanski's trial for the week of Aug. 15.

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CROWN POINT  An attorney for a Gary man remanded to jail Thursday for shooting another man in 2019 told a judge her client was wounded in February in what they suspect was a retaliation shooting.

Cachun C. Combs Jr., 44, admitted in January he shot a man six times while the man was riding in a car with a woman and her then-7-year-old child June 27, 2019, in the 1900 block of Polk Street in Gary.

Combs' sentencing initially was set for early March, but he was wounded in a shooting about 8 a.m. Feb. 25 as he left his Gary home for work, police said.

Combs' attorney, Susan Severtson, said Combs' position in the 2019 case was that he shot the other man in self-defense.

Severtson attempted to take a deposition from the woman who had been riding in the man's car, but she did not cooperate.

The defense also provided the Lake County prosecutor's office with evidence of gunshot damage to Combs' car as a result of the shooting in 2019, Severtson said.

After much consultation, Combs, who had been facing an attempted murder charge, decided the wisest way to resolve the case would be to plead guilty to battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 5 felony, Severtson said.

In exchange for his plea, the state dismissed Combs' remaining counts and a 2020 resisting law enforcement case.

Gary police records show the man wounded in 2019 previously was at the center of an investigation into the accidental shooting death of 2-year-old Jayla Miller on Sept. 4, 2018, in the 1700 block of Polk Street in Gary.

No charges were filed against the man after Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter accused Gary police in 2018 of bungling a search warrant for the residence where the man lived. Miller's mother pleaded guilty to a felony neglect charge in June 2019 and was released from custody in December 2020 after graduating from the Community Transition Court program.

Combs' mother, Sharon Combs, testified her son has taken steps to change his life and was working 60 hours a week before he was shot Feb. 25.

His gunshot wound became infected, requiring ongoing medical treatment, she said.

Severtson said Gary police are still investigating the February shooting, but no charges have been filed.

Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar did not call the man wounded in 2019 to give a victim impact statement. He asked Judge Natalie Bokota to sentence Combs, who had a lengthy criminal history, to a maximum of six years in prison.

Severtson asked the judge to count the 1 1/2 years Combs spent in jail while his case was pending as "time served," and place him on probation for the remainder of his sentence.

Bokota gave Combs some credit for finding a full-time job after his release from jail in November 2020, but said he should have become a productive member of society much earlier in his life.

She sentenced him to five years, with two years suspended on probation. Bailiffs took Combs into custody to complete the remainder of his time behind bars.

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CROWN POINT  A woman pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Wednesday in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old man she was accused of helping to lure to Gary so her boyfriend and three others could kill him.

Jazmin J. Garcia, 20, of Monticello, Indiana, admitted in her plea agreement she picked up Jacquice Baylock, 18, in Illinois on July 1, 2020 and took him to 19th Avenue and Taney Place in Gary at the direction of her four co-defendants.

After arriving at the location, Garcia complied with her co-defendants' orders to leave Baylock in the car and get into another vehicle, according to Lake Criminal Court records.

As Garcia walked away from Baylock, she saw her boyfriend, Devin S. Barron, and Jason Hinton walk past her with guns in their hands, documents state.

Garcia got into a vehicle with Dwain E. Cunigan and Laquan M. Tolliver and they started to drive back to where she left Baylock, records state.

As Garcia, Cunigan and Tolliver drove by the car she drove to Gary, Garcia saw Hinton shoot Baylock once and Barron shoot Baylock about five times, the plea agreement states.

After the shooting, Barron and Hinton gathered money that Baylock had dropped and got into a third vehicle, records state. Garcia admitted they all returned to Illinois, where she saw Barron, Hinton, Cunigan and Tolliver split the money taken from Baylok.

Baylock, of Lynwood, was shot once in the head, twice in the back, twice in the arm, once in the upper chest and neck, and twice in the chest. He was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary.

Hinton and Tolliver each have pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery charges.

Barron being held without bond in the Cook County Jail on unrelated charges, Cook County sheriff's records showed.

Tolliver also was being held in another jurisdiction on unrelated charges, Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Bruno said.

Garcia, who was represented by attorney John Cantrell, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, a level 3 felony.

If Judge Samuel Cappas accepts her plea agreement, she could face three to 16 years in prison.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge, which would have carried a possible penalty of 45 to 65 years in prison if convicted.

Garcia told Cappas she understood prosecutors could withdraw her plea agreement if she doesn't meet her obligations to cooperate with the state.

She has agreed she will not be sentenced until her co-defendants' cases are resolved.

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VALPARAISO  After completing a downtown parking study, Valparaiso is moving forward with a four-story parking garage.

Announced in January, the garage will be built in conjunction with the first phase of the Linc apartment complex. The Linc will have 121 units and will consist of three separate four-story buildings located on the north side of Lincolnway between Michigan Avenue and Morgan Boulevard, where the Round the Clock restaurant is currently located.

Dubbed "The Lincoln Highway Garage," the parking structure was introduced to address the parking needs of both Linc residents as well as the ongoing desire for more parking in downtown Valparaiso.

To determine the size of the structure, the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission approved a $19,700 parking study that was be completed by WGI. During a Thursday meeting, City Engineer Michael Jabo presented the results of the study. Jabo said the study found a garage with 320 to 360 spaces "seems to be an appropriate size."

I think there is going to be other development that is going to happen in that area, and I think that parking is already going to be compromised so I would say err on the side of high," Commissioner Rob Thorgren said.

The other commissioners agreed with Thorgren, saying closer to 360 spaces would be ideal. With about 80 spaces per deck, Jabo said the garage likely will be about 4 1/2 stories tall.

The newly created Valparaiso Redevelopment Authority would own the garage, and the RDC would lease it. Hageman, the Linc developer, will pay for the maintenance and upkeep of spots specifically set aside for Linc tenants.

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SATURDAY PUZZLE  This is Hemant Mehtas second Times puzzle and his second on a Saturday. Its one of those grids that comes together more fluidly than it looks. The two horizontal spans intersect three 13-letter down entries, which all run through a triple stack of (rather bawdy) debuts. Every corner is connected, which makes it possible to get some crosses going and not just pepper your puzzle with an entry here and there.

Tricky Clues

This assumes, of course, that you have some luck with those long entries  without a couple of them, this puzzle is a real bear (as is the giant panda). Theres a Pokemon slogan, er, song that makes up one span, and elsewhere there are several other commercial references, some straight up (like the Dutch liquor) and some on the rocks, or the RINKS (locales for the N.H.L.s Jets and Sharks).

I was very happy to see Susan ORLEAN in this puzzle. Her presence prompted me to look her up for the first time in a while and realize that Id missed several recent books and collections and had no idea that she was a writer on How To With John Wilson. The Ben HECHT reference is more nostalgic; he has been in the Times Crossword since 1947, most often clued as Co-author of The Front Page.

1A. This is a debut and can very easily misdirect you, especially if you fill it in before you reach 2D. It makes perfect sense that White House press tends to be DC-BASED.
Activision Blizzard, the video game maker set to be sold to Microsoft for nearly $70 billion, said in a legal filing on Friday that it would cooperate with an investigation into whether some of the companys investors engaged in insider trading before the deals announcement.

The company said it had received a request for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which enforces securities rules, and a grand jury subpoena from the Justice Department. The requests appeared to relate to investigations into whether investors who knew Bobby Kotick, Activisions chief executive, engaged in insider trading of Activision stock before the Microsoft deal was made public.

Activision Blizzard has informed these authorities that it intends to be fully cooperative with these investigations, the company said in the filing.

The Wall Street Journal reported in March that three investors had made plans for large purchases of Activision stock just days before the announcement, netting them about $60 million after the companys stock price jumped. The Journal reported that one of them had met with Mr. Kotick the week before the three men bought the stock. The filing did not name the investors.
April 15, 2022

REDWOOD VALLEY, Calif.  After hiding all night in the mountains, Air Force Capt. Kevin Larson crouched behind a boulder and watched the forest through his breath, waiting for the police he knew would come. It was Jan. 19, 2020. He was clinging to an assault rifle with 30 rounds and a conviction that, after all he had been through, there was no way he was going to prison.

Captain Larson was a drone pilot  one of the best. He flew the heavily armed MQ-9 Reaper, and in 650 combat missions between 2013 and 2018, he had launched at least 188 airstrikes, earned 20 medals for achievement and killed a top man on the United States most-wanted-terrorist list.

The 32-year-old pilot kept a handwritten thank-you note on his refrigerator from the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was proud of it but would not say what for, because like nearly everything he did in the drone program, it was a secret. He had to keep the details locked behind the high-security doors at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nev.

There were also things he was not proud of locked behind those doors  things his family believes eventually left him cornered in the mountains, gripping a rifle.
Facing an intensifying backlash from political parties and business groups, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Friday ended his policy of inspecting all commercial vehicles crossing into the state from Mexico, a time-consuming process that had caused traffic jams of 14 hours or more at the border.

Mr. Abbott said his decision came after an agreement with the governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, who flanked him at a news conference on Friday, to step up security measures on the Mexican side of the border at ports of entry and along the Rio Grande.

Earlier in the week, Mr. Abbott said the safety inspections, which began on April 6, were part of a concerted effort to force Mexican officials to do more to stop the flow of migrants into the United States. He said on Wednesday that he would end the inspections at one entry point  the bridge between Laredo and the Mexican city of Colombia, Nuevo Leon  only because the governor of that state had agreed to increase border security on the Mexican side.

On Friday, Mr. Abbott said he now had agreements in place with the governors of all four Mexican states bordering Texas to enhance security. He left open the possibility of reissuing a similar policy if crossings increased.
The Moskva was itself designed as a ship killer. Construction of the ship, originally known as the Slava, began in 1976, and the vessel went into service in 1983. Built by the Soviet Union to sink American carriers, it was armed with missiles capable of striking planes, ships and submarines.

Upgraded many times over the years, the Moskva should have had defenses to shoot down the Ukrainian missiles. The ship was armed with a medium-range surface-to-air system that was thought to be effective within seven miles, and it also had other missiles designed to take out threats 50 miles away. In theory, its guns could have shot down a Neptune missile as well. But none of those defenses worked.

Warfare is a brutal thing, said retired Adm. Gary Roughead, a former chief of naval operations. You have to make the investments to defeat the kinds of weapons that people are going to throw at you.

Anti-ship weapons are not hard to build or field. Hezbollah struck an Israeli warship in the Lebanon war in 2006. Houthi rebels in Yemen fired multiple anti-ship missiles at a U.S. Navy destroyer in two separate attacks in 2016, which drew retaliatory Tomahawk cruise missile attacks in response. While the U.S. Navy has invested in antimissile technology for decades, American war planners have said that Chinas missiles would pose a real threat in a conflict.

While symbolically painful for Russia, the loss of the Moskva also has practical effects on the ongoing war. Missiles that would have been fired at Ukraine are now at the bottom of the Black Sea, a blow to Russias war plans.

The Moskva would have played a primary role in any potential amphibious assault on the Ukrainian coastal city of Odesa. While other landing ships would have been used to bring Russian naval infantry to the coastline, the Moskva would have protected those ships and launched missile strikes on the city.

Now, Admiral Cox said, any amphibious assault on Ukraine will be much more dangerous for Russia, with its landing and amphibious ships much more vulnerable to attacks.
In her 1921 biography about her brother Theodore Roosevelt, Corrine Roosevelt Robinson saw no harm in sharing almost confidential personal recollections about the late president. There is no sacrilege in sharing such memories, with the people who have loved him, and whom he loved so well, she wrote.

If I published almost confidential personal recollections about my brothers in a book, they would not be amused, to say the least.

Siblings offer a perspective less doting than a parents, less reverent than a childs and more thorough than a friends. But accounts from the sisters of presidents have been rare, until the last decade. And even now, the historian Douglas Brinkley said, the books written by two of Barack Obamas sisters havent exactly transformed the way we see the former president.

If youre looking for sisters as influence makers of POTUS, I think its very thin gruel, Brinkley said, adding that Corrine Roosevelt Robinson was one of a couple exceptions.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections said last month that it had spent about $53,000 to renovate a death chamber at a prison on the outskirts of Columbia, installing bullet-resistant glass between the chamber and witness room. A spokeswoman for the prison agency said prisoners who chose the firing squad would be strapped to a chair and a hood would be placed on them. Three volunteer prison employees would then fire rifles at the persons heart.

The agency made the renovations after South Carolina lawmakers designated electrocution as the new default method of execution. The bill was sponsored by Republicans, but one of the lawmakers who proposed the firing squad alternative was State Senator Dick Harpootlian, a Democrat and former prosecutor who said he had done so because he believed the electric chair was inhumane.

I believe the firing squad is much more instantaneous, much less painful, Mr. Harpootlian said.

He said he supported the death penalty in only the most extreme cases and believed that Mr. Moore should not be killed.

I dont think he fits the worst of the worst category, Mr. Harpootlian said. If I were prosecuting the case, I would not have sought the death penalty.

Mr. Moore did not have a gun when he entered Nikkis Speedy Mart, a convenience store in Spartanburg County, S.C., at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 16, 1999. At some point, he and the store clerk, James Mahoney, engaged in a dispute, and Mr. Moore shot him with a gun that was kept behind the counter by the stores owner. Mr. Moore, who was shot in the arm during the altercation, fled after grabbing a bag of money totaling about $1,400. A jury convicted Mr. Moore in 2001 and recommended that he be executed.

Lawyers for Mr. Moore had earlier asked the State Supreme Court to find that the death sentence in his case was extreme, noting that he had entered the store without a gun and that there were contradictory claims about what led to the dispute between the men. The court rejected that argument, though one justice, Kaye Hearn, issued a blistering dissent, saying that the states system for reviewing death sentences is broken and that, in her view, Mr. Moores sentence was disproportionate to his crime.
The conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted on Friday to adopt new state legislative maps drawn by Republicans who control the Legislature, reversing its earlier decision that favored maps drawn by the states Democratic governor.

The court acted after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its previous decision last month, stating in a contentious ruling that the state court had not considered carefully enough whether the federal Voting Rights Act required including an additional district with a Black majority in the State Assembly.

The newly adopted maps  partisan gerrymanders that had been drawn in secret in 2011 after Republicans took control from Democrats in both houses of the Legislature  essentially lock in overwhelming Republican majorities in the Assembly and the Senate for the next decade.

A monthslong legal battle began in November when Wisconsins governor, Tony Evers, vetoed legislative districts drawn by Republicans. The State Supreme Court resolved a standoff in March by voting 4 to 3 in favor of the maps drawn by the governor that slightly reduced the Republican majorities.
Speaking from Germany, he seemed disoriented, but not surprised, to find himself facing what could be a long exile. He and his wife Irina, who split their time between Vnukovo, a town outside of Moscow, and a bright, art-filled apartment in Berlin, left Russia just three days before the invasion of Ukraine. Though the timing of their trip was pure coincidence, it felt fated, and Sorokin is wary of returning to Russia as long as Putin remains in power. He has denounced the invasion publicly and called Vladimir Putin a crazed monster, putting himself in a precarious position after Putin labeled Russians who oppose the war as scum and traitors.

Watching the crushing use of force in Ukraine, Sorokin, who compared the Russian invasion to killing your own mother, has been reminded of his preoccupation with humanitys bottomless capacity for violence, a constant theme in his work.

Why cant mankind get by without violence? he said. I grew up in a country where violence was the main air that everyone breathed. So when people ask me why theres so much violence in my books, I tell them that I was absolutely soaked and marinated in it from kindergarten onward.

His Books Are Like Entering a Crazy Nightmare

Sorokin doesnt fit the classic mold of a dissident writer. While hes been critical of Putins regime, hes hard to pinpoint, stylistically or ideologically. Hes been pilloried for violating Russian Orthodox Christian values in his stories, but is a devout Christian. He deploys gorgeous prose to describe horrifying acts. Hes celebrated as a literary heir to giants like Turgenev, Gogol and Nabokov, but at times, hes questioned the value of literature, dismissing novels as just paper with typographic signs.

Hes a master of mimicry and subverting genre tropes, veering from arch postmodern political satire (The Queue) to esoteric science fiction (The Ice Trilogy) to alternate histories and futuristic cyberpunk fantasies (Telluria).
WASHINGTON  Russia is ambling toward a major default on its foreign debt, a grim milestone that it has not seen since the Bolshevik Revolution more than a century ago and one that raises the prospect of years of legal wrangling and a global hunt by bondholders for Russian assets.

The looming default is the result of sanctions that have immobilized about half of Russias $640 billion of foreign currency reserves, straining the countrys ability to make bond repayments in the currency the debt was issued in  dollars. Girding for a default, Russia has already pre-emptively dismissed it as an artificial result of sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, and it has threatened to contest such an outcome in court.

The coming fight, which would probably pit Russia against big investors from around the world, raises murky questions over who gets to decide if a nation has actually defaulted in the rare case where sanctions have curbed a countrys ability to pay its debts.

Russia does not appear likely to take the declaration of a default lightly. If that should occur, it would raise Russias cost of borrowing for years to come and effectively lock it out of international capital markets, weighing on an economy that is already expected to contract sharply this year. It would also be a stain on the economic stewardship of President Vladimir V. Putin that would underscore the costs Russia is incurring from its invasion of Ukraine.
A 10-month-old girl in Brooklyn died from an overdose of fentanyl and heroin, and her 44-year-old father, Daniel Auster  son of the famous novelist Paul Auster  was charged in her death.

The girl, Ruby Auster, was found unconscious on Nov. 1 at a home on Bergen Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and was pronounced dead at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, the police said. The medical examiners office later determined that she died from acute intoxication of the drugs, the police said.

Mr. Auster, 44, was arraigned on Sunday on charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. The judge set his bail at $100,000 cash or $250,000 bond and ordered him to return to court for a hearing on Thursday to determine whether there is enough evidence for the case to proceed.

John Godfrey, a lawyer for Legal Aid Society, which provided Mr. Austers defense at arraignment, said his client had recently been sober and attended a drug-counseling program. Mr. Auster, who works in landscaping, turned himself in to the police, Mr. Godfrey said.
Jacquelines mother didnt allow Arabic to be spoken at home, and Jacqueline suffered from living in a country where she didnt speak its language, a childhood friend, Diane Jorland, said in an Israeli documentary about Kahanoff.

The upper middle class of Egyptian Jewry, despite their cosmopolitan airs, designated limited roles for women. But Kahanoff had greater aspirations. She wrote in her essay The Blue Veil of Progress that when I was little, I wanted to be like my grandmother, a kind of Jewish queen. But now, she added, I want to do things as women do in Europe: be doctors, help the poor, everyone, or maybe be a writer who will find the words, our words, to tell about our lost time.

Following her mothers wishes, she married Izzy Margoliash, a Jewish doctor of Russian descent, in 1939. The next year the couple moved to the United States, where he was a resident. But the marriage was short-lived.

After they divorced, Kahanoff enrolled at Columbia University, where she studied journalism and literature. While there, she became romantically involved with the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, whom she considered the greatest love of her life.

In 1946, she found success when her short story Such Is Rachel won second prize in a contest sponsored by The Atlantic. That year, she returned to Egypt. But in 1951, bored with the monotony and stagnation of Egyptian society and concerned about a creeping nationalism and xenophobia toward anything that wasnt Egyptian, she went back to New York. That year she published her first novel, Jacobs Ladder, a semi-autobiographical depiction of the Jewish elite living in Cairo in the early 20th century.

She then lived briefly with her sister in Paris before marrying Alexander Kahanoff, a businessman, in 1952. They moved to Israel in 1954, living first in a migrant intake center in Beer Sheva and later in Bat Yam, a working-class city south of Tel Aviv.

Kahanoff had an ambiguous relationship with Zionism. On one hand, she was drawn to the narrative and the potential of the Jewish people re-establishing their homeland after two millenniums of wandering, with the women, completely liberated, working shoulder to shoulder with men in the fields and on construction grounds. On the other hand, she disliked the Zionists dogmatic mind-set. Mizrahis were expecting a different welcome from their brothers, she wrote. They had to adapt to a society they didnt get a chance to help fashion, one in which they were considered raw material that needed to be polished, to be educated.
Throughout the Trump era it was a frequent theme of liberal commentary that their political party represented a clear American majority, thwarted by our antidemocratic institutions and condemned to live under the rule of the conservative minority.

In the political context of 2016-20, this belief was overstated. Yes, Donald Trump won the presidential election of 2016 with a minority of the popular vote. But more Americans voted for Republican congressional candidates than Democratic congressional candidates, and more Americans voted for right-of-center candidates for president  including the Libertarian vote  than voted for Hillary Clinton and Jill Stein. In strictly majoritarian terms, liberalism deserved to lose in 2016, even if Trump did not necessarily deserve to win.

And Republican structural advantages, while real, did not then prevent Democrats from reclaiming the House of Representatives in 2018 and the presidency in 2020 and Senate in 2021. These victories extended the pattern of 21st century American politics, which has featured significant swings every few cycles, not the entrenchment of either partys power.

The political landscape after 2024, however, might look more like liberalisms depictions of its Trump-era plight. According to calculations by liberalisms Cassandra, David Shor, the convergence of an unfavorable Senate map for Democrats with their pre-existing Electoral College and Senate disadvantages could easily produce a scenario where the party wins 50 percent of the congressional popular vote, 51 percent of the presidential vote  and ends up losing the White House and staring down a nearly filibuster-proof Republican advantage in the Senate.
The following images depict graphic violence.

A couple of weeks ago I came across the graphic images of bodies littering the landscape in Bucha, Ukraine, a suburb a few miles west of Kyiv. Bucha was the latest example of Russias barbarity in this war, but one of the first things I thought of was Jonestown.

In November 1978, Time magazine sent me to that remote settlement in Guyana to check reports that Representative Leo Ryan, a California Democrat, had been killed there while investigating allegations that a group, a cult really, called the Peoples Temple was holding people against their will.

I was one of the first photographers on the scene. Mr. Ryan had indeed been killed, as had three of my colleagues: Greg Robinson, a photographer for The San Francisco Examiner; Bob Brown, an NBC cameraman; and Don Harris, an NBC correspondent. But that was only the beginning. The bodies of more than 900 other people were strewn around a compound of one-story buildings in a jungle clearing, victims and perpetrators of a mass murder-suicide under the instruction of their maniacal leader, Jim Jones. Children and babies had been murdered by their parents. I photographed a nightmare.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Robert S. Cole Jr.

Washington

To the Editor:

John McWhorter is correct. Many students arriving on campus do not know what college has to offer them or even why they are there except that its the next step. And too many never take advantage of the opportunities available on campus. But that doesnt mean students shouldnt bother attending college and instead rely on distance (or other alternative forms of) learning.

Rather, pre-college education should prepare students for the opportunities afforded by further quality education; college brochures and tours should foreground the means and the rewards of learning to think deeply about many topics; and, most important, faculty and staff on campus should work to ensure that every enrolled student can explore new areas and graduate better equipped to deal with work, civic and personal responsibilities.

Howard Gardner

Cambridge, Mass.

The writer is a professor of cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-author of The Real World of College.

To the Editor:

Colleges and universities have contributed significantly to the decline of the American system of education. Most institutions of higher education have become expensive and extremely political. Professors seem too often to be preoccupied with doctrine rather than teaching skills meant to prepare students for professions. As a result, students and their families too often incur high debt and pay outrageous amounts of money for credits and certificates that could be achieved with less money and time involvement.

When I attended college and graduate school, what John McWhorter refers to as the ordinary trajectory after high school served for me more as a trajectory of escape from poverty. I came from a family that had little education, and college and graduate degrees freed me from poverty and afforded a very rewarding life. The path I took seems less rewarding today.

Franklin T. Burroughs

Walnut Creek, Calif.

To the Editor:

John McWhorter is absolutely right: Not everyone needs to go to college, but everyone does have to become educated and prepared to be a responsible citizen. Can that be done without going to college?

Dr. McWhorter suggests, together with Leon Botstein, that an appropriate basic education could be achieved by the end of 10th grade. Possibly. But  been there, done that. Robert Maynard Hutchins, then president of the University of Chicago, was of that opinion back in the 1940s, and indeed the University of Chicago Laboratory School discharged me with my high school diploma at the end of 10th grade in 1947.
The pharmaceutical industry is a good example. Nearly 80 percent of the drugs associated with new patents between 2005 and 2015 were not new. But the issue is not confined to drugmakers. The Theranos debacle, to take just one other example, was touched off by officials who granted scores of patents for a device that had never been built and that turned out not to work. The company was able to secure those patents without disclosing almost any technical information about its product.

It will take comprehensive reform to repair these deficiencies, but one simple thing that officials can do right now is give patent examiners more time and resources to do their jobs. Even the most complicated patent applications receive just 19 hours of scrutiny, on average, according to a Brookings Institution report. Some 70 percent of patent examiners have said that thats not nearly enough time.

Capping the number of times an inventor can resubmit a rejected application would also help  in part by reducing the administrative burden and resulting backlog, as well as by removing the incentive for examiners to approve dubious applications just to get them out of the way.

Improve the process for challenging bad patents. Bad patents have steep costs. They gum up the wheels of innovation by making it harder for would-be inventors to proceed with their work. They strain budgets by preventing cheaper products from entering the market. And they leave honest inventors vulnerable to patent trolls  people who buy up weak patents not to create anything new or useful but to hold legitimate inventions ransom. But the process of weeding these patents out once theyve been granted remains fraught: It can take years and many thousands of dollars to challenge a bad patent in court, and even when the case seems obvious, success is never guaranteed.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a panel of judges that reviews and decides on patent challenges without lengthy court battles, was meant to solve at least some of these problems. But it has been beset by criticism and legal challenges since its creation in 2012. It has also been undermined by Trump-era policies that allow the patent office to deny legitimate patent challenges for purely bureaucratic reasons. During the Trump administration, critics say, such discretionary denials allowed scores of dubious patents to stand.

Lawmakers should pass the Restoring the America Invents Act, a bill that would limit such discretionary denials, and Ms. Vidal should use her authority to curb this practice in the meantime. Officials should also consider broader fixes: Make it easier to challenge bad patents before they are granted. Force secondary pharmaceutical patents to undergo an automatic review by the appeal board. Rethink the legal structure for patent challenges.

The appeals court tends to be an echo chamber, said Matthew Lane, a patent lawyer with the public advocacy group InSight Public Affairs. Because judges there tend to come from and listen to the patent bar.
On the other side of the room, Republicans said they were frustrated with the bickering. Natasha Hargitay, a 35-year-old single mother, said she had been to more than a dozen conventions and had never been to one so contentious. She described herself as Switzerland, neutral in the fight. Still, she had not been pleased with Mr. Fortons comments.

I lost a lot of respect for him when he said, We are the real Republicans, she said. That means you are dividing the Republican Party.

After the commotion, Eric Castiglia, who was elected the countys new chairman, pledged to welcome all Republicans into the fold. He said he believed the state convention, with its machine and hand count election, would provide an opportunity to show election skeptics that the process could be fair.

We have to start working on what were going to do with our values and not be a place where every candidate is a RINO, or not a Republican enough, Mr. Castiglia said in an interview, using shorthand for Republican in name only.

But Mr. Forton has no intention of moving on. On Thursday, he filed a petition to state party leaders appealing his ouster.
DALLAS  When a judge in South Texas signed an order this past week setting an execution date of Oct. 5 for John Henry Ramirez, it seemed like the end of the road.

Mr. Ramirez was convicted in 2008 for the murder of a convenience store worker, a crime he has acknowledged committing. He was sentenced to death and appealed his case to the Supreme Court  not to stop his execution, but to prepare for it. He asked to have his Baptist pastor pray out loud and lay hands on him in the execution chamber, a request that brought his case national notoriety. Last month, the court ruled in his favor, clearing the path for his execution to proceed as long as the state of Texas complied with his request.

But in a surprise turn of events on Thursday, District Attorney Mark Gonzalez of Nueces County filed a motion withdrawing the death warrant for Mr. Ramirez, citing his firm belief that the death penalty is unethical and should not be imposed on Mr. Ramirez or any other person. His own office had requested the execution date just days earlier, but Mr. Gonzalez, a Democrat, wrote in his motion that an employee in his office had done so without consulting him.

In a broadcast from his office on Facebook Live on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Gonzalez, whose district includes Corpus Christi, where the crime occurred, explained his decision.
After being held in jail for close to four years awaiting trial on charges of aiding militants, the Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan was granted bail by the courts last week, and he thought he could finally return home to his wife and his daughter, who was just 6 months old when he was arrested.

But the Indian authorities didnt let him go, levying similar charges under a different law, and have since moved him to a different jail.

Mr. Sultans case is the latest instance, rights activists say, in which the Indian authorities have weaponized the legal system to limit free speech and harass journalists, particularly those in the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed Kashmir region. Some have been arrested under laws that allow people to be held for extended periods without trial, and that make bail terms extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible.

Mr. Sultan is now being held under the stringent Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law that lets the regions authorities keep a suspect in jail for a maximum of two years  without any formal criminal charges being filed, and so without any trial and with no hope for bail  if local authorities contend that the person presents a security risk or a threat to public order.
Peng Ming-min was born on Aug. 15, 1923, with the Taiwanese name Phe Beng-bin. He grew up in a doctors family in the central Taiwanese town of Dajia, known as Taiko during Japanese rule.

He excelled academically. After studying at Tokyo University and National Taiwan University, he obtained a masters degree in 1953 at the McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal. The next year he earned a doctorate in law from the University of Paris.

Information about survivors was not immediately available.

Mr. Pengs calls for Taiwanese independence  through the removal of the Republic of China government that had dominated the Taiwanese peoples lives since 1945  had a major impact on the politics of his country of 23 million, said James Lin, a historian of modern Taiwan at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Pengs willingness to call for Taiwanese independence early on, and especially in the 1990s as part of his presidential candidacy, was a noteworthy position in Taiwanese history, Professor Lin said. Advocating for independence was then an uncommon position that made him a public target of a large number of Kuomintang supporters and politicians.

The Kuomintang was not always Mr. Pengs enemy. In the early 1960s he was chairman of the political science department at National Taiwan University. And as an early contributor to the new field of international air law, he attracted the notice of Generalissimo Chiang, who appointed him an adviser to the Republic of Chinas delegation at the United Nations in New York.

The appointment caused Mr. Peng to lead what he called a double life  torn between his loyalty to Taiwan and his duties for the Republic of China, which claimed to be the sole legitimate government of both Taiwan and China and imposed a Chinese identity on the Taiwanese people.

In 1971, the U.N. General Assembly voted to expel the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the China seat on the Security Council. The seat was then given to the Peoples Republic of China government in Beijing, setting Taiwan on a path of increasing international isolation.
After nearly 80 years, a watch that was taken by a Nazi soldier during World War II, lost in a cornfield and later hidden in a clock on a farm in Belgium has been returned to the grandchildren of its maker.

And it still works.

I think its really beautiful and remarkable that this all came together, said Richard van Ameijden, the grandson of the watchmaker. It came right out of the blue.

The pocket watch was crafted in 1910 by Alfred Overstrijd, a Jewish man from the Dutch city of Rotterdam who was then learning to be a watchmaker. He made it as a gift for his brother, Louis, for his 18th birthday. An inscription on the back of the watch includes Mr. Overstrijds name and the place and time it was made as well as the fact that it was intended for his brother.

In 1942, Louis Overstrijd was arrested by the Nazis, at which point its likely that a soldier took the watch from him, or from his house, according to Rob Snijders, a Dutch historian who specializes in Jewish history. Both Overstrijd brothers were ultimately sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz and did not survive the Holocaust.
In Germany, the economy minister called on people to cut back their energy consumption, including by drawing curtains and lowering the temperature in their homes, as part of what he described as a national effort to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Germany has joined other Western nations in imposing embargoes on Russian coal and possibly oil, but it is reluctant to do the same with Russian gas, which accounts for more than half its gas imports.

We can only become more independent of Russian imports if we see it as a large joint project in which we all participate, the minister, Robert Habeck, told the Funke media group on Friday. He added, in reference to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia: Its easy on the wallet and annoys Putin.

In the weeks since Ukrainian forces repelled the Russian attempt to seize Kyiv, residents have been streaming back into the city. But the window-rattling blasts Saturday offered a stark reminder that the war is far from over, even far from the front.

Russias cruise missiles, the principal weapon in Saturdays attacks, can strike over long distances at sites throughout the country. Through the day Saturday, air raid sirens wailed in Kyiv, and overnight the distant, dull thuds of air defense missiles exploding could be heard in the sky over the city.

Our air defenses are working, our military is defending us, but all the same there were explosions, in a southeastern district of the capital, Kyivs mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said in a statement on Telegram. The strike killed one person and wounded several others, he said.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, the Russian journalist Farida Rustamova used the Telegram chat app for one purpose: messaging friends.

But as the authorities shut down media outlets that strayed from the official line, including the publications she wrote for, she started posting her articles on Telegram. Her feed there  where she has written about the consolidation of Russias elites around President Vladimir V. Putin and the reaction among employees of state-run media to an on-air protest  has already garnered more than 22,000 subscribers.

This is one of the few channels that are left where you can receive information, she said in a call over Telegram.

As Russia has silenced independent news media and banned social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Telegram has become the largest remaining outlet for unrestricted information. Since the war started, it has been the most downloaded app in Russia, with about 4.4 million downloads, according to Sensor Tower, an analytics firm. (There have been 124 million downloads of Telegram in Russia since January 2014, according to Sensor Tower.)
WARSAW  For the past seven weeks, Dr. Simona Neliubsiene has struggled to focus on her patients charts, distracted by images of bombed cities flashing in her head.

At night, she lies awake in bed, her heart thumping, frantically doom-scrolling through the latest news about Russias war in Ukraine.

I never had anxiety attacks before, said Dr. Neliubsiene, a family physician in Kaunas, Lithuania. But after the first week of the war, I started thinking that maybe I should take some of the pills that I am prescribing to my patients.

Many Eastern Europeans feel intimately connected to the conflict in their region. Although the violence has not yet spilled outside Ukraine, some people in neighboring countries said they were making detailed war contingency plans  just in case. They complained that they were unable to escape the relentless news coverage.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel had gone on the offensive.

The State of Israel will do everything necessary to overcome this terrorism. We will settle accounts with everyone who was linked, either directly or indirectly, to the attacks, he said, adding, We will reach anywhere necessary, at any time, in order to root out these terrorist operations.

He said there were no restrictions on the countrys security forces.

For the last week, Israeli forces have raided Jenin nearly every day or night, local officials and residents said. The city, like most Palestinian urban centers in the West Bank, is governed by the Palestinian Authority, but Israeli forces still regularly carry out night raids and arrests in these areas. In January during one such raid in the village of Jiljilya, a 78-year-old Palestinian American man died while in custody.

Rather than containing the latest wave of attacks, Israels actions will have the opposite effect, said a Western diplomat in Ramallah. The aggressive Israeli approach risks creating a new cycle of frustration, despair and victims, said the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive political matters.

Before leaving for work each morning, Ms. Awartani checks the latest news on local social media.

I fear I could be going to work and suddenly come upon Israeli soldiers in the street and they could shoot me, said the mother of three girls, twin 7-year-olds and a 3-year-old. I could die, I could become paralyzed. Then who is going to take care of my daughters?
The New York Times News Quiz, April 15, 2022

Did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz to see how well you stack up with other Times readers.
Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) apprentice Reece Seery recently competed in the final of the World Skills Ireland, National Competition, for Mechanical Automotive Maintenance Fitter (MAMF)/ Industrial Mechanics skill area.

Reece from just outside Geashill was nominated by his instructors, based on his performance and skills demonstration, when attending his first off the job phase at Kerry College.

During the enduring 12-18 hour competition Reece and other leading skills and tradespeople competed for the prestigious National Champion title. Reece, who finished second overall, was narrowly beaten by Tom Crowley who was announced as the World Skills Ireland MAMF/Industrial Mechanics 2021 National Champion.

PICTURED: Reece Seery at work

"I was nominated by my phase 2 lecturer. The competition was tough and pushed us to our best and I will compete again in the RDS in September this year. Overall it was a great experience and I picked up some new skills along the way. "

World Skills Ireland is a partnership between enterprise, industry, education, training and government that raises the profile and recognition of skills and apprenticeships and prepares the talent of today for the careers of the future.

Over three action-packed days, World Skills Ireland facilitate an atmosphere of experimentation and discovery through competitions, interactive events and demonstrations. World Skills Ireland describe the event as one that will inspire the next generation of skilled young people to follow their passions, interests and talents for the securement of their own future, and of Irelands.

In Ireland, there are over 62 national apprenticeship programmes currently available in many different industries including international finance, construction, engineering, healthcare, biopharma, insurance, hospitality and more. For information about the range of SOLAS apprenticeship options, visit www.apprenticeship.ie or contact LOETB Apprenticeship Services www.loetb.ie/apprenticeships
The Kangaroos have lost their past two Good Friday games against the Western Bulldogs by a combined total of 196 points but David Noble said that is no reason for them to not continue hosting the marquee game.
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Berlin says it will drastically increase its budget for global military assistance, with much of it earmarked for Ukraine. Russia, meanwhile, has threatened further attacks on Kyiv.
Republicans have mocked Joe Biden for "shaking hands with thin air' after the US President appeared confused at the end of a speech on supply chains.The 79-year-old had just finished delivering a nearly 40-minute speech in Greensboro,...
The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital after Russia's withdrawal  most of them fatally shot, police said on Friday, an indication that many people were "simply executed".The...
The Taliban authorities warned Pakistan on Saturday after five children and a woman were killed in Afghanistan in alleged rocket attacks by the Pakistani military in a pre-dawn
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PARIS (AP)  French President Emmanuel Macron held a major campaign rally Saturday in Marseille, touting his environmental and climate accomplishments and future plans in a bid to draw in young voters who supported more politically extreme candidates in the first round of France's presidential election.

Citizens and especially millennials in Marseille, a multicultural southern French city on the Mediterranean, favored hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon over the centrist Macron in the April 10 first round of voting. Marseille's young voters, who leaned mainly to the far right and the far left last Sunday, are particularly engaged with climate issues  a point which Macron hoped to capitalize on in a rousing speech at the edge of the glistening sea.

I hear the anxiety that exists in a lot of our young people. I see young people, adolescents, who are fearful about our planet's future, he said.

Macron is facing off against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in France's April 24 presidential runoff after 10 other candidates, including Melenchon, were eliminated in the first round of voting.

For many who voted for left-wing candidates in the first round, the presidential runoff vote is an unpalatable choice between a candidate who is anathema to them, Le Pen, and a president who some feel has veered to the right of center during his first term. The runoff outcome could depend on how left-wing voters make up their minds: between backing Macron or leaving him to fend for himself against Le Pen.

Macron has mixed green credentials, something he hopes to improve on. Although he was associated with the slogan Make The Planet Great Again, in his first five-year term he capitulated to angry yellow vest protesters by scrapping a tax hike on fuel prices.

To cheers on Saturday, Macron said his next prime minister would be placed in charge of environmental planning as France seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050. He also promised more public transport nationwide to wean people off being dependent on cars.

Even though Macron came out on top in the first round of voting, the 44-year-old incumbent has acknowledged that nothing is decided in the increasingly tight race to become Frances next leader. In Marseille, he targeted his rival Le Pen, who has gained increasing support in recent weeks.

The far-right represents a danger for our country. Don't just hiss at it, knock it out, he said, warning about the political dangers posed by overconfident supporters who abstain in the vital runoff vote.

Le Pen spent Saturday reaching out to voters in Saint-Remy-sur-Avre, a village in northwestern France where she visited an antiques market.

While campaigning Friday, both candidates were grilled over their differing stances on Muslim religious dress in public spaces  Le Pen wants to ban headscarves in France, a country that has Europe's largest Muslim population. Both Le Pen and Macron were confronted by women in headscarves who asked why their clothing choices should be caught up in politics.

Across France, protesters are railing against a host of issues ahead of the presidential runoff.

In the center of Paris on Saturday, the environmental group Extinction Rebellion launched a three-day demonstration against what they call France's inaction on climate issues. The activists say their objective is to put climate issues back at the center of the presidential debate.

Hundreds of activists from the environmental group XR are also asking both presidential candidates to make commitments to protect the environment.

At a Paris march against racism on Saturday, many left-wing voters described the runoff choices as agonizing. Some said they would hold their noses and vote for Macron, simply to block Le Pen. But many said they wouldnt vote at all or would cast a vote with no name. One marcher said they had barely slept and repeatedly wept since Melenchon came in third in the first round after Le Pen.

Faridi Djoumoi said he voted for Macron in round one but he still protested with a sign that read Better a vote that stinks than a vote that kills, in hopes of convincing people to rally around the president against Le Pen.

The vote that stinks is Emmanuel Macron, because there have been a lot of problems under his leadership, he said. The vote that kills is the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, ... a party founded on hatred.

___

Follow all AP stories on the 2022 French presidential election at h ttps://apnews.com/hub/french-election-2022
Members First Credit Union President and CEO Carrie Iafrate announced an exciting expansion of the credit unions executive level suite to include a chief financial officer, chief operations officer and chief strategy officer, beginning April 4.

Iafrate introduced her plan to promote current Vice President of FinanceTamara McGovern, current Vice President of Operations Amy Garver and Director of Strategic Development Marcie Long to create the organizations inaugural C-suite, at a board meeting early last month and internally to team members last week.

The development of this new tier of executive leadership will allow the organization to dedicate critical resources and attention to product innovation, member experience, employee development, and community impact for all membership. As the organization grows, the ability to make financially savvy, strategic decisions that encourage a better tomorrow for employees and members remains their top priority. By placing these strategic drivers into their respective positions, Iafrate believes the organization will be able to deepen the impact and reach of the credit union.

I am proud to be creating the first C-suite in our organization and promoting these exceptional leaders. I recognize the importance of elevating team members who have been fundamental in cultivating prior success for our organization. Each of these women is a proven disruptor by challenging the way things have always been done and are key to our healthy, vibrant growth. They energize me to drive progress with them.

As chief operations officer, Garver elevates member experience. She ensures Members First Credit Union processes are optimized by empowering teams to fulfill their purpose of serving members and communities through all channels. She leads with enthusiasm and a deep passion for the service experience. Garver has been with Members First since the merger with Central Michigan Community Federal Credit Union in 2012. She served as the assistant vice president of operations at CMCFCU prior to the merge.

As chief financial officer, McGovern leads the financial affairs of the credit union to ensure outstanding performance, growth, safety and soundness for the organization and members. Taking a risk aware approach, she is able to optimize revenue and enhance the credit unions performance in accordance with strategic initiatives. She develops financial plans that are innovative, smart, and forward-thinking. McGovern joined Members First in 2020 and brings with her over 25 years of experience in the finance and banking industry.

As chief strategy officer, Long cultivates a community that attracts engaged employees who proudly commit to the culture. She ensures Members First Credit Unions strategy, brand, and culture align and personify the co-operatives core values to be trustworthy, caring and enthusiastic. Long has a fierce desire for progress and purpose and over 15 years of credit union experience.

Members First is confident that the purpose-driven leadership of this executive team will position the co-operative to provide financial security for their members while encouraging a better tomorrow in a meaningful and impactful way.

Additional details about Members First Credit Union and their leadership team can be found at mfcu.net/leadership.
Midland native Elizabeth Green recently was initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Green is attending Michigan State University.

They are among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10% of seniors and 7.5% of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10% of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.
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HELSINKI (AP)  Unrest broke out in southern Sweden late Saturday despite police moving a rally by an anti-Islam far-right group, which was planning to burn a Quran among other things, to a new location as a preventive measure.

Scuffles and unrest were reported in the southern town of Landskrona after a demonstration scheduled there by the Danish right-wing party Stram Kurs party was moved to the nearby city of Malmo, some 45 kilometers (27 miles) south.

Up to 100 mostly young people threw stones, set cars, tires and dustbins on fire, and put up a barrier fence that obstructed traffic, Swedish police said. The situation had calmed down in Landskrona by late Saturday but remains tense, police said, adding no injuries were reported in the action.

On Friday evening, violent clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters erupted in the central city of Orebro ahead Stram Kurs' plan to burn a Quran there, leaving 12 police officers injured and four police vehicles set on fire.

Video footage and photos from chaotic scenes in Orebro showed burning police cars and protesters throwing stones and other objects at police officers in riot gear.

Kim Hild, spokeswoman for police in southern Sweden, said earlier Saturday that police would not revoke permission for the Landskrona demonstration because the threshold for doing that is very high in Sweden, which values free speech.

The right of the protesters to demonstrate and speak out weighs enormously, heavily and it takes an incredible amount for this to be ignored, Hild told Swedish news agency TT.

The demonstration took place Saturday evening in a central park in Malmo where Stram Kurs' leader Rasmus Paludan addressed a few dozen people. A small number of counter-protesters threw stones at demonstrators and police was forced to use pepper spray to disperse them.

Paludan himself was reported to have been hit by a stone on his leg, Swedish media said. No serious injuries were reported, according to police.

Since Thursday, clashes have been reported also in Stockholm and in the cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping  all locations where Stram Kurs either planned or had demonstrations.

Paludan, a Danish lawyer who also holds Swedish citizenship, set up Stram Kurs, or Hard Line in 2017. The website of the party, which runs on an anti-immigration and anti-Islam agenda says Stram Kurs is the most patriotic political party in Denmark.
China expresses strong opposition to U.S. lawmakers' visit to Taiwan

Xinhua) 10:22, April 16, 2022

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China firmly opposes any form of official exchange between the United States and Taiwan, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday, adding that China will continue to take effective measures to resolutely protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks in response to a question regarding the visit to Taiwan by certain U.S. lawmakers including Senator Lindsey Graham.

U.S. lawmakers should abide by the one-China policy pursued by the U.S. government. They should stop official exchanges with Taiwan and not make irresponsible remarks, he said.

Zhao mentioned a statement issued by the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army, which, according to the Ministry of National Defense, had conducted a combined combat-readiness patrol and carried out targeted training exercises in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island.

Zhao said that the relevant actions of the Chinese military are countermeasures to the recent negative actions of the United States, including the visit of the U.S. congressional delegation to Taiwan.

According to reports, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe published an article in a U.S. newspaper recently, comparing Taiwan with Ukraine and saying that the United States should make a clear commitment to "help defend Taiwan".

In response, Zhao said the Japanese politician has been making outrageous and irresponsible remarks on the Taiwan question and provoking confrontation between major countries with ulterior motives. "China is firmly opposed to this."

"Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and the Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair. It is fundamentally different from the Ukraine issue and they are completely not comparable with," he said.

The Japanese side should be especially cautious about its words and deeds on the Taiwan question and avoid sending the wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces, he said.

"In response to those absurd remarks, I want to stress that no one should underestimate the strong resolve, firm will and powerful capabilities of the Chinese people to safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhao said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Russia expelled 18 European Union (EU) diplomats in a retaliatory move, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry had summoned Head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Markus Ederer in a protest over the EU's decision to declare 19 Russian diplomats "personae non gratae" earlier in April, the statement added.

"In response to the hostile actions of the European Union, 18 employees working at the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared 'personae non gratae' and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," Xinhua news agency reported.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has condemned and denounced attacks last Friday at dawn by the Israeli occupation forces on worshippers at the Mosques in Al-Quds (Jerusalem), assaulting worshippers, injuring dozens and making arrests
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, on Friday visited a number of popular markets in Tripoli, to check if prices of essential commodities, including vegetables and fruits, are still at the level pegged by the Municipal Guard, Internal Security operatives and the Ministry of Economy and Trade
Amateur Radio helps rescue injured California outdoorsman

A relaxing weekend of camping and fishing did not go as planned last Friday when a member of a California outdoors club fell and broke his hip.

The Old Goats Mountain Club (OGMC) had worked their way along an old Forest Service Road into a rugged, off grid location in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Dave Johnson, KL7DJ, said his friend slipped and fell while trying reel in a catch. The injury was so severe that the man could not be moved safely with a trip that could take at least 2 hours over the rough terrain.



Johnson is the only licensed amateur radio operator in the group and using the California Amateur Linking Radio Association (CARLA) system, he was able to call for emergency help from this vehicle. Greg Stamback, KD6VEN, located in the San Francisco Bay area responded and contacted the Shasta County EMS which dispatched a REACH 5 rescue helicopter from their base in Redding, California.



The entire rescue took about 1 hour and before the helicopter landed a local ambulance company arrived and was able to stabilize the injured camper. After surgery and 3 days in the hospital he is now at home recovering.



Johnson's wife Linda, KL7ISN, helped coordinate getting their friend's vehicle back to Redding. Using pre-planned contact schedules for Friday and Saturday and, after several makeshift auto-patches, the car was driven to a nearby highway where two other club members were able to take the car safely back home.



But the weekend was not over for amateur radio help. While the rest of the group was making their way out of the mountains on Sunday they were flagged down by a stranded motorist. His car's gas tank had been punctured and his cell phone would not work. He was taken to a small community along the way where there was a landline, and he was able to call for help from AAA.



Johnson said the motorist was thankful for the help and another member of the OGMC suggested the motorist might want to consider getting an amateur radio license.



While waiting for a tow truck to arrive, Johnson and a couple of OGMC members talked about amateur radio and how it had helped over the last few days. One member suggested maybe even he should have a transceiver installed in his vehicle. Johnson plans to make sure his friend, and the motorist, get a complete demonstration.



Source ARRL Letter April 14

http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter
Photo: (Photo : Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A tragic accident transpired earlier this week in the state of Oklahoma when a father accidentally ran over his 2-year-old son at their home in Tulsa, according to authorities.

Tulsa Police Department officers said they received calls about an accident around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12. Upon their arrival at the house, the police officers learned that a man accidentally ran over his young child with his Dodge pickup truck while trying to park the vehicle in their driveway.

The family told the police that they had just arrived home from the grocery store and parked the truck out front. People magazine reported that the father opened the house's front door while the mother got out of the truck with their toddler.

Young boy ran back toward the truck without dad's knowledge

Tulsa Police added that the family had no plans to leave the house again that night and that after they got out of the vehicle, the mother started walking toward the house with her son. Unfortunately for the family, the 2-year-old boy ran back toward the truck unbeknownst to his father.

Police wrote that the dad went to pull his truck into the driveway and then felt a bump. When he got out of the vehicle, the father learned that his young son had run back toward the truck and had just run over him with the right rear wheel of the truck.

Police said that the 2-year-old boy was immediately taken to the hospital afterward with the child in critical condition. He eventually died after succumbing to his injuries overnight.

Tulsa Police has not publicly identified the family, saying, "This is a tragic situation for everyone involved." Police also said in their statement that no charges are being filed against the family at this time.

Lt. Steven Florea spoke about the accident in an interview with CBS affiliate KOTV-DT, saying, "This isn't the first one like this, unfortunately. This is something that happens, and it's just very important that anytime you have children, that you're aware of where they are at all time, especially when you're around a moving vehicle or anything like that."

Read Also: Premature Baby Harper Jacobo, the Smallest Ever to Survive With an Incomplete Esophagus

Thousands of kids killed or seriously injured in backover incidents

According to KidsAndCars.org, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to saving kids from accidents in and around motor vehicles, thousands of children are seriously injured or killed in backover incidents every year. A backover incident typically happens when a vehicle is backing into or out of a driveway or parking space, and the driver does not see the child on the car's way.

Newsweek reported that according to the nonprofit, at least 50 kids are backed over by cars or trucks every week in the United States. One-year-old kids are most at risk of backover incidents. A parent or close relative is behind the car's wheel in over 70 percent of these tragic accidents.

Related Article: Louisiana Mom Gives Birth to Son in Restroom of Dunwoody Hotel During Business Trip
Photo: (Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Connerjack Oswalt, a teenager with autism who vanished nearly three years ago in California, was found alive last week outside of a gas station in Utah, authorities said. Oswalt went missing in Clearlake on September 28, 2019, when he was 16 years old, and was reported missing the following day to the Clearlake Police Department.

NBC News reported that the search for Oswalt ended earlier this month after the Summit County Sheriff's Office found the California native outside of Jeremy's Store in Summit Park. Lt. Andrew Wright, with the Summit County Sheriff's Office, issued a statement on Friday, April 15, saying, "It boggles all of our minds. It's just a really miraculous discovery, if you will."

Several weeks before his identity was confirmed by authorities, residents in the area began calling Summit County Sheriff's Office to report a homeless person whom they had seen pushing a cart. According to Wright, the homeless person caught the attention of the residents as they do not get a lot of transients in the area because of the very cold weather.

Fingerprint scan leads to Oswalt discovery in missing person database

Wright added that deputies made contact with the person in question several times in the past and offered to help him find shelter. According to a report by CBS San Francisco, he always refused their offer and would not give them his name.

A person then called the sheriff's office on April 9, telling them that a young man was found sleeping outside a gas station. When deputies arrived there, the person was cold, so they let him warm up inside their patrol vehicle. Deputies took this as an opportunity to scan the person's fingerprint to know more about his background.

Wright said the fingerprint scan yielded a hit for an arrest warrant out of Nevada for assaulting a police officer. According to Wright, the warrant was issued back in February, but Oswalt's last name was wrong.

Deputies did some more digging as they suspected there was more to the story. Their hunch was proven correct as they later came across a missing person poster in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database for Oswalt. When both Clearlake police and Oswalt's mother were contacted, they confirmed that he was still missing.

Read Also: Florida Teen Dies After Taking Turns With Friends in Shooting Each Other While Wearing Body Armor

Oswalt reunited with his family after a three-year search

Upon learning the great news, Oswalt's family immediately drove from Idaho Falls, where they had relocated, to Utah to be reunited with him. Details about how long he was in Utah or how he arrived there in the first place remain unclear at this time. Clearlake police did reveal on Friday that they believe Oswalt was a runaway.

Suzanne Flint, Oswalt's mother, was not immediately available for comment. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Oswalt had a history of running away. Before Oswalt's disappearance in September 2019, SFGate reported that he had already gone missing in May of the same year after his mother took his phone away. Oswalt, who was diagnosed with autism in 2014, fled his home in Clearlake, taking only his cat when he ran away.

Related Article: Covid-19 Pandemic Worsens Mental Health Crisis For High School Students in the United States
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The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has attributed the current power outages in the country to an inadequate generation capacity.



Speaking to Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Starr Today, a Research Analyst with Institute, Fritz Moses, stated that the country is not generating enough to meet the demand, hence the frequent power outages.



Asides from that, he also attributed the inability to generate enough power to the fire incident that recently occurred at the Aboadze switchyard plant.





The power outages in Accra, Western Region, Central Region and parts of Ashanti Region its something that need more detailed responses. Because the fact has been that have capacity about 5300 megawatt in the country now and our peak demand has been around 2400 megawatt so we should have an available capacity of 4000 megawatt.



But, if Aboadze plant goes off and we are experiencing intermittent power outages when Aboadze is providing about 1000megawatt and its way lesser than the excess generated from the dependent capacity. Its best to know whether we actually have enough available power to meet our needs, he disclosed.





He adeded, we think the root cause has been very unfortunate to say that we dont necessary have excess capacity in our generation because the in store capacity is not available all the time. The dependable or available capacity is always lesser than the in store capacity because most of the plants do not generate at full capacity.



Meanwhile, the Ranking Member for the Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament, John Abdulai Jinapor, has said Ghana risks another bout of power challenges if nothing is done about the current energy situation.



In a piece on Facebook, the former deputy minister challenged the claims by Vice President Bawumia that country paying over GHC17 billion for excess energy capacity.



The Energy Ministers press briefing this morning at the Information Ministry confirmed a system Peak demand of 3,469MW against dependable capacity of 3,861MW for Ghana in 2022 (find table below).



It is important to note that the Energy Commission has always recommended the Country ensures a Reserve Margin (insurance) of 18% above the peak demand. The reserve Margin which translates to 324MW, brings the total dependable capacity to 4,096MW, Jinapor said.



He further noted: From the Ministers own figures Ghana has dependable capacity of 3,861MW which is below the required capacity?. At this rate Ghana risk experiencing massive Dumsor if nothing is done urgently. So the question to Dr. Bawumiah is; where did you conjure those so-called excess capacity payments. We insist the Government publishes the breakdown of the so-called 17bn cedis payments on excess capacity. The deception is getting nauseating to say the least.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









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Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has donated 20 thousand Ghana cedis to the Appiatse Support Fund.



Chairperson of the Appiatse Support Fund, Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee said Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempehs donation, as she put it, is part of the collective effort by Ghanaians in the nation building agenda.



She thanked the Minister for his kind gesture towards the Appiatse Support Fund, and further called on other sector Ministers to give generously to the support fund.



Meanwhile, General Manager of Supergeona Enterprise, Madam Gloria Ayimah also made a cheque donation of GHC50,000 Ghana Cedis on behalf of her company.



The Chairperson of the Fund who received the donations expressed gratitude to all donors on behalf of the Committee members



She further appealed to other institutions and individuals to support and donate to the fund as the monies accrued so far is not adequate for the rebuilding and restoration of livelihood of the Appiatse community.



We were called to mobilize sufficient funds, as stated by the Honorable Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, and I can say that, at this time, the money is not yet sufficient she hinted.



Global Media Alliance, Liebherr Ghana Limited and the Administrator and Secretary of the Appiatse Support Fund also contributed GHC10,000 and GHC45,000 respectively.











Source: Gbcghanonline.com









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The US has agreed to sell military equipment worth $997m (763m) to Nigeria, including 12 attack helicopters and numerous Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) rockets.



The equipment had been requested by Nigeria, and would help to improve security in Sub-Saharan Africa in line with US foreign policy goals and shared security objectives, a statement from the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.



The US also said Nigeria will have no difficulty in acquiring the weapons, but the process is expected to take at least five years.



It will include training Nigerian military personnel on how to use the equipment and on human rights, to avoid harming civilians.



Nigeria is struggling to tackle violence by extremist groups such as Boko Haram and the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap), as well as worsening attacks by armed criminal gangs who carry out killings and kidnappings for ransom.



This is the second major arms sale to Nigeria by the US in five years.



The US had previously rejected Nigeria's request for military equipment due to human rights concerns during the administration of Barack Obama.



But in 2017 the Trump administration agreed to sell 12 Super Tucano planes to Nigeria, which were delivered last year.

Source: BBC









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Bellefontaine City Schools set to communicate with International Space Station Students at Bellefontaine City Schools are gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Students will be speaking with astronaut Kayla Barron on the International Space Station (ISS) by amateur radio on Thursday, April 21, 2022, at 1:13 p.m. Nine students from Bellefontaine Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle School have been selected to ask questions about space. Kayla Barron is part of the 2017 Astronaut Class. She has a masters degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Cambridge and served as a submarine warfare officer before joining NASA. She was part of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station, which launched on November 10, 2021. She has done two spacewalks as part of this mission. She is part of the Artemis Team, which is tasked with sending the first woman and the next man to walk on the moon in 2024. You can see more about Kayla Barron at:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/barron-kayla The direct radio link will be between the Bellefontaine High School Amateur Radio Club (W8BCS) and Kayla Barron (KI5LAL). Members of the Champaign Logan Amateur Radio Club (W8FTV) provided equipment and worked with students to set up the antennas and radios to make this contact possible. The contact will last about 10 minutes as the ISS passes overhead A live stream of the contact will be available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t5ZQOw2j68 The radio contact will be streamed live into each Bellefontaine City Schools classroom Thursday, April 21, 2022, from 12:50 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The community is invited to watch this special event, too. You can stop by the Bellefontaine High School auditorium Thursday around 12:30 p.m. Students also had the opportunity to participate in space-themed lessons and create art in their classrooms. This contact is part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Bellefontaine is one of only nine groups in the United States to talk to ISS astronauts using amateur radio through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program in the spring of 2022. ARISS inspires students worldwide to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math through amateur radio communications opportunities with the International Space Station (ISS) on-orbit crew. ARISS provides opportunities for the school community to become more aware of the substantial benefits of human spaceflight and the exploration and discovery that occur on spaceflight journeys. For more information about the ARISS program, visit www.ariss.org Source with pictures

https://www.peakofohio.com/news/details.cfm?clientid=5&id=339129
Bishop Abraham Kofi Bruce, Founder and Head Pastor of Christ Living Faith Miracle Ministry, has called on Christians worldwide to pray for the return of peace in Ukraine and Russia, as they mark the death of Jesus Christ.



As we mark this day, let's us unite and make use of the death of Jesus Christ today to pray for Ukraine and Russia for peace to reign again, he admonished.



Ukraine and Russia have been at war for three months since the latter invaded the former in early February, this year.



Delivering a sermon to mark Good Friday, Bishop Bruce said Christians must unite in prayer to bring peace between the two countries.



He said the death of Jesus Christ represented a watershed moment in the history of mankind's reconciliation with God.



"We received life in His death and today marks the beginning of we obtaining our lives from God in the death of Jesus Christ," Bishop Bruce said.



He said the death of Christ was marked by unusual occurrences demonstrating that an innocent and good man had been killed and that God had granted all access into His divine inheritance.



Bishop Bruce urged Ghanaians to forgive one another and forge ahead with unity.



"As we commemorate His death and agony, let us remember His benevolence and forgive one another," he stressed.





Source: GNA









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The Reverend Samuel Anang Ofoli, Minister in charge of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Redemption Congregation, has admonished Ghanaians, especially Christians, to stop behaving like Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus Christ.



Just like Judas, currently, covetousness has overtaken the people, including Christians, making some take bribes and engage in corrupt activities at the expense of the general good of society, he said.



Rev. Ofoli gave the advice in his sermon on Good Friday on the topic: "Dying with Christ," when the church at Tema Community Nine joined other Christians worldwide to mark the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.



He said because of personal gains, some church leaders were turning the church into a commercial entity and called on them to repent from their deeds in line with the call from Jesus to the disciples at Gethsemane to watch and pray in order not to fall into temptation.



Touching on why the Jews connived to arrest and kill Jesus, Rev Ofoli said it was due to His doctrines and teachings, which were against their beliefs, adding that some Christians of today behaved like the Jews, who saw the tenets of the Religion as a hindrance to their lifestyles.



On the significance of the cock crowing in the crucifixion sequence of events, he said it was a call to repentance, an announcement of the birthing of a new dawn of salvation and the plans Jesus has for mankind.



Meanwhile, the crucifixion remembrance service also saw congregants being served communion wine and bread to represent the blood and body of Jesus Christ.







Source: GNA









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The bearded Lebanese man, captured in a viral video clip wielding a sword and a sheath in Osu, was heard screaming: Come out, come out! I will cut your neck!



Osman Brustani, the man, believed to be Lebanese, caught on tape threatening to slit the throat of a Ghanaian, has been arrested.



The police say, Brustani is currently in police custody and will be taken through the due process of the law.



Before the arrest, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare reached out to the victim yesterday, Tuesday, 13th April 2022 via a telephone call and he seemed traumatised by the incident. As a result upon the IGPs instruction, the victim has been given psychological support by a clinical psychologist from the Police Hospital. The IGP also followed up with a personal visit to the victim today, Wednesday, 13th April, 2022, the police said in a Facebook post.



The bearded man, captured in the viral video clip wielding a sword he had pulled from a sheath, was heard screaming, Come out, come out! I will cut your neck! as a group of Ghanaian men tried to calm him in the heat of the melee, which took place on Oxford Street, Osu.



The Lebanese Embassy condemned the action, calling on the Ghana Police Service to investigate and to take appropriate measures against the offender.



We reject all forms of violence and intimidation, as well as anyone who does not treat the people of the host country with respect and in accordance with applicable laws, the embassy posted on Facebook.



Speaking on Asaase Radiio Wednesday, Iddrisu Yusif, the Ghanaian who had the confrontation with the man of Middle Eastern origin, said the latter parked at the spot where he sells shoes and after an hour he asked him to move his vehicle, which resulted in the unprovoked attack.



The trader was disorientated, telling the ABS: I didnt do anything wrong to him  Im not feeling good at all, and I dont know why. I dont know what is happening to me.



Yusif said he has reported the case to the police. Photo Below-





Source: asaaseradio.com









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Seven persons among 20 passengers on board a boat they were travelling on got drowned after the boat capsized on the Volta Lake following a heavy storm that hit it midway through the journey.



The boat was travelling from Tongor-Dzemeni in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region to Havorkope Island in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District of the Eastern Region.



Bodies of the deceased - Aku Dzetror, 65, Aku Adanyo, 55, Mary Magic, 39, Faulting Kpeli, 32, Esther Akorli, 31, Evelyn Akpaglo, 31, and Edward Gati, 31  have been retrieved and deposited at a private mortuary on the Island.



The Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ebenezer Tetteh, told the Ghana News Agency that the remaining 13 passengers were rescued, however, the boat operator had not been found and was feared to have drowned too.



A team of fishermen and rescuers are searching for the boat operator, DSP Tetteh said, adding that further development about the situation would be communicated.



Meanwhile, some residents of Tongor-Gyemeni say about 30 people on board the boat are feared dead after it capsized.



Mr John Kofi Abbery, an elder at Tongor-Dzemeni, who visited the scene immediately after the incident, said close to 30 bodies were retrieved from the river at the time of his visit and that most of the victims were women and some students travelling to their parents for the Easter break.



If you are not a man you can't look at the bodies, they are many. This is painful, he said.



Miss Golo Doh Benedicta, a 16-year-old survivor, who spoke to the GNA via phone from Havorkope, said the incident occurred at about 1600 to 1700 hours on Thursday, April 14.



She said the outboard motor of the boat went off and water began to enter when the storm hit.



Some of us were shouting, others were crying, wailing and calling for help from God because we saw the boat was sinking, she said, describing the incident as horrific.



She said she jumped onto one of the boards of the boat and was floating on the surface of the water before another boat came to her rescue and some other passengers.



The boat was carrying fertilizers and drinks among other goods, she said, adding; I survived by grace, I really saw my death, I couldn't do anything. I was afraid and crying but I thank God for saving my life.



Mr Mawuta Kpetigo, a teacher at Havorkope, who also confirmed the incident, said search operations were ongoing to retrieve the rest of the bodies.



My elder sister is also among the victims, but her body hasnt been found yet, so we are still looking for her and other bodies, he said.



More than 500 members of the community were gathered at the shore while the search continued and the mood was sorrowful, Mr Kpetigo said.

Source: GNA









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Mr Barima Awuah Asiedu-Larbi, the Municipal Chief Executive of Akuapim North, has denied receiving a petition from the Otwetiri Community demanding assistance for the provision of piped-borne water and a dumping place in their town.



Unfortunately, I have not received any letter or petition from them indicating a particular concern but as the MCE, I am very much aware that they are facing one or two issues," he said.



Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Asiedu-Larbi said, the Otwetiri village received a mechanised borehole in 2019.



"They had one linked to power that was running 24 hours a day, so I'm shocked they're complaining about a water scarcity," he said.



According to him, he was not aware of the current water deficit in Otwetiri because he was there when the community's automated borehole was commissioned.



However, he stated that his doors were opened for residents to bring their challenges and requests to him for redress.



He also assured the people that he would visit the community to ascertain the veracity of the situation, saying, Ill move to the community to check the situation.



On March 21, 2022, Otwetiri Victory Village Savings and Loans Association in the Akuapim North Municipality claimed to have sent a petition to the municipal assembly asking for a dumping site and pipe-borne water.



According to the petitioners, the Otwetiri River was their sole source of water, which became polluted with trash when it rained and was also insufficient to meet the rising population's needs.

Source: GNA









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US-based Ghanaian gospel songwriter, Sarah Sings is out with another music video.



The new visuals accompany her recently released song titled At Your Feet.



The song, which is already gaining traction within the music landscape in Ghana features Pastor Isaiah Fosu-Kwakye Jnr.



It is a motivational track admonishing every person to seek the face of God, even in times of adversity.



The song comes from a place of divine transformation which the US-based artiste says is associated with constant connection with the Maker.



Sarah Owusu-Asante, as she is known outside music circles, explained that sometimes believers get consumed by negativity ensuing around them, therefore it is a song to draw us into a deeper and intimate relationship with God.



The video was released on Friday, April 15 and is currently available on YouTube.



Sarah Sings was raised in Accra and had her basic education in Nungua and speaks three languages - English, Fante and Ga.



Sarah comes from a family of musicians and gained most of her early training from her parents and music directors.



At age eight, she began to sing with her parents and blossomed into a powerful soloist by age 13.



She has served as a lead vocalist, choir leader and worship leader in many groups including Family Choir (KNUST), KNUST Mass Choir and Gospel Light Mass Choir.



She serves as an international worship leader at Life Chapel International, USA.



Sarah has ministered at services and conventions all over the United States and the Caribbean with her Pastor and mentor, Prophet Richard Owusu.



Music video below:





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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.

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Reminder Dutch PACCdigi contest 2022 - This Sunday! This years Dutch PACCdigi contest, sponsored by the Dutch Radio Society VERON, will take place on SUNDAY the 17th of April from 07:00 UTC until 19:00 UTC.



The contest is worldwide, so everybody can work everybody.



This year three mode-categories are used: FT8 only, RTTY only as well as the combination of those two (MIX). The exchange is the 4 position QTH-locator where the station is located.



For RTTY and WSJT_X via N1MM, an UDC-file (User Defined Contest file)is available.

The FT8-QSOs are to be made in the standard QSO fashion ! No contest modes at all this year. Please use the correct FT8 frequencies for this contest.



The multiplier is the number of Dutch locators, given by Dutch stations, worked on each band and in the MIX category also per mode.



Rules are available at www.veron.nl/PACCdigi



The PACCdigi Contest Manager invites everybody to participate in this contest.



73 Wil van der Laken  PA0BWL



PACCdigi.manager@veron.nl
Hands of the Week: Two Royal Flushes & an Ivey Win at 2022 Triton Poker Cyprus

April 15, 2022 Chad Holloway Executive Editor U.S.

PokerNews is known throughout the world for our industry-leading live updates for both live and online events. In fact, right now we're offering various updates right here.

Over the years, weve captured memorable hands, many of which have become a part of poker history. In this column, we will bring you some of the biggest hands of the week as reported in the PokerNews Live Updates from the 2022 Triton Poker Cyprus.

The five-event series, which you can read about in full here, crowned winners such as Andras Nemeth, Phil Ivey, and Winfred Yu.

Remember, if youre playing an event PokerNews is covering, you can get in the updates via the MyStack App. You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.

Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.

Kim Makes Royal Flush to Chunk Soyza

Tommy Kim

In Event #1: $50,000 NLH 6-Handed, it was Level 19 (30,000/60,000/60,000) when Tommy Kim raised to 120,000 with from the cutoff and Michael Soyza called with from the small blind. The big blind got out of the way and action was heads-up.

The flop was and Soyza checked. Kim bet 80,000 and Soyza check-called to see on the turn.

Both players checked the turn and came on the river.

Soyza bet 400,000 and Kim took another look to make sure he had it. Kim raised to 1,000,000 and Soyza quickly called. The cards were turned over and Soyza saw the bad news while Kim dragged the big pot with the Royal Flush.

Davies First to Bust

Seth Davies

In Event #2: $100,000 NLH 8-Handed it was Level 3 (1,000/1,500/1,500) when Daniel Dvoress raised to 3,000 from the button and Artur Martirosian three-bet to 15,000 from the small blind. Seth Davies was sitting in the big blind and four-bet to 37,000 after using a time bank. Dvoress contemplated his options and then decided to five-bet to 70,000. Martirosian got out of their way and Davies six-bet shoved for around 160,000. Dvoress snap-called.

Seth Davies:

Daniel Dvoress:

The flop came for Dvoress to hit a set of kings.

The turn was the which didn't change anything and neither did the on the river for Davies to be sent away from the tables ... or was it Stephen Chidwick?

Watson Hits Royal Flush to Double & Take Chip Lead

Mike Watson

In the same tournament in Level 21 (50,000/100,000/100,000), Mike Watson limped in from the small blind and Tom Vogelsang checked his option from the big blind.

Watson bet 100,000 on the flop of and Vogelsang raised to 400,000. Watson reraised to 800,000 and Vogelsang four-bet jammed with Watson covered. Watson called off.

Mike Watson:

Tom Vogelsang:

Vogelsang was slightly ahead with two pair while Watson had flush and straight draws. The on the turn gave him the flush and the on the river gave him a Royal Flush he didn't need to double up and stay alive.

Running Clubs Send Cates to the Rail

Dan Cates

In Event #3: $75,000 Short Deck, it was Level 13 (40,000 ante) when Daniel Cates shoved from the cutoff for 715,000 and Watson called on the button.

Daniel Cates:

Mike Watson:

The board ran out with the running clubs eliminating Cates in tenth place.

Ouch for the @junglemandan ## # Dan is knocked out in 10th following a disgusting hand vs @SirWatts ## in the $ https://t.co/xWvn8tnqdR  Triton Poker (@tritonpoker)

Ivey Straightens Out Leow on Way to Victory

Phil Ivey

In the same tournament, it was Level 16 (80,000 ante) when Ivan Leow shoved for 1,170,000 from under the gun. Phil Ivey called and the remaining players all folded.

Ivan Leow:

Phil Ivey:

Leow had run into the aces of Ivey who had his opponent covered by only three antes. However, Leow flopped a set on the flop. The gave Ivey a gutshot, and he completed that straight on the river.

With the ace playing low (in short deck, A-6-7-8-9 is a wheel), Ivey's nine-high straight saw him eliminate Leow in seventh place. Ivey would go on to win the tournament for $1,170,000.

To see what all PokerNews is live reporting today, simply click here.

Sharelines Check out some of the biggest & game-changing hands from recent PokerNews Live Updates.
Cuba is not alone. The United States has imposed harsh sanctions on Venezuela and Nicaragua for sustaining regimes Washington opposes.

by Katrina vanden Heuvel

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is in many ways bigger than Russia, its bigger than Ukraine, State Department spokesman Ned Price recently declared. There are principles that are at stake here  Each and every country has a sovereign right to determine its own foreign policy, has a sovereign right to determine for itself with whom it will choose to associate in terms of its alliances, its partnerships and what orientation it wishes to direct its gaze. The United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated last year, does not recognize spheres of influence, adding that the concept should have been retired after World War II.

Those are noble but empty words  because they obviously do not apply to the Western Hemisphere. Take Cuba, which continues to suffer under an embargo that has been enforced for 60 years. That, plus the pandemic and President Donald Trumps reversal of Obama-era liberalization  a crackdown sustained by the Biden administration  has bludgeoned the islands economy. Food and medicine are scarce; many young and entrepreneurial Cubans are leaving the island in droves. The pressure contributed in large measure to the protests that stunned the island last July.

Yes, the one-party regime remains and still represses much dissent. But the embargo and related policies have failed for six decades and 11 presidents. Cubans are still applauded for their humanitarian efforts, dispatching doctors to help in disasters across the developing (and developed) world. The United States and Cuba cooperate in efforts to police drug trafficking and limit terrorism. Yet the embargo continues  punishing the Cuban people until they get rid of the government the United States does not approve of. So much for choosing their own path.

Cuba is not alone. The United States has imposed harsh sanctions on Venezuela and Nicaragua for sustaining regimes Washington opposes. Even the recent sanctions on Russia, says Juan Sebastian Gonzalez, the senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council, are designed such that they will have an impact on those governments that have economic affiliations with Russia  So Venezuela will start feeling the pressure; Nicaragua will start feeling the pressure; as will Cuba.

At the same time, the national security establishment is raising alarms about growing Chinese involvement in the Western Hemisphere. China is now Latin Americas leading trade partner, as well as a leading source of direct investment and financing. Interested in security access to commodity exports, China assisted the region after the 2008 financial crisis, with investments that generated jobs and helped decrease poverty in the region. During the pandemic, the Chinese rushed vaccines (of questionable effectiveness, it should be noted) into the region and provided continued demand for products.

All this raises fears about Chinas support for what are castigated as populist governments from Argentina to Venezuela. Already armchair strategists are scoping out how to respond to the threat posed by Chinese trade, investment and financing. Evan Ellis, a professor at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, penned a report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies entitled Preparing for Deterioration of the Latin America and Caribbean Strategic Environment, which suggested the United States doesnt have the resources to compete with China on investments and aid to the region.

To make up the deficit, Ellis chillingly argues for an aggressive U.S. military buildup in the region, a propaganda offensive to discredit any governments friendly to China, potentially promoting resistance movements against Chinese, Russian and Iranian influence, and, of course, sanctions for those who stray. The professor did not mention the principle of allowing nations to choose their own course.

Another example of this view comes from Post contributing columnist Robert Kagan, who argues in Foreign Affairs that the United States should embrace its role as a global hegemon. This is a duty, not a choice, he writes: A militarily, economically, and culturally powerful country exerts influence on other states by its mere presence, the way a larger body in space affects the behavior of smaller bodies through its gravitational pull. The United States is entangled because what it offers is genuinely attractive to much of the world.

But in our own hemisphere, the gravitational pull comes not from the United States in decline, but from China on the rise, offering markets, money, investment  and a governing model: capitalism with Chinese characteristics. If the national security establishment has its way, the United States wont let our neighbors choose their own orientation. It will push propaganda, reinforce corrupt elites and threaten or impose sanctions for those who dont fall in line with a model that has failed repeatedly across the hemisphere.

Hypocrisy is common in international relations. The Russians and Chinese, for example, constantly invoke international law, even as they trample it when they deem it necessary. The United States champions a rules-based order, in which we make the rules and hold ourselves exempt from them when desirable. The principle of respecting nations and their right to choose their own path is a good one. The countries of our own hemisphere wish we would practice it as well as preach it.

Author Bio: Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editorial director and publisher of the Nation and is president of the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord (ACURA). She writes a weekly column at the Washington Post and is a frequent commentator on U.S. and international politics for Democracy Now, PBS, ABC, MSNBC and CNN. Find her on Twitter @KatrinaNation. This article is distributed by Globetrotter in partnership with The Nation.
Jake Schindler Finishes the Job for $3.2 Million at Super High Roller Bowl Europe

April 15, 2022 Matt Hansen Live Reporting Executive

After coming into the final day as chip leader, Jake Schindler defeated Paul Phua in heads-up play to win the $250,000 Super High Roller Bowl Europe Main Event for $3,200,000 at Merit Crystal Cove Casino and Resort in North Cyprus.

The event drew 32 entrants for a prize pool of $8,000,000 and was streamed on the PokerGO YouTube channel. Phua picked up $2,080,000 for second place, while Christoph Vogelsang took home $1,280,000 for their third-place finish. Timothy Adams and Teun Mulder finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

$250,000 Super High Roller Bowl Europe Results

Place Name Country Prize 1 Jake Schindler United States $3,200,000 2 Paul Phua Malaysia $2,080,000 3 Christoph Vogelsang Germany $1,280,000 4 Timothy Adams Canada $880,000 5 Teun Mulder Netherlands $560,000

Winners Reaction

"It feels great to run good in the big one," Schindler said in his post-win interview with PokerNews.

Schindler previously finished third in Triton's Event #2, a $903,000 score, but a disappointing finish considering he held the chip lead until Mulder, the eventual winner, cracked his pocket queens. The disappointment set up the opportunity for redemption with the $3.2 million win.

"I had a disappointing finish in the $100K, even if the result was good, so it's great to win this one."

Meanwhile, after a series with its share of ups and downs, the champ will take a short rest before getting right back to it in Monaco and throughout the Summer.

"I plan to be at EPT Monte Carlo, and I will be playing some of the higher buy-ins throughout the World Series."

Best Free to Play Slots

Final Table Action

Michael Addamo was the first player to fall after coming into the finale with the least amount of chips. The Aussie was treading water for the first part of the day, and his demise came when his ace-king could not improve against the pocket queens of Adams. The two players had nearly identical stacks at the time.

The final six battled it out for several hours before Ali Imsirovic busted on the bubble when his pocket kings ran into the pocket aces of Adams. Despite coming into the day near the bottom of the leaderboard, Adams was able to take advantage of the two early knockouts to move near the top.

Mulder was next to go in fifth when his ace-queen fell behind the king-jack of Schindler as a jack came on the flop. Another jack fell on the river and Schindler was able to hang on to pick up the elimination. The Dutchman took home $560,000 for the min-cash finish.

Schindler held a commanding chip lead going into the dinner break with over 4 million chips, while Vogelsang was his nearest competitor with just over 1.5 million.

Adams hit the rail shortly after players returned from dinner break. He got it in with ace-jack, but he couldnt improve against the ace-queen of Phua when a queen came on the flop and he was out in fourth place for $880,000.

Runner-up Paul Phua

Vogelsang was next out in third place when he took his shot against the chip leader but came up short. The German called for his entire stack with queen-nine, but Schindler beat him with pocket sixes to lock up one of the top two spots.

It was up to Phua to try and catch Schindler, but the deficit proved too great, and he came up short just one hand after folding the top pair. The big moment came when Phua got his last few chips in with queen-four and couldn't improve against Schindler's queen-jack.

Congratulations to Jake Schindler for winning the Super High Roller Bowl Europe at Merit Crystal Cove Resort and Casino in North Cyprus for $3,200,000!

*Images courtesy of Merit Poker and Joe Giron/Triton Poker

Save $20 on an annual subscription to PokerGO by using the code EU22WEB at check out. Sign up here.

Sharelines Check out the latest from Jake Schindler's win at the $250K SHRB Europe Main Event in North Cyprus
Action will be live at King's Resort in Rozvadov for continuing coverage of the 2022 WSOP International Circuit. The flagship WSOPC Spring Edition 1,700 Main Event takes the stage with a guaranteed prize pool of 1,000,000. With cards in the air at 2 p.m. local time, poker enthusiasts from near and far will aim to make it all the way through the nine scheduled levels.

Each level will last 60 minutes with a break after every two levels and all participants receive 50,000 chips each. Shall they run out of chips entirely, they can take advantage of up to two re-entries throughout the day. Furthermore, the late registration for the marquee event remains open for the first two levels on Day 2 as well.

Day 1a of the 1,700 Main Event has seen 87 players advance to Day 2 of the tournament from a field of 261 entries. Hungary's Tibor Nagygyorgy currently leads the way with 479,100 chips.

Notable names who did not make it through Day 1a who are expected to return for Day 1b include Belgian former November Niner Pierre Neuville who will be looking to make Day 2 after firing three bullets on Friday. Other players expected to join the action once more are Albert Hoekendijk, Raoul Refos, Symeon Alexandridis, Silviu Baltateanu, Sebastian Langrock, and Claudio Di Giacomo

The top 12 of this event will receive a seat to the WSOP Europe Main Event worth 10,350 as well as their cash prize. Not only does the winner of this tournament win the coveted WSOP Circuit Ring but they will also earn a seat for the WSOP Tournament of Champions at the end of the 2022 WSOP in Las Vegas, which offers a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000.

Stay tuned right here on PokerNews to find out who will earn the WSOP Circuit Main Event ring in the days to come. The live reporting team will be on the floor from start to finish, providing as many key hands as possible en route to crowning a champion.
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The largest developable piece of peninsula property along Charleston Harbor hasn't hit the market, but it already has a potential buyer  the company in charge of getting it ready for sale.

Los Angeles-based developer Lowe said in documents filed this week with state environmental regulators that it "wants to acquire the property" that currently serves as the State Ports Authority's Union Pier Terminal.

The SPA plans to sell 69 acres of terminal property that it no longer needs, and it has hired Lowe to line up all the zoning and permits needed for future development and to market the property to prospective buyers.

Among those prospective buyers is Lowe itself.

The California company, which owns the Wild Dunes Resort on the Isle of Palms and is building a luxury hotel on the site of the SPA's former headquarters next to Waterfront Park, said in a regulatory filing that it "plans to acquire the property for an urban core development with open space, streets, multiple buildings and uses, including office, commercial, hotel, public and residential uses."

Lowe estimates the developed property will add more than $1 billion to the city's tax base and create more than 2,000 jobs.

The SPA has said it will sell the Union Pier property through a bid process that will award the site to the "highest and best use," but not necessarily the highest price.

That's still the plan, according to agency spokeswoman Liz Crumley.

"This will go out for public bid for purchase," Crumley said on April 11.

Lowe also acknowledged there will be a bidding process for the property but did not back away from its statement that it plans to acquire the site.

"Our mission is to masterplan and entitle the property for its highest and best use so that it can be sold according to the ports process," Dan Battista, Lowe's executive vice president, said in a written statement.

"In the coming months, we look forward to meeting with various stakeholder groups, including city staff members, conservation, historic and preservation organizations, neighborhood associations and Explore Charleston to gather valuable insight and feedback," Battista said. "We anticipate sharing more information as it becomes available.

The SPA hired Lowe two years ago to entitle and sell 69.2 acres of Union Pier property that the maritime agency has said it no longer needs for its business operations. It will retain a portion at the north end of the site for a new cruise ship terminal, a project that's been tied up in court for years.

The SPA has been paying $50,000 a month to Lowe to get the Union Pier property ready for sale  a process that's expected to take up to another year. At the time that agreement was finalized, SPA chairman Bill Stern said the privately held developer "is uniquely positioned to handle this important project," adding Lowe "has a national platform, and a strong and experienced local presence led by Dan Battista."

One aspect of getting Union Pier ready for sale is cleaning up the environmental legacy, and Lowe's plan to acquire the site was stated in a proposal filed with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Lowe wants the state agency to approve a voluntary cleanup contract that would let the company remediate existing environmental issues. Such contracts are common and are a way to speed up cleanups without burdening a new property owner with liabilities for pollution created by previous owners. Lowe said that contract, if approved, could be transferred to any Union Pier buyer as part of the sale process, as long as that buyer didn't create the pollution in the first place.

The SPA has owned the property since 1981, but before that time the site housed several businesses that stored and transported fuel and chemicals that could have seeped into the soil and groundwater, according to Lowe's application.

There are also at least five above-ground storage tanks that once contained gasoline, diesel and oil that will have to be removed. If the contract is approved, Lowe would begin collecting and documenting soil and water samples with the aim of drawing up a cleanup plan that would have to be approved by DHEC.

The state agency is accepting public comments on Lowe's request for a voluntary cleanup contract through May 11.
In Charleston, there is an art to the worship  and, in many instances, a sense of worship in the art.

Works by local visual artists grace numerous sacred spaces. Music with religious themes resonates through our hallowed halls. Poetry has been known to pop up, too, lending healing words in times of strife.

It's certainly no surprise that a cultural hub often called the Holy City would cross the streams of art and spirituality, whether by infusing its sanctuaries with local art or populating its art with higher powers.

Faith in art

In Charleston, art has often held a prominent place in sacred spaces.

Consider Synagogue Emanu-El in West Ashley. In the 1970s, a committee led by congregant Charlot Karesh commissioned a menorah from artist Willard Hirsch.

A fifth-generation Jewish Charlestonian, Hirsch was a prominent artist whose work is featured in synagogues. Researching the commission ahead of its 2021 commemoration, Emanu-El member Neda Nussbaum unearthed a reflection by the artist.

I feel that the synagogue is the natural patron of the Jewish sculptor just as the Church was of its artists during the Renaissance.

Titled "The Menorah of the Six Million," the work was created as a reminder of the six million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust. Made of anodized aluminum, its two pieces each feature six branches of the candelabra, which flank both the left and right sides of the sanctuary's main platform, or bimah. The omission of the central "trunk," or the base of the menorah, serves as a symbol of its destruction of the Jewish people by the Holocaust.

Nussbaum noted that for many members who came of age in the synagogue in the 1970s and thereafter, the sculpture has been an integral part of their worship.

That convergence of art and Judaism continues today at the synagogue. At 7:30 p.m. April 27, it will host Violins of Hope, with music performed on restored violins from the Holocaust by soloists from the Philip Kutev national folklore ensemble of Bulgaria. The event will include insights on how the Bulgarian people defied Nazi deportation to save 49,000 people from the Holocaust.

And art continues to act as a means to heal.

At The Voice of Hope Church and Worship Center in downtown Charleston, the Rev. Kenneth Edmondson identified a need to engage younger generations, and to stem the violence in the city, he found that history-focused art fostered meaningful exchange.

He invited artist Abba Nizar to create a gallery of works that portray events in Black history through the centuries, events that have not been previously emphasized in teaching on American history. Nizar created the African Redemptive Struggle Museum in a room adjacent to the sanctuary.

History opens another outreach door. If you dont know how you got where you are, then you cant have much of a vision to where you want to go, Edmondson told The Post and Courier in October.

Circular Congregational Church has looked to many forms of art. In 2020, the church presented an exhibition of works by local artist Richard "Duke" Hagerty featuring the Stations of the Cross, fantastical works that merged the artist's religious upbringing with his ongoing interest in philosophy.

The church that year also commissioned a poem from Marjory Wentworth, former poet laureate of South Carolina, in response to the loss of lives from COVID-19. Titled "One Hundred Thousand Names," it was displayed on a large-scale banner that was place on the fence facing the sidewalk, offering passersby a moment of reflection.

It also offers a regular Jazz Vespers concert, which explores faith through that musical genre.

St. Andrew's Church in Mount Pleasant has also integrated the arts, dedicating a gallery to them.

"We believe that creativity should be overflowing in our worship of the Creator, and worship that honors and glorifies Him should be at the heart of the arts," it states on its website. "We want to use everything in our means, therefore, to worship our amazing God who has blessed us."

Artful sanctuaries

Still, there is more rich territory to mine.

"It's an area that's woefully underserved," said Tyler Rollins, executive director of Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts.

The nonprofit organization, which has its main office in New York City, was established in 2021. It hosts residencies in Charleston to nurture connections between religious faith and contemporary art.

Rollins formerly owned a public gallery space in the Chelsea arts district of New York City. Raised in North Carolina, he set up the foundation with the aim of fostering meaningful connections between the contemporary arts and the realm of spirituality and faith, particularly in the South.

"In New York, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine has been a leader in contemporary arts programming, even having a clergy position of Canon for Liturgy and the Arts," Rollins said.

The foundation is now establishing partnerships with local arts and faith-based organizations, with a focus on reaching new audiences and connecting different communities.

The organization held its inaugural event at the College of Charleston in November, hosting visual artist Amina Ahmed, who gave a performative talk about her work, which is deeply infused with her Sufi faith.

While it may have room for continued effort, the marriage of art and spirituality is by no means new to Charleston. Rollins points to the Thresholds exhibitions, curated by Eleanor Heartney in 2004, as an example of a local initiative that brought contemporary art to a variety of venues across the city, including religious sanctuaries.

"Eleanor has done groundbreaking work about the influence of religion on contemporary art," he said.

Rollins cites an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum about Catholic themes in Andy Warhols work as a recent example of the way the two spheres have crossed, as well as recent concerts at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul.

In the fall, Taylor Music Group launched a new initiative, Pathways to Healing, with a concept concert featuring musical repertoire focused on healing of all kinds. The programming included a discussion with physicians, clergy and artists to consider the role of music in healing the body, mind and spirit.

In May, the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts will host its first artist in residence, Arahmaiani, one of the leading performance artists of Southeast Asia.

"Her practice centers around building bridges between different communities and connecting art, spirituality and ecology," Rollins said. "Her work has not just been seen in art institutions but also in sites as varied as a nature preserve in Java, a church in Germany and a monastery in Tibet.

The focal point of Arahmaianis residency will be a public performance on the afternoon of May 15 in downtown Charleston as part of the annual Spirited Brunch event. She will present her Flag Project, which has been performed in many countries around the world and involves bringing together a diverse group of people in public spaces to carry flags emblazoned with certain meaningful keywords.

"The project is designed to bridge divides between communities and to foster a spirit of mutual understanding. For Charleston, the performance will focus on inter-faith harmony, a joyous celebration of diversity and connecting various sites around the historic downtown," Rollins said.

He added that participants, some carrying flags and others walking along, will march to various sites in downtown Charleston over the course of about an hour, stopping at various locations to wave the flags, converse or sing.

"I cant wait to see how people in Charleston will respond to this very moving performance," he said.

And the Holy City is attracting artists to cover its faith practices, too. Photographer Greg Miller has chronicled hundreds of worshippers on Ash Wednesday for 25 years. His book "Unto Dust" (L'Artiere) features many of those images. Miller came to Charleston this year to do the same.

"I am fascinated with the outward display of faith against the modern-day world," he said.

In Charleston, as he no doubt discovered, that outward display of faith is easy to spot, and frequently artful.
In the Ukrainian War, NATO and the West have been niggling President Putin over a long period, trying to offer membership to neutral Finland and has now succeeded in their strategy in getting him to do a knee jerk reaction, by changing the status quo?

by Victor Cherubim

Russia we are told, has moved around 3000 troops to the Finnish border along with military equipment in recent days, in an attempt to threaten the world, perhaps, Finland from joining NATO.

Since Russias special mission into Ukraine both Finland and Sweden are looking to the West and are quite naturally concerned of Russia under President Putin, could also invade them. What was once a neutral country like Finland, has today made the Finns view its neighbour the Russian Federation as a significant military threat since 24 February 2022?

The last war  the Soviet-Finnish Winter war which lasted from 30 November 1939 to March 1940 ended in a peace treaty, Moscow Peace Treaty 13 March 1940, between the neighbours forcing Finland to cede 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Though Finland declared itself neutral at the start of World War II, for the Soviets, victory came at a heavy cost.

The Ukrainian war, was it connived?

In the Ukrainian War, NATO and the West have been niggling President Putin over a long period, trying to offer membership to neutral Finland and has now succeeded in their strategy in getting him to do a knee jerk reaction, by changing the status quo?.

However, Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Anderson, to keep the peace until recently, has rejected calls to join the Western Alliance, NATO on the pretext that it would be futile and destabilise this area of Europe, which comparative was a peace haven for over nearly a century, in the White Sea, the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea, all arms of the Arctic Ocean.

But, as US veteran, former Secretary of State, Henry Kissington, has observed, the way to distract any nation is to drive them to fight two battles on two fronts. There is a lesson that it is hard to concentrate on both fronts.

To political observers this is what NATO has in mind to destroy the might of Russia.

Finlands Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, has now informed President Putin, We make our own decisions. Is this what President Putin was waiting to hear?

The fallacy in war staying neutral?

The big advantage of both countries, although they are neutral, they are both big spenders on defence, just like neutral Switzerland. In fact, both Scandinavian neighbours have given a boost for NATO now by their populations, in large numbers support joining the Alliance. We are told 84% of Finns view Russia as a significant military threat since 24 February 2022. Who knows whether both Finland and Sweden will join NATO sometime this summer?

We are also informed that Russias Ministry of Defence has warned they will rebalance the situation. This takes me back to the Soviet days, when the Red Army in Finland, coming back strongly, their command structure reorganised, while the Finns resisted for three months with little overseas assistance?

Russias military campaign v Ukraines economic campaign

Russias military campaign is strangely supported by revenue flows from the sale of gas and oil to European countries. In 2021 EU energy imports from Russia was worth 82 billion (EU 99 bn.). Since the start of the war, it was the master plan of Russia for the EU to provide more funding to Russia, to continue the war, than it was possible to provide to support to Ukraine.

Ukraine however, faces horrific challenges amid Russias ongoing war, fighting a war on its own. The challenge of rebuilding Ukraine is an almost impossible task. The near obliteration of towns and cities of Ukraine is a massive task on the horizon.

The Centre for Economic Policy and Research estimates it will cost between Euro 200 billion (170 bn.) to Euro 500 billion (460 bn.).It is the suggestion that some of this cost will be recovered from seizure of assets and oil taxes with rough estimate of Euro 500 billion.

The biggest question is the time factor or how many decades it will take to rebuild Ukraine?

Will it be a Marshall Plan for Ukraine, who knows?
The delivery driver just dropped off a package at your doorstep.

In it might be sauces, socks, sunglasses, bathing suits, bowls or any other common household item.

During the past few years, everyday items found around the house might have come through an ecommerce distribution center in the Lowcountry, owned and operated by a College of Charleston graduate who filled a niche.

Gray Anderson started his direct-to-consumer Nice Commerce business nearly three years ago in a 4,000-square-foot site off St. Andrews Boulevard in West Ashley.

A year later, the growing online fulfillment center and its nine employees needed a bigger space.

In late 2020, amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic and during the busy holiday shopping season, Anderson packed up and moved the operation to a 40,000-square-foot space in Palmetto Commerce Park in North Charleston, where big-box commercial operations line Palmetto Commerce Parkway and new ones are on the way.

The Manning native now has roughly 30 full-time employees and a handful of part-time workers, all packaging products  connected to Charleston companies and national brands  that are delivered straight to the customer's front door.

The 2011 College of Charleston graduate started the company "out of necessity," he said.

After college, he worked for a Lowcountry marketing firm that handled brands across the Southeast. He eventually gravitated toward ecommerce brands and started a small company that specialized in online retail management.

"I felt there was a need for fulfillment but with a specific focus on the needs of ecommerce brands," Anderson said.

Though he had already launched the new business while involved in the other firm, he decided to exit the original startup to focus all of his attention on one venture.

That's where Nice Commerce comes in.

Anderson said the company's name refers to attention to details put in each package so that when a customer picks up the box at their doorstep, brings it inside the house, opens it and pulls out the product, it's received to the expectations of the brands and the customer, not only in presentation but also with accuracy for the order.

"We like to treat ourselves as an extension of the brand," Anderson said. "That when people open the package, it's just like they picked it out in a store."

Getting orders right

Nice Commerce handles orders for more than 40 companies, more than half of them brands with a Charleston connection, such as Smithey Ironware on the former Navy base, Rigwa Life insulated bowls from Mount Pleasant, cocktail mixes from Jack Rudy of Charleston or Hart Jewelry, which recently opened a retail shop on upper King Street.

Hart Hagerty of Hart Jewelry said she couldn't be happier with the service she has encountered at Nice Commerce.

When she first started her business of selling necklaces, bracelets and other bling pieces a few years ago, Hagerty noticed orders through a third-party logistics company weren't being filled to her satisfaction.

"There were a lot of mistakes with fulfillment," she said.

Three or four years ago, she heard about Nice Commerce, checked it out and decided to make the switch.

"They probably handle 1,000 orders a month for us," Hagerty said. "Their accuracy is really high. We very rarely have an issue, and we have orders that go out all the time. We have been extremely satisfied."

When there is an issue, Hagerty pointed to a software problem.

"Customer expectations have never been higher than they are today," she said. "Amazon has trained customers to expect something to be delivered to their home the next day. It's important to have orders get out the next day and on time."

Like other companies, Hagerty pays Nice Commerce a monthly fee to house the inventory for more than 100 different ready-to-wear products. She also pays a certain amount for the ecommerce company's labor of picking and packing items to fill orders. Nice Commerce does not handle Hagerty's custom-made pieces or its returns. Those items are taken care of at the jeweler's downtown Charleston studio.

On any given day, Anderson's ecommerce fulfillment center sends out between 600 and 2,500 shipments, representing between 4,000 and 40,000 individual items. The average number of units per order is about six.

Online never closes

Orders come in constantly, and when retailers have a special promotion, Anderson alerts his staff to be ready.

"For online retail, the open sign is always on," he said. "Every second, orders are coming in."

Senior production manager David Cullins sees it first-hand.

"It's extremely fast-paced," Cullins said. "It's something new every day. With most other jobs, you kind of know what you will be doing every day. Not here. It's always exciting."

And it's likely to become a bit busier by the summer. The company is looking to add more brands soon, as well as additional workers.

"We have a few others under contract," said Ryan Stewart, director of sales and marketing. "We have a heart for local brands."

As orders come into the company's system, which is connected with the brands it distributes, the firm's software filters the orders. Ordered items are taken from the 32-foot-tall stacks of meticulously categorized products, placed in an area for "active," or ordered merchandise, sent to the fulfillment area and finally the shipping department.

Orders don't just come in from local companies. They also come from brands listed through Amazon.

For certain products, such as vitamins, protein powders or seasonings, the large facility includes a climate-controlled room where the temperature stays at 65 degrees.

As for the supply chain issues that have disrupted delivery as orders escalated with the reopening of the economy during the pandemic, Anderson said his company hasn't been immune.

"We are the last link in the supply chain," he said. "Like everyone else, we have had some delays."

He pointed to a recent order of hot sauce bottles. The shipment sat at the Port of Charleston for two weeks and cost the recipient several thousand dollars while waiting for a truck to pick it up.

"That's driving up the cost of everything," he said.

Ensuring quality

For quality control, workers analyze purchase orders for packages when they arrive at the dock on large delivery trucks to make sure the number of items equals what's on the packing slip. If not, that's communicated with the brand.

Also, all products need a bar code, so if some arrive without one, Nice Commerce employees take care of it at a cost to the brand.

"This is them investing in purification," Anderson said of the brand. "If it's in the right condition, we can move it very quickly and accurately."

The company can also handle return orders, but it's expensive for the brand and sometimes Nice Commerce is told just to keep small quantities of items because of the cost to ship them back. Those products are distributed to employees or picked up by the company and donated to a local charity.

Anderson points out the company is not in the business of keeping items on its shelves for long periods of time.

"We are not a storage facility," he said. "We are controlling the movement of products through here and fulfilling orders quickly when they come in."

Warehouse aisles include 1,200 pallets stacked floor to ceiling, but Anderson expects to double that number soon with side-by-side stacks of products.

"We can go up to 3,800 pallets," he said.

As an added feature for clients, the company will place inserts into packaged orders for cross promotion between brands. That's the small paper advertisement customers usually find when they open a package. It's another source of income for the ecommerce company.

The pay and benefits are competitive.

Workers start out between $16.50 and $19 an hour. Full-time employees also can enroll in a 401K savings plan after 90 days and receive health insurance coverage.

To spice up the fast-paced work environment, once a month the company gathers employees together for prizes and treats when they spin a wheel if they meet certain company or individual fulfillment goals. The payoff can include items such as a Yeti mug, Bluetooth speaker or a $20 gift card.

"It can get kind of goofy," Anderson said. "But it's fun, and it's for everyone here."
GEORGETOWN  The Georgetown County School District is seeking grant money from the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program to start magnet programs at its five Carvers Bay-area schools.

A school board letter of support for the grant application approved at an April 5 meeting notes that the program could bring the district fully in line with its federal desegregation order.

The Coastal Observer reported that the schools being targeted for the Pathways to Success program are Brown's Ferry, Plantersville and Pleasant Hill Elementary schools, Carvers Bay Middle School and Carvers Bay High School.

"As the elected governing body for the Georgetown County School District, we are committed to ensuring equitable education opportunities for all students," the letter reads.

The S.C. Department of Education defines magnet schools as "public schools that offer a specialized curriculum, not available elsewhere, to produce graduates with world class knowledge, skills, and life and career characteristics."

Superintendent Keith Price told the board on April 5 that the district stands to receive up to $15 million over five years with the grant application.

Increased enrollment and retention, reduction of "minority isolation" and the opportunity gap between schools and improved academic achievement are among the program's goals, Price said.

The board's letter notes that new partnerships with Francis Marion University and Voorhees College will help support a "diverse educator workforce" in the district.

"Together, these project components will contribute to improved student outcomes in the areas of academic achievement, college and career readiness, and increased racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in the Carvers Bay schools," the letter reads. "Further, the Board believes the Pathways to Success project will help Georgetown reach full unitary status and achieve the goals of our Desegregation Order, specifically in the areas of student assignment and teacher assignment."

A school district achieves unitary status when it sufficiently transitions out of a previous policy of racial segregation.

Just over 73,000 South Carolina students attend magnet programs throughout the state, according to a directory compiled by the S.C. Department of Education. Though the Georgetown County district does not contain any magnet programs, its neighboring districts in Horry County and Charleston County contain two and 25, respectively.

Price told Georgetown Times he would hold off on discussing further specifics about Pathways to Success until after a presentation on the program at the board's May work session out of respect for board members.
The American Heritage Association has once again filed a lawsuit against the city of Charleston over Confederate-related relics. This time, the group also included state Attorney General Alan Wilson as a defendant.

The conservative group filed the suit in Charleston County late April 14 alleging that the city violated South Carolina's Heritage Act, which prohibits historic memorials from being taken down without a vote from the state Legislature. The filing also accuses Wilson of failing to enforce the act.

Many South Carolinians are not aware that our monuments are under attack from trusted elected officials, and we want the citizens of Charleston and South Carolina to know exactly what is going on," AHA President Brett Barry said in a press release.

The AHA says that a decision to remove a marker of the "Robert E. Lee Highway" from the campus of a local charter school violated this act. The group is also suing over the change of Memminger Auditorium's name to Festival Hall.

The venue's namesake, Christopher Memminger, served as treasury secretary of the Confederacy. Memminger, a staunch secessionist and advocate for slavery, also helped establish Charleston's public school system.

The auditorium, which is managed by Spoleto USA, has been referred to as Festival Hall since 2020.

"For marketing purposes, we refer to this performance space as Festival Hall, but have not changed the buildings name or removed any historical markers as we do not own the building," said Jenny Ouellette, a spokeswoman of Spoleto Festival USA, in an email. "We are proud of our long history maintaining and managing this space and are excited for audiences and artists to return to Festival Hall during Spoleto Festival USA this spring."

The auditorium is owned by the Charleston County School District, leased by the city of Charleston and managed by Spoleto, according to a lease agreement dating to 2007.

The lawsuit does not list Spoleto USA or the Charleston County School District as defendants.

"We are certainly aware that there are some intricacies there, so we will see how that works itself out," Barry told The Post and Courier.

The lawsuit also names S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson as a defendant, stating that he is failing to fulfill his duties because he threatened to sue the city of Charleston in February over the removal of the marker celebrating Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee but has so far not followed through.

"We were hopeful that this was going to be taken care of through the Attorney General's Office, but it's been two months now and we havent seen anything, so we decided it was time to move," Barry said.

The lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Lauren Martel of Bluffton, is running for attorney general against Wilson in the Republican primary.

She told the newspaper that her decision to represent the American Heritage Association was not "political theater."

"They need somebody to help at this point because there is no other remedy," she said.

A representative for Wilson said the AG still intends to sue the city over the marker if it is not returned to the campus. It was removed July 20 at the request of the school's principal.

The stone monument had drawn concern from school officials, students and residents in the area for its origins and promotion of one of the Civil Wars most prominent figures. It is one of several that were erected across the state. The United Daughters of the Confederacy donated it to the Charleston School for Math and Science in 1947.

The website Historic Columbia includes a description of that citys Lee marker on Gervais Street thats nearly identical to the one removed from the Charleston school.

The UDC glorified the Confederacy, explained secession as a political act rather than a defense of slavery, and vilified the federal governments empowerment of African Americans during Reconstruction, the website states, adding the UDC in South Carolina celebrated the Confederacy by designating a series of roads that crossed the state from Charleston to Greenville to Lee.

Charleston officials declined to comment on pending litigation. Representatives with the Charleston County School District were unavailable for comment due to a districtwide vacation.

The AHA has made headlines in the last two years opposing the removal of the John C. Calhoun statue from Marion Square and for suing the city over a potential loan of the statue to an art exhibit in Los Angeles.

Wilson issued an opinion that the removal of the Calhoun monument did not violate the Heritage Act, and the city entered a tentative agreement to give the statue to the South Carolina State Museum rather than the LA art exhibit that requested to borrow it. The state museum does have the ability to lend the statue to the LA exhibit if officials there decide to do so.

In late 2021 and early 2022, the AHA also led a campaign against the formation of the city's Commission of Human Affairs and Racial Conciliation. City Council approved the commission 9-4.
MOSQUITO BEACH  Fire marshals were investigating after a blaze destroyed a segregation-era hotel along a small stretch of coastline once known as a haven for Black social life.

Crews from the James Island Fire Department responded just before 3:30 p.m. April 15 to the area of 2225 Mosquito Beach Road, a collection of three properties that includes the Pine Tree Hotel.

The hotel, which was built in 1962 off Sol Legare Road on James Island, became a popular gathering spot at a time when African Americans weren't welcome on most South Carolina beaches.

Fire marshals have not yet determined a cause for the blaze. It was extinguished within a half-hour and no injuries were reported, said Battalion Chief James Harder.

Two neighboring properties, the Island Breeze and Paradise Hut restaurants, were untouched by the flames.

The Pine Tree Hotel, which was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019, was undergoing an extensive restoration at the time of the fire.

Construction workers had already demolished about three-fourths of the building, said project manager Kyle Taylor. They had also removed most of the historic wood they planned to use in the remodel.

Remaining floor joists, or the horizontal pieces of the floor's frame, can still be salvaged from the front of the building, but ones left in the back  where the blaze started  were destroyed, Taylor said.

While Taylor said he was "disturbed" by the fire, he felt happy most of the building had already been taken down and much of the materials preserved.

He hoped the fire wouldn't cause too much of a setback in the project's completion, which was scheduled for June.

The hotel is set to be rebuilt essentially the same as it once stood: eight bedrooms on the second floor, one on the first floor, an office, shared bathrooms, big porches on both floors and a small area for vendors to sell their goods.

Locals had been trying to restore the once-popular gathering spot ever since Hurricane Hugo wrecked much of the property in 1989. A renewed effort, spearheaded by the Historical Charleston Foundation, began a few years ago.

The group secured grant funding from the National Park Service and the African American Civil Rights Grant Program.

Friday's blaze means Taylor and his team will now have to purchase more materials than they had initially planned. Any financial help from community members would be greatly appreciated, he said.
Jacob Lindsey is back in Charleston, a very good thing. His mission: Do what no one has been able to do, build on Union Pier.

More words have been spilled, in vain, on Union Pier than any other development in the history of Charleston. Its the grand prize, the most valuable of valuable jewels, and through the decades the State Ports Authority has a perfect record of getting absolutely  nothing  done.

Dare I write the words this time could be different? Well, if Jacob Lindsey is willing to move his family to that Rocky Mountain paradise called Boulder, Colo., and then pack them up 14 months later and bring them back to Charleston in an effort to do the impossible, why not? Lets be wild and crazy, Steve, and allow that the impossible just might be possible.

Heres the dream: The citys darn-smart former planning director, a guy who knows everyone, who knows how everything here works, is lured back to Charleston by a giant national real estate developer (that would be Lowe Enterprises) to draft a plan for Union Pier and get it through the incredible maze to approval. It cannot hurt that Charlestons favorite billionaire, Ben Navarro, is a new partner with Lowe in its grand waterfront hotel, The Cooper, being built on the site of the Ports Authoritys former headquarters.

Cruise ships, you ask? Be patient, well get to that.

The biggest hurdle is not the neighborhoods, not even those tacky cruise ships, but the client, the State Ports Authority. Look at it this way: A guy can hire the best lawyer in town, but if he isnt going to listen, that lawyer isnt going to do him much good. The Ports Authority has never been much of a listener, at least when it comes to listening to us common folk in Charleston.

The bearded, rail-thin Lindsey has to know what hes getting himself into. Always GQ elegant in those dark suits at City Council meetings, he was invariably prepared, cordial and unflappable when council members peppered him with questions.

To say he was cautious with me on the phone  the Lowe handlers wouldnt let him meet with me in person  is an understatement. He alternated between its too early in the process and I dont know in answering my questions.

The entitlement process extends over years, not months, and can have many twists and turns, says Lindsey, 42. Understated the man is.

The Ports Authority, meanwhile, defers all comment on Union Pier to Lowe, a good sign considering the history.

The pier site includes the Ports Authoritys cruise ship terminal on the Cooper River. Its 63 acres in all, about 25 of them developable, the rest wetlands.

Mainly surface parking lots and warehouses, Union Pier could one day be a gold mine of office and retail space, commercial and residential development. It needs to be back on the tax rolls; selling the property would be a huge payday for the Ports Authority.

The Union Pier dream has been around more than 40 years, starting with the citys waterfront plan in 1980. The Ports Authority rolled out ambitious visions in 1996 and 2010. Neither went anywhere. The last thing Lindsey wants to do is to produce yet another useless tome.

The Ports Authoritys determination to build a new cruise ship terminal on Union Pier has been a major roadblock. The neighborhoods and environmentalists, led by the Coastal Conservation League, fought the agency to a standstill, taking their lawsuits all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Ah, cruise ships, Lindsey says when I ask the obvious. Everybody wants to know about cruise ships. I dont have anything for you on cruise ships.

Officially, the Ports Authority maintains it still plans a new cruise ship terminal on Union Pier. No one believes that anymore; everyone understands that it finally accepts that the property is too valuable for a terminal and surface lots.

As I reported last year, the Ports Authority held talks with neighborhood groups and the Coastal Conservation League about moving the terminal to the southern edge of its Columbus Street Terminal; the neighborhoods wanted it to go farther north. The talks died.

Mayor John Tecklenburg has even bigger ambitions: Getting cruises ships off the peninsula altogether is just common sense, he says.

With planning for the redevelopment of Union Pier now actively underway, I believe this would be the perfect time for all of us to sit down around a table and work together to make that happen, Tecklenburg told me.

Beyond cruise ships, there are other reasons for optimism.

This time a major private developer, Los Angeles-based Lowe (owner of Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms), is driving the bus, not the State Ports Authority. While Lowe is now only a hired hand overseeing planning and permitting for the agency, its well understood it wants to be the master developer, whether that happens through a land sale or a ground lease.

Lowe won the bidding for the Ports Authoritys waterfront headquarters and is unlikely to be outbid for Union Pier. It gets high marks for getting a big waterfront hotel approved at a time when anti-hotel fever was running hot in town.

Another plus: Many of the old warriors are simply gone or going. Mayor Joe Riley, a cruise ship supporter, and Dana Beach, who led the opposition at the Coastal Conservation League, retired. Ports boss Jim Newsome will be out by July; his successor, Barbara Melvin, is considered more flexible.

Reenter Jacob Lindsey. His new job involves other projects in other states, but Union Pier may loom the largest.

He calls coming back to Charleston to work for Lowe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And it could be  unless, of course, history repeats itself. Then he might wonder why he ever left Boulder, twice voted by U.S. News & World Report as the best city in America to live. Not just the best city to visit.

Steve Bailey can be reached at sjbailey1060@yahoo.com.
The glass portion of the Low Battery sea wall serves as a tribute to those who played a role in its rebuilding and raising. It also will be a long-term test to see if it can remain both watertight and visually appealing. Gavin McIntyre/Staff
I was already thinking about sharing Nikky Finneys note with you when I got another one of those ridiculous tweets about how the state shouldnt bother trying to educate kids with the congenital disease of parents who dont care about their education.

The best way to improve the outcomes for children to succeed is when there is a parent engaged in that outcome, wrote Doug, a perennial detractor who seems to believe that government programs are inherently useless. No amount of government spending can overcome an absent parent."

Like most libertarians, Doug has a legitimate point  which is paired with an absurd point that in this case makes it just as ridiculous as arguing that the cure to a poorly educated populace is to simply shovel more money into the schools.

Of course engaged parents are the ideal. Engaged parents should be one of our top education goals. Thats something every teacher in our government schools would agree with. Its one reason Im such a big fan of S.C. First Steps to School Readiness  a government program that works with parents to teach them to be their childrens first and best teachers.

The problem with this nihilistic approach is that some parents are not going to be engaged no matter how long we stick our fingers in our ears and jump up and down and scream No! No! No! Either theyre just lousy, irresponsible people who never should have had kids, or they struggled in school and have no idea how to help their kids or how to get help, or theyre working three jobs just to put food on the table and have no time to help out.

Whatever the reason, these parents aren't going to read to their kids every day or teach them how to count and read before kindergarten. They probably won't teach them their colors and the difference between their indoor voices and their outdoor voices, and they're not going to make sure they do their homework and finish their science project. As a result, their kids are the most difficult and the most expensive to educate: They start out behind and get farther behind every year if we don't provide them with intensive instruction from the best teachers.

And we have to do this, because we dont get to throw those kids away.

Even if those of us who call ourselves Christians could square it with the teachings of the savior whose resurrection we celebrate this weekend, we don't have the option of throwing them away. We can't even ship them off to another school district, much less another state.

To the contrary, theyre going to spend the rest of their lives in South Carolina. And when they drop out of high school and cant get a decent job and start shoplifting and breaking into our homes while were sleeping, were going to pay for those kids we dont rescue from their parents failures.

But let Ms. Finney explain.

The late Chief Justice Ernest Finneys daughter wrote in response to my column a couple of weeks ago explaining what her father actually meant in his wrongly maligned minimally adequate education order. Well pick up after she confirmed my assumption that he would be terribly disappointed that after 23 years, rather than providing that adequate education, we're still complaining that the ruling itself is inadequate and the phrase vague and undefined."

He would be far more than disappointed, she wrote. He would be crushed. He would still be on the battlefield for education and justice for all  but crushed. Papa believed that the children of South Carolina  especially those who were born without a silver spoon in their mouths  had to be protected and fought for. Kids of the poor. No matter what their skin color. He believed South Carolina laws could not simply encircle the privileged and those closest to the ballot box. He understood the connection between the prison pipeline and  an inadequate education. He understood the connection between getting involved with gangs and drugs and an inadequate education. He did not believe there were any expendable people. Full stop.

Or, to put it another way: We cant throw these kids away.

Ill leave you with another part of her note, which is a tribute to her father as well as a broadside against our lawmakers, but 23 years after minimally adequate and despite a lot of good intentions by a lot of individual lawmakers, I cant say its not worth hearing:

He was a good guy who kept his eye on all the people walking on the side of the road  even as he sped along in his old Buick. He kept wanting me to go to Law School. We used to have the best father-daughter disagreements about the best way to serve society. I remember telling him that the Law he adored, and was passionate about, was just too close to politicians, and politicians never serve the people. Politicians do what profits them, and therefore I would have to choose poetry because poetry served humankind and cared more about the truth.

How could men and women who professed to care about teaching boys and girls to read and write and think critically debate the language of an education bill for twenty-three years, thereby ending up NOT CARING about how many of those boys and girls dropped out of school or stayed in and never received a minimally adequate education? How could they live with themselves? How could they sleep at night? My father didn't sleep much, and he smoked way too many Salem cigarettes. But he never gave up hope that we would one day be a state that cared about all of its citizens.

May you have a blessed Easter, and may you never give up hope that South Carolina will one day be a state that cares about all of its citizens.
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
We noted yesterday and today the sudden and seemingly coordinated effort to drive California Senator Dianne Feinstein from office. Today The New Republic (the in-flight magazine of the Clinton Administrationthose were the days) weighed in, with a column from Walter Shaprio: Dianne Feinstein Can Resign Now With Dignity. . . DiFi, dont be the Democrats Strom Thurmond.

The real subtext of the subhed is clear, and it aint the Strom Thurmond parallel: DiFi, dont be another Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The New Republic was one of the leading voices urging Ginsburg to resign from the Supreme Court while Obama was still in office, but she stubbornly refused. And we know how that turned out.

It would seem unlikely that there is much risk to the Democrats Senate balance given Californias partisan imbalance, but the TNR story, if you read it carefully, is perhaps another indicator of how alarmed Democrats are about their prospects in November:

In a political sense, in a 5050 Senate, Feinsteins stubborn determination to remain in office doesnt matter, as long as she is physically able to vote. While, in theory, a Republican could be elected governor of California in November and appoint her successor if Feinstein had to abruptly retire, the Cook Political Reportrates Gavin Newsoms reelection as safe for the Democrats.

After all, Ginsburg thought Hillary would win in 2016, and appoint her successor. Maybe TNRs paranoia here is not so remarkable or unreasonable.

This bit is also suggestive:

The Chronicle never would have run a story this explosive without intense internal debate and scrutiny of the not-for-attribution sourcing. And a sense of kindness, mixed with political expediency, suggests that no one wants to be known as the senator who tried to push Feinstein into retirement.

Why would the Chronicle care about political expediency? Thats quite an unintentional admission.

Remember the first axiom of my great teacher in strategic studies (Harold Rood): Nothing happens for no good reason.
Around the country, Minnesota has the reputation of having a corrupt state government. This story from Alpha News illustrates why that reputation is deserved.

Last August, two Democratic state officials were involved in a rollover accident as they were leaving Farm Fest, an annual ag industry show in southern Minnesota. Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha was driving her SUV and Senate Minority Leader Melisa Lopez Franzen was her passenger. They were on their way to a Democratic fundraiser or party. Blaha apparently was negligent in pulling out from the Farm Fest parking lot, causing her vehicle to be struck by a semi. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. This was Blahas vehicle:

Blaha, the State Auditor, was not intoxicated, but the passenger, Franzen, apparently popped a White Claw as they were leaving Farm Fest. An open, cold, nearly full can of White Claw was found in the car. This is a clear open bottle violation under Minnesota law, and would normally be charged as such. The driver also can be criminally charged for allowing an open alcohol container in his or her vehicle.

Apparently the first thing Blaha and Franzen did after the accident was to call Ken Martin, the Chairman of the DFL Party. He was on the scene in a matter of minutes, driving an official brightly-colored DFL van. He is captured on body cam video making sure the officers at the scene know they are dealing with high-ranking politicians.

Senator Franzen lied about the White Claw to investigating officers:

[T]he State Patrols Lt. Matthew Sorenson stated in an email at 9:31 p.m. on the day of the crash that an open alcohol container was discovered in vehicle #1 after the crash, but it appeared to be empty and sounds like it was supposed to be thrown away but forgotten in a backpack pocket. This conclusion seems to be based on a statement Franzen gave to police. She said she had been drinking White Claws at Farmfest and that she just takes all her trash with her, per the police report. She also claimed that the White Claw was attached to her backpack and she had [forgotten] about it, according to the report.

The Auditors office later told the same story:

Blahas office told Alpha News that police also located a can of non-alcoholic fruit juice at the scene and had a brief discussion about whether or not it was alcoholic, which can be seen in the dash-cam video. Thats what the officers were referring to when they said there was an open can and its cold, said Donald McFarland, director of communications for Blahas office. When authorities were retrieving a bag, they did find an empty can of White Claw in the backseat that Sen. Franzen had drunk at Farmfest and had put it in the bag because she was going to recycle it. So there was a can of White Claw in the car. Thats how it got there. Nobody was drinking it since earlier, he added. However, in both their field reports and in conversations at the scene, first responders explicitly described the White Claw as open, cold, and pretty full.

The Democrats story is patently untrue:

The responder who found the alcohol was Morgan Fire Department Assistant Chief Justin Blomeke. A Minnesota State Patrol field report details how he reached into the car and retrieved an open can of White Claw that he accidentally spilled all over the backpack and himself. Blomeke guessed that the contents of the can [were] pretty full due to how much spilled out, the report says. He also stated that the can was very cold, indicating it was opened very recently. Finally, he noted that the backpack was zipped up, indicating the White Claw container was not inside the backpack. He later reaffirmed these observations in a recorded phone call with a state trooper, saying the can was open, still cold and mostly full.

This video captures Ken Martin pulling rank and dialogue about the open White Claw container:

The Democrats brought their political influence to bear to squash what normally would have been a criminal prosecution. Email traffic shows that within hours, top officials at the State Patrol, which reports to Democratic Governor Tim Walz, were told of the crash and of the important Democrats who were involved.

That evening, [State Patrol Lt. Matthew] Sorenson also directed a trooper creating an incident report to not recommend charges based on what they encountered at the scene. Do not recommend charges at this time, he ordered. We will compile all the reports and submit a packet to the county attorney for them to review and go off of their recommendation on charges. We want to make sure we cover our basis [sic] since this is a high-profile case, he wrote in a third email sent during the same time period.

Blaha got off with a minor traffic citation and Franzen, who had been illegally drinking the White Claw, was not charged at all. The Democrats transparent lies became the official story of the accident, which gained a lot of publicity at the time. No newspaper or other media outlet chose to look into the accident until the Alpha News story that appeared today.

There is much more at the link. Alpha apparently obtained the entire investigation file via a FOIA request, so there are videos, voice recordings, emails and photographs. This is the infamous White Claw can:

This is a textbook case of powerful politicians using political influence to dodge accountability for what in any other circumstance would be charged as a crime. The Democrats lied and got away with it. My colleague Bill Walsh comments here.
Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time. Winston Churchill

Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Inscription on the Liberty Bell
Many men reckoned to be close to President Muhammadu Buhari, whether as political associates or officials of his government, are in the race to succeed him when his tenure ends on May 29, 2023. Each of them has informed him and is counting on his support to pick the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the presidential poll coming up in the first quarter of next year.

Bola Tinubu was pivotal in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party which allowed Mr Buhari to be taken seriously for the first time by southern voters in 2015 and which helped him to end his serial losses in presidential elections that began in 2003. Mr Tinubus support was also crucial in his reelection in 2019, at a time the president appeared to have long squandered his goodwill with his new voters south of the Niger and Benue rivers.

Yemi Osinbajo has been a loyal and remarkably active deputy, while Rotimi Amaechi as Minister of Transportation has overseen perhaps the most visible achievements of the Buhari presidency. Governor Kayode Fayemi, who has also informed Mr Buhari of his intention to run, served Mr Buharis 2015 campaign as director of policy, research and strategy and later as his minister of solid minerals development. All four have declared their intentions to run in the APC presidential primaries.

More of the presidents men may appear in the lineup before delegates gather at the Eagle Square in Abuja at the end of May to nominate the ruling partys flag bearer. They include Godwin Emefiele, a technocrat inherited by Mr Buhari as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria who, after taking his role beyond managing monetary policy into essentially financing the government, has transmuted into one of the presidents men. A coordinated campaign for his candidature of the APC has been going on for months in different media, such that some aghast Nigerians, including this newspaper in an editorial, have called on him to deny it or quit his job to pursue the ambition, if indeed he has it.

Also being awaited are three other ministers, Godswill Akpabio, Timipre Sylva and Chris Ngige, as well as one of the closest personal friends of the president, former Ogun governor Ibikunle Amosun. All these men would be expected to inform the president before they jump into the fray. Many of those already on the field are claiming to be the presidents preferred candidate.

According to a Daily Trust report on Thursday, sources at the presidency said Mr Buhari did not object to the plans by all the aspirants to vie but that he was keeping his preference among them close to his chest.

In January when the president was asked of his succession plan during an interview with Channels Television, his response was ambivalent. He said: 2023 is not my problem, I dont care who succeeds me, let the person come, whoever the person is.

But then he quickly added that he actually has a favourite candidate, but he would not reveal the name so that person would not be eliminated.

Those remarks have created an environment in which the promoters of many of the aspirants thought to be close to the president have been claiming their man is that veiled preferred candidate.

But Daniel Bwala, a lawyer and popular political pundit, does not believe anyone has been or would be anointed by the president.

From that day (of the presidents remarks), people have speculated a lot. But if you are seeing what is happening, you will know that there is no clear cut preferred candidate, at least from the side of the president, Mr Bwala, who is also a member of the APC, said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Legacy

One of the reasons promoters of President Olusegun Obasanjos third term bid gave in 2006 for wanting an elongation of the then presidents tenure was the need to deepen his economic reforms and find a successor that would sustain them. This was after Mr Obasanjo had fallen out with Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Ironically though, after the third term plot fell apart, the president, in picking his successor, overlooked his cabinet and economic team that worked with him.

Instead, he picked the governor of Katsina State, Umaru Yaradua, who was not even an aspirant and whose only known connection to Mr Obasanjo was that the governor was a brother of Shehu YarAdua, his old deputy when he (Obasanjo) served as military head of state between 1976 and 1979.

If President Buhari decides to anoint a successor, who will he pick? Is it the man who helped put together a national party that gave him victory in 2015, the man said to have helped put together funds for the election or a deputy who has been deeply involved in governance in his presidency?

In his declaration broadcast, Vice President Osinbajo projected himself as a continuity candidate, the man who has been part of Mr Buharis change and next level agenda and who can best sustain it. Other officials of the government like Messrs Amaechi, Sylva and Akpabio, will most likely make the same claim.

However, Mr Bwala argues that it does not require membership of Mr Buharis cabinet to sustain his agenda.

Buhari and Political skills

I think the change agenda is a party manifesto, in that every member of the party can take a decision and run with it, he said. So even if the president does not particularly roll out any plan for succession, the belief is that when you subscribe to be a member of the party, you would have studied the ideology and manifesto of the party.

Mr Bwala added that he has not seen enough to conclude that the president is pushing any particular candidate.

If the president has a succession plan, will he show it? The answer is no. All the presidents that ruled this country were interested in who became the chairman of the party but has he (Buhari) really demonstrated being a person that interferes? Certainly no. The closer you are to him, the more you will have an advantage, Mr Bwala said.

Speaking in the same vein, a former spokesperson of the APC, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said he believes the president would allow the process to produce the partys candidate.

The president that I know will not come out to say this is the person I am supporting, because even he himself contested in primaries In 2015. Atiku (Abubakar), Okorocha (Rochas) and others contested against him and he won fair and square, Mr Issa-Onilu told this newspaper in an interview.

According to a media executive who asked not to be named, even if the president wants to, does he have the political skill and temperament to push through without causing schism in the party?

More importantly, from the way he has run his government in the past seven years, he does not appear to be interested in anything. All the aspirants who have informed him and gotten his approval know that he will say the same thing to all the others and that he will not do anything to help any of them.

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Commentators observed that it will be more difficult for the president to push through his favourite, if he has one, as the partys consensus candidate than he did in the selection of the national chairman last month.

After much pressure, all the other aspirants stepped aside for former Nasarawa governor, Abdullahi Adamu, to take the seat.

Even in that case, Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai said the president was reluctant to anoint any candidate until governors elected on the APC platform persuaded him to do so.

According to the Daily Trust report cited earlier, an unnamed founding member of the APC said, unlike the party positions, the president cannot singlehandedly handpick the presidential candidate.

What I can tell you is that the scenario that brought Abdullahi Adamu, where the president handpicked him cannot be repeated now. The primaries must be conducted for the party to emerge victoriously in 2023.

Mr President is being mindful of this fact, hence (he) is being careful. In the build up to the 2015 general elections, even when key stakeholders knew that the partys ticket was for him (Buhari), we still conducted primaries in Lagos, where he defeated Atiku, Kwankwaso, Bukola (Saraki), Okorocha and others, the source said.

Mr Bwala shares that view. He said: In the presidential (primary), there will be a contest, it is not going to be by consensus. All those saying it is going to be by consensus are just joking because almost all the people who are running for office, you would be hearing them, wherever they are, talking about delegates.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State says agitations for power rotation between the Tiv and Idoma speaking areas will not be feasible in the 2023 governorship election in the state.

Mr Ortom stated this in exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES in Makurdi, on Thursday.

Since the creation of Benue State in 1976, the Tiv ethnic group has held the elective position of governor to the dismay of the Idomas who constitute the second largest ethnic group in the state.

The Tivs are found in the Benue North West and Benue North East Senatorial Districts while the Idomas are in the Benue South Senatorial District.

To quench the desire of the Idoma ethnic groups desire to occupy the states number post, Mr Ortom, as governorship aspirant, had in 2014, pledged to work for the emergence of an Idoma successor should he become governor.

Non-Tiv governor not feasible

But Mr Ortom, who was first elected governor in 2015 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), told this newspaper that zoning the PDP governorship ticket to Benue South (Idoma) will jeopardise the partys chances at the polls.

If we (PDP) go in a hurry and nominate someone from Zone C (Benue South), and our opponent (APC) does not do same in Tiv land, it means that the PDP will lose the (governorship) election completely, even with the overwhelming support that we have today in PDP. That is a fact, the governor said.

Mr Ortom noted that the surest way of producing an Idoma governor in Benue is when all the political parties will agree to zone their governorship tickets to Benue South Senatorial District. Then that ambition will be realised.

He pointed out that lack of unity amongst stakehokders from the nine local governments that constitute Benue South Senatorial District, remains a major obstacle to the actualisation of an Idoma governor.

I had earlier advised them (Idoma) that we must work together ensure that the political class, the traditional rulers, and the other stakeholders are brought to the same table.

When the agitation came, I advised that the Idomas should reach out to their Tiv brothers, and ensure that at the end, all the political parties should come together and agree that this time  2023, we would zone the governorship ticket to Zone C. But as it is now, they (Idoma) have not been able to coordinate themselves well, which I have communicated to them, Mr Ortom explained.

The governor denied any rift between him and the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, who is also from the Tiv ethnic group of the state.

Dr Iyorchia Ayu and I have no single problem. We talk every day. I have just spoken with Distinguished Senator (Gabriel) Suswam now, before the commencement of this interview. And after our conversation, Im going to call the National Chairman (on the PDP) to also hear what is going on at the national level of our party, Mr Ortom told this reporter.

How can there be any conflict when we are working together. Those were insinuations from our opposition, because they (the APC) are overwhelmed, the governor said.

He boasted that the PDP was firmly in charge of the state with all three senators and majority of state legislators, requiring no extra hard work to win elections in Benue State.

The governor added that with the PDP leadership in Benue under him, he would work with other stakeholders to realise its victory at all times.

Major contenders locked in battle for PDP ticket

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Titus Uba, and the immediate past Education Commissioner in the state, Dennis Ityavyar, are locked in a fierce battle to clinch PDPs governorship ticket.

Messrs Uba and Ityavyar hail from Vandeikya Local Government Area in Benue North-east Senatorial District, where the PDP has micro-zoned its governorship ticket to for the Tiv ethnic group.

While the incumbent Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, has already emerged as the consensus candidate of the PDP in the Idoma speaking area of the state, there are speculations that he will not fly the partys flag at the general election.

There are also speculations that Messrs Ortom and Ayu are in a supremacy contest over who flies the partys flag at governorship polls.

According to a party source, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, Mr Ortoms preferred candidate for the states number job is Mr Ityavyar, a professor, who served as commissioner under him, while Mr Ayu prefers the candidature of Mr Uba, who is the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly.

With the Tiv ethnic group comprising Benue North-east and Benue North-west Senatorial Districts, constituting the largest in the state, hope appears dim for any governorship candidate of any party from the Idoma speaking area of Benue South as Mr Ortom alluded that this is a game of numbers, and that is what democracy is.
President Muhammadu Buhari has granted state pardon to Enitan Ransome-Kuti, the former military Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force, who was convicted by a Special Court Martial in January 2015.

Mr Ransome-Kuti is a son of the late human rights activist, Beko Ransome-Kuti, and a nephew of the late Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

The former military commander was among the 162 prisoners pardoned by the National Council of State at a meeting presided over by the Nigerian leader on Thursday.

Mr Ransome-Kuti was arrested in early 2015 and tried by the special court martial for cowardice, while serving as Commander of a Joint Multinational Task Force in Baga.

The former officer was later punished for his failure to perform military duties and sentenced to six months imprisonment and reduction in rank from Brigadier-General to Colonel.

PREMIUM TIMES understands that Mr Ransome-Kuti, who was sacked from the army after his conviction in 2015, was pardoned on compassionate grounds.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was his lawyer and over 60 soldiers at the Special Court Martial, wrote letters to have their punishments set aside.

The Army Council would later quash the six months imprisonment passed on Mr Ransome Kuti and commute the death penalty imposed on the other 60 soldiers to 10 years jail term based on Mr Falanas letters.

Mr Falana also wrote to other relevant authorities including the presidential committee on prerogative of mercy to seek their pardon.

The senior lawyer argued that his clients conviction by the court martial was baseless in the face of evidence that they were deprived of arms to fight at the peak of the Boko Haram war.

The full list of those pardoned is not immediately available, but sources confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the soldiers convicted of mutiny constituted a bulk of them.

Sources also said among beneficiaries are a former army lieutenant colonel, Oluwole Akinyole, who was granted posthumous pardon and a former military general and minister under the Sani Abacha regime, Tajudeen Olanrewaju.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, Mr Falana said the implication of the pardon is that Mr Ransome-Kuti, 57, can return to service and regain his brigadier-general rank.

With this pardon, the record of conviction of the other soldiers has been obliterated and can go back to service if they wish to, Mr Falana added.

Background

The Nigerian military charged Mr Ransome-Kuti, and four other senior officers to a special court, blaming them for the loss of Baga in Borno State, to Boko Haram insurgents in January 2015.

The Army said the officers failed to repel a Boko Haram attack on the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Baga.

Mr Ransome-Kuti was the commander of the multinational force during the attack.

During his trial, the officer denied all the charges, with his lawyer arguing that the Nigerian Army failed in its duties to provide the necessary equipment in the war against insurgency.

On October 15, 2015, a military court-martial sitting in Abuja, convicted Mr Ransome Kuti, of alleged offences during the war against Boko Haram  a sentence that earned him a six month prison term.

After his conviction and imprisonment, his lawyer, Mr Falana, requested Mr Ransome-Kutis release pending the determination of his appeal, a request that was turned down by the military authorities.

Subsequently, Mr Falana, petitioned the Army authorities demanding his freedom, saying his client was still held in prison custody despite completing his jail term.

Mr Falana said the armys refusal to release his client, who had completed the 6-month prison term on February 15, 2016, was a violation of Section 160 of the Armed Forces Act (Cap A20) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Unsuccessful appeal to Presidential Investigation Panel

By 2017, Mr Ransome-Kuti and other military officers convicted and sentenced to various categories of punishment by various courts martial appealed to the Presidential Investigation Panel to Review Compliance of the Armed Forces with Human RightsnObligations and Rules of Engagement to hear their complaints against the Nigerian Army.

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The soldiers claimed to have been illegally tried and convicted by the court martial for demanding weapons for counter-insurgency operations in the North-East region.

In a petition on behalf of his clients, Mr Falana urged the panel to recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari to grant them pardon.

He said his clients were not requesting the panel to sit as an appeal court on the decision of the courts martial but was only seeking to explore the platform provided by the panel to secure presidential pardon.

Mr Falana said his argument was in accordance with section 198 of the Armed Forces as well as section 175 of the Constitution which empowered the President to grant pardon to any convicted person in Nigeria without condition and regardless of whether or not the convicts had pending appeals.

According to him, his clients complaints bordered on violation of their rights by the military.

The seven-man panel, however, refused to hear Mr Falana clients petitions. They expressed doubt as to whether they had jurisdiction to entertain the complaints of the soldiers bordering on the decisions of a military tribunal with pending appeals against the said decisions at the Court of Appeal.

Mr Falana insisted that the panel had jurisdiction to hear the complaints while the Nigerian Armys lawyer argued to the contrary.

The panel, on September 12 2017, rejected the petitions of the soldiers on the grounds that their matters were pending appeals before the Court of Appeal. The panel added that such a petition was outside its terms of reference.

It noted that the issue of request for pardon sought by the soldiers was already put before President Buhari and was already being attended to by the Presidency.

It held that the President should be allowed to deal with the issue to a logical conclusion without any interference from the panel.

Presidential Pardon granted

Five years after the presidential pardon was tabled before President Buhari, the council of state on Thursday, recommended presidential pardon for 26 inmates and 85 surviving ex-convicts, PREMIUM TIMES gathered.

At least 27 inmates and one deceased ex-convict were recommended for presidential clemency.

Other beneficiaries are 13 inmates recommended for reduced sentences and 10 inmates recommended for reduced sentences from death row to life imprisonment.

The Nigerian Council of State is an organ of the Nigerian Government as stipulated by Third Schedule Part 1B of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The membership of the Council includes the President, who is Chairman; the Vice-President, who is Deputy Chairman; all former Presidents of the Federation and all former Heads of the Government of the Federation; all former Chief Justices of Nigeria; the President of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; all the Governors of the states of the Federation; and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
The police in Ogun State have arrested a 65-year-old landlord, Samuel Adekoya, over the alleged abuse of his tenants 11-year-old twins.

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the police spokesperson in the state, said in a statement that Mr Adekoya got into trouble following a report by the twins mother, Gbenisola Olishe, at the Ijebu Ode Area Command on Friday.

The statement said Mrs Olishe reported to the police that while she was away on business, she received a phone call that her landlord tied her twins hands and legs. The caller told her that Mr Adekoya used a rope to drag the kids after flogging them with cable wire.

Mrs Olishe also added that her children sustained injuries because of the landlords action.

Mr Oyeyemi added that the suspect recorded the act.

In the video made available to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Adekoya was seen accusing the 11-year-old twins of defecating in the compound.

He kicked them repeatedly, tied their hands to their back, and also slapped them several times. He then proceeded to strip one of them.

Following the report to the police, Adeniyi Omosanyin, the Police Area Commander in Ijebu Ode, detailed some police officers to the scene where the two boys were tied up and took them to a hospital.

They also arrested the landlord.

During interrogation, Mr Adekoya reportedly said one twin excreted within the compound, despite his warning that they should always keep the compound clean.

When asked to take policemen to where the excreta is, he said the boy has already washed it, the statement said.

One of the twins is currently on admission at Ijebu Ode general hospital due to injury he sustained while he was being dragged on ground by the suspect.

Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered that the case be thoroughly investigated and that the suspect must be arraigned in court as soon as investigation is concluded.
There is a widespread condemnation and anger by Nigerians on Twitter over the killing of an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Anthony Nwokorie, by gunmen.

The gunmen had, on Thursday, attacked a polling unit where the Continuous Voter Registration Exercise was being held in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State, and destroyed materials being used for the exercise.

A video clip of the attack, which has now gone viral, showed the gunmen firing multiple gunshots at one of the people forced to lie down by the gunmen, believed to be the INEC official, Mr Nwokorie.

The commission has confirmed the death of the official and consequently suspended the exercise in the area.

During the attack as seen in the video clip, the gunmen mocked the officials and other people at the registration centre for conducting the exercise in preparation for elections while they (gunmen) were fighting to get their freedom from Nigeria.

But reacting, renowned Nigerian human civil rights activist and legal practitioner, Chidi Odinkalu, said the group cannot claim to be liberating anyone by attacking and killing INEC officials who are simply doing their jobs.

Those who attack, shoot and kill @inecnigeria ad-hoc staff merely for doing their jobs cannot claim to be liberating anyone, he posted on his Twitter handle on Friday.

They and their supporters are selling death and destruction and deserve the strongest possible condemnation, added Mr Odinkalu, an indigene of Orlu in Imo State.

On his part, Shehu Sani, a former Nigerian senator, described the attack as an act of criminality. The former lawmaker said the unfortunate incident should not spray fears on Nigerians, but rather galvanise collective outrage and defiance against the gunmen.

The attack on the INEC registration centre and the killing of the INEC staff by those terrorist gunmen in Imo State is condemnable, Mr Sani tweeted.

IPOB fingered in the attack

While some Nigerians condemned the attack, others accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of carrying out the attack.

A Twitter user, Demagogue (@von_Bismack), whose profile indicated he hails from Imo State wrote, I just watched where IPOB members executed an Igbo person (in) execution style, shooting straight at him while he was lying down.

The tweet was a reaction to the video clip of the attack where an INEC official was shot by the gunmen.

This is an open declaration of war against my people and I have taken sides with my people, the user added.

Another Twitter user, Austin, insisted that IPOB carried out the attack. He said although he was part of the groups agitation, the killing of the INEC official has forced him to withdraw his involvement in the agitation.

Did you watch the video where people lying down were shot by their fellow Igbos? IPOB my foot. I was an agitator, but after seeing that video, I wont (remain an agitator) anymore,  Mr Austin tweeted.

For Aku Nesi Obi Ike, another user (@Akudinanwa117), supporting IPOB was his biggest regret.

I cant believe I was once an avid fan of the terror group, the user posted. IPOB members are the real enemies of Ndigbo. They ought to be ostracised from the entire region.

However, reacting to the allegation, the separatist group denied involvement in the attack on INEC officials, saying they have no hands in the criminal act that criminals randomly carry out against our people.

Emma Powerful, the spokesperson of the group, in a statement on Friday, regretted that some uninformed people point accusing fingers at IPOB.

Mr Powerful said IPOB would expose those behind the attacks in the region.

He said the group cannot afford to allow the gunmen to terrorise the people of the region or demonise their peaceful organisation.

IPOB is leading agitation for the creation of an independent state of Biafra which they want to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south regions of Nigeria.

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The separatist group has been accused of being responsible for the deadly attacks across the two regions, but it has repeatedly denied involvement in the attacks.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, has officially declared his interest to run for the 2023 governorship race in Delta State.

Mr Omo-Agege, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), represents Delta Central District.

He made the declaration on Thursday at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, in Delta State.

The senator said his achievements as a senator speaks for him. He said he had fulfilled all his promises to the constituency in both 2015 and 2019.

He thanked his constituents for their support.

With the support from President Muhammadu Buhari, with that of the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan and the senators in the ninth Assembly, I have fulfilled all my promises to my constituency.

I have built solar-powered water boreholes in almost all the communities in the eight local government areas in my constituency. I have improved their electricity supply by installing new transformers in all communities.

School were given furniture and reconstructed, roads rehabilitated and by Gods grace a new federal polytechnic has been attracted to the state under my watch and also a campus of Nigeria Law School in Delta, among others.

He said it was time for him to leave his comfort zone to enable him develop other parts of Delta. Hence, his declaration to vie for the office of the governor.

Mr Omo-Agege said his plan to build a new Delta State is hinged on Employment & Empowerment, Development, Good Governance and Enduring peace and security (EDGE).

We should not fold our hands and allow PDP to continue to marginalise us. The time has come for us to take our destinies into our hands and say enough is enough, Mr Omo-Agege said.

National Vice Chairman of APC, South-South, Victor Giadom, said Delta was now ripe to be taken over by the APC.

We are issuing a quit notice to PDP in Delta to pack their loads and go. A final departure warning to PDP in Delta, he said.

Otega Emeror, a chieftain of the APC in Delta, said the state had suffered economic setbacks from the ruling PDP, despite the enormous resources that accrues to it.

With the great crowd seen here today, those who say there is no APC in Delta are not telling the truth. I urge you to come out and vote for APC to take over the state, he said.

Former APC chairman in the state, Jones Erue, described Mr Omo-Agege as Gods chosen to liberate Delta.

A renowned labour and pro-democracy activist, Frank Kokori, said, I am happy that in my life time, there is going to be a change in government in Delta.

APC lawmakers in the state and national assemblies attended the declaration.

(NAN)
The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) on Friday donated N50 million to the Kaduna State Government for onward distribution to the victims of the recent Abuja  Kaduna train attack.

A statement by Head, NGF Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, in Abuja on Friday, said that the forum Chairman and Governor of Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi, made the donation when he led a two-man delegation of the forum to Kaduna State.

Mr Fayemi said that the delegation was in the state to commiserate with the government and people on the train attack which claimed lives, injured many people, while several others were kidnapped.

The NGF chairman, while addressing Governor Nasiru El-Rufai, expressed deep sympathy to Kaduna State and its people.

He described the attack as mind-boggling, because of the number of casualties and other fatalities.

Mr Fayemi said, regrettably, the criminals were audacious enough to also take away some hostages which raised the state of insecurity, which has virtually thrown Kaduna in the mix.

The Ekiti governor wondered if the entire crime was the handwork of some enemies of the state government or its governor, trying to distract the state from its path to development.

Mr Fayemi regretted that, everything is currently unnecessarily revolving around 2023, advising that, more should be done towards securing the country.

He said the North-west of the country had been a region of calm and consensus before now.

The governor emphasised, whatever it is, governors would continue to work with President Muhammadu Buhari to bring sanity back to the country.

Mr Fayemi also concurred with the Kaduna governor on his solution to banditry, in which he has always advocated that government takes proactive action by going after the bandits right in their enclaves and rooting them out.

I agree that we as governors must join hands with the President to deal ruthlessly with the bandits, that they be crushed, as you have always advocated.

He added that the primary purpose of government was ensuring the safety of lives and property.

Mr Fayemi said that they were in Kaduna State to commiserate with the governor, the state government and the people of the state.

We are here to show solidarity with them and align with the governor who as a public servant all his life, he has been a focused leader from who we must learn, to ensure peace in our communities, Fayemi added.

The NGF chairman admonished Mr El-Rufai not to relent in his efforts at building the state but continue to be the leader that he has always been, regardless of whatever anyone thinks. Nigeria is worth dying for.

Mr El-Rufai, in his remarks disclosed that 61 Kaduna indigenes were still recuperating from the train attack, including a top government official and his 8-months pregnant wife.

He said that the bandits were currently hiding somewhere in Niger State.

Mr El-Rufai regretted that the attack was avoidable, because, the state government had tipped the Nigerian Railways Corporation.

Speaking earlier, the Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, described the train attack as, a demoralising experience, which she prayed the state never witnessed again.

Mrs Balarabe said that El-Rufai had been in the forefront of finding solutions to the problem from the beginning.

The Deputy Governor said the NGF and its members had been such good friends whose support the state valued and placed on high premium.

She pledged that the Kaduna State Government would continue to do its best in supporting the security forces in the state.

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This is to accomplish the task of securing lives and property while still working hard to find lasting solutions to the problem, in such a way that it never repeats itself, she said.
A former managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Bayo Onanuga, has denied claims he is working against the presidential ambition of the former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu.

Mr Onanuga in a statement he posted on social media described the claims as far from the truth.

I am fully in support of Bola Tinubu. I am not in PYOs (President Yemi Osinbajo) camp and will not be in his camp if Tinubu is running, Mr Onanuga, the publisher of PM News, said.

People who know me will attest to the fact that I am ever loyal to my friends, loyal to a political cause. I have been on the political left since 1978 when I joined Awolowos UPN as a UNILAG student.

I am not a renegade. And I can vouch for Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi and Dele Alake as well.

Mr Tinubu, the national leader of the APC, will lock horns with several aspirants, including Vice President Osinbajo, his former protege, for the partys ticket ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Read Mr Onanugas post below:

My attention has been drawn to some lies being circulated about me as having jumped the Bola Ahmed Tinubu train and being against his presidential ambition.

The faceless writer, I guess a hatchet hand wrote: Almost all members of the Tinubu original power/intellectual base and allies when he was Governor are not in support of his Presidential ambition. Aregbesola, Afikuyomi, Ojudu, Onanuga, Alake, Fasola etc. Most of them may work for PYO.

Let me correct this misrepresentation straightforwardly: the statement is far from the truth as far as I am concerned.

I am fully in support of Bola Tinubu. I am not in PYOs camp and will not be in his camp if Tinubu is running.

People who know me will attest to the fact that I am ever loyal to my friends, loyal to a political cause. I have been on the political left since 1978when I joined Awolowos UPN as a UNILAG student.

I am not a renegade. And I can vouch for Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi and Dele Alake as well.

The author of the rumour was merely writing conjectures on an issue that is unpredictable, a partys primary election, where an outsider will only Labour in vain in making permutations.

As far as I am concerned, and let me say it loud and clear, I am in support of Bola Tinubus ambition. I am not against him. He is my first choice, the second choice and the third choice for the exalted seat.

Nigeria is in need of a visionary, a deep thinker, a man with the Midas touch, who can take our country on a journey of prosperity. This country has suffered enough and really needs a new leader who can breathe fresh air in it and change the way things are done.

Nigeria needs a man of ideas, who will not just talk his way, but really get things done.

I have no doubt that Bola Tinubu is capable of this, which is why I support his campaign to lead Nigeria.

I have known him since 1992. I was part of his governorship campaign in 1998 before others were invited to his government after we won the election in January 1999.

I was close to his government for eight years and I bore witness to the innovations he brought into governance, the overhauling of the system that he carried out, some of which other states and the Federal Government had copied.

I have no iota of doubt that he will replicate the same at the centre, and even do more, if given the opportunity.

These are the reasons I support his campaign. And Nigerians will hear more about my involvement in the next few days.
Police Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) will now be held responsible for the misdeeds of junior officers under their watch, Nigerian Police authorities have said.

Muyiwa Adejobi, the acting police spokesperson, said in a tweet Friday that the move is to make superior officers instill discipline and stop extortion, harassment, and brutality from the rank and file.

In a bid to reduce or possibly put a stop to extortion, harassment and brutality in the NPF, we will henceforth hold DPOs and Commanders responsible for the misdeeds of their men. In as much as we dont promote vicarious liability, pic.twitter.com/S0wzQuwN0u  Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi (@Princemoye1) April 15, 2022

In a bid to reduce or possibly put a stop to extortion, harassment and brutality in the NPF, we will henceforth hold DPOs and Commanders responsible for the misdeeds of their men, Mr Adejobi said.

In as much as we dont promote vicarious liability, we have equally noticed that some superiors fail or lack the willingness and/or wherewithal to supervise and manage their men.

This leadership gap is not in tune with the leadership styles of the IGP and his repositioning drives, thus, counterproductive and condemnable, Mr Adejobi said.

The move by the police follows continued complaints by Nigerians about extortion and bullying by police officers, particularly at highway checkpoints.

Some excesses of the police officers, particularly members of the defunct Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), had led to the massive youths protest in 2020, demanding an end to police brutality.

The protest led to the disbandment of SARS, the notorious police unit which, for decades, inflicted untold terror on Nigerians.

The dissatisfaction with police operations is not limited to young Nigerians.

Last month, junior police officers threatened industrial action over the poor conditions of service in the Force.
The Governor of Rivers State and a 2023 presidential aspirant, Nyesom Wike, has said that he would remain in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), even if he does not win the presidential ticket.

He said this while addressing stakeholders of the Niger State chapter of the PDP on his intention to contest for president at the party secretariat in Minna on Saturday.

He said there was nothing wrong with consensus candidate if it is based on equity, justice and fairness.

Mr Wike solicited stakeholders support in the state party to enable him become the flagbearer of the party, adding that he is the only candidate who is capable of defeating the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election.

I am here today to tell you that I have made myself available to run for the seat of the president of this country under our party, PDP, I have been a member of the PDP since 1988, I have never left the party and I will never leave.

I can become the president if I get the mandate of delegates to make me the flag bearer. The country needs someone who will see white and call it white and black and call it black and that person is me, he said.

He promised to address the security challenges in the country, alleging that the present administration had not adequately protected lives and property.

Mr Wike lamented the escalating cases of insecurity in the country where people can no longer sleep and travel without fear of being kidnapped, describing Niger State as one of the worst with security challenges where farmers can no longer go to their farms due to fear of being attacked.

The governor noted that fighting insecurity requires intelligence on activities of criminals and not all about buying weapons as well as giving incentives to personnel in the war front as motivation.

Responding, Tanko Beji, Chairman of Niger PDP, thanked the governor for standing by the state party when they needed him to reconcile members, adding that the reconciliation had made the party more united and stronger to reclaim power in the state, come 2023.

He said that the party and the country need someone who would give it a redirection and change the reward system, adding the state would provide a fair playing ground for everybody to participate.

In their separate remarks, a former senator, Zainba Kure, and a former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana, described the governor as a gender friendly who could give women the opportunity to contribute and add value to the growth and development of the state and the country.

They lauded his achievements in areas of provision of security and infrastructure development in Rivers, his state, urging him to do all he can for the party to become victorious in 2023.

(NAN)
A former governor of Lagos State and APC presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu, has urged Nigerians to look towards the future rather than dwell on the errors of the past.

Mr Tinubu spoke Saturday at a rally held to support his presidential ambition at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.

We cannot continue with the lamentation of the past. As youths, the country belongs to you. You are the future of this country. You must continue to push for a better Nigeria. You must commit yourself to building a better future, he said.

Among those who graced the event include Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, Head of Service Hakeem Muri-Okunola, APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel, and youth leaders from all the South-western states.

Youth delegations from other states across the country were also present.

Mr Tinubu spoke about the economic reforms in job creation, power, education, technology, and social welfare he intends to implement if given the opportunity to serve as the next President of the country.

Commending the youths, he said by their huge attendance, they had demonstrated action, signaled hope, and shown faith in his vision.

Mr Tinubu expressed gratitude for the unprecedented support, thanking the organisers and renewing his personal pledge to serve and lead this country so that all Nigerians may realise their brightest futures.

Urging them to embrace courage and determination, he said they can change the country for the better.

Let us build a peaceful, successful, and violence-free Nigeria. Poverty and unemployment have no tribal marks, he said.

Speaking about the electricity supply in the country, he said no nation can develop without electricity, adding we have enough gas to power our electricity in Nigeria.

Nothing and no one shall deter us from doing what is necessary to establish progressive, honest, and compassionate democratic governance over this land.

Speaking earlier, Governor Sanwo-Olu assured the youths of inclusion and accommodation if they give Mr Tinubu their votes.

Asiwaju Tinubu will stand by the youths of this country. The youths will not be forgotten. They will always have a place in government if Asiwaju Tinubu is elected president, he said.

The governor added that the APC delegates among the assembled youths must ensure they cast their votes during the presidential primaries of the party and elect Mr Tinubu as the candidate.
Nigerias ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has officially notified the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of its decision to hold primaries for the nomination of candidates for the 2023 elections.

Against its earlier denial, the APC, in a letter dated April 6, notified the commission of proposed dates for its presidential, governorship and legislative elections.

In the letter addressed to the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, and credited to the partys national secretary, Iyiola Omisore, the party fixed May 30 and 31 for the election of its presidential candidate.

At least six ranking members of the party have so far declared interest in the race for the position.

Some of the identified aspirants include the National Leader of the APC and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; and the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

The party has also resolved to hold the States Houses of Assembly and Governorship election on May 11 and 23 respectively while the elections into the House of Representatives and Senate have been slated for May 16 and 18.

This serves as a formal notification, pursuant to the provisions of Section 85 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended. Kindly arrange for your officials to monitor the exercise accordingly. While hoping to receive your cooperation, please accept the assurances of my highest esteem, Mr Omisore said in the letter.

The INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye, on Saturday, confirmed the authenticity of the letter to PREMIUM TIMES.

Meanwhile, the party in a statement issued on Friday, fixed its maiden post-National Convention meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) for Wednesday.

The NEC, which is the second highest decision making organ, after Congress, will at the meeting ratify the timetable and schedule of activities for the primaries before INEC.

Pursuant to Article 25.2.ii of the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the National Working Committee (NWC) is therefore, inviting members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party to a meeting to consider the Partys Timetable/Schedule of Activities for Primaries for the nomination of candidates for the 2023 General Elections and other relevant business of the Party, the party spokesperson, Felix Morka, noted in a statement.


Introduction

In a troubled world where religious intolerance has led to loss of lives and livelihoods, Christians and Muslims have reasons to be sober towards embracing religious pluralism and peaceful co-existence. Sadly, various events hurt badly. For example, between October 2016 to January 2017, there was persecution and killing of over 6000 Muslim Rohingya people by the Burmese military in Myanmar. By the same token, there was an alarming report by Crux that At least 3,462 Christians, including ten priests or pastors, were murdered in Nigeria in the first 200 days of 2021. These sad incidences suggest that the world is more religious than spiritual.

Perhaps Samuel Huntington (1996) was right when he predicted a clash of civilizations between the West and the Islamic-world in the Post-Cold War. Despite this apparent unsavory tale, the people of the book share certain values in common which if properly harnessed, could build bridges of peace. On 2 March being Ash Wednesday 2022, Christians the world over began their 40-days fast which is expected to end on Holy Thursday, April 14 leading to Easter celebration.

In like manner, their Muslim counterparts started their 30-days Holy Month of Ramadan on April 2 which is scheduled to end on May 2 with the Eid al-Fitr celebration. This holy coincidence speaks to the heart of piety as a modest attempt at healing the world and living in a pluralistic society. This piece argues that despite the bitter past as regards what has transpired between Christians and Muslims, these fasts could be catalysts for global harmony.

Fasting in Christian Tradition

For Christians, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown of Holy Thursday. On this day, the faithful are marked with ashes on their foreheads in keeping with Holy Scriptures (Cf. Esther 4:2-3; Daniel 19:3; Jonah 3:6 and Matthew 11:21) as a sign of repentance and penitence. In imitation of Moses (Cf. Exodus 34:28) and Jesus (Cf. Matthew 4:2), the people of God take to the three traditional spiritual acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

The spiritual benefits of fasting and mortification are rife. During Lent, the faithful are encouraged to abstain from meat and alcoholic drinks as a way of spiritual discipline. Church Fathers like Basil the Great and Saint Augustine have spoken eloquently about physical and spiritual fast. They contend that while physical fast entails the body abstaining from food and drink, spiritual fast has to do with abstaining from evil intentions, words and deeds. Lent helps Christians to address sinful personal habits like masturbation, sexual immodesty, gossips and nagging. At this time, penance includes going for sacramental confession, prayer, meditation and reflection.

Islamic Perspective of Fasting

In Islam, fasting also known as Sawm or Ruzeh is the practice of abstaining from food, drink, smoking and sexual activity during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Sawm occurs between dawn and nightfall when the adhan of the Maghrib prayer is proclaimed. It appears in the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar. As the fourth of the five pillars of Islam, the fast of Ramadan requires Muslims to give alms, read the Holy Koran more often and practice reflection.

Ramadan disposes Muslim faithful to be sensitive to the needs of the aged, strangers, widows, orphans and other vulnerable groups. This is achieved during breaking the fast. The rich invite family members, friends and neighbours to enjoy the iftar  that is, the evening meal that is taken which replaces breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is a sign of gratitude to Allah for the gift of life and all good things. Islamic scholars are of the view that: Fasting (Sawm) carries many rewards, whether we are fasting voluntarily or in Ramadan. It improves our physical health and our relationship with food, helps us to be more grateful and more conscious of Allah, protects us from the Fire and leads us into Jannah.

Nostra Aetate, Christian-Muslim Relations

Nostra Aetate, The Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, disclosed that Muslims are believers in one God who respect Jesus and His Mother Virgin Mary; although they do not believe in Him as God. They hold that He is a Prophet. Muslims believe that God will judge all peoples. They worship God through prayer, charity and fasting. It also suggests that overemphasizing differences with Muslims is a sin. It is on the basis of Vatican IIs teaching as espoused in Nostra Aetate that Popes John 6, John Paul 2, and Benedict 16, referred to Muslims as Brothers.

In his address to the United Nations on 25 January 1959, Pope John XXIII put across a historic reminder to people of different religions, cultures and ethnicities that: Peace on earth is an object of profound desire for humanity. He emphasized that the four principles for achieving peace for humanity are: Truth, justice, solidarity, and liberty. Going forward, Nostra Aetate is employed as the Magna Carta for inter-faith relations.

In a Ramadan message released by the Vatican on April 8, leaders of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue called on Christians and Muslims to share Gods bounty and gifts with one another. The statement co-signed by Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso, Council President, and Msgr. Indunil Janakaratne Kankanamalage, Council Secretary indicated that Gods generosity fills our hearts with gratitude toward him and, at the same time, encourages us to share his gifts with our brothers and sisters who are in any kind of need.

In the statement which drew attention to sharing in this time of Coronavirus pandemic, the Vatican reiterated that sharing involves sharing one anothers joys and sorrows, which are part of every human life. The officials surmised: Our hope, dear Muslim brothers and sisters, is that we continue sharing the joys and sorrows of all our neighbors and friends, because Gods love embraces every person and the entire universe.

This also played out in another Ramadan message which was released on Thursday, April 7, by Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Nigerian Diocese of Oyo which stated that: The Almighty Allah, who grants every good thing, must have a hand in the coincidence that youre beginning this unique spiritual exercise while Christians are still observing their annual fasting which we started a month ago.

Speaking further, he stressed, Let our fasting and prayer make us work for a better Nigeria that we all desire, while adding, Nigeria is our own, our common heritage, and country. Let us seek for her unity, political stability, equity, true and good governance as we prepare earnestly for general elections early next year. Bishop Badejo advised both Muslims and Christians to work together for unity, justice and good neighborliness while seeking justice, peace and development. He seized the occasion to wish all Muslims a fruitful and blessed month of Ramadan.

Conclusion

Both Christians and Muslims are challenged to be charitable to orphans, widows, the aged, those in prison, the hospitalized and all destitute people. It is also a season to show acts of mercy to the countless vulnerable groups such as immigrants and refugees across the world. It is high time they reflected on the lives of Jesus and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) for positive action. The current aggressive invasion of Ukraine by Russia akin to the biblical analogy of the killing of Abel by his brother, Cain calls for global synergy to stand for the truth and what is right.

This Holy Season requires that these two nations (Ukraine and Russia) with Christian heritage pay attention to the passion of Christ by fasting from this meaningless war. Fast, as a common denominator for the worlds greatest religions should be the basis for promoting justice and peace globally. Amidst the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, may the closing days of Lent leading to Easter celebration and the Ramadan fast transform the world into the new heaven and new earth which every human soul desires.

Justine John Dyikuk is a lecturer in Mass Communication, University of Jos, editor of Caritas newspaper and Convener of the Media Team Network Initiative (MTNI), Nigeria.
The weaponisation of poverty has been the bane of the insecurity challenges gripping the Northern parts of the country, especially the North East, which has witnessed a protracted 10 years of fighting against insurgency as most profoundly manifested through Boko Haram.

Gradually, calm is returning to the North East while the rebuilding and redevelopment of the region is taking place, step by step. Gombe State, which sits in the heart of the North East, is arguably the most peaceful state in the region, and perhaps in the North in its entirety.

Despite being in the midst of the theatre of insurgency, Gombe ranks as the best state in the ease of doing business, emerging top in Nigerias sub-national ease of doing business survey. The survey was conducted by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council. The homegrown indicators on which the states were measured, were in four thematic areas  Infrastructure and Security, Transparency and Access to Information, Regulatory Environment and Skills Workforce Readiness. The Infrastructure and Security theme involves four indices, namely transportation, primary healthcare, and security.

It is more than apparent that Governor Inuwa Yahaya is achieving all these, by predisposing his energy and resources, towards engaging the youth population in the state, with the various developmental projects he has embarked upon. The Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park is scheduled to provide 50,000 jobs for youths in the state.

The governor has already established the Gombe State Security, Traffic and Environmental Corps, GOSTEC. The corps is a homegrown innovation which is providing 2,000 youths and women with jobs in security, traffic control, as well as environmental cleaning and maintenance services across the state. It boasts of a women empowerment programme where 5,000 women are being trained and funded, to embark on different business ventures of their own.

When youths are taken off the streets, and the idle womenfolk are engaged with one business or the other, the society becomes safer and more ideal for government policies and other socio-economic programmes to thrive. Overall, the youth empowerment programmes are targeting 20,000 youths and women.

Another arm of this youth empowerment drive is the unprecedented provision of 2,000 tricycles, popularly called Keke-NAPEP. This is geared towards the socio-economic advancement and self-reliance of the common man. This was done through the human capital development initiative of the state government. The distribution of the Keke-NAPEP was done through the umbrella association of Keke Riders Association of Nigeria, Gombe State chapter. One thousand (1000) beneficiaries were drawn regardless of their party affiliations, their local governments or tribes to kick-start the initiative. This was in addition to the training and engagement of over 1,000 youths, under the At Risk Children Programme (ARC-P).

Another 3,000 youths have also been engaged as development facilitators, working for the progress of their various communities. With the afore-mentioned programmes, the state government has institutionalised a framework that has guaranteed a steady and geometric surge in internal revenue, which has never been seen within the last 25 years of the states existence. To further bolster the human capital development drive, a database, capturing the 27,000 unemployed graduates in the state, is being deployed in an effort to link them to appropriate jobs in both the public and private sectors, based on their skills.

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) have not been disabled by the Inuwa Yahaya empowerment and youth development projects. A mega centre is being built for them in the state, while various empowerment items, funds and training are being extended to them as well, just as the other able-bodied youths in the state. This is being done in collaboration with the Qatar Charity Foundation, which has executed over 400 projects across the state.

It has provided medical services to more than 5,000 people, with over 1,000 eye surgeries and medical glasses. It has built more than 50 places of worship, in which youths were engaged, with marketers of various building materials in the state enjoying patronage. More than 140 boreholes were also built. PWDs were provided with tricycles for the disabled, and hundreds of sewing machines, grinding machines, and learning packages for PWDs.

A whopping 1,000 fresh teachers are being recruited by Gombe State Teachers Service Commission. A total of 288 teachers under the SUBEB programme have applied for a transfer of service to the States Ministry of Educations Secondary Schools and Technical Colleges. All of them have been approved and will be absorbed into the recruitment exercise. These massive engagements of the youth populace into the states workforce, and other meaningful programmes, are going a long way in providing job and food security in the state. It is a key ingredient in maintaining law and order in the state. Jobless ones are mopped up from the streets, by providing employment and businesses that make them independent or self-reliant. Governor Inuwa Yahayas purposeful leadership is providing food on the table for the common man, jobs for the youths, and security for the state.

Tahir is Talban Bauchi.
Joseph Tegbe, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, has explained why he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists on Friday in Ibadan, Mr Tegbe said he left the APC that brought him to the limelight due to an internal crisis rocking the state chapter of the party.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Tegbe, a top contender for the governorship ticket of APC in 2018, sent shock waves to the APC fold with his defection to PDP.

He said that his defection was further fuelled by the national leadership of the party, which was allegedly supporting the minority in hijacking the party structure, contrary to the desire of the majority.

The good people of Oyo State, many years ago, I made a commitment to always contribute to the development of our society in my God-given capacity.

In 2018, after serving government in different non-political capacities, I offered to serve Oyo State as Governor, on the platform of the APC.

This decision was based on my commitment to offering my wealth of experience to the entrenchment of good governance and development in our dear state, he said.

Mr Tegbe recounted how he stepped down in 2018 as a team player and continued to make his contribution to the party.

He said that recent developments in APC in the state were unfortunate and worrisome.

We watched a minority hijacking the party structure and backed by some powers at the top.

We saw congress results, democratically agreed at Ward and Local Government levels being altered to favour this minority group.

Efforts to make the national leadership of the party see reasons have yielded no fruits. A house divided against itself cannot stand, Tegbe said.

The defector said he resigned his membership after consideration and deliberation with the support of his groups.

(NAN)
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared that there would be no place to hide for looters of Oyo States funds.

The governor, who was speaking on a Splash 105.5 FM programme, State Affairs, anchored by Edmond Obilo, said that his administration remains determined to retrieve every kobo of the states resources stolen by some members of the immediate past administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

Mr Makinde noted that his administration has been able to bring about a turnaround in the infrastructure of the state and other key sectors because it blocked loopholes and wastages in resources.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, quoted the governor as saying that his government is on the track of some chieftains of the APC in the state, who used a certain company to siphon between N12 and N15 Billion of Oyo States money.

Mr Makinde added that the government would go after them and retrieve the looted funds for the people of Oyo State.

He maintained that his administration took the bold step of plugging every hole through which the states funds could be siphoned, adding: Without blocking loopholes, we could not have been where we are today.

He further stated: First, we did verification for the workers and ghost workers, ghost pensioners were removed from the payroll. They were there before we came in but we decided that, as an administration, we would not spend our time on chasing shadows.

Giving an example of how such loopholes bled the state in billions during the immediate past APC government, Governor Makinde revealed how about N8 Billion Paris Club refund was siphoned within eleven months.

Let me give you an example  when I came in, I looked at how some monies were spent and I believed it was Paris Club refund they moved, which was about N7 Billion to N8 Billion to OYSROMA, Mr Makinde said.

This is an agency that operates normally on a budget of about N40 Million to N45 Million every month but this money came in around November 2017, and in early 2018, they started spending the money.

When we came in, we discovered they finished spending the money within one year on nothing. They stole the money and I know those behind the stealing and I am also after them right now.

There is a company called Chinese Global. They said they are Chinese people but we know the people behind it. The company has been shut down as we speak.

I asked the General Manager in charge of OYSROMA and said, look, your budget is N44 Million every month and, in a year, it is less than N500 Million. Did you employ new people? He said no. Did you give out contracts? He said no. But how were you able to spend about N7 Billion in eleven months without employing new people?

But he said the company supplied asphalt. And I said if the company did, was the asphalt used to repair roads without employing new people and giving out contracts? He said the money was moved from OYSROMA to Chinese Global and two other companies without any supply from the companies.

As a result of that, I wrote to EFCC and reported the matter about what we are facing here. Chinese Global is also the company they awarded the Bembo-Apata road contract to, and the same company got the Ido-Eruwa project. But I said to them, guys, you have Oyo State money with you. Go ahead and use the money to finish up the roads and they promised to do it.

But as soon as former Governor Abiola Ajimobi passed on, they reneged on all those projects. And I said, fine, for me, as long as you have Oyo State money with you, I will get it back and I am still saying it again that I will get back the money for our state.

The money is in excess of N12 Billion to N15 Billion. Those who stole it are not Chinese but from Oyo State. We know them, and very soon, wherever they have investment or property in the world, I will go after them and collect this money for our state.

This is a promise I made and I am not saying it outside of what I have discussed directly with the people involved. Oyo States money will come back. Those who stole the money are the members of the APC who were in the government then.

SOURCE:

Taiwo Adisa

Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde.
LONDON, April 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC) and the Republic of the Congo have today announced their intention to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain based solutions to drive future economic progress. Layer one proof-of-stake blockchain, The Open Network (TON) is the leading contender to become the blockchain to power this. The DRC has also confirmed that it is considering a new national stablecoin, built on the TON blockchain.

TON has been engaging with all three countries independently for some time and has taken the lead to deliver cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions for each nation. These countries will each undertake a phased transition to adopting cryptocurrency as a central pillar of their economic structures.

The future use of cryptocurrency will ensure that both banked and unbanked individuals will be better able to engage in the economy. This in turn will act as a powerful economic stimulus. In the DRC, for instance, as of 2019 12.4 million people had an account with a financial institution, whereas over 40 million have access to mobile phones or other internet enabled devices, demonstrating the significant potential for cryptocurrency.

The TON blockchain was designed to process millions of transactions within seconds. It's ultra-affordable, user-friendly and fully scalable. With TON being a decentralized platform, it will provide control and certainty for citizens, removing the possibility of interference. In addition, TON anticipates that applications will be uniquely integrated with the Telegram app to provide users with a seamless, accessible experience.

Speaking about the potential partnership, the Congolese Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Leon Juste Ibombo, commented: "The Republic of the Congo has been on this path for a number of years, having encouraged and witnessed the widespread adoption of mobile payments across the country. This is the next step in that journey and we believe that TON is the right partner to facilitate this. This will be an invaluable, practical instrument for the growth and creation of wealth, both for the government and our people alike."

The Minister for Digital Economy for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Desire Cashmir Eberande Kolongele, added: "We are proud to take this pioneering step, embracing new economic instruments to power our future economy. This marks the beginning of our journey to adopting cryptocurrency as a financial instrument within the DRC, and with the support of TON as a partner we aim to increase our nations exposure to modern financial tools. We are also enthusiastic to commence considering the launch of a national stablecoin on the TON blockchain, democratizing access to our financial system for millions of unbanked and underbanked citizens. The ability to integrate applications with the Telegram platform, and reach mobile users, makes TON the obvious choice as we step boldly into the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain."

Minette Libom Li Likeng, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for Cameroon, said: "The partnership with TON can play a fundamental role in the digital ecosystem of Cameroon for boosting the payment solutions and financial inclusion via CAMPOST, the public postal operator."

Steven Yun, Founding Member of TON Foundation, remarked: "There is an unbounded potential for these three countries to benefit from the adoption of cryptocurrency with our blockchain as the foundation. It's fantastic that TON's value is recognized, both in terms of its technology and utility. We're excited to embark on this journey to building strong and long-lasting partnerships."

This announcement follows the adoption of Bitcoin by El Salvador as legal tender, and it is anticipated that new stablecoins will be developed for Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo, in addition to the DRC, to provide confidence and assurance to citizens.

About The Open Network (TON)

The Open Network (TON) is a third-generation Proof-of-Stake blockchain originally designed in 2018 by the Durov brothers, the founders of Telegram Messenger. Later, it was handed over to the open TON Community, which has been supporting and developing it ever since.

TON was designed for lightning-fast transactions. It's ultra-cheap, user-friendly, and fully scalable. True to its predecessor, it aims to develop unique integrations with the Telegram app to provide its users with a seamless blockchain experience in a portable and familiar format.

TON is managed by community of non-commercial developers and supporters (the TON Foundation).

SOURCE The Open Network (TON)
LAWRENCE, Mass., April 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- U-Haul is offering 30 days of free self-storage and U-Box container usage to residents who have been displaced or impacted by a fire at multiple three-decker homes on Crosby Street.

The five-alarm fire spread to at least five nearby buildings in the Lawrence neighborhood on Friday night. A total of 16 families were evacuated from the fire.

"We want to extend our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families," said Scott Chase, U-Haul Company of Eastern Massachusetts president. "Homes have been affected and we want to support this community by offering a secure place for their belongings to be stored while they begin the process of rebuilding."

U-Haul has a variety of boxes and other moving supplies it is making available to assist those in need. The free supplies are available on a first-come, first-serve basis for a limited time at participating locations.

Customers needing boxes can also utilize the Take a Box, Leave a Box program. U-Haul offers an in-store area where customers can drop off used boxes in good condition, and other members of the community can access the boxes at no cost. U-Haul encourages anyone who has reusable boxes to drop them at the nearest U-Haul store location for this purpose.

People seeking more information about the U-Haul disaster relief program or needing to arrange 30 days of free self-storage should contact:

U-Haul Moving & Storage of Methuen

99 Pleasant Valley St.

Methuen, MA 01844

(978) 237-5053

In addition to its 30 days free self-storage disaster relief program, U-Haul is proud to be at the forefront of aiding communities in times of need as an official American Red Cross Disaster Responder.

About U-HAUL

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 23,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 176,000 trucks, 126,000 trailers and 46,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 855,000 rentable storage units and 73.6 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S., and continues to be the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. U-Haul has been recognized repeatedly as a leading "Best for Vets" employer and was recently named one of the 15 Healthiest Workplaces in America.

Contact:

Andrea Batchelor

Jeff Lockridge

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 602-263-6981

Website: uhaul.com

SOURCE U-Haul
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif., April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Podetize, one of the world's largest podcast production companies, announced today that its crowdfunding campaign has met the initial targeted goal and will close out early on April 18th, largely due to strong support from its podcast clients and notable investors, including Pat Flynn and original Shark Tank star Kevin Harrington.

https://twitter.com/HarringtonKevin/status/1515045998933983241

The campaign was hosted by Republic as a way for investors, over 100 of whom ended up being Podetize's existing clients, to tap into the highly lucrative, high-growth podcast industry. Podetize is already a profitable, scalable, and innovative company firmly entrenched in the fast-growing $1.6 billion podcasting industry. It has 4.2M monthly listeners with 500+ subscribers and 1,000 podcasters on its platform.

"While we're happy with the monetary success of the Podetize crowdfunding campaign, we're most proud of the fact that many of the investor supporters ended up being Podetize's own clients. This is tremendously gratifying and I appreciate each one of them for showing their confidence in us. Our clients are what we're all about and our ultimate goal is to help them realize higher revenue potential, as evidenced by the numbers," said Tracy Hazzard, CEO of Podetize, who leads the company together with husband Tom Hazzard.

Since inception, Podetize's client lifetime value is $14,000, with a consistent 93% retention rate and an advertising conversion rate that is twice the industry norm. Its clients generate an average 54% organic keyword and 39% organic web traffic growth.

In addition to its strong base of client supporters, Podetize attributes its successful crowdfunding campaign to the fact that podcasts are more popular than ever these days. There are thousands of podcasts produced every month and more than 2 million+ podcasts competing for listeners, many of whom are affluent, educated and young. Podcast advertising revenue is estimated to be $1.3 billion in 2022, $2 billion by 2023, and $3 billion by 2025.

"With such dynamic growth potential, it's essential for podcasters to understand how to be seen, heard and found so that they can edu-tain the broadest and most engaged audience possible. To help make that happen, we're dedicated to being the leading experts of choice for the podcast community. We know from experience what works and what doesn't work, and we share that knowledge in our strategist certification program, entering its second session in May. Indeed, success in podcasting relies on support that is not one size fits all," Ms. Hazzard said.

To learn more about Podetize, visit https://podetize.com/. For media and investor queries, please contact [email protected].

If you are an investor interested in joining Podetize's crowdfunding campaign, visit https://rep.pub/podetize

About Podetize

Podetize is a leading global platform for podcast hosting and production helps podcasters launch or migrate their podcast to a hosted platform that provides unlimited storage, statistical reports on the show's reach and syndication to all of the major platforms. Hosting is available for a flat monthly rate and Podetize can help monetize shows through their patent-pending "ad mixing" across their growing syndication network.

About Podetize's Founders

Tracy Hazzard and Tom Hazzard, Podcast's founders, have supported and launched more than 1,000 podcasts for their clients and personally host eight of their own podcast shows. Additionally, they designed over 250 products for mass market clients like Target, Costco, Best Buy, and Martha Stewart that generated over $2B in salesplus 42 issued and pending patents with an 86% commercialization rate and have earned their place in a very elite group of successful serial innovators. They have been featured in CIO, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Wired, and Harvard Business Review. An Inc. Innovation columnist and expert product designer, Tracy Hazzard also has worked with leading brands like Herman Miller and Martha Stewart Living and Tom Hazzard has launched over 250 consumer products raking in over $2 billion.

To learn more about Podetize, visit https://podetize.com/.

For media and investor queries:

Contact [email protected]

+1 (239) 404-6785

If you are an investor interested in joining Podetize's crowdfunding campaign, visit https://rep.pub/podetize

SOURCE Podetize
What I Wish I Knew a Year Ago About the Aesthetic Market and Where I'm Investing Now

VANCOUVER, B.C., April 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1978, scientists isolated human insulin produced by genetically modified E. coli, marking the first biopharmaceutical derived from recombinant DNA technology. This radically new methodology for isolating enzymes and active ingredients shook biotechnology to the core, triggering a tsunami of discoveries. Since then, more than 250 therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies have stolen the stage as standard of care.



In the last several years, this momentum carried over to cosmetics, as biotechnology and aesthetic medicines joined forces to isolate anti-aging skin products such as hyaluronic acid, kojic acid, and resveratrol, to name a few. But what new developments stand on the horizon? And to which direction should investors hone their gaze? Two emerging therapies, stem cell exosomes and gene therapy, scintillate brightly on the financial horizon as golden investment opportunities.



The global biotech aesthetic market size valued at USD 63.5 billion in 2021, with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) projected to increase by 9.6% from 2022 to 2023, according to the aesthetic medicine market size report. Social distancing, sudden cuts in consumers' income levels, and temporary closures of beauty centers balanced the inevitable bottleneck in manufacturing and supply chains. The pandemic, however, saw the workforce shift to remote Zoom calls, forcing many to pay close attention to facial appearance. The market consequently saw a spike in non-invasive aesthetic treatments, with this segment dominating the market in 2021 with shares over 50%. The non-invasive aesthetic treatment market size was valued at USD 52 billion last year with a CAGR of 12.4%.



Currently, 45 market competitors compose the exosome industry, with 19 of them being established companies that have recently joined the race to develop aging-defying exosome technology. Some of these companies include: Galderma S.A., Johnson & Johnson, Allergen, El. En. SpA, Alma Lasers, Cynosure, Lumenis, Solta Medical, Syneron Candela, and Merz Pharma.



Up and coming regenerative biotech company Elevai shows award winning promise with stem cell exosome topical applications as the next generation of targeted anti-aging skin care. Elevai recently won the LaunchPad SBDC People's Choice Award at the 2022 Octane Aesthetics Tech Summit ("ATS") held in Newport Beach, California, for their proprietary stem cell exosome technology and products. The Elevai platform technology illuminates potential applications in regenerative medicine and in office medical skincare treatments.



Another company worth mentioning includes Jeune, a gene-based aesthetic subsidiary of Krystal biotech, that is currently operating the first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial of an injectable gene therapy to stimulate production of collagen type III and reduce wrinkles. The injections were well tolerated and biopsies at the injection sites showed new collagen generation, an excellent first step to directly address biological changes in the skin associated with intrinsic and extrinsic aging.



Stem cell exosomes and gene therapy technologies will no doubt become the in office standard of care for regenerative and anti-aging technology, stealing the stage much in the same way that insulin radically changed diabetic care.



PRLog ID: www.prlog.org/12913604

SOURCE Braeden William Lichti
Flexible Lid Stock Packaging Market 2022-2026: Scope

The flexible lid stock packaging market report covers the following areas:

Flexible Lid Stock Packaging Market 2022-2026 : Driver and Challenge

The growing demand for MAP in flexible packaging is driving the flexible lid stock packaging market growth. MAP is a fine blend of atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide in a high-barrier package. It helps in maintaining the nutritional and visual appeal of the food and extending shelf life without using chemical preservatives. It also reduces the aging process of the product and prevents loss of taste, color, and other types of deterioration. MAP helps reduce the product rotation cycle and restocking and, in turn, the labor cost. Such advantages of MAP will drive the flexible lid stock packaging market growth during the forecast period.

Stringent government regulations on the reduction of packaging wastes is challenging the flexible lid stock packaging market growth. Packaging vendors are coming up with innovative solutions to reduce the cost of packaging as well as the packaging waste. For instance, DuPont introduced DuPont Surlyn ionomer resin in 2015, a paper-based pouch for processed food, which can be used to create a layer and is one-third the size of other polyethylene layers. This lowers packaging costs and packaging waste. Hence, such types of innovations in paper packaging, as well as increasing government regulations on waste reduction are expected to hinder the global flexible lid stock packaging market during the forecast period.

Flexible Lid Stock Packaging Market 2022-2026: Segmentation

End-user

Food



Pharmaceutical



Personal Care



Beverage

Geography

APAC



North America



Europe



South America



Middle East And Africa

Learn more about the contribution of each segment of the market. Download a Free Sample

Flexible Lid Stock Packaging Market 2022-2026: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the Flexible Lid Stock Packaging Market, including Amcor Plc, Berry Global Inc., Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH, Coveris Management GmbH, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Fres co System USA Inc., Glenroy Inc., Huhtamaki Oyj, KP Holding GmbH and Co. KG, Mondi plc, Sealed Air Corp., Sonoco Products Co., Toray Industries Inc., UFlex Ltd., WestRock Co., and Wipak Group among others. The key offerings of some of the vendors are mentioned below:

Amcor Plc - The company offers flexible lid stock packaging such as Primera Blister Lidding for healthcare applications.

The company offers flexible lid stock packaging such as Primera Blister Lidding for healthcare applications. Berry Global Inc. - The company offers flexible lid stock packaging, which can be purchased independently or paired with any beverage cups, containers, pots or tubs.

The company offers flexible lid stock packaging, which can be purchased independently or paired with any beverage cups, containers, pots or tubs. Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH - The company offers flexible lid stock packaging named Aluminum Lid for applications such as processed food and pet care.

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Flexible Lid Stock Packaging Market 2022-2026: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2022-2026

Detailed information on factors that will assist flexible lid stock packaging market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the flexible lid stock packaging market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the flexible lid stock packaging market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of flexible lid stock packaging market vendors

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Pallet Market in India by Material and End-user - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Ambient Food Packaging Market by Application and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Flexible Lid Stock Packaging Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 5.9% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 1.92 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.63 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 41% Key consumer countries US, Canada, China, India, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Amcor Plc, Berry Global Inc., Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH, Coveris Management GmbH, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Fres co System USA Inc., Glenroy Inc., Huhtamaki Oyj, KP Holding GmbH and Co. KG, Mondi plc, Sealed Air Corp., Sonoco Products Co., Toray Industries Inc., UFlex Ltd., WestRock Co., and Wipak Group 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: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

5.3 Food - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Food - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Food - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Food - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Food - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Pharmaceutical - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Pharmaceutical - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Pharmaceutical - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Pharmaceutical - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Pharmaceutical - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Personal care - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 36: Chart on Personal care - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Personal care - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 38: Chart on Personal care - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Personal care - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.6 Beverage - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 40: Chart on Beverage - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Beverage - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 42: Chart on Beverage - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Beverage - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.7 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 44: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 45: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 46: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 48: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 49: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 50: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 55: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 56: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 60: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 62: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 64: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 70: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 72: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 74: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 75: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 76: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 77: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 78: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 79: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 80: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 81: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 82: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 84: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 86: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 88: Chart on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 89: Data Table on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 90: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 91: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 92: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 93: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 94: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 95: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 96: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 Amcor Plc

Exhibit 97: Amcor Plc - Overview



Exhibit 98: Amcor Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 99: Amcor Plc - Key news



Exhibit 100: Amcor Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 101: Amcor Plc - Segment focus

10.4 Berry Global Inc.

Exhibit 102: Berry Global Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 103: Berry Global Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 104: Berry Global Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 105: Berry Global Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 106: Berry Global Inc. - Segment focus

10.5 Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH

Exhibit 107: Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 108: Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH - Business segments



Exhibit 109: Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH - Key offerings



Exhibit 110: Constantia Flexibles Group GmbH - Segment focus

10.6 Coveris Management GmbH

Exhibit 111: Coveris Management GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 112: Coveris Management GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 113: Coveris Management GmbH - Key offerings

10.7 DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Exhibit 114: DuPont de Nemours Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 115: DuPont de Nemours Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 116: DuPont de Nemours Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 117: DuPont de Nemours Inc. - Segment focus

10.8 Fres co System USA Inc.

Inc. Exhibit 118: Fres co System USA Inc. - Overview

Inc. - Overview

Exhibit 119: Fres co System USA Inc. - Product / Service

Inc. - Product / Service

Exhibit 120: Fres co System USA Inc. - Key offerings

10.9 Mondi plc

Exhibit 121: Mondi plc - Overview



Exhibit 122: Mondi plc - Business segments



Exhibit 123: Mondi plc - Key news



Exhibit 124: Mondi plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 125: Mondi plc - Segment focus

10.10 Sealed Air Corp.

Exhibit 126: Sealed Air Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 127: Sealed Air Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 128: Sealed Air Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 129: Sealed Air Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 130: Sealed Air Corp. - Segment focus

10.11 Sonoco Products Co.

Exhibit 131: Sonoco Products Co. - Overview



Exhibit 132: Sonoco Products Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 133: Sonoco Products Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 134: Sonoco Products Co. - Segment focus

10.12 Wipak Group

Exhibit 135: Wipak Group - Overview



Exhibit 136: Wipak Group - Business segments



Exhibit 137: Wipak Group - Key offerings



Exhibit 138: Wipak Group - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 139: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 140: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 141: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 142: Research methodology



Exhibit 143: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 144: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 145: 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 provides 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

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UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
LOS ANGELES, April 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NAMI Greater Los Angeles County is announcing its annual NAMIWalks Your Way event is returning to Grand Park on Saturday, May 21, 2022.

The theme this year is Together for Mental Health. The largest annual mental health advocacy event in Southern California, NAMIWalks Los Angeles County raises funds for free programs and services that bring NAMI's message of hope and community to everyone impacted by mental illness. Typically, nearly 4000 walkers attend the walk event held at Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles. NAMI Greater Los Angeles County is partnering with Forest Lawn Memorial Parks, The Rotter Family, and Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. who have chosen this year to provide major support for the walk.

The 2022 event will be held concurrently with NAMIWalks all over the country, leveraging technology for a United Day of Hope to honor Mental Health Awareness Month. "We're especially excited to bring people together again to celebrate given the past two years of social isolation and hardship," said Traute Winters, NAMI Greater L.A. County's Executive Director. "NAMIWalks L.A. County is all about gathering in community to break down stigma, raise awareness about mental health issues, and making it easier for folks to seek help and support."

"We are excited to welcome Mayim Bialik and Risa Dorken as NAMIWalks Ambassadors this year help amplify our vision of mental health for all. Both women have independently worked to push forward conversations around mental health and are inspiring fans globally to open up about their internal struggles," said Davi Weber, NAMIWalks Manager.

Mayim Bialik currently stars in "Call Me Kat" and hosts the podcast, "Mayim Bialik's Breakdown," which breaks down the myths and misunderstandings about mental health and emotional well-being. Risa Dorken currently stars in "General Hospital" and has leveraged her social media platforms to document her own mental health journey and encourage others to find help.

NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. NAMI works to end stigma by bringing awareness to mental health, providing support, educating the public and advocating for equal care.

To register for the walk event, please click here.

About The National Alliance on Mental Illness Greater Los Angeles County ( NAMI GLAC )

NAMI GLAC is the leading countywide organization composed of grassroots-based chapters that promote wellness, recovery, equality, and dignity for individuals and families affected by mental illness and the community at large. They work to provide leadership in advocacy, education, support, and public awareness throughout Los Angeles County. Mental illness can be treated, and people living with mental illness can recover to live fulfilling lives. To learn more about how NAMI can help, visit namiglac.org. All NAMI programs and services are free of charge for individuals living with mental illness and families and friends who care for them.

NAMI Greater Los Angeles County Facebook  NAMI Greater Los Angeles County Instagram

www.namiglac.org

SOURCE National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Greater Los Angeles County
Key Market Dynamics:

Market Driver

Market Challenge

The increasing popularity of vending machines is driving the global vending machine food and beverages market growth. The number of vending machines in schools and offices is rising, and the installation of new machines is increasing due to the growing popularity. The highest number of vending machines globally per capita are located in Japan, and the number is expected to increase in the future. In the US, the number of vending machines is increasing. Junk food dominates American vending machines owing to the demand for salty and sugary fast food among consumers. The rapidly changing lifestyles of consumers also make vending machines popular. Such factors will drive the market growth during the forecast period.

The bans and restrictions on the installation of vending machines in countries such as France and Hong Kong are challenging the global vending machine food and beverages market growth. For instance, in January 2017, France banned refills of sodas and other sugary drinks by restaurants to reduce the obesity rate among consumers. In November 2017, Hong Kong banned the sale of bottled water from all newly installed vending machines placed on government premises. Such factors will limit the market during the forecast period.

To learn about additional key drivers, trends, and challenges available with Technavio. Read our FREE Sample Report right now!

Market Segmentation

The vending machine food and beverages market report is segmented by application (vending machine beverage and vending machine food) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). North America will be the leading region with 37% of the market's growth during the forecast period. The US is the key market for vending machine food and beverages in North America.

View our sample report for additional insights into the contribution of all the segments and regional opportunities in the report.

Some Companies Mentioned with their Offerings

American Food and Vending



Aramark



Automated Merchandising Systems Inc.



Azkoyen SA



Bianchi Industry SpA



BULK VENDING SYSTEMS Ltd.



Compass Group Plc



Crane Co.



FAS International Srl



Fuji Electric Co. Ltd.



Honeywell International Inc.



Kellogg Co.



Mondelez International Inc.



Nestle SA



PepsiCo Inc.



Royal Vendors Inc.



Seaga Manufacturing Inc.



Selecta Group BV



The coca cola co.



Westomatic Vending Services Ltd.

To gain access to more vendor profiles with their key offerings available with Technavio, Click Here

Related Reports:

Grinding Robots Market by End-user, Solution, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Residential Air to Water Heat Pump Market by Application and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Vending Machine Food And Beverages Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.26% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 1.84 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.19 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 37% Key consumer countries US, Japan, China, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled American Food and Vending, Aramark, Automated Merchandising Systems Inc., Azkoyen SA, Bianchi Industry SpA, BULK VENDING SYSTEMS Ltd., Compass Group Plc, Crane Co., FAS International Srl, Fuji Electric Co. Ltd., Honeywell International Inc., Kellogg Co., Mondelez International Inc., Nestle SA, PepsiCo Inc., Royal Vendors Inc., Seaga Manufacturing Inc., Selecta Group BV, The coca cola co., and Westomatic Vending Services Ltd. 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 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.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Application



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by Application

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on Application - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on Application - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Application

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by Application



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by Application

5.3 Vending machine beverage - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Vending machine beverage - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Vending machine beverage - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Vending machine beverage - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Vending machine beverage - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Vending machine food - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Vending machine food - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Vending machine food - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Vending machine food - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Vending machine food - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Application

Exhibit 36: Market opportunity by Application ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 37: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 38: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 40: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 42: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 43: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 44: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 45: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 46: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 47: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 48: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 49: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 50: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 55: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 56: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 60: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 62: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 63: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 64: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 65: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 70: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 71: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 72: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 73: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 74: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 76: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 78: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 79: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 80: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 81: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 82: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 83: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 84: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 85: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 86: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 87: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 88: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 American Food and Vending

Exhibit 89: American Food and Vending - Overview



Exhibit 90: American Food and Vending - Product / Service



Exhibit 91: American Food and Vending - Key offerings

10.4 Bianchi Industry SpA

Exhibit 92: Bianchi Industry SpA - Overview



Exhibit 93: Bianchi Industry SpA - Product / Service



Exhibit 94: Bianchi Industry SpA - Key offerings

10.5 BULK VENDING SYSTEMS Ltd.

Exhibit 95: BULK VENDING SYSTEMS Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 96: BULK VENDING SYSTEMS Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 97: BULK VENDING SYSTEMS Ltd. - Key offerings

10.6 Fuji Electric Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 98: Fuji Electric Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 99: Fuji Electric Co. Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 100: Fuji Electric Co. Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 101: Fuji Electric Co. Ltd. - Segment focus

10.7 Honeywell International Inc.

Exhibit 102: Honeywell International Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 103: Honeywell International Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 104: Honeywell International Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 105: Honeywell International Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 106: Honeywell International Inc. - Segment focus

10.8 Kellogg Co.

Exhibit 107: Kellogg Co. - Overview



Exhibit 108: Kellogg Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 109: Kellogg Co. - Key news



Exhibit 110: Kellogg Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 111: Kellogg Co. - Segment focus

10.9 Mondelez International Inc.

Exhibit 112: Mondelez International Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 113: Mondelez International Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 114: Mondelez International Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 115: Mondelez International Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 116: Mondelez International Inc. - Segment focus

10.10 Nestle SA

Exhibit 117: Nestle SA - Overview



Exhibit 118: Nestle SA - Business segments



Exhibit 119: Nestle SA - Key news



Exhibit 120: Nestle SA - Key offerings



Exhibit 121: Nestle SA - Segment focus

10.11 PepsiCo Inc.

Exhibit 122: PepsiCo Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 123: PepsiCo Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 124: PepsiCo Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 125: PepsiCo Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 126: PepsiCo Inc. - Segment focus

10.12 The coca cola co.

Exhibit 127: The coca cola co. - Overview



Exhibit 128: The coca cola co. - Business segments



Exhibit 129: The coca cola co. - Key news



Exhibit 130: The coca cola co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 131: The coca cola co. - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 132: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 133: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 134: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 135: Research methodology



Exhibit 136: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 137: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 138: List of abbreviations

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Major Price Models in the Zirconium Sourcing and Procurement Market

The report discusses in detail each pricing model and the pros and cons attached to every pricing model prevalent in the market. Also, the report provides insights with respect to the category supply chain and the margins of various suppliers within the supply chain.

The most widely adopted pricing models in the Zirconium Sourcing and Procurement Market

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Spend Growth and Demand by Region

The Zirconium Sourcing and Procurement market will register an incremental spend of about USD 0.83 Billion during the forecast period. However, only a few regions will drive the majority of this growth. Moreover, on the supply side, North America, Europe, and APAC will have the maximum influence owing to the supplier base. The growth is expected to be primarily driven by increasing demand and adoption of the category across those few regions.

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The report provides a detailed insight of the most adopted procurement strategies by buyers across industries and analysis of these strategies with respect to innovation, regulatory compliance, quality, supply, and cost. Adoption of these procurement strategies will enable the buyers to reduce category TCO and achieve cost savings, while sourcing for thermal equipment requirements.

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Islamabad, April 16 : Seven soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a military statement said.

The incident happened on Thursday when the terrorists ambushed a military convoy near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in north Waziristan district of the province, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday in the statement.

Pakistani troops initiated a prompt response, and killed four terrorists, the statement said, adding that seven soldiers were killed in the intense exchange of fire, Xinhua news agency reported.
Moscow, April 16 : Russia expelled 18 European Union (EU) diplomats in a retaliatory move, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry had summoned Head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Markus Ederer in a protest over the EU's decision to declare 19 Russian diplomats "personae non gratae" earlier in April, the statement added.

"In response to the hostile actions of the European Union, 18 employees working at the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared 'personae non gratae' and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," Xinhua news agency reported.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Nicosia, April 16 : Lebanon is considering new proposals for the demarcation of its maritime borders with Israel, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said after talks in Nicosia with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides.

The issue is of direct interest to Cyprus as the maritime borders dispute between Lebanon and Israel, which relates to a sea stretch of about 800 square kilometres, has been blocking for years the finalisation of an agreement between Cyprus and Lebanon on their marine borders.

Habib added that the fresh proposals on the maritime borders were made by the United States, in a mediating role between Lebanon and Israel, at the end of January. He said the proposals "were better than the ones tabled before." The Lebanese Foreign Minister added that his country is ready to cooperate with Cyprus on energy issues once it finds natural gas, Xinhua news agency reported.

After Egypt and Israel, Cyprus is the third country in the eastern Mediterranean region to tap natural gas reserves in its exclusive economic zone. Lebanon is currently in the process of licensing gas exploration.

Habib spoke of the close relations between Cyprus and Lebanon, expressing his gratitude to Cyprus for being a safe haven for most Lebanese whenever there is a crisis in their country.

Cyprus and Lebanon are tied, along with Greece, in a trilateral cooperation agreement. Cypriot Foreign Minister said Cyprus "looks forward to a fair and free parliamentary election process in Lebanon" that is scheduled for May 15.

Kasoulides added that the issue of stability in Lebanon was discussed by European Union (EU) countries, reiterating the willingness of Cyprus and the EU "to work with all constructive political forces, which will bring about reforms, accountability and responsibility towards the Lebanese people".
Bhopal, April 16 : In an alleged video which appeared on social media, a woman was seen beating up a delivery boy of online food website 'Swiggy' with shoes on a busy road in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Friday.

The enraged woman beat the delivery boy in front of the people and kicked him with her shoes.

Some people tried to stop the young woman but she boldly said, "I am hurt, not you." The woman was riding a scooter when she came in front of the delivery boy and lost her balance, following which she started abusing and beating him.

After the video went viral, the local police called the boy to inquire about the matter and it came to know that the woman beat him up because his two-wheeler collided with the woman's scooty at a busy road.

An FIR was lodged against the woman at the Omti police station in Jabalpur district.

Police said the incident took place during Thursday afternoon while the complaint was registered on Friday.

The delivery boy has been identified as Dilip Vishwakarma (25), a resident of Natal Charaganwa in Jabalpur city. He told the police that he had gone outside for a pizza delivery.

According to the police, the scooty is registered in the name of a woman Madhu Singh, a resident of Gif, New Richhai Colony.

"FIR has been lodged and we are searching for the woman," said a police official.
COVID-19 controls won't shake China's economic fundamentals

Xinhua) 10:23, April 16, 2022

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The naysayers would have you believe that the strict COVID-19 control measures in the economic hub of Shanghai will drag down the country's economic growth, hurt trade, and deter investment.

The argument that epidemic control comes at the cost of economic fundamentals is not only unsubstantiated but underestimates the potential and resilience of the Chinese economy.

There is no denying that Shanghai is undergoing hardship due to the recent resurgence of the virus, but it would be a mistake to assume that Shanghai alone represents China's overall economic landscape.

China has solid economic fundamentals able to withstand headwinds, which will only be strengthened once the Omicron variant is brought under control.

The cynics need to look no further than foreign trade to see this vitality in full play. The country's total imports and exports in the first quarter expanded 10.7 percent year on year to 9.42 trillion yuan (about 1.47 trillion U.S. dollars), the seventh consecutive quarter of growth.

Robust foreign direct investment (FDI) offers further evidence. FDI into the Chinese mainland during the first three months expanded 25.6 percent year on year to 379.87 billion yuan, with investment in high-tech industries logging an increase of 52.9 percent.

Moreover, China has a wide array of tools at its disposal to offset previous losses, build up momentum for future development, and maintain stable economic growth.

A State Council executive meeting last week stressed the importance of implementing prudent monetary policy to maintain reasonably sufficient liquidity; explore financial measures to bolster consumption and investment; and channel financing toward key fields and weak links.

On Wednesday, Premier Li Keqiang highlighted measures to keep the economy stable and improve people's livelihoods, which included boosting consumption and increasing export tax rebates.

China has stayed true to its "dynamic zero-COVID approach" throughout its battle with the elusive Omicron variant. In March, Changchun, capital of Jilin Province in northeast China, was subject to stringent control measures under the strategy. Despite tens of thousands of infections, it successfully cut off all transmission chains out of its quarantine areas.

China was the first major economy to recover from the initial impact of COVID-19 in 2020 thanks to its swift and tough response, and economic resilience continued throughout 2021 despite more pervasive strains wreaking havoc worldwide.

Perhaps the critics would do well to look closer at the successes of the past years before they underestimate China's capacity to balance epidemic control and economic stability.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Beijing, April 16 : China is cracking down on gaming and in a new order, the country's National Radio and Television Administration has said that online platforms will be "strictly prohibited" from live-streaming games that have not been authorised by the government.

The regulator further said that platforms are not allowed to live broadcast online games that have not been approved by the competent authorities, and must not use live broadcast rooms and other forms.

Platforms, including their individual and business accounts, should gain approval before broadcasting overseas games or matches, the order said that came out late on Friday.

Online gaming and tech company Tencent has also announced to terminate its gaming booster that allows users to play overseas games, reports TechCrunch.

Tencent has also announced to shut down its game streaming platform Penguin Esports by June due to "changes in business strategies".

According to the notice by the Chinese regulator, it is strictly forbidden to disseminate illegal games on online audio-visual platforms.

"All online live broadcast platforms, especially game live broadcast platforms, should strictly control the content setting, publicity and interaction and effectively control and improve information related to game live broadcast programmes," it read.

China has also restricted the approval process for new games over the last few years and many foreign gaming titles are not officially available in the country.
Kiev, April 16 : Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Olexandr Motuzyanyk has said that their forces continued to fight the Russian military for the Azov Sea key port city of Mariupol, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

"The Russian Army is constantly recruiting additional units to storm the city, and as of now there are active battles near the Ilyich plant and in the port zone of Mariupol," Motuzyanyk said on Friday.

He emphasised that the Russian forces have not gained full control of the city after almost seven weeks since the siege began, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Ukrainian military recently carried out a tactical operation on joining the forces of two military units in Mariupol and now they are trying to unblock the city, Motuzyanyk said.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said that the 36th Marine Brigade had broken fighting lines and joined the Azov Battalion in Mariupol, strengthening the defense of the city.

Mariupol in eastern Ukraine saw one of the worst violence in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, April 16 : The US, UK and Spain are seeing a rise in cases of acute hepatitis of unknown causes among children.

Hepatitis is an inflammatory condition of the liver and is commonly the result of a viral infection.

In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the causes behind the unexpected cases in the countries remain unknown, but the health authorities suspect links to Covid-19 virus or adenovirus in several of the cases.

Adenoviruses are a common cause of cold-like illnesses and can cause conjunctivitis and diarrhea.

But the virus has been very rarely implicated in cases of hepatitis in people who have weakened immune systems, the CNN reported.

The WHO identified 74 cases of severe, acute hepatitis - inflammation of the liver - among children across the UK.

Three confirmed cases of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology have been reported in children (age range 22-month-old to 13-year-old) in Spain, the agency said.

Health officials in the US state of Alabama said they have been investigating similar cases of hepatitis in children in the state since November, the CNN reported.

On April 5, the global health agency was notified of 10 cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children under the age of 10 years, across central Scotland and by April 8, total 74 cases had been identified in the UK.

In addition, less than five cases (confirmed or possible) have also been reported in Ireland.

While the WHO excluded hepatitis viruses types A, B, C, E, D and E as the cause of liver disease in the UK.

The condition represented markedly elevated liver enzymes, often with jaundice, sometimes preceded by gastrointestinal symptoms, in children principally up to 10 years old.

Some cases also required transfer to specialist children's liver units and six children have undergone liver transplantation.

However, no death has been reported in the UK till April 11, the WHO said.

The agency expects "more cases are likely to be reported in the coming days".

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported nine children, ranging in age from 1 to 6, with hepatitis.

The most common causes of viral hepatitis identified were virus types A, B and C.

All the children were also positive for the adenovirus, and two needed liver transplants.

None of the children had any underlying health conditions, the department said.

"These children presented to providers in different areas of Alabama with symptoms of a gastrointestinal illness and varying degrees of liver injury including liver failure. Later analyses have revealed a possible association of this hepatitis with Adenovirus 41," the statement said.

The WHO said the countries are conducting further investigations to identify the cause behind the condition.
Chennai, April 16 : The former interim general secretary of the AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala, who was expelled from the party, has been knocking on all doors for a comeback to the party fold.

However, the stiff resistance from the faction led by former Chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami seems to be a major obstacle in her entry to the party.

She has, according to sources close to her, met senior functionaries of the "powerful" Thevar community which she belongs to.

As per the sources, the meeting was held at her T Nagar residence and the community elders have promised to pull the strings for her re-entry into the party.

It may be noted that the Thevar community of Tamil Nadu is strong in southern parts of the state and has been voting for the AIADMK. However in the 2021 Assembly elections, the party lost miserably in it's strongholds and political pundits have opined that the Thevar community had played soft peddle which had affected the party's prospects in south Tamil Nadu.

The poster boy of the Thevar community in the state and former Chief Minister, O. Panneerselvam also had to face the ire of the community with the party candidate losing in his home turf Bodinaikar in Theni district during the urban local body polls.

Immediately after the Urban polls, a meeting of AIADMK district office bearers were held at the farm house of Panneerselvam and a resolution was passed for the re-entry of Sasikala. This, according to AIADMK office bearers, was at the behest of the Thevar community.

While Panneerselvam was present in the meeting, he denied having any role in passing the resolution. His brother O. Raja who was the district level office bearer and the Chairman of AIADMK controlled milk cooperative society of Theni was expelled from the party after he met Sasikala immediately after the Theni meeting.

Meanwhile Sasikala's plea that expulsion from the AIADMK was not valid according to the party constitution was dismissed by a Chennai court. Following which, former minister D. Jayakumar who is closely associated with Palaniswami immediately called upon Sasikala to accept the court verdict and not to dream of a re-entry into the party.

However sources in the AIADMK told IANS that a strong pressure from the Thevar community cannot be overlooked by the party and the re-entry of Sasikala into the party fold will become a reality in the days to come.

The estranged leader has the support of the powerful Kanchi Sankara Mutt and this has helped her garner support within the RSS, BJP combine in the state .

R. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio Economic Development Foundation, a think tank based out of Madurai, while speaking to IANS said, "AIADMK now need a leader with a presence and Sasikala has that. Being the aide of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, she knows all the tricks of the trade and if someone is willing to join the party why should she be kept out. I think the ground is now suited for her to stage a grand come back"
New Delhi, April 15: Sri Lanka began its Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations on a sombre note. In his new year message on Thursday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said: "The current economic and global crises have become the biggest challenge faced by us Sri Lankans in our recent history. We should overcome this challenge with unity and better understanding".

The President's message came two days after the nation announced that it will default on its $51 billion loans. The island nation's unprecedented catastrophe is its first such crisis and a big ignominy for the government.

Appeal for loans and aid The country's new Finance Minister Ali Sabry said that Sri Lanka needs between $3 billion to $4 billion to pull itself out of the economic crisis and has pinned hope on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the same. He also said that some of the money will come from governments and other lenders as well.

Newspaper Ceylon Today said: "Sabry, along with newly appointed central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, is a key member of Rajapaksa's team for bailout talks with the IMF. The funds are crucial to the success of a debt restructuring process initiated by the island nation this week after suspending some outstanding loan and interest payments." Heightened political activity

The misgovernance and the precipitous decline in Sri Lanka's fortunes have the opposition baying for the powerful Rajapaksa family. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa plans to move three motions before the parliament. One is to impeach President Rajapaksa who has stubbornly refused to quit despite public pressure. The second is to move a no-confidence motion against the government and the third is to move the parliament to real the 20th amendment that bestows executive powers on the president undermining the parliament and the prime minister.

Rajapaka's political allies -- the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Maithripapa Sirisena also plans to make a clean break from the Rajapaksas. Just a few days earlier Sirisena and his party members were holding talks with the president to convince him to quit and hand over the country to an all-party administration.

The road to bankruptcy Currently the nation is supposed to have about $500 million in foreign exchange reserves, which is pennies for a country. Because of low forex reserves since the middle of last year, the island nation had to steadily reduce imports of food and other essentials. It also had to reduce oil imports, completely stopping these at times. All these measures eventually lead to shutting down of its only oil refinery, long power cuts, queues for fuel and a collapse of its economy.

The country is facing a food shortage partly because of disastrous governance. Last year the president decided to make Sri Lanka the first organic nation in the world and banned the import of chemical fertilisers. This decision broug 2021, during an encounter.

"After the arrest of Pramod Yadav, accused Aamna started receiving heroin from one Imran. Efforts are being made to locate the hideout of the source and their other associates," the official added.
Chennai , April 16 : In a shocking incident, a 72-year-old woman was kept locked up by her two sons here for the past ten years.

Retired police inspector, identified as Shanmughasundaran, and his brother Venkitesan, an employee with Doordarshan, had locked their mother Gnanajothi (72) at her home.

The incident came to light on Friday when the state social welfare departments helpline number 181 received a call on the plight of the woman. Two female staff members, Vimala and Divya, rushed to the woman's residence at Kauvery nagar along with the police.

The neighbours informed the police that her sons had locked the woman for the past ten years and used to serve her biscuits and bread on a weekly basis.

The woman shouted at the rescuers and was taken to the hospital.

Police said that she would be shifted to a psychiatric hospital after initial medication.

The woman's husband was an employee of Doordarshan and after he passed away their daughter had taken care of the mother. Two years after the demise of her father, the daughter also died. After this, according to police the ordeal of the woman began.

Both the sons did not take her responsibility. Though Shanmughasundaram was staying nearby and Venkitesan at Pudukottai, both neglected her.

Tamil Nadu health and social welfare minister Ma Subramanian while speaking to IANS said "Stringent action will be taken against the offenders. We are studying the matter in detail."
Kochi, April 16 : Two court officials attached to Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court will be inquired in connection with alleged leaking of the visuals of the 2017 actor assault case from the court.

Incidentally, Dileep was in jail for nearly two months in the 2017 actress abduction and later secured bail.

However, following a disclosure by his former friend and director Balachandrakumar, that Dileep got possession of certain visuals and also that he had conspired to do away with key police officials, another case was registered against him and after numerous hearings, Dileep got anticipatory bail.

Early this week, the police probe team filed a petition seeking the cancellation of the bail given to Dileep.

It's against this backdrop that the probe team has now got permission to summon, two court officials as they suspect the visuals were allegedly leaked.

The probe team is also all set to summon Dileep's actor wife Kavya Madhavan to appear before them and it's likely to take place in the coming week.

Incidentally, the probe team had won a moral victory when the High Court first refused to suspend the further probe and later a stay sought by the actor into the probe was also nixed.

The actor's counsel for long have been arguing that the fresh disclosures were cooked up by the prosecution to book the actor and to fabricate evidence against him after the probe agency failed to find any concrete evidence against Dileep in the abduction case.

A frontline south Indian heroine had complained that she had been abducted and sexually assaulted by a gang of goons in 2017 and certain scenes were filmed to blackmail her. After the main accused Sunil was arrested and questioned, Dileep was accused of being the main conspirator in the case and arrested.

According to the prosecution, Dileep, who is presently out on bail after spending two months in jail, had also seen the visuals of the attack on the actress.
New Delhi, April 16 : Vedanta Aluminium, India's largest producer of aluminium, strengthens its support to local artisan communities in and around its operations in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Commemorating the rich cultural and artistic heritage of the country, Vedanta Aluminium recommits to creating sustainable livelihoods for artisan communities by upskilling them, helping them mainstream their artforms at national and international platforms, and avail market linkage opportunities.

Towards this, Vedanta Aluminium is working with Dhokra artisans from the Kankeri village, situated near its Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh (Kalahandi, Odisha). Nestled deep within the forests of Kalahandi, Kankeri is home to artisans skilled in the ancient metalworking artform of Dhokra, which has been a part of India's rich handicraft legacy for nearly 5000 years, dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization.

The inter-generational skill was however limited to crafting rudimentary trinkets for personal use and for selling in the nearby village markets. However, the meagre income was not enough to sustain their families due to which artists were forced to let go of their expertise and migrate to neighbouring states to work as construction labourers.

Recognising the potential of this village to become a vibrant hub of Dhokra, Vedanta Aluminium trained artisans to produce contemporary designs through modern techniques, provided the initial seed capital for procuring metal and raw materials, and created market linkage opportunities (through exhibitions and other relevant platforms) to sell their art pieces at a better price. This led to a movement of reverse migration, wherein looking at the success of the project in transforming the lives of few artisans, others started returning to the village to pursue their passion of Dhokra art.

Alike, in Chhattisgarh, Vedanta Aluminium paved way for self-reliance of rural women through the community development project 'Disha'. The Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO), Vedanta's Chhattisgarh-based subsidiary conceived Disha project for skill development of local women, helping them form Self-Help Groups (SHG), financially empowering them and enabling them to pursue their entrepreneurial ventures.

Among other trainings at the company's Nari Shakti Kendra in village Dondro, the mural arts program has emerged as a particularly lucrative option for women willing to run micro-enterprises of their own. Mural paintings are the most expressive among Chhattisgarh's myriad handicraft artforms, aesthetically preserving the various facets of life, tradition and cultural heritage of the state's tribal populace. From skills training to market linkage, BALCO has continued to support these women for furthering their enterprises.

Talking about Vedanta Aluminium's endeavours towards preserving and promoting cultural heritage and traditions, Rahul Sharma, CEO - Vedanta Aluminium said, "The richness of India's history is evident in its myriad handicrafts and artforms. We take great pride in helping preserve and mainstream artforms like Dhokra and mural paintings, and in the process build flourishing businesses for these artists. On World Art Day, we recommit to bolstering our efforts to create more sustainable livelihoods in art & culture, enabling artisan communities to become self-empowered and self-reliant participants in the development of the country." The ripple impact of various community initiatives by Vedanta Aluminium are apparent:

In Odisha, encouraged by the fruits of its labour towards revival of Dhokra artform, the company established a raw material bank for continuous art production, provided diesel generators to support Dhokra production, opened a Self-Help Group bank account to provide adequate financial support, and educated and assisted the households to open bank accounts to save their hard-earned money and earn an interest on their deposit

Vedanta collaborated with the Government of Odisha for the public recognition of these artisans through 'artisan cards', which helped the artisans participate in government-held exhibitions, demonstrate, and commercialise their works

The Dhokra Art Revival project has drawn the attention of local authorities, who are now partnering the company in its endeavours to improve the quality of life of local communities by aiding infrastructure, education, agricultural practices, health and sanitation.

While in Chhattisgarh, under the community initiatives of BALCO, as many as 3000 women have become financially empowered in Korba. Many of them have established their own ventures in mural art.

Through Dhokra art and mural painting, local artisans who were earlier forced to live in abject poverty with minimal income are now earning around INR 50,000 a month.

Similarly, Vedanta Aluminium has patronised tribal artforms like 'Saura', sand art, folk theatre and many others across its operations.
Chennai, April 16 : Two persons - a male and a female - died and eight were injured in a stampede at Lord Kallazhagar entering the Vaigai river festival in Tamil Nadu's Madurai, said the police.

A huge crowd had gathered to witness the festival as it was held after two years owing to Covid-19 ban.

According to police, a male and a female died and eight got injured in the stampede while returning after witnessing the festival.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the dead and a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the severely injured and Rs 1 lakh to those who suffered normal injuries.
New Delhi, April 16 : Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) has expressed its deep anguish at the condition of community members living in the valley in the "prevailing atmosphere of fear and insecurity".

While the community was driven out from the valley steadily from 1986 in trickles, the flood of exodus peaked in 1989 to 1990. However less than 1,000 families decided to stay by placing their trust in the local community. These families have turned out to be "children of lesser God".

GKPD said they have been denied all rights, which are due to an Indian.

"Shunned by every government in the last 32 years, they have continued to live a miserable life. The recent attack on such a person, who was incidentally providing health care services, clearly demonstrates that our community continues to live at the whims and fancies of the radical elements in the valley," it said.

"To compound the misery, our PM Package employees, who are posted all over the valley as per a mistaken policy decision of Government of India, have received a letter threatening them to face death if they do not leave the valley immediately," GKPD said.

"The question that begs asking is what the wisdom behind this policy was of employing our community youth under the PM Package and then posting them all over the valley without providing them a safe working environment. Their misery is further compounded by forcing them to sign an undertaking that their posting will always remain in the valley and cannot be transferred," GKPD said.

"This is a draconian rule, which does not exist anywhere in India. The sadistic pleasure drawn by the local administration by denying them equal rights as J&K Government employees by refusing them full pay and promotion avenues is clear testimony of the silent oppression against our community." Whatever the wisdom behind framing the rules of employment of PM Package, it clearly defies understanding. In retrospect, it clearly emerges that Governments have "used the community youth as sacrificial lambs to peddle a narrative of normalcy in the valley".

"The Government is welcome to pursue its line of thinking and policy implementation, but it will not be allowed to use our community as tools of convenience. Our community with all our might and resources available to us will resist this. A global protest will be done to prevent the government from such 'akin to crime' decisions," GKPD said.

GKPD appreciates the bold and muscular policy being followed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to root out terrorism and nepotism from the UT of J&K.

GKPD has requested the government to announce a comprehensive package for the Kashmiri Pandits still living in the valley.

The package should have constitutional guarantees to provide security and an honourable life, to create a sense of security to PM Package employees while redressing the draconian rules in their rules of employment, zero tolerance should be the governing criterion for both demands.
New Delhi, April 16 : A meeting, called by Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi to discuss issues related to 'Chintan Shivir' and upcoming polls is underway at her residence here, sources said.

Party's senior leaders Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken are present in the meeting.

The meeting is also being attended by political strategist Prashant Kishor, sources said.

Notably, Kishor has met the Gandhis several times in the past few weeks and is tipped to join the party.

The Congress is gearing up to call a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting ahead of the 'Chintan Shivir'. The CWC will meet to finalise the agenda for the Shivir.

Senior Congress leaders have been meeting regularly to work on the agenda. Sonia Gandhi has assigned this task to senior leaders such as Ambika Soni and Mukul Wasnik, who have been holding talks with other leaders to finalise the agenda for the CWC and the Chintan Shivir.

The 'Chintan Shivir' has been necessitated since the dissidents have been raising voices against the present functioning of the party.

The G-23 is up against Rahul Gandhi and his team, even as the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi has been holding meetings with the dissidents to cull internal rift.
Bengaluru, April 16 : The statements of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to use Hindi as a medium of communication among states has stirred a controversy.

The development has also raised debates on imposition of Hindi on states which have their own language.

In an interview with IANS, T.S. Nagabharana, the Chairman of the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), functioning under the Karnataka government, dubbed the idea of Shah as a 'conspiracy' against regional languages.

It is also against the principles of federal structure on which India as a country is functioning, said Nagabharana, who is also a theatre personality, film director and artiste.

Excerpts from the interview: Q. What do you have to say about Amit Shah's statement on using Hindi as a medium of communication? A. India's strength is its diversified culture. And the language of the land represents the diversified culture. It is impossible to retain diversity with 'one language' policy.

All 22 official languages of India mentioned in Schedule 8 of the Constitution should get the same respect and honour as agreed upon at the time of the formation of Independent India. Then only the cultural strength of a language of the land could be preserved.

Q. Do you think Hindi is being imposed on Karnataka? A. The Central government is continuously imposing Hindi on Karnataka. The state is functioning after agreeing to the three-language formula (Kannada, Hindi and English) of the Union government.

Take the example of neighbouring Tamil Nadu. There is only 'two-language formula' working there (Tamil and English). The present generation in Karnataka is questioning why there should be a three-language formula in the state. When we see why they are questioning, it gets to the issue of education and employment. If 22 official languages, including Kannada, fail to get their due respect, it means one language is forcefully imposed on the states. That is what is happening now.

Q. What does Hindi imposition have to do with education and employment? A. The founding aspirations of the Constitution have been violated in the country in this respect. Hindi imposition is not just a concern, it is already there. Because of this imposing mindset, the Central government's objectives are affected. The competitive exams should be conducted in the languages of the respective states. Are they being conducted? No.

When you deny students who have studied in their languages from appearing in competitive exams, constitutionally you are distancing those children from the competitive exams. Those who are kept out of exams, how can they get the benefits? How far this biased approach towards languages is tenable? The Central took off language restrictions and started selections for the banking sector, and in all rural banks non-Kannadigas got posted. There are quarrels in most of the banks because of lack of proper communication. The people are losing trust in the banking system. The facilities given by the Union government are not reaching the last beneficiary as there is need of others' interpretation.

Q. What is the stand of Kannada Development Authority on Amit Shah's proposal in this regard? A. The Kannada Development Authority will oppose the proposal of Amit Shah in toto.

Q. How are you planning to oppose the proposal? If it is the stand of the Indian government, then the protests will be different and they would be organised on a large scale. If the decision is taken in an undemocratic way, there are our representatives -- MPs and MLAs -- who should react to it.

If All MPs have consented and the Indian government's official stand is to promote Hindi, then there is no chance for opposition. But, first, there should be clarity from the Indian government on this.

Q. Can the statement by Amit Shah on using Hindi as a language for communication between states be a threat for the local languages? A. We don't have clarity on whether the statements by Amit Shah on the use of Hindi are personal or they are of the Indian government. There is no clarity. If the clarity is given, then I can answer this question.

Q. Why should there be opposition if Amit Shah is trying to promote Hindi as a national language? What should have been done to put forth such a suggestion without leading to controversy? A. Has there been a declaration regarding the national language constitutionally? No. How can Hindi become a national language? No state has been consulted on making Hindi a national language. Firstly, there should be a commission on national language. The commission should consult all states regarding making one among the Indian languages as official national language. It has to take the consent of states and later it could be declared as the national language. No such step is taken, how can they even propose anything like this? Q. This is an age of exchange of ideas, markets. Can Karnataka close doors for Hindi? A. Karnataka has always welcomed other languages without finding any faults. It is the only state where people answer the person in his own language. You go to a north Indian state and talk in Kannada, see if you can get a reply.

As per the three-language formula, people have to learn another language apart from the language of the land. Then we were told to learn Hindi. Which north Indian state has taught the other language? You have to respect the formula which united India. Cultural representation of respective states is asserted through the language of the land. But the question is how you treat it? In the National Education Policy (NEP), the objective is laid out for education in mother tongue or in the language of the land. Will the purpose be served by Hindi imposition? In which state, whether it is Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan or Gujarat, Kannada is being taught? Q. Can Hindi replace English as a medium of communication in India? A. English is being used as the bridge or language of communication at national and international levels. The language whichever is contemporary and experimental will be used. So, English is the natural choice and it is being used.

Now, if you want states to use another language from India, there should be a preparation for it. What kind of preparation is being made? All states should be consulted and their consent should be taken on making one language as the medium of communication. Has there been any attempt in this regard? No.

When no such attempt is made, mere mentioning of using any language as mode of communication implies that it is imposition.

Q. What are your suggestions...

A. The literary works of Jnanpith awardees of all languages must be translated into 18 languages. How many of the works have been published? How many works of 'Raastra Kavi' Kuvempu have been published? I can give a list.

The conspiracies to push one particular language to the corner should be put aside. Indian culture's strength is its diversity. And the language of the land represents diversified culture.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, April 16 : As a controversy erupted after Union Home Minister Amit Shah commented that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative language to English but not to local languages, the BJP, criticising the opposition parties, said that it is the right time to go for 'One Nation One Language.

Presiding over the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee on April 7, Shah had said, "Hindi should be accepted as an alternative language to English but not to local languages." Former Member of Parliament from Kerala and BJP National Vice President A P Abdullakutty told IANS that with a little support from the central government, the country can go for 'One Nation One Language' like 'One Nation, One Tax' for communication purposes.

Abdullakutty claimed that due to the increasing influence of Hindi cinema, social media, and new technology, the majority of the new generation in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are speaking better Hindi.

"Even in my family, the younger generation are speaking better Hindi than me. It is the new trend and I personally think it is the correct time. With a little support from the central government we can go for 'One Nation One Language' like 'One Nation One Tax' for communication," Abdullakutty said.

He claimed that in the UAE and in some parts of America people are watching Hindi movies and they have a better understanding of Hindi language.

"Today Hindi is not only an Indian language but also an international language. The Narendra Modi government is not against regional languages but is supporting regional languages and the New Education Policy (NEP) talks about it. Today NEET, CAT and other competitive exams are held in regional languages," Abdullakutty said.

BJP national spokesperson and Assistant Professor (Law), Patna University, Guru Prakash Paswan, blamed the opposition parties for creating a rift in society over a non-issue. "To make them politically relevant, issueless opposition parties are trying to create a rift in society in the name of region, language, caste and religion," Paswan told IANS.

Paswan mentioned that in 1918 Mahatma Gandhi had said that Hindi represents the soul of this country and Amit Shah ji said that Hindi will grow but not at the cost of any regional language.

"The country is celebrating 'Hindi Pakhwada' (Hindi Fortnight) and 'Hindi Diwas' (Hindi Day) for ages. Hindi is our official language and we are not against any regional languages," Paswan added.

Hitting out at the opposition leaders especially from the South, Abdullakutty said, "Opposition parties and their leaders misunderstood Home Minister Shah's intention, his intention is correct. We are not against regional languages but we are following our national languages."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, April 16 : He was called a "traitor" to his face by the zealous proponents of the cause that he did most to advance and firmly secure.

But, with patience, flexibility, and a conciliatory approach welded to a determined outlook, Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, then the Home Minister of India and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, managed to secure consensus on the status of Hindi.

At a time when a push for Hindi again evokes a strong reaction from various regions with their own well-established traditional languages and evokes concern about long-term consequences, it is worth revisiting the tumultuous scenes in Parliament in the late 1950s when this issue first flared up.

It is more important to see how Pandit Pant, a political colossus in more than one sense, skillfully managed to achieve consensus on his strategic goal of making Hindi the official language of the government, while being open to tactical adjustments about the timing of the removal of English.

It becomes all the more important as subsequent events a few years hence -- the anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu in early 1965 -- and the threats to the unity and integrity in the still-young nation it engendered, are considered.

It was then that a wise head of state cautioned his principled but committed head of government against taking a step that could exacerbate the situation -- but that is another story.

To get back to the story of the stormy debates of 1956-57 when Hindi's status as the principal official language was contested, but later indubitably sealed, we can rely on the detailed recollections of the late journalist and editor Kuldeep Nayar, who was then an Indian Information Service officer, and Information Officer to Home Minister Pant (and later Lal Bahadur Shastri).

In his "Between The Lines" (originally published in 1969, reprint 2018), he tells us the story of the language issue, along with three other defining episodes of the Indian Republic -- the creation and fate of the Congress regional satraps of the 'Syndicate', the decision to devalue the rupee, relations with the Soviets, and additionally, a diary of the tense times during the India-China War of 1962.

In 'Bilingualism', Nayar sketches the adroit manoeuvres of Pandit Pant, who skillfully achieved his desired ends despite major differences in the committee -- "with hardly a sitting which was devoid of invective, accusations or denunciatory expressions" -- as stalwarts such as A. Ramaswami Mudaliar, the redoubtable S.A. Dange, Frank Anthony and B.S. Murthy, on one side, faced off against Purshottam Das Tandon, Seth Govind Das, Dr Raghu Vira and Manibehn Patel (daughter of the Sardar), among others, on the other.

As Nayar contends, it was the second group, steadfast in their goal of achieving a Hindi-alone status as soon as possible, that turned out to be the biggest hindrance in what Pant wanted, having "realised that the post-Independence fervour to have one language as the focus of national unity had ebbed away" and the "criticism that Hindi had neither any cultural or political pre-eminence over the other regional languages had become louder". Even Hindi proponents like C. Rajagopalachari and K.M. Munshi had warned that haste of the pro-Hindi lobby was being counter-productive.

But, as the account shows -- and it holds significance for the present too -- Pant, who wanted Hindi as much as the others but was more far-sighted, had realised that this haste to axe English was actually detrimental to Hindi, for the regional languages were taking its place. And when Hindi achieved its desired place, it would find it difficult to dislodge these regional languages from the position that a link language should have.

And then with regular challenges cropping to the settled issue of Hindi as the official language, Pant, a canny politician, knew "that by not insisting on a definite date for the change-over, and not restricting the use of English, he could head off the demand for fresh thinking on the language question".

And he did succeed in this goal, by winning over the non-Hindi speaking members to enable his goal of getting the Committee to "endorse the constitutional obligation of having Hindi as the official language of the Union".

But it came at a price -- as mentioned -- for him personally. In the final meeting on November 25, 1958, where the motion for a firm timetable for the switchover from English to Hindi was defeated by a single vote, as Pant, the Chairman, did not use his casting vote, Tandon flared up.

"You are a traitor. Even in UP, when I was the Speaker and you the Chief Minister, I had my doubts about your love for Hindi. Today I am convinced you have none," he said. As Nayar recounts, it led to deep silence, left members visibly disturbed, and even tension in the "normally unflappable" Pant, whose stick, resting by the side of his chair, fell to the floor with a crash.

This was a signal for members from both sides, including Mudaliar and Seth Govind Das, to remonstrate with Tandon.

Finally, Pant spoke up. "I place India's unity before Hindi, and I am sorry if I have not come up to the standards of Tandonji." And in this exchange are the pitfalls -- of prioritising zeal before reason, maximalism and form over compromise and content, and antagonising your steadfast adherents for not toeing your line unswervingly -- that Pant tried to avoid. The language issue would see more twists and turns in the times to come, with none of the lessons learnt and calculations replacing the commitment.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, April 16 : Three motorcycle-borne men fired three shots in air during a robbery bid in east Delhi, however, none was injured in the incident, an official said on Saturday.

According to the official, the incident took place on April 15 when the victim Rajeev Chaddha, resident of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, was going to Ramprastha in Ghaziabad.

At about 10.40 p.m., he stopped near Shiv Mandir, Vikas Marg to purchase a mobile charger. His brother, who was accompanying him, went to purchase a mobile charger while the complainant was waiting near a temple.

It is at this time that three motorcycle-borne persons, having pistols, arrived there and asked the complainant to hand over his 'kada'.

"On being opposed, the boys fired in the air and fled away from the spot. These boys attempted to rob the complainant," DCP east Priyanka Kashyap said.

Accordingly the police registered a case under sections 393, 398, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and section 27 of the arms act.

The accused are still at large.
Bhopal, April 16 : Teenage boy - Shivam Shukla who was severely injured during the communal violence in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district and being treated at CHL hospital in Indore has regained consciousness on Saturday, said one of the doctors treating him.

The doctor said that the 16-year-old boy regained consciousness but was still with ventilator support in the ICU ward. "A team of doctors is continuously monitoring the boy's health condition and he has now started responding to some instructions, but it will take some time to recover," he added.

"Our first priority was to make the patient conscious as he was in a completely unconscious stage since he was brought to the hospital. Now, he has regained consciousness but complete recovery will take some time. We hope that he will be fully recovered in the next few days," Dr Nikhilesh Jain of CHL Hospital told IANS.

As per the information, Shivam had gone to participate in Ram Navami procession carried out on April 10. A group of people started pelting stones at the procession following which later resulted into a communal riot. The boy had received severe injury on his head during the clash and was taken to a nearby hospital in Khargone by the police. Later he was shifted to CHL hospital Indore.

Earlier on Thursday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had issued a notice to Kahrgone district administration and sought a reply on the matter. The commission has also sought an action taken report against the people responsible for injuring the boy.

The NCPCR in a letter to District Collector Anugraha P. said, "The Commission has taken suo-moto cognizance of a news report on Twitter wherein it has been brought to the notice of the commission that a l6-year-old boy was severely injured in stone pelting by one religious community during a procession on the occasion of Ram Navami." It further added, "It is informed that the said religious community not only indulged in stone pelting but also in massive violence. Further, it is also informed to the Commission through the said news report that the condition of the minor boy is very critical".

The commission has asked the administration to initiate an inquiry and lodge an FIR as it is seen that the violations of provisions are cognizable in nature.
Amaravati, April 16 : Lawyers at a court in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore town staged a protest on Saturday, demanding probe into the theft at the court.

Holding placards with writings 'Save courts from thieves', the lawyers staged the protest at Nellore Court Complex. They condemned the incident that occurred at the fourth additional judicial magistrate court on Wednesday night.

They demanded that the incident should be taken seriously and a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should be ordered.

The lawyers raised doubts over the statement by police that they have arrested the culprits. "The real culprits involved in this theft should be arrested," said a lawyer.

They also expressed their apprehensions as the documents related to a case involving a state minister were taken away by thieves.

The lawyers termed the incident unprecedented in the history of the judiciary. A lawyer claimed that the material presented before the court in the case involving Kakani Goverdhan Reddy was taken away and this raised suspicions.

The offenders took away a bag containing documents, a few stamps and a few electronic items.

The court staff found out about the theft after coming to the court on Thursday morning. Based on the complaint, police filed a case and took up the investigation.

Police later found the stolen bag in a culvert outside the court but several documents were missing.

Police said two suspects were arrested in the case. Nellore district superintendent of police Vijaya Rao is personally monitoring the investigation.

According to opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the stolen documents belong to a forgery case filed by its senior leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy against YSR Congress Party leader Kakani Govardhan Reddy, who became a minister early this week.

In December 2017, Sarvepally MLA Kakani Govardhan Reddy alleged that former minister Somireddy had properties worth thousands of crores of rupees in foreign countries. He released a few documents, quoting them as property documents, to the media.

Subsequently Somireddy had filed a complaint with Nellore rural police station that Kakani had forged documents and demanded action to be taken against Kakani. He even filed a defamation case against Kakani in court.

Later, it was proved that the documents provided by Kakani were fake and a charge sheet was filed against him, TDP said.
Bengaluru, April 16 : The Karnataka Police said on Saturday that it would initiate legal action against the news portal for spreading false news regarding the stabbing incident of a Muslim youth in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.

The news portal had reported that an 18-year-old Muslim youth was attacked with sword by a man returning after watching 'The Kashmir Files' movie. The news went viral on social media and was shared widely by various handles. However, the story was found to be completely false and mischievous, stated Praveen Sood, Director General and Inspector General of Police of Karnataka.

The report claimed that the youth was attacked with a sword by a 30-year-old Hindutva activist in Teragaon village in Haliyal town of Uttara Kannada district. The Gulbarga News Express portal claimed that Hindutva activist Honnappa attacked Amanulla Irfan with a sword after watching the controversial movie 'The Kashmir Files'.

It also stated that Haliyal police registered an FIR and arrested Honnappa. "Anupam Kher starrer 'Kashmir Files'' deals with the story of violence against Kashmiri Pandits. Scholars and critics of Hindutva ideology have flagged the film for installing hatred towards Muslims. This film has been widely endorsed by Hindu nationalist groups. The movie is given tax -free run in BJP-run states of Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Tripura," the report said.

The report further stated that, "meanwhile, genocidal slogans and anti-Muslim chants were raised by Hindutva groups at Kashmir Files screening across the country." However, the official release by the police stated that true facts verified by the Karnataka State Police Fact Check team indicate that "the accused Honnappa Bovi and victim Amanulla Irfan are neighbours. As the victim was constantly abusing the mother of the accused, he had assaulted the boy in front of his house with a pocket knife." "The accused is secured, thoroughly interrogated and his confession revealed the same. He was sent to judicial custody. It is nowhere related to 'The Kashmir Files' movie nor was it communally triggered. Victim is out of danger," the police said.

Further FIR was registered on the incident in Haliyal police station under IPC Sections 324, 307 and 504. Though the incident of assault is true, the motive for the same is not 'The Kashmir Files' movie as alleged. It has happened purely due to personal reasons. However, the incident has been twisted to depict as it as a hate crime, the police said.

"Action was being initiated against the news portal for publishing such false and baseless story without proper verification," the police stated.
New Delhi, April 16 : For promotion of all Indian languages, including Hindi, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will be starting a structured course from the coming academic session.

Talking to IANS, ICCR president Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said, "The ICCR's mandate is to promote Indian culture not a particular language abroad. Language is also part of culture and it has become an important medium for promotion of culture and ICCR is doing it by promoting Hindi and other Indian languages." Sahasrabuddhe stated that the ICCR is providing training for Indian languages, including Hindi to people abroad as per the demand.

"We are providing training in Tamil, Sanskrit and other Indian languages, including Hindi as per demand and requirement. For example, in Israel there is a large Marathi population and if required ICCR will provide training in Marathi language. Similarly, ICCR will provide training in Bengali and other Indian languages as per demand and requirement," Sahasrabuddhe said.

He noted that in association with Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, ICCR is offering courses in areas where demand for Hindi is high. "Demand and curiosity for Hindi language is high in east Europe, Poland; Hungry, or old USSR countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan," Sahasrabuddhe said.

Sahasrabuddhe mentioned that the ICCR is working with IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) and Central Hindi University, Wardha to develop a well structured course for all Indian languages including Hindi.

"From the coming academic session, we are planning to start a well designed structured course like Spanish and Japanese for all India languages including Hindi. The course will be divided in level I, II and so on. The ICCR has joined hands with the IGNOU and Central Hindi University. Course will be designed in structured form and talks are on to introduce it from the coming academic session," the ICCR president said.

When asked for specific work for promotion of Hindi abroad, Sahasrabuddhe said the ICCR is taking steps to provide training as per demand.

"For the promotion of Hindi abroad, the ICCR provides Hindi teachers as per demand for teaching Hindi in Indian Cultural Centers abroad and for Chairs established abroad to various foreign universities," he said.
Bengaluru, April 16 : The preliminary investigations in connection to the murder of a youth, who was allegedly killed as he was unable to speak in Urdu, has revealed that the language was not the reason for the murder, sources said on Saturday.

The investigation into the matter is being done by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Karnataka Police.

On April 4, Chandru, a youth was stabbed to death in J.J. Nagar of Bengaluru city. The incident took a communal turn after the state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra claimed that the youth was killed for not speaking in Urdu.

National General Secretary of BJP C.T. Ravi also issued a similar statement. However, the Home Minister took a u-turn and retracted the statement.

Kamal Pant, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, clarified that the murder had taken place due to road rage incident. However, BJP MLC Ravikumar and others stated that Kamal Pant is "lying" and the murder had taken place because the deceased youth Chandru "could not speak Urdu".

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, following the controversy, handed over the case to the CID for further investigation.

CID sleuths have recorded the statement of Simon Raju, who accompanied the deceased when the incident took place. They have also recorded the statements of Chandru's family and relatives.

Raju had earlier stated before the media that Chandru was killed for not speaking Urdu, however he told the investigators that the quarrel started after the accused hit the victim's bike, which later turned into a fight during which Chandru was stabbed to death.

Raju has told the CID that the issue of language did not even come up.

The police sources explained that all the three accused persons including main accused Shaheed Pasha speak fluent Kannada and investigations also revealed that deceased Chandru had a fair grip on Urdu language. The further investigation is on.

The development is a setback for ruling BJP as the state leaders vehemently argued that the murder had taken place because of communal hatred.
Panaji, April 16 : A day after his opposition to setting up a Tiger Reserve in Goa went viral, state Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday said he "does not need advice" from NGOs over wildlife related issues, while also sarcastically taking potshots at trolls, who criticised his statement on social media.

"Many times people take one statement and they try to turn and twist it around without even understanding. A lot of these people who make these statements, you should go back and check their overall contribution to the state of Goa," Rane said in a video message on Saturday.

"I want to ask these environmentalists. How many times have you read a statement or a study to tell us how forest management has to take place? I am going to do this very professionally. I don't require environmentalists or NGOS to come and advise me," Rane said, adding that he would be hiring retired forest officials from across the state for wildlife area management in the coastal state.

Despite repeated sightings of tigers in the coastal state, Rane on Friday had said that there was no Tiger Reserve needed in Goa because the tigers sighted in the state were not resident tigers, but ones which crossed over into Goa from Karnataka. The statement had attracted a lot of criticism from environmentalists as well as social media users.

Rane, a self-confessed wildlife photographer, in his video message on Saturday also continued in the same vein, adding that Goa was too small a state to have a Tiger Reserve of its own.

"If somebody thinks I am going to be disheartened or I am going to move aside from my existing agenda, no I am not. I definitely do not think a tiger reserve is required for Goa. Tiger reserve is something meant for larger states because there are other complexities involved in this. There is no proposal as of now on my table or in Goa to make any kind of tiger Reserve. I am very firm," Rane said.
San Francisco, April 16 : Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has reportedly removed the search results for many popular pirate sites.

The sites include The Pirate Bay, 1337x, and Fmovies. Several YouTube ripping services have disappeared too and even the homepage of the open-source software youtube-mp3 is unavailable, reports TorrentFreak.

Launched in 2008, the search engine DuckDuckGo is a go-to service for Internet users who value their privacy.

Unlike many competitors, the site does not keep a record of users' IP addresses or other sensitive information.

In recent years, the site also stood out by returning cleaner results than competitors such as Google, which actively alters its algorithms to downrank pirate sites.

At one point, Google even pointed users to DuckDuckGo when they searched for Pirate Bay proxies, the report said.

Recently, the search engine has launched an all-new browser for macOS in beta.

The company had said that like its mobile app, DuckDuckGo for Mac is an all-in-one privacy solution for everyday browsing with no complicated settings.
Chennai, April 16 : Actress Kajal Aggarwal, who is in the family way, has penned an emotional post to her husband Gautam Kitchlu, to not just thank him for his love and care during her pregnancy, but to also let him know what an amazing father he will make.

Taking to Instagram, the actress on Thursday wrote, "Dear Husband, Thank you for being the greatest husband + to-be-dad a girl could ask for. Thank you for being so selfless, for waking up with me almost every night while I had 'morning' sickness, for camping out on the couch with me for weeks because it was the most comfy place for me to sleep, for immediately texting the doctor and taking me to mom's house to put my legs up during the braxton hicks contractions and never hesitating or making me feel bad, for always making sure I'm well fed, well hydrated and comfortable, for taking care of me and lastly for loving me through it all.

"Before our sweet baby comes, I want you to know how wonderful you are and that you will be an amazing father as well ! "In the past eight months, I have watched you become the most loving dad. I know how in love with this baby you are and how much you care already- it makes me feel so lucky that our baby will have a father who loves unconditionally, be there no matter what and have an extraordinary role model to look up to.

"Our lives are going to change drastically, and I'm so grateful for that. We won't have all the alone time we have now - we won't be able to go to the movies every weekend, or lay around and sleep and binge watch shows, we probably won't go out impromptu partying for a while or have as many date nights... BUT we will have a beautiful baby that will fill our hearts with so much joy.

"There will be sleepless nights, times we feel sick, times we aren't feeling ourselves, but this will also be the best time of our life. Things will change but one thing will stay the same and that is how much I love you! I'm blessed to have you by my side for our greatest adventure yet. You are going to be the most terrific father and I love the life we live."
Thiruvananthapuram, April 16 : Nearly 24 hours after a Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activist was murdered in Ellapully of Kerala's Palakkad district, a popular RSS activist was hacked to death by five bike-borne men on Saturday.

Sreenivasan, 45 was attacked in his shop with swords and knives, police said.

Hearing the cries of Sreenivasan, when people came rushing, they saw one person sitting on a bike waiting for his accomplices, who were inside the shop. The attackers then fled on two bikes.

Sreenivasan was a former RSS office-bearer and a key functionary.

Incidentally, it was at the same time Friday that Subair, a 43-year-old activist of SDPI was murdered by a group of men. The SDPI alleged that the attackers were RSS activists.

Subair and his aged father Basheer were returning on a bike after attending Friday prayers at a mosque when a car hit the bike and both of them fell down.

Basheer said that four men came in two cars and hacked his son to death, after which they escaped in one car, leaving the other at the place where the crime took place.

The local SDPI activists alleged that it was a planned attack by the RSS/BJP combine.

The police have launched a probe by sending teams to Tamil Nadu, where the killers are believed to have escaped.

Following the murder, Dir3ector General of Police Anil Kant issued an advisory to all the 14 district police chiefs, urging them to ensure that the force is on high alert.

Doubts are being raised as to whether it was a revenge killing, as in the same area (Ellapully) where this murder took place, a 26-year-old RSS worker, Sanjith, was brutally murdered in November last year, allegedly by the SDPI activists.

As soon as the news of Sreenivasan's murder surfaced, Additional Director General of Police Vijay Sakhre left for Palakkad.
New Delhi, April 16 : Political strategist Prashant Kishor on Saturday presented a detailed roadmap for the 2024 elections before Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and party's top leaders.

After the presentation, Sonia Gandhi set up a committee to look into the suggestions.

"Prashant Kishor has given a detailed presentation for the 2024 election and Congress president has deputed a small group to look into it and report to her within a week and after that a final decision will be taken," General Secretary organisation K.C. Venugopal said.

Sources mentioned that Prashant Kishor said during the meeting the Congress party must target up to 400 seats out of 543 for 2024 and work on alliances wherever the party was weak.

Sources also said that Kishor is likely to join the Congress formally soon.

Earlier the meeting, called by Sonia Gandhi to discuss issues related to 'Chintan Shivir' and upcoming polls, was attended by party's senior leaders -- Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken.

The meeting lasted for more than two hours and political strategist Prashant Kishor exited from the backdoor after giving the presentation.

Notably, Kishor has met the Gandhis several times in the past few weeks.

The Congress is gearing up to call a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting ahead of the 'Chintan Shivir'. The CWC will meet to finalise the agenda for the Shivir.

Senior Congress leaders have been meeting regularly to work on the agenda. Sonia Gandhi has assigned this task to senior leaders such as Ambika Soni and Mukul Wasnik, who have been holding talks with other leaders to finalise the agenda for the CWC and the Chintan Shivir.
New Delhi, April 16 : India has always harped on better connectivity among its neighbouring nations in South Asia, more so with Nepal and Bangladesh. The recent development of better connectivity between India and Nepal was the train service on a 35 km long cross-border rail link between Jayanagar in Bihar and Kurtha in Nepal. This will enable easy connectivity and benefit the people of both the neighbouring countries.

It is a multi-pronged strategy. It is part of India's NeighbourhoodFirst policy. India in this effort to build connectivity with neighbourhood has built electricity networks, upgrading ports, rail and airport infrastructure and laid new pipelines. It is a much more benevolent model than the Chinese ones. The Indian model does not put any country into a debt trap.

The first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG) on Neighbouring Countries at Secretary level was convened by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on April 12. The IMCG has been setup as a high-level mechanism towards mainstreaming of India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy.

The meeting deliberated upon and took important decisions on various aspects of India's bilateral relationship with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the areas of trade and investment, connectivity, border infrastructure, immigration, development cooperation, border security among others.

The IMCG is supported by Inter-Ministerial Joint Task Forces (JTF) convened by the concerned Joint Secretaries in the Ministry of External Affairs. Government of India's efforts to deliver benefits like greater connectivity, stronger inter-linkages and greater people-to-people connect under India's Neighbourhood First policy takes place through a whole-of-government approach with coordination involving various Ministries, Departments and agencies of GOI and of concerned State governments. The IMCG will further improve institutional coordination across government and provide comprehensive direction to this whole-of-government approach on India's relations with its neighbouring countries.

According to a news report by All India Radio, new Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) are constructed or expanded to facilitate trade and mobility along the borders with Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar. Inland waterway infrastructure for movement to Nepal and Bangladesh is developed. The number of railway connections with Bangladesh have increased manifold.

India and Nepal have South Asia's first cross-border oil pipeline. Bhutanese cargo from the Himalayas is reaching Bangladesh on an Indian river vessel. Nepali cargo is transited and clearance processes through India's eastern seaports. The airport at Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka is reconnected with a direct flight from south India after upgradation with Indian aid. The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) launched the South Asian Satellite in 2017, enhancing digital connectivity across the region. In 2019, Bhutan inaugurated a receiving station for the South Asian Satellite. In the same year, Bangladesh agreed to Indian transit access to Northeast states. India and Bangladesh are now directly exchanging freight under a new shipping agreement.

Sri Lanka could have avoided the present crisis had it tied up with India for connectivity and not wholly dependent on China for funds. It is neck-deep in loans from China and it has asked for more funds from China to service previous loans.

Sri Lanka is building its Port City Colombo in line with Dubai and Singapore. The project is estimated to be USD 14 billion and China has invested USD 1.4 billion.

According to a media report, Port City Colombo is a public-private partnership project between the Sri Lankan government and CHEC Port City Colombo Pvt. Ltd, which is a subsidiary of China's state-run infrastructure firm, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), a company that is leading President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the Plenary Session "Central and South Asia: Connectivity" on July 16, 2021 had said: "Economic growth is universally driven by 3Cs: connectivity, commerce and contacts. All three need to come together to ensure regional cooperation and prosperity. The challenge we face is that politics, vested interests and instability can be formidable impediments to its realization. There are lessons too from our experiences that need to be understood. The real issues are of mindsets, not of disputes. Blocking connectivity in practice while professing support in principle benefits no one. A one-sided view of trade rights and obligations can never work. No serious connectivity can ever be a one-way street." Connectivity acquires a particular salience in the context of post-Covid economic recovery. It is itself an economic multiplier. But there is a widespread realization of the need now for more resilient and reliable supply chains. This is not just a matter of production; it is equally a challenge of efficient logistics. All of us need more and multiple options. And this applies to the domain of connectivity most of all.

While expanding connectivity between Central Asia and South Asia, we need to address not just physical infrastructure but all its accompanying facets. Tourism and societal contacts can create a fostering enabling environment. But, at the end of the day, building connectivity is an act of trust and must, at the minimum, conform to international law. Respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity are the most basic principles of international relations.

Connectivity efforts must be based on economic viability and financial responsibility. They should promote economic activity and not create debt burdens. Ecological and environmental standards, as also skill and technology transfers, are musts. Connectivity must be consultative, transparent and participatory.
Chennai, April 16 : Director Mohan G Kshatriyan's upcoming film featuring director Selvaraghavan in the lead has been titled 'Bakasuran'.

Sources close to the unit of the film said that the film went on floors with a pooja at the Muthumalai Murugan temple near Salem in Tamil Nadu on Saturday.

"Proper shooting for the film will begin from Monday," informs a source in the know.

Well known cinematographer and actor Natraj Subramani better known as Natty too will be playing an important role in this film that has triggered immense interest in industry experts.

The last two films of director Mohan -- 'Draupadi' and 'Rudra Thandavam' -- went on to emerge as superhits but not before they kicked up controversies.

Therefore, industry experts and film buffs are eager to know what issue director Mohan will look to highlight in this film featuring Selvaraghavan and Natty.
New Delhi, April 16 : Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday said that the nation has moved away from 'token of solution to the total solution in the healthcare sector' and the Tele-consultation services were an example of this.

He was chairing the 4th anniversary celebrations of Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) with more than one lakh AB-HWCs, state Health ministers, senior officials of all the states and Union territories, healthcare workers from various hospitals and development partners.

"Health is an important issue in the development sector. Under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister, we have moved away from a token solution to a total solution in the healthcare sector," said the Union Health Minister.

People in many states have been quick to recognise the benefits of e-sanjeevani and this has led to an encouraging trend of widespread rapid adoption of this digital modality of seeking health services, said Mandaviya, while adding that some HWCs were also providing screening services for some serious diseases like Oral Cancer, Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer. This helps the country not only in early detection but also in providing early treatment to the patient. Healthy Citizens can only make a Healthy Society and Healthy Society builds a Healthy Nation. AB-HWCs are a stepping stone towards this vision, he emphasized.

"Teleconsultation Services are very crucial for people in remote areas and are helpful in making healthcare services accessible for all. States/UTs should mobilise all stakeholders in providing services at the spokes and efficiently connecting them with the hubs", he further added.

On this occasion, he also released four booklets - Quarterly report on Ayushman Bharat on AB-HWCs, Guidelines on Human resources for health, Public Health Management Cadre' Guidance for implementation and Indian Public Health Standards Guidelines.

Union Minister of state for health, Bharati Pravin Pawar said that all the necessary health services were being provided to the countrymen near their homes easily without any financial burden. "Be it pregnant mothers, newborn babies, teenagers or respected elders, all are availing the benefits of health services at the Health & Wellness Centre. Not only this, the health and wellness center infrastructure has also been designed keeping in view the needs of the divyangs so that the specially-abled patients can also access the primary health services," said Pawar.

"These health centers are ensuring delivery of health facilities in the health interest of the community and fulfilling the commitments of National Health Policy 2017," she said.
New Delhi, April 16 : A slew of countries, including Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the US and Canada, are increasingly turning towards analysing sewage water, which plays an increasingly critical role in monitoring transmission of Covid virus and its variants within communities.

Monitoring of wastewater for Covid virus began in late 2020, after several studies pointed out that sewer slime can accumulate SARS-CoV-2 RNA. It is because traces of SARS-CoV-2 can be isolated from what we flush down the toilet -- and sometimes survive up to several days after leaving an infected person's body.

According to New Zealand's Institute of Environmental Science and Research, RNA from the SARS-CoV-2 virus was detected at all but one of the 120 wastewater sites from the week to April 10, NZ Herald reported.

The data showed that early in the year, just about 10 per cent of the sites reported quantifiable amounts of virus. By mid-February, it shot to more than a quarter, and around mid-March, it was present in about 90 per cent of them.

The latest data shows how daily cases in the region have tumbled to around 14 per cent of the peak -- fewer than 100 daily cases per 100,000, the report said.

Health authorities at Victoria in Australia detected the BA.4 or BA.5 sub-variant of the Omicron strain of Covid in wastewater samples taken from the Tullamarine catchment, ABC news reported. Wastewater testing in March revealed BA.2 had become the dominant strain in Victoria.

A report from the South African Medical Research Council revealed that the analysis of wastewater samples in South Africa shows an increased incidence of Covid-19 in three provinces - Gauteng, eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal and Bloemfontein in the Free State.

Samples from wastewater plants in Johannesburg and around Pretoria also show that Covid-19 fragments are increasingly common. The Omicron variant dominates all samples so far sequenced with the delta variant found in isolated samples, the report revealed.

"Wastewater is completely independent of whether you get tested or not - everybody poops," Mark Servos, a professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, was quoted as saying to CTVNews.ca.

"Wastewater is really one of our only reliable tools to determine what's going on in terms of community prevalence." As of April 2, the Canadian city of Waterloo's weekly average for the number of N-gene copies (well-preserved in wastewater) per millilitre was about 415, representing a steady increase in Covid-19 concentration levels since mid-March.

A large driver of this growth has been the rapid spread of the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant within the province, Servos said.

"We've now seen that BA.2 is almost 100 per cent in most of the wastewater [samples] that we've been studying," Servos added.

Other provinces like Alberta and British Columbia are also seeing a rise in Covid in wastewater samples.

About a third of wastewater sampling sites across the US have shown an uptick in Covid-19 cases across the country, according to latest data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Kiev, April 16 : Russian troops in Ukraine's Mariupol will close all entries and exits to the city and also prohibit movement there from Monday, in order to carry out "infiltration" operation among the city's male population, some of whom will be mobilised, Petro Andriushchenko, Advisor to the Mariupol Mayor, posted on Telegram.

He said: "Occupiers report that on Monday they will not only finally close all entries and exits to the city for everyone, but will institute a ban for movement across all neighbourhoods for a week. During this time, 100 per cent of the city's remaining male population will be "filtered". To this end, they will all be moved to Novoazovsk.

"Some of the people are going to be mobilised to the Russian occupation corps, some will be forcibly deployed to clear the rubble, and those classified as unreliable will be isolated." According to Andriushchenko, the Russian troops are planning to allow only those men and women to remain in the city who will serve essential needs. The Mariupol authorities said that this is due to the inability of the Russian troops to maintain even the minimal living condition for civilians in the city, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

Andriushchenko noted that the "infiltration" procedure is already at full speed.

Men at infiltration camps and checkpoints are first interrogated (which might include staged shooting), then their bodies are scanned and cell phones are examined. Those who do not "pass" the test will be taken to Dokuchaievsk and Donetsk.

Andriushchenko added that the conflict in Mariupol is getting worse as the Russian occupiers are deploying all available resources to storm the city, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

The usage of TU bombers indicate the intention of the Russians to blast the Azovstal plant and Mariupol seaport.

Highlighting the fake information spread by Russian troops, he said: "To lift the spirits of the occupiers and intimidate the people of Mariupol, they announced the arrest of a NATO general in Mariupol and spread false information about the "atrocities of Azov and the Armed Forces of Ukraine." The humanitarian situation in Mariupol continues to be deteriorating in the absence of doctors in the city. Here medicine is also distributed chaotically and "without so much as a glimpse at a prescription or medical records," the Mayor's Advisor added.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
AD Ports Group has announced that its feeder service, Safeen Feeders, has signed a long-term trade facilitation and shipping agreement with Saif Powertec Limited, a listed firm in Bangladesh that is active in ports, logistics, civil engineering, and power sectors.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will work closely together to facilitate trade and cargo services from Fujairah to Bangladesh over a period of 15 years.

As part of the collaboration, Safeen Feeders is likely to provide eight Supramax bulk carriers with 55,000 Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) capacity to Saif Powertec.

In addition to facilitating the movement of general cargo and dry bulk cargo between Fujairah Port in the UAE to port facilities in Chattogram and Mongla in Bangladesh, the new bulk shipping offering will also oversee cargo operations to the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia, and other global destinations.

AD Ports Group Maritime Cluster CEO Captain Maktoum Al Houqani said: "Our newest collaboration with Saif Powertec not only introduces a new offering for customers that is a fast and low-cost service for their dry bulk shipping needs, but will also have a tremendous impact on maritime trade across our combined spheres of influence."

"Leveraging Safeen Feeders expertise as a leading maritime service provider, as well as the advanced capabilities of its modernised fleet, Saif is well-positioned to accelerate the trade of dry construction materials between the UAE and Bangladesh, along with other dry cargo goods to key markets across the region and beyond," remarked Al Houqani.

Captain Ammar Mubarak Al Shaiba, CEO Safeen Feeders and Acting CEO of Ports Operating Company at AD Ports Group, said this announcement marks not only the official start of a new collaboration between AD Ports Group and one of Bangladeshs leading logistics service providers, but also heralds a new era of maritime trade facilitation between the two nations and their respective ports.

"In addition to boosting bilateral trade, the collaboration with Saif Powertec brings a new opportunity to deliver an enhanced cargo service to customers across the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia, as well as other high-profile global destinations," he added.

Saif Powertec Managing Director Tarafder Ruhul Amin said: "We are pleased to announce the start of our close partnership with AD Ports Groups Safeen Feeders, which has greatly enhanced our capabilities as Bangladeshs sole terminal operator to facilitate the movement of dry cargo at the international level."

"Boasting a capacity of 55,000 DWT, Safeen Feeders bulk carriers, which will be offered on a bareboat or time charter basis, are expected to realise significant returns and deliver real benefits for our customers," he stated.

Both companies will jointly own and operate bulk shipping services that will promote maritime trade between the Mena region and Asian Subcontinent.

Other areas of potential collaboration include the leasing of berths and potentially jetties to develop and improve the cargo operations, along with the adoption of warehouse storage solutions offered by AD Ports Group.

The scope of the agreement also covers future areas of collaboration to jointly develop and invest in the maritime infrastructure and projects of Bangladesh and the UAE, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Srinagar, April 16 : The Army on Saturday paid tributes to Subedar Shri Om, Havildar Ramautar and Sipahi Pawan Singh Gurjar, who made the "supreme sacrifice" on April 14 near Kanipora village of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district.

In a solemn ceremony at BB Cantt in Srinagar, Lt Gen DP Pandey, Chinar Corps Commander, and all ranks paid homage to the gallant soldiers.

The three bravehearts were injured after the vehicle they were travelling in overturned near Kanipora village, Shopian district, en-route to an encounter site at Badigam, Shopian.

"Owing to the wet road conditions, the driver had seemingly lost control over the vehicle and it skidded off the road," army said.

Subedar Shri Om was 41 years old and had joined the Army in 1998. He belonged to Bhiwani in Haryana and is survived by his wife.

Havildar Ramautar was 39 years old and had joined the Army in 2002. He belonged to Alwar in Rajasthan and is survived by his wife.

Sipahi Pawan Singh Gurjar, was 23 years old and had joined the Army in 2018. He belonged to Dausa in Rajasthan and is survived by his mother.

The mortal remains of Subedar Shri Om, Havildar Ramautar and Sipahi Pawan Singh Gurjar will be taken for last rites to their native place, where they would be laid to rest with full military honours.

"In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and remains committed to their dignity and well being," an Army statement said.
New Delhi, April 16 : Two people were arrested for attempting to snatch an elderly woman's chain in the national capital, an official said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Sachin and Chiranjeev, were also previously found involved in several cases of snatching.

DCP Sameer Sharma said a PCR call was received regarding an attempt of snatching of chain of a senior citizen lady.

The woman alleged that she was walking with her husband and when she reached near Miyanwali Nagar, a motorcycle borne man tried to snatch her chain but she fell down and her husband Anil Bansal while chasing the snatcher also fell down.

The elderly couple received minor injuries in the incident.

Accordingly the police registered an FIR under relevant section of the IPC and began probing the incident.

Hundreds of CCTV cameras were examined during the probe which finally helped the police to locate the accused Sachin.

Later both the accused were nabbed and arrested.
Srinagar, April 16 : An encounter has started between terrorists and security forces at Watnag Kokernag area in South Kashmir's Anantnag district, officials said on Saturday.

"Encounter has started at Watnar, Kokernag area of Anantnag district. Police and security forces are on the job," police said.

The firefight between terrorists and security forces took place after a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.
Hyderabad, April 16 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Telangana on May 6-7.

MP and in-charge of party affairs in Telangana, Manickam Tagore announced on Saturday that Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting at Warangal on May 6. The next day he will hold a meeting with the party leaders in Hyderabad.

Tagore tweeted that they welcome their leader after achieving 40 lakh membership enrollment.

During the digital membership enrollment drive, which concluded on Friday, the state Congress has enrolled 40 lakh members.

The schedule of Rahul Gandhi's visit was finalised at a meeting Tagore held with Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief A. Revanth Reddy and other top leaders.

The meeting discussed the tour programme of Rahul Gandhi, plans to strengthen the party and the public issues to be taken up in the run-up to next year's Assembly elections.

MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who was recently given the status of star campaigner by the party's central leadership, former TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, former union minister Renuka Chowdary, senior leader V. Hanumantha Rao, Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka, TPCC working presidents and other leaders attended the meeting.

This will be Rahul Gandhi's first visit to Telangana after 2019 Lok Sabha elections and this comes close on the heels of his intervention to put the house in order in Telangana in the wake of differences among leaders coming to fore.

On April 6, Rahul Gandhi met Telangana leaders in Delhi and announced a party forum to settle the differences. He told the leaders to bring any grievance on the functioning of the party to the notice of the forum instead of making public statements.

He warned the party leaders against running groups and thus harming the interests of the party. He promised to dedicate more time to Telangana and focus on revitalizing the party in the state.
Bengaluru, April 16 : Predictably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent statement projecting Hindi as an alternative to English has raised hackles down South.

The responses from different states in south India mirror the local factors and the quality of political equations between the respective states and the government at the Centre.

Tamil Nadu, considered the cradle of Dravidian identity, has traditionally been anti-Hindi. In fact, the misguided moves by certain quarters to impose Hindi on the state gave a fillip to the Dravidian movement in the 60s and has sustained it ever since.

The anti-Hindi agitation effectively pushed the Congress to the political sidelines where it remains to this day. Not surprisingly, the most vocal criticism of Shah's recent statement came from Tamil Nadu.

Already raged against the Centre over the NEET examinations, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin did not mince words over Shah's statement.

R. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio Economic Development Foundation, a think-tank based out of Madurai, told IANS, "The fight against Hindi has been a historic one. Tamil people feel that the North Indians are imposing Hindi upon us forcefully, leading to the dilution of Dravidian ethos and thoughts.

"Be it Periyar, Annadurai or for that matter Karunanidhi, all had taken public postures against imposition of Hindi. There is a gut feeling that Hindi is a way to wipe out our Dravidian identity which is our pride and on which we won't compromise." In an apparent attempt at damage-control, the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP had to clarify that it is against the imposition of Hindi.

In neighbouring Karnataka, where Kannada is the lingua franca, the ruling BJP has had to play a balancing act between towing the official line and pandering to local sentiments.

Of all the southern states, Karnataka has been the most fertile ground for the BJP agenda. This also has been a factor in the growing acceptance of Hindi in this state.

However, pro-Kannada outfits in the state are not taking too kindly to Shah's views.

Speaking to IANS, Praveen Kumar Shetty, President of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, said, "If BJP comes to the matter of language, the party will lose deposit in the state. The nation is not built by Amit Shah or Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. It is built by our ancestors. Kannada is also a national language.

"This applies to all south Indian and regional languages. They should never touch any issue which is detrimental to the language of the land, if they do, it will weaken the country and the federal structure." Considering that they proudly sport their Dravidian origins on their sleeves, the prompt and sharp responses from some of the southern states are not so surprising.

In a way, the mosaic of Indian states today is a gift of the linguistic aspirations of the people from these states. Despite their shared Dravidian heritage, each of the south Indian languages -- Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam -- has a long and rich history.

Several new linguistic states were born in India on November 1, 1956 under the provisions of the States Reorganisation Act. In south India, the process saw Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam-speaking regions taking final shape as the state's of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala, respectively.

Compared to the north of the Vindhya mountains, the regions in south India remained relatively sheltered from foreign invasions, allowing the local languages to survive and better retain their identity till India became Independent. Over the years, they have jealously guarded the interests of their respective mother tongues and culture.

While the current controversy revolves around the Hindi-Dravidian languages construct, the fact remains that most of the southern states have had to grapple with linguistic flashpoints. Either with their neighbours or even internally.

Karnataka has witnessed language troubles in the past -- clashes between pro-Kannada and pro-Marathi activists in Belgaum bordering Maharashtra. The Kannada-Tamil clashes during the height of the Cauvery river dispute.

In the early 90s, Bengaluru also witnessed disturbances over the introduction of an Urdu language news bulletin on Doordarshan.

The Gokak agitation demanding primacy for Kannada, and supported by the likes of yesteryear movie star Raj Kumar, played a major role in strengthening the Kannada sentiment in the state.

The anti-Hindi mood is not so pronounced in the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. While Andhra Pradesh has never had any direct exposure to Hindi influences to feel threatened, the Nizami Urdu culture in Telangana has ensured that Hindi is not seen as much of an alien language.

But with the K. Chandrasekhara Rao-led TRS government in Telangana on a collision course with the Central government of late, the state government is taking potshots at Shah's statement.

Kerala has also been inured to the Hindi language controversy. The overwhelming majority of the population in Kerala speaks Malayalam and has no problems with the language.

As people of the state have long been migrating for business and employment, Keralites are known to be more pragmatic on such issues.

The latest controversy is a clear sign that the stalemate over languages will continue to haunt the country for a long time to come.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chennai, April 16 : Pointing out that the golden era of Tamil cinema was not now but when people like director Bharathirajaa were making films, well-known producer and actor Arun Pandian has come down hard on Tamil film heroes taking exorbitant sums as salaries.

Participating in the audio launch event of the film 'Aadhaar', Arun Pandian said, "While delivering his speech here, director Saravanan wrongly referred to the present time as the golden period of Tamil cinema. The golden era was when people like director Bharathirajaa were making films. When we were acting in films. It is not like that now. I can say that with confidence.

"Today, the position of Tamil cinema is so bad that all other language films are doing exceptionally well in Tamil Nadu. I am also referring to the recently released films. Be it Vijay's film or Ajith's film, they do not spend on the films but on themselves.

"If they (heroes) take 90 per cent (of the production costs) as their salaries, how can one make films? One cannot make films. I strongly condemn this practice.

"When we made films, only 10 per cent (of the production costs) went towards salaries. Ninety per cent would go towards making the film. Only when that is followed can we compete with other language films.

"We were winning with our stories and our making then. We are now lagging behind in all areas. I heard that the hero of this film Karunaas has not taken a pie as his salary. Hats off to him," the actor and producer said, even as he disclosed that he had reduced his remuneration for the film by half.
Mumbai, April 16 : 'Paatal Lok' fame Jaideep Ahlawat has completed his part of shooting for the upcoming film 'An Action Hero'.

The film, directed by Anirudh Iyer, stars 'Andhadhun' actor Ayushmann Khurrana as the lead. The film went on floors in January 2022 with its first schedule being shot in London.

Commenting on the completion of his part in the film, Jaideep said, "Shooting for 'An Action Hero' was the best of both worlds - lots of learning and even more fun! Working with the entire team of An Action Hero has been a joy ride and an enriching experience. Anirudh Iyer's storytelling is flawless and Ayushmann was just the most perfect co-star." The film, presented by Gulshan Kumar, T-Series and Aanand L Rai, and produced by Aanand L Rai, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under the banners of Colour Yellow Productions and T-Series, traces an artiste's journey, both, in front and behind the lens, with action and satirical sense of humour.
Mumbai, April 16 : For actor Ayush Anand, posting on social media is no more than something that is required for his job.

While he is comfortable posting about work on the platform, his personal life will be kept at bay where his posts are concerned.

"I am not fond of social media. I believe it has become a professional demand for actors nowadays as casting directors, directors and producers have also started to ask for Instagram accounts and all. I am comfortable posting about my work and my skills but not about who I am dating, what am I eating and all as I believe in maintaining a balance between professional and personal life," he says.

Ayush adds: "I post every day when I am working as I said it has become a professional demand nowadays however when I am not working, I keep away from social media. But I do read each and every comment and reply to messages personally as much as I can." However, social media had become a bit of an obsession for Ayush once.

"I must honestly admit that there was a point when I became obsessed and started to take these likes and views to my heart. It started affecting me and as soon as I realised, I took a long break from social media. I could do that because I have a very strong will power. Social media detox is a very funny term." "To each to its own, if a person is happy posting, then he/she should stick to it as at the end of the day, it's all about one's happiness. I take it as a professional requirement and as a gesture for the people who are following me as you have to put something out there for them so that they don't feel let down. I am neutral in the sense that I know where to draw the line. Even if a person on Instagram tries to get very personal with me, I stop him/her right there as I like keeping things in a respectful and dignified manner," he says.

While he respects the talent he sees on social media, he still admires those who have managed to make a name for themselves without the support these platforms.

"I have seen a world where there was exclusivity and an aura around actors. And in those days, actors were true stars, as you were excited to see them on the big/small screen. These days you have social media stars as well. I respect them for what they are doing and they have made good use of social media, however, I still respect actors who are not on social media and maintain their exclusivity. Kudos to them! "When I will reach that stage in life, I won't be there on any platform as I want to connect with my audiences only thru my work or personally whenever I happen to meet them," he says.
Bengaluru, April 16 : Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, Karnataka on Saturday has urged the ruling BJP government to "immediately arrest" former minister K.S. Eshwarappa in connection with the suicide case of a contractor from Belagavi.

Rajesh Pavithran, the state president said the issue will not be settled with the resignation of Eshwarappa from the cabinet, adding "it is a non-bailable offence".

"Eshwarappa can destroy evidence using his political power and influence. Because of his corruption, a Hindu worker has lost his life. BJP has broken the records of Congress party in the last 60 years in terms of corruption," he said.

"This is not the only case, many leaders from the BJP in Karnataka are receiving 40 per cent commission of the work and looting the treasury of the state. An investigation needs to be conducted in this regard. The people are worried that if the majority of budgetary allocations are going to the pockets of BJP leaders through 40 per cent commission, what is the fate of development," he said.

He said the Hindu Mahasabha is writing a letter to the Governor in this regard.

"Since an FIR is being lodged against Eshwarappa and he is being made the prime accused, he should be arrested," Pavithran reiterated.

Santhosh K. Patil, a contractor and BJP leader from Belagavi committed suicide by consuming poison on April 12 at a lodge in Udupi.

He had sent a message to mediapersons alleging that Eshwarappa had made a promise to him to release funds of Rs 4 crore worth projects in the limits of Hindalga Gram Panchayat.

He further stated that after the completion of work, Eshwarappa refused to release the money and demanded a 40 per cent commission.

Following his death, Eshwarappa resigned from his post on Friday.
Amaravati, April 16 : An eight-month-old baby died due to the delay in reaching hospital as the auto-rickshaw carrying her was stopped allegedly for a procession of Andhra Pradesh's newly-appointed Women and Child Welfare Minister, Usha Sricharan.

The incident occurred near Kalyandurgam in Anantapur district on Friday night.

According to Ganesh and Eshwaramma, they were taking their sick child to the Rural Development Trust (RDT) hospital when their auto-rickshaw was stopped by the police for the minister's procession.

The couple alleged that a half-an-hour delay in taking the baby to the hospital resulted in her death.

The procession was taken out to welcome Usha Sricharan, who was visiting her constituency for the first time after being inducted into the state Cabinet earlier this week.

The police had stopped traffic for the procession and as a result the auto carrying the child also got stuck.

A Dalit group along with the baby's parents and the deceased's body staged a protest outside the hospital demanding action against the police officers responsible for the tragedy, while the district police denied that it had stopped the traffic.

The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) called it a 'murder' by the minister and police. TDP President and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu questioned why a sick baby was not allowed to reach the hospital on time.

"What is the answer you have for the grief-stricken parents of the infant," he asked the government.

TDP General Secretary and Chandrababu Naidu's son, Nara Lokesh, demanded action against the police officers who stopped the traffic and became the cause of the baby's death.
Emaar Hospitality Group, the hospitality and leisure business of Dubai developer Emaar Properties, is set to open Palace Beach Resort Fujairah in Q2. It is the third beach resort of the Address Hotels + Resorts collection under Emaar Hospitality Group.

The resort will feature 167 rooms and suites set by the beachfront, featuring contemporary architecture and Arabesque patterns, testament to a city embracing the future while staying true to its heritage, said the Emaar unit in a statement.

The hotel will be set on prime piece of coastline on the Gulf of Oman, known for its beautiful sands, vibrant sea - life and the serene mountainous environment, it stated.

It will also boast its own kids club and a spa. Food and beverage wise, there will be Ewaan for Arabic and international dining, along with Al Bayt Lounge, it added.

Emaar has already opened the Address Beach Resort Fujairah, which marked its debut in the emirate. The upcoming Palace Beach Resort Fujairah looks to continue this success, said its top official.

"We are now setting our sights on the leading destinations within the UAE and this resort will mark its second opening in Fujairah," remarked Mark Kirby, Emaar Hospitality Group head of hospitality.

"This is an important milestone in our journey, as we further expand our luxury portfolio with the country to cater to international visitors and residents of the UAE who have grown to know and love our brand," he noted.

"With its majestic landscape combined with a rich heritage, Fujairah is fast emerging as a tourist haven that lures the most discerning travellers. We look forward to welcoming guests to experience premium luxury at Palace Beach Resort Fujairah," he added.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 16 : Opposition parties - Congress and BJP - in Kerala slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday while accusing him for "inept handling" of the law and order in the state after two murders at same place within two days was reported in Palakkad district.

On Friday noon, Subair, a 43-year-old activist of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), was murdered by a group of men. The SDPI alleged that the attackers were RSS activists. Meanwhile on Saturday, at around the same time, Sreenivasan (45), a former top RSS local leader, was hacked to death by a group of five persons -- who were alleged to be SDPI activists. Both the cases have been reported from Palakkad district and the pattern "indicates" a case of "revenge killing".

Incidentally, these two murders at Palakkad came nearly four months after a similar double murder that took place in Alappuzha, wherein first a SDPI activist was allegedly killed by RSS activists and in less than 12 hours a young lawyer, who had contested on a BJP ticket, was allegedly hacked to death by SDPI activists.

State BJP president K. Surendran made it clear that since Vijayan has become an "abject failure in handling the law and order situation in the state, the Centre should have to intervene".

"In Alappuzha, we lost a top local leader who had a clean record and the same happened on Saturday, when we lost Sreenivasan who has no cases against him. The way things are going on in Kerala clearly shows that Vijayan has lost grip of the law and order situation. If he cannot handle it, then the Centre will have have to be called in," said Surendran.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said that the Kerala Police remains a mute spectator when murders are happening at regular intervals. "The Vijayan government appears to in celebration mode of their first anniversary, but they have no moral right to do so as it has failed miserably in all fields and the situation is so grave that 'Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram' has turned out to be a 'corridor of goons'." "The communal SDPI and the RSS are now vying with one another to destroy peace in the state and sadly the presence of minority and majority communal elements have now entered the Kerala Police also. The situation is such that Kerala is now living in fear," he added.

However State CPI-M secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said both the murders that took place appears to be well-planned.

"Both these communal elements have the machinery to carry out planned attacks like this. In Alappuzha, after the murders took place, there was a good follow up action by authorities which helped to douse things. We all wish that such a thing will happen at Palakkad also," said Balakrishnan.

He also slammed the BJP and said "they engage in killings and then blame the law and order situation".

"First they should stop engaging in such acts and then say all these things," added Balakrishnan.
New Delhi, April 16 : As the world confronts war, humanitarian emergencies, the impacts of the climate crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, overlapping with the persistent challenges of hunger and poverty, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is "responding urgently" to build resilient agrifood systems.

This was the message of QU Dongyu, Director-General of the FAO at the just concluded 7th session of the Informal North American Regional Conference (INARC), which was hosted virtually by the US.

The INARC was established in 2010 as a forum to strengthen collaboration between FAO and the North American Region, comprising Canada and the US.

It provides an opportunity for these two FAO members to share their priorities with FAO, and for a mutual exchange on the way forward for the effective implementation of the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31.

Since the idea of a permanent UN agency focused on food, nutrition and agriculture was first planted in Hot Springs, Virginia, where 44 governments gathered 80 years ago, and FAO's establishment in Quebec in 1945, both the US and Canada have "played a key role" across FAO's areas of work, and are among the organization's top resource partners.

"The ongoing fruitful collaboration between the North America region and FAO is crucial, and I appreciate the continued support you have provided," said Dongyu.

"The US will look to FAO to use its voice, its data, its policy recommendations, and its leadership to implement the council's decision and address the far-reaching food security effects of Russia's war in Ukraine," said Ambassador Cindy McCain, Permanent Representative of the US Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome (FAO, WFP, IFAD).

"We also are ready to work with FAO to achieve an ambitious climate change strategy that addresses mitigation and adaptation, and bolsters agricultural resilience while making food systems part of the solution. And we will support the science and innovation strategy as a critical tool." "It is in all of our interests that FAO succeeds, to avoid the human suffering, instability, and loss of potential that we know food insecurity causes, and to ultimately get back on track to achieve SDG 2 and the broader 2030 Agenda," said Ambassador Elissa Golberg, Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN Agencies in Rome.

"Canada stands ready to be a constructive member, a thoughtful partner, and an active stakeholder as we seek to deliver effective solutions for sustainable transformation of food systems." Over the three-day conference that ended on Thursday, FAO's leadership presented on the organization's vision as outlined in the Strategic Framework 2022-31, which aims to support the 2030 agenda by creating more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems.

The aspiration of the Four Betters -- Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and a Better Life for All, leaving no one behind -- provide a strategic and system-oriented approach across FAO's entire programme of work.

The informal conference was updated on the impacts of the war in Ukraine on global food value-chains for grains, oil seeds and fertilizer, which threaten food security in countries that are already highly vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition.

Looking forward, Canada and the US emphasised the need for FAO, along with other UN agencies, to assess the loss and damage from this conflict and to contribute to a reconstruction plan, in line with their respective mandates.

Other key areas discussed were climate adaptation and mitigation, gender equality, private sector engagement, science and innovation, FAO's governance reforms, Rome-Based-Agencies Collaboration, and FAO's lead role in the UN Food Systems Summit Coordination Hub, among other topics.

The next INARC will take place in 2024 and will be hosted by the government of Canada.
New Delhi, April 16 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a three-day visit to Gujarat from April 18.

The Prime Minister will visit the Command and Control Centre for Schools in Gandhinagar on April 18.

On the second day of his visit, the Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects at Banas Dairy Sankul in Diyodar, Banaskantha.

Later in the day, Modi will lay the foundation stone of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar.

On April 20, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar.

Thereafter, he will attend the Adijati Maha Sammelan in Dahod and inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects.

Command and Control Centre for Schools collects over 500 crore data sets annually and analyses them meaningfully using big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, in order to enhance overall learning outcomes for students.

"The Centre helps track daily online attendance of teachers and students, undertake centralised summative and periodic assessments of learning outcome of students etc. The Command and Control Centre for Schools has been deemed a global best practice by the World Bank, which has also invited other countries to visit and learn about it," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

He will dedicate to the nation a new dairy complex and potato processing plant at Diyodar, Banaskantha district, built at a cost of over Rs 600 crore.

The new dairy complex is a greenfield project. It will enable the processing of about 30 lakh litres of milk, produce about 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh litres of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk (Khoya) and six tonnes of chocolate daily.

The potato processing plant will produce different types of processed potato products like french fries, potato chips, aloo tikki, patties etc, many of which will be exported in other countries.

The Prime Minister will also dedicate the Banas Community Radio Station to the nation. This Community Radio Station has been established to provide farmers key scientific information related to agriculture and animal husbandry. It is expected that the radio station will connect with over five lakh farmers of about 1,700 villages.

During his visit, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar in the presence of the Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO).

GCTM will be the first and only global outpost centre for traditional medicine across the world. It will emerge as an international hub of global wellness.

The Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit, to be held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on April 20.

The Prime Minister will attend the Adijati Maha Sammelan in Dahod on April 20, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects worth around Rs 22,000 crore.

The Sammelan is expected to witness participation of over two lakh people.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate projects worth over Rs 1,400 crore.

He will also lay the foundation stone for manufacturing of 9,000 HP Electric Locomotives at the Production Unit in Dahod. The cost of the project is around Rs 20,000 crore.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of various projects of the state government worth around Rs 550 crore.
Mumbai, April 16 : On expected lines, the Congress candidate supported by the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Jayashree Jadhav, swept the Kolhapur North Assembly by-election, the results of which were announced on Saturday.

Becoming the first-ever woman to represent the Kolhapur North seat, she defeated her main political rival and BJP nominee Satyajit Kadam by a comfortable margin of nearly 18,800 votes in the elections held two days ago.

Among the 15 candidates, while Jadhav secured 96,226 votes, Kadam trailed far behind with 77,426 votes in his favour in the hotly-contested elections.

The bypoll for the erstwhile royal seat of the Chhatrapatis was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav, who succumbed to Covid-19 in December 2021.

Both the MVA and the BJP had deployed top leaders in full strength to bag the seat, which was considered a 'prestige issue' for the two sides.

Accusing the Congress of allegedly bribing the voters, BJP state President Chandrakant Patil had warned of complaining to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against those who would take money.

Top leaders of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress hailed Jayashree Jadhav's victory, saying the people of Kolhapur have rejected outright the BJP's divisive politics of Hindutva and hatred vis-a-vis the MVA's all-inclusive developmental agenda.

State Congress President Nana F. Patole said that those who threatened the people of Kolhapur in the name of ED have been "shown their place" in the results, and said (BJP's) Chandrakant Patil should now retire to the Himalayas.

Patole said that (BJP's Leader of Opposition) Devendra Fadnavis tried to create a religious divide among the people, but the citizens of Kolhapur have given them a "tight slap", rejecting communal and hate politics.

NCP's chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase and Mumbai leader Clyde Crasto said people of Kolhapur have strongly endorsed secularism and issues of development, rejecting the BJP's attempts to create rift among communities.

This is the second time since 2019 that the Congress has bagged the prestigious seat, which was held by the Shiv Sena for two terms in 2014 and 2009.
Bhopal, April 16 : In a bid to encourage the automotive industry leaders, the Madhya Pradesh government has geared up for first-ever 'Auto Show 2022' in the state to be organised in Indore.

The three-day event will commence on April 28 at Super Corridor Square near Indore Airport and National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX), Indore, the state government said in a statement.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will inaugurate the show, following which he will engage with industry leaders in a session focused on the automobile industry driving India's economic growth.

"Madhya Pradesh is all set to play a pivotal role in the economic development of 21st century India. Progressive policies, a business-friendly environment, and a proactive government is moving the state on a fast growth trajectory. I urge the investor community to be a part of this fascinating story," Chouhan said in a statement issued by his office.

The first-ever edition of the 'Madhya Pradesh Auto Show' will exhibits the latest technologies, product launches, convergence of "world-class" technologies, and auto engineering brilliance under one roof.

The show will have seminars led by industry leaders on four topics: Auto industry - Driving India's Economic Growth, Green Mobility - Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Future, Emerging Technologies - Reshaping the Future of Mobility and Resilience, and Growth of Auto MSMEs & Start-ups in Post-Covid Era.

These sessions will explore and present perspectives on global and domestic trends impacting the growth of the auto industry. There will be two rounds of B2B & B2G meetings and about 10 buyer-seller meetings to explore collaborative opportunities to develop a sustainable ecosystem for the auto and ancillary sector in the state.
New Delhi, April 16 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday filed a supplementary chargesheet against three accused -- Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood, Zohaib Manna and Mohammed Shihab -- for allegedly recruiting innocent youth for terror outfits ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.

The chargesheet was filed under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code before the NIA special court in Bengaluru.

In 2020, the NIA had lodged this case after the examination of Abdur Rahman, an alleged accused in an Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) case, which led to the unravelling of an IS module wherein the names of various persons responsible for radicalising and funding the visits of Muslim youth from Bengaluru to ISIS areas such as Syria had emerged.

The NIA had earlier filed chargesheet against two accused persons in connection with this case.

The investigation revealed that Mahmood and Manna were involved in radicalising and recruiting gullible Muslim youth into the IS fold through the 'Quran Circle' group.

They were also involved in raising and receiving funds to finance the visit of radicalised Muslim youth to Syria.

Mahmood and Shihab had earlier visited Syria illegally to establish connection with IS terrorists.
New Delhi, April 16: British media has confirmed the presence of its elite forces in Ukraine, saying that its instructors have been busy training the Ukrainian battalions on how to use the Next-Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons (NLAWs), over 4000 of which have been supplied by the United Kingdom as part of its military aid to Kyiv till now.

Quoting Ukrainian commanders, The Times reported on Saturday that the British SAS troops have trained two local battalions stationed in and around the capital of Ukraine. The newspaper said that the military training from "serving British special forces" has been held over the last fortnight.

"Captain Yuriy Myronenko, whose battalion is stationed in Obolon on the northern outskirts of Kyiv, said that military trainers had come to instruct new and returning military recruits to use NLAWs, British-supplied anti-tank missiles that were delivered in February as the invasion was beginning," the report mentioned.

The Special Air Service (SAS) units are an integrated part of the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) group, operating in difficult and often changing circumstances at the strategic and operational level.

Earlier this week, IndiaNarrative.com had highlighted the observations made by Georges Malbrunot, a senior reporter for leading French daily Le Figaro, about highly-trained special forces from the United Kingdom and the United States stationed in Ukraine since Russia launched its 'special military operation' in the region on February 24.

As the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Saturday and pledged to stand by the people of the country, Georges Malbrunot, a senior reporter for Le Figaro, highlighted the presence of elite military units in the eastern European nation.

Quoting his French intelligence source, Malbrunot had said that the "elite SAS special forces units have been present in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, as have the American Deltas," with the Russians knowing well "what the secret war is".

While the UK has supported Ukraine since the 2014 Crimea conflict, training over 20,000 Ukrainian personnel, it started providing lethal aid to Kyiv only this year.

It includes over 4,000 NLAWs (a short-range, easy to use missile that strikes tanks from above) and Javelin anti-tank systems. The Boris Johnson government has also committed to sending Starstreak air defence systems and 6,000 new anti-tank and high explosive missiles. This is in addition to to a range of non-lethal aid including body armour, helmets, boots, ration packs, rangefinders and communications equipment.

On March 31, London also played host to the second International Defence Donor Conference for Ukraine, leading efforts of 35 international partners to bolster the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Moscow, meanwhile, isn't surprised by the recent revelations.

On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had said that citizens of Ukraine are being used "as a typical colonial consumables" and the "awareness of the role of London" will someday be known to the entire world community.

Moscow alleged that the methods of suppressing the Donbass were "clearly taught by British instructors and political mentors" with the handwriting too recognizable.

"Judging by the data of our Ministry of Defence, the Kyiv regime, under the leadership of the British special services, highly experienced in their field, is preparing another false staged provocations to accuse the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of allegedly cruel treatment of the population of the Sumy region of Ukraine," said Zakharova.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, April 16 : Amid rising cases of Covid-19 in Delhi, health experts said that consistent and appropriate use of masks, sanitisation, hand washing and social distancing to the possible extent are the way to prevent the Covid infection.

However, doctors also said that the sudden rise in Covid cases is not a situation to panic.

Talking to IANS, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya Medical Superintendent Mamta Jajoo said "we have not seen any children admission with Covid symptoms in the hospital yet".

However, she said: "As the cases are again rising in the city, we need to be more alert and follow the proper Covid appropriate behaviour." "Wearing the mask must be continued in the crowded place to prevent the spread of infection," she told IANS.

Covid appropriate behaviour like hand hygiene, sanitisation and the wearing of mask must be in place for both children and adults, she added.

"When people talk, aerosols spread in the air around us. This is almost like cigarette smoke spreading, but invisible. This aerosol might contain virus. When breathed in by others, it leads to infection spread. So children should use masks while inside classrooms", said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Co-Chairman National IMA COVID task force.

He said that if anyone is having fever or runny nose, they should stay home. Even if it is not Covid, the advice is "do not risk giving it to others", he told IANS.

As per the Delhi Health department's bulletin on Friday evening, Delhi had 51 Covid patients in hospitals. Reportedly, out of total 51 Covid patients in the hospital, 14 are children.

Delhi on Friday recorded 366 fresh Covid cases with 209 recoveries since Thursday.

However, for the third consecutive day, no Covid related death was recorded in the city on Friday. The death toll continues to stand at 26,158.
Hyderabad, April 16 : After a gap of two years, Telangana's ruling party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will organise its foundation day celebrations on a grand scale here on April 27.

TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday decided to conduct the celebrations at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC).

He directed all the party leaders and representatives to attend the meeting.

State Cabinet ministers, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, MLCs, MLAs, TRS State Executive, Corporation Chairpersons, District party unit Presidents, Zilla Parishad Chairpersons will attend the meeting.

DCCB and DCMS Chairpersons, district Library Presidents, district Rythu Bandhu Samithi chiefs, women Co-ordinators, ZPTC members, Municipal Mayors and Chairmen, Mandal Parishad Presidents, Town and Mandal party unit chiefs, Agricultural Market Committee Chairmen etc will also attend the daylong meeting. Former ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs have been invited as special invitees.

KCR will kick-start the party foundation day celebrations by hoisting the party flag. Later, he will deliver a welcome address and introduce 11 resolutions.

The meeting will debate these resolutions and adopt them. The meeting will conclude in the evening.

The meeting is likely to be significant in view of the next year's Assembly elections.

This is after a gap of two years that TRS will be holding foundation celebrations on a grand scale. For the last two years, the celebrations were low-key due to Covid-19 pandemic.

In October last year, the party held its plenary at HICC. KCR was re-elected as party president.

KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known, floated the TRS on April 27, 2001 to revive the movement for separate state.

After the formation of Telangana in 2014, he has been heading both the government and the party.
New Delhi, April 16 : Violent clashes broke out between two groups in the Jahangirpuri area of the National capital on Saturday evening, in which several people as well as police personnel were injured.

The Delhi Police are yet to furnish any details about the incident. However, sources said that violence erupted after there was stone pelting during a Shobha Yatra taken out in the area.

A Fire Department official told IANS that received several calls in the evening regarding arson in the area.

"We can't respond to such request, but at 6.43 p.m. we got a call about a fire incident at a shop in the Jahangirpuri area after which two fire tenders were immediately pressed into service," the official said.

The official further informed that two fire engines are still in the area as a precautionary measure.

The injured have been shifted to the Babu Jagjeevan Ram hospital.
New Delhi, April 16 : The Prasar Bharati Archives has contributed significantly to the recently-inaugurated Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya in the national capital.

The Prasar Bharati Archives provided about 206 hours of audio and 53 hours of video content to the museum that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 on the occasion of the 131st birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar.

The museum is dedicated to create awareness about the contributions of all the Prime Ministers of the country.

According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Prasar Bharati Archives has contributed significantly to the cause by providing 206 hours of audio and 53 hours of video content.

"These include address to the Constituent Assembly ('Tryst with Destiny'), broadcast to the nation on first Independence Day, inauguration of atomic energy establishment and opening of the first atomic reactor, declaration of Emergency, address to the UN General Assembly, non-aligned conference, inauguration of Delhi Metro and much more. These priceless recordings exclusively available with the public broadcaster since the 1940s were preserved and digitised in public interest by Prasar Bharati," the ministry said.
New Delhi, April 16 : As the war of words escalated with Arvind Kejriwal's party over felicitation of the accused involved in alleged vandalism at Delhi Chief Minister's residence, Delhi BJP leaders hit back and said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is a party of 'corrupt', 'goons' and 'anti-nationals'.

Delhi BJP general secretary Kuljeet Singh Chahal said that AAP is a party of middlemen, goons, corrupt and anti-nationals.

Hitting out at the AAP, Chahal citied names of its MLAs booked by the police under various charges, and alleged that it was not appointing Lokayukta fearing they will loose their membership of the Assembly.

Delhi BJP vice president Rajan Tewari said that 38 MLAs of AAP have serious cases registered against them and this is the reason why Kejriwal has not appointed a Lokayukta so far because he knows if it were to happen his MLAs will be expelled from the Assembly.

Chahal noted that there was no need for any BJP worker to take certificate from AAP leaders who themselves faced charges.

"In fact, Kejriwal himself has 13 cases against him; Amantullah Khan has 12 cases, while the list is still long and includes names of Satyendra Jain, Somnath Bharti besides others who have separate cases registered against them in various charges," Chahal said in a press conference with Tewari.

The two sides crossed swords after eight BJYM activists who were accused of vandalism outside Kejriwal's residence during a protest last month, were felicitated after their release by Delhi BJP president at party office on Thursday.
London, April 16 : An international team of environmental scientists have warned that the world's coral reefs - the 'canaries in the coal mine' of climate change - may vanish in the coming 30 years.

Coral reefs are home to over a quarter of all ocean life. They are also a source of food, livelihoods, and cultural heritage for 500 million people, and protect coastlines and communities from storms and erosion.

Forecasts show that coral reef eco-systems around the globe are likely to become functionally degraded by 2050, if the goals of the Paris Agreement are not met.

Even with drastic emission reductions to ensure global warming is kept within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, up to 90 per cent of the world's corals could still vanish in the next three decades, leaving behind a reef structure that will lose many of its functions.

Drawing on expertise from universities and wildlife conservation groups from across the world, including the University of Leicester, the scientists published a series of significant recommendations to protect, conserve the world's coral reefs.

"Coral reefs are the 'canaries in the coal mine' when it comes to sensing ecosystems under stress from ocean warming due to climate change. Corals can sense when ocean temperatures exceed a dangerous threshold and warn us when we need to take measures," said Jens Zinke, Professor of Palaeobiology at Leicester.

"Our research has shown that coral reefs have been severely impacted by ocean warming in the past three to four decades, yet some reef locations show lower rates of warming or benefit from mitigating circumstances due to local oceanography.

"Some reefs have the ability to resist or recover from thermal stress faster than others, and these reefs may serve as sanctuaries under future warming. This is a major new research direction - to find those locations and protect them before they are gone," Zinke said.

The scientist published the latest recommendations in the white paper Forecasting Climate Sanctuaries for Securing the Future of Coral Reefs. These include expansion of the 50 Reefs conservation portfolio for climate change to include coral resistance and recovery sanctuaries.

They also called sustainable financing initiatives to support the implementation of regional portfolios; and catalysing large-scale, data-driven coral reef monitoring efforts to test and develop new models and predictions of climate sanctuaries.
Bengaluru, April 16 : Taking a dig at the Congress over its 'yatra' against corruption, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday that Congressmen should first count the skeletons in their own closets.

He was reacting to the protests launched by the opposition party against the alleged corruption by the ruling BJP in the state.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Bommai said, "Congressmen are taking out a yatra against corruption as if their hands are clean, as if they are holy. But the people are aware. It would not fetch any dividends. They are trying to set a narrative, but the people of Karnataka have seen them for many years. People know the scams they perpetrated. We too will go to the people and expose the scams of Congress leaders." Replying to a query as to why the sections related to Prevention of Corruption Act have not been invoked in the FIR against ex-minister K.S. Eshwarappa in the Santhosh Patil suicide case, Bommai said, "There is an allegation of abetment of suicide in the case. The case is under investigation. The forensic report will shed light on what exactly happened." The Congress in Karnataka has intensified its attack against the BJP government in the state following the death under suspicious circumstances of civil contracter Santhosh Patil.

The deceased, a contractor and BJP leader, committed suicide by consuming poison and held Eshwarappa directly responsible for his death. He had alleged that Eshwarappa had asked for a 40 per cent commission in a Rs 4 crore project through his aides.

The police have registered an FIR against him and made him the prime accused in the case. Eshwarappa tendered his resignation as Minister of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj on Friday.

However, the Congress has called for an indefinite strike demanding the arrest of Eshwarappa.

Hitting back at the Leader of Opposition, Siddaramaiah, Bommai raised the issue of the suicide by a police inspector during Siddaramaiah's tenure as the Chief Minister.

"In the Ganapathy suicide case, there was a video and a death note mentioning the name of a then minister. Did his name find a mention in the FIR," he asked.

"The FIR was registered after orders from the court. Ganapathy's family had to approach the court to get the FIR registered. But we have filed an FIR based on the complaint and started an investigation. Based on the findings of the probe, further sections of the law would be invoked. Let the investigation proceed. We are not interfering in any way," Bommai added.
Guwahati, April 16 : Six suspected cadres of Bangladesh based Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub continent (AQIS) have been arrested in Barpeta district of Assam, the police said on Saturday.

Barpeta district Superintendent of Police Amitava Sinha said that on the basis of inputs that suggested the six suspected cadres had links with the AQIS, they were arrested from a madrassa at Howly on Friday.

"The information was provided by a jihadi who was arrested on March 4," Sinha told the media.

All the arrested cadres, aged between 28-45 years, are residents of Barpeta district.

One of the six detainees is a member of the Popular Front of India (PFI).

Police have recovered 15 mobile phones, 20 SIM cards and other objects from them.

The police officer said that the six AQIS cadres have links with the five persons earlier arrested on March 4 in the same Barpeta district for their suspected links with a Jihadi group based in the neighbouring country, and this group is believed to be affiliated to the AQIS.

During a preliminary enquiry after the March 4 arrest, it has been found that Saiful Islam a.k.a. Harun Rashid a.k.a. Mohammad Suman, who is a Bangladesh citizen, illegally entered India and was working as a teacher in Dhakaliapara Masjid.
Patna, April 16 : The President of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and former Chief Minister of Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjhi, handed over his political legacy to his son and cabinet minister Santosh Kumar Suman here on Saturday.

"I have decided to step down from the post of national president (of HAM) and hand it over to Santosh Kumar Suman. I will remain as a patron of the party to observe his works. Suman will work as the national president of the party," Manjhi said.

Manjhi, during a Garib Chetana Rally in Patna on Saturday, further said: "We have taken the decision keeping in view my age and health." Following the announcement, Suman touched the feet of his father and took his blessings.

Reacting to the Assembly bypoll results in Bochahan, which the RJD won, Manjhi said: "BJP made the mistake during ticket distribution. The saffron party refused to give ticket to Amar Paswan and wrongly chose Baby Kumari."
Bhopal, April 16 : A group of Muslim clerics in Bhopal on Saturday decided to approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the state government's bulldozer drive following the recent communal violence in Khargone and Barwani districts.

The clerics, led by Shahar Qazi Syed Mushtaque Ali Nadwi, alleged that the state government made several Muslim families homeless and forced them to survive under the open sky in this scorching heat.

The clerics also accused the BJP-led state government of biasness and targeting the community without any prior investigation into the cases of violence. They claimed that houses of many families were demolished although none of the family members was involved in the violence.

How can the government demolish one's house when it was built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), they asked, referring to a report that the district administration bulldozed one house built under PMAY in Khargone.

"We have decided to oppose the government's bulldozer drive in the high court. We have discussed the issue among ourselves and we are certainly going to move the court against this unilateral drive," said Nadwi.

The demolition drive was started in Khargone and Barwani districts, a day after communal clashes broke out on April 10.

The state government maintained that the bulldozer drive was initiated against illegal encroachments.
New Delhi, April 17 : A 'Black Kite' that was stuck due to a deadly 'manja' (nylon string covered with glass powder) on higher reaches of a tree in a south Delhi locality is currently under medical observation and will be released once declared fit.

The Black Kite was found hanging from a tree in a residential complex in Sheikh Sarai Phase-I of south Delhi when a resident of Triveni Apartments spotted it.

The bird had its wing entangled in the manja.

The residents immediately contacted the Wildlife SOS 24-hour rescue helpline (+91 9871963535) when a rescue team of Wildlife SOS Rapid Response Unit and the Delhi Fire Service rushed to the spot on Friday evening.

The Wildlife SOS veterinarians used a ladder to reach the bird as it was stranded in the topmost branch of the tall tree. A pole was used to gently move the bird without causing it any undue stress.

It is suspected that the bird may have been stuck there for two days and therefore was dehydrated.

"Our team provided water to the dehydrated bird and then carefully transferred it to a recovery facility," said Wildlife SOS, adding, "The Kite is currently under medical observation and will be released once declared fit by our veterinarians." "The manja is a nylon string coated in glass, commonly used for kite flying. These strings can be lethal for birds as they can get entangled in them and suffer dire injuries," said Deputy Director (Special Projects) of Wildlife SOS, Wasim Akram.

In a separate incident, the Wildlife SOS Rapid Response Unit rescued another kite from Malviya Nagar, also in south Delhi two days ago.
Moscow, April 17 : The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that 13 top officials of Britain, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have been barred from entering Russia.

"This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy," the Ministry said on Saturday in a statement.

British Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are also blacklisted, among others.

The Ministry added that the entry ban will be expanded in the near future to more British politicians and parliamentarians who pursue an anti-Russian policy, Xinhua news agency reported.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Kiev, April 17 : The Kiev city administration has asked residents to delay their return to the capital city over security and humanitarian issues.

Russian forces have renewed bombardment of Kiev, the city administration said on Saturday in a statement on Telegram, urging people not to ignore the air raid sirens.

Besides, the traffic jams caused by the increased number of people, who return to Kiev, disrupt the deliveries of humanitarian aid and the work of emergency and communal services, the statement added.

Earlier on Saturday, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed and several people were injured in a rocket strike on the city, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday that Russia will expand the scale of its missile strikes on Kiev in response to any Ukrainian forces' attacks or sabotage on Russian territory.

In an interview with CNN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said nearly 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in the conflict with Russia.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
This month, US-based Entourage Yearbooks finalized its acquisition of Picaboo Yearbooks.

I met with Bill Miles, Founder and CEO of Picaboo Yearbooks, as well as Elias Jo, Founder and CEO of Entourage Yearbooks, to learn more.

I am thrilled to have gone through this process with Picaboo Yearbooks, Jo shared with me via Zoom meeting from his Princeton, NJ headquarters. Entourage has always grown through organic growth, so I think growth through acquisition is a great way to build scale.

"We're really excited to join the Entourage team, Miles added when I spoke with him via Zoom from his New Hampshire home. Both companies share the same mission to reinvent the school yearbook industry for the next generation of yearbook creators and consumers. By combining our teams we can more effectively deliver on our promise to the marketplace. It's a great example of two plus two equals five.

Miles's company, Picaboo (pronounced PEEK-a-boo) Yearbooks, an offshoot of photo merchandise company Picaboo.com, began in 2013 with the intention of reinventing the school yearbook market. Together with competitor Entourage, they helped to revolutionize the yearbook industry from standard six-week turnaround times to only three weeks; from binding contracts to flexible, non-binding agreements; from long runs to variable quantities for the same price; and from physical books to e-yearbooks and beyond. Over the past nine years, the two companies have each attracted thousands of schools and delivered more than one million yearbooks.

Asked what he believes will be most beneficial for the two businesses coming together, Miles replied: "Our combined scale will create efficiencies and an improved offering the benefits of which we can share with our customers through improved service, better technology and competitive pricing. Our production is getting more streamlined, we're getting better pricing from our print partners, and our sales and service teams are getting stronger by learning from each other and sharing resources. Over the next few years, we're going to be able to bring more innovation to the market, we're going to be able to provide higher quality books, and were going to continue to provide excellent service."

For Entourage CEO Elias Jo, common values were among some of the most important reasons for the acquisition. We bought the business because theres a lot of common values in terms of how we service our schools, what it takes to make beautiful yearbooks, and how to make a great piece of yearbook software. My goal is to take the best pieces of Picaboo Yearbooks and Entourage create the very best yearbook offering in the country across the dimensions of technology, people, and customer service. I think the benefit to the industry and to schools is that we intend to provide a higher level of service by building on our scale and to also be able to leverage our scale to make sure that we continue to provide the best yearbook prices in the industry. The bigger we are, the better rates we can offer.

Asked what he is most excited about for the acquisition, Jo replied, You know, were more than a yearbook publishing company. Were a yearbook technology company. So what weve done is taken Entourages yearbook software, and Picaboos yearbook software, and were going to put them together to create a yearbook software experience that is unparalleled.

Combined, Entourage and Picaboo Yearbooks will service over 10,000 schools and deliver millions of books. Entourage will continue to offer yearbooks under the Entourage and Picaboo Yearbooks brand going forward. With this combination, Entourage is well on its way to fulfilling its mission of being the next-generation yearbook for generations to come.
Filling a void in the psychedelic space, Chacruna is now offering Studies in Psychedelic Justice, an inclusive program with 3 courses and one workshop focused on essential topics of justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, taught by Chacrunas team and a few extra invited professors, all leading experts working at the cutting edge of anthropology, psychology, law, healthcare, science, conservation and more. The series begins this May. On offer are three multi-week courses ranging from six to 16 weeks, as well as a one-day workshop focusing on reducing the impact of implicit bias. Participants can take one course or sign up for all four.

As the field of psychedelic studies grows and receives international attention, many programs and courses focus solely on psychedelic science. While this work is vital, Chacruna recognizes the essential need for psychedelic education grounded in justice, equity, and cultural and historical context.

Chacruna Institutes vibrant courses, designed to be intellectual, personal and experiential, will leave participants with a nuanced understanding of the topics Chacruna explores. They will also provide students with unprecedented access to groundbreaking teachers, researchers and luminaries in the field. Courses meet weekly and will support people already working within, or interested in stepping into, psychedelic studies and praxis, as well as anyone interested in deepening their knowledge on the subject.

Bia Labate, PhD, Chacruna Institutes Executive Director, shares that Chacruna Institutes Studies in Psychedelic Justice is a unique offering, she says. We combine academic excellence with a compassionate approach towards social justice issues. Amidst the explosion of trainings in the emergent field of psychedelics, the shamanic and spiritual roots of the psychedelic movement as well as marginalized contributions in both healing and research by women, queer people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and the Global South, are frequently excluded from the mainstream narrative. She adds, we need healers and therapists that have a deep humanistic worldview, grounded in historical and cultural traditions, and not just biomedical peer reviewed articles.

The nine-week course Diversity, Culture and Social Justice in Psychedelics (May 3-June 28), will examine how psychedelics and the psychedelic field are influenced by structural bias, power and privilege, social justice, queerness, gender identity, Indigenous practices and more. Faculty include, among others, Dr. Monnica T. Williams, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparities; Dr. Darron T. Smith, Professor of Sociology at the University of Memphis; and Dr. NiCole T. Buchanan, Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University and Clinical Director and Founder of Alliance Psychological Associate.

The Science of Psychedelic Healing (July 9-August 9), will bridge cutting-edge psychedelic science in western research and medical practice with psychedelic use in recreational, spiritual and Indigenous contexts. Classes will focus on substances such as cannabis, psilocybin, MDMA, and 5-MeO-DMT, and will also look at adverse effects and drug reactions, neurobiological mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities. Faculty include Dr. Gul Dolen (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), family and integrative health practitioner Dr. Harry McIlroy, Dr. Kelan Thomas, a Bay Area psychiatric pharmacist and associate professor, and Dr. Natalie Gukasyan, a psychiatrist and Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University, among others.

The one-time workshop, Reducing the Impact of Bias on Therapy, Education and Training, convenes July 27. Led by NiCole T. Buchanan, PhD, this participatory session will explore ways implicit bias affects personal and professional interactions, with a special focus on education, business profitability, and client, customer, and patient care. This workshop is designed particularly for providers and educators in medical and mental health settings, both formal and informal.

Rounding out the series, the 16-week Roots of Psychedelic Therapy: Shamanism, Ritual and Traditional Uses of Sacred Plants, runs August 16-November 29. Lectures, taught by an international team featuring members of Chacruna Institute and its affiliates, will explore topics including psychedelic plants and conservation, sacred plants and shamanism, Mazatec uses of psilocybin, peyote and the Native American Church, traditional and contemporary uses of iboga and ibogaine, the effects of psychedelic tourism, ethics in plant medicine circles and much more. Faculty include Joseph Mays, MSc, Program Director of Chacrunas Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative of the Americas; ethnobotanist, medical anthropologist and filmmaker Glenn H. Shepard Jr.; Chacruna Executive Director Bia Labate; Associate Director of Chacruna Latinoamerica in Mexico Diana Negrin; Associate Director of Chacruna in Canada Erika Dyck; and Attorney and Founder of Calyx Law Graham Pechenik.

As with all of Chacruna Institutes work, we are at the cutting edge, and the field generally follows, notes Labate. We hope to see you in our classes!

Courses offer continuing education credits for professionals including mental health therapists and RNs. Bundling all four courses gives you membership access to all of Chacruna. Spots are limited; reserve yours here. Scholarships are available.

Click here for a 20% bundle discount + 1-year complimentary Chacruna Community Leader membership by purchasing courses and workshop

About Chacruna Institute

The Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization co-founded by Brazilian anthropologist Dr. Bia Labate and American psychologist Dr. Clancy Cavnar, based in Northern California and with strong ties to Brazil and Mexico. We promote reciprocity in the psychedelic community, and support the protection of sacred plants and cultural traditions. We advance psychedelic justice through curating critical conversations and uplifting the voices of women, queer people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and the Global South in the field of psychedelic science.

Contact Information

Francisco Rivarola

Chacruna Institute

francisco@chacruna.net

415-390-6157
Scott Growth Strategies https://scottgrowthstrategies.com/ (SGS), a digital marketing firm specializing in helping IT services and technology firms, is proud to announce they have hired two new employees as well as promoted their new Operations and Project Manager. These new hires and internal promotion are a part of rapid internal growth to meet growing demands.

First, SGS is thrilled to introduce the hiring of Aimee Childress https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimee-childress-52a27a1ab/. Aimee joined the company as their new Administrative Assistant. In this role, Aimee will be managing the teams busy schedules, coordinating client meetings, and will be assisting new clients with their onboarding process.

Aimee has a strong background in both administration and management activities and will be managing our leaders calendars and assisting with client deliverables when needed.

Second, SGS is also proud to introduce their second new hire in Jenny Medina https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-medina-906b28168/. Jenny has joined the company as their new B2B Technology Content Creator. In this role, she will be creating blogs, social posts, and newsletters for our clients. With over nine years of experience in the tech industry, Jenny has thorough knowledge of SEO, email marketing, content writing, and digital marketing. Her passion for research and learning combined with her creative skills makes her an ideal candidate for SGS.

This is an exciting time for everyone at SGS. We are feeling incredibly grateful to be in a position to onboard new team members to support our growing list of clients, as well as new ones. These new team members add tremendous value for our clients. says Dave Scott, Founder & CEO of SGS.

Finally, in addition to the growing team, SGS is also thrilled to announce that Nicole Kerekes Boe has been promoted from Office Manager and Project Coordinator to Operations and Project Manager. Her new operational support responsibilities include the coordination and implementation of internal processes, onboarding new team members, and maintaining company culture.

Nicole will also be managing all vendor relations, client deliverables, and internal marketing for SGS. In addition, she will be directly assisting Heather Zinger, Director of Operations, with client support and task coordination.

Nicoles promotion is well deserved. Her dedication to the team and to our clients is unmatched and SGS is lucky to have her as a part of our growing team, says Dave.

About SGS:

SGS specializes in guiding IT services firms, MSPs, SaaS providers, and tech startups as they grow their businesses by leveraging todays best digital marketing strategies and tactics. SGS offers specific growth strategy solutions that can be found on http://www.scottgrowthstrategies.com/. SGS is based in Fargo, North Dakota.
Greenberg Traurig, P.A. Shareholders Jaret L. Davis and John D. Owens, III will be featured speakers at the 2022 eMerge Americas technology conference April 18-19 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida. Greenberg Traurig is proud to serve as a founding partner and ongoing sponsor of this event.

eMerge Americas is the premier global technology event convening in Miami and anchoring Miami Tech Week 2022. The conference connects business leaders, government officials, investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators from across the globe to discuss the technologies transforming lives.

As one of the founding partners of eMerge Americas, we have been thrilled to watch it serve as a catalyst to spur tech industry development and investment in South Florida and abroad, Davis said. The movement created by this event grows each year, once again confirming Miamis stature as the definitive tech and investment hub of the Americas, which only continues to evolve. This conference is an opportunity for industry leaders and investors to come together and further define and drive this movement.

Davis, who is co-managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurigs Miami office and General Counsel for eMerge Americas, will moderate a panel on the Main Stage titled The Future of Education is Being Shaped by Tech & Innovation, April 18 at 2:40 p.m., exploring technologys role in education and the digitization of education. Panelists will discuss how they are keeping up with inevitable disruption caused by innovation and how they envision the future of education within this context.

Davis will be joined in this discussion by Madeline Pumariega, president of Miami Dade College, Julio Frenk, president of the University of Miami, and Kenneth Jessell, interim president of Florida International University.

Davis will also participate in a UM/Knight Foundation sponsored conversation to discuss Miami at the Intersection of Tech & Democracy. It will be hosted by Frenk and feature Alberto Ibarguen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The conversation will take place April 18 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the convention center.

Owens, a member of Greenberg Traurigs Corporate Practice, will host a discussion on the Texpert Stage April 19 at 11:30 a.m., focusing on Miamis role as a future hub for black founders and investors. Owens will be joined by AJ Yawn, founder and CEO of ByteChek, and Henri Pierre-Jacques, managing partner of Harlem Capital. Both of Owens co-panelists have shown a dedication to Miami, with Yawn founding and raising capital for a new venture here, and Pierre-Jacques relocating his fund to Miami from New York.

Its exciting to see an increasing number of black entrepreneurs and investors establish a home base in Miami and continue to bring a new perspective to the development of the regional tech scene, Owens said. eMerge Americas is the perfect place to discuss innovative ideas, especially around the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Owens, who is active in South Floridas venture capital community, focuses his practice on representing venture funds, hedge funds, angel investors, and family offices seeking investment opportunities in emerging and established industries. He has advised dozens of startup and emerging companies as well as investors in raising funds via seed, private, and public venture capital transactions.

As Miami co-managing shareholder, Davis oversees approximately 170 attorneys and 200 business staff based in the firms founding office. He focuses his corporate and securities practice on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, and large financings. Most of Davis clients are technology players in a variety of areas including information technology, life sciences/biotech and renewable energy sources.

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2400 attorneys in 42 locations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm, often recognized for its focus on philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono, reported gross revenue of over $2 Billion for FY 2021. The firm is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law 100, Am Law Global 100, NLJ 250, and Law360 (US) 400. On the debut 2022 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard, it is a Top 15 firm. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab and net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com.


If your genetic data were turned into NFTs, the information is then attached with an inherent feature to be tracked. This would enable you to monitor where your data ends up and track the people who hold the NFT and also figure out if it is being used without permission.

The global blockchain development company, HashCash Consultants, is thrilled to announce its participation in an exciting new NFT creation project. Whats unique and beneficial is that it involves the healthcare industry and the health records of common individuals. HashCash, on this occasion, joins forces with a UK-based company to explore the potential of this idea.

Given that the NFT in the healthcare sector is sensitive and still in speculative stages, the two organizations are taking small steps in weighing the possibilities. In this concept, individuals volunteer with their health data and have them made into NFTs. These individuals can at any point share their NFTs with health care services as a way of participating in studies or research, monetizing it.

When an individual orders a direct-to-consumer DNA testing kit to get a nutrition plan suited to their genetic build, they knowingly or otherwise share their genetic data and related medical history with the nutrition-planning company. This company may at any stage, sell these records to a third party for research purposes, making millions. The original owner of the data receives nothing, meanwhile. Further, such sensitive data may get passed along the transaction chain, and the risk of mishandling the information increases.

If your genetic data were turned into NFTs, the information is then attached with an inherent feature to be tracked, explained Raj Chowdhury, founder, and CEO of HashCash Consultants.

This would enable you to monitor where your data ends up and track the people who hold the NFT and also figure out if it is being used without permission.

Also as the sole owner of the information, certified by NFT authentication, he/she may enable a feature that pays them a fee each time a transaction is made on the NFT.

The third parties interested in using the specific data for research or developing new products will reach out directly to patients on a digital marketplace. This approach is unique in that, here the patients can exercise their choice whether or not to share their data and if they do they must be paid for it. pointed out Chowdhury.

As for recent developments, HashCash is set to work with a Metaverse company. HC Remit, a HashCash product is being implemented by a Vietnamese Payment service company to route payments and remittances. HashCash has worked on a DeFi business model for granting micro-loans to women entrepreneurs.

HashCash is a fast expanding company with innovation focal to its growth. The management and teams are active proponents of blockchain technology and its application in any industrial field. The NFT on health data is one of many projects HashCash has been a part of. Most of these projects seek to solve some real-world challenge and have a welfare objective at their core.

About HashCash:

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Montana Book Co. in Helena bills itself as one of the nations loudest bookstores. Co-owners Chelsia Rice and her spouse Charlie Crawford strive to provide a community hub for sharing ideas, as well as a woman- and nonbinary-led safe space for diverse voices.

In addition to promoting outspoken activism, Montana Book Co. upends stereotypes about blue states and red states in the American west. The store sold a couple of hundred copies of Ibram X. Kendis How to Be an Antiracist, Crawford said, and community members had a reasonable conversation about Kalispell author Ryan Busses Gunfight. On a recent March day, the store flew the pink, blue, and white transgender flag outside its front door. A sidewalk sandwich board proclaimed Protect Trans Kids, and a No War poster in the window signaled support of Ukraine.

Rice and Crawford moved to Helena after going to grad school and teaching in Portland, Ore.Rice has an MFA in writing and Crawford an MEd. Charlie grew up in Helena and returned in 2010 as an educator, Rice explained. I followed in 2011 as an educator, as well. Between 2011 and 2018 I spent time doing patient advocacy for the American Cancer Society, after a bout with cancer led her to reevaluate her career, and she and Crawford considered opening a bookstore. When the Montana Book and Toy Co.on the historic street called Last Chance Gulchbecame available in 2018, we threw our hats in the ring, Rice said.

We tripled the inventory of books, Crawford said, while also adding crafty sidelines like fountain pens and stationery, and choosing not to sell toys as the old store had. Sci-fi, classic lit, and inclusive childrens books are popular at Montana Book Co., but customers wont find westerns.

We are diminishing our Montana-specific inventory and sending people to the Montana Historical Society for regional titles, Rice explained. We work collaboratively with our bookselling neighbors, directing shoppers to nearby used-book venue Aunt Bonnies Books. Montana Book Co. also sells books for organizations such as the Lewis & Clark Library, which will bring The Lincoln Highway author Amor Towles to Helena in late April, and on April 29 the store will host an in-person event with Montana novelist Maxim Loskutoff, author of Ruthie Fear (We sell the hell out of that book, Crawford said).

Rice and Crawford foreground DEIJ and human rights in their selections, and they offer educators and librarians a 20% discount. They draw a firm line between what they will and wont stock. We refuse to sell anything from right-wing Fox pundits or anyone who advocates against marginalized groups, Crawford said. No way am I going to pass revenue to people who espouse hate. We focus on doing good work for marginalized people and educating around that.

Their stance reflects progressive principles, yet its so infrequent that people come at us, Rice said. Usually they give an I dont agree head nod and keep on walking. She and Crawford view Montana as primarily a purple state, and she noted, While Montana as a whole is more conservative, Helenas downtown is open-minded. They appreciate the small-town quality of the capital city, which puts them close to the state legislature and makes it likely they will run into the mayor at the coffee shop.

Even so, there are not a lot of safe spaces in town, and it can be a hard place to be a young person, Rice added. Censorship is on their minds. The store runs a YA book club for people ages 1318 and invites allies and gender-diverse readers to discuss LGBTQ characters. Montana Book Co. also devotes a large space to popular middle grade titles, Rice said, and kids come in and hang out.

During the summer, Helena benefits from international tourist traffic as a National Parks stopover. The rest of the year, the Helena community keeps us open, said Crawford, who is grateful for the shop-small and shop-local movements. Year-round, they recommend store favorites like The Rain Heron, by Tasmanian novelist Robbie Arnott (theyve hand-sold 70-plus copies), and cheer authors like Mary Laura Philpott, who endeared herself by sending her personal ARC of Bomb Shelter when a copy got lost in the mail.

We are super fortunate to be in our community, Rice said.
Dycks Shelterbelts (Conundrum, May) offers a complex portrait of a Manitoba Mennonite community told in spare comics short stories.

Did you draw these stories intending to collect them in a single volume?

Initially they were drawn as separate stories picking a different topic to wrestle with, but I did have a longer view. I was inspired by Winesburg, Ohio and other texts that treat the short story as something more holistic. I started self-publishing these in volumes of three, then when I got a publisher interested in it as a graphic novel, in the ensuing years I filled it out to a total picture of this community.

Can you tell me a little bit about how the style is designed to suit the narrative?

Theres a very rigid grid I used throughout; I never deviate from the square panel that can be subdivided up to four ways. I was thinking early on how that mirrored the way land is parceled into sections and quarter sections, mimicking the gridded farmland. The invisible architecture might not be immediately obvious to readers but thats the way it is with landscape. You dont notice things when youre inside of them.

Mennonites are a minority, but you set the book in a place where they are a large portion of the town. How do you think this affects your characters?

Mennonites might consider themselves a religious minority but in many ways are part of the white settler majority. Increasingly, a lot of people with Mennonite backgrounds are recognizing themselves as part of the settler state. The characters are negotiating that differently. For some of them, both the rural and religious environment is something to overcome and struggle against. For others, its the world theyve always known and they feel besieged by outside forces that are trying to chip away at their identity.

Your work takes religion very seriously even when it questions or critiques it. How do you navigate that?

Thats always something Ive wanted to represent well. Religion is not a static thing. Every person goes through various phases in their lives and their proclivities change. I wanted to show a range even in a very small community where presumably everyones got a similar background and theres still so much difference. You have those for whom religion is a fixed set of rules and for others it can be a really liberating force. I wanted to give a good faith representation of religion for people who use it to express whats most valuable to them.
A brassy bartender and a charming professor work together to find a buried treasure and save a historic bar in Lopezs After Hours on Milagro Street (Carina, July).

Opposites attract in Alex and Jeremiah. How did you craft their differing perspectives?

I asked myself, what is the thing that makes them like two magnets bouncing off each other? Then I put the book together chapter by chapter, point of view by point of view, showing the slow evolution of understanding the other person. One of my favorite chapters is when Alex finally comes to Jeremiah and apologizes for her behavior. It really gets inside who Alex is. Shes thinking, I dont apologize to the world, but in this case, I was actually in the wrong and I need to let him know that. I think that provides an opportunity for us to be sympathetic towards her. But I want to hold that off for as long as possible.

Alex has a complex relationship with her grandmother. Tell me about your approach to this dynamic.

It was important for me to show this big, boisterous, loving family, and I loved the idea of a family bar as this joyous, celebratory place to be. So, what was the thing that made my heroine not want to be there? I think that people whove read me more than once know that they need to strap in with my heroines. If you have a male hero, he doesnt show up on page excusing himself for his strong points of view. I want to write strong heroines the same way. So I decided on Alex being at odds with Loretta, the family matriarch and this incredible woman who is loving and wise and stubborn and sarcastic. Theyve both let each other down, but in a way that doesnt exclude deeply loving each other.

Alexs family backstory hinges on the influx of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. in the 19th century to build the railways. Why this history?

This story is my family story. Im third-generation Mexican American from southeast Kansas. Growing up we had pinatas at birthday celebrations and tortillas at these huge Sunday meals. I didnt realize there was this whole heritage behind it until I went to college. Then, I took a step back and thought, wait a second, a bunch of Mexican Americans living in southeast Kansas for generations is different. And I looked up one of my uncles obituaries, and it said he moved here with his family to work on the railroad; he was a traquero. So I knew about the history for a long time. Then came the wave of anti-Mexican thought during the Trump presidency. The first time he talked about Mexicans, those bad guys, I thought, Well thats it, the country wont stand for that. But we did, and Im still speechless years later. When I was coming up with this series, I really wanted to talk about who Americans really are, who we have been for generations, and who we will always be. America is a better place because of all the diversity within it.
Sandra Newmans characters tend to be dreamers. So, too, is Newman; shed have to be, to an extent, to stick with her craft. Having published her first novel almost 20 years ago, Newman hasnt really tasted commercial success until recently, with her time-traveling 2019 novel, The Heavens, in which a womans dreams begin to change the course of history.

Like The Heavens, which is set in New York City circa 2000, Newmans latest, The Men (Grove, June), is a dystopian novel with an eccentric woman at its center. Jane Pearson has imagined life as an independent woman without a husband and young son, but not in the way thats coming. Suddenly they, along with all the other people in the world born with a Y chromosome, disappear.

Planes crash to the ground. Freeways are clogged with empty mangled vehicles. Those left behind desperately search for their loved ones. Then, before long, theres a feeling of celebration in the air, with people sunbathing in their underwear and developing a makeshift sharing economy. Still, the promise of utopia is marred by a divisive online video series, a power vacuum that seems ripe for exploitation by a radical political party, and grief over lost loved ones.

I keep trying to write about utopia and end up writing about dystopia, Newman says via Zoom. She wears a heather gray fleece and sits in a high-backed chair in her New York City apartment, maintaining a thoughtful expression as she considers the role of politics in fiction. I mean, I suppose this is something that most political dreamers do: they attempt utopia and find all the problems in it. But I still stubbornly feel optimistic about human society and human capacity.

Perhaps this optimism was what accounted for the sunnier tone of The Heavens. In that novel, the time-traveling protagonist becomes something of a Cassandra figure, believing she can reverse the worlds impending doom after returning to her present-day life from Elizabethan England and being outraged to find people still relying on fossil fuels.

Newman has tried to be politically active, but has decided her energy is best put into art. Most people, when they make art, they end up producing the same kind of propaganda theyve consumed, Newman says. Im not saying Im in control, but I try very hard to make it so that readers think constructively about a problem, rather than send them on the wrong path.

Newman grew up in suburban Massachusetts in the mid-1960s. She went to London for college and graduate studies, then moved to New York City in the early aughts. When setting out to write The Heavens, she thought a lot about how the city was in flux after 9/11. She cites the rapid gentrification that occurred, and says she felt the place was becoming less magical and spontaneous.

The first page of The Heavens belies a desire to restore some of that magic. It begins with a scene in which more than a hundred people crash a dinner party, prompting the host to call a Chinese restaurant and buy up all its dumplings: It was August and you had to let things happen the way they wanted to happen.

Like The Heavens, The Men is at once accessible and surprisingly complex. Newman, who finds science fiction more provocative and structurally experimental than literary fiction, says The Men was partly inspired by a handful of feminist science fiction novels from the 1970s that continue to impress her, even if they havent aged so well politically. The experiments arent always that pretty, she says, noting the hair-raising and nasty treatment of trans women in passages of Joanna Russs The Female Man.

Though The Men veers from the narrative threads of these bookstrans characters do feature in it, with trans men celebrating alongside cisgender women at various points, and theres a harrowing scene involving a mob that attacks a trans manit hasnt escaped criticism. The premise of the novel has drawn blowback on social media, with some claiming the setup is inherently transphobic, in so far as it asserts that chromosomes determine gender.

Critics of the criticsincluding author Lauren Hough, who wound up having her Lambda nomination for her 2021 essay collection Leaving Isnt the Hardest Thing withdrawn after vigorously defending Newman and the novel on Twitterclaimed the detractors were being unfair to a book they hadnt read.

For her part, Newman says she was acutely aware of the way the plot might be interpretedspecifically the way it implies binary gender. To combat that, she says she tried to interrogate the idea of binary gender. I wanted to lead readers to ask whether we believe in gender, or if the premise is just a kind of apocalyptic assault, she says.

Peter Blackstock, Newmans editor at Grove, echoes the care that went into handling the material, adding that he hopes people will read the book and decide for themselves.

Blackstock, whose first project with Newman was The Heavens, was initially drawn in by that books plot. Hearing about it from Newmans editor at Granta, he says he was sold immediately by the imaginative, high-concept premise, then impressed by how Newman executed the ideas in unexpected ways.

After her three previous novelsher 2003 debut The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done, 2008s Cake (published exclusively in the U.K.), and 2015s The Country of Ice Cream StarThe Heavens proved a step up commercially. While not a blockbuster, it had respectable sales and received a New York Times Notable mention. Its sales were stronger in the U.K., and Blackstock thinks it could have performed even better here. Sandras a brainy, challenging author, he says. Shes not for everyone, but she deserves more readers and attention. And The Men, with its infectious blend of real characters and uncanny world and its gripping, engaging story, is something that Blackstock feels could be the book that finally breaks Newman out to the wider audience she deserves.

Up until now, Newmans career has been, well, winding. The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done took the form of a series of reports, and is attributable, Newman says, to her backstory of working as a secretary. I would be pretending to work and writing my novel, she says. Cake, a sort of nonlinear experiment involving a hetero couple and another woman that turns horrific, drew some impassioned reviews (some of which survive on Goodreads) but, for Newman, amounted to a sophomore slump. The book, she says, was pretty much ignored, despite the critical acclaim she had received for her debut.

After taking a detour into nonfictionshe published a memoir, along with three hybrid works of humor and literary criticismNewman returned to fiction with The Country of Ice Cream Star and found herself back in the same place. It was well received, she says, although it did not sell particularly well. She attributes the novels limited reach to its invented patoisa language that evokes Black English vernacular and is spoken by survivors in a postapocalyptic future. Indeed, the prose and the length, at over 600 pages, are a bit forbidding.

Those who pick up The Men will find more than a story of the gender binary, and it has a deeply ambiguous and provocative ending that is sure to get people talking. At its heart, The Men is a critique of Americas 21st-century racial and gender politics. Its also an invitation to embraceand perhaps even envisionnew ways of looking at the world.
Katie Hafner, a seasoned journalist and the author of six nonfiction books, tells me she gave up on writing a novel when, as a young girl, she read Sylvia Plaths Letters Home. I thought, I could never do this. But Ive mellowed and am not so harsh with myself. Maybe Im not Sylvia Plath, but I can still do it.

And she has, brilliantly: her debut novel, The Boys, is forthcoming in July from the revamped Spiegel & Grau, which launched as an independent publisher in December 2020 after being a longtime Penguin Random House imprint. Its Spiegel & Graus first acquired novel and the first one its publishing.

The Boys brings together the nerdy Ethan and the convivial Barb (If Barb hadnt come along, Im sure my social life would have remained a pathetic zilch, and Id have suffered my way straight into a solitary middle age, Ethan muses). They meet in Philadelphia while working at Rita Receptionists, a company whose philosophy is that every call should be answered by a human being, and their first date at Miss Flos diner seals the deal when they decide to play every song on the tabletop jukebox. Ethan has some darkness in his past, and hes enamored when Barb doesnt probe. They bond over the Furby (that famously annoying electronic toy from the late 1990s) he keeps on his desk and his moonlighting job reverse engineering inventions to settle patent disputes. As he explains it: Its like being given a slice of cake... then being told to unbake it and produce the recipe and list the raw ingredients.

 As a reporter youre tyrannized by facts. The novel was a chance to be totally in control. Katie Hafner 

They ultimately marry (at Philadelpias Mutter Museum of medical oddities), but after they become foster parents to twin boys, Tommy and Sam, their marriage begins to deteriorate. The pandemic has them together 24/7 as Ethan becomes obsessed with caring for the boys. And when the world loosens up and he takes them on a biking trip in Italy, things really get bizarre.

The very first page of the novel is a letter Ethan receives from Hill and Dale Adventures: In our 27 years of operation, we have not encountered a guest with requirements as unique as yours. Unfortunately, your unusual circumstances made it difficult for us to meet your needs, and those of your two boys. The letter concludes with the admonition to never return for future excursions. Intrigued?

The story for The Boys, Hafner says, fell into her lap during a bicycle trip in Scandinavia with her daughter in summer 2017. Someone told a story and her daughter said, Thats a novel! It was only two to three sentences, but Hafner says that she didnt want to hear more. I wanted my imagination to take off. As a reporter youre tyrannized by facts. Ive had sleepless nights about tiny things. Did I get that right? The novel was a chance to be totally in control. The perils of a journalist writing fiction is going over the top, but I did incorporate my journalistic experience to ground the novel.

Hafner credits her agent, Jim Levine of Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency, for his wonderful capacity to believe in his writers beyond what they believe in themselves. Hes the real hero, she insists. He never said, Stay in your lane. 

Levine, who has represented Hafner for over a decade, says that sometime after her 2013 memoir, Mother Daughter Me, she was noodling with the idea of writing a novel and reached out to me. I told her, Go for it. Just put something on the page, the concept, the voice, a scene, some dialogue, to see if she had the chops for fictionwhich she did. While Levine says he gave Hafner the impetus and support for her eagerness, he credits his colleague Cristela Henriquez for providing the editorial feedback.

Jim sent the book around, Hafner says. But then I saw a New York Times article about Spiegel & Grau going independent. Julie [Grau] had wanted the memoir that went to Random House. Hafner notes that Grau told her shed always thought of her as the fish that got away.

In fall 2020 Levine sent The Boys to Cindy Spiegel, who immediately liked it. Katie is a fan of Cindy and Cindy is a fan of Katie, Levine says. And the new company is exciting. The contract was signed in March 2021 for North American rights.

Spiegel says shes been following Hafners work for years. Ive been circling around her and when I got this book, I read it right away, she says. I was excited that she was such a good novelist, such literary language. Its not an easy transition; nonfiction is a whole different way of creating, and Katie pulled it off. The book also has a moving way of thinking of the pandemic. Its not a big deal in the book, but its a reality. This novel is a high-wire feat. She calls the book audacious and bold, adding, When I got to the second part of the book, I started laughing out loud and couldnt stop. For a week, I would burst out laughing when I thought of it.

Spiegel also notes that Katie wanted a novel with no evil villains; she wanted all the characters to be good. And they are flawed but not evil. The book is smart, literary, serious and fun from the very first page.

Let me say here that the genius of this novel is its amazing reveal; to say more would be a spoiler. Katie took a risk, Spiegel says. I never saw anything like this in fiction before.

Neither have I. The Boys is a treat with a surprise inside. Readers will undoubtedly agree.


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DEAL OF THE WEEK

Pember Does Double at Pantheon In his first acquisition at Pantheon, David Treuer preempted two books by journalist Mary Annette Pember. The publisher said the North American rights agreement was struck after a nine-publisher auction and includes the authors debut work of nonfiction, about her mothers experience at a Native American boarding school, their complicated relationship, and the history and ongoing trauma of Americas policy of forced assimilation of Native peoples. The second book is an embedded, reported book about missing and murdered Indigenous women. The author, who was represented by Adam Eaglin and Isabel Mendia at the Cheney Agency, is a national correspondent at Indian Country Today. Pantheon said the first book is slated for release in fall 2024.

Knopf Takes Cisneross Poetry Collection

Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street) sold her first poetry collection in 28 years, titled Woman Without Shame, to John Freeman at Knopf. Stuart Bernstein at Stuart Bernstein Representation for Artists handled the U.S. rights agreement. Set for September, the title will, Knopf said, be a moving collection of songs, elegies, and declarations that chronicles Cisneross pilgrimage toward rebirth.

Chokshis Adult Debut Goes to Morrow

In a six-figure, two-book deal, Roshani Chokshi (the Gilded Wolves series) sold her adult debut at auction to William Morrows Jessica Williams. The North American rights agreement was brokered by Thao Le at the Sandra Dijkstra Agency. Morrow said the first title, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, is a fairy-tale-laden gothic novel about a marriage that slowly unravels as a husband picks at the threads of a dangerous secret his wife is keeping. Publication is planned for winter 2023.

Bradleys Wayward Path Leads to HC

Sara Nelson at HarperCollins acquired North American rights to Marcia Bradleys debut novel, Home for Wayward Girls. Cynthia Manson at the Cynthia Manson Literary Agency handled the deal. The book, Manson said, is about a teenager who escapes years of abuse at her parents program for bad girls to begin a new life in New York City.

Benedict Moves to St. Martins

For St. Martins Press, Sally Richardson took world English rights to three new books by bestseller Marie Benedict (The Personal Librarian). Laura Dail at the Laura Dail Agency handled the deal for Benedict, and Charles Spicer will edit the title. The first novel under contract is set for spring 2024.

RH Makes Quantum Leap with Chopra

Bestseller and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra, writing with Brian Fertig and Jack Tuszynski, sold Toward Quantum Medicine for six figures to Diana Baroni at Random House. Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group, who brokered the agreement, said the title is a major work on quantum biology.

Pompeo Gets Broadside-d

Eric Nelson at Broadside Books took world English rights to a currently untitled book by Mike Pompeo. The former secretary of state, who was represented by David Vigliano at Vigliano Associates, will, Broadside said, offer a candid and thoughtful recounting of how the Trump administration navigated the worlds most pressing foreign policy challenges to deliver winning outcomes for the American people. The title is slated for November.
At the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, Dodds graduating class is split in half. Then toward the end of the semester, each section is given one week for their work to be displayed in galleries across the art schools main building.
With music and the smell of food filling the air, people pop in and out of different booths that dot the land at the outdoor Brattleboro Area Farmers Market that opened for the season on Saturday, May 7, 2022, and will run every Saturday until Oct. 29.
Rebecca Bloomfield / Contributed photo

FALLS VILLAGE  The Hunt Library will host a presentation by photographer Rebecca Bloomfield at 3 p.m. April 24. Bloomfield will discuss her ongoing project, So, Are We Gonna Talk About It?

Pairing portraits with interview quotes, the project is a virtual home for our pandemic stories  a place to learn, share, and reflect, as we collectively navigate the transition from the height of the pandemic to whatever comes next, she said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A Kentucky jury has awarded a man $450,000 who sued his employer after he asked them not to celebrate his birthday at work  and they did it anyway.

Kevin Berling told his manager at Gravity Diagnostics in Covington in 2019 that a birthday celebration would cause him immense stress.

But the company didn't heed his request, and Berling suffered a panic attack, the Courier Journal reported. The next day Berling had another panic attack when his supervisor chastised him for stealing his co-workers joy and being a little girl," according to a lawsuit. Berling was fired after the second attack.

Berling alleged in his lawsuit the company discriminated against him based on a disability and retaliated against him for demanding a reasonable accommodation to it.

The jury returned the verdict after a two-day trial in Kenton County that ended in late March. The jury awarded him $300,000 for emotional distress and $150,000 in lost wages.

An attorney for the company, Katherine Kennedy, said it continues to deny liability and is pursuing its post-trial options.

Julie Brazil, the companys founder and chief operating officer, said in an email statement to the newspaper that with ever-increasing incidents of workplace violence, this verdict sets a very dangerous precedent for employers and most importantly employees that unless physical violence actually occurs, workplace violence is acceptable.

Brazil said that her employees, rather than the plaintiff, were the victims in the case.

Berling's attorney, Tony Bucher, said once the jury got to meet his client, they realized the companys claim that he posed a threat was far-fetched.

Berling had told his supervisor that a birthday celebration would bring back bad childhood memories surrounding his parents divorce. The supervisor forgot to pass along his request, the company said.
RCEP adds new impetus to export-oriented economy of China's coastal city

Xinhua) 10:28, April 16, 2022

XIAMEN, April 15 (Xinhua) -- After the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) went into effect, more and more enterprises in China's coastal Xiamen City are benefiting from the deal, adding new impetus to the city's export-oriented economy.

In the first quarter, the total value of export to Japan by XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. has doubled. Exports to Japan are expected to account for 60 percent of the company's total exports in the future.

Chen Qingdong, deputy general manager of the company, said that Japan's import tariff on ternary materials and lithium cobalt oxide will be reduced from 3.3 percent to zero gradually under RCEP.

"It is estimated that we can reduce more than 1.5 million yuan (about 240,000 U.S. dollars) of tariff expenses this year. As the annual tariffs drop and our business volume increases, we can enjoy more tariff reductions," said Chen.

Statistics show that Xiamen Customs and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Xiamen Committee have issued 2,279 certificates of origin under RCEP for 283 enterprises, involving an amount of 170 million U.S. dollars, which is expected to enjoy a tariff reduction of about 14.5 million yuan in the first three months this year.

XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. is a leading company in the domestic new energy material industry, targeting power battery material research and development. Every month, the company imports over 400 tonnes of raw materials such as cobalt, nickel and aluminum from Australia, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other places. The company manufactures products mainly used to make battery cathode materials. It exports nearly 400 tonnes of products every month, mainly to Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Chen said that RCEP will accelerate the integration of the company's new energy sector into the global value chain and regional production network, adding the company will expand its customer base in Southeast Asia.

Statistics released by Xiamen's municipal bureau of commerce show that the city enjoys close economic and trade relations with other RCEP member states, which plays an important role in Xiamen's export-oriented economy.

In 2021, bilateral trade between Xiamen and the RCEP countries accounted for more than one-third of Xiamen's total trade. Foreign direct investment from RCEP member states accounts for 9 percent of the total investment in the city.

At the same time, RCEP member states are also popular investment destinations for Xiamen enterprises. By the end of 2021, Xiamen had invested in a total of 245 overseas projects in RCEP member states, with an agreed investment of about 4.45 billion U.S. dollars.

The investment mainly goes into industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, wholesale and retail.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
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TORRINGTON  Site work has begun on the citys new animal control facility, which will dwarf the present building at the front of the property on Bogue Road.

On Wednesday, a small crew of workers were digging ditches, clearing soil and measuring areas of the site. Any vegetation on the property is gone, and the site, while hilly, is completely cleared, with a small gravel driveway area for vehicles to come in and out of the site.

The older building, built in the 1940s and sitting on the edge of the citys 29-acre public works yard, has been deemed unsuitable for the necessary care and housing for a variety of animals the facility receives, with outdoor kennels, a tiny office and several other small spaces inside.

The $2.7 million project for the new center was approved by the City Council in February. Brunoli Construction was hired to build the center.

According to Mayor Elinor Carbone, Police Chief William Baldwin and Public Works Director Ray Drew, replacing the aging building has been in the concept or design phase for at least 12 years. In 2017, the project cost was estimated at about $1 million, and in 2018, voters approved that $1 million in a referendum. But the cost of the project increased, and Torrington was unable to find the extra funds.

Today, the cost of the project, because of increased prices for concrete and steel, is nearly $3 million, according to Drew and Carbone.

When the facility committee put the project out for bid again in May 2021, the lowest bid they received was $2.707 million.

In early 2021, Carbone applied for a Community Project Funding Grant for $1.5 million and was told by U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, that the project was selected to receive it.

Because the city was told it was getting the grant, Carbone then moved $750,000 from the citys capital budget to the facilitys budget. That, combined with the anticipated grant and the $1 million voters approved in 2017, gave the city the funds to build the new facility, she said.

If Torrington doesnt receive the community project grant, she said, it can use American Rescue Plan Act funding.

According to Baldwin, the $2.707 million bidder, Brunoli & Sons, is willing to stick with that amount.

The chief said the old building has failed a number of inspections with the state, and it is only a matter of time before the state shuts it down.

Were mandated by state statutes; we keep receiving inspections from the state canine officer and weve failed over and over since 2006, the chief said recently. Its because the state recognizes that were trying to do something, that they havent shut us down. Its time to move and make this happen for our community.

The animal shelter was established to give towns in and around Torrington a place to keep lost or wandering animals. Under the regional agreement, Torrington provides full-time animal control officers seven days a week, with shifts running from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.

The lead animal control officer is Caitlin Neild.
The PLA says the drills were conducted 'in response to the recent wrong signals' by Washington over Taiwan.

A file photo shows the 203rd Brigade Artillery Battalion of the Eighth Regiment Infantry of the Taiwanese Army conducting combat readiness training, March 31, 2022.

The Chinese military conducted a large multi-force exercise on Friday morning around Taiwan, just hours after U.S. lawmakers arrived for a visit to show support for the self-ruling island and meet President Tsai Ing-wen.

Chinese military aircraft, warships and troops were taking part in the combat readiness drills in the East China Sea as well as in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, according to a statement from Col. Shi Yi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).

The number of troops and weaponry was not disclosed but the Taiwanese military said six PLA aircraft including four J-16 fighter jets and two J-11 fighter jets entered Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday.

The PLA statement said the drills were being conducted in response to the recent wrong signals the U.S. sent related to the Taiwan issue.

The U.S. wicked tricks are completely futile and very dangerous, it said, adding those who play with fire will set themselves on fire.

The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense responded that its naval ships and aircraft have been dispatched to closely monitor the cross-strait situation and safeguard the security in our airspace and territorial waters.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen (R) speaks with Sen. Lindsey Graham at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Taiwan, April 15, 2022, during a visit by U.S. lawmakers. Credit: Taiwan Presidential Office via AP U.S. delegation in Taiwan

Six members of the U.S. Congress arrived in Taipei Thursday evening. The bipartisan delegation was led by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, and included Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The delegation met Friday with President Tsai. The U.S. lawmakers voiced support for the self-governing island and its democracy. Menendez described Taiwan  which China regards as a renegade province as a "country of global significance" and said its security has implications for the world.

The previously unannounced visit came after reports last week that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was planning a landmark visit to Taiwan but had to postpone it after she tested positive for COVID-19.

Such visits are sensitive because Washington and Taipei do not have formal diplomatic relations, although they do have substantial ties and the U.S. is committed by law to help provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Friday that China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and the Taiwan region and confirmed that the military drills were a response to the lawmakers visit to the island.

Taiwans Foreign Ministry issued its own robust statement late Friday in response to the Chinese drills, saying the threat of force  will only strengthen the will of the Taiwanese people to defend freedom and democracy.

Democratic Taiwan will continue to deepen cooperation with the United States and other like-minded countries, safeguard the security of the Taiwan Strait and the free and open Indo-Pacific region, and prevent the continuous expansion of the totalitarian government of the Chinese Communist Party, the statement said.

On Thursday, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a meeting at The Economic Club of Washington D.C. that it is U.S. policy to ensure that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan does not occur.

China is watching the war in Ukraine closely and some observers fear that Beijing may consider opportunistic moves against Taiwan, which it seeks to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

During the drills on Friday morning, PLA Air Force Su-35 fighter jets flew over the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan in formation with H-6K strategic bombers.

Qi Leyi, a Taipei-based military analyst and commentator for RFA Mandarin Service, said: Whenever the U.S.-Taiwan relations advance, the PLA has a corresponding military response. Beijings worried that Taiwan and the U.S. are entering a quasi-alliance.
Taiwanese rights activist and NGO worker Lee Ming-cheh has arrived home on the democratic island following his release at the end of a five-year jail term for "subversion" in China.



"After being improperly detained by China for more than 1,852 days, Lee Ming-cheh arrived at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport at around 10 a.m. today, April 15, 2022," a coalition of rights groups that has campaigned for Lee's release said in a statement.



"Due to disease prevention regulations, neither the [coalition] nor family members were able to meet him at the airport," it said, adding that a news conference would likely be held when Lee has completed his quarantine period.



Lee was shown in local live TV footage arriving off a Xiamen Air flight to Taipei and being escorted to a car by two people in full personal protective gear.



"When I finally returned to Taiwan, I saw Ching-yu, who was looking tired and wan but very excited, through the window," Lee said in a joint statement issued with his wife, Lee Ching-yu.



"I am still very tired and the world seems quite unfamiliar, although my current isolation is completely different from the isolation I experienced in China," he said. "Now I am embraced by love, not besieged by terror."



The statement continued: "Our family's suffering is over, but there are still countless people whose human rights are being violated in China. May they one day have their day of liberation, too."



"We know that freedom comes from oneself, just as the people of Taiwan traded blood and tears under martial law for freedom, democracy and human rights," the letter said. "May the Chinese people know and learn from this."



Taiwan's government said Lee's incarceration was "unacceptable."



"Lee Ming-cheh ... was tried by a Chinese court for 'subversion of state power' and imprisoned for five years, which is unacceptable to the people of Taiwan," Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng told reporters on Friday.



He called on the Chinese government to protect the rights of Taiwanese nationals in China.



'Vilifying China'



Lee is a course director at Taiwan's Wenshan Community College, and had volunteered with various NGOs for many years, the Free Lee Ming-cheh Coalition said in a statement posted on the Covenants Watch rights group's Facebook page.



"The Free Lee Ming-cheh Coalition has always believed that Lee Ming-cheh is innocent," it said. "He has only ever concerned himself with commenting on human rights in China, civil society and other similar issues online."



"The treatment he received after being imprisoned was hardly in line with international human rights standards," the group said.



"Apart from being forced to eat bad food, to live in unheated quarters, and wear discarded clothes ... Lee's right to communicate was also restricted," it said.



"We will continue to monitor Ming-cheh's physical and mental health following his return to Taiwan," it said.



His release comes after he was held for most of his sentence at Chishan Prison in the central Chinese province of Hunan, where authorities repeatedly refused to allow his wife to visit him.



Lee was also barred from speaking to his wife on the phone, or from writing letters home, Amnesty International's Taiwan branch has said.



Lee applied to visit her husband at the prison 16 times during the past two years, but was refused every time, although the family members of other prisoners had visiting rights at the time, it said.



A lifelong activist with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is vilified by Beijing for refusing to accept its claim on the island, Lee was sentenced by Hunans Yueyang Intermediate People's Court to five years in jail for "attempting to subvert state power in November 2017.



He was accused of setting up social media chat groups to vilify China.



Cross-strait tensions



According to statistics from Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Lee Ming-cheh is among 149 Taiwan nationals to have gone missing in China since Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.



While the Chinese authorities had assisted in providing some information on 82 missing Taiwanese, some information on the remaining 67 had been withheld or was insufficient to draw any conclusion.



Eeling Chiu, secretary general of Amnesty International's Taiwan branch, warned that what happened to Lee could happen to citizens of any country, citing the case of Swedish national and Hong Kong-based publisher Gui Minhai, who remains behind bars in China after being arrested in Thailand for alleged "crimes" committed in Hong Kong.



Taiwan was ruled as a Japanese colony in the 50 years prior to the end of World War II, but was handed back to the 1911 Republic of China under the Kuomintang (KMT) government as part of Tokyo's post-war reparation deal.



The KMT made its capital there after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists that led to the founding of the People's Republic of China.



While the Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan as an "inalienable" part of its territory, Taiwan has never been ruled by the current regime in Beijing, nor has it ever formed part of the People's Republic of China.



The Republic of China has remained a sovereign and independent state since 1911, now ruling just four islands: Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.



The island began a transition to democracy following the death of KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek's son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, in January 1988, starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996.



Taiwan's national security agency has repeatedly warned of growing attempts to flood Taiwan with propaganda and disinformation, and to infiltrate its polity using Beijing-backed media and political groups.



Lawmakers say the country is doing all it can to guard against growing attempts at political infiltration and influence by the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department in Taiwan.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Chan Min Naung was allegedly killed in retaliation for the assassination of a ward administrator.

Chan Min Naung, leader of the People's Defense Force of Kyauktaw township in Yangon region, Myanmar, in an undated photo.

An anti-regime Peoples Defense Force leader in Yangon was allegedly tortured to death by members of the Myanmar military and pro-junta groups, one of the mans colleagues told RFA on Friday.

Chan Min Naung, a former aid worker who became an anti-junta militia leader in Yangons Kyauktan township following the February 2021 coup, was captured after a group he was leading assassinated a local junta administrator on April 2.

Before he was killed, Chan Min Naung was repeatedly cut with a knife, pinned down while his legs and hands were broken, and then beheaded, members of the Kyauktan Peoples Defense Force (PDF) said.

The PDF is the armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG), a body of democratically-elected legislators and officials that is widely accepted by Myanmars civilian population to be the legitimate government of the Southeast Asian nation.

RFA could not independently confirm the report about Chan Min Naungs death or reach his family.

Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun was not available for comment.

Chan Min Naungs alleged killing followed the murder of Soe Moe, who was the administrator of the townships San-gyein-hmi ward. He was shot dead on April 2 by an anti-junta group that calls itself Che Guevara and works under the Kyauktan PDF.

Soe Moe had been accused of being an informer to the regime and selling public land for personal gain.

The Kyauktan PDF said it assigned a group of hitmen to kill Soe Moe after he did not heed a warning to stop his activities. In an attack led by Chan Min Naung, Soe Moe was shot and died as he arrived at a hospital. A deputy administrator was also killed.

But colleagues of Soe Moe were able to detain Chan Min Naung, Kyauktan PDF leader Dee Par said.

The main guy who got him was a city development worker in our town known as James Bond, he said. The ward administrators thugs also stabbed Chan Min Naung and later dragged him by a rope from the rear of a car. That must have been about 1,500 yards from San-gyein-hmis Sixth Street to Shwe Hmaw Wun Hall.

Chan Min Naung was later tortured to death by military intelligence personnel and other local councilors at Shwe Hmaw Wun Hall, he said.

They stabbed him in the back of his left palm, Dee Par said. They sliced his hands and ears and pulled his hair out. They also broke his legs and arms and left him in the rain tied to a post. They kicked him in the groin and carried on with their questioning.

We later learned that Chan Min Aung was decapitated and cut into pieces and buried, he said.

Chan Min Naungs body was not turned over to his family, though authorities told them that the man had been buried, he said.

A photo obtained by RFA shows a stab wound in Chan Min Naungs left palm and facial injuries. Dee Par said the photo was taken by one of the questioners while Chan Min Naung was being interrogated at Shwe Hmaw Wun Hall. The photo was later leaked to the local PDF.

Chan Min Naungs relatives have been threatened by the military, Dee Par said.

The PDF leader, who was divorced and had a five-year-old daughter, was active in his community and in charity events before the coup.

Lin Thant, the NUGs representative to the Czech Republic, said the shadow government would take steps to address Chan Min Naungs murder.

We have seen many evidence of such brutal torture committed by the juntas forces, he said.

When their officers and troops are captured on the front lines by our units, the NUG has a policy to treat them well as prisoners of war and to give medical attention if needed.

Comparatively, the inhuman acts of the military against the detainees were so brutal they could be seen as war crimes, he said. We are collecting evidence and preparing work on many things so that we can submit the cases to the international courts.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFAs Myanmar Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A school destroyed in an air strike by the Myanmar millitary in Lay Kay Kaw, a town in southeastern Myanmar's Kayin state, April 11, 2022.

Karen rebels used heavy artillery to beat back a push by Myanmar junta forces to take Kayin states peace town of Lay Kay Kaw late Thursday and early Friday, with reports of heavy casualties among regime soldiers.

Lay Kay Kaw was established as symbol of peace in 2017 through a partnership between Japans Nippon Foundation, the Myanmar government and the rebel group Karen National Union (KNU) to house ethnic Karen refugees who were returning home after decades of fighting between the military and armed ethnic groups.

But in recent months, Lay Kay Kaw has been the site of fierce fighting among the junta troops and their opponents. More than 10,000 villagers have been displaced since clashes first broke out in the area on Dec. 15, 2021, as the sides pushed for advantage.

Myo Thura Ko Ko, a spokesman for the Cobra Column, which is affiliated with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), an ethnic armed group, said Myanmar soldiers shelled the area before the assault.

They used a variety of heavy weapons, and the shells fell like rain in the area, he told RFA.

Fighting between the two sides began at about 3:30 a.m., with Myanmar soldiers retreating with heavy casualties after failing to capture a targeted hill, Myo Thura Ko Ko said. The number of soldiers wounded or killed is not known, however.

We were close to the fighting zone, only about 100 yards away, so we saw the enemy being injured or killed, he said. But it was hard to estimate the exact number of casualties because of the darkness.

KNLA and Cobra Column troops successfully defended the hills where they were stationed, and there were no casualties on their side, Myo Thura Ko Ko said.

While clearing the area Friday morning, rebel soldiers found an intact rocket-propelled grenade, two mobile phones and some military equipment left by Myanmar forces, he said.

Padoh Saw Tawney, the KNUs foreign affairs officer, said junta forces attacked the rebels in the hills where the KNLA joint forces are based because they are in a strategic area near Lay Kay Kaw.

Their main goal is to get control of the area, he said. They are desperate for territorial control, and they have tried a couple of times. They also tried it last night and didnt succeed, but they will do it again.

Myanmar soldiers launched air strikes on KNLA and anti-junta Peoples Defense Force (PDF) fighters in Lay Kay Kaw on April 10, suffering a loss of about 20 soldiers and a captured captain, according to the KNU. The air strikes damaged about 30 houses and a school in the town, residents told RFA in an earlier report.

Some officers and soldiers were injured during an ambush while clearing the towns sixth ward, said a statement issued by the junta on Apr. 13. It said necessary security measures would be taken to ensure stability and peace in Lay Kay Kaw because the Karen rebels had violated nationwide cease-fire agreements.

Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment on the fighting.

Civilians displaced by clashes are now sheltering along the banks of Thaungyin River near Myanmars border with Thailand. They said they were forced to flee to the Thai side as the fighting intensified but returned after it subsided because they were pushed back by Thai authorities.

Myet Hman, who is now living in the Plotapho refugee camp near the river because of the fighting near Lay Kay Kaw, told RFA that he wanted the armed conflict to end as soon as possible so he and other locals could return to their homes.

It would be better for us if the two sides killed each other and quickly found a resolution," he said. That would be good. But now, armed men from this side or that side come into the village, stop for a while, and then engage in clashes. Meanwhile we villagers have had to flee our homes because of their fighting.

Almost everything left in deserted houses in Lay Kay Kaw has been looted, he added.

Reported by RFA Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The sinking of the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea is a significant win for Ukraine but may not have a major impact on the course of the war, analysts said.

Russias flagship Black Sea vessel sank on April 14 while being towed to port following an explosion that Ukraines military took credit for.

The Moskva served as the command-and-control ship for Russias Black Sea Fleet and was equipped with critical communications infrastructure, Ben Hodges, the former top U.S. Army commander in Europe, told RFE/RL.

To have this go down, is going to be a huge psychological boost for the Ukrainians and a jolt for the Russian Navy, said Hodges, who is a military analyst at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Hodges said Russias navy hasnt done much in terms of amphibious operations since President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The sinking of the Moskva would make conducting any amphibious operations even more of a challenge.

The Russian Navy will be very careful now about getting too close to shore, he said.

Glen Howard, president of Washington-based think tank Jamestown Foundation, told a U.S.-Ukraine Business Council conference on April 14 that the sinking of the Moskva would help Ukraine keep shipping lanes around Odesa open. Odesa is a key port for Ukrainian exports such as wheat.

Howard said Russia will not be able to bring in a new ship to replace the Moskva because Turkey is limiting entry and exit to the Black Sea to vessels that are based there. Turkey has that right under the 1936 Montreux Convention.

Robert Lee, a Russian-military analyst, agreed that the sinking of the Moskva was a serious success for Ukraine, but said he did not think it would have a significant impact on the course of the war.

An amphibious assault was already out of the question, and [the Moskva] was in need of modernization, he said in a tweet.

The Moskva was equipped to fire Bazalt anti-ship missiles and likely did not take part in strikes on land from the sea, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.

Kyiv claimed to have hit the Moskva with Neptune anti-ship missiles early on April 14, while Russia said a fire broke out on the ship, causing an explosion.

The U.S. military agreed with the Ukrainian version.

"We assess that they hit it with two Neptunes," a senior Pentagon official said in a briefing with reporters on April 15, calling it a "big blow" for Moscow.

Howard said a Neptune missile can travel 300 kilometers, which should enable Ukraine to keep Russian ships far enough away from Odesa to export wheat. He said many analysts thought Ukraine was wasting money on the development of the Neptune and that the sinking of the Moskva has proved otherwise.

The Neptune strikes were believed to have caused casualties, but it was difficult to assess how many, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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.

The ship held slightly more than 500 sailors.

The Pentagon official added that the United States had observed survivors being recovered by other Russian vessels in the area. Russia said the Moskva's crew was evacuated to nearby ships.

The ISW said that, regardless of which reason for the sinking of the Moskva is correct, it all points to problems with Russias war effort.

"Both explanations for the sinking of the Moskva indicate possible Russian deficiencies -- either poor air defenses or incredibly lax safety procedures and damage control on the Black Sea Fleet's flagship," the ISW said in its daily briefing..

The last time a ship of this size was lost in a war was 40 years ago when the British sank the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano during the Falkland War, killing 323 crew members, Howard said.

The General Belgrano and the Moskva were of similar size -- each about 600 feet (182 meters) long, though the Argentine cruiser had twice the number of sailors, CNN said.

The sinking of the Moskva is the latest setback for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its 51st day.

Russia launched its attack on February 24 from the north, east, and south, spreading its forces of about 150,000 troops too thin and suffering significant casualties as a result.

The United States and the West have put Russias death toll at over 10,000.
Ukrainian authorities braced for an expected intensification of Russian attacks ahead of the Victory Day holiday on May 9, while officials on both sides said the civilian evacuation of a besieged steel factory in Mariupol had been completed, although the fate of the remaining fighters there is unclear.

Ukrainian officials declared on May 7 that all women, children, and elderly people had been evacuated from the massive Azovstal steel plant that has been under attack for weeks by Russian forces amid the ruins of the port city.

"The President's order has been carried out: All women, children, and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on social media.



This part of the Mariupol humanitarian mission has been completed," she added without elaborating.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later said that a second stage of the evacuation would now take place, with the wounded and medical personnel being take out.

He said work would continue on May 8 to secure on all humanitarian corridors to allow those in and around the city who want to leave to get a way out. He added that Kyiv was attempting to get the last fighters out of the steel plant, but that it was extremely difficult.

Fears are rising that a final, bloody showdown between the Ukrainian fighters and Russian troops could ignite if the defenders are not allowed to be evacuated from the factory.

The evacuation of the Azovstal steel mill intensified over the past two days, even as Russia has continued to batter the facility and the strategic city, which is now mainly in ruins.



Russia is seeking to complete its takeover of the region and build a land bridge between Crimea -- which it illegally annexed in 2014  and territory controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.



Mariupol has taken the worst of the fighting in Ukraine since Russian troops were forced to retreat around Kyiv and other cities in the north.

Before the weekend, an estimated 200 civilians had been hiding within the massive steel plant along with an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders.



The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have desperately been attempting to organize evacuations from the site.

Russian officials also later issued a statement saying that the civilian evacuation of the steel plant had been completed.



The fate of the fighters remains unclear.



Russia, meanwhile, claimed its Iskander missiles destroyed a Ukrainian cache of weaponry that had been supplied by the United States and Europe and that high-precision missiles had destroyed Ukrainian aircraft at airfields in the Artsyz, Odesa, and Voznesensk regions.

Oleskiy Arestovych, a top adviser to Zelenskiy, claimed on May 7 that Ukraine had made battlefield advances in the east, just two days before Russia holds ceremonies to mark Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Russian President Vladimir Putins speech on May 9 will be closely watched to see if he will announce a general mobilization or some other major strategic shift, in a bid to turn the tide of the war, now in its 73rd day.

The top human rights representative of the Council of Europe has deplored Moscows actions in its invasion, saying that every Ukrainian who has suffered human rights violations at Russian hands deserves justice.



"Each of them deserves justice and must not be forgotten," Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement following a four-day visit to Kyiv, adding that the extent of human rights violations was staggering.

In the early weeks after the February 24 invasion, Russian forces were thwarted in their attempts to seize Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, suffering heavy losses of personnel and equipment. Commanders then later withdrew units from areas near Kyiv and repositioned them to the Donbas.

Russias last official tally of its military deaths was 1,351. Western officials, however, say the toll is at least 15,000, and Ukrainian officials claim the tally exceeds 20,000. Zelenskiy said last month that between 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed, though that figure is believed to be an undercount.

Ukraines General Staff, meanwhile, said in its daily assessment that Russian activity was relatively quiet overnight, limited to military reconnaissance and artillery fire.

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Near Izyum, where there has been major back-and-forth fighting, drones were repeatedly detected overflying defense positions, the report said. Kharkiv was also hit by artillery.

Kherson, which is located north of Crimea, well outside of the Donbas, has been contested for weeks now, though Russian forces have claimed control of the region's main city, and a top Russian politician visited Kherson city on May 6.

Russias Defense Ministry said on May 6 that its forces were continuing to advance on positions in the Donbas, and had destroyed an ammunition depot in Kramatorsk and shot down two Ukrainian warplanes.

On May 7, the ministry said its forces hit 18 Ukrainian military facilities overnight, including three ammunition depots near the port city of Odesa. It also said Russian forces destroyed a stockpile of military equipment from the United States and European countries near a railway station in the Kharkiv region.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted by Russian media as saying that "a heavy concentration of weapons and combat hardware delivered from the U.S. and Western countries, as well as military personnel of the 58th Mechanized Infantry Brigade of Ukraines armed forces, have been eliminated with Iskander operational-tactical missile systems" near railway stations in the Kharkiv region.



It wasn't clear what the weaponry was exactly, or when it might have been delivered and the claims could not be independently confirmed.

Ukrainian military officials confirmed on May 7 that at least four Russian cruise missiles had been fired into the Odesa region and the city's main airport. Local officials said a curfew would be set in the region from 10 p.m. on May 8 until 5 a.m. on May 9.

Ukraine's successes against Russian forces have been due in large part to the major supplies of weaponry provided by the United States and Europe-- weaponry that increasingly includes offensive armaments like heavy artillery, howitzers, and tanks.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO that its weapons supply convoys could be targeted, but has so far not taken any steps to do that.

Russian forces had been closing in on the last contingent of Ukrainian troops holding out at the sprawling Azovstal steel works factorys extensive tunnels and bunkers in the port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian officials said on May 6 that several dozen civilians were evacuated from Azovstal, while at least another 50 reportedly left early on May 7 before Vereshchuks announcement that all women, children, and the elderly had left the site.

Separately, the Ukrainian military said on May 7 that it had destroyed a Russian landing ship near Snake Island in the Black Sea, hitting it with an armed drone. There was no immediate comment from Russia.



In mid-April, Russia's Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva, sank near Snake Island after being hit by what was believed to have been a Ukrainian missile. Russia denies a missile strike, saying only that a fire onboard caused the ship to sink.

For the first time since the invasion, the UN Security Council approved a brief resolution expressing "deep concern" about the situation in Ukraine.

However, the text, which was adopted on May 6 with Russias vote, did not mention a war, conflict, or invasion -- as many council members call Russias military action -- or a special military operation as Moscow refers to it.

"The Security Council expresses deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine," it read.

With reporting by AP and dpa
They called me one morning from the office of the division commander in Amur Oblast, where Pavlik served, said a woman from Russias Tambov region who asked to be identified only by her first name, Yelena. The man said: Do you know that they are searching for your son, that he is AWOL? Pavlik was supposed to board a troop train, but he didnt. And five other soldiers were with him.

Yelenas son, Pavel, was serving in the Far Eastern Amur region when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Almost immediately, his unit was sent to the front, and he served almost 40 days in combat. Then his unit was sent back to Russia to regroup, Yelena told RFE/RLs North.Realities. When his unit was preparing to return to Ukraine, Pavel refused.

If he doesnt want to go back, am I supposed to push him, to tell him, Grab your weapon and go, Yelena said. Those who havent been there have no right judge those who have.

Yelenas son is one of a significant but unknown number of Russian contract soldiers who have refused to either fight in Ukraine in the first place or who have fought and do not want to return.

Lawyer Pavel Chikov, founder of the Agora legal-aid NGO, has written on Telegram that more than 1,000 military personnel and National Guard troops from at least seven regions have refused to go to Ukraine.

Ruslan Leviyev, the founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team, a Russian NGO that monitors open-source information about the Russian military, told Current Time that the actual number of these cases might be considerably larger and that the refusals could be severely hampering Russias efforts to regroup and renew its military operations in eastern Ukraine.

The phenomenon of refusal is becoming systemic, Leviyev said. Such soldiers are found in practically every unit that has returned from Ukraine. According to our estimates, from 20 to 40 percent of the contract servicemen that returned from Ukraine and that are being readied to be sent back are refusing to return to combat.

Leviyev said most of these soldiers are not deserters but could face legal ramifications for refusing to obey orders. To convict, however, prosecutors must demonstrate that the order was lawful and that the refusal to obey caused substantial harm to the military

From the cases we have seen, they are being intimidated with threats of prosecution and being worked over by military prosecutors, he said. But so far no one has been prosecuted, according to what we have seen.

Rights lawyers say the governments unwillingness to call the invasion of Ukraine a war or to declare war or martial law could give dissenting servicemen some protection from the worst consequences of refusing to fight.

Citizens have the right to refuse to go to a foreign war and kill people, said Agora lawyer Mikhail Benyash, who is providing legal services to some soldiers who have refused. And they also have the right not to participate in a special military operation. By definition, only special forces troops with training for such operations are sent [on special military operations].

An unknown number of soldiers, however, have been discharged from military service for refusing to fight in Ukraine, wrote rights lawyer Maksim Grebenyuk on Telegram. He said the question of what are the consequences of refusing to serve in the special military operation, as Moscow insists that its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine be euphemistically called, has become the most frequent query he has received in the last few weeks.

Grebenyuk also posted a photograph of a stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine, whose name Grebenyuk withheld, but who reportedly served in the 136th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

Inclined toward treason, lies, and deception, the official-looking stamp reads.

Refused to participate in the special military operation on the territory of the LNR, DNR, and Ukraine, it continued, using the abbreviations adopted by the Moscow-backed separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine to designate the territory they claim and which Moscow has recognized as sovereign countries.

Grebenyuk said the soldier told him he had served seven months in Syria and had been granted rest and rehabilitation leave, which was rescinded when he was ordered to go to Ukraine.

In a post on Twitter, Leonid Volkov, a top aide to imprisoned opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, wrote: They had a stamp made? That means it is a mass phenomenon. Good.

Such a stamp in ones military-service booklet could make it difficult for a serviceman to find a job or enroll in higher education.

The Russian military insists its war in Ukraine is largely proceeding according to plan, but Western intelligence analysts have documented significant lapses in supply, communications, preparation, and other areas that have hampered its operations. Moscow has said 1,351 servicemen have been killed since the war was launched on February 24, but other sources say the real figure is much higher. The Ukrainian military estimates that more than 18,000 Russian troops have been killed.

Agora lawyer Benyash said he believes the number of such refusals to fight will increase as the human costs of the war become clearer in Russia.

I think that as more zinc coffins come back from Ukraine, the more people there will be in Russia who have no desire to be next, he said.

Such a position will become socially acceptable, understood, and accepted, he added. The mood in society is changing. Earlier, a soldier had to make such a decision alone, at their own risk. But now there are already examples and people can see the consequences. They arent being shot; they dont face tribunals; they arent being sent to prison.

Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RLs North.Realities and Russian Service and Current Time.
KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has threatened to break off talks with Moscow should Russian forces wipe out the remaining Ukrainian soldiers trapped in Mariupol as Moscow claimed it had taken control of the besieged and battered port city after a weeks-long battle.

The Russian Defense Ministry on April 16 said it had cleared the Mariupol urban area of Ukrainian troops and had trapped a few remaining fighters in the Azovstal steel plant, according to Russian state-run media.

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.

A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman was quoted by Russias RIA Novosti news agency as saying that Ukrainian forces have lost a total of 4,000 troops during the long fight for the city -- a battle that has caught the worlds attention for its brutality.

Casualty figures from both sides have proved impossible to independently confirm during the conflict, which began with Russia's unprovoked invasion on February 24.

Ukraine has not commented on the latest Russian claims but in recent days has indicated the situation in Mariupol was desperate, with deaths mounting among the trapped civilian population and many experts predicting the city would soon fall to the Russians.

In an interview published earlier on April 16 with Ukrayinska Pravda, Zelenskiy warned Russia against committing atrocities against Ukrainian soldiers in the city.

"The elimination of our troops, of our men [in Mariupol] will put an end to any negotiations, he said.

"That will bring an impasse as we don't negotiate on either our territories or our people," he added.

Peace talks have taken place between the two sides since Russia's invasion began, with little or no progress.

Ukraine says tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed in Mariupol, a strategic city that has seen some of the worst fighting of the war.

Reports early on April 16 said heavy fighting continued in several parts of Mariupol as Ukrainian troops attempted to fend off Russian soldiers who have been bolstered by reinforcements in recent days.

"The situation is very difficult [in Mariupol]," Zelenskiy said early in the day. "Our soldiers are blocked, the wounded are blocked. There is a humanitarian crisis.... Nevertheless, the guys are defending themselves."

As the battle for the ruins of Mariupol appeared to be near its bloody end, air-raid sirens could be heard in many other parts of Ukraine on April 16, including in Kyiv, after Russia said it would seek revenge on the capital for what it claimed, without evidence, was Ukrainian targeting of Russian border towns.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least one person was killed and several others wounded in early morning attacks.

"For those Kyivites who left and are already thinking of heading back to return to the capital, I ask you to refrain from this and stay in safer places," Klitschko said in a message on his Telegram channel.

Russian troops have faced tougher-than-expected resistance -- both from the Ukrainian military and from ordinary citizens -- forcing them to retreat from areas in the north and to focus on eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, including Mariupol.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskiy said the success of Ukraine's military and that of international sanctions against Russia will determine how long the war will last.

"The success of our military on the battlefield has been really significant. Historically significant. But it's still not enough to clear our land from the invading forces," he said.

"The sanctions against Russia are very serious, economically painful. But it is not enough to starve Russia's military machine. We need to promote stronger, more destructive sanctions. This will determine how long this war will last," he added.

Russia's warning to inflict more damage on Ukraine came a day after it suffered a symbolic defeat with the loss of its Black Sea fleet flagship, the Moskva, which sank while being towed to port on April 14 after suffering heavy damage under circumstances that remain in dispute.

The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.

The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBO) has rejected Russias accusations about the attacks on Russian towns, calling them "an attempt to ignite anti-Ukraine hysteria in Russia."

Kyiv did claim, however, to have hit the Moskva with Neptune anti-ship missiles early on April 14, while Russia said a fire broke out on the ship, causing an explosion.

The U.S. military agreed with the Ukrainian version.

"We assess that they hit it with two Neptunes," a senior Pentagon official said in a briefing with reporters on April 15, calling it a "big blow" for Moscow.

The strikes were believed to have caused casualties, but it was difficult to assess how many, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official added that the United States had observed survivors being recovered by other Russian vessels in the area. Russia said the Moskva's crew was evacuated to nearby ships.

Meanwhile, the United States and its Western allies continued to pile pressure on Moscow over its campaign.

The German government said on April 15 that it plans to release more than 1 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine.



The move comes amid criticism from Ukraine and some EU partners such as Poland and the Baltic states that Germany has not done enough to send armaments to Kyiv.

Russia's Foreign Ministry on April 16 said it was banning British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Minister Liz Truss, and several other cabinet ministers over British measures aimed at isolating Moscow and crippling the country's economy.

WATCH: A Ukrainian woman has given RFE/RL a detailed account of how she was raped by a Russian Army soldier. To protect her privacy, we have pixelated her face and we are not disclosing her name. Ukrainian police have been informed of the case.

In Russia, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has asked the government to increase funding for troop funeral services and tombstones.

The FSB asked for a 17 percent increase for funeral services, according to documents recently posted to a government website.

The UN refugee agency said as of April 16 that 4,836,445 million Ukrainians had left the country since the Russian invasion -- up by 40,200 from the previous days total.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
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TULE LAKE, Siskiyou County  The icy wind and blowing snow whipped across the farms and fields of the Tule Lake basin on a recent morning.

Winter weather in spring is not uncommon in this high-elevation watershed on Californias remote northeast corner. What was unusual, though, was the lake.

Entering a third year of drought, the once-vast Tule Lake, a vestige of the areas volcanic past and today a federally protected wetland, is shriveling up. Its floor is mostly cracked mud and tumbleweed. By summer, the lake is expected to run completely dry, a historic first for the regions signature landmark and the latest chapter in a broader, escalating water war.

The lack of water could hamper irrigation of potatoes, onions and other agricultural staples. It will likely deny countless migratory birds a popular rest stop on the Pacific Flyway. But most immediately, it will strand an untold number of fish on barren land, a reality that has triggered a novel  and hurried  effort to save two endangered species of suckers on the verge of extinction.

When we realized things were going to dry up, we started moving the fish, said Danielle Hereford, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, before jumping aboard a mud boat to fetch the 300-foot-long trammel nets that collect suckers. Obviously, if we dont catch them, theyre going to die.

Hereford and fisheries technician James Ross were soon motoring through a thin layer of ice and out to what little open water remained in the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. For more than a month, the scientists have been netting fish and trucking them to nearby holding ponds.

The sucker is a stout, earthen-colored fish. Its named for its big, fleshy lips that allow it to play the vital ecological role of bottom-feeder. The two species targeted in Tule Lake are the large Lost River sucker and the smaller shortnose sucker, both of which live only in a handful of areas along the California-Oregon border. The fish are considered sacred in Native American lore.

Were already below the depth wed like it to be for (good) habitat, said Torrey Tyler, a supervisory fish biologist with the Bureau of Reclamation, as he stood on shore watching his crew pull up nets. Lets hope they catch something. This really is a last-ditch effort.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

A little more than an hours drive north of Tule Lake, across the Oregon state line in the mountain town of Chiloquin, Klamath Tribes Council Member Clayton Dumont, like many in the indigenous community, has plenty of stories about the sucker.

The fish once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in the Upper Klamath Basin, which spans the Tule Lake area as well as the Klamath Falls region of Oregon. The sucker was a primary source of food and festival for the native people.

My dad talks about how, as a little kid, he would drag them out of the river and sell them in town, Dumont said at the tribes administrative headquarters, which serves about 5,000 members. He told me that was how he bought his first pair of blue jeans.

Today, the Lost River sucker, known as Cwaam, and the shortnose sucker, known as Koptu, cumulatively number fewer than 30,000 fish. Thats down from more than 100,000 six years ago. Most live in Oregons Upper Klamath Lake.

The sucker, with its mild, lean meat, hasnt been regularly eaten by tribal members since the late 1980s, when the two species were listed as federally endangered. Theyre still celebrated in the tribes creation story and cultural events.

They have really fallen off the cliff, said Alex Gonyaw, senior fisheries biologist for the Klamath Tribes.

The tribe, with Gonyaws expertise, runs a hatchery in Chiloquin where larval fish are raised in captivity to try to stave off extinction of the sucker. So far, however, the hatchery-grown fish, like others reared and released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have made few inroads in the wild.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Drought is a primary driver of the suckers plight. But so, too, are the sweeping changes in the Upper Klamath Basin over the past century.

Once a maze of marshes sometimes called the Everglades of the West and well suited to fish, the basin was partly drained and the water diverted by the federal government, starting in 1906, to create a sprawling network of canals and ditches to serve incoming farms and communities.

Today, much of the water that suckers rely on is in the hands of the Klamath Project, which faces numerous demands for water. Dry years like this one only increase competition.

In a closely watched announcement this week, officials with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the project, said this year they wont be able to fully fill waterways crucial for fish, including suckers and salmon  despite endangered species laws that give the fish priority. The basins robust agricultural industry, meanwhile, was tentatively allocated less than 15% of its requested water.

The announcement left no one happy, prompting threats of legal action and protest, which is nothing new to the basin.

When zero water was allocated to farms last year, members of an organization started by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy threatened to use force to turn the water on. Nothing came of it, but since 2001, when a group of growers used crowbars to release supplies and U.S. marshals were called in to protect the waterworks, tensions have been high.

Were talking about third-, fourth- and fifth-generation families that stand to lose everything if they dont have water, said Scott White, manager of the Klamath Drainage District, which contracts for project supplies. I think people are wrestling with what they should be doing or shouldnt be doing. Do we take water from the federal government or do we just roll over?

The roughly 1,200 farmers and ranchers served by the project, between California and Oregon, produce more than $300 million worth of crops annually. The harvest is probably best known for the potatoes sold to In-N-Out Burger. But it also includes such niche crops as mint for tea and Tulelake horseradish.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Back at Tule Lake, the plan for limited project deliveries virtually ensures little inflow for the wildlife refuge this year.

The lake sits at the bottom of the waterworks, both geographically and on the dizzying hierarchy of water appropriation. Located about 30 miles south of Upper Klamath Lake, where the project gets most of its water, Tule Lake relies on excess in the system and irrigation water that runs off farms. Both will be in short supply.

The refuges only get whats left over, if theres anything left over at all, said Jeff McCreary, Western regional director of operations for the conservation and hunting advocacy group Ducks Unlimited. Its really unfortunate.

While farmers in the area may turn to wells during dry times, if they have them, the lack of water in and around Tule Lake doesnt leave much option for the hundreds of thousands of migratory birds in search of wetlands where they rest, breed and molt. Nearby Lower Klamath Lake, also a federally protected refuge, is expected to dry up this year, too, which it hasnt done in decades.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The Upper Klamath Basin has long been one of the most important spots on the Pacific Flyway. Its skies have regularly darkened with white-fronted geese, western grebes, northern shovelers and mallards.

Without these big wetlands, its really uncertain what waterfowl are going to do, McCreary said.

Spring surveys by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the basins refuges, show that just 20% of the half-million birds expected to visit Tule Lake and the Lower Klamath Lake this time of year are showing up. Several decades ago, millions likely would have come through.

Our guess right now is that these birds will have to fly much greater distances to find decent habitat, said Greg Austin, refuge manager for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

Austin projects that Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake will be dry by July or August.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The scientists trying to get the suckers out of Tule Lake before it runs out of water had checked their fourth and final net for fish by midmorning. All were empty.

The sun through the clouds had done little to warm the cold, crisp air as the boaters returned to the shore of the lakes southern section, a roughly 5-square-mile area known by irrigators as Sump 1B.

The larger, but shallower, 14-square-mile section to the north, known as Sump 1A, has already run dry. Last year, in a bid to protect what little wetlands remained in the refuge  and save suckers as well as bird habitat  refuge managers strategically drew down the northern section of lake and consolidated the lakes water in the southern part.

With the southern part now running low, meaning less water to chase fish in, the scientists were surprised that, almost six weeks into the job, they had netted just 29 suckers. Theyd expected exponentially more. But they remained optimistic.

Were going back out and doing it again, said Ross, the fisheries technician, before taking another ride out to the nets.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The crew, though, has only so much time before the water is too shallow to operate the boats. The maximum lake depth stood at about 3 feet this week. The scientists intend to soon transition to trapping the suckers from shore, a less effective but still viable option going forward.

Were doing what we can do, and right now its rescuing individual fish, said Tyler, the supervisory fish biologist. Ive said it before: Since theyre not doing well, every individual fish really does count.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
California became the first state in the nation to announce it would require COVID-19 vaccinations to attend public or private school, news that Gov. Gavin Newsom touted with great fanfare in a San Francisco classroom in October.

The vaccines are currently approved for children ages 5 to 15 under emergency use authorization. Newsoms requirement was contingent on full federal authorization of the vaccines for children and teens. He said students would be required to have the shots by the start of the semester after full approval.

The requirement was widely expected to be implemented this July, but with the federal Food and Drug Administrations full approval still pending for ages 5 through 15, state health officials announced last week that the vaccine school requirement would not go into effect until at least July 2023.

Why did the California Department of Public Health delay the requirement?

Currently, vaccines for children 5 to 15 are under an emergency use authorization. While vaccine makers have requested full approval for the various age groups, the decision is still pending. State officials said Thursday that delaying the implementation of the state mandate until July 2023, at the earliest, will give education officials time to implement the requirement.

What does that mean in terms of a requirement for teachers and staff in schools?

Neither Newsom nor state health officials have yet required school staff and teachers to be vaccinated against COVID. Newsom has repeatedly said that adults will be required to show proof of vaccination if there is a student vaccination mandate. The announcement last week did not address whether adults in schools will be subject to a vaccine mandate before July 2023, even though federal officials have fully authorized the use of the vaccines for adults.

What about legislative action to require the vaccine?

Last week, the Legislature backed off of adding COVID-19 to the list of required school vaccines that do not allow for a personal belief exemption. That means, at this point, that when the mandate does go into effect, families can avoid the requirement by filing a personal belief or medical exemption.

Can school districts require student vaccination before the state?

Yes. Individual school districts and private or charter schools can choose to exceed state pandemic guidelines, meaning they could opt to require that students be vaccinated before the state does. Piedmont Unified, for example, already has a mandate in place.

But for the most part, Bay Area education leaders appear to also be waiting on full federal authorization. Oakland Unified, for example, initially decided to require students to be vaccinated against the coronavirus starting in January, but delayed that until Aug. 1. Bay Area districts that delayed the rollout of vaccine mandates cited the low vaccination rates in their communities. If they had kept the mandates in place and families still didnt get their children the shots, they risked a huge number of kids being diverted into online learning.

Currently, its unclear whether Oakland and other districts will follow the states decision to wait another year.

What do vaccination rates look like now for California children?

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.

So far, two-thirds of children ages 12 to 17 have been fully vaccinated. The younger set, however, lags behind, with just 34% of children 5 to 11 getting the vaccines. The rates vary greatly depending on race, with 64% of Asian American children in the youngest group fully vaccinated, compared with 21% of Black children, 23% of Hispanic children and 28% of white children. San Francisco has been scrambling to get more children of color vaccinated on the heels of data disclosed in February showing significant racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination rates among children 5 to 11.

Local, state and federal health officials have strongly urged families to get children vaccinated.

State officials announced on Friday a $10 million grant program to help clinics and medical providers increase vaccination rates, with up to $25,000 for each site to expand operating hours to accommodate families.

Still, some California school districts had already pledged to defy Newsoms mandate amid a wave of parental resistance in some areas.

What are the current vaccines required to enter kindergarten in California?

Currently, California requires children must have these vaccinations to enter kindergarten unless they have a health waiver: polio; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP); measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); hepatitis B; varicella (chickenpox).

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
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Roughly two years after the Vallejo Police Department drew criticism for its history of using unnecessary force against people, particularly Black people and other people of color, a report says use-of-force incidents dropped by 33% from 2020 to 2021  the lowest numbers in five years, authorities said.

Police Chief Shawny Williams applauded the report in a statement last Monday, saying the drop in use-of-force incidents can be attributed to changes in leadership, policy, training and accountability. But the Vallejo police union said in a scathing statement Friday that while the reduction in use-of-force incidents is real, its not because of solid leadership by the chief  its partly because there are fewer officers and low morale.

The reduction in use-of-force incidents, union officials said, is actually a result of a shrinking police force, the statewide ban of the carotid restraint  which involves applying pressure on someones neck, cutting off blood flow in the carotid artery to the brain  and low morale and lack of confidence in Williams, according to a statement by the Vallejo Police Officers Association.

The report by Police Strategies LLC said that officers did not use any firearms, impact weapons or neck restraints during any use of force incident in 2021, marking a first in the past five years, police said. Authorities noted a decrease in neck restraints during the past five years, pointing to 24 reported incidents in 2017 and zero reported incidents in 2021.

In 2021, there were zero reported uses of impact weapons, compared with 22 incidents in 2017, police said. The report also noted two incidents of K-9 bites in 2021, the lowest in the past five years, police said.

In 2020, police said 48% of use-of-force incidents involved the officers use of a weapon, and that figure dropped to 32% in 2021, police said.

The report also noted that the percentage of use-of-force subjects with mental health issues increased from 5% to 28% from 2017 to 2021. Last year, police said that use-of-force subjects were more likely to have mental health issues.

In the last two and a half years, Chief Williams has placed an emphasis on changes in training and education, communicating clear expectations of active supervision, accountability and transparency, maintaining fair and consistent standards of discipline and conduct, and implementing the principles of 21st century policing while building strong community partnerships, police officials said.

Williams characterized the data in the statement as clear and convincing evidence of positive change and transformation within the culture and practices of our department.

This is not just a dramatic change in policing practices, but a re-defining shift in the culture of professionalism, mindset and policing system within our department, Williams said.

Police union representatives said the chiefs news release last Monday was misleading to the public because it did not take into account the drop in number of sworn officers in the Police Department  specifically a 35% reduction in officers who either left or are off the streets due to injuries in 2021  and other areas that could be correlated to the drop in use-of-force incidents.

For example, the hesitation of officers to engage in force incidents has increased under Chief Williams leadership, police union representatives said. Additionally, low morale, complete lack of confidence in his leadership, excessive amounts of forced overtime, the COVID pandemic and disparate and retaliatory disciplining of officers likely were major factors in this reduction.

Vallejo police officials could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

Police union representatives also noted that the recent use-of-force report found that police officers were twice as likely to be physically assaulted in 2021 compared with recent years, but still used lower levels of force against higher levels of subject resistance, according to the report.

To be clear, the decision an officer makes to use force is not arbitrary. It is a direct result of suspect actions that are often unpredictable and beyond an officers control, police union representatives said. Despite this desire for a reduction, it is important that ALL challenges are clearly presented to the community regarding this issue.

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.

Police union representatives said they are concerned about the safety of their colleagues and about Williams transparency with the community.

The Vallejo Police Department has been the subject of outrage from community members and activists, particularly in police killings and other high-profile violent police encounters over the years.

In June 2020, then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced a review and reform agreement with the city shortly after a Vallejo police officer opened fire through the windshield of a police vehicle and killed San Francisco resident Sean Monterrosa, 22, who was on his knees outside of a Walgreens that was getting burglarized during protests after the police murder of George Floyd. A report later released by independent investigators found that the officer violated Police Department policy in the killing.

The Attorney Generals Office review of Vallejo police was not centered on Monterrosas killing, but on the Police Departments training and policies surrounding use-of-force and community policing, officials said at the time.

In April 2021, an attorney representing the police union announced that two Vallejo police lieutenants were fired over emails they sent out. Michael Nichelini, president of the police union, was fired in part for sending an email to then-Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. that read, We will warn our Georgia colleagues of your impending arrival, referring to law enforcement in Georgia, where Taylor had moved to join the Atlanta Journal-Constitutions investigative team at the time.

Taylor, who had reported extensively on the Police Department for The Chronicle, said at the time that the email was a thinly veiled threat and told The Chronicle that the email was indicative of the culture of the Vallejo Police Department, and thats been a concern of mine and residents within that city for years.

Vallejo police veteran Herman Robinson was also fired after more than 40 years with the Police Department for sharing internal information with former and retired Police Department colleagues, an attorney speaking on behalf of Robinsons attorney said at the time.

Lauren Hernandez (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez
Nearly three years after Oakland first contemplated creating a new program to replace police in handling some mental health, homelessness and disturbance calls, the teams fanned out for the first time across parts of the city this month.

City leaders are optimistic that the launch of a new program that sends trained civilian staff to respond to emergency mental health crises will free up police to focus on violent crime, boost the number of 911 responses and de-escalate difficult situations.

In the wake of George Floyds murder, residents nationwide pressured cities to invest in alternatives to police, and Oakland  along with San Francisco  embraced the idea. Experts agree that moving some mental health and homelessness calls away from police can be an effective way to support residents in distress and cut the police forces load.

But whether Oaklands program will be a success remains to be seen. It probably faces some of the challenges that San Francisco officials are grappling with  not enough shelter, permanent housing and treatment beds as well as some people struggling with addiction and mental illness who refuse care and housing.

The program  called MACRO, which stands for the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland  will respond to certain 911 calls, including some related to mental health, wellness checks, noise complaints, disorderly conduct and panhandling.

Photos by Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

The crew, staffed with EMTs and trained specialists, seeks to de-escalate volatile situations before they turn violent, check vitals and offer services, such as finding a shelter bed or sending them to the hospital for more care.

We are (required) to meet people where they are and display empathy to find out what is going on with them, said Elliott Jones, the MACRO manager. We want to offer them some sort of service, whether its a soda or some water, a piece of chocolate, blanket or some socks. If eventually you decide you want service, you want to get off the streets, you want help, then ... we will connect you to services in Alameda County.

They may not always offer a connection to housing or treatment if individuals dont ask for it. Jones said a key part of the job is building relationships so that people will turn to MACRO when theyre ready for help.

If people want help getting off the street, crews first check with the Alameda County CARES Navigation Center in Oakland  Community Assessment, Referral and Engagement Services, a program run by the District Attorneys Office that offers a shelter bed. The facility also offers diversion services if someone has a warrant and needs help, said Jones, grandson of poet Maya Angelou.

Jones admitted that the options are not perfect, but said part of the teams work is to identify gaps in the county and citys systems of care and work to address them. Theyre investigating turning an emergency room parking lot into a drug and alcohol sobering center with county case managers where MACRO could drop people off.

The county currently lacks enough shelter beds for the more than 4,000 homeless people in Oakland, according to the 2019 count. Alameda County has about 1,160 county-funded emergency shelter beds, according to 2019 data. In addition, Oakland has 598 city-funded, year-round shelter beds.

City leaders and the Police Department have backed the 18-month pilot program that will cost close to $16 million, and City Council members are interested in making the program permanent.

Robert Weisberg, a professor and faculty co-director at Stanford Universitys Criminal Justice Center, said the push to move police away from certain 911 calls has seen success in other cities.

The fact is that police arent necessarily happy about having this work, Weisberg said, because very often it doesnt have to do with crime.

Weisberg noted that the challenge will be to develop an effective system used in dispatch centers that can identify whether a call can be properly handled without police intervention.

Bronte Wittpenn / The Chronicle

The city will examine whether MACROs work will decrease the number of negative outcomes from police response to 911 calls that could lead to a violent confrontation, increase the number of people connected to support programs, and reduce police and fire expenses and call volume.

City leaders say the need is dire. A new report from Alameda County found that 809 unhoused people died from 2018 to 2020. More than half of the people who died were found on the sidewalk or the street, in encampments or in vehicles. About a quarter of the deaths were from drug overdoses.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said he is optimistic the program will help the department, which is typically tied up with responding to calls for violent crime, meaning low-level offenses or community concerns often dont get a police response.

Armstrong said MACRO could potentially respond to arguments between people where weapons arent involved, someone under the influence of narcotics, someone screaming in the street or residents playing loud music, for example.

OPD has more than enough to deal with, he said.

The teams will start out slowly. Instead of immediately responding to 911 calls, crews will roam around East and West Oakland from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for 40 hours a week, to do assessments and look for instances where they can intervene.

The teams, made up emergency responders and community intervention specialists, will begin answering 911 calls in June and will start a separate phone number that people can call to request the service.

Over a recent weekend, the 10-member crew, divided into three teams, drove around parts of East and West Oakland meeting residents and business owners.

Within the first hour, one of the crews in East Oakland noticed a man lying on the sidewalk with his eyes closed.

The man, who was homeless, said he didnt feel well. Fran R., an emergency medical technician who declined to give her full name because of privacy concerns, said she called into the Fire Departments dispatch center while another EMT began checking his vitals.

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 crew offered him water, but he threw it up, Fran R. said, so they immediately radioed in for an ambulance.

Im pretty sure you saved that persons life, said Josh Hayes, a community intervention specialist, remembering his work with Fran R. that day.

Destiny Riley, a community intervention specialist on a separate crew, said she gave a pregnant homeless woman in East Oakland shoes, socks, food and water. Riley said the EMTs checked the womans vitals because she said she wasnt feeling well.

Riley said the woman appeared standoffish and embarrassed about asking for help, so instead Riley focused on building a rapport with her so she could check up on the woman in the future.

It was a tremendous experience, Riley said. We are helping people who are at their lowest points.

Most of the crews are made up of Oakland natives. Some used to be unhoused, while others were formerly incarcerated. One used to manage mobile showers for the homeless in San Francisco.

We hit the jackpot. We found great people that love Oakland, Jones said. We wanted them to understand that this would be different than what theyve previously done, and theyve shown the resourcefulness and the flexibility to be able to respond to something that is truly uncharted territory.

Pave Prevention, which trains employees who work in potentially violent situations, trained the crews in self-defense, self-care, how to read body language and situational awareness.

MACRO is modeled after a widely admired mental health crisis intervention program called CAHOOTS out of Eugene, Ore., where fire officials traveled to learn to learned firsthand about the program, which stands for Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets.

The second training academy for MACRO will begin Monday, and a second 10-member crew will hit the streets in May and expand to a second shift to cover more daytime hours.

Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas said the city is united in its support for MACRO.

Oaklanders deserve a swift and effective response to every call for support, and I am very hopeful that MACRO will move us forward to be a safer, healthier city, she said.

Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
The FDA and CDC in late March allowed three groups of people to get a second booster shot against COVID-19 if its been at least four months since their first booster: people 50 and older, those 12 and older who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, and those who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as their initial shot and booster.

For most Americans, who got two mRNA shots as their primary vaccine series and then a booster, this would be their fourth shot. For people who are immunocompromised who got three shots as their primary series and then a booster, it would be their fifth shot.

But, in a sign of pandemic decision-making shifting from government policy to personal choice, federal health officials were less prescriptive and forceful in their language about second boosters than they were about the previous shots. This time around, theyve said eligible people can get their second booster  but stopped short of saying they should get them right away.

This has left many Americans, seeing that cases are relatively low  though now ticking up, including in the Bay Area  wondering whether they should strategically time their second booster before a trip or other higher-risk situation. Some are contemplating whether to put it off until the fall, when infection rates may be higher or when there could be a vaccine that is longer-lasting, or is better tailored to the circulating variant at that time.

The experts we interviewed almost unanimously encourage those 65 and older, as well as those of any age who are immunocompromised, to get an additional booster as soon as theyre eligible. Some also say that people between 50 and 65 who are generally healthy should consider doing so if they live or work around a lot of people, like in nursing homes or hospitals.

For those who dont fall into one of those categories, but are eligible now  for instance, over 50 and in good health or with a mild underlying condition  the optimal timing is less clear. It depends on each persons age, health, environment and behavior, and appetite for risk.

Here is how six Bay Area health officials, infectious disease doctors and immunologists are approaching these questions in their own lives. Responses are edited for brevity and clarity.

Provided by Napa County

Dr. Karen Relucio, public health officer for Napa County

Age 54, healthy, has asthma.

Q: Have you gotten a second booster?

A: Not yet. I plan to get it as soon as Friday comes around, when I can get into a Friday (vaccine) clinic. Id rather not miss work if I have side effects.

Q: Would you recommend people 65 and older get one right away?

A: Yes. Id recommend that for my parents.

Q: When is the best time to get it?

A: People are going to have to assess the risk. Its hard to predict the surge. So if youre going to wait until the next surge, youre taking a chance. I was asked by someone who stays at home, doesnt go out much, doesnt eat at restaurants, but is traveling in July. If that person is not going to engage in anything thats high-risk, they might want to delay it because they want to have the maximum protection during the time theyre traveling.

Q: What do you think about waiting for a better vaccine that may come out later?

A: Theres nothing imminent thats coming out. People are waiting for a wider-scope vaccine. We know its under development, but we havent heard its going to be rolled out imminently.

Kate Munsch/Special to The Chronicle 2020

Dr. Bela Matyas, public health officer for Solano County

Age 63, healthy.

Q: Have you gotten a second booster?

A: Im not eligible yet. My third (shot) was less than four months ago.

Q: Do you plan to get one once youre eligible?

A: I will probably monitor my risk scenario. If disease rates remain low and Im not planning on doing anything particularly high risk, Ill probably wait until fall.

Q: Who would you recommend get it as soon as theyre eligible?

A: Residents of long-term care facilities. The environment of a long-term care facility is high risk. And people with underlying immune-compromising conditions. I dont not recommend it for everyone else, but I do also respect that individual circumstances vary.

If youre boosted and the disease rates are low, you might want to wait until youre going to encounter a scenario of higher risk like travel overseas, and get your booster before you travel. If youre otherwise healthy and had your third (shot) and not planning on a high-risk activity, maybe you wait until winter and itll protect you to the next winter.

Provided by Contra Costa County

Dr. Sefanit Mekuria, deputy health officer for Contra Costa County

Age 36, healthy.

Q: Have you gotten a second booster?

A: Im not eligible because Im not over 50.

Q: Who would you recommend get it as soon as theyre eligible?

A: My parents have a lot of health conditions. So Id recommend (people with) health conditions, or immune-compromised, much older ... I definitely recommend my parents get a second booster. Theyre very active in church and get a lot of visitors.

Q: How should people decide when is the best time to get it?

A: If theyre more vulnerable, have travel plans, more exposure due to work, or are immune-compromised, maybe getting a booster is higher on their list for now. And others can consider potentially waiting a little longer.

Q: Is there any potential downside to getting many shots in a short period of time?

A: I dont know of any downside. Theres been no downside medically in doing that, historically. The first year of life, you get many shots. MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), hepatitis B, pneumococcal, polio, rotavirus, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis). You get five, sometimes four doses a year. For example, with pneumococcal vaccine, within the first year of life, you get four doses of the same vaccine. And DTaP is the same way. The COVID-19 vaccines are very safe and effective. Of course, were still learning a lot about COVID and will learn more. In general, with vaccines, theres no real downside.

Provided by San Mateo County

Dr. Curtis Chan, deputy health officer for San Mateo County

Late 40s, healthy.

Q: Have you gotten a second booster?

A: Im not eligible yet. Ive suggested to my parents and in-laws, who are in their 70s and 80s, and relatively healthy, that they should get a second booster. But I have not made an appointment for them. The first vaccination series, I made appointments for all four of them. I think theyre still pretty well protected, but Im encouraging them to get an appointment. I more urgently asked them to get their first booster. But I still think its a good idea to get their second booster if they plan to socialize indoors.

Q: Are there any potential downsides to getting many shots in a short period of time?

A: The results from Europe, including the Israeli studies, show that the fourth dose is safe. From a kind of biological plausibility perspective, it doesnt seem like it would be harmful either, by the way the mRNA technology works. But we also want to be cautious; we dont want to over-recommend vaccines either. The FDA and CDC have made the right move by saying this vaccine is safe and effective and its available. This vaccine seems to be safer than many other vaccines that have been utilized for decades. Im a pediatrician whos vaccinated many kids. This happens to be a remarkably safe vaccine.

Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle 2020

Dr. John Swartzberg, professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology, UC Berkeley School of Public Health

Age 77, healthy.

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.

Q: Have you gotten a second booster?

A: Yes (last week).

Q: What went into that decision?

A: A couple of events scheduled for later this month. One is a wedding reception that we really want to enjoy. The other is a party that friends are having. We thought, Why not add the protection now? Wed still be protected for our granddaughters college graduation in May.

My calculus was I really want to go to that graduation, and I havent seen my daughter and her family in months because theyre across the country. Given thats going to increase my risk with travel and the graduation, I want to be protected. If I didnt have the trip coming up, the way my wife and I live, our risk is quite low. I mightve dragged my feet a little bit to see where things were going with the pandemic.

Q: What about people 50 to 65? Should they be getting it?

A: The risk is much smaller than if youre over 65. But what are they doing, what is their work? My daughter-in-law is a physician (in her early 50s). Shes going to get (a second booster) because she works at a hospital, so she wants to have that added protection. I think that makes sense.

Q: Is there any downside to getting a second booster?

A: I dont know of any downside to getting this fourth (shot). People have raised the question of T cell exhaustion. We havent seen any evidence of that. I have not seen any data to suggest theres a downside. I have seen data showing theres an upside. Its just a question of how long that upside is going to last.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle 2020

Nadia Roan, immunologist and investigator at San Franciscos Gladstone Institutes

Early 40s, healthy.

Q: Have you gotten your second booster?

A: No, because I am not eligible.

Q: Do you plan to get one if/when you become eligible?

A: I will likely get one if/when I become eligible, but I do not see a need to rush into it.

Q: Is there anyone youd recommend get a second booster as soon as they can?

A: I suggest immunocompromised individuals get a second booster as soon as they can. For elderly individuals, I think it is a good idea to get a second booster when they can. It may not be necessary, but will decrease chances of a breakthrough infection.

Q: Is there anyone youd recommend waiting?

A: No. But I also think its important to highlight that a second booster is not necessary to prevent severe disease in the vast majority of vaccinated individuals. So non-eligible people should not try to get a second booster early; its not needed.

Q: Is there any potential downside to getting many shots in such a short period of time? Does T cell exhaustion happen with COVID shots?

A: T and B cells can develop better memory when re-exposure to viral proteins is more spaced out. All currently eligible individuals would be getting their second shot at a time that is spaced out far out enough so that one doesnt need to worry about the time period being too short.

T cell exhaustion is the process by which continuous encounter of T cells with the proteins they recognize will cause them to become exhausted and not respond as well. This is commonly seen in cancer, where cancer cells recognized by the T cells stay around and cause the T cells to become exhausted; and chronic viral infections like HIV, where T cells recognizing HIV become exhausted since the HIV is constantly there in the absence of treatment.

Importantly, there is no evidence that T cell exhaustion occurs during COVID vaccination or boosters. The protein that the COVID vaccines encode is made temporarily and then goes away. When a booster is given, the protein is temporarily there again and then goes away. This is in fact a classical way to make good (and non-exhausted) T cells.

Catherine Ho (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
KHARKIV, Ukraine -- Russias bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.

Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.

The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andres tweeted that the non-governmental organizations staff members were shaken but safe.

The organization says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andres said the attack in Kharkiv shows that to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance" and that his groups chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Mother, grandmother weep over a 15-year-old killed in shelling of Kharkiv

 Elderly mother feels lost, seeks son's body in Ukrainian town of Bucha

 Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, other cities

 We pray for you: Ukrainian Jews mark Passover, if they can

 Ukraines port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

Follow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke Saturday with the leaders of Britain and Sweden about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city.

Mariupols fate can be decided either through battle or diplomacy, he said.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

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NEW YORK  A Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol for weeks.

Gov. Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Frolov died a heroic death in battle without saying where or when he was killed. Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St. Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.

Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war.

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WASHINGTON  Austrias chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is in his own war logic when it comes to Ukraine.

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told Meet the Press that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and it was not a friendly conversation.

He said Putin said he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesnt trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future.

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VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily Saturday in St. Peters Basilica, attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three Ukrainian parliamentarians.

The pontiff noted that while many writers have evoked the beauty of starlit nights, the nights of war, however, are riven by streams of light that portend death.

Francis's call for an Easter truce in order to reach a negotiated peace appeared in vain Saturday, as Russia resumed missile and rocket attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond in a reminder that the whole country remains under threat.

At the end of his homily, Francis directly addressed directly Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov and Ukrainian lawmakers Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko and Rusem Umerov, who sat in the front row.

In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer, Francis said, then with emotion he added that the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen, the last three words in Ukrainian.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The Invictus Games for injured and ill service personnel and veterans opened with a standing ovation and a tribute from Prince Harry for Ukrainian team members who left their war-torn nation to compete.

With Harry and his wife Meghan in the front row for the opening ceremony Saturday night, competitors cheered for nearly a minute as the Ukrainian team waved their nations blue-and-yellow flag after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed them.

Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military service members and veterans, by giving them the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.

Welcoming all competitors to the event that was delayed by two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, Harry singled out the 19-strong Ukrainian team and their supporters.

Your bravery in choosing to come and for being here tonight cannot be overstated, he said, a day after meeting the Ukrainians at a reception.

You know, we stand with you. The world is united with you. And still you deserve more. And my hope is that these events, this event, creates the opportunity ... of how we as a global community can better show up for you, Harry added.

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FORT IRWIN, Calif. __ U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary.

The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in Californias Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

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RIYADH  Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday, their second call since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields.

The Saudi readout of the call said the crown prince affirmed support for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The kingdom recently announced $10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlins statement added the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war for years, as well as their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+. The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.

Ukraine has urged nations around the world to cut their dependency on Russian oil imports that it says finance Russias military war on Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces shelled an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk on Saturday, and a large fire erupted, a regional governor reported.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said it wasnt the first time the refinery was targeted and accused the Russians of trying to exhaust local emergency services. He underlined there was no fuel at the refinery at the time of the attack and the remains of oil sludge were burning.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv in the east, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kirovohrad in the central Ukraine and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. The strikes underlined that the whole country remained under threat despite Russias pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

In Kharkiv, nine civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded on Friday, while in the wider region two were reported dead and three wounded, according to the report.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of regional legislature, Hanna Zamazeyeva, said Saturday that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

Zamazeyeva said the targets included several residential blocks where there are no military facilities.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised remarks on Saturday that 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians -- more than half of them women -- are being held captive by the Russians.

Vereshchuk said Kyiv intends to swap the captive soldiers, since Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops but demands to release the civilians without any conditions.

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ROME  Italy is barring all Russian ships from its ports starting Sunday, as part of expanded EU sanctions announced earlier this month. Ships already in Italian ports must leave immediately after completing their commercial activity, according to a notice sent to port authorities.

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BERLIN  Peace activists took part Germanys traditional Easter marches on Saturday, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine but also in at least some cases opposing helping Ukraine defend itself with weaponry.

A Berlin event drew 400 people and one in Hanover 500, the dpa news agency reported, citing police. Marches took place in cities including Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Duisburg. Banners included End the war in Ukraine and He who sends weapons reaps war.

The countrys vice chancellor, Greens politician Robert Habeck, warned demonstrators against sending the wrong message, saying there will only be peace when Putin stops his war of aggression. He said in an interview with the Funke media group that it was clear who the aggressor is who and who are defending themselves in an emergency and whom we must support, also with weapons.

Ukrainian officials say Germany has sent anti-tank and anti-aircaft weapons as well as night vision equipment, body armor and machine guns.

Germany's locally organized peace marches date back to the days of the Cold War and focus on issues such as disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons.

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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.

KYIV, Ukraine -- Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person died and several more were wounded in Saturday morning airstrikes on the Darnytski district of the capital, as Russian forces resumed scattered attacks in western Ukraine.

Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks, which the Russian Defense Ministry said targeted an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital, were an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat even as Russian forces refocus on the east, where a new offensive is feared.

Klitschko urged Ukrainians not to return to Kyiv just yet, warning in televised remarks Saturday that strikes on the capital are likely continue and its suburbs are rigged with explosives.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. We cant prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

The mayor added that because of the mines, Kyiv residents are barred from visiting parks and forests in the northeastern areas that border liberated territories formerly occupied by Russians.

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MOSCOW -- Russia has barred the UK prime minister and a dozen other top British officials from entering its country in response to British sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Russias Foreign Ministry announced the move that targets Boris Johnson, a number of British ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, on Saturday.

The ministrys statement cited unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials in Russia.

The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas are detrimental to the well-being and interests of the residents of Britain. Any sanctions attack will inevitably backfire on their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, the statement said.

On Friday evening, the ministry announced the expulsion of 18 European Union diplomats from Moscow, in retaliation for the blocs declaring 19 diplomats from the Russian mission to the EU and to the European Atomic Energy Community persona non-grata.

The European Union said the expulsions were groundless, and that EU diplomats targeted were working in the framework of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting that Kyiv was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district in the eastern part of the capital.

He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene of explosions" and that victims details would be released later. Klitschko urged residents to heed air raid sirens.

Thick smoke rising from the site on the eastern side of Kyiv could be seen from parts of downtown near the Dnipro River.

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WASHINGTON  Ukraine is sending top officials to Washington for next weeks spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where discussion will focus on the Russian invasion and its impact on the global economy.

Coming to the gathering are Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to a World Bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been officially announced.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the U.S. has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

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TIJUANA, Mexico  A Russian man and a Ukrainian woman were married in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in hopes of entering the U.S. together.

Daria Sakhniuk was allowed to enter the U.S. as a Ukrainian refugee but her partner, Semen Bobrovski, was unable to travel there following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They left Ukraine as the war began.

Bobrovski told El Sol de Tijuana that he believed the marriage Thursday would bolster his chances of entering the U.S. with his new wife. The U.S. allows only Russian nationals with family members in the U.S. to enter the country.

Without it, we wont be able to cross because, still to the official American government, we are strangers to each other," he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the nations military and intelligence agency leaders.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said.

He added: The occupiers problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.
Regarding Feinsteins fitness to serve doubted (Front Page, April 14): It has been my privilege to know and work with Dianne Feinstein when she was mayor of San Francisco and now as U.S. Senator.

Throughout her career she has been an outstanding public servant. It was through her leadership that San Francisco weathered the civic crisis created by the City Hall assassinations. She was instrumental in recognizing and dealing with the AIDS epidemic. Through her leadership the city survived critical financial storms.

Today, as U.S. Senator, Feinstein has continued her distinguished career of public service, working on a variety of issues too numerous to mention here. But, just to name one example, from which I can speak from direct knowledge, is her positive impact in securing the appointments of outstanding judges to serve on the federal bench in California.

The Chronicles coverage does her remarkable career a disservice. There is no doubt in my mind that Sen. Feinstein will let all of us know when she feels she can no longer serve as ably as she has in the past. Who are these anonymous sources upon whom you rely that suggest otherwise? For my money, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Alex Padilla are right in their support.

Louise Renne, Napa

Let her grieve

Regarding Feinsteins fitness to serve doubted (Front Page, April 14): The extensive front page coverage of Dianne Feinstein struck me as a bit below the belt. As a friend of both Dianne and her late husband, Richard, I have some appreciation for the stress she has been under during the past few years with his progressing illness and recent death.

It is well documented that stress greatly impairs cognition and that an individual requires months to a year to regain full composure after death of a long-time spouse. I met with both Dick and Dianne at their home in December and found both fully cognizant. Certainly, neither had any difficulty in remembering my name or past shared interests.

I would urge that we provide this superb dedicated public servant several months of time to deal with her understandable grief. She has provided decades of wise leadership to San Francisco and the United States and deserves far more respect and understanding that your recent article and the comments of those you cited provided her.

Louis Reichardt, San Francisco

Double standard

Regarding Feinsteins fitness to serve doubted (Front Page, April 14): Allow me to join the ranks of people who point out that these attacks on Sen. Dianne Feinstein would not be happening if the senator was a man. She lost her husband less than three months ago! Shame on The Chronicle for not allowing her the space to grieve in peace.

Louise Kimball, Berkeley

Over the top coverage

Regarding Feinsteins fitness to serve doubted (Front Page, April 14): It may be the case that Dianne Feinstein should resign her position as senior senator. However, I was appalled by the screaming headline and oversized photo of her in Thursdays paper. It was so cruel and disrespectful to a woman who has served California and our country so well.

Marjorie Diamond, San Mateo

Pass the baton

I have voted for Diane Feinstein in every election since, I think, 1976, except one.

That one was her last primary election. I voted for her primary opponent. At that point, my feeling was that although she has served both San Francisco and California well, given her age, it was that it was time for her to step back and let someone else take over. I was especially concerned because of the recall election. On the off chance that Gov. Gavin Newsom were recalled, his Republican successor would appoint the last thing we need in Congress: another radical conservative.

I say given her age because I, too, am a relatively old person. I know that I dont have the mental acuity or energy that I used to and certainly lack what is necessary to confront the many crises facing this country.

Please, Senator, let someone else do this job. Its time.

Ben Janken, Oakland

Join the splash fest

Happy New Year! Before anyone thinks I am going bonkers due to the high price of gas and Putins war, let me hasten to explain that Sunday will be a New Years Day for many in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

People there and a few of us here in the U.S. will welcome the new year with a wonderful water-throwing festival known as Thingyan in Myanmar and Songkran in Thailand. This to me is the opportunity diversity gives us. If you are tired of 2022 and would like to start all over again, you can.

While hoses and water balloons might land you in trouble, try pouring cool refreshing water on your neighbor, your colleagues or your loved ones. Though the idea of cleansing oneself of all sins and going into a new year totally clean in body and pure of mind is not new, it does seem to work for some people.

So, if you see someone chasing down some people with a bucket of water, please dont call the police. Its just me trying to spread some New Year cheer.

Myokyaw Myint, San Jose

Uphold pruning fine

Regarding Bakery pruning fine is petitioned (Bay Area & Business, April 12): Just pull up Ambrosia Bakery in San Francisco on Google Street View and you can see the two beautiful trees as they were in June 2021  before they were destroyed. You can also see the real reason why they were probably destroyed: They partially covered the bakerys ugly sign sticking out from the building, and it likely had nothing to do with blocking a stop sign.

A fine of $2,230 per tree is not nearly enough to deter some unscrupulous businesses from destroying a vital part of our landscape. It is pretty unlikely that these trees will recover from being topped off in our lifetimes. Fines for this crime should be increased to really deter perpetrators, and this owners fine should certainly not be reduced.

Jonathan Carr, San Francisco

Raise water rates

Regarding Americas crops first (Letters to the Editor, April 12): Amen to Robert Nices letter about almond growers in our state, who have been on a gravy train for way too long now, maximizing their profits from overseas exports, all with subsidized water from the state and federal water projects. The quickest way to stop this waste of our water is to charge them the same rates that we pay for home use.

Tim Zuffi, Walnut Creek
A California man convicted of killing a Santa Barbara County family, including its 5-year-old daughter, will serve life in prison, a judge ruled Friday. There is no chance for parole.

Dr. Henry Han, 57, his wife Jennie Yu, 29, and their daughter Emily were killed in their Goleta home in March 2016. Their bodies, wrapped in plastic sheeting, were found by sheriffs deputies conducting a welfare check after a friend, worried Han had missed a meeting, asked law enforcement to investigate.

All three had been shot multiple times. Emily was a few days away from her sixth birthday.

This was a diabolical, premeditated crime  one of the most odious that I have ever been involved with, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at the time.

Clues quickly pointed to Pierre Haobsh, now 32, a bizarre figure in the Hans orbit. Haobsh, who described himself as an entrepreneur and basically a billionaire, was possibly trying to enter into a business relationship with Han, a popular Chinese herbalist. In text messages obtained by law enforcement, Haobsh bragged about having a Lamborghini and a private jet; in reality, he was living with his father in a modest apartment near San Diego. (To add to the oddity of Haobshs murky backstory, his father was reportedly a Jordanian-born U.S. citizen hired by the CIA in the late 1980s and early 90s to meet with Saddam Husseins weapons-procurement officers, and his sister is a beauty blogger who appeared on the reality show Newlyweds: The First Year.)

The exact nature of Han and Haobshs business partnership is not clear, but Han, who maintained a patient list of 13,000 people, was reportedly working on cannabis products. Detectives said that during a search of the Han home, they found a Trader Joes bag containing a document for Obsidian Teradyne LLC, signed by both men the day before the Hans murder.

Investigators tracked down surveillance footage from a Home Depot in Oceanside, California, where they saw Haobsh purchasing the plastic sheeting and duct tape used at the crime scene. They also obtained a text message from Haobsh to an acquaintance that read, Yep. Am screwed. They just found everything. My lifes over, sent after police found the Hans bodies.

According to prosecutors, Haobsh was motivated by greed. Among his possessions was a screenshot of Hans bank information, including his account and social security numbers. Investigators say Haobsh transferred $100,000 from that account into his after the murders.

Haobsh was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in November 2021. On Friday, a judge sentenced him to three consecutive life sentences, plus additional time for the special circumstance of committing murder for financial gain.

He has no possibility of ever being released, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Ben Ladinig told KEYT. He will literally die in prison.
HONG KONG (AP)  One person was killed and seven others injured Saturday in an explosion aboard an oil tanker in waters off Hong Kong, authorities reported.

The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center said the tanker was 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of Hong Kong when it caught fire as a result of an explosion. The fire was extinguished, according to state-run Radio Television Hong Kong.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP)  Two men have been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting at an arcade in North Carolina, police said.

Winston-Salem police said Friday that Reginald Anthony Williams, 25, is charged with murder, and Nautica Shanice Baldwin, 26, is charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, news outlets reported.

According to an arrest warrant, Williams is accused of killing Arthur Little, 52, who was shot inside the arcade on Wednesday. When officers arrived, they found Little unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Baldwin is accused of stealing $420 from Little that same day after she threatened the victim with a handgun, her arrest warrant said.

Another man was taken to a local hospital with a leg injury, but police haven't identified him.

Williams was jailed without bond. Police said bond for Baldwin was set at $25,000. Both are scheduled to appear in a Forsyth County court on Monday. It was not immediately known if they have attorneys.

Police didnt describe the relationship between Williams and Baldwin.

Littles death is the citys 13th homicide in Winston-Salem this year, compared to eight homicides at the same time in 2021, police said.
HICKORY, N.C. (AP)  If you want justice, go get it. Thats the advice of Taylorsville resident Lisa Hollifield.

She lost her mother and two sisters in a 1997 DWI vehicle crash. Her work helped bring the case to a close 25 years after their deaths.

A couple days after New Years (Day), I decided it was time for a resolution, Hollifield, 51, said. So, I called up Hickory (police) and I told them, This is the year. This is going to be the 25-year mark. Its got to end.

Maria Self, 50, Kathy Styles, 31, and Ruth Self, 23, died on Feb. 17, 1997. Javier Uresti was a suspect in the wreck that killed the three women. Self and her two daughters were crossing Tate Boulevard on Ninth Street Lane SE, in a Geo Metro when they were hit by a 1995 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Uresti, a news release from the Hickory Police Department said.

In a Hickory Daily Record article from March 11, 1997, police said the results from a blood alcohol test administered on Uresti came back at 0.16, which was twice the legal limit. In the article, police said Uresti reportedly ran a red light around 10 p.m., hitting Selfs car. There were three passengers in Urestis truck, including his 2-year-old daughter, who also were injured, police said in a Hickory Daily Record article from Feb. 19, 1997.

At the time of the accident, police received conflicting reports about who was driving the truck, police said in the March article. The police department investigated further before charging Uresti on Feb. 20, 1997, with three counts of second-degree murder.

Hickory Police Chief Thurman Whisnant said last week that Uresti fled before enough evidence was obtained for his arrest.

In February of this year, Hollifield searched the name of Urestis daughter on Facebook to see if she could find her. Seven names popped up in the search. One of the names was linked to the Hickory area. Hollifield sent a message, she said.

At first she didnt say whether she knew him or not, Hollifield said. But then, the next day, she said she didnt know anything about the accident because it was kept from her and she told me how he had died.

Urestis daughter informed Hollifield that Uresti died July 1, 2020, after a car accident in Mexico. Urestis daughter also sent Hollifield a copy of his death certificate through Facebook Messenger.

Hollifield said she took this information to the Hickory Police Department, which confirmed Urestis death on March 30. Police could not confirm how Uresti died, Whisnant said.

Hollifield said she was glad the search was over. Her efforts to find Uresti were motivated by her desire to find closure for her niece and nephew, whose mother was Kathy Styles. They were 9 and 4 at the time of their mothers death. Kathy Styles daughter, Felicia Styles, 34, said she feels Uresti got off too easy and justice should have been served a long time ago.

He got to live freely being down there. He got to have his (family) and his life, Styles, a Hickory resident, said. My mom didnt get to have that choice. She missed out on four grandkids and she didnt get to finish watching me or my brother grow up.

Hollifield said after the accident she was full of hate and wanted revenge. She said she has since let go of that hatred for her own peace of mind.

Hollifield offered advice to people who are still looking for justice in old cases. I always made sure Hickory police knew exactly who I was, Hollifield said. Every time someone new would come in, I would make sure they knew. Same thing for the district attorney, I always made sure they knew who I was. If you want justice, you get it. You go fight for it. You keep fighting for it and dont give up ever.
WASHINGTON - In an unusual move, the U.S. Air Force recently informed its service members that it will support their families with medical and legal help if they are affected by dozens of new state laws restricting LGBTQ rights, including relocating families if the need arises.

The assistance was made widely public in a March 24 news release that initially attracted little attention. It announced a de facto expansion of human rights protections for these military families as states have moved to ban gender-affirming care for minors, restrict teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools, and prohibit trans athletes from playing on girls' sports teams.

"Various laws and legislation are being proposed and passed in states across America that may affect LGBTQ Airmen, Guardians, and/or their LGBTQ dependents in different ways," the news release stated. "The Department of the Air Force has assignment, medical, legal and other resources available to support Airmen, Guardians and their families."

Those resources include free counsel to families trying to understand new state laws, as well as mental help support available through military medical facilities.

The Exceptional Family Member Program, which offers such resources to families with "special needs" and allows personnel to be reassigned to different states with safer environments for their families, has been around for decades. But in the current political climate, a category has been added for families to seek use of the program.

"Airmen and Guardians who wish to address assignment concerns as a result of local laws or legislation should engage their respective chain of command and assignment teams at AFPC," an Air Force spokeswoman, Capt. Tanya Downsworth, told The Washington Post. "Family members receiving gender-affirming treatment, or likely to receive such treatment, may and should utilize the Exceptional Family Member Program to assist with any change of station movements regardless of location."

The move has been cheered by LGBTQ advocates. Lindsay Church, the executive director and co-founder of Minority Veterans of America and a nonbinary and queer Navy veteran, said concerns about a family member's safety presents a threat to national security.

"Service members with LGBTQ family members who fear for themselves and the safety of their families carry an undue burden as the result of these hateful policies," Church said. "We hope that the Air Force providing legal protections to these service members and alternatives to duty stations where service members have the potential to be harmed by these policies will influence additional branches of service to provide similar protections."

"A," the 34-year-old wife of a veteran in South Texas and mother of three children, two of whom identify as LGBTQ (including one who is transgender), echoed that sentiment. She hopes that other branches of the military and veterans also are provided resources; her husband was a Marine, and her family cannot access the Air Force support.

The family depends on military health care, including for her trans child, said A, who is being identified by her first initial out of fear of legal retaliation in Texas for speaking openly about her trans child.

The family has been increasingly on edge after a Feb. 22 directive by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, ordering the state's Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate as "child abuse" any gender-affirming care that families and facilities provide to trans children.

On March 11, a judge in Austin issued a temporary injunction against the order, calling it an unconstitutional overreach and a violation of the democratic process. The injunction blocked investigations and prosecutions of families, but soon after, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, R, tweeted that he had filed an appeal, claiming the injunction was "frozen." By then, at least nine such investigations had been opened.

Despite the murky legal status of such investigations, the effect has already been chilling, said A.

"Teachers were terrified about whether they had to report their students," she said. "Faith leaders were even called on to report families, including military families. So the implications certainly filtered into military health care."

She added that her family has "been able to discuss with our provider what options are still available through military health care, and not all of them are, anymore." She declined to comment on whether her child was receiving any gender-affirming health care.

Given the legal situation in Texas, she and her husband have grown increasingly concerned, A said: All three of her children carry a lawyer's phone number inside their backpacks at all times in the event that someone from a state agency attempts to speak to their child about their identity and care. She has trained all three of her children to say they will not speak unless their lawyer is present - "a conversation you'd rather not have with a kid in elementary school," she said.

For Heather-Lynne Van Wilde, who served in the Air Force from 2000 to 2005, the Air Force's publicly declared support would have made a vast difference in her service, she said. She transitioned after her tenure in the military, which was during the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy instituted during the Clinton administration. At the time, gay, lesbian and bisexual service members were prohibited from disclosing their sexual orientation or speaking about same-sex relationships while serving. (The policy did not address trans service members.)

"I was forced to live two lives: the 'male' airman that the Air Force believed they'd signed a contract with, and the authentic self that I was when I was in a safe place," she said. "A single wrong move, the wrong person finding out what I was, would set me up for a short-notice discharge."

If she had been able to serve with the current cultural mores and military policies, she "certainly could have transitioned in the military, and most definitely would have," she said, adding that it would've reduced or prevented "a number of the mental and neurological health conditions that I have now that make up a large portion of my military disabilities."

As HuffPost notes, the latest move by the Air Force is "surprisingly bold," given that the Air Force, as part of the federal government, is prohibited from weighing in on state laws. Most schools that Air Force family members attend, for example, are governed by state laws. But the Air Force's focus, leaders say, is being "proactive" about making sure families are aware of the help that is available.

Kristen, a married lesbian and mother who is an Army reservist in Brooklyn, says she hopes other branches of the military will follow suit: A recent Florida law has made her afraid to visit for an upcoming family reunion, she said. The new law, called the Parental Rights in Education bill, prohibits teaching students in kindergarten through third grade about sexual orientation or gender identity and gives parents the right to sue school districts over teachings they do not like.

Her son is 6 months old, and she fears what could happen to her family, given the increasingly hostile rhetoric directed at same-sex couples. She asked to be identified by her first name only because she works for the government and does not have the clearance to speak about policy.

"Families need protection," she said. The Department of Defense "protects active duty soldiers in other countries; now you're having to apply that in states in our country."
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ZAMORA, Spain (AP)  Wailing bugles, rhythmic drumbeats and eerie religious chants can be heard once again across Spain this year as the countrys massively popular Easter religious processions return after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During Holy Week, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to again pack the streets of cities, towns and villages across the country daily to witness parades that are a major tourist attraction, with some televised nationally.

The ceremonies see brotherhoods of nazarenos, or penitents, with tall conical hats, monkish robes and facial hoods escorting magnificently decorated floats with sculptures of Jesus and the Virgin, many with a background of ancient streets and architecture.

Easter has always been a sacred holiday for Spaniards and millions take to the road, many just to see the processions. But COVID-19 halted all that.

The pandemic struck early in 2020 and Spain was in a total lockdown at Easter. In 2021, some measures were lifted but travel between Spanish regions was severely restricted and public gatherings banned.

Cristina Luisa Ensegundo, 29, is participating in her first Holy Week procession in the western city of Zamora. She is doing so in memory of her grandmother, Maria Carmen, who died from the coronavirus. Maria Carmen had bought herself a veil and hair comb, which women participants use to adorn stylish black dresses but, her granddaughter said, she never got to walk in the procession.

When we were sorting her things I saw the hair comb and veil and I knew that I had to join the procession, Ensegundo said about the procession of the Virgin of Hope Brotherhood she participated in on Thursday.

When she died I said this could be a homage or a way to remember her. Since she had always liked this procession I signed up" she said. "She is always with us, but this will make the day special.

Nearly all pandemic restrictions are gradually being scrapped, but authorities urge the use of masks when necessary during the multitudinous gatherings, such as the processions.

While some women like Ensegundo do take part, men form the majority of participants. Processions vary greatly but nearly all include the hooded nazarenos. Their odd conical hats are said to date back to the Spanish Inquisition when prisoners were made to wear them. The covered faces helped sinners hide their identities.

The celebrations date back to when Spain was a bastion of Roman Catholicism, but nowadays nazarenos come from all walks of life, many with no religious inclination.

For Juan Carlos Alonso, of the Jesus of the Stations of the Cross brotherhood, the sensations today feel special, adding that Zamora lives the whole year for Holy Week.

For those who experience Holy Week to the full, these were two years of orphanhood, said Alonso. He said that beside the religious and cultural aspects, the processions are of great sentimental importance, being a tradition passed on from parents to children.

Zamoras processions date back to the 13th century. Beside the impressive artistic quality of the floats and sculptures, they are noted for their austerity, solemnity and captivating Gregorian music.

In the northern La Rioja region, many participants wear ankle chains and flagellate themselves. In nearby Aragon, nazarenos draw their own blood by beating bass drums for hours on end.

Among the most fervent processions is Sevilles La Macarena, which features 3,600 penitents and attracts thousands of bystanders.

Many floats are extremely heavy and the Macarena has to be carried by 36 costaleros  normally men who wear corsets to avoid injury. Some processions are held in silence broken only by a flamenco-style lament, or saeta. Others have noisy brass bands playing festive paso doble dance tunes.

The procession is of vital importance, for people in Seville, Jose Antonio Fernandez Cabrero, head of the Macarena brotherhood said. He described the past two years as an existential void.

______

Associated Press writer Ciaran Giles contributed to this report from Madrid.
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP)  More than eight decades after a sacred baptismal font mysteriously disappeared from a historic Catholic church in Caborca, Mexico, two Prescott men were successful in their years-long mission to return the vessel to its rightful home.

Along the way, the two men relied on a combination of friendship, diplomacy and persistence to navigate nearly 15 years of ups and downs in international negotiations, The Daily Courier reported.

Prescott residents Robert Greninger and Ed Williams  both long-time members of the Prescott-Caborca Sister City organization  were honored recently in Caborca, Sonora, Mexico, for the crucial role they played in restoring the original baptismal font and its associated vessels to Caborcas signature church, the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception.

Greninger, who has been involved with the Prescott Sister City organization since 1999 and has served as its president, remembers the day in 2008 when he was touring the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church with Gloria Elena Santini, a leader of Caborcas efforts to restore the 1809-era church in time for its 200th anniversary.

We came to the baptismal room, and I asked, what happened to the font (a receptacle that holds baptismal water)? Greninger recalled after returning from his latest visit to Caborca.

He was told that the font had been taken from the church in 1937 by a young Arizona student. No one knows for sure why the woman took the font, Greninger said, but one theory is that she feared for the safety of the font in the era of anti-clerical sentiments during the 1930s reformation of the Catholic Church in Mexico.

Regardless of the reason, the font would remain in Arizona for the next 84 years  first in a private home collection, and later in the Arizona Historical Societys Tucson museum as the property of the State of Arizona.

Although the Tucson museum had offered to temporarily lend the sacred artifact to the Caborca church, Greninger said the Caborcans were interested only in having the font returned permanently to its rightful home.

That finally happened on April 4, when the font was officially signed over to the Caborca church. An agreement had been reached in August 2021 between the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, the Arizona Historical Society, the Historic Temple Board, ecclesiastical authorities, and members of the two Sister City organization. The baptismal font was then returned to Mexico, after which it spent several months at the National Anthropologic Museum in Mexico City.

In early April, Greninger and Williams, along with several other Prescott members of the Prescott-Caborca Sister City Organization, traveled to Caborca for official signing over of the font.

In celebration of the return of the font to the historic mission church, the two men were awarded ceremonial keys to the town of Caborca and were celebrated for their long efforts in getting the font back.

To a person, (the people of Caborca) said this wouldnt have happened without your assistance, Greninger said.

Back in 2008, he had made a promise to get the font back to Caborca, and he said its return to a community that he has come to think of as family was especially gratifying.

Sister Cities is about bringing people together one community at a time, Greninger said of the U.S. organization that was the inspiration of former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower after he witnessed the carnage and devastation of the World War II and the Korean Conflict.

The Prescott-Caborca Sister City partnership was formed in 1972 and is currently celebrating its 50th year.

Greninger sees the type of person-to-person efforts that he and Williams engaged in as the embodiment of the Sister Cities goal. What better way to do that than to do something important for the citizens of the community? he said.

After Greninger took that tour of the Caborca church in 2008, he remembers thinking about the missing font through the night. When he met with Santini again the next day, he told her he would do what he could to bring the font back to Caborca.

Soon after that meeting, Greninger contacted Williams, a retired University of Arizona professor of political science, who had crucial connections on both sides of the border.

I lived in Tucson for many years, and I had contacts in Mexico, Williams said.

The collaboration between Williams and Greninger would lead to years of meetings with a broad range of state, federal, and museum officials, including representatives from Arizona Gov. Doug Duceys office.

We spent the next frustrating 15 years begging, cajoling, and pleading with both U.S. and Mexican authorities to reach an agreement to return the font and vessels to the church in Caborca, Greninger wrote in an account of the saga.

He and Williams say the return of the font became a passionate cause. I often told people, I wont die until I get that font back, Greninger said.

Most of people they met with during the course of the negotiations were amenable to the idea of getting the font back to Caborca, Greninger and Williams said. I dont think we ever met with any resistance, Williams said.

Still, things never seemed to progress to the point of an agreement, until Mexicos First Lady Beatriz Gutierrez Muller became involved. Soon after that, Greninger and Williams said, there was an agreement.

Noting that the historic Our Lady of Immaculate Conception of Caborca Church has ties back to Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a missionary of the late 1600s and early 1700s, Greninger said, Padre Kino is smiling.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP)  A man who was convicted of killing a California family of three, including a 5-year-old girl, six years ago was sentenced Friday to life in prison without chance of parole.

Pierre Haobsh received three consecutive life sentences from a Santa Barbara County judge plus additional sentences because the crimes involved multiple victims, use of a gun and were committed for financial gain, prosecutors said.
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BEIJING (AP)  Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Saturday after six months aboard their country's newest orbital station in the longest crewed mission to date for China's ambitious space program.

The Shenzhou 13 space capsule landed in the Gobi desert in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, shown live on state TV.

During the mission, astronaut Wang Yaping carried out the first spacewalk by a Chinese woman. Wang and crewmates Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu beamed back physics lessons for high school students.

China launched its first astronaut into space in 2003 and landed robot rovers on the moon in 2013 and on Mars last year. Officials have discussed a possible crewed mission to the moon.

On Saturday, state TV showed images from inside the capsule as it traveled at 200 meters per second over Africa before entering the atmosphere.

The trio were the second crew aboard Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace. Its core module, Tianhe, was launched in April 2021. Plans call for completing construction this year by adding two more modules.

Authorities have yet to announce a date for launching the next Tiangong crew.

China is excluded from the International Space Station due to U.S. unease that its space program is run by the ruling Communist Partys military wing, the Peoples Liberation Army.

China was the third nation to launch an astronaut into space on its own after the former Soviet Union and the United States. Tiangong is Chinas third space station following predecessors launched in 2011 and 2016.

The government announced in 2020 that China's first reusable spacecraft had landed following a test flight but no photos or details of the vehicle have been released.

On Tuesday, President Xi Jinping visited the launch site in Wenchang on the southern island of Hainan from which the Tianhe module was fired into orbit.

Persist in pursuing the frontiers of world aerospace development and the major strategic needs of national aerospace, Xi told staff at the site, all of them in military uniform.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A Mexico City borough held Latin Americas most famous re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ with spectators Friday for the first time in two years, after the coronavirus pandemic forced televised-only performances in 2020 and 2021.

The lavish, detailed Easter week Passion of Christ has been played out in the east-side borough of Iztapalapa since 1843, and in recent years had drawn a week-long total of about 2 million spectators.
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP)  A former city council member in a southeast Georgia college town has become the third person to plead guilty to evading taxes on income from bars he secretly owned across Georgia.

Former Statesboro council member Will Britt pleaded guilty to one count of income tax evasion Wednesday in federal court, the Statesboro Herald reports, and could face up to five years in prison. Britt is free on bail pending sentencing by U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall at a later date.

Britt waived indictment in March and pleaded guilty to a charge filed by prosecutors. Information presented to the court showed that while the bars were owned on paper by people other than Britt, he owned a share of all of them.

Prosecutors said that the owners skimmed cash and underreported credit and debit card receipts, avoiding paying income taxes on the money.

Prosecutors have said in court papers that the scheme began in 2007 and ran until 2016. The FBI and IRS began investigating in 2014.

Britt has agreed to pay more than $352,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, representing back taxes he owes. Including other owners, prosecutors said the IRS was cheated out of more than $867,000.

Prosecutors said Britt didn't tell his accountant about cash he was hiding from eight bars and restaurants in Statesboro, Americus, Milledgeville, Tifton and Valdosta.

Michael Heath Cox, who pleaded guilty in 2019, was sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation, $158,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.

James Stafford, who nominally owned a Statesboro bar and a Milledgeville bar and restaurant, pleaded guilty last month to tax evasion. He's paying $53,000 in restitution and could also be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Britt was a Statesboro City Council member from 2004 through 2015.

While in office, the council accepted a settlement in which another man  neither Britt nor Stafford  surrendered the license of a bar in question named Rude Rudy's.

That came after an off-duty bouncer, 20-year-old Grant Spencer, beat 18-year-old Georgia Southern University student Michael Gatto to death in 2014. Spencer pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2016 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Gatto's parents sued the city unsuccessfully. However, the city made changes to its alcohol laws and the state passed a law prohibiting people under age 21 from working as bouncers.

Britt openly owned some other Statesboro bars in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He now lives in Bluffton, South Carolina.
Gene J. Puskar/AP

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating Lucky Charms cereal after dozens of customers complained of illness after eating it.

The FDA said Saturday it has received more than 100 complaints related to Lucky Charms so far this year.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)  The Fort Wayne Police Department is asking the public for help in finding two men they say are suspects in the shooting death of a northeastern Indiana man.

Police say two teens found the mans body in a wooded area Thursday evening. The Allen County Coroners Office identified him as William J. Kintzel, 63, of South Whitley. It said he died of gunshot wounds.
ARMUCHEE, Ga. (AP)  Police say a northwest Georgia man killed his grandmother by stuffing her in a freezer while she was still alive.

Floyd County Police discovered the body of Doris Cumming, 82, late Thursday in the Armuchee home she shared with her grandson, 29-year-old Robert Keith Tincher III.

Tincher was charged with murder, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another. He remains jailed in Rome. It's unclear if he has a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

Police said Cumming's family believed she had moved out of state, but grew concerned after not hearing from her and reported she might be missing.

Police said they believe that Cumming was injured in a fall in December and that instead of getting her medical attention, Tincher dragged her through home. Criminal charges say Tincher heard and saw numerous bones break." He then wrapped her in plastic bags and placed her in a large freezer, with the charges saying Tincher acknowledged her back broke going into the freezer. Charges say there was no altercation or provocation leading up to the acts.

From what we determined, at the time, he believed she was still breathing and had some movement at the time she was going into the freezer, said Floyd County Investigator Brittany Werner told WAGA-TV.

Tincher continued living in the home with the body inside the freezer for months, but moved it to a storage unit in March, fearing Cumming's body might be found.

Werner said Tincher told police he didnt call 911 because he was wanted for arrest because of terroristic threats made in 2018 against his wife.

Tincher also told investigators how much he loved his grandmother.

He said she was the only family member that gave him the courtesy and love and attention he needed, said Werner.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an autopsy to determine Cumming's cause and time of death.

___

This story corrects that suspects last name is Tincher, not Fincher.
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. (AP)  A pair of rare sea turtles have returned to the ocean after veterinarians spent nearly a year nursing them back to health on the Georgia coast.

The adult female loggerhead turtles were released into the surf Friday on the beach at Jekyll Island. Both had been patients at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, the islands hospital for sick and injured sea turtles.
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (AP)  Before digging into his six-egg omelet at a bustling northeast Ohio diner, Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel stopped to bow his head.

Bless our food, our time, our conversation, in Jesus' name," said Pastor J.C. Church, who joined Mandel after a campaign event at a local church. Amen."

The scene encapsulated Mandel's campaign strategy as he competes in a crowded field of Republican contenders ahead of Ohios May 3 primary. He is a Jewish candidate who makes no secret of his faith, but who is centering his campaign around evangelical churches as he tries to win over religious, conservative voters.

Usually, when someones running for U.S. Senate or governor or Congress, theyd go to all the Republican rubber chicken dinners and clam bakes and hog roasts, stuff like that, Mandel said in a recent interview between campaign stops. Were blowing up the playbook. Im sidestepping all of the Republican Party groups and, instead, Im running a campaign through churches.

Indeed, Mandel's campaign is steeped in Christianity. His website features a picture of a cross and an American flag. He pledges to make decisions in Washington with the Bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other. And he holds most of his campaign events at evangelical churches.

Raised in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood, Mandel is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, attended Bnai Brith Perlman summer camp and was married in Israel. His children are enrolled at a modern orthodox Jewish day school where they study Torah half the day.

Mandel describes himself as a proud Jew" and dismisses those, including some GOP primary rivals, who have portrayed him as insincere in his emphasis of conservative Christian values.

Some critics say they're more concerned with Mandels history of controversial statements. He was briefly kicked off Twitter after running a poll on which illegals would commit the most crimes, Muslim Terrorists or Mexican Gangbangers, and has characterized Black Lives Matter protesters as thugs.

The Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior minister of the First Congregational Church of Columbus, said Jesus dedicated his life to caring for those who had been forsaken and forgotten, so to use his name to further divide people is really sick.

The problem that I have is when you literally take what is the Christian faith and turn it into a political campaign, its abusive of the faith, he said.

Still, Mandel's alliance is part of a broader shift in U.S. politics, with Republicans like former President Donald Trump working to win over conservative Christians by aligning themselves with pro-Israel policies. With Jewish Americans overwhelmingly voting Democratic, according to Pew Research Center, some conservative Jewish groups have banded with white evangelical Protestants  who are more likely than Jews to favor stronger U.S. support for Israel  to form new allegiances on the right.

It's unclear whether that shift will benefit Mandel. In a major blow to his campaign, Trump endorsed rival JD Vance on Friday.

Mandel sees no contradiction between his faith and his campaign approach.

At his events, the boyish Marine veteran often introduces himself by telling the story of how courageous Christians sheltered his grandmother during the Holocaust, saving her life. And he explains that, when it comes to his support for Israel, he often has more in common with evangelical Christians than he does with liberal Jews.

From my perspective, you know for me, Im a proud American, Im a proud Marine Corps vet and Im a proud Jew, he explained. And when I look at the U.S.-Israel relationship, I think liberal Jews in America should be ashamed of themselves for supporting anti-Israel groups like J Street. And I think the best friends of the U.S.-Israel relationship in America are evangelical Christians.

Mandel touts his opposition to abortion and a belief that there is no separation between church and state, signaling a willingness to support policies such as prayer in public schools and permitting private businesses to turn away customers based on their religious beliefs.

You know, people want faith instilled in the classroom, in the workplace, in all aspects of society, Mandel said.

Fred Zeidman, a longtime GOP donor and Mandel supporter who worked on Jewish outreach for multiple Republican presidential campaigns, noted that evangelicals are among the party's most consistent voters.

If you want to win an election, youve got to go where the voters are, he said. So I think its essential for him, if he wants to win, that he lets the faith-based community know that he thinks like they do. He doesnt think like 80% of the Jewish community that votes Democrat no matter what.

The strategy has also garnered him attention. In a world where tweets equal visibility for a politician, Mandel's particular take on religious topics gained him more than 27,000 mentions on Twitter from October to December -- more than religion-related mentions for all other candidates, Republican or Democrat, combined, according to an analysis for The Associated Press by Zignal Labs.

Stephanie A. Martin, a professor of communications at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said Mandels embrace of Christianity may serve to neutralize worries among Republicans about his Jewishness in a country where antisemitism is still a potent force.

When Mandel describes his platform as protecting the Judeo-Christian bedrock of America, he is invoking what scholars term founders rhetoric, she said, which creates a kind of narrative logic that positions evangelicals as the rightful heirs and the rightful defenders of authentic American values.

Its a very smart way to orient around a shared understanding of the founding narrative and what it means to have a traditional outlook on what the country means, she said, noting that vision leaves little room for versions of history that arent white, patriarchal and Christian.

Some of Mandels longtime Jewish friends and supporters described feeling out of place when they first attended his events. But they said they came to see the evangelicals as a natural base of support for Mandel, given their shared support for Israel, even if his efforts may make others in the Jewish community feel uncomfortable.

I wouldnt say it feels weird, but it definitely feels different. But a great difference," said Yoel Mayerfeld, a longtime friend and supporter who lives in Mandel's native Beachwood, which boasts the second largest Jewish population per capita outside Israel. Mayerfeld, who is Jewish, said hed been to Mandel events where hed met religious and evangelical Christians who share many of his values.

I think its really unique. I think its really beautiful in many ways, he said.

Rich Soclof, another Jewish Mandel friend and supporter, said he was admittedly a little hesitant, not about the concept, but even what its going to be like when I got to this event. But he, too, was pleasantly surprised, especially by the fact that Mandel has not tried to downplay his own religion.

I love it. I cant tell you if I would have loved it 10 years ago, he said. Hes finding this synergy, in a creative way, by running it through churches' and being embraced by them.

___

Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio.
NEW YORK (AP)  The former union boss for the nations largest correction officers union might have gotten too harsh a prison sentence when he was ordered to spend nearly five years behind bars for corruption convictions, a judge said.

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who sentenced Seabrook to four years and 10 months in prison in early 2019, said in a ruling Friday that the length of Norman Seabrooks prison term deserves a second look. He noted disparities in the sentence given to Seabrook, who is Black, and co-conspirators who are white.

But he also said in a written ruling that the former head of the New York City Correction Officers Benevolent Association did not deserve a new trial after his 2018 conviction on conspiracy and honest service wire fraud charges.

Prosecutors said he accepted $60,000 in bribes in 2014 to funnel $20 million in union funds to a risky hedge fund. All but $1 million was lost. Seabrook has said there was no evidence he ever intended to lose a dime of union members money.

Seabrook, 62, is scheduled for a July 2025 release from the Beckley Correctional Center in Beckley, West Virginia. He was arrested in June 2016 after he'd been a powerbroker in New York City for more than two decades, representing guards in the city's 10,000-inmate jail system.

In October 2021, Seabrook asked Hellerstein to grant him a new trial on several grounds including ineffective assistance of counsel and unjust rulings against him, which Hellerstein said in his Friday ruling all fall well short of the mark.

But Hellerstein said Seabrook's claims that his sentence was disproportionately harsher than the sentences his co-conspirators received may possess merit.

The judge noted that one co-conspirator, Murray Huberfeld, who is white and was originally sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding his own investment company, was ultimately given seven months in custody after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the amount of financial harm his crimes had done needed to be measured differently that it had when he received the sentence of over two years.

The result is a significant disparity of sentences, an appearance of arbitrariness, and potential disrespect of the community because of the appearance of racial differentiation, Hellerstein wrote.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  The Maine Legislature is looking to cut down on suspensions and expulsions of students during early childhood.

Maine has the second-highest rate of preschool student expulsion in the country. The Legislature is considering a bill that would expand a pilot program already in use in half the state's counties.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)  Hundreds of American white pelicans are visiting the Iowa River in Iowa City, delighting residents with their snowy feathers and prominent yellow bills.

They are a big white bird that from behind looks like a swan, said Anna Burkhardt-Thomas, the states top bird expert within the Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife diversity staff. That really long yellow beak with a pouch for fish is a key feature.

For more than a week, the pelicans have been swimming in and flying around the Iowa River as far south as Terry Trueblood Recreation Area all the way north to the Coralville Lake. Large clusters of the birds loiter south of the dam in downtown Iowa City, where turbulent water stirs up fish.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that this Midwest spring break is part of the pelicans migration from their winter habitat on the Gulf Coast shores to Minnesota or Canada, where they will spend the summer, Burkhardt-Thomas said. But pelicans dont always come through Iowa in such large numbers, and they dont always stay so long.

They might stick around longer if they are finding a good food source, she said.

These impressive visitors have brought out the birders, both veteran and novice.

Bob Sass, 65, of Iowa City, sat Monday in his pickup at Terry Trueblood park, watching pelicans on the lake through his binoculars.

I like watching them fly, he said. You see the black tips, then they turn and the white on their wings catches the sun and they just kind of disappear into the sky.

American white pelicans have black flight feathers on the underside of their wings only visible when their wings are open. The birds have a 9-foot wingspan  larger than brown pelicans found near the ocean.

These freshwater birds have a foot-long beak with a pouch for catching and holding fish. Pelicans of both genders get a bump or knob on the top of their beaks during mating season. The bump falls off after they have mated and laid eggs, the Iowa DNR reports.

The pelicans stopping in Iowa City will go farther north to breed, Burkhardt-Thomas said. Iowa has one breeding colony of pelicans, along the Mississippi River.

When they are breeding, theyll often set up on an island with nests on the ground, she said. Youll see a large number of nests in that area. We dont see that where we see other pelicans.

Pelicans are at risk of catching bird flu in rivers and lakes used by waterfowl, such as geese or ducks, believed to carry the H5N1 strain of the disease, Burkhardt-Thomas said. The infection can be spread through feces or saliva.

At this point, no evidence that pelicans in Iowa have the highly pathogenic avian flu, she said. It has been found in pelicans in some other states. There has been one report of pelicans in Missouri with avian influenza.

Bird flu has infected 14 commercial and backyard poultry flocks so far this year in Iowa and more than 13 million birds have been euthanized in a state that is No. 1 in egg production.

How long the pelicans will stay in Iowa City may depend on the weather, Burkhardt-Thomas said. If theres a strong wind from the south, they may decide to lift off to use that current to take them closer to their summer homes up north.
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KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP)  The mother and grandmother of a 15-year-old Ukrainian boy could not hold back their tears. Their anguish filled the cramped hallway as they knelt over the teen's body.

Artem Shevchenko was killed by shelling in Kharkiv, a partially blockaded northeastern city where Russian shelling has increased in recent days. Ukraines second-largest city, Kharkiv is only 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border.

Nine civilians died and more than 50 people were wounded Friday in the attack on one of Kharkiv's residential areas, the Ukrainian presidents office reported.

Please open your eyes, my bunny. Please, Nina Shevchenko pleaded, captured in a moving Associated Press video in which she mourns her son.

The boy's grandmother arrived as people came to take his body away.

Let me see him! My baby. My golden sunshine!" the grandmother cried. "My dear sunshine. We just spoke today. My dear, why should I live, if you are gone? I lived for you. My sunshine. Curse them all! They should not find any place, neither on Earth, nor in heaven.

I lived for you, Nina Shevchenko told her son.

Please open your eyes, she said, touching his face before paramedics and neighbors took the boy away in a body bag. A seven-month-old baby was also killed in the shelling.

In another buildings hallway, a young girl broke down in tears as she recounted the horror of the attack and how she was saved only when some woman, God bless her, covered me with her body.

Outside, bloodied people lay in pain on the streets, where ambulances arrived to treat them.

Amid burned-out cars and debris, a man who had helped his friend into an ambulance spoke out against Russian forces, whose invasion sparked a war in his country.

What did this guy do to them (Russians)?" asked Sergey Kirichenko, a friend of the wounded man.

With whom should we make peace? Kirichenko asked. "With these monsters?

The Russian Defense Ministry said Russian military strikes in the Kharkiv region liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company of up to 30 people and liberated an iron and steel factory in the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

The claims could not be independently verified.

___

Follow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Christy McCormick, vice chair of U.S. Election Assistance Commission, is hearing a similar message from officials who run elections nationwide: Supply shortages could bring delays as they order the paper and envelopes needed for upcoming primary and midterm elections.

The dilemma is the result of global supply chain issues coupled with an increase in demand for paper brought on by the pandemic, leaving ballot vendors worried about not getting their supply in time for the elections, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

We are very concerned about this issue, McCormick said in March during a U.S. House Administration Committee roundtable discussion with paper companies and election clerks to discuss how the paper shortage could affect elections.

Lawmakers in Nevada, which has almost 1.8 million active registered voters, passed a law last year directing election officials to send every registered voter a mail-in ballot, unless they choose to opt out. Some counties, such as Nye, are also pushing for 100% paper ballot elections. Both processes will require election officials to increase their paper supply to print ballots.

The Nevada Secretary of States office has known about the shortage for months and has reached out to county officials to recommend that they confirm with their ballot suppliers that they will get their supply in time.

Joe Gloria, registrar of voters in the Las Vegas area, said he confirmed with the countys vendors that the paper shortage would not affect Clark County in printing ballots or sample ballots for the 2022 election.

The county, with more than 1.2 million active registered voters, has two different vendors: One is a local vendor that does sample ballots; the other provides mail-in ballots and the envelopes those ballots require, he said.

The mail ballot vendor has a proactive policy of ordering in August for regular years, Gloria said. The local vendor  already ordered their paper, and as far as we know there will be no drastic price increase.

Clark County notwithstanding, with primary elections already started nationally and the November midterms quickly approaching, the potential hiccup has caught the attention of federal lawmakers.

U.S. Rep Rodney Davis, R-Ill., of the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over voting issues, brought together election officials and paper vendors to address the issue.

Elections are a really paper-driven process, and I think that is an incredibly important thing to keep in mind, said Amy Cohen, executive director of National Association of State Election Directors, during the roundtable. We are already seeing the impacts of these supply chain challenges not just on ballots but on other kinds of paper.

Shelly Jackson, deputy director of elections in Utah, told the group she wasnt as worried about her states larger counties and jurisdictions. Rather, her concerns are with smaller offices that rely on small vendors.

I think some of the counties are blissfully unaware, Jackson said. I just dont think theres a lot of awareness on this.

Some Nevada counties report they also arent facing a shortage. The Sun reported that clerks in Washoe, Humboldt, Nye, Lincoln and Lyon counties, said they have been proactive in ordering.

Right now all of our vendors are on it, and we have what we need, said Sandra Merlino, the Nye County clerk.

Bethany Drysdale, a communications manager for Washoe County, with more than 309,000 voters including Reno, wrote in an email that weve communicated with our vendors and they are stocked and prepared for both the primary and general elections.

COST MAY BE ISSUE TOO

Inland Press in Detroit has been producing election ballots for 30 years, company president Bradley Thompson said during the roundtable. Normally, Inland buys the paper for that years election around March, but the company ordered its paper last August instead, to be sure it would arrive in time, he said.

We think we have the commitments we need for the midterm elections, Thompson said, noting he did not know how much the paper would cost. Its not on my floor yet, so I still lose a little bit of sleep over that.

Thompson said he has talked with envelope manufacturers, who are also facing election-related challenges.

Were worried about them having enough envelopes to mail the ballots that we will produce for them, Thompson said.

Jeff Ellington, chief executive officer of Runbeck Election Services based in Phoenix, said that until the paper arrived at his company, theres a concern that it wont show up. He has also had concerns about the labor shortage and finding enough truck drivers to deliver the ballots once theyre ready.

While the paper shortage is a global problem, with newspapers in Sri Lanka, for instance, deciding to halt printing, many U.S. paper mills have closed over the last several years, exacerbating the supply problem for U.S. vendors.

Ford Bowers, president and CEO of PRINTING United Alliance, said during the roundtable that demand for paper products has increased in the country. For example, people ordered more items from Amazon, requiring more packaging material. Additionally, book production went up 13% last year, Bowers said.

Its constrained the amount of paper thats available, Bowers said.

Because many state legislatures have made changes to election forms recently, county clerks have no back stock or extra supply of forms available, Cohen said. She also had heard from states that have to delay sending their registration confirmation cards out to voters because they cannot get paper or as much paper as they would want.

This is something that the states are paying very close attention to, working closely with their paper vendors, Cohen said. The ripple effects of the paper shortage are expected to be long lasting, going into multiple election cycles. Some election officials and ballot suppliers arent quite sure how things will look in the next couple of years.

We dont think the demand is going to shift back now that were getting out of COVID, Bowers said at the roundtable. We have somewhat of a long-term problem that we have to face.

Roundtable participants emphasized the importance of election officials planning ahead and discussing their funding sources because of the increase in costs. They suggested solutions such as incentivizing paper manufacturers to prioritize election materials and to ensure that available supply will go toward the most necessary use.

I dont know if theres a way that those of us who are doing this business can get some sort of certification and designation, Thompson said, and then can the government give us some sort of priority basis of getting the material we need to get us through?

Davis plans to reconvene the group before the general election to continue its collaborative efforts. The Election Assistance Commission sent out communication to its Standards Board recently, encouraging members to spread the word about the shortage.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)  In July, a life-sized statue of Ida B. Wells was unveiled near the corner of Fourth and Beale, at the new Ida B. Wells Plaza.

The bronze likeness joined such previous tributes to Wells as a 1990 U.S. postage stamp and a 2020 Pulitzer Prize special citation, acknowledging what the Pulitzer board described as her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching.

Wells, in other words, has not lacked for posthumous recognition and prestigious encomiums. In recent years, she has become one of the most celebrated figures of the post-Civil War, pre-civil rights movement struggle for racial enlightenment. Her name, like that of her most famous successor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., garners seemingly universal respect.

But if Wells, in symbolic statue form, now stands in the Memphis landscape like a sentinel demanding justice, her relationship to the city where she launched her crusades against racism and sexism remains arguably underappreciated, on both a local and national scale.

That could change, if a cadre of Memphis filmmakers have their way.

A project of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis, Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells will premiere at 7 p.m. April 19 with a fundraising screening at the Orpheums Halloran Centre. Emmy-winning producer Rita Coburn (The Oprah Winfrey Show, PBS American Masters) will host the event.

IDA B. WELLS BEGAN HER CRUSADE HERE

Co-directed by Hooks Institute executive director Daphene R. McFerren and Hooks Institute assistant director Nathaniel C. Ball, the feature-length documentary uses narration, interviews, readings from Wells diaries, animation (by Tonya Smith), re-enactments (with actors from Hattiloo and Playhouse on the Square in period costumes created by the U of M Department of Theatre & Dance) and other techniques and strategies to tell the story of Ida B. Wells in Memphis.

Collaborating with McFerren and Ball was professional filmmaker Fabian Matthews of Spotlight Productions, who was enlisted as a producer, editor and director of photography. Matthews said the documentary became a huge undertaking as its ambitions expanded to match Wells significance, which is why he suggested widening its appeal with animation and other approaches.

Ball, a veteran documentarian, said Wells Memphis story had never really been told in this way. We wanted to make it visually interesting as well as something people will learn from. Its really become a piece of art.

He said the project began almost seven years ago, although work on the film could take place only in fits and starts, due to the overall demands of the 27-year-old Hooks Institute, which hosts numerous social and educational initiatives as it addresses contemporary racial, social, economic and other disparities through community engagement and faculty scholarship (to quote its mission statement).

McFerren said Ida B. Wells wouldnt exist as we know her but for her experience in Memphis, where she lived about 10 years. (Wells was born into slavery in 1862 in Holly Springs, and she died in 1931 in Chicago.)

For many Black people in the South, Memphis was the place to come after the Civil War, McFerren said. Memphis had a vibrant social and cultural scene, and she (Wells) came here with the hope of realizing her personal and professional dreams.

It was here, in the 1890s, that the educator, journalist and newspaper co-owner began a series of activist investigations into the local lynchings of three Black men that inspired national outrage and reform efforts that continue to reverberate. (The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which makes lynching a federal hate crime, only became law this year, signed by President Joe Biden in a March 29 ceremony attended by relatives of Wells and Till, the youth murdered in Mississippi in 1955.)

Eventually, threats and violence  mobs attacked the office of Wells newspaper, the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight  drove Wells to Chicago, where she continued her anti-lynching activism.

Although she left under circumstances where she wasnt appreciated, Memphis should be proud that Ida B. Wells began her crusade here, McFerren said. Memphis really has helped to shape the human rights of the world.

Funded through a combination of grants and donations, the 90-minute Facing Down Storms should make its way to various film festivals and streaming services after its Memphis premiere.

Our goal is to get distribution, and hopefully the film can provide some income for the institute, said Ball, citing such popular University of Memphis-associated documentaries from years past as At the River I Stand, about the Memphis 1968 sanitation strike.

What Ida B. Wells witnessed was a turning back of the gains provided by the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, which abolished slavery and prohibited some forms of discrimination, McFerren said. To me, it very much mirrors what is going on now.

I see us now in a backlash to the period running from Brown vs. the Board of Education through the Barack Obama presidency. In the Ida B. Wells story, theres a warning to the future. Theres not a guarantee that the gains of the civil rights era will continue.
Disease trackers are monitoring the spread of new, highly transmissible versions of the omicron variant in New York state and Europe, the latest evidence of the coronavirus's ability to overhaul its genetic profile and pose a fresh threat.

It is too soon to predict how far the new subvariants might spread and how sick they might make people, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

"When you look at what's happening right now and try to tell the story of what might occur, you're challenged," he said. For now, scientists are left "watching and learning," Osterholm added.

The first communities in the United States that have said they are contending with the new omicron subvariants are in central New York, around Syracuse and Lake Ontario.

New York state officials this week announced that two new omicron subvariants, dubbed BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, have become the dominant forms of the coronavirus in the central part of the state. For weeks, infection rates in central New York have been at least twice the state average, according to data from the state health department.

The new omicron sublineages in New York have picked up mutations that may help the virus enter cells faster and evade vaccine- and infection-boosted immunity, said Andy Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"Whenever we see those mutations, we're a little bit concerned, but it's hard right now to really estimate how big of a concern those variants will be," Pekosz said.

State officials said that the subvariants are spreading 23 to 27% more rapidly than the original BA.2 omicron variant and that the subvariants are contributing to rising case numbers.

"The Department's findings are the first reported instances of significant community spread due to the new subvariants in the United States," New York state health officials said in a news release Wednesday. "At this time, there is no evidence of increased disease severity by these subvariants, though the Department is closely monitoring for any changes."

In March, the two subvariants accounted for more than 70% of reported covid-19 cases in central New York. So far in April, the data show an increase to 90% of all new cases.

"This may change as more data becomes available," New York Department of Health spokeswoman Samantha Fuld said. "The department is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to communicate openly with New Yorkers."

Fuld said officials are expanding a wastewater surveillance program for the coronavirus "to cover all counties and to include sequencing for the analysis of covid-19 variants."

Infections in central New York are approaching levels last seen during last year's delta wave. Oswego County had the state's highest reported infection rate as of Wednesday: 69.8 cases per 100,000 people during the last seven days. Neighboring Onondaga County had the state's third-highest rate, at 53.3 per 100,000.

At a briefing Wednesday, Onondaga County Health Commissioner Indu Gupta said the subvariants are "more contagious than covid omicron" and that hospitalizations in the county were on the rise, although officials said they hoped to avoid the peaks reported during previous coronavirus waves by employing testing, masking, vaccination, community outreach and other tools.

"I'm just here to remind everybody that the pandemic is still here, that people can be tired. I'm tired, too. But the virus is not tired," Gupta said. "I think it's important to remember that it keeps on going, and it's changing its shape, it's changing its style. It's just challenging us, and we really need to step up to its challenge."

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said officials theorized that the subvariants arrived from travelers in February.

"The contact tracing that used to give us a better road map hasn't happened," McMahon said, adding that the traveler theory probably reflected "concentrated cases" in the same cluster of towns.

He predicted that the new subvariants would not be contained to central New York for long.

"The reality is what's happening in our community is starting to happen throughout New York and the Northeast," McMahon said Wednesday. "And in two or three weeks, it's going to be real challenges for some of these other communities. New York County and New York City is at 45 cases per 100,000 on a seven-day average. We're at 52. That's a much larger challenge for a community of that size."

Pekosz, the Hopkins virologist, said some of the increase in cases is to be expected because the subvariants are emerging at the same time that most public health interventions, such as mask mandates, have been lifted.

"We should see some increase in cases," Pekosz said. "What we're hoping is this will now be a manageable increase."

Right now, the public does not need to be overly worried about the new sublineages, Pekosz added, though scientists are watching them closely. Researchers will have a better sense of whether the new subvariants are truly more contagious and potentially more dangerous in the coming weeks.

"Omicron is evolving to be perhaps even better at infecting people - the big question is how much better is it going to get?" Pekosz said. "That's something that we'll have to wait and see."

Another subvariant, called omicron XE, has been reported in the United Kingdom and some other nations, including Israel and Thailand. XE is a recombinant variant, meaning it combines genetic material from two versions of omicron, BA.1 and BA.2.

One XE infection has been reported in Hawaii, among a handful of cases reported in the United States as of Friday.

"The recombinant Omicron lineage XE, which was originally identified in the United Kingdom, has recently been detected in the State of Hawaii, and contains genetic material derived from BA.1 and BA.2," according to a report released Wednesday by the state's health department.

As of April 5, British authorities had received reports of 1,125 cases of XE, representing less than 1% of cases in that country. Early, inconclusive data suggest XE spreads 12 to 21% more rapidly than BA.2, according to a report last week from the UK Health Security Agency.

The Japanese health ministry announced Monday that the first XE case in that country was detected in a woman in her 30s who arrived at Tokyo's Narita International Airport from the United States on March 26. The ministry said the woman, whose nationality was not disclosed, was asymptomatic, according to the Japan Times.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expect new lineages of the virus to emerge, and the agency will track how those subvariants change case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths.

"While the prevalence of lineages and sub-lineages may fluctuate, what we are focused on is monitoring for any changes in disease burden caused by Omicron lineages," Nicholas Spinelli, a CDC spokesman, said in an email.

The CDC emphasized that the same tools that have helped slow the spread of past variants will probably continue to be useful against new ones.

Osterholm, of the University of Minnesota, said scientists do not yet understand why so many subvariants of omicron have emerged in recent months.

To prepare for a potential surge sparked by a new subvariant, scientists must keep a close eye on case numbers, hospitalizations and other indicators. But reduced testing capacity across the United States might slow the public health response to any especially virulent variants, Osterholm said, and hospitalization numbers will be a lagging indicator, weeks behind rising case numbers.

"Now, we need to know, more than ever before, what's going on out there," Osterholm said. "Meanwhile, it's getting harder and harder to get testing done."
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  On the surface, all the familiar ceremonial trappings were in place for the event.

The reading of proclamations announcing April 9 as Bataan Remembrance Day. The playing of taps. Speeches honoring the legacy of the New Mexicans who gave their lives fighting, struggling to survive, dying far from home in a campaign ringed with deprivation, starvation and torture.

Still, Saturdays morning commemoration of the April 4, 1942, fall of Bataan  the 80th anniversary  was missing something.

Bataan survivors.

For the first time since the New Mexico National Guard began hosting the Santa Fe event in the mid-1980s, none of them attended, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

Age, infirmity and death have taken their toll on almost all of the survivors. The New Mexico Department of Veteran Services believes there may only be about five of those men still living around the country. And the event was not held live over the past two years because of the health restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

Yet, watching the hourlong ceremony attended by about 100 people play out outside the Bataan Memorial Building, Fred Armijo, son of the late Bataan U.S. Army veteran Manuel Armijo, said he has no concern the legacy of those Bataan soldiers will be forgotten.

I plan on keeping it alive, he said, adding, in a joking fashion, I plan to live to 100.

The commemoration is held near a stone monument honoring the Bataan campaign, and Armjio said as long as that monument remains, people wont forget.

He is well aware of his fathers role in keeping the history of Bataan alive.

Manuel Armijo, a first sergeant with the 200th Coast Artillery, is credited with initiating the annual commemoration in the postwar years. Some sources say he started it in 1946, silently standing outside a downtown government building while holding a white flag in his hands. Other sources put that date at 1953.

Regardless, the annual April 9 event has become something of a cornerstone military memorial event, a day to remember a generation of young New Mexicans  some still teenagers  who left the comfort of hometown America to wage war in some faraway place few had heard of.

Little could they have known, having entered the military before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into World War II, they would become part of one of the most violent and tragic stories of New Mexicos military history.

The Battle of Bataan in the Philippines  the first major military campaign of the Asian theater in World War II following the Pearl Harbor attack  took a huge toll on New Mexico.

Of the 1,800-plus New Mexican soldiers who fought in the battle, only half came home alive. And many of them, survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March and Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, came back physically, mentally and emotionally scarred.

From Dec. 8, 1941, to April 9, 1942, those 1,800 New Mexico soldiers fought alongside Filipinos and other Americans to fight off Japanese invaders on the Bataan peninsula. On April 9, Bataans military commanders surrendered, though the soldiers wanted to fight on, despite a lack of weapons, food and medicine.

Most of the American and Filipino defenders were killed, captured or forced to march 65 miles through the jungle. Japanese soldiers used their bayonets and bullets along the way to kill the weak, wounded and defiant ones on what became known as the Bataan Death March.

Manuel Armijo, like so many of the men who survived that ordeal, did not like to talk about what he endured, his son said. But Vincent Lithgow, Manuel Armijos grandson, recalled as a child sleeping over at this grandparents home and hearing his grandfather erupt in pain  at night.

He screamed in English, he screamed in Spanish, he screamed in Japanese, said Lithgow, who also attended Saturdays memorial event.

His daughter, Rachel Lithgow, only recalls her great grandfather as a little, wizened old man.

It was hard to imagine him being young, she said after Saturdays ceremony. Its hard to imagine his incredible heartbreak.

She, too, feels the Bataan story will be carried on long after the last descendants of any of the soldiers who fought it have died. Though she lives in Las Cruces, Lithgow said she visits the Bataan monument every time she comes to Santa Fe. It represents a deep rooted sense of connection to New Mexico history.

Theres a lot of him here, she said as she looked at the monument.

Manuel Armijo died in June 2004 at the age of 92, his son said. His mother, Frances Armijo, lived almost six more years, dying in April 2010.

She died April 9, in fact.

Heres my take on it, Fred Armijo said of that date. My dad came for her.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  The latest recipients of a hearty Hoosier homecoming welcome have traveled extensively. Theyve been cited during discussions of governance, carried by keepers of the law, proclaimed by those who have battled for the rights of women and people of color.

Theyre a collection of centuries-spanning books and documents that belong to the Remnant Trust, which has deep Indiana roots. The nonprofit organization collects manuscripts and early published works related to individual liberty, responsibility and human dignity and then shares them for educational purposes.

As part of a new three-way partnership, it will house its collection at the Indiana Historical Society, which will use materials in exhibitions and put some on permanent display. The trusts offices will be at the Columbia Club, and the Monument Circle mainstay will also host events and display items.

Including the Historical Society will broaden the message of public access and the interaction that the trust encourages  letting people pick up and read the rare materials like any other printed books. Considering that the trusts goal is to collect works that are at least 100 years old, that becomes a big deal. It reports that its oldest pieces date to around 2500 B.C.

Most of this stuff you can go online and read, but its a whole other thing to hold it, to touch history, said Jody Blankenship, president and CEO of the Indiana Historical Society. It gives you goosebumps to think this stuff has been around for centuries in some cases and whos had it, whos used it and how have they done that.

Among the first opportunities the public will have to see works from the collection is the exhibit Documents that Shaped America, which will open May 21 at the Indiana Historical Society.

The trusts more than 1,500 manuscripts, first editions and early works include some gems that have long shaped philosophy, religious ideas and social constructs.

The holdings include some of the worlds most famous titles. An edition of the Magna Carta from about 1350 has decorative flourishes that bloom from letters into the margins. Frederick Douglass life and ideas populate the pages of autobiography editions that are dated in the mid-19th century. Mary Wollstonecrafts 1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman calls out double standards in education and other areas of life.

The list goes on, with early editions of the Federalist Papers, Two Treatises of Government by John Locke, the Declaration of Independence, a 1734 English translation of the Quran and Particulars of the Late Duel, Fought at Hoboken, July 11, Between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, Esqrs.

Many of the works have rarity in common, but Remnant Trust Chairman Chris Talley said the characteristic is a hook and not the driving factor.

Frederick Douglass autobiographies are part of the Remnant Trusts collection.

The books are about mankind looking for (truth). Where is it? How do we understand the world? Whats our position in the world? How do we interact? Trust president Kris Bex said.

Trust among people just is not there. We dont have it with hardly anybody. ... But, if I say, Well, look: Heres a Thomas Paine Common Sense. Heres a first edition, we know that to be accurate.

The Remnant Trust has acquired more than 90% of the works through antiquarian book dealers, and other works have come from auction houses and private collectors, Bex said. The purchases have been funded by philanthropic donors, Talley said.

The fact that we are now the recipients of these books that have been handed down through, in the case of Magna Carta, the last seven or eight centuries  somebody has maintained that book and its really appreciated and has been a part of this provenance, Talley said. We consider that fiduciary responsibility for the collection to be quite strong.

Allowing the public to touch and use the materials  with care, of course  is what Bex calls a risk to the capital investment that the trust is willing to take. Fragile documents are encased in plastic, and the nonprofit works with restoration services to make repairs when needed.

Its different to pick up the actual document, Bex said. When you go over there and you pick up a 1350 manuscript of Magna Carta thats 700 years old that somebody wrote and carried around as like a lawyers handbook at that time ... You cant do that with an iPad. Its not the same experience.

The Remnant Trust itself is no stranger to Indiana. Its Hoosier ties include founder Brian Bex and the involvement of former Indiana University President John Ryan. Kris Bex, who is Brian Bexs son, said it was founded in Hagerstown and incorporated in 1997. It counts Jeffersonville and Winona Lake among Indiana sites where it has resided.

For the past eight years, the trusts base of operations was Texas Tech University. After the arrangement was up there, Talley said the trust decided to return to its Hoosier roots.

Over the course of its existence, Talley said it has connected with more than 125 college campuses and other institutions. The new partnership is the first time the trust has joined with the Indiana Historical Society, he said. The trust has worked with the Columbia Club on an unofficial basis since about 2001, Bex said.

After the Documents that Shaped America exhibit closes in early 2023, Blankenship said that a portion of the Indiana Historical Societys library will be permanently devoted to the Remnant Trusts collection. That will make it easier for the public to see works that arent traveling for exhibit elsewhere. Those who are interested can find the list of materials and instructions on how to view them at indianahistory.org/the-remnant-trust.

As a part of the opportunity to bring them home to Indiana, we will be expanding the reach and scaling up the educational program, Talley said.

Upcoming events at the Columbia Club include Robert Woodson, a civil rights activist and social commentator, who will give remarks and be part of discussions May 3 and 4. Find more information at remnanttrustevents.com.

__

Source: The Indianapolis Star
PLA drills around Taiwan targeted at US lawmakers' visit, rehearse 'real action' once necessary

Global Times) 11:09, April 16, 2022

Two Su-35 fighter jets and a H-6K bomber fly in formation on May 11, 2018. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force conducted patrol training over China's island of Taiwan on May 11. Su-35 fighter jets flew over the Bashi Channel in formation with the H-6Ks for the first time, which marks a new breakthrough in island patrol patterns, said Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the PLA air force. Photo:China Military

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Friday organized multi-services and arms, dispatching forces including destroyers, frigates, bombers and fighters, and conducted joint combat alert patrols and drills including maritime assault, in the forefront of the East China Sea and in waters and aerial areas around the island of Taiwan, when a group of US lawmakers were visiting the island. Chinese mainland experts said the pointed military operation not only serves as a warning to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who could still visit Taiwan after "postponing" her travel due to COVID-19 infection, but also goes beyond deterrence by preparing for potential, real actions that would resolve the Taiwan question once and for all when necessary.

The operation targets the US' recent wrong signals on the Taiwan question, as the US' wicked tactics are totally useless and dangerous, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said on Friday in a press release.

"Those who play with fire will burn themselves. The command troops always maintain high alert and will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability," Shi said.

Six PLA aircraft - four J-16 fighter jets and two J-11 fighter jets - entered Taiwan's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone on Friday, the island's defense authority said.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defense, said in a press release on Friday that US congressmen visited the island of Taiwan in a deliberate provocation disregarding China's strong opposition. The visit severely violated the one-China principle and the regulations of the Three Joint Communiques between China and the US, seriously harmed the political foundation of China-US ties, and caused a further escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Straits.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command's joint combat alert patrols and pointed drills are necessary actions taken based on the current security situation in the Taiwan Straits and the needs to safeguard national sovereignty, Wu said.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said clearly that Friday's military operation was targeted at the US congressional delegation's visit to Taiwan island.

The PLA is ready for battle and will take any necessary measure to resolutely crush attempts of interference by external forces and secessionist moves of "Taiwan independence" forces, in order to resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Wu said.

The remarks by the spokespersons came after a delegation composed of six US congressmen arrived in Taiwan for a stopover that analysts said targets the Chinese mainland with the "Taiwan card" and aims for more military sales to the island by hyping "mainland threats."

Veteran anti-China politicians like Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, and Republican member of the Senate budget committee Lindsey Graham were the two notable names in the delegation. They met with the island's regional leader Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

Spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council also slammed the US congressmen's Taiwan visit on Friday.

Beyond deterrence

Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Friday that the PLA's operation is a large-scale joint combat exercise organized by the Eastern Theater Command and participated by not only the Navy and Air Force, but also likely other military arms and branches.

It covered a wide region and was pointedly designed to solve the Taiwan question, including taking over the air superiority and the control of the sea, and all of the missions are integrated together, Song said. In addition to waters and aerial areas around the island of Taiwan, the drills also covered the forefront of the East China Sea, and that is because the PLA not only would need to take military actions against "Taiwan independence" forces and their armed forces, it might also have to face the potential military intervention by the US and Japan, he pointed out.

The drills aimed to crush the reckless secessionist illusions, Song said, noting that attempts to deter Taiwan secessionists and their US support now seem to have little effect, and that is why the PLA has to prepare for a real military conflict, and if secessionists and their supporters cross the red line stated by the Anti-Secession Law, the PLA will resolutely turn the exercises and all of the plans into action, and solve the Taiwan question once and for all.

If the US or Taiwan secessionists insist on making further provocations, the PLA could expand the drills in terms of both quality and quantity by adding more forces and more training courses, a Beijing-based military expert told the Global Times on Friday, requesting anonymity.

Friday's patrols and drills mainly practiced taking control of air superiority and the sea and likely did not feature actual landing, as no amphibious landing ships were involved. It is also unknown if the drills practiced long-range precision strikes by the Army's long-range rocket artillery and the Rocket Force's DF ballistic and CJ cruise missiles, while the Navy's two aircraft carriers likely did not participate, observers said.

It is only a matter of time for the PLA's most powerful equipment including the J-20 stealth fighter jets and aircraft carriers to join drills around Taiwan, analysts said.

There is still room for the PLA to be better prepared for battle, and the secessionists and external forces should have a clear idea that the PLA has overwhelming advantages within the first island chain, the expert said.

Earlier this month, media reports suggested that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could visit the island of Taiwan on April 10. But she then said she tested positive for COVID-19 and had to "postpone" her Asia trip.

The PLA drills on Friday are also a warning to Pelosi, who could still visit Taiwan after her recovery. Analysts told the Global Times that more powerful measures from China await Pelosi if she does visit the island.

Compared with previous reactions by the PLA, Friday's drills more concretely and clearly expressed China's statement that it would use force to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhuo Hua, an international affairs expert at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy of Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Friday.

US politicians should fully realize the huge risks, as the China-US ties have entered a highly sensitive and complex period. It could be catastrophic to the peace and stability in East Asia if the US cannot contain its domestic faction struggle and makes more provocative moves related to the Taiwan question, Zhuo said.

Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-Straits expert at Minnan Normal University, told the Global Times on Friday that unlike previous announcements that said the PLA's actions around the waters near the Taiwan island were routine, the Friday announcement said directly that the exercise was a response to the US' provocations over the Taiwan question.

After the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine started, the US has intensified provocations over the Taiwan question as it wants to instigate a similar crisis on the island of Taiwan. The Chinese mainland should stay rational in the face of such strategy to prevent falling into the US' trap, but at the same time, the mainland should also clearly and stoutly show its firm resolution and capacity to reunify the country when it is necessary, Wang noted.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated  and refuted by witnesses  throughout 52 days of war.

The toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine. An infant and at least eight other people died, officials said.

In the towns and villages just outside Kyiv, authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago. Smoke rose from the capital again early Saturday as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike that killed one person and wounded several.

The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

It was not immediately clear from the ground what was hit in the strike on Kyiv's Darnytskyi district. The sprawling area on the southeastern edge of the capital contains a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shopping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas and railyards.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said an armored vehicle plant was targeted. He didnt specify where the factory was located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

He said the plant was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with air-launched high-precision long-range weapons. As the U.S. and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraines defenses ahead of whats expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area since the Russian military vowed this week to step up missile strikes on the capital. Another hit a missile plant Friday.

The Russian missiles hit the city just as residents were emerging for walks, foreign embassies planned to reopen and other tentative signs of the city's prewar life started resurfacing, following the failure of Russian troops to capture Kyiv and their withdrawal.

Kyiv was one of many targets Saturday. The Ukrainian presidents office reported missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours in eight regions across the country.

The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, which has been only sporadically touched by the wars violence, reported airstrikes on the region by Russian Su-35 aircraft that took off from neighboring Belarus.

In apparent preparations for its assault on the east, the Russian military has intensified shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in recent days. Friday's attack killed civilians and wounded more than 50 people, the Ukrainian presidents office reported.

On Saturday an explosion believed to be caused by a missile sent emergency workers scrambling near an outdoor market in Kharkiv, according to AP journalists at the scene. One person was killed, and at least 18 people were wounded, according to rescue workers.

All the windows, all the furniture, all destroyed. And the door, too," recounted stunned resident Valentina Ulianova.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Saturday's toll was three dead and 34 wounded.

Nate Mook, a member of the World Central Kitchen NGO run by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said in a tweet that four workers in Kharkiv were wounded by a strike. Jose Andres tweeted that staff members were unnerved but safe.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met with Vladimir Putin this past week in Moscow  the first European leader to do so since the invasion began Feb. 24  said the Russian president is in his own war logic on Ukraine.

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Nehammer said he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war and we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Nehammer said he confronted Putin with what he saw during a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where more than 350 bodies have been found along with evidence of killings and torture under Russian occupation, and it was not a friendly conversation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists that the continuing siege of the port city of Mariupol, which has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians, could scuttle attempts to negotiate an end to the war.

The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol  what they are doing now  can put an end to any format of negotiations, he said.

Later, in his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs more support from the West to have a chance at saving Mariupol.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said, or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

Zelenskyy said the situation in Mariupol remains inhuman and Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.

Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had been driven out of most of the city and remained only in the huge Azovstal steel mill.

Capturing Mariupol would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraines eastern industrial heartland.

Zelenskyy estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, and about 10,000 have been wounded. The office of Ukraines prosecutor general said Saturday that at least 200 children have been killed, and more than 360 wounded.

Russian forces also have taken captive some 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday. Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops as prisoners and intends to arrange a swap but is demanding the release of civilians without any conditions, she said.

Russia's warning of stepped-up attacks on Kyiv came after it accused Ukraine on Thursday of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed hitting targets in Russia.

Russian Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov, whose troops have been among those besieging Mariupol, was buried Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, Gov. Alexander Beglov said. Ukraine has said several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed in the war.

In the Vatican, Pope Francis on Saturday invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily at St. Peters Basilica that was attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three members of Ukraine's parliament. Francis did not refer directly to Russias invasion but has called, apparently in vain, for an Easter truce to reach a negotiated peace.

___

Chernov reported from Kharkiv. Yesica Fisch in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Robert Burns in Washington 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
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The cake was made from frozen fruit juice, sweet potatoes, carrots and sugar cane and it lasted about 15 minutes once giant panda mama Mei Xiang and her cub Xiao Qi Ji got hold of it.

The National Zoo's most famous tenants had an enthusiastic breakfast Saturday in front of adoring crowds as the zoo celebrated 50 years of its iconic panda exchange agreement with the Chinese government.

Xiao Qi Jis father Tian Tian largely sat out the morning festivities, munching bamboo in a neighboring enclosure with the sounds of his chomping clearly audible during a statement by Chinese ambassador Qin Gang. The ambassador praised the bears as a symbol of the friendship between the nations.

Pandas are almost entirely solitary by nature, and in the wild Tian Tian would probably never even meet his child. He received a similar cake for lunch.

In addition to hailing the 1972 agreement sparked by President Richard Nixon's landmark visit to China, Saturday's celebration also highlighted the success of the global giant panda breeding program, which has helped bring the bears back from the brink of extinction.

Xiao Qi Ji's birth in August 2020 was hailed as a near miracle, due to Mei Xiang's advanced age and the fact that zoo staff performed the artificial insemination procedure under tight restrictions shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic shut the entire zoo. At age 22, Mei Xiang was the oldest giant panda to successfully give birth in the United States.

Normally they would have used a combination of frozen sperm and fresh semen extracted from Tian Tian. But in order to minimize the number of close-quarters medical procedures, zoo officials used only frozen semen.

It was definitely a long-shot pregnancy, said Bryan Amaral, the zoo's senior curator for mammals.

In honor of that long shot, the now 20-month-old cub was given a name that translates as little miracle. His birth in mid-pandemic sparked a fresh wave of panda-mania, with viewership on the zoo's panda-cam livestream spiking by 1,200 percent.

I know how passionate people are about pandas," Amaral said. I'm not surprised by that passion at all.

Sure enough, crowds started streaming straight for the panda section at 8 a.m. when the zoo opened. Sisters Lorelai and Everley Greenwell, age 6 and 5, ran toward the enclosure chanting Pandas! Pandas!

They watched the cub tumble around, try to wrestle his mom and tear the zero off the giant 50 emblazoned on the ice cake.

They knew this was coming, said their mother Kayleigh Greenwell of Mount Ranier, Maryland, said of her girls. We've been talking about it all week.

The zoo's original 1972 panda pair, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, were star attractions at the zoo for decades, but panda pregnancies are notoriously tricky and none of their cubs survived.

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived in 2000, and the pair has successfully birthed three other cubs: Tai Shan, Bao Bao and Bei Bei  also by artificial insemination. All were transported to China at age 4, under terms of the zoos agreement with the Chinese government.

Similar agreements with zoos around the world have helped revitalize the giant panda population. Down to just over 1000 bears in the 1980s, the species has since been removed from the lists of animals in danger of extinction.
ONTARIO, Ore. (AP)  Planned Parenthood is renting medical office space in the town of Ontario on the Oregon-Idaho border.

Planned Parenthood has not confirmed its plans for the space, but has said its preparing for an influx of out-of-state patients seeking abortions in Oregon because of multiple legal challenges to abortion rights, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

Earlier this year they successfully lobbied the Oregon legislature to set aside $15 million in an unrestricted fund for reproductive health equity.

No matter what happens we will be there for our in-state and out-of-state neighbors, and continue to meet the needs of our patients, said Kenji Nozaki, the chief of affiliate operations at Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette. We are prepared to support anyone who seeks their legal right to decide whether and when to become pregnant.

The office space Planned Parenthood is renting in Ontario was previously home to the Four Rivers Health Clinic, a nonprofit serving people without health insurance.

Joe Recla, the groups executive director, said Four Rivers will use the rental income to continue to support uninsured patients.

A Planned Parenthood clinic in Ontario could be a significant high desert outpost for access to abortion and other reproductive health care services, in advance of a U.S. Supreme Court decision anticipated this summer that could overturn Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old landmark abortion ruling.

The small town of Ontario is about an hour's drive from Boise, Idaho.

Idaho has two trigger laws criminalizing abortion at all stages of pregnancy that would take effect in the event of a successful legal challenge to Roe v. Wade.

Oregon has no legal restrictions on abortion, but the state has one clinic that performs abortions east of the Cascade Mountains, in Bend. For those seeking abortions in eastern and northeastern parts of the state, the closest clinics are out of state, in Boise or Walla Walla, Washington.
REDWOOD VALLEY, Calif.  After hiding all night in the mountains, Air Force Capt. Kevin Larson crouched behind a boulder and watched the forest through his breath, waiting for the police he knew would come. It was Jan. 19, 2020. He was clinging to an assault rifle with 30 rounds and a conviction that, after all he had been through, there was no way he was going to prison.

Larson was a drone pilot  one of the best. He flew the heavily armed MQ-9 Reaper, and in 650 combat missions between 2013 and 2018, he had launched at least 188 airstrikes, earned 20 medals for achievement and killed a top man on the U.S. most-wanted terrorist list.

The 32-year-old pilot kept a handwritten thank-you note on his refrigerator from the director of the CIA. He was proud of it but would not say what for, because like nearly everything he did in the drone program, it was a secret. He had to keep the details locked behind the high-security doors at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada.

There were also things he was not proud of locked behind those doors  things his family believes eventually left him cornered in the mountains, gripping a rifle.

In the Air Force, drone pilots did not pick the targets. That was the job of someone pilots called the customer. The customer might be a conventional ground force commander, the CIA or a classified Special Operations strike cell. It did not matter. The customer got what the customer wanted.

And sometimes what the customer wanted did not seem right.

Larson tried to bury his doubts. At home in Las Vegas, he exuded a carefree confidence. He loved to go out dancing and was so strikingly handsome that he did side work as a model. He drove an electric-blue Corvette convertible and a tricked-out blue Jeep and had a beautiful new wife.

But tendrils of distress would occasionally poke up, in a comment before bed or a grim joke at the bar.

Drones were billed as a better way to wage war  a tool that could kill with precision from thousands of miles away and keep American service members safe. The drone program started in 2001 as a small, tightly controlled operation hunting high-level terrorist targets. But during the past decade, as the battle against the Islamic State group intensified and the Afghanistan War dragged on, the fleet grew larger, the targets more numerous and more commonplace. Over time, the rules meant to protect civilians broke down, recent investigations by The New York Times have shown, and the number of innocent people killed in Americas air wars grew to be far larger than the Pentagon would publicly admit.

Larsons story, woven together with those of other drone crew members, reveals an unseen toll on the other end of those remote-controlled strikes.

Drone crews have launched more missiles and killed more people than nearly anyone else in the military in the past decade, but the military did not count them as combat troops. Because they were not deployed, they seldom got the same recovery periods or mental health screenings as other fighters. Instead, they were treated as office workers, expected to show up for endless shifts in a forever war.

Under unrelenting stress, several former crew members said, people broke down. Drinking and divorce became common. Some left the operations floor in tears. Others attempted suicide. And the military failed to recognize the full impact. Despite hundreds of missions, Larsons personnel file, under the heading COMBAT SERVICE, offers only a single word: none.

Larson tried to cope with the trauma by using psychedelic drugs. That became another secret he had to keep. Eventually, the Air Force found out. He was charged with using and distributing illegal drugs and stripped of his flight status. His marriage fell apart, and he was put on trial, facing a possible prison term of more than 20 years.

Because he was not a conventional combat veteran, there was no required psychological evaluation to see what influence his war-fighting experience might have had on his misconduct. At his trial, no one mentioned the 188 classified missile strikes. In January 2020, he was quickly convicted.

Desperate to avoid prison, reeling from what he saw as a betrayal by the military to which he had dedicated his life, Larson ran.

A Vexing Moral Landscape

Larson grew up in Yakima, Washington, the son of police officers. At the University of Washington, where he was an honors student, he joined the ROTC and the Civil Air Patrol, set on becoming a fighter pilot.

The Air Force had other plans. By the time he was commissioned in 2012, the Pentagon had developed a seemingly insatiable appetite for drones, and the Air Force was struggling to keep up. That year, it turned out more drone pilots than traditional fighter pilots and still could not meet the demand.

Larson was assigned to the 867th Attack Squadron at Creech  a unit that pilots say worked largely with the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command.

More than 2,300 service members are currently assigned to drone crews. Early in the program, they said, missions seemed well run. Officials carefully chose their targets and took steps to minimize civilian deaths.

We would watch a high-value target for months, gathering intelligence and waiting for the exact right time to strike, said James Klein, a former Air Force captain who flew Reapers at Creech from 2014-18. It was the right way to use the weapon.

But in December 2016, the Obama administration loosened the rules amid the escalating fight against the Islamic State group, pushing the authority to approve airstrikes deep down into the ranks. The next year, the Trump administration secretly loosened them further.

Before the rules changed, Klein said, his squadron launched about 16 airstrikes in two years. Afterward, it conducted them almost daily.

Soul Fatigue

In her job as a police officer, Larsons mother, Laura, conducted stress debriefings after traumatic events. When officers in her department shot someone, they were required to take time off and meet with a psychologist. As part of the healing process, everyone present at the scene was required to sit down and talk through what had happened. She was not aware of any of that happening with her son.

At one point, I pulled him aside and told him, If things start bothering you, you and your friends need to talk about it, she said. He just smiled and said he was fine. But I think he was struggling more than he ever let on.

The Air Force has no requirement to give drone crews the mental health evaluations mandated for deployed troops, but it has surveyed the drone force for more than a decade and consistently found high levels of stress, cynicism and emotional exhaustion.

Starting in 2015, the Air Force began embedding what it called human performance teams in some squadrons, staffed with chaplains, psychologists and operational physiologists offering a sympathetic ear, coping strategies and healthy practices to optimize performance.

Its a holistic team approach: mind, body and spirit, said Capt. James Taylor, a chaplain at Creech. I try to address the soul fatigue, the existential questions many people have to wrestle with in this work.

But crews said the teams were only modestly effective. The stigma of seeking help keeps many crew members away, and there is a perception that the teams are too focused on keeping crews flying to address the root causes of trauma. Indeed, a 2018 survey found that only 8% of drone operators used the teams, and two-thirds of those experiencing emotional distress did not.

Instead, crew members said, they tend to work quietly, hoping to avoid a breakdown.

A Question of Forgiveness

In February 2018, Larson and his wife, Bree, got into an argument. She was angry at him for staying out all night and smashed his phone, she recalled in an interview. He dragged her out of the house and locked her out, barely clothed. The Las Vegas police came, and when they asked if there were any drugs or weapons in the house, she told them about the bag of psilocybin mushrooms her husband kept in the garage.

When she and Larson had met in 2016, she said, he was already taking mushrooms once every few months, often with other pilots. He also took MDMA  known as ecstasy or molly  a few times a year. The drugs might have been illegal, but, he told her, they offered relief.

In Las Vegas, civilian authorities were willing to forgive Larson, but the Air Force charged him with a litany of crimes  drug possession and distribution, making false statements to Air Force investigators and a charge unique to the armed forces: conduct unbecoming of an officer. His squadron grounded him, forbade him to wear a flight suit and told him not to talk to fellow pilots. No one screened him for PTSD or other psychological injuries from his service, Bree Larson said, adding, I dont think anyone realized it might be connected.

As the prosecution plodded forward over two years, Larson worked at the base gym and organized volunteer groups to do community service. He and his wife divorced. Struggling with his mental health, seeking productive ways to cope with the trauma, he read book after book on positive thinking and set up a special meditation room in his house, according to his girlfriend at the time, Becca Triano.

The trial finally came in January 2020. His former wife and a pilot friend testified about his drug use. Police produced the evidence. That was all.

After deliberating for a few hours on the morning of Jan. 17, the jury returned with guilty verdicts on nearly every count.

On the Run

Larson would be sentenced after a break for lunch. His lawyer told him to be back in an hour. Instead, he took off.

He loaded his Jeep with food and clothes and sped away, convinced that he was facing a long prison sentence, Triano said. Within hours, the Air Force had a warrant out for his arrest.

Larson headed southwest to Los Angeles and stayed the night with a friend, then started heading north. By the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 18, he was driving by vineyards and redwood groves on U.S. Route 101 in Mendocino County, north of San Francisco, when the California Highway Patrol spotted his Jeep and pulled him over.

Larson stopped and waited calmly for the officer to walk up to his window. Then he gunned it  down the highway and onto a narrow dirt logging road that snaked up into the mountains. After several miles, he pulled off into the trees and hid. The police could not find him, but they knew something he did not: All the roads in the canyon were dead ends, and officers were blocking the only way out.

Night fell. Nothing to do but wait.

In the morning, during a briefing at the bottom of the canyon, records show, Air Force agents explained to the Mendocino County sheriffs deputies that the wanted man was a deserter who had fled a drug conviction, was probably armed and was possibly suicidal.

The officers drove up the canyon and spotted tire tracks on a narrow turnoff. Agents crept up on foot until they spotted the blue Jeep in the trees but did not risk going farther. The deputies had a better option, something that could get a view of the Jeep without any danger. A small drone soon launched into the sky.

Larson was hiding behind a mossy boulder. There was no phone service deep in the canyon, no way to call for whatever hope or solace he might have conjured. He could only record a video message for his family members. One by one, he told them that he loved them. Im sorry, he said. I wont go to prison, so Im going to end this. This was always the plan.

There was a lot he did not explain  things that have kept his family and friends wondering in the years since.

Perhaps he was planning to say more, but as he spoke into the phone camera, he was interrupted by an angry buzzing, like a swarm of bees.

I can hear the drones, he said. Theyre looking for me.

Had they found him alive, his pursuers would have been able to tell him this: In the end, the Air Force had decided not to sentence him to prison, only to dismissal.

But now, just as Larson had done countless times, the officers could only study the drone footage and parse the evidence  slumped behind the boulder, shot with his own assault rifle  of another unintended death.



If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). You can find a list of additional resources at SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Former president Donald Trump on Friday endorsed venture capitalist and author J.D. Vance in the Republican primary for a Senate seat in Ohio, a move likely to give the first-time candidate a boost in the crowded field.

"Like some others J.D. Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades," Trump said in a statement. "He is our best chance for victory in what could be a very tough race."

When Trump first ran for the White House in 2016, Vance, author of the bestseller "Hillbilly Elegy," called the New York businessman and reality TV star "cultural heroin," said his policies ranged from "immoral to absurd" and labeled him "unfit for our nation's highest office."

Since then, Vance has fully embraced the former president's politics as he pursued the GOP nomination to replace Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who is retiring.

In his endorsement, Trump described Vance as "strong on the Border, tough on Crime, understands how to use Taxes and Tariffs to hold China accountable, will fight to break up Big Tech, and has been a warrior on the Rigged and Stolen Presidential Election." The former president continues to perpetuate his baseless claims that widespread voter fraud cost him reelection.

In a tweet, Vance happily accepted the endorsement, saying he was "honored" to have it and voicing support if Trump makes another White House bid.

"He was an incredible fighter for hard working Americans in the White House," Vance said. "He will be again, and I'll fight for the America First Agenda in the Senate."

Vance has noticeably changed his positions to become a candidate more aligned with the former president's views. Just six years ago, when he was considered a "never Trump" Republican, Vance criticized Trump for targeting immigrants and Muslims. But as recently as last year, he lashed out against Republican Sen. Ben Sasse's embrace of refugees from Afghanistan. Online, he's become more willing to engage in the sort of attacks that were common in Trump's now-shuttered Twitter feed, trolling Democratic politicians and liberals.

Trump advisers working for other candidates, along with more than two dozen county party chairs, tried to talk the former president out of the endorsement after it was reported to be imminent, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely describe private talks.

Vance opponents also released polling showing him losing - and likely to lose with Trump's backing - though the aggressive move seems to have backfired.

Trump was lobbied aggressively by David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth, not to endorse Vance, and received so many calls on Friday about the endorsement that he "stopped taking calls," an adviser said. Others opposed to the Vance endorsement included longtime Trump advisers Corey Lewandowski and Kellyanne Conway, who are backing Jane Timken, the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party. "There was incredibly intense lobbying on all sides," the adviser said. A second person close to Trump said he dictated the statement about Vance himself because he wanted to explain to others he had thought through the race and heard their arguments.

The endorsement may also plunge Trump into another risky primary race - he already raised eyebrows in the party last week when he endorsed fellow television celebrity-turned-politician Mehmet Oz in the contested GOP primary of a Senate race in Pennsylvania.

There is no clear favorite in the Ohio race, and the endorsement of Vance, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel and supported by Donald Trump Jr., among others, gives the candidate momentum against other Republicans. Portman has endorsed Timken. Former Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel, who has the endorsement of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, and financier Mike Gibbons also are seeking the nomination.

In a tweet, Mandel maintained his fealty to Trump and insisted he would win the GOP nomination.

"I continue to be a proud supporter of President Trump and the America First agenda. I look forward to earning his endorsement in the general election and working with him to defeat Tim Ryan in November," Mandel wrote.

In a statement, Timken expressed her disappointment with Trump's decision but reminded voters that Trump endorsed her for state party chairman, a position in which she was "incredibly proud to have dismantled the Never-Trump Kasich establishment and turned Ohio into a pro-Trump, conservative stronghold."

The latter is a reference to former governor John Kasich, an outspoken critic of Trump.

"This race is about who can defeat Tim Ryan and retake the Republican Senate majority in November," she said. "I am that candidate and I look forward to having President Trump's endorsement in the General Election."

Ryan, a congressman who ran for president in 2020, is seeking the Democratic nomination in a state that has leaned heavily Republican, strongly backing Trump in 2016 and 2020.

The Ohio primary is May 3 and early voting began on April 5. The candidate with the most votes will move on to the general election, without need of a runoff.
The Russian warship that sank this week in the Black Sea was hit by two Ukrainian-made anti-ship missiles, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed Friday, as relentless Russian attacks continued in the east. The southern port city of Mariupol, which has held out against weeks of bombardment, appeared close to falling to Russian ground forces.

Ukrainian satisfaction at Thursday's successful sinking of the Moskva, a guided missile cruiser, was tempered by the situation in Mariupol, and a Russian warning that it would step up strikes on Ukraine's capital. Blasts were reported outside Kyiv on Friday, with Russian forces saying in a statement that they fired missiles on a suburban factory that produces Ukrainian defense weapons, in retaliation for what it claimed were attempted Ukrainian assaults on border towns inside Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued to press Western leaders to increase their efforts to isolate Russia. In a recent phone call with President Joe Biden, Zelensky made a direct appeal for the United States to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, one of the most powerful and far-reaching sanctions in the U.S. arsenal, The Washington Post first reported.

While Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart that he was willing to explore a range of proposals to exert greater pressure on Moscow, he did not commit to specific actions, according to people familiar with the conversation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive dialogue between the two leaders.

Even during the Cold War, Washington refrained from designating the Soviet Union in this manner, despite Moscow's support for groups considered terrorist actors throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Such a measure could have a range of effects, including the imposition of economic penalties on dozens of other nations that continue to do business with Russia; the freezing of Moscow's assets in the United States, including real estate; and the prohibition of a variety of dual-use exports.

The label, which requires a finding by the secretary of state, can be applied to any country that has "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism," according to a State Department fact sheet. The list names four countries: North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria.

When Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked directly about U.S. support for the designation at a news conference last month, he said, "We are and we will look at everything."

"Our focus first and foremost is on doing everything we can to help bring this war to a quick end, to stop the suffering of the Ukrainian people," Blinken told reporters at the State Department.

The destruction of the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet by homegrown Ukrainian weapons represented a deeply symbolic victory for Ukraine, and a significant blow to Russia's naval capacity.

The sinking removed a vessel Moscow will be unable to replace in the Ukraine theater, according to the U.S. defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon. Russia has two other similar ships in its navy, but neither is based in the Black Sea. Turkey, which controls the entrance to the sea through the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits, has said that it will only allow ships through that already have a home port there.

Russia had previously acknowledged the sinking of the cruiser but said only that had been damaged by "heavy storms" and a fire.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed a further advance on Mariupol on Friday morning, saying its forces were now in full control of the city's Ilyich Iron and Steel Works factory. Separately, Ukraine's Azov battalion was said to be maintain a tenuous hold on the Azovstal steel plant, one of the last bastions in the city outside of Russian control, where photographs from the scene Friday appeared to show smoke billowing from the heavily industrial area.

Both steel plans are owned by Metinvest, a company controlled by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man.

"The city of Mariupol is no more," Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Ukraine's Donetsk region told CNN. "The city of Mariupol has been wiped off the face of the earth by the Russian Federation."

Earlier in the week, Martin Griffiths, the United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, described Mariupol as "an epicenter of horror," and renewed calls for safe evacuations of remaining civilians from the city. Its mayor, Vadym Boychenko, said that after mass evacuations and deaths, 50,000 to 70,000 people remained in Mariupol, whose prewar population was more than 400,000.

In a Thursday night video address marking the 50th day, Zelensky said defense of the country since Feb. 24, the day the Russian invasion began, was an "achievement for millions of Ukrainians."

"You have all become heroes. All Ukrainian men and women who withstood and do not give up," Zelensky said.

Zelensky also used the occasion to repeat his thanks to those unnamed world leaders he said have shown "great generosity" to Ukraine, and to continue his criticism of those who were "behaving as if they had no power."

Biden this week announced an additional $800 million in U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine, as Russia has been amassing troops, military vehicles and equipment on both sides of its border with eastern Ukraine in preparation for an assault on the country's eastern Donbas region.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Russia's Foreign Ministry had sent a diplomatic note to the State Department warning of "unpredictable consequences" if the shipments did not stop. On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed the note, and said that similar demarches on arms shipments to Ukraine were sent "to all countries," Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

In Kherson, a city about 400 miles south of Kyiv that was quickly seized by Russian forces during the first week after the invasion, at least 824 new graves were dug in a cemetery on the city's outskirts between Feb. 28 and April 15, according to recent satellite imagery analyzed by London-based nonprofit Centre for Information Resilience (CIR).

CIR has been monitoring a number of gravesites and cemeteries in Russian-occupied areas or areas where Russian forces are close by, said Benjamin Strick, the director of investigations. "It's scary to think of how [civilians] died and what else is happening in these areas," Strick told The Post.

Similarly, the group recently spotted mass graves in a forest near Chernihiv, a regional capital. New graves continued to be dug even after the city was returned to Ukrainian control after weeks of Russian siege, according to the imagery by Planet Lab.

Other allegations of atrocities have been harder to confirm. Kyiv regional police chief Andriy Nyebytov contended on Friday that officials have found more than 900 dead civilians in the region of roughly 3 million people in the wake of Russia's withdrawal of its ground troops in the area early this month.

Even as it has withdrawn from areas in the north, the Russian buildup continued in and around the Donbas region. Russian forces occupy territory just outside the city of Kharkiv, northwest of region, where regional governor Oleh Synegubov claimed Friday that they had shelled a residential area, killing seven people, including a 7-month-old baby.

In the same area, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had information the Ukrainian military plans to launch a missile strike on refugees massing at a railway station in the town of Lozova, and then blame it on the Russian Army. A week ago, Russia allegedly launched a missile attack against the train station in the Donbas city of Kramatorsk that killed dozens of civilians. Russia has denied responsibility for the attack.

The Ukrainian authorities are plotting a provocation in Lozova "similar to the one in Kramatorsk to accuse servicemen of the Russian Federation of so-called war crimes," said Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, according to Interfax.

New video footage and images from the Luhansk region, which is part of Donbas, show burned bodies among the rubble of a nursing home destroyed last month. Regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Friday that Russian troops had shelled homes and infrastructure in the area, killing two civilians.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, the Foreign Ministry warned of "negative consequences" for European security if Sweden and Finland follow through on indications they may want to join NATO.

"Why our Finnish and Swedish neighbors in the Baltic region should turn into a new frontier of confrontation between the NATO bloc and Russia is unclear," Zakharova, the ministry spokeswoman, said. "The negative consequences for peace and stability in northern Europe are obvious."

Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland, which shares an 830-mile land border with Russia, said her country would make a decision in the coming weeks. She made the comment after a visit Wednesday to Sweden, which is considering abandoning decades of military neutrality and applying for NATO membership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Ukraine's professed desire to join NATO was a security threat to Russia and one of the reasons for the invasion. Ukraine has since said it would abandon its hopes of membership in the alliance, but wanted "security guarantees" from other countries against Russian aggression in the future.

Zakharova acknowledged that "the choice is up to the authorities of Sweden and Finland."

"But they should also understand the consequences of such a step for our bilateral relations and the European security architecture as a whole, which is now in a state of crisis," Zakharova added.

Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Putin who serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said Thursday that NATO expansion would lead Moscow to strengthen its forces, including nuclear forces, to "balance" military capability in the Baltic region.

Meanwhile, Russia's telecom regulator Roskomnadzor blocked the Russian-language website of the Moscow Times Friday after the site published what authorities called a false report on riot police officers refusing to fight in Ukraine on April 4.

The Moscow Times said it had not been notified of the decision. Its English-language website remains online, and its Russian pages are accessible abroad and via VPN within Russia. Russia has blocked numerous foreign and domestic websites since its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are among those that have been barred.

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The Washington Post's Adela Suliman, Joyce Lee, Jon Swaine, Amy Cheng, Atthar Mirza, Marisa Iati, David L. Stern, Timothy Bella, Meryl Kornfield, Paul Sonne and Julian Duplain contributed to this report.
As Russia appears poised to capture Mariupol more than six weeks into the invasion, the governor of Ukraine's Donetsk region said Friday that while Ukrainian troops remain in control of the strategic port city, Mariupol "has been wiped off the face of the earth" by Russian forces.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor, told CNN that troops are still "courageously defending Mariupol" against the Russian forces that have bombarded the city on the Sea of Azov, leaving it in ruins.

"The enemy cannot seize Mariupol. The enemy may seize the land that Mariupol used to stand on, but the city of Mariupol is no more," Kyrylenko said. "The city of Mariupol has been wiped off the face of the earth by the Russian Federation, by those who will never be able to restore it."

Russian troops have laid siege to Mariupol for more than a month, cutting its citizens off from food, water, heat and humanitarian aid with few exceptions. Russian troops have been carving sections of the city from Ukrainian control.

Analysts are predicting it will probably become the first major Ukrainian city to fall in the coming week. Occupying Mariupol would give Russia control of the Sea of Azov coast and serve as a land bridge between Russian-held territories in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014.

The situation in Mariupol remains "complicated," Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Ukraine's Defense Ministry, said Friday at news briefing. Motuzyanyk claimed that Russia is still focused on attacking industrial areas and the port of Mariupol, and that invading forces intensified their shelling in using a Tu-223 long-range bomber to attack the city for the first time.

"But the Russians have not managed yet to fully take control of the city," he said.

The ongoing destruction in Mariupol comes as the United Nations has renewed calls for civilians to be given safe passage out of the besieged city. Humanitarian agencies have been trying to facilitate safe-passage corridors out of Mariupol for weeks, with mixed success. Around 100,000 people are still believed to be inside the city that had a population of 450,000 before the war began.

"Tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol - which has been an epicentre of horror since the conflict began - and in other locations around Ukraine have now endured 50 days of violence and shelling," Martin Griffiths, U.N. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said Thursday in a news release.

Griffiths added, "I urgently call on the parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, homes and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine."

While Ukrainian troops have slowed down Russia's efforts to claim Mariupol, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed a further advance on Friday, saying its forces are now in full control of Mariupol's Ilyich Iron and Steel Works.

But Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are maintaining their hold on the Azovstal steel plant, one of the largest metallurgical factories in Europe. The Azov Battalion, one of Ukraine's most skilled - and controversial - military units, defended the sprawling steel plant in the city's east against repeated assaults this week, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. A photo shared by a reporter for the Kyiv Independent newspaper appeared to show smoke billowing from the heavily industrial area.

Azovstal is run by Metinvest, which produced about 45 percent of Ukraine's steel output last year. The company, which produces millions of tons of iron, steel and finished rolled products per year, is owned by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man.

Eduard Basurin, a pro-Moscow separatist leader, said Monday that he expected Russian forces to use "chemical troops" at Azovstal to "smoke moles out of their burrows," the institute reported. The Azov Battalion, which is associated with far-right nationalism, later claimed that Moscow had used chemical poison against troops in the region. The United States and several international organizations are investigating the allegation.

By many accounts, Mariupol has experienced some of the invasion's worst atrocities. In March, Ukraine accused Russia of striking a maternity hospital there; videos and photos of the aftermath show children and bloodied pregnant women fleeing. A week later, a drama theater where hundreds were sheltering was bombed - even though the word "children" in Russian had been painted on the floor outside.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told the Associated Press that at least 21,000 people have been killed in Mariupol, with bodies "carpeted through the streets."

On Friday, Kyrylenko said that Ukrainian and Russian forces may engage in a major battle in Mariupol in the next several days. He noted that while Russia has suffered losses in armor and personnel in Mariupol, the governor had "not seen a full-scale offensive in all directions as we expected" and that the city remains under Ukrainian control.

"The Ukrainian flag flies over the city of Mariupol," he said.

Looking forward, Kyrylenko told CNN restoring Mariupol one day is "only something Ukraine can do."

"That is something the Russians will never be able to do," he said. "So the city of Mariupol is no more."

- - -

The Washington Post's Julian Duplain and Paul Sonne contributed to this report.
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VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis on Saturday invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily in St. Peters Basilica attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three Ukrainian lawmakers.

The pontiff noted that while many writers have evoked the beautify of starlit nights, the nights of war, however, are riven by streams of light that portend death.

Francis did not refer directly to Russias invasion of Ukraine, but he has called for an Easter truce in order to reach a negotiated peace. That call appeared in vain Saturday, as Russia resumed missile and rocket attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond in a stark reminder that the whole country remains under threat.

At the end of his homily, the pontiff directly addressed Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov and Ukrainian lawmakers Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko and Rusem Umerov, who sat all together in the front row.

In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer, Francis said, adding that the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen, speaking the last three words in Ukrainian.

Fedorov was abducted and held for five days by Russian troops after they occupied Melitopol, a strategic southern city. Fedorov and the lawmakers have been visiting European capitals asking for more aid for their war-torn country and met earlier Saturday with the Vatican's No. 2, Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

For Christians, Easter is a day of joy and hope, as they mark their belief that Jesus triumphed over death by resurrection following his crucifixion.

For with Jesus, the Risen Lord, no night will last forever; and even in the darkest night, the morning star continues to shine, the pope said in his homily.

Francis, who has been suffering from an inflamed ligament, did not participate in a candle-lit procession up the aisle of the darkened basilica at the start of the Mass. He instead sat in front of the altar on a wooden upholstered chair in white robes. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said the Mass instead.

Arrayed before the steps of the altar was a row of cardinals, wearing ivory robes and face masks for the first Easter vigil Mass with the faithful present since the pandemic.

Among those in the basilica were seven adults who were baptized by the pope during the Mass. The Vatican said these new faithful are from Italy, the United States, Albania and Cuba. From a shell-shaped silver dish, Francis poured holy water over the bowed heads of the seven, after they walked up to him one by one and listened to him calling their first names.

On Sunday, Francis celebrates Easter Mass in the late morning in St. Peters Square and gives a speech from the basilica balcony, known by its Latin name Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world), in which he recounts the trials and conflicts facing the world.

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This story corrects the last name of the mayor to Fedorov.

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Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
TOKYO (AP)  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to working together under a longstanding bilateral alliance on Saturday at a time of heightened global tensions including threats from China and North Korea.

In a meeting over breakfast, the delegation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, agreed with Kishida on the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The six lawmakers visit follows their earlier stop in Taiwan, where they made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy, while issuing a warning to China. They met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

China carried out military drills near Taiwan in protest of the delegations visit. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China was prepared to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Japan has long been nervous about Chinas possible invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory to be united by force if necessary. China and Taiwan split after a civil war in 1949.

Concerns in Tokyo, especially among conservative politicians seeking a more assertive role for their military, have heightened since the war in Ukraine. The question is sensitive because Japans pacifist constitution, adopted after its defeat in World War II, bans the use of force in international disputes. Japan keeps its overseas military operations to peacekeeping and humanitarian relief.

Officially, Japan does not recognize Taiwan but they maintain friendly relations. China opposes any official official exchanges between Taiwan and other foreign governments.

The issue of whether the U.S. would intervene in the case of China's attack on Taiwan remains open. Analysts say Japans role in such a hypothetical situation is even more unclear because Japan is host to a huge U.S. military presence under the alliance.

Kishida told the representatives from Congress that the bilateral alliance superseded political party divisions, and sought their understanding on Japan's role in working toward peace and prosperity in the region. Tokyo also asked for U.S. support for ongoing efforts by Japan to bring home Japanese who were abducted by North Korea decades ago, the ministry said. North Korea returned some of the abducted people in 2004.

The U.S. delegation also includes Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas.

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Associated Press Writer Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.

Wu is on Twitter https://twitter.com/huizhong_wu

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Youre an infantryman in World War II. Your commander comes to you with a secret mission behind enemy lines. Youll have to go alone, and if youre caught, the United States will disavow any knowledge of you. As far as the Army is concerned, you are AWOL. If youre killed, your family will not receive any life insurance.

It sounds like a movie plot. But it was the exact question put to Maj. Philip Larimore in April of 1945.

The secret mission he accepted led to the rescue of some pretty famous names. His stranger-than-fiction military career was put together by his son, Walt, after his death in 2003.

Like most men who survived the battlefields of WWII, Philip Larimore left his war stories behind.

We knew he had a bunch of medals in his office, Walt Larimore said. And he had a bunch of photographs of generals signed like, To a fighting man, To the best soldier Ive ever fought with, but he never talked about it.

It wasnt until Philip Larimore had been married 50 years and his children had grown that he began to speak about what happened over there.

The stories, quite frankly, are unbelievable. Stories of hopping on the back of a tank to rescue a squad. Stories of shooting snipers out of a tree at 100 yards with a .50 caliber machine gun, added Walt.

Walt had to find out more, so he dove into his fathers life.

He was a ruffian, a hooligan, and a delinquent, so his mother and father sent him to military school, joked Walt.

Philip graduated from Gulf Coast Military Academy and headed off to Officer Candidate School. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on his 18th birthday - the youngest commissioned officer ever in the U.S. Army.

From there, it was off to the trenches of Anzio with the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion.

He had gone there, he said, to kick the heil out of Hitler. For liberty, and freedom, and battle, and warrior, and hero. That first night, he realized he was there for his men, explained Walt.

It was Philips job to supply those men on the front lines. A conversation with a farmer he met led Philip to change the way the entire Army moved ammo for the rest of the war.

The farmer said that these mules are smarter than a horse. They know where mines are, and theyll avoid them. When a flare goes off, theyll lay down and protect your men, and can carry more than any of your men, noted Walt.

The 30th Infantry liberated Rome, Sicily, and drove the Nazis from the Vosges Mountains.

They fought for 513 days without stop. Dad fought for 413 of those days. Psychiatrists tell us that when a frontline soldier reaches day 200, thats when they start losing grasp of reality. These men didnt break for hundreds of days, Walt said.

Philip was wounded seven different times in the fighting.

He was awarded seven Purple Hearts. He turned down three of them because he said the wounds werent significant enough, Walt said.

Philip wasnt finished. The conversation with that Italian farmer set him on the path for a secret mission behind enemy lines.

This pudgy little guy who wanted to develop the perfect race also wanted to develop the perfect horse for the perfect race, added Walt.

Turns out, the perfect horse was the Lipizzan stallion. Rumor had it, Hitlers veterinarians had been breeding them in Czechoslovakia. The Army asked Philip to confirm the existence of the horses and the farm. A pilot flew Philip to a small clearing carved out of the Czech forest.

They had a steeple chase course set up. So, the vet bet him he couldnt beat him on the steeple chase course. Dads story was he won the steeple chase, said Walt.

Shortly after Philip returned, Gen. George Patton authorized Operation Cowboy to rescue the last remaining Lipizzans in the world.

Philip returned to his platoon where he was shot from the back of a tank as he attempted to rescue his squad from an ambush. That final wound cost him his right leg. After rehab, the Army discharged him.

By that time, he had received every medal of valor the Army awards, except the Medal of Honor.

He never talked about those medals. He never talked about those battles and a lot of the men were like that. They fought for freedom. They fought for liberty but when they came home, they wanted to live life, explained Walt.

Thats what Philip did until 2003. He and his wife raised four sons. He put the LSU Cartography Department on the map and gained a reputation for producing high-quality maps and graphics.

You can read all about his stranger-than-fiction service in his son Walts book,  At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse.
CAIRO (AP)  Yemens Houthis criticized a new U.S.-led task force that will patrol the Red Sea following a series of attacks by the Iran-backed rebels in a waterway thats essential to global trade.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis chief negotiator and spokesman, said late Friday that the U.S. move in the Red Sea, which comes amid a cease-fire in the country's civil war, contradicts Washingtons claim of supporting the U.N.-brokered truce.

The task force enshrines the aggression and blockade on Yemen," he claimed on his Telegram social media account.

Abdul-Salam apparently referred to a Saudi-led coalition the rebels have been fighting for years. The coalition, which until recently was backed by the U.S., imposes an air and sea blockade on Houthi-held areas.

Iran is the main supporter of the Houthis who seized Yemens capital, Sanaa, in September 2014. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war on the side of Yemens exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting has pushed the Arab worlds poorest nation to the brink of famine.

Another Houthi leader, Daifallah al-Shami, also criticized the U.S.-led task force, saying it sends negative signals and gives a darker reading to the truce, according to the rebels media office. He also did not elaborate.

The new task force of two to eight ships patrolling at a time will be commissioned Sunday and aims to target those smuggling coal, drugs, weapons and people in the Red Sea, according to Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who oversees the U.S. Navys Mideast-based 5th Fleet.

The USS Mount Whitney, a Blue Ridge class amphibious command ship previously part of the Navys African and European 6th Fleet, will join the task force, Cooper said.

While Cooper did not name the Houthis when he announced the task force Wednesday, the rebels have launched explosives-laden drone boats and mines into the waters of the Red Sea.

The Red Sea runs from Egypts Suez Canal in the north down through the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the south that separates Africa from the Arabian Peninsula.

Coal smuggling through the Red Sea has been used by Somalias al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group to fund attacks. Weapons linked by the U.S. Navy and analysts to Iran have been intercepted in the region as well, likely on their way to the Houthis. The rebels also fired missiles in the Red Sea that have come near an American warship in the past.

A 60-day cease-fire around the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan appears for now to be holding despite repeated violations that both parties blamed each other for.

The U.N.-brokered cease-fire, that began on April 2, is the first nationwide one in six years. It has relieved Yemenis in Sanaa and other rebel-held areas of coalition airstrikes during the truce and people in government-held areas of Houthi attacks, especially those on the outskirts of the central city of Marib, which the rebels have been trying to seize for over a year.
BERKELEY (BCN)

Police in Berkeley continue to search for a man who approached a woman from behind in broad daylight, threatened her with a knife and sexually assaulted her.

The incident happened at about 1 p.m. Thursday as the woman was walking on Colusa Avenue between Visalia Avenue and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The suspect assaulted her in the 500 block of Colusa Avenue. Officers responded to the area, but were unable to locate the suspect.

He is described as a Black male adult, about 30 to 40 years old, with short, curly gray and black hair. He was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt and a blue surgical mask.

He fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.

Berkeley police detectives are requesting residents in the neighborhood to check their video surveillance cameras or car-dash cameras for any information that may be related to the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Berkeley Police Department's Sex Crimes Unit at (510) 981-5735 or the 24-hour Berkeley Police Department non-emergency number at (510) 981-5900.

Copyright  2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Police in Berkeley continue to search for a man who approached a woman from behind in broad daylight, threatened her with a knife and sexually assaulted her.

The incident happened at about 1 p.m. Thursday as the woman was walking on Colusa Avenue between Visalia Avenue and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The suspect assaulted her in the 500 block of Colusa Avenue. Officers responded to the area, but were unable to locate the suspect.

He is described as a Black male adult, about 30 to 40 years old, with short, curly gray and black hair. He was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt and a blue surgical mask.

He fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.

Berkeley police detectives are requesting residents in the neighborhood to check their video surveillance cameras or car-dash cameras for any information that may be related to the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Berkeley Police Department's Sex Crimes Unit at (510) 981-5735 or the 24-hour Berkeley Police Department non-emergency number at (510) 981-5900.

The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in Sonoma County are seeking to expand the Graton Resort & Casino by as much as 50 percent, according to a notice of preparation filed by the tribe earlier this month. In addition, Sonoma County is seeking input from the community regarding the proposed project.

The tribe plans to submit a tribal environmental impact report in preparation for the possible expansion. Approval of the expansion would come from the federal government, not local officials, though the county Board of Supervisors can submit an opinion on the project to the feds.

Last week the supervisors issued a formal opposition to the Koi Nation of Sonoma County, which seeks to build a casino southeast of Windsor. The board's reason for the opposition, however, is that the county claims that the Koi do not have a sovereign ancestral claim over the land, unlike the Graton Rancheria tribe. Just as with the proposed Graton expansion, the ultimate decision rests with the federal government.

The upwards of 300,000-square-foot Graton Resort opened in 2013 west of Rohnert Park on federal trust land. Currently, the site consists of a gaming area, 200-room hotel and banquet facility, a spa and parking. The tribe is proposing an expansion of the casino floor by 144,000 square feet; a new, five-level hotel wing with 221 rooms with associated parking, a 3,500 seat theater, a rooftop restaurant, and an expansion of the pool area.

No one was hurt Friday evening during an armed robbery that occurred in a Palo Alto neighborhood, according to a police spokesperson.

Investigators are looking into the armed robbery, which happened at approximately 6:15 p.m. on Channing Avenue at Bryant Street. Police said that is where two suspects armed with handguns robbed a man. There were no physical injuries.

Police said the suspects fled in their car, and later appeared to have committed auto burglaries at Stanford Shopping Center. They were last seen driving their two-door black Honda Accord on westbound Sand Hill Road.

There are no further details at this time.

Nurses and health care workers at 12 Sutter Health facilities across the Bay Area plan to hold a one-day strike Monday to call for improved workplace health and safety standards.

The strike is expected to include some 8,000 workers at 15 facilities across northern California in total, according to the California Nurses Association.

Sutter Health's nurses and health care workers have been in contract negotiations with the health care nonprofit since June 2021 and have called on Sutter to increase its nursing staff.

Workers are expected to picket at the 15 Sutter Health facilities - including those in Oakland, Berkeley, Vallejo, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, Castro Valley, Antioch, Burlingame and Novato - between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

A Union City police spokesperson said late Friday afternoon that a response by officers to James Logan High School earlier in the day was a result of a second-hand reporter of a" school shooter on campus".

But, the investigation turned up nothing as officers found there to be no credible threats to the school nor its students or faculty.

Officers responded to the city's only high school, at 1800 H St., at 12:30 p.m. As police arrived, school officials placed the campus on lockdown. The school was searched, but no suspects were located and there were no victims of a crime or any reports of injuries.

Students were subsequently released from campus after officers deemed the area safe.

Rain is back in the National Weather Service forecast for Saturday for the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Precipitation returns early Saturday morning, spreading through most of the region, with sunny skies returning by mid-afternoon. Overnight lows Saturday morning will range from the upper 40s to the upper 50s. Highs Saturday will range from the upper 50s to mid 60s.

Copyright  2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen (R) presents a gift to the United States Ambassador to Vietnam, Marc E. Knapper. (Photo: SGGP)

On behalf of the authorities and people of HCMC, the City Party Chief expressed his sincere thanks for the sharing and support taken by the Government of the US in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in HCMC.



He hoped that the cooperation programs in the fields of economy, energy, and education will further strengthen relations between the two sides.

Mr. Nen highly appreciated the cooperation relations of HCMC and the US that have been deepened much more across a wide range of sectors not only in the trading sector.

He hoped that Mr. Marc E. Knapper would boost the implementation of cooperation programs to create favorable conditions for investors of the two sides during his new term.

For his part, the United States Ambassador to Vietnam, Marc E. Knapper affirmed that the two countries currently have cooperation programs in the sectors of the digital economy, digital transformation, and the US is willing to join hands with Vietnam to boost the implementation of these projects to be stronger and more effective.

On this occasion, Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen presented the best-known novel titled Thoi Xa Vang (A Time Far Past) by writer Le Luu to the US Ambassador to Vietnam.

Mr. Knapper also handed over another book about California featuring an introduction to the history and the heritage of this State.

By Xuan Hanh  Translated by Kim Khanh
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Greg Stone is an actor best known for appearing in more than 70 stage productions, and is about to appear in Girl from the North Country in Melbourne. He is currently in a relationship. The 60-year-old opens up about his first kiss, what his children have taught him, and why he doesnt feel the need to remarry.

Greg Stone. Credit:Pierre Toussaint

My maternal grandmother, Olive, was a petite woman always full of laughter, big hugs and stories. She looked after me when I was very young because my mother, Jenny, worked full time. Her ability to tell stories had a big influence on me.

In the 1970s, Mum was a secretary of a football club. It was unusual for women to work full-time in this era. My father, Roy, was well loved but unreliable; it was Mum who kept our family together  and still does. She is a strong and powerful woman who ran the house, mothered three kids, worked a 9-to-5 job, then would come home to cook dinner. She was firm but fair.

Mum met Dad when she was 15 and they married when she was 18. He was a farmer. I think she thought she was marrying a rich farmer but it didnt work out that way. Dad died 10 years ago.
When climate activist Anjali Sharma gets home from school, she rarely has time to have a snack before she is making calls and writing statements. I wish I could be a normal teenager and just be able to focus on homework and nothing else.

The teenager first became involved in the climate movement in 2019 after an Instagram ad found its way onto her news feed. While she had always been concerned about the environment, having seen the impacts of climate change play out in her home country of India, it was the School Strike 4 Climate movement that inspired her to become more active.

Climate activist Anjali Sharma. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

Sharma is part of a generation of young activists driven by the urgency of warnings that the global tipping point is approaching and that governments are failing to respond. The activists are turning to traditional forms of direct action and using more creative methods to convey their message. The Melbourne 17-year-old has planned and organised protests, spoken to thousands of people and led a federal court case against environment minister Sussan Ley.

But just as the climate movement reached its peak in 2019, the global pandemic stopped it in its tracks. Organisers were forced to turn to online actions  about 2000 people logged onto Zoom for last Octobers Sydney protest, which was a far cry from the 80,000-strong group that gathered in Sydneys CBD a few years earlier.
Id been an ambitious child, with a clear picture of what I wanted from life. As someone who spent all her spare time scribbling stories, it was obvious to me that, when I grew up, Id write stories as my job. I was also a voracious reader and, since I wanted to write myself, my reading worked as confirmation that my ambitions were achievable, because so many of the books I loved were written by women. It was perhaps because of this that I didnt notice, even as I started studying literature, how few books showed female characters with genuine personal ambition. Or the way so many novels with female protagonists concerned themselves with the private, domestic lives of women, with plots revolving around finding security and happiness in the form of love and marriage. I didnt notice, even as I started studying literature, how few books showed female characters with genuine personal ambition. And it makes sense that they did. For the majority of human history, marriage was the best career path open to a woman. Her choice of marital partner was critical. Any personal ambitions she might have were largely pointless. When I was about 12, on the other hand, I wrote a detailed plan outlining where I wanted to be in my life at five-year intervals up until the day I turned 40 (Im not sure what exactly I thought happened when you turned 40, but I evidently didnt consider it worth contemplating.)

In this plan, I specified that, while I wanted to marry, I also wanted to earn enough through writing to be independent of my husband. It seems a funny thing to be on a childs mind but I think I had a strong sense, even then, of what could jeopardise female ambition: those same assumptions that the master levelled at me 10 years later. I had an instinct that being defined by or dependent on a man could get in my way. As a child, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, one of the most driven women Ive ever met. She lived nearby and would often look after me when my parents were working. Shed berate me if I ever complained I had nothing to do. Only boring people get bored, was her favourite retort. According to my grandmother, there was always something I could and should be doing. Shed sit with me while I practised the violin, making sure I played my scales. Unlike my parents, she stopped me whenever I made mistakes, insisting I go over it and over it until I got it right. Its yourself youre cheating, shed say. Shed test me on my times tables or, baking with me, get me to divide and multiply quantities of flour and sugar. Shed look through my homework diary and make me complete work for the next week, reproaching me for my habit of leaving everything to the last minute. Or wed sit together and read. She was terrifyingly well-read. She could speak German, French and Dutch. She practised the piano every day. So it came as a surprise to me when, collecting information for a school project, I asked my grandmother what her career had been and discovered that she hadnt really had one. Shed worked for a bit in a library before shed married, and then briefly as a cleaner when her children were young, but she hadnt had a career as such.

She also, I discovered, hadnt gone to school. Born in a slum in Dublin in the 1920s, the eldest girl of a large family, shed been needed at home to help her mother with her siblings, and to walk miles around the city collecting shoes for her father to mend. She moved to London by herself at the age of 14, looking for a better sort of life (I wanted to get away from them all; you would, wouldnt you? is how she described it to me), and she never went back. She married my grandfather, a wrought-iron maker, moved into his house, which came complete with various of his male relatives already in situ. And then she looked after them, the house, and then her own children, and then us. My grandmother never seemed bitter. I never heard her complain about anything, and I never really asked her how shed felt about it all. She was a stern, rather fierce, intensely selfless woman, and a question about what shed really wanted from her life for herself probably wouldnt have gone down too well. But the fact that she learnt the piano as an adult, paying for her lessons by giving lessons herself; the fact that she put herself through evening classes, learnt languages; the fact that she studied for and sat her GCSEs in adulthood  All these things spoke to me of ambition, secret and unfulfilled. I would hazard a guess that we all know of women like my grandmother. Industrious, intelligent women, unable to fulfil their own potential, sidelining their own ambitions for husbands and children, living in contexts where its impossible to want something, to go after something, just for themselves. There are, of course, so many more opportunities for women to fulfil their ambitions now than there were for a girl born in a Dublin slum in the 1920s. But there are unnerving parallels between the life of my grandmother and the assumptions made by the master of one of the top universities in the UK about the potential of his female student.

This prevailing idea that a womans role is relational. That a woman is defined and limited by her bonds with other people, and that these bonds are the primary objective of her life and her primary need. That a woman is caring and self-sacrificing and nurturing. That she exists in the context of what she can give to other people and what she needs to take from them. That the things she might want for her own life for herself are secondary. Theyre hard assumptions to shake. Loading I dont know what my grandmother would have done with her life if shed been born in a different time and place. Her opportunities to express or pursue personal ambitions were so limited. But what she could do was drive her children and her grandchildren to pursue theirs. It was a relational sort of ambition, of course  a channelling, I imagine, of her own frustrated desires. She was determined that her children would go to university and set aside money from the time they were born to pay for it. They all did. And she was unwaveringly firm with me about working hard and going after what I wanted. I didnt manage to snare the rich husband the master was so convinced I wanted, but I am a writer. My grandmother was an obsessive reader her whole life and books opened up other worlds for her  even if she did find Ulysses too Irish for her tastes.
Sydneys Anglican archbishop says the pandemic has led many people who had drifted away from religious practice to reconnect with the church as they search for meaning and a sense of community after two isolating and anxious years.

Kanishka Raffel, the head of the Anglican Churchs Sydney diocese, urged non-believers and those from other faiths to engage with the message of Easter Sunday, saying the religious festival is not limited to practising Christians.

Sydney Anglican Archbishop Kanishka de Silva Raffel said people had been looking for a sense of meaning and community during the pandemic. Credit:James Brickwood

We are living with real heartache in so many places and for so many reasons but in the midst of that we have a hope to cling to in the death and resurrection of Jesus, Raffel said in an interview.

After coronavirus lockdowns and other public health restrictions kept people away from the church for long periods, Raffel said: People have found it wonderfully strengthening and encouraging to gather together after such a long period of not being able to do it.
Australians are showing no signs of needle fatigue, with a promising uptake of the flu vaccine so far this year, according to experts.

Influenza has been all but eradicated on Australian shores throughout the pandemic, leaving doctors concerned people could forget how severe the disease can be and forgo their annual jab.

Australians may be jab-weary but are still beginning to turn out for the annual flu shots.

President of the Royal Australia College of General Practitioners Dr Karen Price said demand had been strong for flu immunisations within her practice.

I havent seen any hesitancy at all, which is good, she said.
Electric car ownership has become increasingly popular as Australians look for greener modes of transport, but the availability of charging stations will test the states ability to cope with the emerging technology.

There is no definitive source for the location of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations but data from PlugShare.com shows there were 192 postcodes in Greater Sydney that did not have a public charging point by the start of 2022.

Meanwhile, the easiest places to charge your EV are in the Sydney CBD where about 75 plugs are located, followed by Glebe with 21 plugs, Lane Cove with 19 plugs, while Blacktown and Eastern Creek had 18 each.

But the locations of these charging stations dont always coincide with where the EVs are located.
Sydney Harbour will welcome cruise ships after a more than two-year ban on the liners lifts on Sunday, marking a major step in the countrys tourism industry reopening.

The federal government announced a ban on all cruise liners on March 15, 2020, a week after the Ruby Princess ship docked in Sydney with more than 130 sick passengers on board.

Sydneysiders can expect a familiar sight to return to the Harbour from Sunday as the ban on cruise ships lifts. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Despite initially being slated to last for 30 days, cruises remained banned for 764 days under the 2015 Biosecurity Act as Australia attempted to manage the spread of the virus.

While it is up to the states to decide when cruise ships can enter, NSW, Victoria and Queensland have agreed to welcome the vessels from Sunday.
A former Vice music editor who recruited up-and-comers from Canadas hip-hop scene to courier cocaine into Australia says he became involved in the scheme to boost his journalistic profile and cultivate underworld contacts for a publication that glorified drug use and criminal activity.

Slava Pastuk  born Yuroslav Pastukhov and known online as Slava P  claims in a new memoir, Bad Trips, that on his first meeting with the Mexican cartels Canadian representatives in 2015 he was told that the drug ring had already completed about 150 trips to Australia, and that Sydney Airport customs officers were on the payroll.

Slava Pastuk says there are no victims and no villains in his account of running drugs to Sydney. Credit:Facebook

Pastuk was then living in an uninsulated Toronto apartment he had nicknamed the favela, taking more drugs than he could afford on his meagre salary, and lobbying fruitlessly for a transfer to the New York office. He supplemented his income by dealing marijuana and MDMA, throwing cover-charge parties that traded on the unauthorised use of the Vice name and introducing influencers to brands.

Drug use was tacitly endorsed by the company, with American staff at the publications 20th anniversary celebrations in Manhattan each given envelopes containing $200 cash, which they interpreted as coke money.
Melbourne survived another Formula 1 grand prix last weekend. The circus came to town, performed better than expected and promptly packed up to move on to ... where? Do you know where the next race is? No, of course not, only devoted F1 fans do.

I will help you out. The next race is in Imola in Italy on April 24. The reason it matters is that the entire economic and business case for forking out a guesstimated $55 million a year of taxpayers money for the right to host the race is based on voodoo economic modelling that inflates the value of name recognition for F1 host cities to squillions of dollars. It is actually worth diddly squat.

The Grand Prix circus, came, conquered and left after another big three days in town. Credit:Joe Armao,

We have to guess at the licence fee because the actual amount is commercial in confidence  which is code for embarrassing.

Do the local government officials who control the circuit at Imola, east of Bologna in Italy, claim billions in naming benefits? Or is their emotional and nostalgic connection to Enzo Ferrari enough reason to host a race? What about Montreal, Baku (to save you looking it up  Azerbaijan), Budapest and so on?
A Pharmacy Guild campaign for a government subsidy rise could bring the cost of medicines down to about $20 for most Australians.

But the campaign for a subsidy hike has been described as a cash grab aimed at lessening competition from discount chemists.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese on the campaign trail on Tuesday. Credit:James Brickwood, Alex Ellinghausen

As the major parties head into a federal election being fought on the cost of living, the Pharmacy Guild is pushing for an increase of up to $20 to the taxpayer subsidy for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medicines, which would bring the price down for most consumers to $22.50.

While concession cardholders only pay a maximum of $6.80 for prescription medicines on the PBS, general patients pay a maximum co-payment of $42.50.
Scott Morrison was almost out of the gates after his brief visit to the Sydney Royal Easter Show when a man holding a beer ran up.

Prime minister! Prime minister! Im from Cobargo!

The collective eyebrows of the media advisers near Morrison shot up.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison takes Rumour the cow for a walk at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Credit:James Brickwood

But there was no repeat of the infamous Black Summer poor reception Morrison received in the NSW town. Cattle farmer Christopher Rocky Allen, son of Cobargos mayor, just wanted to give the PM a hat branded with his stud name, Rockstar Cows.
The Victorian and Queensland governments are backing a pay rise for aged-care workers in a combined push before the industrial umpire, as part of a case the federal government refuses to join.

Aged care is a major issue heading into the May 21 federal election with both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese promising to fix the crisis in the sector.

The Victorian and Queensland governments have submitted endorsing statements to the Fair Work aged-care wage case. Credit:Fairfax

A Fair Work submission by Victorian Minister for Ageing Anthony Carbines to boost wages for the haemorrhaging workforce says the impact could be felt across other employment sectors if the Health Services Unions high-profile case was successful.

A strong and sustainable aged-care system is needed to ensure older Victorians receive care in the most appropriate setting and assist patient flow out of hospitals, the submission reads, adding support to an industry consensus a pay boost must be matched by federal funding.
After days of public criticism from Labor, legal groups and retired judges about the failure to legislate a federal integrity body  and his labelling of the NSW ICAC as a kangaroo court  Morrison will be encouraged that his backbenchers believe the issue is not cutting through with voters. Loading However, there will be concern in Liberal ranks that the issue could have an impact in seats such as North Sydney, Wentworth and Goldstein where the incumbent is facing a challenge from a high-profile teal independent candidate. Jason Wood, who holds the marginal seat of La Trobe, said a federal integrity commission was not being raised by voters in his electorate. Im getting no heat on it out my way, he said.

Wood said he was not against a federal integrity commission and that integrity in politics was important, but it shouldnt hold public hearings like many of the state-based watchdogs. He pointed to the suicide of former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon earlier this year, who was subject to a probe by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in Victoria. The former police officer said those calling for a commission with public hearings should have a look at the case of Amanda and ask would any of them like to go through that. Councillor Amanda Stapledon was dragged through IBAC, he said. Obviously, you want justice to take place. Ive been in the police force for 17 years  we would never have media in there, cameras and have it broadcast live, theres so much extra stress and anxiety.

Anyone who is pushing this just has to look at this public exercise of an IBAC. A Resolve poll in February found 70 per cent of voters back the need for the new agency. But Coalition sources insist it is not coming up as a top-order issue in focus group interviews with swinging voters. NSW MP for the seat of Reid Fiona Martin nominated cost-of-living pressures, jobs and lower taxes as voter priorities. She would not say whether voters had raised a federal integrity commission with her. Queensland MP Ted OBrien, who holds the safe Sunshine Coast-based seat of Fairfax, said the key issues people were raising related to the economy. For small businesses, the No.1 issue is finding enough workers; for individuals, its cost-of-living pressures and then theres some uncertainty about the global environment.

People dont use the word infrastructure, they talk about roads and rail. Loading [A federal] ICAC is not being raised. There is some email traffic on the issue, but it wouldnt be in the top 10 issues. It is raised very rarely with me directly and Im on the street every day, at the shops, or doorknocking. Victorian MP Russell Broadbent, who holds the Gippsland-based seat of Monash, said that in his electorate, its always roads, and in the last week or so they are raising Albo. Whats important to you or I is not important to 90 per cent of the public. This election will be won and lost on how people feel about the economy and who will look after them, he said.

Asked if voters in his seat had raised an integrity body, Broadbent said: No, it has not been raised with me. Bert Van Manen, who holds the outer-suburban Brisbane-based seat of Forde, said voters raised three key issues with him: Housing and rental affordability for people in my area because it is growing so quickly, infrastructure and then public services. On the proposed federal integrity body, Van Manen said no, these are the issues people are mainly talking to me about. Queensland MP for the seat of Petrie Luke Howarth said national security, the shift to a 30 per cent tax rate and obviously unemployment is topical, because of Albanese not knowing the rate. Maybe a couple in three years. Nothing now unless they are locked on Labor voters parroting the talking points because it always comes with three other Labor points, he said.

Herbert MP Phillip Thompson, whose seat is based around the northern city of Townsville, said the number one issue in his city was youth crime. After that, voters raised skill shortages, roads, the need for more manufacturing jobs and, in a garrison city where Australia had its largest defence base, national security. I dont think its no one cares, people want to see integrity from their politicians, he said, but the proposed federal ICAC was not a top-order issue. Late last year, Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to vote for independent MP Helen Haines proposed federal integrity commission with much greater powers, such as the ability to hold public hearings and launch its own investigations, which the Liberal model could not do in most circumstances. Asked whether his proposed commission would hold public hearings, Albanese said on Saturday there would be scope for public hearings if the anti-corruption commission itself felt that was necessary. Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.
The Eastpoint tower in Edgecliff has done developer Mirvac proud since it took shape in the early 1980s.

The two-bedroom apartment in Edgecliffs Eastpoint tower sold for $3 million. Credit:

Leonie Baldock has bought a Sydney apartment. Credit:Philip Gostelow

The late Lady (Florence) Packer was an early buyer on level 13 and made it her Sydney home away from Monte Carlo, until 2010 when she sold it for $2.75 million.

More recent additions to the building have included property magnate John Roth and his wife, lawyer Jillian Segal, former car dealer Neil Sutton, and missing fraudster Melissa Caddick, who bought the penthouse for her parents in 2016 for $2.55 million.
Strasbourg, 9 April 2022 (SPS) - The Left Group in the European Parliament has reaffirmed that the solution to the conflict in Western Sahara lies in the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, calling on the head of the Spanish government to realign his position with the UN resolutions.



"Various UN resolutions have established the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people. They are the only ones that can freely decide their future. It is high time that the international community protects and supports the effective exercise of this right without any external interference," indicated the political group on its website, following the visit of a delegation of the Intergroup for Western Sahara in the European Parliament, in the Sahrawi refugee camps.



In this regard, the parliamentary group said that the statements of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on the so-called Moroccan "autonomy" for Western Sahara are not acceptable. "It is up to the Sahrawi people alone to exercise its right to self-determination and to freely opt for any decision," he said.



"We urge the Spanish Prime Minister to take this into consideration and realign his position according to the UN resolutions on Western Sahara and the right of the Sahrawis to decide for themselves", the Left insisted, considering "essential to advocate respect for international law, in this particular conflict as well as in others".



In this sense, the Left expressed in its statement its solidarity with the Sahrawi people and its legitimate representative, the Polisario Front. "We reiterate our willingness to collaborate on the path of a just solution based on respect for the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and international law, in accordance with UN resolutions.



The parliamentary group denounced the illegal occupation by Morocco of Western Sahara for 47 years, and called for an end to this violation of international law by returning this territory to its rightful owners, the Sahrawi people, stressing that no country has the right to annex other territories by force.



062/T
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and top Ukrainian finance officials will visit Washington next week during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Reuters reported citing sources familiar with the plans.

The Ukrainian government officials will meet with finance officials of G7 countries and also take part in the April 21 World Bank discussion on Ukraine.

The IMF could revise its global economic growth projections after the talks.
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LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP)  Its inevitable physicians eventually will have to deliver bad news to their patients, old and young  including, sometimes, that the patient has been diagnosed with cancer or another terminal illness.

Dr. Andrew Anderson, owner of Boonsboro Direct Primary Care  soon to be renamed Kaya Health  said it can be overwhelming for the patient, the patients family as well as the doctor.

You see your patients  people you really, really care for  and have done a lot of work starting in medical school and the years leading up to you finally seeing and caring for them and providing them with a diagnosis and options, and then you kind of feel hopeless because not only are we supposed to help them from a physical standpoint but also from a holistic standpoint, he said.

Wanting to do more than give patients a diagnosis and send them away with a treatment plan, Anderson created a community art service project by connecting with local students in the area.

Anderson reached out to art teachers at Liberty Christian Academy and Jefferson Forest High School to ask if students wanted to volunteer their time to paint inspirational quotes on donated canvases to give to patients.

So when somebody gets one of these bad diagnoses they can take something off of this wall  one of these inspirational quotes  and they can kind of start this really difficult medical journey on the right foot with inspiration in their heart and in their hands, he said.

The office now has more than 50 prints filled with landscapes, scriptures and inspirational quotes such as, When you focus on the good, the good gets better, and, The best view comes after the hardest climb.

Kaya Health is a membership model that has been open about three years. The office was formerly located in Boonsboro near Kroger.

Direct Primary Care physicians do not bill insurance carriers for their services and instead charge patients a monthly subscription fee. For that fee, patients typically have unlimited access to their physician.

We do that so we can get around all those ugly things that insurance makes doctors do that they dont want to do, so we can take better care of our patients, Anderson said.

He said patients dont want to believe they have a diagnosis until they absolutely have to.

They come into the doc and say, Hey, Ive got this symptom and feeling this, but they dont want to believe it. They kind of know that somethings going on and thats why theyre there, but then when they get the MRI result back or the lab work back and then they get told, Hey, you have this life-changing diagnosis, it becomes official and really real, really fast. And to say the least, really shocking, he said.

Two students at JF decided they wanted to do more and felt led to create more paintings in their free time. Last weekend they organized a paint party at the school with several of their classmates.

Grace Houghton, a junior, and Hannah Wright, a senior, took the acrylic paints and canvases donated by Anderson and made more than 20 original paintings to give to the doctors office.

I just feel like it means a lot to give back to people who need support, Houghton said. My grandmother had cancer and she would have never really gotten through it if it wasnt for the support that we gave her. So we feel that just by giving our time and our artistic abilities that someone can know were thinking of them.

In Wrights opinion, its not just about what the canvases say, its about whats behind the canvases and that real people in the community care about the patients and support them.

Anderson said the paintings are a tangible reminder people are thinking about these patients.

Sometimes it can just be a little push in the right direction because some of these diagnoses can provide for some pretty rough and lonely times, he said.
Connecticut lawmakers are considering a sweeping bill aimed at giving residents more control over sensitive personal data that websites and apps constantly collect, often in ways hidden to the average internet user.

The law would give people with the right to access data that companies have collected about them, opt out of the sale of that information and request that it be deleted or corrected if it is inaccurate.

It would feature some of the strongest consumer protections in the country, experts said, particularly for minors under age 18, as well as among the toughest enforcement options.

The proposal has received heightened attention from local lawmakers this session amid growing concern around big data collection and increasing threats to peoples information, including from hacks and other data breaches.

It's just really time to get serious about this, said Nora Duncan, state director for the AARP in Connecticut, which has publicly backed the bill. I think the requirements it puts forth on how companies have to protect data and the ability it gives consumers to control their own data will make things more secure over time.

A recent AARP survey found one third of people over 45 said they or a family member had been a victim of a scam or a fraud, Duncan said.

The bill passed out of the Judiciary Committee on Monday. Variations of the legislation have been filed before, but none advanced as far as the bill this session, which closes on May 4.

People are becoming more aware of how their data is being used, said the bills lead sponsor Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford. Were trying to strike the balance of giving consumers good protections. We wanted to make sure that it is possible for companies to comply.

The proposal has stirred debate, however, amid worries about what the new rules could cost small businesses.

John Blair, associate counsel for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, pointed to one projection that estimated companies with fewer than 20 employees would incur compliance costs of $50,000 in the first year after the data privacy law passed in California, the first American state to do so; businesses that employ between 100 and 500 were likely to spend $450,000.

Still, Blair said, complying with a law similar to what has already passed in other states would be easier on Connecticuts businesses.

The overarching goal for us is that the legislation be consistent with other states, he said. We're monitoring it very closely.

Particular concern has been raised about how restaurants would be impacted.

That industry has just been hammered through the pandemic, Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, who voted in support of the bill on Monday.

Kissel said restaurants collect customer data in order to run day-to-day operations, but they often dont then monetize it in ways other industries do. Quite often, they utilize data just to reserve tables and take orders. They're not really trading in it like other entities.

Scott Dolch, CEO of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, said in early March that restaurants and other hospitality businesses would face an unknown financial burden to comply with the data protections.

Without solid numbers of what the costs will be, how can we be sure passing this legislation wont force more restaurants to close their doors because compliance is just too costly? Dolch wrote in his public testimony; he could not be reached for comment last week.

If the legislation passes, Connecticut could become just the fifth state in the nation to pass such data privacy protections.

Many other states are actively considering data privacy bills of their own. Connecticut is one of nearly two dozen states considering data privacy bills, according to research by the law firm Husch Blackwell.

David Stauss, leader of the law firms privacy and cybersecurity practice group, said states have taken on passing their own data privacy laws as Congress has debated, but failed, to pass anything on the national level.

The reason why you're seeing so many states do it is because the federal government has not, Stauss said. In the absence of federal action, states are jumping in and almost daring the federal government to do something.

Both red and blue states, meanwhile, have inched proposals forward in recent years, but many have so far struggled to get bills past the finish line.

In 2022 already, eight states have tried to pass data privacy legislation, but failed to do so before their sessions closed, according to Husch Blackwell.

Stauss said of the bills that still have a shot this year, Connecticut has some of the strongest consumer protections that could make it a model for other states. But passing tougher measures is a bigger challenge, he said.

It is infinitely harder to pass a good privacy bill than it is to pass a bad privacy bill, he said.

Stauss pointed to the additional protections for minors up to age 18 in Connecticuts proposal  a higher standard than other states have adopted. And unlike in other states, businesses would only receive warning of a possible violation until the end of 2024. After that, the Attorney General will be able to decide whether the business deserves a warning before a tougher penalty.

Data privacy legislation began to gain ground in the United States after the European Union passed a sweeping law now referred to as GDPR, which took effect in May 2018.

California was the first American state to follow suit with a law that took effect in 2020, although it placed stricter limits on what kind of organizations it applies to than the European rules, according to Thompson Reuters.

Virginia and Colorado followed, passing their own laws in 2021. Utah became the fourth state to approve legislation in late March, widely regarded as more business-friendly than the prior three.

Many large Connecticut-based businesses are already required to comply with the other states laws, if they do business in that state.

For example: Charter Communications, based in Stamford, stated in recent disclosure to investors the growing number of state proposals could result in additional network and information security requirements for our business, but it is unclear what those effects will be.

Maroney said the Connecticut bill most closely resembles Colorados law.

The Connecticut bill would apply to any business that controlled or processed the data of more than 75,000 consumers each calendar year. The law would set a lower threshold for companies that regularly sell personal data; it would apply to any organization that processes 25,000 consumers information if it generates more than a quarter of its revenue from selling personal data.

However, the bill carves out broad exemptions for institutions of higher learning, health care providers, the state government and any nonprofit. It also exempts data collected for the sake of making a simple transaction, and adds additional protections for minors up to age 18  a higher standard than other states have adopted. Maroney said health care entities in particular are already subject to heavy privacy regulations.

Even as states consider broad legislative efforts, doubts remain about how many citizens would utilize tools the new laws provide them, such as taking the initiative to try to claw back their data.

Requests consumers must submit to tell companies to stop collecting their personal data can be confusing and hard to navigate, depending on the company.

In California, a Consumer Reports survey in 2020 had about 500 residents try to opt out of the sale of their information on various websites. The testers said they were frustrated by the process more than half of the time.

Maureen Mahoney, a senior policy analyst for Consumer Reports, testified in support of the Connecticut bill, but advocated that its provisions go even further by prohibiting the collection and sale of certain personal data altogether. Opt-out laws rely upon individuals to hunt down and navigate divergent opt-out processes for potentially thousands of different companies, she said in early March.

Maroney, the senator, said the bill would give Connecticut consumers a solution by providing a one-stop-shopping option to opt out of having their data collected and sold by any business covered by the law.
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Every so often, state Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani gets together with public health department leaders from other states.

At the height of the pandemic, she was meeting twice a week with other members of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Its a select group, including chief public health officers from across the country. Of the more than 80 members, Juthani, the daughter of immigrants, is not alone. More than half are women and some are women of color.

When you look around the room, there are people of various different backgrounds, Juthani said in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media at her Hartford office. There there are other people of Indian descent, there are other people of East Asian descent, of African descent, Middle Eastern descent and a good number of women.

Thats important, Juthani said. The majority of the health care workforce are women, she said, so they should be in public health leadership positions as well.

Its important for leadership to reflect the workforce, Juthani said.

Its also critical to represent the communities most at risk.

When we look at health disparities, access and all the issues that are tied with that, what we see is that time and again, in our society, there is diversity of either socioeconomics, race (and) ethnicity, she said. I do think that having that breadth of types of people who are at the table makes a difference when youre thinking about representation and what youre trying to accomplish.

Juthani said women tend to make good doctors, though making the jump to a public health leadership role can be somewhat jarring. Women tend to be nurturers, she said, but in public health leadership you have to have a thick skin.

You have to know in your heart that youre doing things for the right reasons and be comfortable with that, she said.

The role, she said, requires a strong sense of identity, as well as emotional intelligence.

One former state health official told me that whatever comes at you, good or bad, (it) is coming at you because of the position that you hold, and the moment you dont hold that position, all that will go away, the accolades and the negative comments, she said.

That mindset, she said, keeps her humble and helps her remember that when someone wants something from her, or when shes attacked, its not because of who she is, but because of the position she holds.

I identify as a mother, as a wife, as a sister, a daughter, as a physician, she said. People can say whatever they want to say about me as commissioner. That does not take away from who I am as a person. So, if I can keep that that way, then, you know what? At the end of the day, you can laugh a little and not take it so personally.

Cultural differences

Asha Shah is director of infectious diseases at Stamford Hospital. Shes one of the few women of color in public health leadership roles in Connecticut.

She said that made a difference when the COVID vaccines were first available. Before Stamford Hospital had a vaccine mandate for employees, they worked to convince staff to get vaccinated.

We noticed pockets of employees that were refusing, did not want a vaccination, she said. A lot of that was related to cultural differences.

The solution was to have a group of people that was representing different cultures talk to employees about and address their concerns. Shah said it made a difference.

Im not white, and Im a woman, she said. Maybe that had an impact. Like, Oh, this is not, like, an old white dude thats telling me to get vaccinated or telling me about COVID.

Shahs in-laws, who live in Florida, will only see doctors of Indian descent.

Theyre very traditional Indian people, they will only go see Indian doctors, period, she said. Having diversity on medical staff helps because, you know, it attracts people just because of culture. There are the assumptions like, Oh, youre going to understand my health better, because were from the same culture.

Representation matters, Juthani said, to combat bias.

It absolutely matters. We all have unconscious bias. We all have it. No matter how hard we try. Its programmed deep inside, she said. So if thats the case, then it matters. You have to have different opinions, views, perspectives, types of people at the table, because it matters.

Though there are few women of color in public health leadership roles in Connecticut, neither Shah nor Juthani, who are both of Indian descent, feel like outsiders. Shah regularly gathers with her peers, leaders in infectious disease prevention from around the state.

Im probably the most vocal person on that call, Shah said. I probably talked the majority of the time, and nobodys on video. So nobody knows what I look like unless I know them personally.

Pandemic appointments

Juthani and Shah took over in their respective jobs during the pandemic. Shah took the role in July 2021, though she was not new to the hospital. Shed grown up in Darien, and said Stamford was her community hospital.

This is my 10th year at Stamford Hospital. I came straight here from fellowship. First job, and hopefully my last job. I love it here, she said. I think our institution is unique in that its predominantly run by women. Many of the members of our executive team are women, and many of them moms, working moms, which I am as well. I have three kids under the age of seven.

Juthanis path to lead the states public health agency was a bit more circuitous. She grew up in Bronx, N.Y., and Westchester County, studied to be a physician and infectious disease specialist, most recently at Yale New Haven Health.

My husband is originally from Connecticut, she said. He was very happy to come back.

Her first step away from the hospital and toward public health came when she was a third-year resident at New York Hospital.

There was a case of a person who had typhoid fever. We reported the case to the New York City Health Department. This person hadnt traveled anywhere. Usually you get typhoid fever if you go out of the country. When you have somebody in the United States who gets it and hasnt gone anywhere, that sort of suggests that theres some outbreak going on, she said.

That case, and others, were tracked to one fast food restaurant in Queens, where a single infected employee was transmitting the disease to others.

They infected three people who were identified, she said. That is public health, and that got me really interested in infectious diseases because thats specifically an infectious disease aspect. But it also got me interested in public health.

She came to the attention of Gov. Ned Lamont when she signed off on a letter complaining about indoor dining.

That opened this invitation to speak with the governor, and thats how I got connected with this administration, she said.

She admitted the transition from hospital to state agency leader has not been without its issues.

It would be untrue to say that its not been difficult at times. Of course, its been difficult, she said. What I said from day one is, I will give my advice to those who are making ultimate decisions. And at the end of the day, whatever decisions are made, Im going to keep public health and guidance to people as clear as possible for them to be able to make personal choices when personal choices are what are at hand.

Workforce development

Shah said her hospital is working to specifically recruit doctors of color.

I cant even keep up anymore. Primary care physicians, pediatricians, and you look at the names and theyre diverse people. Youve got Hispanic last names, youve got a lot of Indian last names, she said. While they may not be in leadership positions yet, because it takes time to do that, I think a lot is being done through DEI efforts to really incorporate a diverse medical community.

Juthani said that is one of her priorities as commissioner of public health.

We have a health care workforce problem, which is very apparent, she said. We also have a public health workforce problem, in the sense that we need more people coming into the public health workforce.

The goal, she said, is to have a pipeline of opportunities for young people, men and women who are interested in this kind of work to help build the DPH workforce and the local health workforce throughout our state.

The pandemic, Juthani said, pushed many people out of health care, but it also inspired some young people to be doctors, and to seek roles as public health leaders.

Theres some who were dissuaded, and thats OK. But theres some that were inspired. We have to capitalize on that, she said. We have to capitalize on that and build programs and build the types of things that are going to be able to help us invest in those people, inspire them, help guide them, to be able to help bring them through and take my place someday.
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MYKULYCHI, Ukraine (AP)  This was not where Nadiya Trubchaninova thought she would find herself at 70 years old, hitchhiking daily from her village to the shattered Ukrainian town of Bucha, trying to bring her son's body home for burial.

The questions wore her down, heavy like the winter coat and boots she still wears against the chill. Why had the 48-year-old Vadym gone to Bucha, where the Russians were so much harsher than the ones occupying their village? Who shot him as he drove on Yablunska Street, where so many bodies were found? And why did she lose her son just one day before the Russians withdrew?

After word reached her that Vadym had been found and buried by strangers in a yard in Bucha, she spent more than a week trying to bring him home to a proper grave. But he was just one body among hundreds, part of an investigation into war crimes that has grown to global significance.

Trubchaninova is among the many elderly people left behind or who chose to stay as millions of Ukrainians fled across borders or to other parts of the country. They were the first to be seen on empty streets after Russian troops withdrew from communities around the capital, Kyiv, peering out from wooden gates or carrying bags of donated food back to freezing homes.

Some, like Trubchaninova, survived the first weeks of the war only to find it had taken their children.

She had last seen her son on March 30. She thought he was taking a walk as part of his long recovery from a stroke. It would be crazy to go farther, she said. She wondered whether he went driving to search for a cellphone connection to call his own son and wish him a happy birthday.

She wondered whether Vadym thought the Russians in Bucha were like those occupying their village, who told them they wouldnt be harmed if they didnt fight back.

More than a week later, she found his makeshift grave with the help of a stranger with the same name and age as her son. The following day, she spotted the body bag containing Vadym at a Bucha cemetery. He always stood out for his height and his foot stuck out from a hole in the corner. Anxious not to lose him, she found a scarf and tied it there. It was her marker.

She believed she knew where her son's body was held for days, in a refrigerator truck outside Buchas morgue. She was desperate to find an official to hurry the process of inspecting her son and issuing the documents needed to release him.

I get worried, where hed go, and whether Id be able to find him, she said.

Once she collected his body, she would need a casket, which equals a month of her pension, about $90. She, like other elderly Ukrainians, hasnt received her pension since the war began. She gets by selling the vegetables she grows, but the potatoes she meant to plant in March withered while she was hiding in her home.

Her aging cellphone keeps losing battery life. She forgets her phone number. Her other son, two years younger than Vadym, is unemployed and troubled. Nothing is easy.

I would walk out of this place because I feel its so hard to be here, Trubchaninova said, sitting at home under a tinted black-and-white photo of herself at 32, full of determination.

She recalled watching her television, when it still worked, in the early days of the war, as broadcasts showed so many Ukrainians fleeing. She worried about them. Where are they going? Where will they sleep? What will they eat? How will they remake their lives again?

I felt so sorry for them, she said. And now, Im in that situation. I feel so lost inside. I dont even know how to describe how lost I am. Im not even sure Ill put my head on this pillow tonight and wake up tomorrow.

Like many elderly Ukrainians, she worked without taking time for herself, determined to give her children an education and a better life than her own.

Those were my plans, she said, agitated. What plans do you want me to have now? How do I make new plans if one of my sons is lying there in Bucha?

On Thursday, she waited outside the Bucha morgue again. After another long day without progress, she sat on a bench in the sun. I just wanted to sit in nice weather, she said. Im going to go home. Tomorrow Ill come again.

Across town that day was the kind of closure that Trubchaninova wanted so badly. At a cemetery, two 82-year-old women rose from a bench and crossed themselves as the now-familiar white van arrived carrying another casket.

The women, Neonyla and Helena, sing at funerals. They have performed at 10 since the Russians withdrew. The biggest pain for a mother is to lose her son, Neonyla said. There is no word to describe it.

They joined the priest at the foot of the grave. Two men with handfuls of tulips attended, along with a man with cap in hand. Thats it, a gravedigger said when the exhausted-looking priest was finished.

Another man with a gold-ink pen wrote basic details on a temporary cross. It was for a woman who had been killed by shelling as she cooked outside. She was 69.

A row of empty graves lay waiting.

Finally, on Saturday, Trubchaninova was reunited with her son. In a small cemetery in a field in her village under a cast-iron sky, she clutched at a donated casket. She knelt and she wept. And Vadym was buried.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A Kentucky man took his employer to court after they threw him a birthday party he didn't want, and the jurors sided with him.

Now, his employer owes him $450,000.

The verdict was handed down this week in Kenton County Circuit Court in Northern Kentucky. The plaintiff, an employee of Gravity Diagnostics, sued his employer after he was fired following a birthday party they threw for him in August.

According to court documents, the employee had notified the office manager that birthday parties trigger his anxiety disorder, and that "being the center of attention" will cause him to have a panic attack.

Related video above: Doing this simple thing could help ease your anxiety

The employee asked the office manager days before his birthday in August to not arrange a birthday celebration as they did for other employees.

Then on Aug. 7, the employee's birthday, the office arranged for a lunchtime birthday party in the lunchroom, according to the lawsuit. The employee said that he found out about the party as he was headed to his lunch break, which triggered a panic attack.

The incident caused the employee to "leave the office suddenly and spend his lunch break in his car."



The employee sent a text message to the office manager, asking why she failed to accommodate his request to not have a party.

The next day, the employee was called into a meeting, in which he said that he was "confronted and criticized" by the office manager about his reaction to the birthday party. That meeting then triggered another panic attack, and the employee asked the office manager to stop, according to the lawsuit.

The employee was then sent home for the next two days, and that weekend, he was notified that he was being fired "because of the events of the previous week."

The employee sued Gravity Diagnostics on the grounds of disability discrimination and retaliation. According to the lawsuit, the employee said because Gravity Diagnostics didn't accommodate his anxiety disorder, the birthday party and the events afterward caused him "to suffer from a loss of income and benefits and emotional distress and mental anxiety."

The jury sided with the employee, agreeing that Gravity Diagnostics violated Kentucky law that protects workers who have a disability from "adverse employment actions."

In total, the jury awarded the employee $450,000 in damages. Of that amount, $300,000 was for the emotional distress, while $150,000 was for lost wages.
Multiple fire departments across the state issued warnings on Saturday after scammers posing as members of a local fire department sent text messages to several people across multiple towns.

Fire departments in Harwinton, Killingworth, Seymour and Newtown all posted warnings on their respective Facebook pages Saturday to warn about the scam, indicating the issue is statewide.

It has come to our attention that folks are receiving text messages on behalf of Hawleyville Vol Fire Co No 1, fire officials in Newtown said in their statement. This is an unauthorized usage of our department representation and didnt come from our department.

The Killingworth Volunteer Fire Department issued a similar statement Saturday afternoon, as did the Harwinton Volunteer Fire Department.

We have had several reports from residents reporting solicitations for HVFD shirts. Ignore these, they are scams. We are not selling any type of merchandise. Other area Fire Departments have had the same thing happen to them. If you get any texts or E-Mails offering merchandise, it is advisable to contact the Department before ordering anything, fire officials in Harwinton said.

The Great Hill Hose Company in Seymour posted a screenshot of one of these scam texts. It says the department is offering a discount on fire company merchandise, and provides an order now web link.

Anyone who has received one of these text messages or emails is advised to not open the link or any attachments.

These links and numbers are not associated with any local fire departments, and should be deleted immediately, fire officials in Seymour said in their statement.
FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP)  In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.

The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

If the images seem familiar, they are, playing out on televisions and websites worldwide right now as Russian forces pound Ukrainian cities with airstrikes, killing scores of civilians. The information war on social media has showcased impassioned nightly speeches by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Russian efforts to accuse Ukraine's forces of faking mass killings in towns such as Bucha  massacres that the West blames on Moscow's troops.

I think right now the whole Army is really looking at whats happening in Ukraine and trying to learn lessons, said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. Those lessons, she said, range from Russia's equipment and logistics troubles to communications and use of the internet.

The Russia-Ukraine experience is a very powerful illustration for our Army of how important the information domain is going to be," said Wormuth, who spent two days at the training center in the Mojave Desert watching an Army brigade wage war against the fictional Denovian forces.

"Weve been talking about that for about five years. But really seeing it and seeing the way Zelenskyy has been incredibly powerful. ... This is a world war that the actual world can see and watch in real time. 

At the center, the commander, Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor, and his staff have ripped pages out of the Russian playbook to ensure that U.S. soldiers are ready to fight and win against a sophisticated near-peer enemy.

It's a common tool. For example, his base and the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana both shifted to counterinsurgency training during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And the military services have focused other training on how to fight in cold weather  mimicking conditions in Russia or North Korea. But these latest changes have happened quickly in the early months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

About 4,500 soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, are out in the vast desert training area at Fort Irwin, where they will spend two weeks fighting the NTC's resident 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which acts as the enemy military. Soldiers from the regiment  known as Blackhorse  are arrayed in and around Ujen, which also includes role-players acting as the locals.

As the sun was rising earlier this past week, Army Col. Ian Palmer, the brigade commander, stood on Crash Hill, on the outskirts of the town, preparing his soldiers to launch an attack. Lines of tanks spread out in the distance. Heavy winds the night before hampered his progress, so the attack was a bit behind.

He said the exercise is using more drones by the friendly and enemy forces, both for surveillance and attacks. So his forces are trying to use camouflage and tuck into the terrain to stay out of sight. "You know if you can be seen, you can be shot, where ever you are, he said.

Down in the makeshift town, the opposition forces are confident they can hold off Palmer's brigade despite the size difference. The Denovians only have about 1,350 forces, but they are throwing everything they have at the brigade, from jamming and other electronic warfare to insurgency attacks and propaganda.

The role-players have their phones ready to film and post quickly to social media.

The Denovian forces want to portray the unit in the worst possible light, said Taylor, and constantly twist the narrative on social media so Palmer's troops realize they are in a battle for the truth.

That's a challenge, he said, because when I've got a bunch of casualties and Im getting overrun on my left flank and my supply trains arent where they need to be and I cant find the bulldozers, its hard to think about something that someone said about me on Twitter."

The training goal, said Taylor, is teaching the brigades that come in how to fuse all elements of their combat power into a coordinated assault.

Everyone can play an instrument, but it's about making music  bringing it all together in a synchronized fashion. And what you saw today was the artillery was doing the artillery thing, the aviation was doing the aviation thing and the maneuver guys were doing the maneuver thing. But part of the delay in their assault on the town was they couldnt synchronize those three," he said.

Again, they can look to Ukraine to see how Russia failed to do that in the early weeks of the war. U.S. leaders repeatedly noted that in Russia's initial multipronged assault in Ukraine, commanders consistently failed to provide the airstrikes and support their ground troops needed to move into key cities such as Kyiv.

That failure led to Russian troops bombing the cities from the outskirts, hitting hospitals, apartment buildings and other structures, and killing civilians.

So when the next brigade arrives as the training center, Taylor said it will face an enemy on board with doing just that.

We will be very focused on how to fight against an adversary that is willing to destroy infrastructure because that's how we think our adversaries will fight," Taylor said. "Weve got to be prepared for urban combat where we have an adversary that is indiscriminately firing artillery.

Wormuth, the Army secretary, said seeing the training also underscored other lessons the U.S. is taking from the war in Ukraine.

As were watching whats happening to the Russians now, its informative for us to think about what is right, from a modernization standpoint, she said, noting that some U.S. tanks are very heavy and the terrain in Europe is muddier, not like the hard-packed sand of the desert.

The Army, she said, has to determine whats the right balance between the mobility of a tank, the survivability of a tank and the lethality of a tank? If you want to make it more mobile, you make it lighter, but that makes it less survivable. And so you have to decide where youre going to take risks.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Follow Lolita C. Baldor on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lbaldor
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. A merchant fuel ship heading from Equatorial Guinea to Malta sank off the coast of Gabes in Tunisia on Friday, Reuters reported citing two security sources.

The ship sank due to bad weather.

All seven crew members were rescued by the navy.

The ship carried one thousand tons of fuel and sent a distress call seven miles away from Gabes.

Authorities are working to avoid an environmental disaster and reduce repercussions, the environment ministry said in a statement.
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ST. LOUIS  Clouds filled the sky on the morning of April 16, 1858. The Missouri Democrat newspaper described the weather as "almost tearful, as if in sympathy."

The Chamber of Commerce had resolved that all businesses be closed. Stores and shops were draped in black bunting and American flags. But the streets were alive with crowds of residents, all seeking a glimpse of four plumed black horses pulling a hearse, followed by a procession that took 45 minutes to pass.

The wake and funeral of Thomas Hart Benton, for three decades a U.S. senator from Missouri, was a major three-day event. Some estimates said one-fourth of the city's 160,000 people turned out for the funeral.

Benton, born in North Carolina, had moved here in 1815 at age 33. A lawyer, he quickly made friends with the powerful Chouteau family. Two years later, he shot and killed rival lawyer Charles Lucas in a duel on old Bloody Island, in the Mississippi River across from the city. He became a newspaper editor and shouted in print for statehood. In 1820, the budding state assembly chose him and David Barton as Missouri's first U.S. senators.

Benton was a strong promoter of westward expansion and a railroad to the Pacific Ocean. His distrust of Eastern bankers earned him the nickname Old Bullion. He was a dedicated Unionist, despite his slaveholding origins, and his attacks on the rising secessionist fervor of Sen. John Calhoun of South Carolina cost Benton his seat in 1850, back when the Legislature anointed senators.

But many Missourians still revered their populist lion and mourned his death April 10 in Washington. The train carrying his body arrived on April 14. Benton was laid out the next day in the spacious Mercantile Library Hall, Locust Street and Broadway, where thousands passed the casket into the next morning.

At 10 a.m. Friday, April 16, a procession marched five blocks south to Second Presbyterian Church, Fifth and Walnut streets, where the Rev. Mr. Cowan preached for two hours. As the procession re-formed, "roofs, balconies, windows, awnings and trees were burdened with spectators," the Democrat reported.

Following the hearse were city leaders, bands, social organizations, Army units from Jefferson Barracks and numerous military marching societies, including the St. Louis Grays, Washington Guards and Turners' Riflemen. (Their members would turn on each other in three years, when Benton's hopeless search for a middle ground on slavery exploded in the Civil War.)

At Ninth and North Market streets, a North Missouri Railroad train shuttled mourners to Bellefontaine Cemetery. Benton was buried next to his wife, Elizabeth. Ten years later, a statue in his memory was erected in Lafayette Park.

Read more stories from Tim O'Neil's Look Back series.
Finland is "highly likely" to join NATO following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its Europe minister has told Sky News, the latter reported.

April 16, 2022, 10:57 Finland 'highly likely' to join NATO

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 16, ARTSAKHPRESS: Tytti Tuppurainen, Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering of Finland, said that the "people of Finland have already made up their mind" and that polls show huge support for membership of the alliance.

"At this point I would say it is highly, but a decision has not yet been made," she said.

She said Russia's "brutal" war in Ukraine is a "wake up call to us all."

"Not only to us Finns; it has to do with the whole security border in Europe," she said.

It comes after the Finnish and Swedish prime ministers Sanna Marin and Magdalena Andersson took part in a joint press conference on Wednesday, during which Marin said her country, which shares an 810-mile (approx. 1,303.5km) border with Russia, was ready to make a formal decision on NATO membership "within weeks" following a debate in parliament.
ST. LOUIS  The former downtown nightspot Reign left its Washington Avenue building with torn out or destroyed cabinets, freezers, coolers, toilets, ovens, doors and gas fireplaces, among other items, after it was evicted last year, its landlord alleges in a lawsuit.

A motion filed this week by the landlord asks a judge to order Reign and its owner, Dana Kelly, to pay at least $387,000 in interest and damages.

Kelly has refused and failed to pay her obligations due, the filing says.

Neither Kelly nor an attorney for Reigns landlord responded to multiple requests for comment.

The filings are the latest in a long dispute about the former restaurant at 1122 Washington Avenue, which drew scrutiny just weeks after it opened for flouting pandemic rules in August 2020. Masking and social distancing violations and complaints from neighbors kept Reign in the news for months.

Then, in August 2021, four people were shot near the venue in a two-week period. City officials and nearby business owners said Reign was exacerbating violence and driving away customers. The preceding year had been especially violent, officials said. Nighttime gunfire struck buildings, broke windows and injured people. Multiple large employers even said they were considering moving their offices out of the business district.

Kelly and her attorney, however, said she was being scapegoated for problems that plagued downtown for years because she is Black and attracted a primarily Black clientele.

Officials then moved to suspend Reigns liquor license, and on Oct. 1, City Hall called Reign a threat to public safety and ordered it shuttered for a year. Later that month, a St. Louis judge ordered Reign to leave the building.

In November, Reigns landlord, Copia Acquisition, filed suit accusing Reign and Kelly of violating the lease. Reign then owed more than $203,000 in rent, the suit said. Moreover, at some point after Reign was forced to shutter, the suit said, countless fixtures and appliances had been damaged, destroyed or simply torn out and taken.

The damages included a range hood torn off the wall, doors pulled off their hinges, gas fireplace inserts pulled out and removed, and plumbing and piping cut or broken, according to the lawsuit and accompanying photos.

Costs to repair or replace the items, the suit said, could exceed $240,000.

Kelly asked in January for more time to hire an attorney and respond to the allegations. But she didnt, the suit said, and, on Thursday, Copia asked a judge to rule in its favor. A hearing on that motion is set for May 16.

Its unclear if the $387,000 requested in Thursdays filing includes the unpaid rent or just covers damages and interest.

Reign is also facing a previous lawsuit from Copia from 2020 in which the landlord asked for at least $137,625 in unpaid rent. That case is set for trial April 26.

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ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man who was charged Thursday in a killing this week along the riverfront was then charged on Friday with a deadly shooting last summer.

Prosecutors on Friday filed a first-degree murder charge against Brandon Howard, 31, in connection to the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old on June 14 in the Near North Riverfront neighborhood.

Howard also has been charged with first-degree murder in a fatal shooting that occurred this week in the 600 block of South Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard. He was arrested Thursday and remains in custody without bail.

In the 2021 case, investigators said Howard shot and killed 18-year-old Travis Morrow, of Florissant, as he drove away from Rootwad Park around 4 a.m. on June 14. Morrow and others had been hanging out at the park at the same time as Howard, who was there with a different group of people, police said.

When Morrows group got into their vehicles and began to drive away, heading west on OFallon Street, the group of people Howard was with began shooting at the vehicles. Officers said the shooting appeared to be focused on Morrows car. Police said Morrow was shot in the head and died at the scene, while a 16-year-old girl was shot but survived.

Investigators said that during an interview with police this week, Howard admitted he had fired his rifle in the direction of Morrows vehicle, along with others that morning in the park.

Investigators identified Howard using Greenway Trail video surveillance footage, which they said showed him at the scene passing a bottle to someone. That bottle was later thrown into a wooded area and recovered by police, which they said had Howards fingerprints on it.

Howard was charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of unlawful use of a weapon in the 2021 shooting.

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TOKYO (AP)  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to working together under a longstanding bilateral alliance on Saturday at a time of heightened global tensions including threats from China and North Korea.

In a meeting over breakfast, the delegation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, agreed with Kishida on the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The six lawmakers visit follows their earlier stop in Taiwan, where they made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy, while issuing a warning to China. They met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

China carried out military drills near Taiwan in protest of the delegations visit. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China was prepared to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Japan has long been nervous about Chinas possible invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory to be united by force if necessary. China and Taiwan split after a civil war in 1949.

Concerns in Tokyo, especially among conservative politicians seeking a more assertive role for their military, have heightened since the war in Ukraine. The question is sensitive because Japans pacifist constitution, adopted after its defeat in World War II, bans the use of force in international disputes. Japan keeps its overseas military operations to peacekeeping and humanitarian relief.

Officially, Japan does not recognize Taiwan but they maintain friendly relations. China opposes any official official exchanges between Taiwan and other foreign governments.

The issue of whether the U.S. would intervene in the case of China's attack on Taiwan remains open. Analysts say Japans role in such a hypothetical situation is even more unclear because Japan is host to a huge U.S. military presence under the alliance.

Kishida told the representatives from Congress that the bilateral alliance superseded political party divisions, and sought their understanding on Japan's role in working toward peace and prosperity in the region. Tokyo also asked for U.S. support for ongoing efforts by Japan to bring home Japanese who were abducted by North Korea decades ago, the ministry said. North Korea returned some of the abducted people in 2004.

The U.S. delegation also includes Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas.

Associated Press Writer Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.

Wu is on Twitter https://twitter.com/huizhong_wu

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated  and refuted by witnesses  throughout 52 days of war.

The toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine. An infant and at least eight other people died, officials said.

In the towns and villages just outside Kyiv, authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago. Smoke rose from the capital again early Saturday as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike that killed one person and wounded several.

The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

It was not immediately clear from the ground what was hit in the strike on Kyiv's Darnytskyi district. The sprawling area on the southeastern edge of the capital contains a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shopping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas and railyards.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said an armored vehicle plant was targeted. He didnt specify where the factory was located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

He said the plant was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with air-launched high-precision long-range weapons. As the U.S. and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraines defenses ahead of whats expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area since the Russian military vowed this week to step up missile strikes on the capital. Another hit a missile plant Friday.

The Russian missiles hit the city just as residents were emerging for walks, foreign embassies planned to reopen and other tentative signs of the city's prewar life started resurfacing, following the failure of Russian troops to capture Kyiv and their withdrawal.

Kyiv was one of many targets Saturday. The Ukrainian presidents office reported missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours in eight regions across the country.

The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, which has been only sporadically touched by the wars violence, reported airstrikes on the region by Russian Su-35 aircraft that took off from neighboring Belarus.

In apparent preparations for its assault on the east, the Russian military has intensified shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in recent days. Friday's attack killed civilians and wounded more than 50 people, the Ukrainian presidents office reported.

On Saturday an explosion believed to be caused by a missile sent emergency workers scrambling near an outdoor market in Kharkiv, according to AP journalists at the scene. One person was killed, and at least 18 people were wounded, according to rescue workers.

All the windows, all the furniture, all destroyed. And the door, too," recounted stunned resident Valentina Ulianova.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Saturday's toll was three dead and 34 wounded.

Nate Mook, a member of the World Central Kitchen NGO run by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said in a tweet that four workers in Kharkiv were wounded by a strike. Jose Andres tweeted that staff members were unnerved but safe.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met with Vladimir Putin this past week in Moscow  the first European leader to do so since the invasion began Feb. 24  said the Russian president is in his own war logic on Ukraine.

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Nehammer said he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war and we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Nehammer said he confronted Putin with what he saw during a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where more than 350 bodies have been found along with evidence of killings and torture under Russian occupation, and it was not a friendly conversation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists that the continuing siege of the port city of Mariupol, which has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians, could scuttle attempts to negotiate an end to the war.

The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol  what they are doing now  can put an end to any format of negotiations, he said.

Later, in his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs more support from the West to have a chance at saving Mariupol.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said, or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

Zelenskyy said the situation in Mariupol remains inhuman and Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had been driven out of most of the city and remained only in the huge Azovstal steel mill.

Capturing Mariupol would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraines eastern industrial heartland.

Zelenskyy estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, and about 10,000 have been wounded. The office of Ukraines prosecutor general said Saturday that at least 200 children have been killed, and more than 360 wounded.

Russian forces also have taken captive some 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday. Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops as prisoners and intends to arrange a swap but is demanding the release of civilians without any conditions, she said.

Russia's warning of stepped-up attacks on Kyiv came after it accused Ukraine on Thursday of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed hitting targets in Russia.

Russian Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov, whose troops have been among those besieging Mariupol, was buried Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, Gov. Alexander Beglov said. Ukraine has said several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed in the war.

In the Vatican, Pope Francis on Saturday invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily at St. Peters Basilica that was attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three members of Ukraine's parliament. Francis did not refer directly to Russias invasion but has called, apparently in vain, for an Easter truce to reach a negotiated peace.

Chernov reported from Kharkiv. Yesica Fisch in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Robert Burns in Washington 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 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
HELSINKI (AP)  Unrest broke out in southern Sweden late Saturday despite police moving a rally by an anti-Islam far-right group, which was planning to burn a Quran among other things, to a new location as a preventive measure.

Scuffles and unrest were reported in the southern town of Landskrona after a demonstration scheduled there by the Danish right-wing party Stram Kurs party was moved to the nearby city of Malmo, some 45 kilometers (27 miles) south.

Up to 100 mostly young people threw stones, set cars, tires and dustbins on fire, and put up a barrier fence that obstructed traffic, Swedish police said. The situation had calmed down in Landskrona by late Saturday but remains tense, police said, adding no injuries were reported in the action.

On Friday evening, violent clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters erupted in the central city of Orebro ahead Stram Kurs' plan to burn a Quran there, leaving 12 police officers injured and four police vehicles set on fire.

Video footage and photos from chaotic scenes in Orebro showed burning police cars and protesters throwing stones and other objects at police officers in riot gear.

Kim Hild, spokeswoman for police in southern Sweden, said earlier Saturday that police would not revoke permission for the Landskrona demonstration because the threshold for doing that is very high in Sweden, which values free speech.

The right of the protesters to demonstrate and speak out weighs enormously, heavily and it takes an incredible amount for this to be ignored, Hild told Swedish news agency TT.

The demonstration took place Saturday evening in a central park in Malmo where Stram Kurs' leader Rasmus Paludan addressed a few dozen people. A small number of counter-protesters threw stones at demonstrators and police was forced to use pepper spray to disperse them.

Paludan himself was reported to have been hit by a stone on his leg, Swedish media said. No serious injuries were reported, according to police.

Since Thursday, clashes have been reported also in Stockholm and in the cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping  all locations where Stram Kurs either planned or had demonstrations.

Paludan, a Danish lawyer who also holds Swedish citizenship, set up Stram Kurs, or Hard Line in 2017. The website of the party, which runs on an anti-immigration and anti-Islam agenda says Stram Kurs is the most patriotic political party in Denmark.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Two Columbia police officers will not face charges for shooting and killing a man during an altercation outside a nightclub. St. Charles County Tim Lohma said in a news release Tuesday the officers were justified in believing that Quillan Jacobs was a threat to their lives and others when they shot him outside the Vibez Lounge on Nov. 14. Police said Jacobs and another man were shooting at each other when officers arrived. They said Jacobs fired into the crowd outside the lounge as he fled. Five people were injured. A second man, Todd Nesbitt Jr., was arrested after the shooting and charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
How is this for a political campaign slogan? Vote for me, and once I have power, you can find out then what I plan to do with it.

Thats essentially what some top Republicans and their media allies think should be the GOPs message going into this years midterm elections. And given some of the things the party has already demonstrated it would like to do, that might be wise.

The GOP should keep its midterm policy agenda as sparse and inoffensive as possible, counseled conservative columnist Henry Olsen in The Washington Post last month.  Republicans proposing controversial policy ideas is exactly what Democrats want. [President Joe] Biden said as much in his January news conference, presaging his election strategy by saying he would ask Republicans to lay out what they are for. Republicans would be foolish to take the bait.

Think about that: Politicians asking for power shouldnt take the bait of explaining to the voters what they are for.

Olsen isnt some loose cannon mouthing a strategy that no one else on the right is talking about. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell himself, the highest ranking Republican in America right now, has been saying essentially the same thing for months.

That is a very good question, McConnell told NBC News in January, when asked what the Republican agenda will be if the party takes back power in Congress. And Ill let you know when we take it back.

This is the same party that, a dozen years after the fact, still likes to crow about House Speaker Nancy Pelosis unfortunate description of the Democrats 2010 health care package: We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it. Once a punchline to Republicans, that curious construct is now the GOPs entire midterm strategy.

Its true that every election is at least partly a referendum on the incumbent (or, in the absence of an incumbent on the ballot, the incumbents party). Biden certainly won many of his votes in 2020 based solely on the fact that his name wasnt Donald Trump.

But even in that context, Biden and other Democrats made clear what their goals were if and when they took office. They were explicit about wanting to expand health care protection, bring more fairness to the tax code, pursue stronger gun restrictions and other priorities.

Given how controversial some of those priorities are, it would have been safer for all of them to simply stick with the Were not Trump strategy, and let the voters guess at the rest. But they laid out their goals anyway, as both parties traditionally have, because they understand that voters ultimately need to vote for something, not just against something.

But, like other political norms, that bipartisan understanding has been cast aside by many Republicans in the Trump era. Recall that the GOP broke with long tradition in 2020 and didnt even write a new platform, signaling to the base that their first, second and only policy priority was: Support Trump.

This new Republican reticence about addressing policy is in part a reflection of where our politics have gone today. America is more tribal now than any time in decades. Pew Research Center polling in 2020 found that upwards of 80% of voters, encompassing both parties, planned to cast straight-party votes that year.

Much of that solid partisanship among voters isnt about specific policies, but general party identification. What else could explain why Missouri voters, for example, keep sending Republican majorities to the Legislature, then turning around and passing referendums overruling those legislators on labor, marijuana, Medicaid expansion and other policy issues? A lot of Missourians apparently support what are by definition large-D Democratic policies  but just cant bring themselves to vote for an actual Democrat.

In that environment, what possible motive would any Republican campaign have to highlight its policy goals? Especially given how unpopular many of those goals are?

Imagine what the midterms might look like if Americans cast off their partisan allegiances and voted based on issues alone. Polling shows close to 60% of Americans support abortion rights, more than half favor stricter gun laws, roughly 80% oppose banning the discussion of race from classrooms, more than 70% favor raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, and a plurality believe greater acceptance of transgender people is good for society.

Yet those same polls indicate a Republican takeover of Congress in the midterms is a real possibility. Only in a society that has put political identity ahead of policy could such a self-defeating dichotomy exist.

Americans may not be deliberately choosing a future in which women are second-class citizens, gun violence rages on without remedy and the rich get richer while the poor get poorer  but that is clearly what the GOP has in mind for America. Whether the candidates say it or not.

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Russia on Friday expelled 18 European Union diplomats in retaliation for Brussels' decision to declare 19 Russians personae non gratae earlier this month, Reuters reported.

April 16, 2022, 12:37 Russia expels 18 diplomats from EU's Moscow mission

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 16, ARTSAKHPRESS: The EU on April 5 said the 19 Russian diplomats had been "engaging in activities contrary to their diplomatic status" and ordered them to leave Belgium.

Russia's foreign ministry said in its statement that it had summoned EU ambassador to Russia, Markus Ederer, and handed him a note of protest.

"The Russian side declared that the EU is responsible for the consistent destruction of the architecture of bilateral dialogue and cooperation that had taken decades to form," it said.

The EU diplomats must leave Russia as soon as possible, the ministry added.

The EU mission to Russia said in a statement it regretted what it called an unfounded move.

"The decision of the Russian authorities announced on Friday has no grounds and is nothing else than a retaliatory step," it said in a statement on Telegram.

"Russia's chosen course of action will further increase its international isolation," the EU mission added.
Taiwan recently sent a 28-page booklet to all households on how to behave if China attacks. The advice was similar to pamphlets in Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States that were distributed before the invasion of Ukraine. The Taiwanese now plan to resist, even if some or all of Taiwan Island is occupied and need the cooperation of the civilian population to do that.

The booklet for all households is but the latest effort to defeat a Chinese attack. Taiwan has been rearming for over a decade and even managed to secretly procure all the components it needed to build its own submarines, something the Chinese were shocked to discover. Now Taiwan has distributed the pamphlet on how to keep fighting if the Chinese get ashore.

China was surprised at the failure of Russian forces to quickly conquer Ukraine and the fierce resistance that tore apart the invasion force. The Taiwanese have been particularly encouraged by the success of the Ukrainians in developing a defense that worked against a delusional and overconfident invader. Not quite Finland in 1940 but close and Ukraine is an updated version of the 1940 example. Taiwan wants to be the East Asian model for derailing invasions by larger neighbors.

Taiwan has good trading and diplomatic relations with many of the smaller nations near Russia that pioneered the concept of preparing for the worst and winning, not just surviving. This has become a common and successful strategy among small European states. Small East Asian nations like Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea have the same problem and are all studying the Ukrainian war intently for lessons they can use.

Sweden is one of the more successful practitioners of well-prepared neutrality. Throughout the Cold War (1948-91) Sweden actively prepared for the possibility of an attack by Russia. That ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the threat returned in 2008 and has grown since then. All of this contributed to a fundamental shift in Swedish defense attitudes. After 2014, with Russia declaring the West a dangerous foe of Russia and seizing two portions of Ukraine, most Swedes favored joining NATO. Even without NATO membership Sweden has entered into a growing number of military agreements with NATO members.

There were some other reactions that were, literally, closer to home. In 2018 Sweden did something it had not done since 1961, it put together a brochure on dealing with national emergencies, especially a Russian attack. The pamphlet was distributed to all 4.7 million households. The brochure contained advice on what to do in the event of war, as in a Russian invasion. At the time there were some sharp political differences on the possibility of war, so the brochure also covered similar actions Swedes should take if the catastrophe was some aspect of the Climate Change threat or a massive hacker or terror attack.

Since 2018 the Russia threat has pushed aside all other potential catastrophes and focused Swedens attention on how to prepare for an old, before the Cold War ended in 1991, threat. That explains and justifies the sharp increase in defense spending and the return of conscription.

Neighbors of Sweden reacted in a similar fashion and concentrated on the Russian threat. The Baltic States have plenty of experience with being invaded and occupied by Russia and remind its citizens that the mutual defense treaty with the United States and all other NATO members will not keep the Russians out. NATO membership does not guarantee reinforcements quickly enough to keep the Russians from overrunning their countries. The Baltic States organized their forces to delay the Russian advance and actively fight Russian troops for however long the occupation lasted.

Denmark has always had a much smaller military (and population and GDP) than Sweden but even with NATO membership has been seeking ways to increase its security in the face of growing Russian aggression. Other Nordic nations (Finland and Norway) are also rearming and seeking allies to deal with the Russian threats. NATO is willing to do something it never did during the Cold War, welcome Finland and Sweden as members either officially or unofficially. After the 2022 invasion Sweden and Finland decided to act on the NATO invitation.

Sweden is aware of all these threats the Baltic States publications discuss, but for Sweden this has always been theoretical. Sweden has never been invaded and has not been involved in any wars since 1814. All of their neighbors have been invaded or dragged into a war. For NATO members and nations that regained their independence when the Soviet Union dissolved, the threat of invasion and occupation is a recent experience.

Combined, all three Baltic States have barely two-thirds the population of Sweden and less than half the GDP per capita as well. Despite this the Baltic States have been energetically expanding their military capabilities, something the Swedes used to be a world leader at. Now Sweden is returning to its traditional doctrine of well-armed neutrality, but with less emphasis on neutrality.

No one expected this after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. That marked the end of the Cold War, followed by the Soviet era armed forces shrinking to 20 percent of its 1991 size during the 1990s. Massive cuts to Swedish defense were based on a belief that the post-Soviet and democratic Russia would not return to its threatening ways employed during 70 years of communist and centuries of tsarist rule. To the dismay of many, including a lot of Russians, the Russian leadership did revert and are now threatening their neighbors. All this while current Russian forces are still a fifth the size of the 1991 forces. Russia is seeking to modernize what they have and are acting like Russia is still a superpower. In that respect, the bad old days are back and the neighbors have to be prepared.

The same situation exists in East Asia where China finally underwent the industrial revolution starting in the 1980s and is now the second largest economy in the world. As Napoleon put it two centuries earlier; China is a sleeping dragon, when it wakes the world will tremble. For Chinas neighbors, especially ones that China now claims are part of China, trembling is not an effective defense policy. Now Ukraine has again demonstrated that bigger isnt invincible.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn., April 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new venture between Ballad Health and the East Tennessee State University Research Corporation is expected to bolster regional efforts to enhance economic growth in the Appalachian Highlands, while also creating a national portal for rural health innovation.

The new Appalachian Highlands Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance will coordinate multiple local and national areas of research and idea development, particularly impacting the delivery of healthcare, through surveilling efforts, accelerating early-stage development, translating research into business opportunities and identifying scalable opportunities for investment, ultimately reshaping the overall economy, health and well-being of the region.

We are bringing together the expertise, energy and know-how of the Appalachian Highlands together with a shared vision and vision around innovation and entrepreneurship, said David Golden, the CEO of the ETSU Research Corporation and Allen and Ruth Harris Chair of Excellence in the East Tennessee State University College of Business and Technology. Aligning existing efforts like the STRIVE program and Rugged Buc Lab with the Ballad Health Innovation Center and the ETSU Research Corporation allows us to leverage the strengths the region provides.

When we created Ballad Health, we made a commitment that this new organization would leverage the regional strength of the Appalachian Highlands, reaching across all our communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia to enhance opportunities to turn good ideas into thriving businesses and economic opportunity, said Ballad Health Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine. This center will not only leverage good local ideas into business opportunities for the region, but it will attract ideas from all over the world, which will support the enhancement of healthcare delivery and innovation, while also creating an ecosystem for those transformative ideas to grow and be put into practice all over the world.

Idea development and translation to business is important, but not entirely possible without capital, Levine added. So as a part of this announcement, we are also creating a regional investment fund, seeded with $1 million from Ballad Health specifically for rural health, which will be open to other investors and entrepreneurs interested in innovation within the Appalachian Highlands. As the Alliance grows, we expect other investors and organizations will look to grow additional capabilities in diverse areas such as digital media, biopharma and data analytics."

The announcement comes on the heels of the creation of several centers at ETSU created through partnerships between the university and Ballad Health, including:

The Center for Rural Health and Research at ETSU, which, within two years of its creation, has received grant funding and a national designation as a rural health research center  alongside institutions such as the University of North Carolina and the University of Kentucky as leaders in rural health research

The Ballad Health Strong BRAIN Institute and Center for Trauma Informed Care

The Appalachian Highlands Center for Nursing Advancement

More than $30 million annually in partnerships for the delivery of medical care and services throughout the region

Examples of opportunity in the innovation space related to rural health include

Development of an incubator for viable innovation in healthcare services, technology or programs The operationalization of concepts, refining them from ideas to reality Utilization of existing seed funding and venture capital to invest in opportunities which will enhance growth of the businesses and provide a return to investors

The East Tennessee Research Corporation and Ballad Health are uniquely positioned to make meaningful advances in rural health, Golden said. In fact, it is already happening from within the university, from innovation occurring inside Ballad Health and from ideas being developed by people throughout the region and nation. This forward-leaning effort creates both a pathway for translation of ideas to execution and a mechanism for the creation of economic growth for our region and regional investment into these incredible ideas. This Alliance will help unlock engagement and participation from forward-thinking businesses and people to create the momentum that will drive our region into the future.

For some time, we have had the expertise and vision for this level of innovation, said Dr. Brian Noland, president of East Tennessee State University. Now, along with the creation of the Center for Rural Health and Research and the ETSU Research Corporation, ETSU has implemented the framework to organize and operationalize this work. Our university is already home to one of the nations leading health science centers in America, with a nationally ranked medical school serving rural America, a nationally ranked College of Public Health, Tennessees largest public nursing school, an innovative pharmacy school and other programs which, coupled with Ballad Health, create the perfect environment to encourage the development of ideas, to nurture and invest in them, and to enjoy the prosperity they will bring to the region when they are realized.

Ultimately, the Appalachian Highlands Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance will result in an interactive rural cooperative, and as the alliance grows, we expect new companies to anchor their operations in the Appalachian Highlands as they take advantage of the unique environment to create life- and industry-changing equipment, systems and technologies, said Tony Keck, executive vice president of system transformation at Ballad Health. The resulting economic benefit will support the multiple regional efforts to grow the economy, while providing an investment return for those in the region who believe in investing in the region.

We believe in the Appalachian Highlands, Levine said. And thats why we are investing in the ideas, entrepreneurship and people of our region. We certainly believe as the Appalachian Highlands Regional Investment Fund is developed as a part of this initiative, more forward-looking people and businesses will choose to invest alongside us to create an attractive source of capital for businesses elsewhere that need the ecosystem we are creating alongside the capital. Its a great thesis, and I believe the ETSU Research Corporation, along with the Ballad Health Innovation Center and Ballad Ventures, will demonstrate it can attract the investment and grow the value of the fund for those who invest. The ultimate result will be economic opportunity for people in our region as jobs are created, prosperity is enhanced and people from all over the nation see the Appalachian Highlands as a logical place to locate and invest, as so many already have.

The reality of our situation right now, is that regional employers arent just competing with each other for top workforce talent  were competing with businesses all over the United States, said Bo Wilkes, managing director of the Ballad Health Innovation Center and president of Ballad Ventures. We have a rich culture and history, excellent schools and healthcare and low cost of living, and now, were going to have the entrepreneurial alliance that draws in some of the best minds in the country. By all rights, the Appalachian Highlands should be a top destination for workers and families.

The Appalachian Highlands Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance is expected to organize throughout 2022, as it expands its leadership and invests in its first opportunities.

This region is home to Tennessees oldest town, and its the birthplace of country music, Golden added. World class in a rural setting is our goal , and already, great things have always started here  this is the next one. We want the rest of America to eventually see the opportunities for innovation within the Appalachian Highlands.

We have the opportunity to become the Silicon Valley of rural healthcare, Golden added.

More information about Ballad Healths commitment to rural healthcare, research and advancement in the Appalachian Highlands is available at www.balladhealth.org.

###

About Ballad Health

Ballad Health is an integrated community health improvement organization serving 29 counties of the Appalachian Highlands in Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina and Southeast Kentucky. Our system of 21 hospitals, post-acute care and behavioral health services, and a large multi-specialty group physician practice works closely with an active independent medical community and community stakeholders to improve the health and well-being of close to one million people. By leading in the adoption of value-based payments, addressing health-related social needs, funding clinical and health systems research and committing to long-term investments in strong children and families in our region, Ballad Health is striving to become a national model for rural health and healthcare. Learn more at www.BalladHealth.org.

About the ETSU Research Corporation

The ETSU Research Corporation formed to connect, convene and create world-class research and innovation at the speed of business. We are a beacon for amplifying research, art, innovation, workforce development and entrepreneurialism as well as regional development through collaboration and partnerships. Learn more at http://etsuresearchcorporation.org.
TOKYO - Nuclear disarmament and North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals are likely to top the agenda as the Japanese government steps up its preparations for an anticipated visit by President Joe Biden in late May.

Japan hopes to stipulate in a joint bilateral statement that it will cooperate with the United States on the issue of nuclear disarmament. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hails from Hiroshima and has made it his life's work to realize a nuclear arms-free world. Biden, too, has a strong interest in nuclear disarmament and some members of the Kishida administration have floated the idea of asking Biden to visit the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

There have been calls within the government to treat Biden as a state guest, in keeping with the welcome afforded to many previous U.S. leaders. As a state guest, Biden would receive the highest level of hospitality -- the honor would also underline the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance. State guests are invited to a welcome ceremony at the Imperial Palace and a banquet with the Emperor and Empress.

However, a Quad summit -- to be attended by the leaders of Japan, Australia, India and the United States -- is planned for the day after the Japan-U.S. summit meeting, meaning the prime ministers of Australia and India will be in Japan at the same time as Biden.

"It would invite criticism if the U.S. president were to receive preferential treatment," a senior Foreign Ministry official said.

Attention will be focused on whether Japan, the United States and Australia can cooperate with India -- which traditionally has had close ties with Moscow -- over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During the Japan-U.S. summit meeting, Tokyo and Washington will thus likely share their views on the best way to deal with India.

There has been no progress on the abduction issue in recent years, and abductees' families are aging: Shigeo Iizuka, who served as head of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, died in December, age 83. Iizuka's younger sister Yaeko Taguchi was among those abducted by Pyongyang.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters Wednesday that the government is working toward realizing a meeting between Biden and the families. Tokyo is expected to reconfirm Washington's cooperation in resolving the abduction issue during the U.S. president's visit.
As Russia appears poised to capture Mariupol more than six weeks into the invasion, the governor of Ukraines Donetsk region said Friday that while Ukrainian troops remain in control of the strategic port city, Mariupol has been wiped off the face of the earth by Russian forces.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor, told CNN that troops are still courageously defending Mariupol against the Russian forces that have bombarded the city on the Sea of Azov, leaving it in ruins.

The enemy cannot seize Mariupol. The enemy may seize the land that Mariupol used to stand on, but the city of Mariupol is no more, Kyrylenko said. The city of Mariupol has been wiped off the face of the earth by the Russian Federation, by those who will never be able to restore it.

Russian troops have laid siege to Mariupol for more than a month, cutting its citizens off from food, water, heat and humanitarian aid with few exceptions. Russian troops have been carving sections of the city from Ukrainian control.

Analysts are predicting it will probably become the first major Ukrainian city to fall in the coming week. Occupying Mariupol would give Russia control of the Sea of Azov coast and serve as a land bridge between Russian-held territories in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014.

The situation in Mariupol remains complicated, Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Ukraines Defense Ministry, said Friday at news briefing. Motuzyanyk claimed that Russia is still focused on attacking industrial areas and the port of Mariupol, and that invading forces intensified their shelling in using a Tu-223 long-range bomber to attack the city for the first time.

But the Russians have not managed yet to fully take control of the city, he said.

The ongoing destruction in Mariupol comes as the United Nations has renewed calls for civilians to be given safe passage out of the besieged city. Humanitarian agencies have been trying to facilitate safe-passage corridors out of Mariupol for weeks, with mixed success. Around 100,000 people are still believed to be inside the city that had a population of 450,000 before the war began.

Tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol  which has been an epicentre of horror since the conflict began  and in other locations around Ukraine have now endured 50 days of violence and shelling, Martin Griffiths, U.N. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said Thursday in a news release.

Griffiths added, I urgently call on the parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, homes and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.

While Ukrainian troops have slowed down Russias efforts to claim Mariupol, Russias Defense Ministry claimed a further advance on Friday, saying its forces are now in full control of Mariupols Ilyich Iron and Steel Works.

But Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are maintaining their hold on the Azovstal steel plant, one of the largest metallurgical factories in Europe. The Azov Battalion, one of Ukraines most skilled  and controversial  military units, defended the sprawling steel plant in the citys east against repeated assaults this week, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. A photo shared by a reporter for the Kyiv Independent newspaper appeared to show smoke billowing from the heavily industrial area.

Azovstal is run by Metinvest, which produced about 45 percent of Ukraines steel output last year. The company, which produces millions of tons of iron, steel and finished rolled products per year, is owned by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraines richest man.

Eduard Basurin, a pro-Moscow separatist leader, said Monday that he expected Russian forces to use chemical troops at Azovstal to smoke moles out of their burrows, the institute reported. The Azov Battalion, which is associated with far-right nationalism, later claimed that Moscow had used chemical poison against troops in the region. The United States and several international organizations are investigating the allegation.

By many accounts, Mariupol has experienced some of the invasions worst atrocities. In March, Ukraine accused Russia of striking a maternity hospital there; videos and photos of the aftermath show children and bloodied pregnant women fleeing. A week later, a drama theater where hundreds were sheltering was bombed  even though the word children in Russian had been painted on the floor outside.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told the Associated Press that at least 21,000 people have been killed in Mariupol, with bodies carpeted through the streets.

On Friday, Kyrylenko said that Ukrainian and Russian forces may engage in a major battle in Mariupol in the next several days. He noted that while Russia has suffered losses in armor and personnel in Mariupol, the governor had not seen a full-scale offensive in all directions as we expected and that the city remains under Ukrainian control.

The Ukrainian flag flies over the city of Mariupol, he said.

Looking forward, Kyrylenko told CNN restoring Mariupol one day is only something Ukraine can do.

That is something the Russians will never be able to do, he said. So the city of Mariupol is no more.

___

The Washington Posts Julian Duplain and Paul Sonne contributed to this report.
LONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior British politicians have been banned from entering Russia in response to what the Russian government said was Britain's "unprecedented hostile actions" over the war in Ukraine.

"This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday.

Moscow has, in recent weeks, placed similar bans on U.S., Canadian and E.U. leaders.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the British leadership was "deliberately aggravating the situation surrounding Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the behalf of NATO."

The statement referred to "unprecedented hostile actions" by Britain and in particular highlighted British sanctions on senior Russian officials.

In addition to the British leader, others on Russia's blacklist of British officials include Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. Russia said more names would be added soon.

Britain has sent military assistance and financial aid to Ukraine and has imposed sanctions on Russian companies, oligarchs and hundreds of Russian lawmakers. Britain's Ministry of Defense also tweets daily bulletins on its latest intelligence assessments of the war in Ukraine.

Last week, Johnson made a surprise visit to Ukraine, where he toured Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pledged to send more military equipment. After the visit, Johnson tweeted a picture of his walk through the streets and said that "Putin's barbaric venture cannot be allowed to succeed."

Relations between Britain and Russia have been in a deep freeze for years, hitting a previous low point in 2018 when Britain accused Russian intelligence agents of poisoning a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Salisbury, England.

Johnson last visited Russia in 2017, when he was foreign secretary.

Last month, Moscow said it was barring President Joe Biden and several senior Democratic officials from entering Russia - a move mocked by the White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who also was blacklisted.

"None of us are planning tourist trips to Russia and none of us have bank accounts we won't be able to access, so we will forge ahead," she said.
Australian scholar praises China's Shenzhou-13 mission as success

Xinhua) 13:27, April 16, 2022

CANBERRA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-13 mission has been a success, said an Australian scholar in astrophysics.

Dr. Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University (ANU), told Xinhua that the task was "important to move forward with a long-term space station and full operation."

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on Saturday. Tucker noted that the Shenzhou-13 mission had the big task of getting the Tianhe module and the Tiangong Space Station ready, with spacewalks and even video lessons to school kids on Earth.

The astronauts were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship and entered Tianhe on Oct. 16, 2021. They had lived and worked in the space station complex for 183 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts on a single mission, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

They have completed multiple tasks over the past few months, including two extravehicular activities, two live science lectures, and a number of sci-tech experiments and application projects. They also used manual teleoperation equipment for the first time, operating the cargo craft and the space station for rendezvous and docking.

"It was great that it went relatively smooth and definitely a success," said Tucker.

"Six months has now become the normal length for a mission on the International Space Station and so this mission is on par with the Russians and Americans," he added.

According to him, over the next few missions, finalizing the full operation of Tiangong is critical. This will allow for years of science and operation."

In a previous interview, Tucker has said that as the International Space Station started to show its age, it would be important that Tiangong is operating and can perform science into the future.

Talking about his expectation for China's development in aerospace, he said it was the Moon.

"CMSA is well on the way to those goals, and this mission has shown they are capable of long-term space flight, which makes Earth's future goals and plans for the Moon and beyond exciting," Tucker said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
As we have already informed, on April 15, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces penetrated into the neutral zone of the line of contact near the settlement of Seysulan in the Martakert region. In particular, the enemy had advanced a certain amount of manpower, trying to improve its position in the neutral zone, the Artsakh InfoCenter informs.

April 16, 2022, 16:35 Azerbaijani forces entirely withdrawn to initial positions near Seysulan, Artsakh

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 16, ARTSAKHPRESS: In the evening of the same day, as a result of negotiations conducted by the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Artsakh, the Azerbaijani troops agreed to return to their starting positions.
KYIV, UKRAINE (Tribune News Service) - Billionaire Roman Abramovich has traveled to Kyiv in a bid to restart peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which stalled after evidence emerged of Russian atrocities against civilians.

Abramovich met with Ukrainian negotiators to discuss ways of reviving the negotiations, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Russian billionaire, who has longtime ties to President Vladimir Putin, has been acting as an informal mediator since the war began in late February, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked him to get involved.

A spokesperson for Abramovich declined to comment, as did Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak.

After the last round of face-to-face meetings in Istanbul on Mar. 29  which Abramovich attended  theres been little sign of progress. Putin on Tuesday said theyre at a dead end and vowed to continue his invasion. Zelenskyy has said the discovery in recent weeks of evidence of war crimes by Russian troops stationed in Bucha and other towns near Kyiv has complicated prospects for the negotiations. Moscow denies its forces committed atrocities.

Since the Istanbul meeting, Russia has redeployed troops from northern Ukraine to the Donbas region in the east, preparing whats expected to be a major new ground assault in the coming days or weeks to take more territory.

Russian troops increased shelling of Ukraines cities in recent days after the sinking of the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva. Ukraine said its missiles hit the ship, while Russia has said only that it caught fire, without explaining how. Regions including Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraines far west have come under fire.

Ukraine still hasnt had an official response from the Kremlin on proposals it made to Russia at the Istanbul talks, while Moscow has repeatedly accused Kyiv of stalling. Lower-level talks have continued via video link, with scant signs of progress.

Zelenskyy has called on Western countries to provide more weapons and to increase sanctions against Russia to strengthen his hand in the negotiations.

I always tell all our partners with whom I discuss this issue, that the amount of support for Ukraine directly affects the restoration of peace, Zelenskyy said Friday in an address to the nation. Russia has warned the U.S. and its allies against sending more arms, though so far without success. ___ 2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Visit bloomberg.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth About al-Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family By Nelly Lahoud Yale. 362 pp. $28.

___

On May 1, 2011, nearly 10 years after the devastating attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Barack Obama and his national security team huddled in the Situation Room, eyes glued to a video screen, as U.S. Navy SEALs in full combat gear entered Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Less than an hour later, bin Laden was dead.

Along with bin Laden's body, the SEALs collected a "treasure trove" of documents. "We not only took out the symbol and operational leader of al-Qaida," a triumphant Obama reported, "we walked off with his files," a "mountain of intelligence." The vast cache of files ranged from video games to intimate records of family conversations, from lines of poetry penned by bin Laden's third (of five) wives to drafts of bin Laden's speeches and statements, carefully revised and scrupulously edited by his daughters.

After extracting what was deemed "actionable intelligence," the U.S. government began declassifying portions of the archives, releasing 470,000 documents in 2017. Terrorism scholars plunged in. The U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center reported on bin Laden's disagreement with the tactics and strategy of regional franchise groups. Terrorism expert Peter Bergen wrote about bin Laden's attempts to micromanage the affairs of al-Qaida from afar, his frustration with the group's sitting on the sidelines during the Arab Spring and the potent influence of his wives' advice.

Now Nelly Lahoud, a seasoned expert on the global jihadist movement, has given us "The Bin Laden Papers: How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth About al-Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family," a comprehensive, meticulously constructed and eye-opening look at bin Laden as husband, father and leader-in-hiding. Unusual and somewhat off-putting, Lahoud relies on first names throughout - "Usama" for bin Laden; "Ayman" for al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian who succeeded bin Laden as head of al-Qaida; "Abu Musab" for al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI). Nonetheless, it is an engaging and persuasive read.

The bin Laden who emerges from these pages surprises. After 9/11, "global jihad was on autopilot," Lahoud tells us, and in her estimation al-Qaida was experiencing "operational impotence." She disputes al-Qaida's long-standing reputation as "a Leviathan in the jihadi landscape," an image she acknowledges lasted until bin Laden's death. Instead, she shows us a man in defeat, essentially imprisoned in his hideout in Pakistan, separated from children and wives whom he longed to have by his side, often at odds with new militant groups, and intent on reemerging onto the global stage, a conquering hero at last.

Expanding upon her image of al-Qaieda's powerlessness and ineptitude, Lahoud challenges the mostly unquestioned assumption of the group's role in high-profile strikes such as the July 2005 attack on the London transit system. "Everything in the bin Laden papers," Lahoud writes, "indicates that al-Qaeda could not have been behind the [London] attacks." Similarly for the Madrid bombing in 2004 and the disrupted 2006 plot to use liquid explosives on transatlantic flights. Lahoud finds it "inconceivable" that al-Qaida "had the wherewithal to mount international attacks."

Along the way, Lahoud's analysis debunks some of the most sacred narratives of terrorism experts. Contrary to the 9/11 Commission report's conclusions, she tells us, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was not the mastermind of those attacks. Instead, she directs us to bin Laden's notes scribbled on a sheet titled "The Birth of the Idea of September 11," in which he credits another man - Egyptian pilot Gameel al-Batouti - with providing the inspiration for the attacks, albeit posthumously and unintentionally. (Federal officials blamed Batouti for crashing his plane into the Atlantic near Nantucket in 1999, killing 217.)

Lahoud also reinforces some earlier scholarly challenges to common assumptions. She agrees with those who have posited a "a closer relationship" between Mohammad Omar, the head of the Taliban, and bin Laden, reasoning that Omar might have "agreed to let Usama carry out the 9/11 attacks in return for the assassination of [Ahmad Shah] Masoud," the head of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, the U.S. partner in defeating the Taliban. And she weighs in on debates over the impetus for the 2004 formal merger between al-Qaida and Zarqawi's AQI, the predecessor to the Islamic State, seeing it as a way of helping bin Laden reassert his group's relevance despite his being in hiding.

Perhaps most consequential for the history books is her dismissal of the generally acknowledged identity of the courier who led the Americans to bin Laden. It was not, she argues, bin Laden's bodyguard but rather a Pakistani businessman who had no idea that he was serving as a middleman.

Lahoud fails to debate, here or elsewhere, whether bin Laden may have intentionally distorted the record at important junctures; all told, however, experts will probably find themselves compelled to revisit many of their assumptions based on her reading of the papers.

Ultimately, "global jihad itself, [bin Laden] came to realize, had been ill-conceived," Lahoud writes. He set out to refocus al-Qaida's resources on the United States as the primary target of committed jihadists and allied groups. Intent on attacking "the income of every American citizen," bin Laden aimed to "directly affect the security and economy of the American people as a whole." He grew fixated on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, banking on it as the occasion for announcing his new vision. He even planned a public statement outlining "a new phase to correct the mistakes we made." Meanwhile, in meticulous detail, he designed a plot to blow up U.S. oil tankers in hopes of "thrusting America into a severe economic crisis."

But neither the statement nor the plot materialized. Four months before the anniversary, the SEAL team stormed bin Laden's compound. Subsequently, Younis al-Mauritani, the man tasked with leading the attack on the tankers, was apprehended.

When all is said and done, Lahoud leaves us wondering: If bin Laden's "post-9/11 goals did not go beyond empty threats, unexecuted plans, and more than a little wishful thinking," then how are we to understand the persistent, ever-expanding U.S. policy focused on al-Qaida and its supposed existential threat?

Lahoud contends that the misassessments "diverted valuable resources away from other more threatening jihadi groups," allowing "the Islamic State to eclipse al-Qaeda." Retired four-star general Joseph Votel, formerly head of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command, concludes, "Our involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan might have been different," noting, "We might have overestimated our foe."

But an even more fundamental concern emerges from Lahoud's analysis, one that deserves as much scrutiny as these archives: Is it possible for the United States to avoid making these miscalculations in the future? If not, how much more blood and treasure might we lose, and how many more unintended consequences may come our way?

___

Karen J. Greenberg is the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law and the author of "Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy From the War on Terror to Donald Trump."
JAKARTA, Indonesia, March 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Beiersdorf, one of the world's largest skin care brands with more than 100 years of success, signed a long-term agreement with TotalEnergies for a rooftop solar PV (photovoltaic) installation to power 20% of the needs of Beiersdorf's plant with green energy.

TotalEnergies Logo (PRNewsfoto/Total Solar Distributed Generation SEA)

Beiersdorf logo

Site of Beiersdorfs facility in Indonesia where Solar rooftop will be installed by TotalEnergies

Under the agreement, Beiersdorf's manufacturing site will be equipped with a 540 kWp solar power system installed by TotalEnergies. The system is likely to be running from June 2022. The 830MWh of electricity generated by the system each year will reduce carbon emissions by around 660 tons every year, equivalent to charging 71 million smartphones annually.

In addition to reducing the environmental footprint, Beiersdorf will be able to increase cost savings with the clean energy produced by system for 25 years without any upfront investments.

Beiersdorf's sustainability agenda Care Beyond Skin, which has been in place since 2020, sets ambitious and concrete targets, with which the company wants to actively contribute to the ten principles of the UN Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Environmentally friendly technologies and the reduction of Beiersdorf's carbon footprint are at the heart of this sustainability program. 100% of all electricity consumed at Beiersdorf offices and production locations worldwide originates from renewable sources. In addition to purchasing 100% green electricity, Beiersdorf had installed photovoltaic systems at several of its production and office sites, including those installed by TotalEnergies. The solarization project in Indonesia with TotalEnergies is in line with Beiersdorf's commitment to sustainable manufacturing.

Mehdi Ben Messaoud, President Director of Beiersdorf Indonesia, said, "At Beiersdorf we intend to live up to our responsibility as a global company and make a significant contribution towards a climate positive future. This is why we are working intensively and continually on reducing our production-related emissions." Dwi Mudriah, Production Centre Director of Beiersdorf Indonesia, complemented, "This project will significantly reduce the carbon footprint in our production facilities, making our facilities environmentally friendly. In addition, it also provides substantial savings in the long term".

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Gavin Adda, Head of TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation Asia, said, "As the leading provider of solar solutions in the region, we are honored to be trusted by Beiersdorf to deliver cost savings and reduce carbon footprint. TotalEnergies provides its customers peace of mind from a technical, financial and commercial perspective. We are committed to being a long-term energy partner for Beiersdorf and hope to collaborate further in the future."

About TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation for Asia

TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation is a major international provider of fully integrated distributed solar energy solutions, including solar-powered rooftops, carport and ground-mounted solar power plants, with a portfolio of over 600 MW of projects in development and operation worldwide. Active in Asia since 2018, TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation is one of the largest and fastest players in renewable energy distributed generation in the region for commercial and industrial customers, with a portfolio of over 100 MW of projects in development and operation. https://solar.totalenergies.asia

TotalEnergies, renewables and electricity

As part of its ambition to get to net zero by 2050, TotalEnergies is building a portfolio of activities in renewables and electricity. At the end of September 2021, TotalEnergies' gross renewable electricity generation capacity is 10 GW. TotalEnergies will continue to expand this business to reach 35 GW of gross production capacity from renewable sources by 2025, and then 100 GW by 2030 with the objective of being among the world's top 5 producers of electricity from wind and solar energy.

About TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and markets energies on a global scale: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our 105,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, cleaner, more reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people.

Twitter: @TotalEnergies

LinkedIn: TotalEnergies

Facebook: TotalEnergies

Instagram: TotalEnergies

About Beiersdorf

Beiersdorf has stood for innovative, high-quality skin care products as well as pioneering skin research for nearly 140 years. Leading international brands such as "Nivea", the world's no. 1 skin care brand*, "Eucerin" (dermocosmetics), "La Prairie" (selective cosmetics), and "Hansaplast/Elastoplast" (plasters and wound care) are cherished by millions of people around the world day after day. Other renowned brands such as "Labello", "Aquaphor", "Florena", "8x4", "Hidrofugal", "Gammon", "Coppertone", "Maestro", "Chaul", and "Stop The Water While Using Me!" round off its extensive portfolio. Through the wholly owned affiliate "tesa SE", Beiersdorf is also a globally leading manufacturer of technical adhesive tapes and provides self-adhesive solutions to industry, craft businesses, and consumers.

The Hamburg-based company generated sales of 6.13 billion as well as an operating result (EBIT) of 993 million in fiscal year 2021. Beiersdorf has more than 20,000 employees worldwide, who are connected by shared core values, a strong corporate culture and the Beiersdorf purpose "Care Beyond Skin." With its C.A.R.E.+ business strategy, the company pursues a multi-year investment program focusing on competitive, sustainable growth. The program is consistent with the ambitious sustainability agenda, with which Beiersdorf is generating clear added value for consumers, society, and the environment.

Source: Euromonitor International Limited; NIVEA by umbrella brand name in the categories Body Care, Face Care, and Hand Care; in retail value terms, 2020.

Additional information can be found at:

Twitter: Beiersdorf

LinkedIn: Beiersdorf

Instagram: Beiersdorf

Website: www.beiersdorf.com

Cautionary Note

This press release, from which no legal consequences may be drawn, is for information purposes only. The entities in which TotalEnergies SE directly or indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. TotalEnergies SE has no liability for their acts or omissions. The terms "Company" or "TotalEnergies company" refer collectively to the company TotalEnergies SE and the companies it controls directly or indirectly. Such terms are used solely for the sake of convenience for purposes of the present communication. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" may also be used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. This document may contain forward-looking information and statements that are based on a number of economic data and assumptions made in a given economic, competitive and regulatory environment. They may prove to be inaccurate in the future and are subject to a number of risk factors. Neither TotalEnergies SE nor any of its subsidiaries assumes any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information or statement, objectives or trends contained in this document whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

TotalEnergies Contacts

Beiersdorf Contacts

Media Relations: Nila Octoviani, Nila.Octoviani@Beiersdorf.com

SOURCE TotalEnergies
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A secret council proposal to turn 10 Rotorua reserves into housing has been revealed in documents obtained by Local Democracy Reporting.

The documents relate to a closed-door Rotorua Lakes Council "forum" on February 15 that reveals a proposal to pursue a local bill to allow the council to sell the reserves.

Under the proposal, five reserves would be sold to Kainga Ora, three to private developers, and two would become pensioner housing owned by the council or philanthropic organisations, the documents suggest.

They claim Kainga Ora has already created plans for the five sites: Lee Rd Reserve, Coulter Rd Reserve, High St Reserve, Steeles Ln Reserve, and part of Turner Drive Reserve.

Other sites potentially up for sale would be Ranginui St Reserve, Gallagher St Reserve, 117 Clinkard Ave, and Linton Park West at 16 Kamahi Pl.

Kainga Ora confirmed its involvement in the proposal, which it said was in the "early stages".

The council and mayor Steve Chadwick said no decisions had been made.

The documents summarised what someone told elected members in the meeting.

"Made it clear it was pace versus local conversations. Can't have both. If [the] council wants to drive a lot of local conversations it will take time to investigate to get people on board and need to weight [sic] up whether that is worthwhile," the summary said.

"The more time that is taken, the longer we have motels for emergency housing. It is important to drive housing solutions and as quicky as possible. What is being presented is a distributed housing model.

"[Kainga Ora is] now actively engaged with [the] council and have tagged five of the 10 reserves and created plans for each of the reserves. Minister has also put in the request to [the] council to stand up and be part of the solution - use reserves for public housing."

There was a "proposal" to pursue a local bill called the Rotorua District Council Reserves (Revocation and Vesting) Bill.

It said the bill was "presented" to revoke reserve classification from the land, vest the Crown reserves to the council, enable the council to sell land for the purposes of housing and enable the use of the sale proceeds for "reinvestment in reserve network and to achieve housing outcomes".

"Nine months for a local members bill to get through the parliamentary processes. Anticipate November 2022 enactment," the documents stated.

It estimated five reserves sold to Kainga Ora would yield 79 houses, three to "market sale" to yield 22 homes, and two reserves for "Rotorua Lakes Council/philanthropic pensioner housing development" with a 25-home yield.

The council was invited to clarify, correct or deny these statements from the documents.

Local Democracy Reporting asked Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick if she supported the proposal and when she believed would be the proper time to reveal the proposal to the public.

In a statement via the council communications team, Chadwick said the "breach of confidentiality" was "presumably aimed at undermining or sabotaging what we are trying to achieve for our community".

"It also unnecessarily raises anxiety before any proposals are considered or decisions are made.

"It's very disappointing if an elected member has broken confidentiality for political gain."

Chadwick said she was focused on enabling more housing in the district.

"We're expecting government support to achieve good outcomes for Rotorua and [the] council also needs to do its bit."

She said closed-door forums allowed the council to "discuss ideas and options" and "provide direction on matters that may then become proposals for us to consider and take to the community".

"No decisions are made in forums.

"When or if we receive a proposal, we have the opportunity to debate its merits, ensure appropriate community consultation and make a considered decision.

"I'll form my view at that point. No decisions have been made."

Council district development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston said options and information discussed in forums often changed before the final proposals.

He said forums were part of the council's due diligence before finalising and presenting proposals for decision-making or consultation.

"We can assure residents they would be informed and have the opportunity to make submissions on any proposal for consideration or decision-making.

"Housing is a priority set out in Rotorua's 2021-31 Long-term Plan and all potentially viable options would be considered as part of ongoing work on multiple fronts to address the district's critical housing shortage."

He said any decisions on potential sales of council land would have to comply with the council's open spaces policy.

The policy's Ngati Whakaue Gifted Reserves Protocol Agreement meant if reserves were not used for their original purpose they should be returned to Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust on behalf of Ngati Whakaue, unless agreed otherwise.

Any proposed land disposal would follow relevant council and legislative processes including the agreement, the Reserves Act and the Local Government Act, the policy stated.

Kainga Ora Bay of Plenty regional director Darren Toy said the agency was exploring opportunities with partners in Rotorua to deliver more homes as quickly as possible.

"This includes working with the council on this potential opportunity, which is still at the very early stages."

Kainga Ora was also asked if it had any role in helping identify the reserves, what it meant to "tag" a reserve, what kind of housing it planned for the sites, and whether there would be adequate green space for residents in the developments.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay. Photo: RNZ.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay said, in his view, it was "extremely worrying" the documents showed the council was "considering how quickly [it] can make decisions and that the people of Rotorua might slow that process down".

"The council doesn't own this town, ratepayers do. They have an absolute obligation to engage with them openly and fully.''

He believed people in the areas affected would be concerned the council was having "detailed discussions" about the reserves with the government without their knowledge.

McClay said, in his opinion: "The council and government are almost treating them with contempt."

He claimed the government had "dumped people from around the country in Rotorua motels" and said it could not now take reserves away to house those people without consulting residents.

Asked if he saw any merit in the plans given his criticism of emergency housing in motels, McClay said in his opinion the council could not "drag its feet and say it's very hard, and then all of a sudden rush to decisions that are going to have a big impact".

Housing Minister Megan Woods said the government supported the council's efforts to address the city's critical housing shortage.

"[The] government has been working with the council and iwi for the past two years to address constraints to new housing developments, through the Rotorua housing taskforce."

Housing Minister Megan Woods. Photo: File.

Woods said the National government sold off 50 public houses in Rotorua and, in her view, it was "bizarre" for McClay to complain about emergency housing that was keeping people from sleeping in cars or the street.

In her opinion, he "should be embarrassed" by National's "failure to do anything about the housing crisis".

"If National had done what this government is doing with delivering more public housing, and enabling new housing, there wouldn't be a housing crisis."

She said, in her view, McClay needed to "use facts, not fiction" regarding the origin of people in emergency housing in Rotorua.

She cited Ministry of Social Development analysis that found 88 percent were from Rotorua or surrounding towns, and many of the rest had local family and whanau.

Chadwick said her "door is always open" for McClay to "come and get a briefing about the housing strategy for Rotorua that as our local MP we need him to get behind".

Ministry of Housing and Urban Development housing and services delivery general manager Jonathon Fraser said it understood the council was "consulting closely" with mana whenua about "any possible release of reserve land for development".

"We understand that no decisions about the possible release of reserve land have been made at this stage, but when there is a proposal, wider public consultation would happen."

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
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The Ministry of Health is reporting 13,636 new community cases of Covid-19. This is made up of 7,763 on Friday and 5,748 on Saturday. It has been two days since the last Covid-19 update on Thursday.

There have been 30 deaths, with 20 reported on Friday and 10 on Saturday. There are 15 people in ICU.

Over the last two days there have been 532 new community cases reported in Bay of Plenty, and 266 in Lakes.

There are 500 people in hospital today. There were 502 people in hospital on Friday. There are

28 people with Covid-19 in Bay of Plenty hospitals and 17 in Lakes hospitals.

There were 125 new cases identified at the border in past two days.

The seven-day rolling average of case numbers continues to decline, with today's seven-day rolling average at 8,283  last Saturday it was 10,843.

Covid-19 deaths

Today we are sadly reporting the deaths of 30 people with Covid-19 for today and yesterday, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

These deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 576 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 14.

Age and location breakdowns of the people who have died over the past two days are unavailable today.

This is a very sad time for whanau and friends and our thoughts are with them, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

The number of reported community cases is expected to continue to fluctuate day to day, but the overall trend remains an overall reduction in reported cases.

Please note that because of the Easter public holidays, some of our usual reported breakdowns are unavailable. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Easter weekend reminder

We are reminding you that if you are going away this Easter weekend, you should have plans in place in the event you contract Covid-19 or are identified as a household contact of a case, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

You would need to self-isolate and likely remain wherever you test positive or become a household contact, so there may be extra costs involved in paying for additional accommodation and changing your travel plans.

If you have used your own vehicle to travel, you can travel back to your home to isolate, taking public health measures to ensure you dont infect anyone on your way home  such as maintaining social distance and using self-service petrol stations, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

However, if you have used public transport or travelled between islands, you wont be able to isolate at your home. So it is important you have a plan and the ability to isolate where you are holidaying, if you need to do so.

The Ministry of Health says there are three actions everyone can do to help protect themselves and others this Easter weekend.

Firstly  be up to date with vaccinations, including a booster if youve not yet had one. If you are planning to be away this long weekend, get boosted before you go.

Secondly  wear a mask. Masks are still required in many indoor settings.

A good rule of thumb is to wear a mask in indoor public settings as we know that mask use halves the risk of spread of Covid-19. You must also wear a face mask on all flights and public transport, in taxi and ride-share services  unless you are exempt.

And thirdly  stay home and avoid others if youre unwell, isolating or waiting for the results of a Covid-19 test.

For guidance if you or someone you know tests positive or becomes a household contact, visit the Ministry of Health website.

For more information on mask use at Orange, visit the Unite Against COVID-19 website.

Vaccinations administered in New Zealand for April 16 only

Vaccines administered to date: 4,026,166 first doses; 3,976,694 second doses; 31,682 third primary doses; 2,612,298 booster doses: 260,442 paediatric first doses and 104,199 paediatric second doses

Vaccines administered yesterday: 5 first doses; 12 second doses; 2 third primary doses; 71 booster doses; 5 paediatric first doses and 51 paediatric second doses

People vaccinated

All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,056,029 first dose (96.4%); 4,005,949 second dose (95.2%), 2,609,339 boosted (71.5% of those eligible)

Maori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 520,795 first dose (91.2%); 503,720 second dose (88.2%), 232,652 boosted (55.8% of those eligible)

Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 281,752 first dose (98.3%); 276,796 second dose (96.6%), 138,621 boosted (57.7% of those eligible)

5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 258,008 first dose (54.2%); 101,829 second dose (21.4%)

5 to 11-year-olds - Maori: 40,641 first dose (35.2%); 11,624 second dose (10.1%)

5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 23,390 first dose (47.4%); 5,605 second dose (11.3%)

Note that the number for People vaccinated differs slightly from Vaccines administered as it includes those that have been vaccinated overseas.

Vaccination rates for all DHBs

Northland DHB: first dose (90.1%); second dose (88%); boosted (68.3%)

Auckland Metro DHB: first dose (97.2%); second dose (96.2%); boosted (70.1%)

Waikato DHB: first dose (95.1%); second dose (93.6%); boosted (67.1%)

Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95.1%); second dose (93.4%); boosted (66.7%)

Lakes DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (91.4%); boosted (67.1%)

MidCentral DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (72.8%)

Tairawhiti DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (91%); boosted (66.5%)

Whanganui DHB: first dose (91.9%); second dose (90.4%); boosted (72.1%)

Hawkes Bay DHB: first dose (97.1%); second dose (95.5%); boosted (70.5%)

Taranaki DHB: first dose (94.6%); second dose (93.2%); boosted (68.7%)

Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.5%); second dose (95%); boosted (73.5%)

Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.5%); second dose (97.8%); boosted (79.8%)

Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (96.6%); second dose (95.7%); boosted (75.5%)

Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (74%)

West Coast DHB: first dose (92.7%); second dose (91.2%); boosted (72.3%)

Canterbury DHB: first dose (99.7%); second dose (98.8%); boosted (75%)

South Canterbury DHB: first dose (94.8%); second dose (93.8%); boosted (75.1%)

Southern DHB: first dose (98.5%); second dose (97.4%); boosted (73.7%)

*Partially and second doses percentages are for those 12+. Boosted percentages are for 18+ who have become eligible 3 months after having their second dose

Percentages are based on 2020 HSU data - a health-specific population denominator. As the population continues to change over time, coverage rates can exceed 100 per cent.

Hospitalisations

Cases in hospital for today: total number 500: All Northern Region DHBs including Northland, Waitemata, Auckland and Counties Manukau: 264; Waikato: 28; Bay of Plenty: 17; Lakes: 8; Tairawhiti: 1; Hawkes Bay: 11; Taranaki: 12; Whanganui: 4; MidCentral: 19; Wairarapa: 2; Hutt Valley: 27; Capital and Coast: 13; Nelson Marlborough: 10; Canterbury: 53; South Canterbury: 5; West Coast: 0; Southern: 26

*Average age of current hospitalisations: 58

Cases in ICU or HDU: 15

Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): unavailable today

Please note the average age of current hospitalisations is for the Northern Region admissions only at this stage. This data is recorded and extracted from the same source as the vaccination status of patients in Northern Region hospitals.

We are currently working on a data solution which would include the average age of current hospitalisations from additional DHBs, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

Cases

Seven day rolling average of community cases: 8,283

Seven day rolling average (as at same day last week): 10,843

Number of new community cases over past two days: 13,636

Number of new community cases (PCR): 275 Friday and 165 today  for a two-day total of 440

Number of new community cases (RAT): 7,488 Friday and 5,583 today for a two-day total of 13,071

Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT over two days combined): Northland (638), Auckland (869), Waikato (1,079), Bay of Plenty (532), Lakes (266), Hawkes Bay (460), MidCentral (556), Whanganui (244), Taranaki (429), Tairawhiti (120), Wairarapa (121), Capital and Coast (822), Hutt Valley (522) Nelson Marlborough (451), Canterbury (2,255), South Canterbury (325), Southern (1,747), West Coast (137), Unknown (14)

Number of new cases identified at the border in past two days: 125

Number of active community cases today (total): 57,951 (cases identified in the past 7 days and not yet classified as recovered)

Confirmed cases (total): 818,882

Please note, the Ministry of Healths daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.

Tests
A front associated to a slow-moving low over the northern Tasman Sea is expected to move southwards across northern New Zealand on Monday and becoming slow moving over central North Island on Tuesday.

"This front is preceded by strong moist east to northeast flow bringing periods of heavy rain," says a MetService spokesperson.

"On Monday and Tuesday, there is moderate confidence of warning amounts of rain in Northland, especially about the eastern areas."

For Auckland, Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula, there is low confidence of warning amounts of rain on Monday and Tuesday.

Also on Monday and Tuesday, there is moderate confidence of east to northeast gales becoming severe in exposed parts of Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula.

The low and the front is forecast to weaken away on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a ridge is expected to remain slow moving over southern and central New Zealand through to late Tuesday bringing settled weather to most places. T

he ridge is forecast to move away to the east on Wednesday and moist northwesterlies develop across the South Island ahead of an active front approaching from the southwest.

This front is expected to move over the South Island on Thursday and moist northwesterlies spread onto the North Island.

On Wednesday there is low confidence of rain amounts reaching warning criteria in Fiordland and Westland and the confidence increases to moderate on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, there is low confidence of warning amounts of rain in Buller,parts of Nelson and Marlborough including Marlborough Sounds, Tararua range and Taranaki.
A Tauranga Boys College teacher is among the first to join a Rocketlab program that aims to reverse concerning statistics in students learning of math and science in New Zealand.

Opening up applications to join their Space Educators Program, now teachers can connect with Rocketlabs space ambassadors who can liaise and provide information from the wider Rocketlab team, including people who are directly working on space projects.

Tauranga Boys College teacher Andrew Corney hopes to share resources that fuse science, technology, engineering and maths, known as STEM, lesson plans with engaging real world information from Rocketlab.

Rocketlab education program lead Felicity Powell says educators whove joined the program will come to her team with their ideas for a lesson plan. We are then able to fuse this with the context of space. We achieve this by looking at their lesson plan and seeing whod be best on our team for them to connect with.

Recently, we have paired Andrew with our project manager of building our latest rocket, through a lesson he planned on design thinking.

Felicity says the next rocket project manager can now directly provide information to Andrews class, using real-world information on how he uses design thinking to build the new rocket.

On the back of Kiwi students recording their worst-ever results in the International Mathematics and Science Study, Felicity says there is immense pressure on teachers with Covid-19.

Were looking to amplify the good work theyre doing with access to these resources they may not otherwise have.

Space ambassadors such as Katherine Chen and Likhitha Satrasala are responsible for taking Rocketlabs information to students in schools, and to teachers who are part of the program.

Our job is focused on educating and making people excited about space, says Rocketlab space ambassador Katherine Chen.

Felicity and Andrew are excited to see changes in the wider education space and how this has enabled new approaches to making learning more engaging for students.

Its very special centering learning around the context first. It is a holistic approach that makes a captivating experience for kids, says Felicity.

Bringing real world context to what were doing is very exciting, says Andrew. Most kids are taught how to do fractions using pizzas. The challenge with schools is providing real world context, and this program has enabled us to do that.

Linking our lesson plans to real world problems not only makes learning more engaging, but it shows the kids that it is a pathway that is available to them.

They have a rocket launching company in their own home country, and being able to be directly involved with that and potentially see a future for them is very inspiring for kids.

Felicity says its not necessarily all about space either. Its about real world examples that are from a company right here in Aotearoa that the kids can relate to.

As Rocketlab recruits more educators to join this program, they hope to inspire and help even more kids to reach for the stars.
Sometimes the brightest of ideas come from simply seeing what we have within our own hands and resources to do.

This was the case for Jennifer Murray, who has adapted a talent for making flowers to help raise funds for children in Ukraine.

I started making felt flowers when we were in the second lockdown, just looking for something to do, says Jennifer. Ive always enjoyed crafting but I like crafting with a purpose.

She started making felt flowers to give away to clients at her work, Grief Support Services in Greerton.

Its kind of progressed from there and Ive been growing and honing my skills over the last two years and really enjoy making them.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Jennifer knew she wanted to do something to help support the Ukrainian people.

I picked out one of the flower designs I do and made it blue and yellow because I wanted to support something going on over there. As I work for a smaller grassroots charity myself I know how hard it is to get funding for local community groups as opposed to the larger ones that get big profile in the media.

Jennifer Googled Kyiv community organisations and came across Bright Kids Charity. She says this organisation provides underprivileged children with support they need to create a brighter future.

They are currently supporting children with disabilities and their families who cannot travel to escape the war.

It really appealed to me to help those families on the ground and theyre also doing a lot to support Ukraine childrens hospitals. And their website is in English.

Although taking a lot of time and commitment, she has personally contributed all the materials to the project, Jennifer has made 30 blue and yellow irises and so far raised more than $900. Each flower is about 25cm high by 12-15cm wide.

They are being sold for a minimum $15 donation but if people would like to contribute more thats fantastic. I also have four one-off iris flowers that will be given to the four highest donors.

Flower pick-up is by arrangement from Judea, Mount Maunganui or Greerton. To contribute towards Jennifers Bright Kids Charity project, or to purchase a flower, email: irisesforukraine@gmail.com Or visit: www.facebook.com/irisesforukraine
This humorous account happened exactly 100 years ago this week on April 20, 1922. The headline in The Citizen took front page coverage and announced boldly, "100 Arrested at Cock Fight. Twenty New York State Troopers accomplished the feat by a surprise raid that evening at Lakeside Park.

The troopers came by automobile from the Oneida barracks, some in uniform, others wearing plainclothes. An anonymous tip to the authorities gave them the pre-knowledge of the upcoming huge event. Their plan, under the direction of Capt. Steven McCarthy, was to carry out the surprise raid and resultant arrests proved very successful. The Citizen reported, They did a mighty fine job. The only mishap was when one of the troopers, in the dark, fell in the outlet during the secretive, silent approach to the hotel where the gambling activities were held. He fell in up to his shoulders until his buddies pulled him out. He was able to join the others in the raid.

The article went on to report the orderly proceedings, under the supervision of Owasco Justice of the Peace I.E. Pearson, who was sent for. A no-nonsense man, with a reputation for thoroughness, Judge Pearson set up his emergency courtroom right in the hotel! Under the watchful eye of some of the troopers, the gathering of 100 men lined up to be processed and pay their fine. The other troopers were outside the building dealing with the many chickens captured in the raid. One of the first in line was Flint Bills, owner of the hotel  he was charged with the largest fine of $50. The three owners of the pronounced Through bred chickens" were each fined $30. They listed their addresses as Solvay. The rest of the men were fined $10 to $15. The total of fines collected in the early morning of April 21 amounted to $1,195. A lot of revenue! It was a long night.

All 100 names were printed in the paper, and the reporter confessed he found some avoided notoriety by assuming the common names of Smith and Jones. My examination of the list showed there were 10 area men involved: two men from Moravia and eight from Auburn. The rest came from all over the state. Listed with the names were addresses from Oswego, Oneida, Syracuse, Seneca Falls, Rochester and Hudson Falls. Other locations listed were Pompey Hill, Phelps, Utica, Newark, Clyde, Ovid, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Canandaigua, Watertown and Waterloo. This proved the cockfight was a very large, preplanned and covertly advertised event. The list showed one gambler came from Indianapolis! Imagine their embarrassment to have their names printed in the paper!

Officer Robinson of the Auburn Police was said to be in a quandary on what to do with the 70 confiscated chickens. He could not put them in cages together because, he said, they were scrappy. Worse yet, the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals strongly refused to take them! No cuddly kittens or doe-eyed puppies, but very angry, fighting roosters. No sir, no way! It was a quandary indeed. Officer Robinson left four troopers in charge of them until a home for them could be found. Nothing further was written about this outcome and what became of them. (Chicken in the pot on Sunday, I suspect.)

Cockfighting is an old English gaming tradition, but it is over 6,000 years old. Shakespeare wrote about it. The birds are bred for their stamina and deliberately trained to fight. Handlers even secured knives to the spurs of the roosters, resulting in a bloody sport. When placed together in a ring, how long did it take for the winner to be decided, until one became too weak to fight or was killed?

In the town of Owasco, at Island Park on April 20, 1922, 70 birds were spared this debacle. Had the competition got underway, or was it interrupted by the raid?

This blood sport still exists today. Wikipedia reports it is illegal in all 50 states. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama signed farm bills prohibiting cockfighting. In February 2014, major law enforcement conducted raids against cockfighting. In New York state, 3,000 birds were seized, and nine men were arrested for conducting animal fighting in Operation Angry Bird." It was reported that this was New Yorks largest ever cockfighting bust.

In May of 2017, the Los Angeles Department seized 7,000 cockfighting birds at a ranch in Los Verde, California. This was one of the largest busts in United States history!

My son was given a rooster long ago on his farm in Moravia. The bird had beautiful red, yellow and black plumage. He also came with a bad attitude. The cagy bird would lie in wait and charge the farm workers in a flurry of feathers and squawks. My husband, Milo, was forced to carry a broom when he walked past the barn. Daughter Lynne carried a shovel.

The only family member or person he wouldnt attack was me. Was it my voice as I talked to him? Was it because I didnt carry a weapon to keep him at bay from attacking me? I can see him now, head tilted to one side, keenly watching and listening to me. Chip later learned he was formerly used in cockfighting. When he got too old to fight, he was given to Chip. His poor legs were scarred and his spurs showed evidence of the fights he was in. He met his demise when a tractor ran over him accidently in the circular drive.

Laurel Auchampaugh is the Owasco historian and can be reached at the Owasco Town Hall from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoons or at historian@owascony.gov. Sources used in this column include The Citizen's 200th anniversary celebration book and Wikipedia.

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The latest corruption scandal rocks Albany, and its timing is stunning  placing Gov. Kathy Hochul, with only seven and a half months in office, in a terrible position of her making that she could have avoided.

Federal charges filed Tuesday against Brian Benjamin of Manhattan, Hochuls chosen lieutenant governor, describe a classic Albany scheme. As a state senator, Benjamin allegedly pushed for a $50,000 state grant for a nonprofit controlled by a crony who made illegal contributions to Benjamins ill-fated Democratic primary campaign for New York City comptroller.

Further, the indictment on bribery, fraud and falsification cites a series of lies and deceptions to cover up his scheme including by falsifying campaign donor forms, misleading municipal regulators and providing false information in vetting forms Benjamin submitted while under consideration to be appointed the next lieutenant governor of New York State. He allegedly lied twice to state police vetting him.

At least Benjamin, already on the Democratic primary ticket as Hochuls endorsed running mate, had the sense to resign while facing the criminal charges. Silent until more than eight hours after the arrest, Hochul said in a statement wanting for its lack of indignation that she accepted, not demanded, Benjamins resignation.

Only the political calculations were transparent. Now Hochul owes the public a detailed and difficult explanation for why Benjamin was by her side even this long.

Clearly, serious problems were afoot, but Hochul chose to see or at least speak no evil. Migdol was indicted in November and it should have been clear where this probe was headed. By then she should have reconsidered her endorsement of Benjamin, who runs separately in the primary, or pressed him to come clean on where he stood with the feds.

Instead, she expressed full confidence in Benjamin  nice for personal loyalty maybe, but bad for imposing high standards of ethical conduct. Legislative grants and contracts have spawned wrongdoing forever. State officials now need to explore  for real  what procedural reforms were skipped or what new ones need to be in place that could have nipped this in the bud.

Under New Yorks convoluted election laws, it is too late to get Benjamin off the ticket barring some legal contortions. Could Hochul find a way to support Diana Reyna, ticket-mate of gubernatorial primary rival Tom Suozzi? Or would that simply boost Suozzi against herself?

Thats a problem for Hochul and her party to worry about. The publics concern has to be whether Hochul can reconcile this debacle and show better judgment and leadership going forward.

 Newsday

Leading New York Democrats know that theyre in hot water with voters over soaring crime, anti-COVID extremism, political corruption and other issues, so state Chairman Jay Jacobs and Gov. Kathy Hochul want to create a new ballot line for vulnerable incumbents ahead of Novembers election.

Moderate, independent and suburban voters are poised to rebel against the lefts pro-crime, anti-police, high-spending agenda. In Nassau and Suffolk counties, which saw big Republican gains last year, Dems fear their party brand has grown so toxic that they need an added line to avoid getting swamped in a coming red wave.

So Long Island-based Jacobs aims to create an independent third party to give his candidates some cover. Maybe the Unlike Most Democrats, We Dont Hate You Party?

But its not that easy to fool New York voters: Last year, then-Nassau County Executive Laura Curran created the Common Sense Party for the same reason. But Curran was still ousted as voters flocked to GOP candidate Bruce Blakeman.

So the Jacobs-Hochul plan to try the same thing on a larger scale tells you not only that theyre desperate, but that Democrats are out of new ideas even when it comes to conning the voters.

 New York Post

For-profit nursing home owners must be a motley crew judging from the way they are discussed in the New York state Legislature.

The state has felt the need to mandate hours of care for each nursing home resident or face fines. The state also passed legislation last year requiring a certain percentage of nursing home revenues to be spent on resident care over concerns too many for-profit nursing homes were pocketing too much money while proper resident care wasnt prioritized. Now, the state Assembly has approved legislation basically forbidding any more for-profit nursing homes from being created in the state.

One would think for-profit nursing homes are owned by the likes of Darth Vader, the Joker, Hannibal Lecter and the Wicked Witch of the West.

To be fair, there are for-profit nursing homes that dont provide a high enough level of care. But one of the reasons for that is of the state and federal governments own doing by providing Medicaid reimbursements that dont come even close to paying for the care a resident requires each day. Some nursing home operators belong in the villains club mentioned above.

Note, we said some, not all.

Had this Assembly bill (A.5842) been in place a decade ago, Chautauqua County might still own its nursing home. And that would have been a bad outcome for county taxpayers who were subsidizing low reimbursement rates with their tax dollars every year and for residents who saw quality increase when the non-profit Chautauqua County Home was sold to VestraCare.

A.5842 has not made its way to the Senate floor for a vote, but we encourage a no vote if it does. The state should do all it can to weed bad actors out of the nursing home industry, but simply assuming anyone in the private, for-profit sector is out to cause harm is bad policy.

 Dunkirk Evening Observer
What just happened? In the wake of the recent sanctions imposed on Russia, its government is developing a rather ambitious plan to become more independent from western technology. It involves a massive investment in domestic chip development and manufacturing and training personnel in this field.

Following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia got hit with an unprecedented amount of international sanctions. While this has undoubtedly crippled the Russian economy, it also cut off their access to an essential resource in this day and age, semiconductors.

Companies like Intel, AMD, and IBM have stopped selling their products in Russia, leaving the country unable to source western chips. While they could design the silicon themselves, manufacturing them wouldn't be possible as foundries like TSMC and GlobalFoundries also halted sales to Russia and third parties that supplied to Russia.

The Russian government has devised a preliminary plan to tackle the issue. It involves investing around 3.19 trillion rubles ($38.3 billion) in developing the local microelectronics industry. This money will go to four main areas: development of local semiconductor fabrication technologies, domestic chip development, marketing of the said chips, and training the local talent.

Approximately 420 billion rubles ($5 billion) will get invested in developing newer fabrication nodes and ramping up production. Russia aims to ramp up the local chip production using a 90 nm node by the end of the year. By 2030, they intend to manufacture chips using a 28nm process technology, something TSMC did in 2011.

Russia also plans to launch a program this year that will focus on reverse engineering western electronics and eventually manufacturing them within Russian borders or in China. The finalized plan will be sent for official approval by the prime minister on April 22.
What just happened? The privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has removed several major pirate websites, such as The Pirate Bay, 1337x, and YTS, from its search results. This move also includes YouTube-ripping services, which are considered a grey area in terms of legality.

Update (April 19): Following reports (including ours) that DuckDuckGo was removing certain pirate sites from its search results, CEO and founder Gabriel Weinberg denied such claims this week, as seen in the tweet below. It should be noted, however, that the site was indeed not listing many of the mentioned sites properly, and this was not limited to the "site: operator," even if the removal was not intentional.

As noted by TorrentFreak, there was a confirmed removal of a group of sites, which were later identified to being delisted from Bing. DuckDuckGo builds its search results from a variety of third-party data from different sources, including Microsoft's Bing engine. The TorrentFreak article also mentions how bogus DMCA takedowns usually result in having sites or specific pages getting removed from search results, and that Bing is particularly sensitive to such actions.

Similarly, we are not "purging" YouTube-dl or The Pirate Bay and they both have actually been continuously available in our results if you search for them by name (which most people do). Our site: operator (which hardly anyone uses) is having issues which we are looking into.  Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg) April 17, 2022

DuckDuckGo is one of the most popular privacy-focused search engines and a renowned alternative to the data-hungry Google. Unlike other search platforms, the site doesn't keep a log of sensitive user information or share its search trends with advertisers.

The site has made another move that differentiates itself from Google in the past week: piracy-free search results. On Friday, Torrentfreak discovered that the site deindexed several popular pirate websites, effectively removing them from search results.

DuckDuckGo removed all domains for these sites entirely from its database, with search results being blank or only bringing up a single result. This crackdown includes several types of pirate sites, including torrent indexes, movie streaming portals, and blogs with downloads to cracked video games. However, many less popular piracy websites remain visible.

The change removes the potential vulnerability of DuckDuckGo to copyright issues, despite not hosting any of the copyrighted content. Google has an automated system that eliminates possible DMCA-infringing entries, but that has done little to deter search results for the most popular piracy websites. They have also demoted piracy websites in certain regions, such as the UK.

Surprisingly, the removal includes the homepage to youtube-dl, a Python-based open-source downloader for YouTube and other online videos. Despite challenges from the RIAA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has defended the legality of youtube-dl, maintaining that the tool is crucial for archiving and documentation purposes.

DuckDuckGo has not yet responded to questions from journalists about the omission. The company recently entered the browser wars with the launch of its privacy-focused desktop browser for Windows and Mac, following their popular free browser for Android.

Image credit: Dawit
Toyota Motor Corp is aiming to launch a sport utility vehicle version of its Crown sedan for Japan, China and North America. Toyota has been producing its Crown sedan for nearly seven decades. This model from Toyota has remained popular in the Japanese market.

Toyota plans to bring this new SUV car in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full-electric versions. According to a report by Reuters, Toyota is planning to sell the hybrid Crown SUV next year and this version will be exported to markets such as China and North America. The report added Toyota intends to sell the plug-in hybrid version of the SUV in its domestic market. The fully-electric version of the Toyota Crown SUV may see day's light in early 2024, however, the Japanese automaker is yet to finalise export plans for this version, shared sources.

(Also read | Toyota plans a 10% global production cut in May owing to supply chain disruption)

As Toyota's part of its overhaul plans, the company will also roll out a fully remodelled sedan version of the Crown this year. Both the SUV and the sedan will be manufactured at factories in Toyota City, Japan.

Toyota Crown was the first passenger car that was developed for the company's domestic market. It was entirely manufactured in Japan. This sedan was also the first car that was exported to the United States in 1958. However, after two years Toyota was forced to suspend exports as the Crown engine wasn't capable of the speeds needed on American freeways. Toyota sold more than 2,00,000 units of this sedan in 1990 at the height of Japan's economic boom. Last year domestic annual sales plummeted to 21,000 units.

(Also read | Toyota bZ4X, rival to Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, launched with 559km range)

The plan to bring various versions of this beloved model when developed in SUV form shows Toyota's seriousness towards amping its game in electrification. It had announced earlier that it would invest around $70 billion to electrify its automobiles by 2030.

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The new TikTok profile view history disappoints some users. The social media giant released this feature so that people can see who is visiting their profiles.

This in-app tech is not really new. LinkedIn already has this feature. The profile view history in LinkedIn is already activated after you successfully create an account.

Meanwhile, the version in TikTok needs to be manually activated. The app's new feature is designed to show all the users that viewed your account.

But why do some users dislike the new TikTok profile views history?

Why TikTok Profile Views History Disappoints Some Users

According to HITC's latest report, some TikTok users are not happy with the new feature since it exposes their stalking habits.

Also Read: TikTok Self-Defense Trend: Experts Now Concerned About iPhone Taser and Other Dangerous Phone Accessories

Aside from this, the feature also has a limitation. ScreenRant reported that the new profile views history feature only works if the users visiting your account also use the new in-app function.

This means that you can't see the users stalking you if the feature is not turned on on their ends. Because of this, stalkers can easily avoid getting tracked by just turning off their profiles views and history.

As of writing, TikTok hasn't confirmed yet if it will release a new version that has no limitations, which is something like the one offered by LinkedIn.

Turning On and Off TikTok Profile Views History

If you want to activate the new feature, all you need to do is visit your account. From there, you will see an "eye" icon located at the top of your screen.

Click that option to access the new in-app function. After that, just tap on the "Turn on" feature.

Once you activate the new feature, you will see the users that are visiting your account for the past 30 days. TikTok also said that only you could view the individuals stalking your profile.

When turning it off, you need to click the "eye" symbol again. After that, just choose the "turn off" option to deactivate the new function.

Meanwhile, the TikTok iPhone document scan trick previous went viral.

On the other hand, a TikToker recently revealed four new iPhone tricks that most users are unfamiliar with.

For more news updates about TikTok and other social media platforms, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: TikTok 'This Content is Age-Restricted' Error? Here's How to Fix It

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Elon Musk suggested a new feature that should be available on short word social media, with the long-form tweets that the company initially teased. Speculations and leaks said that long-form tweets are coming, and it would benefit those that would create threads or explain things on the platform and have no character count.

Elon Musk Teases Long Form Tweets on Social Media

The world's top billionaire faced a thread that talked about the dangers of making Twitter private, and it was a long one in which Elon Musk talked about a new feature coming. Here, Musk said that his main takeaway from the thread is having "long-form tweets," or the kind of tweets that would expand into a longer one that would hold all the words together.

It is safe to say that Twitter threads are a creative innovation from the public, and this was their solution to the character limit of the social media that initially saw 140 characters and now 280 letters. The spirit of creating threads is different on Twitter, and sometimes, it helps organize an argument in separate tweets.

It is the only place that people can do it, apart from text messages.

Read Also: Elon Musk Gets Lawsuit from Twitter Investor for Hiding his 5% Stake on Twitter Last January

My most immediate takeaway from this novella of a thread is that Twitter is *way* overdue for long form tweets!  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2022

Why Twitter Should Not Be Private?

According to the founder and CEO of Terraformation, Yishan Wong, there are many dangers to making Twitter private, and it is something that Elon Musk does not see yet. Musk is on the way to experiencing this first-hand and calls the billionaire "GenXers," that think the internet is freedom and has no limits or bars to their online usage.

Wong said that he had already experienced the "free internet" with Reddit, and it might be the same with Twitter.

Elon Musk and Twitter

A rollercoaster of tweets and events circled the lives of everyone at Twitter and, of course, its executives, which already experience that on a day-to-day basis. However, these past weeks have been a massive exception for everyone. Elon Musk joined its executives as a shareholder of the company, having the most significant stakes in social media compared to everyone.

There were many reactions to minor changes in the market, and several watchdogs looked back and forth on the company's many happenings and developments with its new executives. There are no significant changes yet, apart from the tiny drops and hints about upcoming features, but Twitter said it is not because of Musk.

Musk is a significant presence on Twitter, and the executive is not even a board member.

Nevertheless, his dropping hints on features for the social media platform is a massive thing, and it may be a cause for confusion or conflict among its board and shareholders alike. There are red flags that Musk choose to ignore, and one of them is going private with Twitter again; while it is not something that is happening now, there may be a massive chance soon.

Related Article: Elon Musk Twitter Purchase: Questions Kingdom's Rejection, Asks About Journalistic Freedom and Share Ownership

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Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The private search engine, DuckDuckGo, has decided to remove pirate websites from its official search results. This includes even the popular YouTube-dl piracy tool used to download YouTube videos.

DuckDuckGo Extends Crackdown on Dodgy Content to Pirate Websites and Downloading Tools

According to the story by Engadget, DuckDuckGo has extended its crackdown on dodgy content. The move covers not just pirate websites (used to download content illegally), but also digital bootleggers as well.

TorrentFreak released a report regarding its discovery that DuckDuckGo no longer shows major pirate websites. The list of websites that no longer show on the search engine's results include 1337x, The Pirate Bay, and Fmovies.

Limited Search Results Remain for Certain Pirate Websites Like RarBG

When DuckDuckGo users try to search for the pirate websites, they will no longer be given results that show anything related to the domain. The ban also includes popular streaming and stream-ripping websites like 2conv and Flixtor.

Engadget, however, notes that other pirate outlets still show results that are now limited. An example of this is RarBG which shows a single result instead of its previous hundreds of thousands of search results before DuckDuckGo started to stop showing results for pirate websites.

Downloading Tool YouTube-dl Removed from DuckDuckGo Search Engine

Aside from just pirate websites, YouTube-dl, a site that doubles as a video download tool, also no longer shows up when searched on DuckDuckGo. Although YouTube-dl has made recent defenses when it comes to the downloading tool's legality, it no longer produces results when searched on the privacy search engine.

The arguments made against YouTube-dl by the RIAA paints the downloading tool "as a piracy tool." When it came to technical details, however, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, GitHub, and even some others were able to point out that the tool does not actually rip any material protected by DRM.

Why DuckDuckGo Might Have Decided to Remove Pirate Websites from Its Search Engine

The article by Engadget notes that they have requested DuckDuckGo to give a comment regarding its removal of pirate websites. Although no solid confirmation just yet, TorrentFreak notes that the issue might be regarding DuckDuckGo's liability for copyright violations.

The search engine officially removed "pirate bangs" which is a keyword used as a shortcut for pirate sites. The keyword has long been used since 2018 but with DuckDuckGo's removal of search results, it would be interesting to see how other search engines will decide to remove access to pirate websites.

Read Also: Siri Purchases Canceled: Apple to Stop Alexa-Like Feature Due to Privacy Concerns

How DuckDuckGo Could Avoid Getting Tied Up in Copyright Issues

Engadget notes that aside DuckDuckGo's competitors like Microsoft and Google have already started to downrank search results that are piracy-related. Since the search engine is removing pirate websites, this could help protect it from costly copyright battles.

With piracy becoming a big issue, DuckDuckGo would be able to avoid the mess of getting tied up in copyright issues due to its removal of search results for pirate websites.

Related Article: Google Chrome Users Beware: Emergency Security Update Releases to Fix Zero-Day Vulnerability

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
AMC's app for smartphones starts accepting cryptocurrency payments, including Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, to name a few, for customers purchasing their movie tickets from their mobile devices.

AMC and Crypto

It is worth noting that the theater chain, AMC, has been accepting various crypto payments for ticket purchases for several months already. The firm started allowing customers to pay using virtual assets like Bitcoin way back on Nov. 13, 2021, as per a news story by CoinTelegraph.

Despite that, the mobile app of the movie theater chain has been left behind without any option to pay using crypto, such as the meme token Dogecoin until today.

AMC App Now Accepts Crypto

The CEO of AMC, Adam Aron, himself announced that the mobile app of its United States theaters, has a new update, wherein crypto payments are now welcomed.

The AMC boss kept his previous promise that crypto payments will also be supported in its smartphone app.

Aron confirmed in his official Twitter account that the AMC mobile app "now accepts online payments using DogeCoin, Shiba Inu, and other cryptocurrencies." The exec added that it was made possible through the integration of Bitpay.

Exactly as promised, the AMC mobile app for AMCs U.S. theatres now accepts online payments using Doge Coin, Shiba Inu, and other crypto currencies  thanks to Bitpay. Also Apple Pay, Google Pay and Paypal. To do so, you first will need to update to the latest version of our app. pic.twitter.com/MMy7SIxYbl  Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) April 15, 2022

According to a recent report by The Verge, the crypto options are not limited to Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. In fact, payment service provider Bitpay also supports other cryptos, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, among others.

It is worth noting that AMC claims that the crypto payments on its web client roughly account for 14 percent of all its movie ticket transactions, as per the latest report by Engadget.

Now, even mobile users opting to install its app on their smartphones could start using the crypto tokens that they have been holding on to for some time now.

Read Also: AMC to Accept Cryptocurrency Payments for Movie Theaters | Ethereum, Litecoin, and More?

AMC App: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal

On top of that, the AMC app also caters to users who still prefer to pay for movie tickets using their credit cards.

But if you do not want to go the old-fashioned way, there are various digital payment services and crypto token options to choose from.

Apart from the new crypto option, the AMC CEO also announced in his recent tweet that the AMC mobile app is also accepting other digital payments, including Paypal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

Related Article: AMC, Sony Give Free Spider-Man NFTs to 'No Way Home' Ticket Pre-Orders-Here's How to Get

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
NASA's Mars InSight Lander shared a unique clip of how a sunrise appears on the Red Planet, and it is an unusual sight to see, especially for the Earth dwellers, which makes it a limited event for them. Sunrises are different on Mars, especially as it has longer days than the planet's 24 hours, and it is not even called "days" on the other world.

NASA's InSight Mars Lander Shares Unique Mars Sunrise Clip

NASA InSight Mars Lander's Twitter account posted a clip of the Martian sunrise that gives a unique cognizance of what happens on the Red Planet on its transition from night and day. The media shows how the Sun looks at the surface of Mars and how much farther it looks compared to the Earth, being more extensive compared to it.

It is known that Mars is farther from the central figure of the Solar System compared to the Earth, so it means that it takes longer hours for the planet to rotate on its axis compared to the home planet. However, it is slower to finish a Sol and has completed its full rotation compared to Earth's entire day.

NASA said that a Sol takes approximately 24 hours and 39 minutes.

Read Also: Lettuce for Microgravity Threats? Studies Show How It Will Help Mars Astronaut in Future Missions

Ill never tire of sunrise on Mars.  Each morning, that distant dot climbs higher in the sky, giving me energy for another round of listening to the rumbles beneath my feet. https://t.co/QB4uVOBLAP pic.twitter.com/61dZe75k2I  NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) April 13, 2022

What is NASA InSight's Mission Now?

The primary purpose of InSight's mission is to conduct a deep study of Mars and see it from a unique perspective that the Curiosity rover cannot achieve. NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight) lander is a thorough study of Mar's crust, mantle, and core through many focuses.

NASA and Its Mars Ventures

NASA has the InSight Mars lander for almost four years now on the Red Planet after initially launching its mission last May 2018, arriving only six months later in November 2018. There have been several problems that the lander faced during its time on Mars, and it is the recent dust storm that left the spacecraft inaccessible as it went into safe mode.

However, it is not the only Mars spacecraft from the home planet that remains on the neighbor planet to continue its missions and help the humans discover more of the space rock. The Ingenuity and Perseverance also conduct its missions here, near the Jezero Crater, and the older Curiosity rover that launched earlier than all spacecraft here.

Mars is an important planet for NASA, and it is because it is the neighbor planet and the last of the four terrestrial planets that revolve around the Sun in the Solar System. It is also the next in line for a possible new haven for humans to live in, as Mercury and Venus are both heated up as they are closer to the hot star, unlike Earth and Mars.

Related Article: NASA Gives Lockheed Martin the Contract to Build MAV and Retrieve Mars' First Samples from Perseverance

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pixel Watch leak suggests that its release date is coming closer, likely confirming that the rumored smartphone watch with Google's Wear OS is actually seeing the light of day.

Pixel Watch Leak

As per a news story by The Verge, the Pixel Watch is a mere rumor for years already, which has been compiled through time without any signs of releasing to consumers anytime soon.

In fact, Google has yet to confirm that it is working on a smart wearable under its Pixel brand, which is rumored to run its very own Wear OS.

But this time around, a new Pixel Watch leak suggests that the Wear OS wearable is actually in the works.

The recent leak of the Pixel Watch is from a reputable leaker that goes by the name of Evan Blass, wherein he provided more concrete proof that Google is working on the long-rumored wrist device.

The reputable leaker shared a screenshot on his Twitter account that showed an interactive tutorial wherein a device that goes by the name Pixel Rohan is running the Wear OS 3.1.

Blass did not speak much about it in his tweet. Instead, the leaker only paired it with a caption that teases that it "won't be long now."

Despite that, The Verge noted that it is not actually news to learn that the Pixel Watch runs a Wear OS 3.1. In fact, previous rumors and speculations have already predicted that Google wearable will go that route.

Meanwhile, some reports offer that the tech giant might release its Pixel wearable as a digital-analog hybrid watch.

What's notable about the latest leak from Blass is it suggests that Google is already testing out the upcoming Pixel Watch. Thus, it is now seen in an interactive tutorial.

It could also mean that the rumored wearable is likely releasing sometime this year.

Read Also: Google Launches 'Safety Check,' Earthquake Alert Warnings on 'At a Glance' on Pixel Devices

Google I/O 2022

Speaking of its release, according to a recent report by Android Central, the annual developer conference of the search engine giant, the Google I/O 2022, is a couple of weeks away from now.

It is worth noting that the latest leak of the Pixel Watch released as the Google I/O 2022 is also nearing.

During the upcoming event this May, Google is likely going to talk about what wearable devices are sporting its Wear OS 3.

Related Article: 2022 Smartwatch Releases: Apple, Google, Samsung Gearing Up for New Tech Wearables-Expectations?

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Space events 2022 involve a lot of man-made and natural out-of-this-world activities. These include the upcoming missions of NASA, new meteor showers, and other exciting things that space fans can look forward to.

For the past few years, space agencies have been exploring the solar system to solve how it formed. Meanwhile, other companies are making efforts to reach the unvisited solar system space regions and even beyond those areas.

Now, here are the upcoming space events you need to see.

Space Events 2022: NASA Missions and More!

Mashable provided the missions and natural space events that are about to occur this 2022. Here are some of them:

Also Read: NASA's InSignt Mars Lander Showcased this Unique Martian Sunrise and You Should Not Miss It

May 2022

NASA Artemis will test the new lunar-orbiting space station called CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment).

Of course, NASA's actual moon return will also happen this May. As of writing, the international space union is preparing its mega-rocket, which will be used for the upcoming Artemis I mission.

June 2022

By June, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is expected to be fully operational. During this month, the giant rocket might also provide its first captured images.

August 2022

This coming August, an unusual space mission is expected to take place. This is specifically the NASA Psyche Mission, which will visit a space rock that is extremely rich in metals.

September 2022

NASA's Juno spacecraft is already in orbit, and around September, it is expected to make a close encounter over Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter.

October 2022

NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft will be tested around Oct. 1. The upcoming space activity plans to move the giant asteroid called Dimorphos. If this activity is successful, it will be NASA's first attempt to change an asteroid's orbit.

Aside from the mentioned space missions, you can also expect some astonishing meteor showers, such as the following:

Peak of the Lyrids meteor shower (Apr. 21, 2022)

Peak of the Eta Aquariids meteor shower (May 4, 2022)

Total Lunar Eclipse (May 15, 2022)

Peak of the Perseids meteor shower (Aug. 11, 2022)

Peak of the Northern Taurids meteor shower (Nov. 11, 2022)

Peak of the Geminids meteor shower (Dec. 14, 2022)

Space Race Encourages More Missions

National Geographic reported that the ongoing space race further encourages more space missions from NASA and other space agencies across the globe.

China, Russia, and the United States, as well as SpaceX and other independent space agencies, are still competing with one another when it comes to space exploration.

Recently, NASA's Webb Space Telescope MIRI tool was able to reach minus 266 degrees Celsius, allowing it to become operational.

Meanwhile, another Hubble Space Telescope successor is expected to arrive.

For more news updates about space events and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Where To Watch Axiom Mission's Return? ISS Departure Time and Other Details

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple accidentally leaked new iPhone and iPad upgrades. The latest rumors showed the new enhancements in the tech firm's latest software codes.

Apple has been pretty active when it comes to its gadgets. Previously, Tech Times reported that the manufacturer plans to launch iPhone Health App's sleep tracking tool.

Aside from this, some rumors also claimed that there would be a new iPhone USB-C charger head. Recent speculations suggest that iOS and iPadOS will have unique features, such as the enhanced Focus and News functionalities.

New iPhone, iPad Upgrade Accidentally Leaked?

According to Forbes' latest report, the new iOS 15.5 beta code strings revealed that new enhancements would be integrated into the upcoming iOS 16.

Also Read: iPhone X Face ID Repair Service Now Available! Here's What Apple's Latest Internal Memo Reveals

Although the upcoming iPhone system version has not been unveiled by Apple yet, rumors already show what users can expect from it.

Specifically, speculations claimed that iOS 16 would offer more Focus customization options. But, these enhancements might not be available on the iPadOS 15 and iOS 15.

Based on the iOS 15.5 beta string codes, a warning message will appear if the users with iOS 15 devices want to access the new Focus features, as reported by MacRumors.

If this is true, then many Apple consumers with older iPhone and iPad devices will be forced to upgrade. On the other hand, it is also believed that some of the iOS upgrades will be exclusive to the new iPhone 14 models.

Another Leaked iPhone Feature

Aside from the new Focus customization options, Apple critics also spotted another new iPhone feature, which the tech giant manufacturer did not announce.

This is the new text-searching function that is specifically designed to identify printed texts on images. As of press time, some users could already access the new feature.

However, they said that the new function seems to be a beta enhancement. If you want to see more details about the new text-searching feature on iOS 15, you can visit this link.

For more news updates about other leaked iPhone and iPad enhancements, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: New Secret iPhone Feature Identifies Printed Texts in Images-Making Photo Search Easier

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A California father who admitted to "senselessly" strangling a Many Farms man with a lanyard and then covering his body with hundreds of pounds of rock in 2020 was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.

Andreas McCabe, 30, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault as part of a plea deal in Coconino County Superior Court. He faced 21 years in prison.

He was originally charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful imprisonment.

The meeting of McCabe and 29-year-old Casey Joe happened by complete chance when McCabe invited Joe to sit with him at a restaurant on the night of May 30, 2020, before inviting him back to his motel room.

What started out as a good deed ended in the brutal murder of Joe, according to defense attorney Bruce Griffen.

"The night was born and initiated in care and resulted in tragedy," Griffen said.

One question seemed to loom over the two-hour sentencing Friday -- why? Neither Griffen nor prosecutor Bryan Shea could point to a motive as to what exactly drove McCabe to strangle Joe after inviting him back to his hotel room. Griffen said Joe didn't want to leave when McCabe asked him to, leading to a disagreement and an attack by Joe. Then McCabe lost it.

"Mr. McCabe killed someone in an effort to defend himself," Griffen said. "It was unacceptable how he handled the adrenaline, fear and trauma that occurred after that."

Multiple people told Judge Dan Slayton that wasn't in McCabe's character. Instead, they knew him as a loving husband and father of two who dropped out of high school to become a certified nursing assistant when he had his first child at 17. He was the CNA dying patients requested to hold their hand so they didn't have to take their final breath alone, one coworker recounted.

McCabe at the time was traveling from his home in California to Texas where he and his family would care for his wife's grandmother.

McCabe appeared remorseful during the sentencing, crying as he told Joe's family he understands if they can never forgive him, as he can't forgive himself.

"I'm truly sorry from the bottom of my heart for the loss of your child," McCabe said.

He had no criminal history.

But Shea expressed doubts over McCabe's explanation that he was trying to defend himself from Joe. McCabe was almost double the size of Joe's 120-pound frame and he was too drunk to fight back really. Then there was the killing itself -- the brutal, personal nature required of strangulation.

"This is a scenario where physical force needed to be applied for an extended period of time," Shea said. "This is not an incident that can be described as a mistake. These are intentional acts."

Shea also pointed to McCabe's decision to cover Joe with more than 200 pounds of rocks in an attempt to conceal his body instead of calling for help.

Even a seasoned judge like Slayton was taken aback by the seemingly senseless nature of the killing. As he pondered the sentencing, Slayton remarked on the fact that McCabe attempted CPR at one point, but then stopped. The autopsy report indicated Joe might have still been alive when McCabe started covering his body in rocks.

"I don't understand how a caregiver can be asked to hold the hands of a dying person and then use those hands to take the life of another person," Slayton said. "I cannot reconcile that, and I don't think anyone can."

Joe's mother and sister didn't attend the hearing in person, but spoke via Zoom. They asked for the maximum sentence possible for the man who took away their son and brother. They shared dozens of photos of Joe from throughout his life alongside his family and his art. They recalled his deep honey-brown eyes, shy nature and wide smile. He was the little boy in the big cowboy hat who living the life of a young Navajo boy growing up on the reservation shooting BB guns, hearding sheep and playing with sticks, his sister, Makayla Joe, recalled.

He was humble, kind and a talented artist. He was so proud to be a Native American artist and hoped to open his own shop one day. Nothing made him happier than his art, and his sister recalled the joy in seeing her daughter drawing alongside her favorite uncle. He inspired her to create and to never be afraid to fail, she said.

His loss shook their whole world upside down.

"He was and had a good soul and people saw him for that," Makayla Joe told the court.

Reporter Bree Burkitt can be reached at 928-556-2250 or bburkitt@azdailysun.com.

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"I was first in the whole school"... The identity of the woman who walked to the Olympic Boulevard was revealed
Update: 16-04-2022 | 10:48:25

Nguyen Van Loi, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of provincial Party Committee, Head of provincial National Assembly Deputy Delegation made the statement in an inspection tour on the implementation of the local program on production recovery, socio-economic development at some enterprises in Thuan An city. The event was also attended by Nguyen Loc Ha, member of provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice-Chairman of provincial People's Committee and leaders of some relevant departments and agencies and leaders of Thuan An city.

Efforts to restore production

Accordingly, the delegation carried out an inspection tour on production-business activities and care of workers' lives at Estec Vietnam Co., Ltd. after the 4th Covid-19 wave. The company under Korean Estec Group in Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park I is one of the fastest growing companies in the field of manufacturing and trading in electronic products, specializing in manufacturing and assembling all kinds of home loudspeakers. According to leaders of the company, the company faced many difficulties in the third quarter of 2021, due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the outbreak, the company produced about 4 million products per month, exceeding the plan. But, the company only produced a few hundred thousand products per month when the pandemic broke out in the third quarter. By the end of 2021, the company only achieved about 70% of the plan.

Nguyen Van Loi, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of provincial Party Committee, Head of provincial National Assembly Deputy Delegation and the delegation visit Thai Binh Investment Joint Stock Companys factory in Thuan An city

According to leaders of the company, in the last months of 2021 and early 2022 when the pandemic is under control, the company has gradually recovered its production and business activities. This year, the company plans to produce over 43 million products. Currently, the company is speeding up production to complete the plan and fully meet the signed volume of products. The company's production has been recovered, bringing workers jobs, helping stabilize their lives.

Truong Hung Dung, Chairman of the companys Trade Union said that up to now, the company has received over VND10billion from the State to support workers facing difficulties, due to Covid-19 pandemic under the Resolution No.68 of the Government. Currently, the company's employees are carrying out procedures to receive rent support under the Decision No.08 of the Prime Minister. Leaders of the company said that last year, the company spent much money on Covid-19 prevention and control to maintain production. Therefore, if there are more support policies from central and local authorities, the company hopes to soon receive relevant information to catch up and complete beneficiary procedures under the regulations. The company also wants the province to create conditions for experts to return to work while desiring to recruit more laborers for production...

Harmonious interests, shared difficulties

Speaking at the inspection tour, Mr. Loi, acknowledged and highly appreciated the efforts by the company in Covid-19 prevention and control, joining hands with the province to effectively control the pandemic. He also praised leaders of the company for their efforts in safely adapting to the pandemic, deploying solutions to recover and speed up production and business. "We have fought the pandemic together, now we must work together to recover production well, said he. He also added that the Government as well as the locality always pay special attention to the companys production-business activities under the motto of "Harmonious benefits, shared difficulties". Over the past time, the State issued many policies to directly support workers to overcome difficulties, thereby indirectly supporting enterprises to recover production when the pandemic is under control. He noted that leaders of the company need to always monitor and update the States new support policies for employees in order to join hands with functional agencies for quick implementation.

Mr. Loi requested that the companys directorate and trade union need to give better care for the material and spiritual lives of workers while promptly implementing the State's policies to help employees stabilize their lives, keep their mind on work and have attachment with the company for a long time.

Provincial Party Committee Secretary requested the local trade unions at all levels and sector of labor  war invalids and social affairs to better do propaganda so that workers understand and share difficulties with enterprises. In addition, it is necessary for them to promote propaganda among employees, raising their awareness not to be incited to cause illegal strikes from wrongdoers.

Provincial Party Committee Secretary noted that if there are obstacles during the operational process, leaders of the company should immediately report them to the province for timely solutions, well ensuring production and business activities. He also emphasized that the province has always accompanied and created all favorable conditions for enterprises to work effectively.

On the afternoon of the same day, the delegation also visited Thai Binh Investment Joint Stock Company (TBS Group). After hearing a report on the company's production recovery, Mr. Loi spoke highly of the efforts by TBS Group in Covid-19 prevention-control and quick recovery after the pandemic. He suggested the company's leaders to coordinate with localities and relevant sectors to set up urban development plans, logistics planning... He hopes that the company will develop more strongly in the coming time while committing that the province will always create all favorable conditions for the company to foster.

On the occasion, provincial Party Committee Secretary gave gifts for leaders, employees of the enterprises, encouraging them overcome difficulties, recover and reach faster and stronger development.

Reported by Tri Dung-Translated by Kim Tin
Update: 16-04-2022 | 15:08:24

After 25 years of construction and development, from a poor province with the main agricultural economy, Binh Duong has effectively transformed the economic structure towards industry - service - agriculture thanks to policies and decisions under very good strategic vision. That is the opinion of Dr. Tran Du Lich, former member of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, a member of the Central Council of Political Theories, and a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council on assessing the Binh Duong's achievements over 25 years of development. On the topic, Binh Duong Newspaper interviewed Dr. Tran Du Lich.

Binh Duong traffic infrastructure is toward regional connection. Photo: Xuan Thi

- Can you please inform us the advantages of Binh Duong economic development? How has Binh Duong made use of those breakthroughs?

- After 25 years of construction and development, Binh Duong has had a very remarkable growth rate. Binh Duong has taken full advantage of its soil, geography and natural conditions to build and develop the industry while attracting many investors to industrial parks. In particular, being located near Ho Chi Minh City - the largest urban economic center of the country, helps Binh Duong a lot in its developmental strategy.

The breakthroughs of Binh Duong may come as: First, the favorable policy is a very subtle local implementation mechanism to timely support investors by continuous following-up policies.

Second, the association with Singapore to develop the Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park to take advantage of the time when the whole country was opening up for market-oriented economic development as a strategic and long-term direction.

Third, the development of Binh Duong is also thanks to the breakthrough of the government. That is knowing how to use their investment tools in building technical and economic infrastructure, led by Becamex IDC. By such State instrument, industrial development was accelerated rapidly as the very important factor in the development process of Binh Duong.

- Administrative reforms is one of the factors making Binh Duong successful. What should Binh Duong need to do more, sir?

- Right from the beginning of industrial development and investment attraction, Binh Duong has emerged as a locality of the best administrative reforms in the country. This has increased confidence for domestic and foreign investors.

Currently, improving the investment environment is a national priority. Binh Duong is one of the leading localities in implementing the e-government model. If the locality makes full use of information technology as a management tool, it will gain more advantages. That is a way to help businesses save time and costs to create prestige, and the attractiveness of Binh Duong's investment environment will be enhanced. To do this, Binh Duong needs the consistency, transparency and synchronization from the provincial-level management model to the local level and from e-government to e-society.

- What do you impress most for the success that Binh Duong has gained in the past 25 years of development?

- After 25 years of construction and development, from a poor province with the main agricultural economy, Binh Duong has effectively transformed the economic structure in the direction of industry - service - agriculture thanks to the right policies and guidelines under very well strategic vision.

Through the development stages, it shows the long-term vision of the leaders of Binh Duong province in specific periods. Binh Duong has now had a medium and long term development plan. Even now, Binh Duong continues to promote the construction of transport infrastructure to link with neighboring provinces and cities and the southern key economic region, showing Binh Duong's foresight in terms of future development.

Many arterial roads that play an important role in the socio-economic development of the province have been built such as National Highway 13, My Phuoc - Tan Van Highway, DT744, Vanh Dai 3, Vanh Dai 4 etc. to ensure the transport infrastructure of the northern industrial parks of the province as well as to ensure the close connection of Binh Duong in the development strategy of the southern key economic region.

- Sir, Binh Duong does apparently not have better advantages like Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh city, and Ba Ria  Vung Tau. What should Binh Duong do more for the time to come?

- Compared with neighboring provinces and cities, Binh Duong clearly does not have many advantages. Ho Chi Minh city has Tan Son Nhat international airport; Dong Nai is about to have Long Thanh airport, Ba Ria - Vung Tau has Cai Mep port etc. But, the current development trend is towards regional linkage. Each locality will play a role in the supplying chain and the linking chain.

Although it does not have good technical and economic infrastructure like other provinces and cities, Binh Duong can fully take advantage of its internal advantages. Binh Duong economic ecosystem is relatively complete and rich, so Binh Duong should focus on promoting the development of services related to logictics, commerce, and banking.

For a long time, I have considered the development quadrilateral of Binh Duong - Ho Chi Minh City - Dong Nai - Vung Tau to be a very strong development pole in the southern economic region. As mentioned, Binh Duong's strategic vision is very good, in which the construction of Vanh Dai 3 and Vanh Dai 4 is a preparatory step for regional integration. What needs to be done to develop the region's economy is that the remaining provinces and cities also need to speed up the construction of roads connecting the whole and throughout region so that goods can be easily circulated.

- Beside industrial development, Binh Duong also pays attention to urban development. How do you assert the current urban development of Binh Duong?

- In recent years, Binh Duong has also accelerated urban development, but it has not commensurated with the potentials of the province. The urbanization of Binh Duong still has some limitations of infrastructure.

In the future, Di An city and Thuan An city will become a thriving service cities, and Binh Duong needs to learn from the model of a so-called megacity like Ho Chi Minh city is working on. The process of rural urbanization in Binh Duong is taking place strongly. The transport system connecting rural and urban areas of Binh Duong is properly concerned by the province. However, Binh Duong needs to pay attention to turning into urban areas when the areas of agricultural land gradually narrow. It is necessary to focus on vocational training for rural areas when preparing to receive the wave of industrial development in rural areas.

- Regarding the human resources, what does Binh Duong need to prepare for upgrades, sir?

- For the policy of inviting talents through 25 years of construction and development, Binh Duong has attracted many scientists to contribute to the province. Binh Duong needs to keep on with this policy to welcome highly intelligent human resources to Binh Duong.

The on-the-job training of human resources is very important, but it should be tied to the needs of investors. Binh Duong is especially orienting industrial development towards less labor intensive while creating products with higher gray matter content.

The process of industrial development of the locality has also received a lot of workers from outside the province. These workers need to be continuously trained and re-trained to improve the quality. Besides, the policy of retaining human resources is also worthy of attention. Currently, competition for human resources takes place on a large scale, so retaining employees will help investors feel more secure. I am very happy that during the past time, Binh Duong has done very well the social security work by paying much attention to immigrant workers. In particular, the construction of social houses for low-income people is also a highlight of the province.

- Thank you!

Interviewed by Phung Hieu  Translated by Vi Bao
For Australian employers, the writing is on the wall: theres little choice but to take a proactive approach in tempting workers back into the office, or pay the high cost of staff turnover amid an increasingly expensive war for talent.

As the post-pandemic hybrid work model becomes the norm, experts are warning organisations large and small they must offer flexibility as well as earn the commute in a red-hot job market where a poor return-to-office policy can see even the most loyal employee walk out the door.

SafetyCulture decided to push ahead with building its new $38 million office, based in Surry Hills, in the middle of the pandemic despite the mass shift to remote work.

Amantha Imber, the founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium, says the most common hybrid work policy shes seeing is three days a week in the office. Those mandating more than that are making a really big mistake, she says.

Its taking away a lot of autonomy from people. And autonomy is a key driver of motivation at work.
While Australians have learned who will become health minister if Prime Minister Scott Morrison wins another term, we dont know who would replace Anne Ruston to become social services minister.

During this afternoons press conference, the PM said a decision on who gets the Coalitions social services portfolio wont be made until after the election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Westmead Childrens Hospital this afternoon. Credit:James Brickwood

He defended this decision on the grounds that its more important for voters to know who a political partys pick for defence, treasury, finance, foreign affairs and health will be when theres a war in Europe and an ongoing pandemic.

The great news about [social services] is I have such a fantastic team that there are many people that could [fill that role]. I will do that should we have the good fortune to be re-elected by the Australian people. I will have a lot of people to choose from. But that is a matter Id have to deal with [later]. I can tell you who my defence minister is going to be. But Labor cant tell you who their defence minister is at a time when there is a war in Europe. I think there are a range of very important portfolios where you need to make sure people know who are going to be in those portfolios.

As James Massola has reported, Victorian-based ministers Jane Hume and Michael Sukkar and Western Australian Ben Morton.
Residents across Kurnell are facing health concerns after a fuel spill during heavy rainfall this month that left a petrol smell lingering over the suburb in Sydneys south for more than a week.

Ampol has estimated over 700 litres of oily water was washed over the suburb after a refinery retention pit overflowed due to the heavy rain on April 7.

Carla Pennini is concerned for her dogs after suffering from burning eyes, a sore throat and nausea following the residue spill. Credit:Oscar Colman

Some residents have been forced to temporarily relocate from their homes and are even considering moving, saying the long-term effects of the spill are unknown.

In the days following the spill, residents began reporting on social media they were suffering from itchy eyes, scratchy throats, nausea and headaches.
Australians under 65 years old with no underlying health conditions are unlikely to need a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine before winter.

That advice comes from Australian infectious disease experts, who also argue it is too early to make a call on whether further booster shots would be needed before the end of the year.

Otherwise healthy Australians under the age of 65 are unlikely to need a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine before winter. Credit:Eddie Jim

But the experts interviewed by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald say a second booster this year cannot be ruled out entirely, particularly if another more virulent, infectious or vaccine-evasive strain emerges, or if the effectiveness of the third dose is shown to substantially fade over time.

A number of nations, including the United Kingdom and United States, are rapidly expanding eligibility for a fourth dose, but some experts have questioned its effectiveness. The US drug regulator approved a fourth dose for Americans over 50 late last month for anyone who had received their third dose at least four months prior.
Australians love a good holiday, even if they are no longer so attentive to holy days, and Easter is a particularly good one with its double-long weekend. It is the paramount Christian celebration, commemorating the core beliefs of the faith about Jesus death and resurrection, but its connection to Christianity is relatively recent.

We first encounter Easter through the eighth-century English church historian Bede, who wrote about Christians appropriating the spring equinox festival of the pagan goddess Eostre, which celebrated new life and rebirth (hence bunnies for fertility and eggs for new life).

Some Easter traditions are thought to derive from the festival of pagan goddess Eostre, celebrating new life and rebirth (hence bunnies for fertility and eggs for new life). Credit:James Alcock

The link to the Jewish Passover is more ancient, its formal celebration by the church dating back to the second century. But if the earliest Christians had no particular calendar celebration of Jesus death and resurrection, they were very concerned about the meaning of these events.

The central message was that Jesus had conquered death  as the New Testament book of Acts puts it: God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. In his resurrection, Jesus became the guarantee of resurrection for his followers, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (Saint Paul).
Volcanologist Dr Jean-Paul Toutain will head the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifiques new Oceania office in Melbourne.

Europes largest scientific research organisation has established a presence in Melbourne to encourage research collaboration in fields like energy, hydrogen, climate and oceans.

The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (or CNRS  French National Centre for Scientific Research) is a huge, interdisciplinary public research organisation overseen by the French government.

It employs 33,000 researchers around the world, counts 12 Nobel Prize laureates and 12 Field Medal winners among its staff, and produced almost 1,800 co-publications in 2020.

Half of these publications were Franco-Australian co-productions, which makes Australia its leading international academic partner. The vast majority of the organisations funding comes from the French government, and it also has research contracts with companies.
Submarine bears off port for maritime training drills

China Military Online) 13:30, April 16, 2022

Two towboats attached to a submarine flotilla with the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command jointly tow a submarine to bear off a port for the maritime combat training drills on March 23, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Haodong)

Two towboats attached to a submarine flotilla with the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command jointly tow a submarine to bear off a port for the maritime combat training drills on March 23, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Haodong)

A submarine attached to a submarine flotilla with the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command bears off a port for the maritime combat training drills on March 23, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Haodong)

A submarine attached to a submarine flotilla with the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command bears off a port for the maritime combat training drills on March 23, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Haodong)

A submarine attached to a submarine flotilla with the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command bears off a port for the maritime combat training drills on March 23, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Haodong)

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a meeting in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 27, 2021. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

4th Texas Bus Drops Off Illegal Immigrants Near US Capitol

The fourth bus from Texas carrying illegal immigrants arrived in Washington on April 16.

The bus dropped the immigrants off near the U.S. Capitol at approximately 7 a.m., according to the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The office didnt respond to requests for more information.

Only about 10 passengers were on board, according to Fox News, which reported that workers with the Central American Resource Center met the immigrants.

The center provided food and water to the immigrants before transporting them to Union Station.

Previous groups have been helped by Catholic Charities.

A 23-year-old Venezuelan native who arrived from Texas told Fox that he left his country due to high food prices and corruption.

You can work for an entire month and only make enough money to feed your family, really, for one day, the man, who was not identified by name, added.

Luis Alberto, another Venezuelan national, told NTD after arriving on an earlier bus that he took the offer of transportation because he heard there would be someone to facilitate travel and because in Texas there is no help.

Abbott, a Republican, announced in early April a multipronged plan to deal with the expected influx of illegal aliens following the Biden administrations choice to schedule the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era power that enabled the rapid expulsion of many immigrants who crossed the southern border illegally.

One prong was directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management to field requests from local officials regarding illegal immigrants released from federal custody and help coordinate the transport of said immigrants to Washington and other areas outside Texas.

The first bus arrived on April 13. Each day since, a bus has arrived.

The busing strategy is part of Governor Abbotts response to President Bidens ongoing failure to secure the border, Abbotts office said in a statement.

Chris Magnus, a Biden nominee who heads the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has accused Texas of not adequately coordinating with federal officials.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki initially called the plan a publicity stunt, adding after the buses started arriving that its nice the state of Texas is helping the immigrants to their final destination as they await the outcome of their immigration proceedings.
This optical phenomenon usually isn't anything to worry about

Theres a video floating around the internetand its all about floaters. As in, those funky things you sometimes see in your vision. The TED talk video got a lot of attention, highlighting questions many people who experience floaters have.

Floaters are spots that you may see in your vision from time to time. They can look like strings or may appear as black and grey specks. When you try to focus on them, they may dart off. Sometimes, they just disappear off to the side of your field of vision.

For the most part, you shouldnt be alarmed about floaters. At the same time, its good to know when they may signal a more complex health issue.

What Causes Floaters?

Typically, eye floaters are a result of changes that occur in your eye. According to the Mayo Clinic, they occur when tiny fibers in the vitreous (the jelly-like substance in our eyes) clump up. That can create shadows on your retina, and those shadows are what people seethe floaters.

Most of us will develop floaters as we get older, Dr. Chirag P. Shah, an eye doctor at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston, told The Epoch Times. They are evident as dark or gray specks in our vision that tend to float with eye movement.

Floaters tend to be most noticeable when looking at a bright white screen or blue sky, and less noticeable when the lighting is dim or dark.

Dr. Inder Paul Singh, an eye doctor at The Eye Centers of Racine and Kenosha, told The Epoch Times that floaters typically show up when theres a plain bright background in front of you or if its bright outside.

When there is a complex background, the brain has a harder time focusing on the floaters because it is interested in so much information from the background, Singh said. When the pupils are dilated, such as at night time, the floaters are harder to see.

He said floaters arent always small little spots or bugs, as the TED video says.

Typical floaters can also be larger clumps and clouds of collagen, he said. If they are in the center of the visual axis (over the macula), they can decrease quality of vision.

Since floaters can be caused by opacities in the vitreous that are small dots, strings, or large clouds, patients will often see defined darker black or gray spots or lines in their vision that will often move. Or if the opacities are large, there can be clouds or blur spots that often move in and out of the vision.

There are different types of floaters, Shah said. Many people start developing small floaters in their 20s as the vitreous gel in their eyes starts to shrink. When were older, the vitreous gel often completely separates from the retinaa normal, acute process called posterior vitreous detachment.

This happens in about 60 percent of people by the age of 60. A ring-type opacity forms from where it was attached to the optic nerve, Singh said. This comes with a small risk of retinal tear or detachment.

Floater Treatment

Its important to recognize that floaters, even if not serious, can affect daily functioning, Singh said.

Although they do not cause structural damage to the eye if untreated, they can make it difficult to perform certain daily tasks, he said.

For many years, the only treatment for floaters was having a surgery known as a vitrectomy. This removes the gel from the eyes. But due to high risks, the procedure is largely reserved for those with severe symptoms.

Over the past decade, laser YAG vitreolysis has gained popularity. The in-office procedure has no post-procedure restrictions.

This can work very well for the smaller and more localized floaters, Singh said.

The procedure can be helpful for some patients and some floater types, but it isnt widely accepted or performed because of limited data, Shah said.

Only a few clinical trials have evaluated this procedure, he said. Personally, I recommend most patients avoid vitrectomy due to the small risks, and try to adjust to their floaters.

Red Flags

Seeing a ton of floaters seemingly all of a sudden? If that happens and/or if you lose peripheral vision or see flashes of light, thats when its time to call your eye doctor.

Most of the time, floaters are benign and do not reflect a serious eye health issue, Singh said. However, they can be a sign of a retinal tear or detachment or even inflammation.

If floaters occur from a retinal tear or detachment, there often are multiple floaters that appear suddenly at one time, like a shower of floaters, he said.

Also there may be flashing lights that are more constant and do not go away, he said.

If the floaters are from the vitreous pulling away from the retina and not from a detachment or tear of the actual retina, then the flashes tend to last just a second or two and usually go away quickly after they start. If the floaters are from inflammation, then they usually have other symptoms, such as pain, redness, and light sensitivity.

Another time to call your doctor is if you notice a dark curtain across your visual field, Shah said.

Kristen Fischer is a writer living in New Jersey.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the opening ceremony of the 4th World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province, China, on Dec. 3, 2017. (AFP/Getty Images)

Apple CEO Tim Cook Should Register as Chinese Agent: Experts

Apple CEO Tim Cook and other corporate leaders should be required to register as foreign agents because of their ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to expert testimony received by an influential congressional advisory body.

When Tim Cook comes to testify before Congress, he testifies as the head of an American multinational, said Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Washington-based Economic Strategy Institute. No. He should be compelled to testify as a foreign agent. He is much more an agent of Beijing than he is of Washington.

I could say that of the head of the Chamber of Commerce. I could say that of the head of the U.S.China Commission here in Washington. They are all tools of China, not of the United States.

American CEOs On Their Knees in China

Prestowitz delivered the testimony during a seven-hour hearing of the U.S.China Economic and Security Commission on April 14, which sought to understand threats posed by Chinas anti-competitive and coercive trade practices.

He said key leaders across major U.S. corporations and the finance sector are increasingly beholden to the CCP and that their capture presented an immense threat to national stability that needed to be responded to by the whole of society.

What we have to understand is that our corporations, our major business leaders, the Ray Dalios of the world, and the Tim Cooks of the world, they are powerful here in Washington. You know the money they spend, the entreat they have here in Washington, Prestowitz said. In Beijing, theyre on their knees. They kowtow.

Prestowitz particularly singled out Cook for his personal efforts to ingratiate himself with Chinese communist leaders in order to secure better business deals in China.

Cook toured China in 2016 and personally lobbied CCP officials in order to secure a secretive $275 billion deal with the regime that involved greater investment in China from Apple, in exchange for less regulatory oversight.

The deal also allegedly included promises from Cook to source more of Apples supplies from Chinese suppliers, to expand collaboration with Chinese universities for research and development, and to increase direct investments in Chinese tech companies.

Prestowitz highlighted the discrepancy in Apples behavior in the United States versus in China.

He noted that in 2015, Apple refused FBI requests to unlock the phone of a terrorist who carried out a deadly mass shooting and an attempted bombing in California, eventually leaving the government no other option but to hire hackers to try and crack the phone.

In 2019, however, Apple rushed to remove a real-time mapping app from its store after attracting the ire of the CCP over its use by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Within two days, the app was out of the app store, Prestowitz said.

Apple, at the time, said it removed the app because it caused serious harm to law enforcement and local residents.

When CEOs and investors act for the benefit of the communist regime, it isnt usually done out of malicious intent, but fear, according to Prestowitz.

Tim Cook knows, Ray Dalio knows, that if they get a little bit out of line with what Beijing wants, the electricity could go off or the water could turn off, he said.

Prestowitz also noted that Chinese laws require foreign companies operating in China to maintain CCP organizations within their companies to ensure that they operate within the confines of communist dictates and that these party cells actively work to stop companies from acting against the wishes of the CCP.

To that end, Prestowitz described U.S. corporate leaders as hostages of Beijing and said the situation wouldnt change until the U.S. government took firm action against the CCP to curb its coercive practices and set clear consequences for those corporate leaders who represented CCP interests over those of the United States.

One of the things that I think is very important is for the U.S. government to put the CEOs of global corporations on notice that theyre not going to be able to operate in this sort of two-sided, unbalanced world, Prestowitz said.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Apple for comment.

Democratic Nations Require E-NATO to Combat CCP

Prestowitz said democratic nations with market economies throughout the world are facing a similar threat from the CCP and that a unified response among like-minded nations that can agree on adhering to a rules-based order is necessary to eradicate the creeping dependency of the United States on China.

China doesnt accept our concept of free trade, Prestowitz said. It doesnt accept our concept of rule of law. So we have to respond to China in a full-court, full-strategy way, in order to deal with all the issues it raises.

To that end, he called for a new E-NATO of democratic countries with market economies to craft an alliance that would increase trade between nations that played by the rules and respond against efforts by regimes such as the CCP to undermine or exploit their markets.

Prestowitz said such an alliance is necessary because the CCP doesnt accept the separation of markets, trade, and defense into separate spheres, but seals them together as a unified weapon for national benefit, which he described as a complete strategy. Thus, the CCP doesnt represent a mere threat to trade, but also to research, development, technology, and security.

The Chinese Communist Party is aiming to requite what it calls 150 years of humiliation, he said. Its aiming to displace the United States as the worlds leading power, and to do so not only in terms of political or military power, but particularly in terms of economic and technological power.

But that effort still requires U.S. business leaders such as Tim Cook to toe the Party line in a way that disproportionately harms U.S. taxpayers, and its that relationship that needs to be severed, according to Prestowitz.

Everything that Apple sells at some point came out of U.S.-funded government research, came out of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, he said. Everything that Apple sells had a high degree of U.S. taxpayer-funded money behind it in the beginning.

[Yet] Everything that Apple makes is made in China.

China Inc.

Nazak Nikakhtar, a former assistant secretary of commerce for industry and analysis, agreed with Prestowitz that multinational corporate leaders who act in tandem with the CCP should be registered as foreign agents because of their involvement with Chinese government companies.

Their actions are harming U.S. interests with impunity and expanding the CCPs malign efforts to exploit the open borders of the U.S. economy, according to Nikakhtar.

Our companies are forging joint ventures in China, developing technologies there, and by virtue of developing technologies there, its outside U.S. export control jurisdiction, she said. Why arent we investing that in the U.S. economy and the economies of our allies?

Nikakhtar said that since 1992, the United States has pumped more than $2.3 trillion in direct investments into China. The trade deficit with China in 2020 was $366 billion. The CCP has used that money to create international dependencies so that nations such as the United States wont break away for fear of economic fallout.

The Chinese governments endgame is to render the rest of the world dependent on it, and today, this plan is succeeding, she said. The greater our dependence grows, the more vulnerable and fragile we become. This is not a sound strategy.

The CCPs strategy is to essentially vassalize other nations through economic coercion by creating supply chain weaknesses and economic dependencies, she said. To this end, she considers China under the yoke of the CCP to be a foreign adversary and introduced what she believes could be the answer to effectively leveraging the U.S. market against it: China Inc.

China Inc. is a concept in trade jurisprudence with decades of precedent and one that has been recognized by the Supreme Court, according to Nikakhtar.

It recognizes, in essence, that every entity in China is affiliated with the central government unless you prove otherwise, she said.

Thus, if the concept of China Inc. was expanded from trade law to other realms of law and policy across the government, the United States would be able to effectively combat creeping CCP control.

This is because it would allow the government to effectively cut off any company leader deemed to have lost autonomy over their business due to social or economic debts incurred with the CCP.

The rest of the government doesnt have this legal framework, Nikakhtar said. So you have a whole bunch of federal agencies who have really exquisite legal authority to do things, but they just cant act on it because theyre missing this link.

As such, she urged the commission to recommend that the government expand the China Inc. policy to all government agencies in a final bid to slay the dragon.

Lets just do things right for a change, Nikakhtar said. We may not get a redo.
We have the opportunity to look at life through more than one lens. Life is layered and multifaceted. Our view of it can be too. (John Towner/Unsplash)

Backyard Aussie Stargazers Win Top Prize

A group of mates and a former mine worker with eyes on the stars have won top honours in the National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers.

The contributions of the two amateur astronomy projects have been so significant that both were awarded the 2022 Page Award on Saturday.

The first went to the team called the Backyard Observatory Supernova Search, or BOSS for short.

The team comprises six friends living in Australia and New Zealand who monitor distant galaxies to detect the death throes of massive stars as they explode in brilliant supernovas.

A supernova occurs when a star reaches the end of its life and explodes in a burst of light.

According to NASA, supernovas are the largest explosion that takes place in space and can outshine entire galaxies and radiate more energy than our sun will in its entire lifetime.

They are also the primary source of heavy elements such as carbon and nitrogen needed to create life.

The BOSS Team observe the skies from backyards in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast and at a dairy farm near Christchurch, New Zealand.

Weve discovered about 200 confirmed supernovas over the years, BOSS member Greg Bock said.

Once spotted, the team calls in professional astronomers who use giant scientific telescopes to study the stars final moments.

Also taking out the top prize is former mine worker Trevor Barry from Broken Hill.

After a lifetime of mining the earth, he found his passion in the sky, designing and building his own observatory.

Barry found a white spot on Saturn in 2008, which turned out to be a powerful electrical storm with lightning 10,000 times more powerful than that found on earth.

The discovery proved invaluable to NASAs Cassini mission, with Mr Barry joining the elite team tracking the storm.

The CASSINI space craft orbiting Saturn couldnt image the storm on a day-to-day basis due to its orbit and other priorities. I could, Barry said.

The storm swirled for seven months, making it the longest-lived storm recorded on Saturn.

The discovery inspired Mr Barry, and he continues to provide storm data to NASA and others about Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.

The keen astronomer says hell keep watching Saturn for as long as he still draws breath.

Im waiting for the next big thing to happen because Saturn can be a bit staid. Its not rambunctious like Jupiter, he said.

Im so honoured by this award. Its the highest honour that the peak professional body in Australia can bestow on an amateur. Its humbling to me.

The Astronomical Society of Australia awards the Page Medal every two years in recognition of contributions that have advanced the field of astronomy.

By Robyn Wuth
In this two-part series Bedlam at the Texas Border we go down to the Rio Grande Valley on the Mexican border to see why Texas Governor Greg Abbott felt it necessary to take security into his own hands.

Its also why the Texas Public Policy Foundation started the Texas Border Coalition, along with a consortium of think tanks and security professionals. Their goal is to find measurably solutions to the deepening problem.

Part 1: Immigration Shell Game

Mass illegal migration are the images we see. But what we dont see is what worries security professionalslethal drugs, gang members, and terrorists that cartels push through while law enforcement is busy elsewhere.

We speak to local politicians, law enforcement, ranchers and others who say cartels rule the river, and theyre exhausted and frustrated with paying the price for the rest of the country, and they dont understand why the federal government is letting it happen.

And in America Q&A we ask people across if they country if they think the situation at the southern border poses a security risk.

Watch Next Week for Part 2: Lone Star State Digs In

Governor Abbotts Operation Lone Star is a bold project to shore up the border to fill the security gap left by the federal government. Security-minded Texans say its working, but how long will it last? The costs are extremely high and the crisis is about to get a whole lot worse.

On May 23, Title 42 is set to end and everyone in the valley is preparing for the mass influx of illegal migrants, which even the Department of Homeland Security warns is coming. Also in the works are changes to the asylum process, which experts say will become another powerful magnet for migrants.

Then, in America Q&A we ask people across the country if they think Texas is right to do more to secure the border?






CalOptima Grants $50 Million to OC Community Health Centers

ORANGE, Calif.The CalOptima Board of Directors voted April 13 to give $50 million to Orange Countys community health centers over the next five years, the largest grant in the agencys history.

Known as the Population Health and Value-Based Care Transformation grant, it will enhance access to healthcare for individuals in Orange County regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.

As the backbone of the countys safety net, community health centers provide essential care to underserved populations that often have the most complex needs and least resources, CalOptima Chief Executive Officer Michael Hunn said in a statement. This critical funding will support the goal of providing value-based care for more than a quarter-million CalOptima members and others who are among the most vulnerable.

The funding will be specifically given to the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers, a membership organization that includes 26 of 29 community health centers in the county, where they will be able to design an implementation plan based around health centers that will work to improve patient experience.

Specifically, the record-level grant will support new improvements including:

Establishing medical homes for select populations, including the homeless

Improving timely access to and coordination of care, including care that will support individuals returning to the workforce

Reducing avoidable hospitalizations and hospital readmissions

Participating in a health information exchange and data interoperability

Improving the quality of the centers systems, processes, and overall performance

At CalOptima, were transforming the way Medi-Cal patients receive caresetting the standard for health care across the country, Andrew Do, Orange County supervisor and chair of the CalOptima Board of Directors, said in a statement. In Orange County, these health centers reflect the communities they serve and provide care for more than 250,000 CalOptima members.

The funds will begin to be distributed immediately and will occur annually for the next five years as long as performance targets are met.

CalOptima was formed in 1993 by the Orange County Board of Supervisors, later on becoming the largest health insurer in the county, where they provide health services for low-income families, children, and seniors.
Capitol Report (April 15): CIA: China is Russias Silent Partner

The Labor Department released the latest unemployment data Friday. The Biden administration praised the low unemployment rate and job growth as a sign that the economy is doing well, but is there more to the picture?

Tensions escalate after a Russian warship sinks. U.S. officials say the Russian-Ukraine war could last through the end of this year.

CIA director William Burns said that China is Russias silent partner in its aggression against Ukraine. The communist regime is also the biggest challenge the CIA has ever faced.

In recent days, Americas reliance on adversaries for oil and gas has come to the forefront, but are critical rare earth minerals crucial to our way of life also under siege by Americas adversaries?

Twitter is trying to block Elon Musks takeover, while former President Donald Trump says he is unlikely to tweet again even if Musk buys the platform.

What is the so-called poison pill that the Twitter board may use to block Elon Musk from buying the company, and have they taken action yet?

The Republican National Committee votes to leave the Commission on Presidential Debates, saying that the commission is partisan and biased.

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CDC, WHO Probing Mysterious Severe Liver Disease Among Children

Reports of young kids suffering liver inflammation in United States and Europe, some needing transplants

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating reported cases of severe hepatitisliver inflammationin children in Alabama and the United Kingdom.

The Alabama Department of Public Health announced on April 15 that it has been investigating an increase in hepatitis in young children since November 2021.

These children presented to providers in different areas of Alabama with symptoms of a gastrointestinal illness and varying degrees of liver injury including liver failure, the department said in a statement. Later analyses have revealed a possible association of this hepatitis with Adenovirus 41.

Adenovirus 41 is normally associated with gut inflammation.

The department said nine children under 10 years of age have been identified as positive for adenovirus as of April 15. Two among them needed liver transplants. The children didnt have any notable underlying health conditions that would put them at risk for liver illness.

The CDC is developing a national group to look for clinically similar cases with liver injury of unknown etiology or associated with adenovirus infection in other U.S. states, and is discussing similar cases of hepatitis with other international health bodies, the department stated.

The WHO separately announced on April 15 that it was notified about 10 cases of severe acute hepatitis in children under 10 in central Scotland on April 5one child fell ill in January and the nine others in March.

Three days later, the number of such cases in children in the United Kingdom was reported as 74. The UK Health Security Agency reported that of the confirmed cases, 49 are in England, 13 are in Scotland, and the remainder are in Wales and Northern Ireland. The WHO said that some of the cases were transferred to specialist childrens liver units, and six children underwent liver transplantation.

The cause is currently unknown. The WHO said that hepatitis virusesA, B, C, E, and Dhave been excluded after laboratory testing. Further investigations are ongoing, the U.N. agency said, adding it expects more cases to be reported in the coming days.

The United Kingdom has recently observed an increase in adenovirus activity, which is co-circulating with SARS-CoV-2, though the role of these viruses in the pathogenesis (mechanism by which disease develops) is not yet clear, the WHO stated. No other epidemiological risk factors have been identified to date, including recent international travel.

Overall, the aetiology of the current hepatitis cases is still considered unknown and remains under active investigation. Laboratory testing for additional infections, chemicals, and toxins is underway for the identified cases.

Although the potential role of adenovirus and/or SARS-CoV-2 in the pathogenesis of these cases is one hypothesis, other infectious and non-infectious factors need to be fully investigated to properly assess and manage the risk.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, less than five confirmed or possible cases of hepatitis in children have been reported, the WHO said, without specifying their ages. In Spain, at least three cases have been reported in children aged 22 months to 13 years. National authorities are investigating the cases.

Adenoviruses are common viruses that can cause flu-like symptoms that self-resolve. Its rare that, in otherwise healthy people, the virus would cause severe illness to warrant any hospitalization. These viruses have previously been linked to hepatitis in children, but mostly in those with compromised immune systems.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
People in protective suits prepare to disinfect a residential compound in Huangpu district in Shanghai on April 14, 2022. (China Daily via Reuters)

Chinas Lockdown of Nearly 400 Million Set to Strike an Economic Blow

Factories have suspended production. Truckers are stuck on highways. Containers are piling up at ports. Shipping vessels have been waiting to unload.

Chinas economy is set to pay a heavy price as the communist regimes determination to stamp out the COVID-19 outbreak through harsh lockdowns have brought its manufacturing and commercial hubs such as Shanghai to a halt.

Shanghai is approaching its third week of lockdown. The abrupt closure of the wealthy city that contributes roughly 4 percent of the countrys annual gross domestic product (GDP) began on March 28. While officials allowed 4.8 million people to exit their homes on April 12, the rest of the citys 25 million residents are still sealed in. As infections hit a record high on April 14, there is no immediate sign of easing.

But Shanghai isnt alone. About 373 million people are under partial or total lockdown, analysts at Japanese bank Nomura estimate, which accounts for 40 percent of the economy.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also has warned that downward pressures on the economy have intensified.

[We] should coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, Li told local officials at an April 11 seminar, official media Xinhua reported.

Economists have predicted the country is likely to miss its official 5.5 percent GDP growth target this year. Now, they worry if the lockdown continues, the effects could ripple far beyond the countrys borders.

When the Chinese economy sneezes, the global supply chain catches a cold, French investment bank Natixis said in an April 14 note. The trend is worrisome.

Tech Woes

Half of Chinas chip production is from the Yangtze River delta region, centered around Shanghai, with 10 percent directly from Shanghai, according to Natixis.

More suppliers said last week that the tightened curbs in Shanghai and nearby Kunshan have led them to halt production. An official at Taiwans Financial Supervisory Commission said on April 10 that some 161 Taiwanese companies in Shanghai and Kunshan reported their operation temporarily stopped; 41 of them are electronics makers.

On April 12, Taiwans Pegatron Corp., a key assembler of Apples iPhones, suspended operations at its plants in Shanghai and Kunshan in compliance with COVID-19 prevention requirements. The company said it would resume work as soon as authorities gave clearance, but didnt give a specific date.

Unimicron Technology Corp., which makes printed circuit boards for companies including Apple Inc. and Intel, said on April 12, the closure of its factory in Kunshan would be extended to April 19.

Auto Industry Troubles

Carmakers have been hard hit. Teslas giga factory in Shanghai has yet to resume work. The facility that produced more than 65,000 cars in February has been idled since March 28, Reuters reported, citing an internal notice and internal sources.

Its Chinese rival, Nio, said on April 9 that work has temporarily stopped at a factory in Hefei, an eastern Chinese city that isnt under lockdown, because its suppliers in other cities have stopped working.

If the suppliers in Shanghai and its surrounding areas cant find a way to resume operations and production, in May, possibly all of Chinas carmakers will have to stop production, electric-car maker Xpengs CEO said on April 14.

A worker in a protective suit walks at an entrance to a tunnel leading to the Pudong area across the Huangpu River, after restrictions on highway traffic amid the lockdown in Shanghai on March 28, 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Chinas lockdowns have also created an auto sales slump. Sales in the worlds biggest car market fell 11.7 percent year-on-year in March, following an 18.7 percent increase in February, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show.

German auto parts giant Bosch said that it temporarily shut sites in Shanghai and Changchun, a northern Chinese city that has been sealed off since March 11. It added that two other plants are operating in a closed-loop system.

We are currently seeing temporary effects on logistics and supply chain sourcing, the company said in an April 12 statement.

Manufacturing Disruption

Signs that the expanding lockdown is weighing on the manufacturing economy have emerged. A private gauge showed March manufacturing activities contracted at the sharpest pace seen since February 2020, when the Chinese regime launched its zero-COVID playbook.

Caixin purchasing managers index (PMI), which is based on surveys of small and medium-sized companies, fell to 48.1 in March, in contrast with a small increase in February.

Companies frequently mentioned that the measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 had disrupted operations, supply and dampened customer demand, the report reads.

Larger factories also are struggling to keep production lines rolling. While some are allowed to keep operations in a closed-loop system, with employees sleeping and working on factory campuses, some workers arent volunteering anymore, Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, vice chair of Chinas top European business group, told a media event on April 6.

Truckers Blues

Nationwide truck traffic has slumped 40 percent from mid-March, with activities around Shanghai itself a mere 15 percent of normal levels, Ernan Cui, an analyst with Gavekal, said in an April 13 report.

Long-distance truck drivers are feeling the pain. A trucker told domestic media last week that a recent trip to deliver goods to Shanghai that normally required two days took more than two weeks. The driver said he was stuck on highways for days because he was required to present a negative test result from within 48 hours at multiple checkpoints. He also struggled to pass checkpoints because his smartphone health codes, which needed to be green for him to clear inspection, were automatically invalidated while passing through risky areas.

His story mirrors those of other drivers. State-backed media estimate that 30 million truck drivers have become stranded en route because of the curbs.

Stranded lorry drivers line up for nucleic acid testing at a parking lot, following a lockdown in Tangshan, Hebei Province, China, on March 26, 2022. (China Daily via Reuters)

The extended transportation time is putting stress on supply chains. Container vessel operators told domestic media that the COVID-19 curbs in Shanghai left truckers unable to transport containers in and out of the ports. Maersk, the worlds second-largest container shipping company, told clients on April 11 that the efficiency of its trucking service to and from Shanghai would be further affected because of the lockdown.

Trucking remains limited and the terminals are still congested, whilst reefer yard plug capacity remains highly stressed, Ocean Network Express said in an April 14 note.

Clogged Ports

While Shanghai claims that its ports are functioning normally with special support, Refinitiv data show the number of container ships waiting off the coast of the city and nearby Zhoushan has more than doubled since the start of April to 118nearly three times the number a year ago.

The European Chamber of Commerce in China last week estimated that week-on-week volumes at Shanghai port, the worlds busiest, are down by 40 percent.

Cargo containers stacked at Yantian port in Shenzhen in Chinas Guangdong Province after a COVID-19 outbreak among port workers on June 22, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

In a sign of pressure on imports, official data released on April 13 show Chinas imports in March fell 0.1 percent, the first decline since August 2020.

Shipowners such as Maersk recommend clients to divert shipments from the congested Shanghai port to other Chinese destinations, but analysts arent optimistic.

If Shanghai port stops functioning, its difficult for other nearby ports to fill in the void, given its gigantic capacity, analysts at financial services firm BBVA said in an April 7 report. By then, the global supply chain will directly feel the pain of Shanghais lockdown.

Could Be Worse

If the current lockdown persists through April, Shanghai will encounter a 6 percent loss in GDP, amounting to a 2 percent GDP loss for the whole country, Iris Pang, Greater China chief economist at ING, said in a note on April 7.

ING revised Chinas economic growth forecast for 2022 to 4.6 percent from 4.8 percent.

Economic researchers analyzing city-to-city truck flow data estimated that the country would see its GDP shrink 3.1 percent if one-tenth of Chinese cities were forced into lockdown for two weeks.

An April 7 study by Gavekal Dragonomics found that 87 of Chinas 100 largest cities by GDP have imposed some form of quarantine curbs.

China set a target for the GDP to grow by around 5.5 percent this year, the lowest level in nearly three decades.

Natixis said the regimes insistence on its zero-COVID approach is bound to pose another headwind to the already decelerating economic growth, according to a March 30 note.

The bank had predicted last month that the sharp reduction in mobility due to the lockdown and other restrictions would shave 1.8 percentage points from the countrys GDP growth in the first quarter of 2022.

Official first-quarter economic data are due to be released on April 18.

A resident looks out behind a gate blocking an entrance to a residential area under COVID lockdown in Shanghai on April 13, 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Facing the mounting economic cost, Communist Party leader Xi Jinping reaffirmed the commitment to his zero-COVID policy on April 13, even as the sweeping measures have so far failed to tame the fast-spreading Omicron outbreak. Meanwhile, the draconian curbs are fueling anger in Shanghai, posing a test to Xi, who is seeking an unprecedented third five-year term in office this year.

Prevention and control work cannot be relaxed, Xi told officials during an inspection trip to the tropical island of Hainan. [We] need to overcome paralyzing thoughts and war-weariness.

Persistence is victory.

But ordinary citizens appear to be feeling weary.

Chen Xin, who runs a family-owned embroidery and garment painting factory in Guangdong province, said that since late March, he has been unable to ship roughly 70 to 80 percent of orders because customers cant receive them.

The current situation is, the impact of the policy is greater than the epidemic, he said.

Reuters contributed to the report.
Maybe the fourth time will be the charm.

An Omaha attorney was sentenced to probation Wednesday  the fourth time he has received a probationary term for a number of alcohol- and drug-related offenses.

Douglas County District Judge Leigh Ann Retelsdorf sentenced Robb Gage, 45, to 30 months probation after the former criminal defense attorney pleaded no contest to two felonies: possession of cocaine and possession of fentanyl. Gage also had possessed heroin, methamphetamine and mushrooms but pleaded to the two felonies as part of a plea bargain.

The maximum sentence for drug possession, a class IV felony in Nebraska: 20 months in prison.

The judge said Gages status as an attorney was not a factor in her decision to give him probation. Rather, Retelsdorf said, state law designates class IV felonies as the lowest category of felonies. As such, the judge said, probation is the presumed punishment unless there is a compelling and substantial reason to impose a prison sentence.

Gage has done everything he could to rehabilitate after his recent arrest, said his attorney, Greg Pivovar. He went to two residential treatment facilities, including the Betty Ford Clinic. Hes lived at a halfway house. Every week, he attends support group meetings, either Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.

And Pivovar noted that, for the first time in his life, Gage has been convicted of felony offenses. Gage  who had done criminal defense work, including court-ordered appointments, primarily at the Douglas County Courthouse  had misdemeanor DUIs in 2004 and 2008.

In 2012, Gage narrowly avoided a felony conviction for aggravated drunken driving after he drove drunk while speeding, rear-ended another driver on Douglas Street and took off running on the street that stretches between the Douglas County Courthouse and the U.S. District Courthouse. In that case, Douglas County District Judge Michael Coffey reduced Gages felony DUI to a misdemeanor, after a toxicologist testified that Gage may have been under the .15 aggravated BAC threshold.

In this case, prosecutors allowed Gage to plead to two of the four felonies he faced but declined to reduce them to misdemeanors.

Its hard to say a felony conviction is a good thing, but it probably saved his life, Pivovar told the judge Wednesday.

Pivovar said a report provided to the court by the probation officer showed theres no other sentence for him but probation. Theres no question in the world that he will complete whatever this court tells him to do. Hes just looking forward to getting this behind him and getting back to being a lawyer, eventually, again.

Deputy Douglas County Attorney Dan Donnelly objected to probation, arguing that Gage didnt learn from his first three probations and that Gage should be held to a higher standard because of his status as an attorney. Donnelly pointed out that Gage was caught not only with the casserole of drugs but with a client who had hired Gage to fight heroin possession charges. The two were ingesting a buffet of mind-altering drugs, including potentially lethal fentanyl and heroin, in Gages downtown apartment.

Prosecutors questioned whether Gage was giving advice to clients that would stall narcotics investigations and would lead to each client getting a less-favorable result. Gage denied that.

It presents a huge conflict of interest, Donnelly said. Its our position hes not an appropriate candidate for probation.

Retelsdorf acknowledged that she had concerns because Gage was an officer of the court while he was engaged in criminal behavior.

We always have high expectations in the legal profession as well as the medical profession, she said. But I think the concerns the state has belong in the (attorney) disciplinary process.

I wouldnt punish him differently because hes a lawyer. I treat Mr. Gage just as I would anyone else who comes in front of me.

The Nebraska Supreme Court suspended Gages law license in an emergency order last year. Pivovar said Gage hopes to work his way back to regaining his law license but realizes it will take time.

For now, Gage is working at a restaurant and focusing on his sobriety, Pivovar said. Gage has said he has an addictive personality. Prosecutors have said he overdosed in 2017 and twice in 2019.

More recently, he had to be resuscitated with Narcan  a drug used to revive those going through an overdose. In August, while this case was pending, Gage was found slumped behind the wheel of his car near 30th and Lake Streets. Gage told police he had taken hydrocodone pills for a toothache, but authorities doubted that account.

After that episode, Gage told The World-Herald that kicking his addiction is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Wednesday he told the judge: I apologize for my serious misconduct.

Any more misconduct will result in prison time, Retelsdorf warned.

Youre very honest about being an addict, and thats obviously step one, she said. You have had multiple probations, so you know what will happen if you dont follow (probation terms). I can guarantee you the state will file a violation. And then I really wont have much choice.

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State and local Mexican police prepare to take photos for social media to show the area is safe for tourists during Easter, by the Rio Grande border with Texas, in Acuna, Mexico, on April 15, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Experts Doubt Mexican States Will Stop Illegal Immigration Despite Texas Deals

Border Patrol Union chief says the Mexico side won't abide by the agreements: 'It's not going to be lastingit never is

ACUNA, MexicoApril 15 was quiet in Acuna, Mexico, which sits across the river from the Texas city of Del Rioa hot spot for illegal immigration.

A day earlier, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott inked a border security agreement with his counterpart in the Mexican state of Coahuila, in which Acuna sits. The deal included enhanced border security enforcement measures along the Rio Grande.

In Acuna, The Epoch Times saw state and local police pull up to the Rio Grande and take photos of themselves for social media. They said they want to show tourists that its safe in Acuna during the Easter holiday and confirmed they havent been conducting extra river patrols since the agreement was signed.

Local immigration agents said everything is normal, when asked if they had been given any new instructions over the past week.

The agreements signed between Abbott and his counterparts in four bordering Mexican states have commercial trucks moving smoothly again through most ports of entry again, but critics say the border security part wont last long.

The three Mexican states have promised to patrol the Rio Grande and curb illegal immigration into Texas, as well as conduct safety checks on the commercial trucks preparing to enter Texas.

Theyll show a good faith effort, but its not going to be lastingit never is, Brandon Judd, president of the Border Patrol Union, told The Epoch Times.

Theres just too much corruption. The cartels are too embedded in the governments, the corruption is very widespread down there. But at least Governor Abbott was able to force their hand.

Over the previous two nights, Border Patrol agents apprehended 235 illegal immigrants who had crossed the river into the Eagle Pass area from the Mexican city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila state.

Among the first group were 16 illegal aliens from Kyrgyzstan, seven from Kazakhstan, and a Russian, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which is responsible for border clearance into the United States.

Texas had signed agreements with three of the four Mexican states: Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon, before an agreement with Tamaulipas, the furthest eastern state, was announced on April 15.

Abbott, a Republican, signed the first agreement with the governor of Nuevo Leon on April 13. That state shares just 8.6 miles of border with Texas, but Abbott immediately unblocked the ports in Laredo that had been clogged by Texas state police inspections close to the ports of entry.

The next two agreements were signed the following daywith Chihuahua (unclogging El Paso) and Coahuila (across from Del Rio and Eagle Pass, where no slowdowns were recorded).

The only reason the Mexican governors are signing the deals is because trade is being slowed down, Judd said.

They dont do anything to stop the cartels, they could have done this before, he said.

But, he also said, ultimately the Biden administration has failed in border security.

Its sad that the federal government isnt doing its job. And you have to have state resources to step in and do what our federal government is supposed to do. Thats the saddest part of this entire equation, he said.

On April 6, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) was directed by Abbott to begin enhanced safety inspections on commercial vehicles entering Texas from Mexico.

Almost immediately, the commercial ports of entry became jammed and commerce dropped by around 60 percent in some areas. In the Rio Grande Valley, the Pharr port of entry closed entirely after protestors blocked it on the Mexican side, according to CBP, which issued its own statement on April 12 calling the inspections unnecessary.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Abbotts inspection efforts a political stunt during a press conference on April 13.

Abbott defended the inspections at a joint press conference with Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepulveda in Laredo on April 13.

These inspections revealed that about 25 percent of the vehicles crossing into Texas were unsafe for Texas roads and were removed from service, Abbott said.

At the same time, Texas has been overrun with a record number of illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into Texas, with the assistance of cartels.

Maria Eugenia Campos Galvan, governor of Chihuahua state, wrote in a memo to Abbott that she shares his concerns.

I am concerned about the same interests that the Texas government is worried about: drug trafficking, people smuggling, money laundering, and most of all migration, Camposs April 13 memo states.

Campos said she intends to relocate the states public safety headquarters from Chihuahua City to Juarez, which sits directly across the border from El Paso.

The memorandum of understanding between Texas and Chihuahua sets forth that the two states will work cooperatively to stop the flow of migrants from over 100 countries who illegally enter Texas through Chihuahuaincluding providing resources to respond to hot spot areas as identified by the Texas DPS.

It also says the two states will work cooperatively to reduce the cartels human trafficking and smuggling of deadly fentanyl and other drugs across and between ports of entry.

The deal with Coahuila was similar.

Until President [Joe] Biden decides to fulfill his constitutional duty to secure the border, we will continue to do whatever it takes to protect the safety and security of all Texans, Abbott said in an April 15 statement.

Border Patrol agents apprehend illegal immigrants after they cross the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States, in La Joya, Texas, on Jan. 14, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

In the first three months of 2022, agents apprehended more than 318,000 illegal immigrants entering the state of Texas from Mexico, according to CBP data. Tens of thousands more evaded capture.

Todd Bensman, national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said the whole idea of forcing the agreements through jamming up the commerce routes is really quite brilliant.

But, he said, the devil is in the details. All of its just too vague.

If Abbotts serious about this, and hes seeing migrants still coming over and he reinstates a bridge closure, thats what itll take to show that hes really serious about this, Bensman said.

The only real measure that is going to matter is if they [Mexico] physically pick up migrants and drive them to Guatemala. Thats it. Nothing else matters.

The cartels control the Mexican side of the border, and so the governors are walking a fine line, Bensman said.

Theres this whole other issue that nobodys really raising, which is that these agreements put the state governments in conflict with the cartels, which exercise a lot of influence with those governments, state governments, he said.

Theyre put in between a rock and a hard place between doing what Abbott wants and doing what they have to do to not get killed.

Especially the Tamaulipas agreement. Because youve got cartels there making just billions of dollarsmost of the money is being made there.

Tamaulipas sits across from the Rio Grande Valley, which has long been the busiest sector for both illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
Jeffrey Alexander Smith inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail on a count of parading, demonstrating or picketing. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

District of Columbia Jury Pool Saturated with Prejudice, Opinion Survey Finds

Attorneys in two Oath Keepers cases file motion to change venue from DC to eastern Virginia

Nearly three out of four District of Columbia residents are likely to find Jan. 6 defendants guilty in federal court, while 85 percent believe the events of Jan. 6 were criminal acts including insurrection, an attack, or a riot, a survey by two defense attorneys found.

Results of the survey by Inlux Research + Analytics were included late April 15 in a change-of-venue motion (pdf) filed by defendants in two Oath Keepers conspiracy cases. The research was commissioned on behalf of Thomas E. Caldwell of Berryville, Virginia, and Connie Meggs of Dunnellon, Florida.

The study is the third recent research project that alleges the pool of potential jurors in the District of Columbia is biased against defendants charged with crimes stemming from unrest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The District of Columbias jury pool is saturated with prejudice, said the motion, filed by attorneys David W. Fischer and Juli Z. Haller.

Thomas and Sharon Caldwell at the Peace Monument near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Sharon Caldwell)

Caldwell, who is charged with seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, and three other counts, filed for a change of venue on July 1, 2021. United States District Judge Amit P. Mehta denied the motion without prejudice, ruling that Caldwell has not put forth a scrap of evidence to support his claims of jury bias. Caldwell is among five defendants in the Oath Keepers trial set for July 11.

Meggs is charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties, and two other Jan. 6 counts. Her trial is scheduled for Nov. 28.

Move Trials to Virginia

The motion asks for the Oath Keepers trials to be moved to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. By doing so, the defendants stand a significantly better chance of being tried before a truly impartial jury, Fischer and Haller wrote.

The opinion survey found 72 percent of D.C. residents said they are likely to find defendants guiltyeven when given the choice, Its too early to decide. Eighty-five percent characterized events of Jan. 6 as acts that are criminal in nature, even when given an option to reserve judgment on the issue.

An opinion survey commissioned by attorneys David W. Fischer and Juli Z. Haller found more bias against Jan. 6 defendants in Washington than in three test areas. (Inlux Research via The Epoch Times)

About seven in 10 respondents said all people who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 planned in advance to do so, even when given the option to reserve judgment on the question. More than 40 percent said they believe all of the Jan. 6 events were racially motivated.

Responses to the questions from D.C. residents were vastly different from residents in three test areas: the Middle District of Florida (Ocala Division), the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the Eastern District of Virginia.

For instance, only 9 percent of D.C. residents said they had not made a prejudicial pre-judgment against Jan. 6 defendants, compared with 51 percent in Florida, 39 percent in North Carolina, and 37 percent in Virginia, the study said.

Slightly more than 28 percent of District of Columbia residents said they have not decided they are more likely to find the defendants guilty, compared with 63 percent in Florida, and 52 percent in North Carolina and Virginia.

About 56 percent of D.C. residents said they do not identify with a group or class of people they believe was targeted by the events of Jan. 6. The figure was 94 percent in Florida, 83 percent in North Carolina, and 82 percent in Virginia, the study said.

In an image from video, Dustin Thompson, circled, is spotted inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Thompson was found guilty by a District of Columbia jury on four Jan. 6-related charges on April 14, 2022. (DOJ via The Epoch Times)

Nearly 85 percent of D.C. respondents characterize Jan. 6 as involving insurrection, an attack, or a riot. That compares with 40 percent in Florida, 52 percent in North Carolina, and 57 percent in Virginia.

The notion that more than 4 out of 10 jurors would assume that J6 was racially motivated is disturbing and incorrect, the motion said. The defendants should not have to prove that they are not racists.

Domestic Terrorists

The motion cited constant negative news coverage coming from the House of Representatives select committee investigating Jan. 6 as a contributor to the bias. Stories include regular use of the terms insurrectionists, white supremacists, and domestic terrorists.

Respectfully, the defendants do not agree that J6 was an act of domestic terror, a white supremacist attack, or an insurrection, the document said. In fact, unlike D.C. residents, most Americansas the three attached surveys showbelieve that J6 was a very large protest that got out of hand and turned into a riot.

The non-stop negative publicity requires the court to either grant a lengthy continuance or transfer venue to a federal district that is not as impacted by the Select Committees work, the motion said.

Another contributing factor is incendiary comments made by Attorney General Merrick Garland comparing Jan. 6 to the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the court filing said.

The majority of potential jurors in the District of Columbia were personally impacted in some way by the events on Capitol Hill on J6, the motion said. This factor weighs heavily in favor of transferring the instant cases to the Eastern District of Virginia. D.C. is a city that, as a whole, feels that it has been the victim of a crime.

Results of the new survey are similar to those found in studies by John Zogby Strategies for a Jan. 6 defendant, and Select Litigation LLC for the Federal Public Defenders Office in Alexandria, Virginia, Fischer and Haller wrote.

In the Zogby survey, nearly 75 percent of respondents believed that anyone who merely entered the Capitol building on J6 is guilty of insurrection. Seven in 10 respondents believe that anyone who went inside the Capitol building on January 6 was trying to stop the certification of the electoral vote for president, the survey found.

A Virginia trial location would not be a major inconvenience for the court and it would reduce the risk of having to try the cases twice, the attorneys wrote.

Multiple surveys provide documented proof that substantial prejudice exists in D.C.s jury pool, and case law suggests that a highly publicized congressional inquiry generating negative headlines against the J6 participants during their trial could be grounds for a mistrial or a new trial on appeal.
Merry, a pit bull at the East Ridge Animal Services shelter, greets visitors in East Ridge, Tenn., on April 13, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/ The Epoch Times)

Dog Fight: Activists Battle Over Americas Shelter Pit Bulls

EAST RIDGE, Tenn.Merry, a brown pit bull at the East Ridge Animal Services shelter, is blissfully unaware of the nationwide political battles that rage around her existence.

A beautifully muscular dog, she dashes around the shelters visitor enclosure. Occasionally, she leaps to grab a treat from Caroline Smith, an East Ridge animal control officer.

It is kind of nice to be in a smaller shelter because were able to bond with them, animal control officer Crystal Reno said of the animals under her care.

The shelter found Merry near Christmastime, Reno said. Eight of the shelters 15 dogs are pit bulls, according to shelter staff.

Its hard to get pit bulls adopted. Smith said shes never been bitten by a pit bull and that small dogs tend to bite more often. But several factors have turned pit bulls into Americas most controversial dog.

They have a bad rep, she said. Its just what people think.

The public tends to panic over bad breeds, even when theres nothing wrong with them, Smith said.

The debate over pit bulls is in many ways a debate over the significance of a breed. Pit bull advocates say that a pit bull is no different from any other dog, while pit bull opponents say that the breeds history has made it uniquely aggressive.

Changing American attitudes about animals have made the resulting fight over pit bulls particularly vicious, many participants say.

Pets Are People?

According to Smith, the American public today tends to think of animals as if they were people. This change has helped counter animal abuse.

Now dogs are like your children. Sometimes people look at dogs as a part of the family, she said.

But the public also tends to see animal control officers as threats to animals, Smith said. Even if East Ridge is a no-kill shelter, people tend to worry whether it will help the animals it saves.

If I had one dollar for every time someone asked me, Are you going to kill it? I would be rich, she said.

In this atmosphere, debates over animals, how to treat them, and whether to euthanize them can raise strong feelings.

Animal control officers Caroline Smith (left), Leigh Stacy(center), and Crystal Reno (right) pose outside East Ridge Animal Services shelter in East Ridge, Tenn., on April 13, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/ The Epoch Times)

A lot of people think that were just out to get their animals, animal control officer Leigh Stacy said. We would rather educate you and make your animal stay with you.

In online arguments over pit bulls, many people seem incapable of describing an animal with instincts, benefits, and drawbacks.

Some websites call pit bulls family. Anti-pit bull pages call them evil.

The humanizing of pit bulls has spread the pit bull debate to wider audiences, according to activist Colleen Lynn. Lynn founded Dogsbite.org, one of Americas leading anti-pit bull websites.

In 2007, when Lynn first started in pit bull activism, debates over pit bulls were already vicious. But the debaters have since changed, she said. At first, pro-pit bull groups were mainly dog breeders, pit bull owners, and dog-fighting criminals, she said.

I was dealing with super hard-core groups, she said.

But today, a different mindset drives pro-pit bull activism, Lynn said.

The lobby went from these hardcore people to this much broader Lets rescue them, lets rehabilitate them motivation, she said.

Dogged Debate

Lynn entered the fight to ban pit bulls after she was attacked by one in Seattle, she said. When she jogged past a woman with a leashed pit bull, it jumped to attack her.

The dog bit her arm and held the bite for a few seconds before letting go, Lynn said, but the experience was one of the most terrifying moments of her life.

It is a very strange feeling. Time slows down. I feel like Im going to die. And theres a little bit of euphoria there too. I dont know that Im screaming. I dont know that Im kicking and fighting and struggling, she said.

The attack lasted seconds and left her arm broken. Some pit bull attacks last 10 minutes.

Because the pit bull escaped its leash on public property, the owner agreed to euthanize the dog to avoid a fine, according to Lynn. But she didnt legally have to do so.

After the attack, Lynn researched pit bulls and the laws that surround them. She said local governments should sterilize all pit bulls except those whose owners have special permits.

It meets the pit bulls owners halfway, Lynn said. I think its responsible from a human standpoint and from a humane standpoint.

Colleen Lynn, founder of anti-pit bull activist group Dogs Bite on April 14, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Colleen Lynn)

Kenneth M. Phillips, a dog bite injury attorney, says that the United States should euthanize all pit bulls.

This type of dog needs to be eliminated, he said.

Both Phillips and Lynn cite pit bull attack statistics as a key reason to control the breed. Although pit bulls make up about 6 percent of U.S. dogs, theyre responsible for 65 percent of fatal attacks from 2005 to 2017, according to statistics collected by Dogsbite.com.

Pit bulls have been bred to fight since the Middle Ages, Phillips said. Just like border collies instinctively herd, pit bulls instinctively kill.

Although other dogs tend to bite the nearest limb, pit bulls usually go for the throat and face, Phillips said. They also hold on when other dogs let go.

The dog, one day, for no apparent reason, flips out and kills this person or mauls that person, he said. Pit bulls do that. The other dogs dont.

Pit bull advocates argue that these statistics are fundamentally misleading.

According to a study by the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, even trained veterinary staff can only identify genetic pit bulls from appearance between 33 and 75 percent of the time.

Pit bull advocates say that most of the time, the media misidentifies all aggressive dogs as pit bulls. This mistake could create the impression that pit bulls are more violent than other types of dogs.

Although pit bulls make up a high percentage of dog attacks, pit bull attacks are a comparatively tiny issue. Pit bulls kill an average of 28 people per year.

Other websites state that violent pit bulls are only aggressive because they have bad masters. Pit bulls are the most likely dog to be abused, and abused dogs are more likely to attack people.

Some abused dogs may become overly aggressive, as they will try to defend themselves whenever they identify a possible threat, according to VetInfo.com.

Although The Epoch Times contacted multiple pro-pit bull websites, none of them responded to requests for an interview by press time.

Dog Households, Both Alike in Dignity

Both sides of the pit bull debate have treated each other cruelly at times.

Lynn said she has received hate mail for her positions on pit bulls. Pro-pit bull social media pages told the Epoch Times that they often face trolling attempts. Buzzfeed has described the pit bull debate as the most vicious conflict on the internet.

The consequence of this unending online brawl is a nationwide political battle. With moves involving activist pressure on local, state, and federal levels of government, pit bull law is an ever-changing environment.

Pit bull politics revolves around Breed Specific Legislation, or BSLs. These laws allow a local jurisdiction to ban or restrict pit bulls more strictly than other dogs.

About 1,160 U.S. cities have laws restricting pit bulls.

Animal control officers disagree about how effective these laws are. Stacy said she doesnt like BSLs.

A bulletin board in East Ridge Animal Services shelter. The names on the left are of dogs currently in the shelter. Most of them are pit bulls. This photo was taken in East Ridge, Tenn., on April 13, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/ The Epoch Times)

But Joy Heenan, a former animal control officer in Salisbury, Maryland, said BSLs are a great solution to pit bull bite problems.

They can go from zero to 60 in a split second, she said of pit bulls. I am always in favor of an outright ban.

Heenan researched the potential effect of BSLs on Salisbury and concluded that they would greatly improve the citys dog bite problem.

But she admitted that her preferred legislation was very unpopular among dog owners. If BSLs arent plausible, she said she would settle for pit bull laws that demanded secure enclosures and muzzles while in public.

If you go for a walk down the street, your dog has to have a muzzle thats going to prevent it from being able to bite or attack anybody even if it gets away from you, Heenan said.

Even without a ban on pit bulls, animal laws already make it too easy for biting dogs to bite again, she said. In Salisbury, a dog had to attack three times before it was declared dangerous.

Legislators have no idea how dogs work. Thats the biggest problem, Heenan said.

Some research suggests that BSLs decrease the number of pit bull bites by large amounts. Several cities saw pit bull attacks go down after passing BSLs.

But pro-pit bull activists hotly contest these claims. Many organizations, including the American Dog Owners Association, American Kennel Club, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dont endorse BSLs.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says these laws dont work because any dog can bite, breeds are hard to determine, and BSLs discriminate against responsible dog owners.

Laws that punish chronically irresponsible dog owners would be a better solution to the problem of dog attacks, the association wrote on its website.

While BSL may look good on the surface, it is not a reliable or effective solution for dog bite prevention, the website reads.

Legal Drama

Right now, pro-pit bull groups are winning the legislative battle, Lynn said.

Theres clearly a trend of repeals going on across the U.S., she said, adding that their winning legal strategy has been to pass state-level bans on local anti-pit bull laws.

For example, the city of Pawtucket in Rhode Island once had a pit bull ban, but state leaders passed a law that overturned all local bans.

Pit bulls, a large, muscular dog breed, were originally developed as fighting dogs. Today, theyre one of the most likely breeds to end up in a shelter. This photo was taken at East Ridge Animal Services shelter in East Ridge, Tenn., on April 13, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/ The Epoch Times)

Those laws have been ongoing pretty much en masse every legislative season since 2012, Lynn said.

This same strategy applies to the national level, she said. The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act had a clause that prohibited all military housing from having breed-specific dog restrictions. But anti-pit bull activists successfully lobbied for its removal.

Currently, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) leads the pro-pit bull legislation effort, Lynn said. Hes sponsoring the Pets Belong With Families Act, which prohibits bans on pit bulls in public housing.

Lobbying groups are also pressuring Congress to pass laws that make insurers charge the same rates for all dogs, regardless of their size or level of aggression, Lynn said.

Adoption Issues

One of the key goals of Best Friends, a group that shelters stray animals, is in favor of the United States becoming a no-kill nation by 2025. This would mean shelters could kill only 10 percent or less of the animals that arrive there.

To reach this figure, dog owners will have to adopt many animals that would otherwise be euthanized, Lynn said. And decreased restrictions on dog breeds might help increase adoption numbers.

I dont quite understand the passion behind their cause, Lynn said. You cant achieve a 90 percent save rate and put down pit bulls for safety. Pit bulls have been a thorn in the side of no-kill since day one.

Sally, a 7-year-old pit bull, has been living in the East Ridge Animal Services shelter for about nine months. This photo was taken in East Ridge, Tenn., on April 13, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/ The Epoch Times)

In East Ridge, animal adoptions have suffered during COVID-19, Reno said. Not only were people less willing to adopt dogs, but some people were no longer financially well-off enough to own the dogs they had, she said.

Recently, Molly and Hatchet got lucky. A woman was willing to adopt them, Reno said.

Stacy, Smith, and Renos faces lit up as they started to celebrate.

But Molly and Hatchet are terriers. The shelters longest resident is a 7-year-old pit bull named Sally, who has been living there for about nine months.

In her cage, Sally barks fiercely, but the staff who know her say shes friendly when shes let out. The staff also say she wouldnt do well with children.

Sally has everything against her, Smith said.

For now, Sally and many dogs like her are still waiting.
BALTIMORE  From the days of early Christians, fancy Easter Sunday clothes have been a cosmetic commemoration of Jesus Christs resurrection. Now, churchgoers don social media post-worthy outfits such as frills, lace, head-turning hats, stylish suits and dresses as well as color coordinated looks for the whole family.

While weekly church fashion varies depending on the place of worship, Easter ensembles are historically rooted in centuries of customs and norms, not religious theology or tenets.

Two Baltimore churches, Rehoboth Ministries Church of God in Christ and Central Christian Assembly, have very different approaches when it comes to Sunday style, but according to the spiritual leaders, dressing up for church, in general, is all about cultural expectations.

My best friend and I often tease each other because our church culture is so different. We serve the same God, believe in the same doctrine, but she wears jeans on Sundays and I wear a sequined gown  not really, but kind of, said Kimberli Thomas, director of Childrens Ministry at Rehoboth Ministries

Bishop William E. McMillan Jr., founder and senior pastor of Rehoboth Ministries, said he leads by example in how he dresses for church every Sunday.

I believe that the people of God should look their very best when they go to worship. However, our fashion should not be to draw attention or cause us to lose focus on our primary purpose and that is to share the love of Jesus Christ, said Bishop McMillan, who is often pictured on social media in three-piece tailored suits or traditional bishops garb, such as a purple clerical shirt and collar.

Looking good for Jesus

For Thomas, who is Bishop McMillans daughter, dressing up for Sunday service is steeped in family traditions as well as African American heritage.

As early as I can remember, church clothes were a thing. Whenever my parents or grandmother would take me shopping, we were either getting play clothes, school clothes or church clothes, said Thomas.

We honored Sunday and gave God our best. For the Black church, that includes our dress, she added.

At Central Christian Assembly, the ethos behind worship style has changed over the past 10 years to a come as you are, approach according to the churchs Next Generation Pastor Jonathan Prothero, who often opts for jeans and sneakers.

Its a simple take on making sure that were not creating more barriers to entry than we need to  that people feel comfortable in their own skin, said Prothero, who works in church communications and with congregants ages 13 to 30. It might sound really superficial to start with an aesthetic like clothing, but actually its a first step, and we found it just relaxes people a lot, when they can come in, wearing what they would usually wear.

Even with varying approaches to Sunday style, there are shared rules when it comes to fashion at both churches.

Nothing too revealing, nothing too distracting, but [clothing guidelines are] pretty loose in terms of how strict, Prothero said.

Nothing is too tight, too high, too low, too loose, et cetera, said Thomas. Church fashion is looking good for Jesus with a splash of your personal style.

Where does the reverence begin?

Historically speaking, Easter was a pagan holiday to celebrate the beginning of spring, but Christians adapted the celebration to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, and soon after rules about attire came into play.

Dressing up for Easter is a tradition that really goes back as far as medieval times, McMillan said. Christians in medieval times began to wear new, clean clothes on Easter Sunday to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the new life for believers. In 300 A.D., the Roman Emperor Constantine declared his court would wear their nicest and newest clothing on Easter Sunday.

Coming from humble beginnings as one of six children, McMillan said he did not have the fanciest Easter clothes growing up. Nonetheless, he instilled an appreciation for Easter ensembles in his children and enjoys seeing his family and congregation dress in their Sunday best.

I am the daughter of the churchiest Bishop ever in the history of the Church of God in Christ, Thomas said jokingly about McMillan. As a child, I looked forward to going Easter shopping. That meant going to a fancy store, getting a shoe with a little heel, lacy stockings and gloves.

Easter for the Black church is what Christmas is to the world, Thomas emphasized.

Easter even brings out some traditional church looks for members of Central Christian Assembly.

Youll see people come in shorts and T-shirts, if its good weather, and you will see people come in more formal attire: button downs, tucked in pants, whole suits, Prothero said about the outfits he expects to fill Central Christian on Easter Sunday.

People can sometimes get judgmental when they see somebody who they feel should dress up a little bit more, or they see a pastor wearing a cap on stage, Prothero said. For some people, it crosses a line at where does the relevancy end and where does the reverence begin?

Dorothy Cunningham, 33, said for this Easter, her twins Dominique and Dayonne, will be wearing linen short sets, one white and one sky blue, with three-button polos and new white Adidas. They didnt want to wear suits this year. Their sister, JLynn, will be wearing a pink puffy tutu dress and white patent hard-bottom shoes.

I like to do the things that I wasnt able to do as a child, dress up, go to church, have Easter egg hunts or even something simple like an Easter egg basket. It wasnt provided for me and my four siblings. My mother was incarcerated so we were pushed from family to family in East Baltimore, Cunningham said.

Looking around as a girl, watching other kids play, all dressed up with new shoes, I felt like I was deprived of a happy Easter Sunday.For my kids, I love seeing them happy in their Sunday outfits, smiling in the mirror, and telling me, Mommy, I look good! Then they pat me on the shoulder and say, Mommy, you did good. said Cunningham, of Easterwood.

Despite cultural opinions, there is no theological basis on how one should dress to worship on Easter. All should be welcomed to worship, no matter the outfit, the church leaders emphasized.

There is no theology about dressing up for Easter. The scriptures basically tell us that we should be clean and appropriate when we come into the house. If there is someone that is not blessed to have clean, new or dressy clothes, the church should receive them without any discrimination, McMillan said.

Prothero also said there is no scriptural foundation for clothing choices and its about personal comfort in worship.

Its not like Pauls in the New Testament saying, Thou shall wear a suit and a tie of red, Prothero said. We just want you to feel like youre welcome. That, for us, is so much more important than what you wear.

2022 The Baltimore Sun. Visit at baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A map showing the location of the Chimanimani district in Zimbabwe. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Easter Holiday Bus Crash in Eastern Zimbabwe Takes 35 Lives

MUTARE, ZimbabweA bus carrying worshippers traveling to an Easter pilgrimage in mountainous eastern Zimbabwe plunged into a gorge, killing 35 people in the early hours of Friday.

The bus was overloaded with 106 passengers and veered off the winding road near Chimanimani and hurtled into a deep ravine, police said. The crash happened near the Chipinge district of Zimbabwes eastern Manicaland province, state broadcaster ZBC reported.

The bus was carrying members of the Zion Christian Church, a local denomination known for holding regular pilgrimages attended by thousands of people.

Bus accidents are frequent in the southern African country, where some drivers overload their vehicles and exceed the speed limit. The poor condition of Zimbabwes roads has also been blamed for contributing to crashes.

Zimbabwes roads are particularly busy during the Easter period which is a major holiday in this largely Christian country as people embark on hazardous trips in dilapidated buses and trucks to gather for days.

By Farai Mutsaka
SYDNEY, AustraliaFiona Johnston, a marketing manager for Event Cinemas, was amazed by Shen Yun Performing Arts unique patented digital projection technology which extends the stage to infinite realms, from ancient royal palaces to heavenly kingdoms.

Ms. Johnston attended the New York-based Shen Yuns matinee at Sydneys Lyric Theatre on April 16, where she was captivated by how the technology creates a seamless extension of the stage, allowing dancers to appear to fly off the stage.

I actually thought it was flawlessly done and I actually looked forward to it happening each time when one of the dancers would drop over the back and engage in the graphic design background, and then [they] would come back in, she said.

I just thought it was flawlessly done, and it gave dimension to the actual performances.

Shen Yun is the worlds premier classical Chinese dance company. Its performances take audiences on a journey across Chinas 5,000 years of authentic culture, which almost went extinct under communism. In fact, Shen Yun declares that it presents China before communism.

China was once known as the land of the divine. In fact, ancient Chinese people held the belief that their culture was divinely bestowed. Its ancient people sought harmony between Heaven, Earth, and humankind, the company says on its website.

Ms. Johnston emerged from the performance, saying it made her feel happy and more connected to her fellow man.

Its actually really lovely to be a part of Chinese dance culture for a moment and know that I was accepted, being, you know, in the audience, and to be given a little bit more awareness and greater understanding. So I really actually appreciated that, she said.

For Ms. Johnston, Shen Yun was not just about dance, but went beyond to be a spiritual experience that made her feel that were all connected, really and spiritually.

With this in mind, she appreciated the performers wishing the audience a happy Easter at curtain call.

Shen Yun Took Us to the Heavens

Christopher Foster-McBride and fiance Alice Mendes attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at Sydneys Lyric Theatre, on April 16, 2022. (NTD)

Christopher Foster-McBride, the director of a healthcare consultancy, was struck by the choreography, beautiful colours, elegant dancing, and exceptional use of technology in Shen Yuns performance.

Very exceptional. So precise. Really elegant. Its amazing, said Mr. Foster-McBride, who treated his fiance Alice Mendes to see the performance ahead of their wedding.

Were getting married next Saturday. So, this is a wedding present. Its Alices birthday on Monday. So, weve come for a celebration. Were having a fantastic time. And were really, really happy we chose to come to this show, Mr. Foster-McBride said.

Shen Yun was formed in 2006 by elite artists with the mission to restore Chinas traditional culture, steeped in the countrys Buddhist and Daoist traditions, which had all but been lost under communism.

With these revived values and traditions presented in Shen Yuns performance, Ms. Mendes was struck by a scene that depicted a divine being that took us to the heavens, so we feel so alive.

Meanwhile, Mr. Foster-McBride related to the traditional Chinese spiritual beliefs depicted, saying, I think in most cultures, people have a close relationship with God and higher beings.

Its an important part of civilisation where you come from, he added to what Ms. Mendes said.

Both expressed a wish that people in mainland China, where the production is banned, get the chance to see Shen Yun one day.

Reporting by NTD and Caden Pearson.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to testify before a Senate panel in Washington on Jan. 11, 2022. (Greg Nash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

EXCLUSIVE: Faucis Agency Scrambled to Answer Questions on Changing Remdesivir Trial Endpoint: Emails

Dr. Anthony Fauci and top officials at the agency he heads scrambled in April 2020 to answer questions about altering the endpoint in a trial testing the antiviral drug called remdesivir, newly obtained emails show.

The endpoint was changed in the middle of the trial from measuring the effectiveness against death and various forms of hospitalization on day 15 to time to recovery through day 29.

Gilead Sciences, which makes the drug, announced the results of the trial in early April 29, 2020. Within hours, Fauci, the longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was trumpeting them to reporters at the White House.

The trial results proved that remdesivir can block the virus that causes COVID-19, said Fauci, who didnt mention the change in endpoint.

Just hours later, doctors and reporters started questioning researchers involved with the trial and NIAID, which funded the study and said its officials were behind the change.

Officials at the agency were not prepared for questions about the matter, according to emails obtained by The Epoch Times and never published before.

Dr. Andre Kalil, an infectious disease expert at Nebraska Medicine Omaha who was helping run one of the trial sites, told Fauci, Dr. Clifford Lane, and John Beigel, all top NIAID officials, at 3:19 a.m. on April 30, 2020, that he had received multiple requests from colleagues and reporters on why the primary outcome was changed while the trial was underway.

Believe or not, but I even heard nonsense things such as a conspiracy theory that Gilead opened the database and changed the primary outcome to favor the trial results, Kalil wrote. In order to prevent more conspiracies, I thought about a transparent and objective way to respond to these questions, so we can all be on the same page.

The statement he proposed was redacted. NIAID, which released the emails based on a Freedom of Information Act request, cited an exemption that allows the government to shield inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency.

About two hours later, Lori Dodd, an NIAID statistician, responded by saying she liked what Kalil wrote. Soon after, Beigel, the trials principal investigator, said he was merging the two in an email that was otherwise redacted and on which Kalil had been cut out.

A draft statement was sent to the Food and Drug Administration, which cleared with Gilead a paragraph about the regulators commitment to expediting COVID-19 treatments and how the agency had been in touch with Gilead about making remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible, as appropriate, the emails show.

The statement was still being adjusted at 3:20 p.m., according to a missive from Jennifer Routh, an NIAID spokeswoman, sent to Beigel, Lane, and others.

We now have 10 media inquiries asking about why the primary endpoint in the remdesivir study changed, she said, adding later: We need a statement to respond as soon as possible. Is this OK to send or is this still under review?

The draft statement was redacted.

Reporters from the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the Washington Post, among others, had reached out, with the latter later quoting Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, as saying government scientists shifted the endpoint because they thought they werent going to win, and they wanted to change it to something they could win on.

Another expert, Henry Drysdale of the University of Oxford, panned the NIAIDs statement, saying, Whenever I see an explanation like this, when an outcome-switching has happened, thats fine, but you were not open about this when you reported your quote-unquote exciting results.

NIAID ultimately sent a statement out around 4:30 p.m., with The Epoch Times being one of the outlets that obtained it.

Rubber stoppers are placed onto filled vials of the investigational drug remdesivir at a Gilead manufacturing site in March 2020. (Gilead Sciences via AP)

Little was known regarding the natural course of COVID-19 when the trial was initially designed, and the initial endpoint chosen specified a single timepoint for evaluation, namely day 14. However, with the growing knowledge during the epidemic, we learned that COVID-19 had a more protracted course than previously known. Further concerns were raised about the reliance on a single time point for evaluating treatment effects, the agency said.

While still blinded to treatment assignment, NIAID statisticians performed modeling of what happens if the right day is not picked for assessment, which revealed that meaningful treatment effects could be missed with that primary endpoint. Time to recovery avoids this issue, and the change in primary endpoint seemed appropriate given the evolving clinical data. This change in primary endpoint was made without any knowledge of data from ACTT, before any interim data was available.

ACTT is the name of the trial.

Biegel, Dodd, Kalil, and others involved in the study wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine following peer review of the results that the change was proposed on March 22, 2020after 72 patients had been enrolledby statisticians who were unaware of treatment assignments and had no knowledge of outcome data. The change was finalized on April 2, 2020, he said, and the primary measure became one of many secondary outcomes.

On the trials official page, the change in outcome was not reported until April 16, 2020.

Additionally, during an April 24, 2020, teleconference that included then-National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins, the original primary endpoint was still listed as the main endpoint, according to slides obtained by The Epoch Times. The data in the slides was listed current as of April 6, 2020.

Executives and scientists from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, among others, took part in the meeting. Bill Lee, Gileads executive vice president of research, was listed as a tentative attendee but it wasnt clear whether he ended up attending.

Gilead, NIAID, and Fauci did not respond to requests for comment.

The emails also showed that Fauci listed erroneous statistics at the White House.

Fauci used the old mortality numbers, Routh wrote shortly after the doctor spoke during an appearance with then-President Donald Trump.

Just spoke with Dr. Fauci on phone. He confirmed he has the new numbers, Kimberly Barasch, with the office of the NIAID director, said.

To be clear though, he USED the old numbers, Courtney Billet, an NIAID spokeswoman, responded. And I talked to him just now on the phone and he confirmed we should stick with those in written statement.

Fauci was great. Good job to all who prepped him, and thanks for trying to squeeze in the updated numbers, Dodd later wrote.

Thanks to all for the helpthe process wasnt pretty but it worked out in the end! Billet said.

The impact of the trial results was dramatic. Remdesivir was immediately declared the new standard of care, or the standard treatment for COVID-19 patients, in a time when cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were overwhelming some hospitals. No other treatment had received such positive promotion from top government officials at that time.

Before the results were announced, meanwhile, Gilead sent Beigel a press release that the company planned to issue just before the market opens tomorrow AM.

There will be a lot of interest after that statement, Beigel wrote, sharing the release with Routh, Lane, and others with NIAID.

Fauci quickly reviewed the release and had no issues with it, Routh said.

After the Gilead and NIAID announcements on April 29, 2020, Tomas Cihlar, a senior vice president at Gilead, wrote to Lane thanking him for the ACTT trial and the amazing work your clinical team did.

Congratulations, Cihlar said.

The first part of Lanes response was redacted.

I am glad for Gilead as well, Lane also wrote.
A police officer patrols in Times Square station, after a shooting at a subway station in Brooklyn borough, in Manhattan, New York City, N.Y., on April 12, 2022. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

Five People to Share $50,000 Reward for Tips on New York Subway Shooting Suspect

Five people who provided critical information that helped lead to the arrest of the man charged with this weeks mass shooting in a New York subway will share a $50,000 reward, the New York Police Department announced on Friday.

Frank James, the man accused of carrying out one of the most violent attacks on the citys mass transit system, was arrested in lower Manhattan on Wednesday following a 30-hour manhunt that was helped by a barrage of tips from the public.

We appreciate all of those who responded to our call for information to locate this suspect, including all of those whose tips did not pan out, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement. We urged the public to join us in this effort to find this suspect and New Yorkers stepped up.

James, 62, is accused of injuring 30 people by setting off smoke bombs and spraying the inside of a subway car with gunfire during Tuesday mornings rush-hour commute in Brooklyn.

Suspect Frank James is escorted out of the 9th Precinct by police after being arrested for his connection to the mass shooting at the 36 St subway station in New York, on April 13, 2022. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Police said 10 people were shot, although all were expected to survive. About 20 others were injured by smoke canisters or in the stampede of terrified passengers pouring out of the subway car onto the platform, according to prosecutors.

The NYPD said its detectives used the flow of public tips to build a timeline of events that helped them locate James. Of the people who provided tips, five were chosen whose information contributed directly to the suspects arrest.

The NYPD did not identify the five people who will evenly split the $50,000 reward, which is comprised of funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transport Workers Union Local 100, and the New York City Police Foundation.

Thanks to the help of these five good Samaritans, the NYPD was able to do its job and get a dangerous suspect off the streets just hours after his picture was released, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
John Durham speaks to reporters on the steps of U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn., on April 25, 2006. (Bob Child/AP Photo)

Former Clinton Campaign Lawyer Made False Statements to Second Government Agency: Durham

Former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who is accused of lying to the FBI when he claimed he wasnt representing anyone while handing over information about then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016, also made false statements to CIA officers in a meeting after Trump was sworn into office, according to new filings by special counsel John Durhams team.

Sussmann told James Baker, the FBIs general counsel at the time, that he had time-sensitive (and sensitive) information to share, before the pair met, according to a text message recently disclosed by prosecutors. In the same message, Sussmann claimed he was coming on my ownnot on behalf of a client or company, even though hed been directed to deliver the information by Rodney Joffe, a technology executive, and billed the Clinton campaign for the work, according to prosecutors.

In a Sept. 19, 2016, meeting, Sussmann provided Baker with white papers that alleged Trumps business had a secret channel with a Russian bank, allegations the FBI later determined were untrue.

On Feb. 9, 2017, Sussmann met with CIA officersto whom he also made false statements, according to the new filings.

A memorandum introduced by the special counsels team and penned by a CIA official said that Sussmann provided documents and thumb drives that he claimed contained data related to potential Russian activities linked with Trump.

Sussmann advised that he was not representing a particular client, according to the notes. Instead, he said he was conveying information from contacts who he believed were acting in good faith and out of a sense of loyalty to the USG, or U.S. government.

That contradicts how Sussmann told a former CIA employee, who was said to have helped set up the February meeting, that he represents a client who does not want to be known, according to notes of the meeting taken by the former employee.

It also contradicts testimony Sussmann delivered to the House Intelligence Committee. Under oath, Sussmann said (pdf) he received the information from a client of mine.

Sussmann said he learned of the information by the summer of 2016 but only came forward months later because President Barack Obama ordered an intelligence review of possible Russian interference in elections.

This information seemed to fall roughly within that, and so I thought that might beor my client thought that that might be something that was relevant for those that were gathering information regarding foreign-based actors, Sussmann said.

Michael Sussmann in an undated interview. (CNN/Screenshot via NTD)

Another apparently false statement relates to what Sussmann said during the meeting with the CIA concerning his previous meeting with the FBI.

Sussmann gave the same information regarding the alleged secret channel to the CIA that he had to Baker. Sussmann told the officers he had previously contacted Baker but on a similar, though unrelated, matter, according to the memo.

In front of the congressional panel, Sussmann said he had already passed on the information to the FBI before he met with the CIA.

In context, the defendants statement that he had provided the FBI with similar, though unrelated allegations is false, or at best, misleading, Durhams team said in one of the new filings.

Further, the CIA later concluded that both the claim about the secret channel and a separate allegation, which was brought to the CIA and not the FBI, concerning Russian-made phones was not technically plausible, did not withstand technical scrutiny, contained gaps, and conflicted with [itself], and was user created and not machine/tool generated, according to the special counsels office.

Sussmanns lawyers in a separate filing said their clients statement to the CIA cannot possibly be part of the charged offense (concerning a single, different statement), and it was not made contemporaneously with the charged crime, adding, In fact, it was made five months later, in different circumstances, to a different agency, in a way that conflicts with the Special Counsels theory that Mr. Sussmann lied to Mr. Baker to help Hillary Clinton win the electionbecause the election was long since over.

The lawyers are not objecting to the admission of one of the statements Sussmann made to the House panel concerning the CIA meeting but are objecting to the introduction of any evidence concerning the accuracy of the data he provided to the CIA.

They also reserved the right to introduce evidence rebutting the Special Counsels claims, including evidence that will demonstrate that Mr. Sussmann disclosed to CIA personnel that he had a client and that he had worked with political clients.

According to the CIA memo, Sussmann did mention that his law firm was involved with Democrats, including Clinton, but also said that the work was unrelated to his reasons for contacting the CIA.

Sussmanns trial is slated to start on May 16 in federal court in Washington. He has pleaded not guilty.
Paintings show us social media of the 15th century

As the host opens the door, guests in jeans enter, slap palms with the host, call out Hey! and find a place to sit, or maybe head to the backyard grill. Social gatherings are casual affairs today. Most people dont attend formal functions often, much less with important people.

To be invited to an event with important people might require more formality: suit and tie, nice dress, guests chatting in small groups, drinks and hors doeuvres attractively set to the side in a tastefully decorated room.

Taking this up a notch, consider what it would be like to attend a gathering with some of the greatest figures who ever lived, even divinities, and post a photo of it on social media.

From Heaven to Earth

At the turn of the 15th century in Europe, artists made paintings on panels and hinged them so that they could be folded in order to be protected and stored. The most famous multipanel painting (called a polyptych) is the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck. The center panel shows Jesus as King of a heavenly kingdom, with panels on either side showing Mary his mother and John the Baptist.

A detail of the Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, by Jan van Eyck. Oil on oak panels; 11.1 feet by 17 feet. St. Bavos Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. (Public Domain)

Artists wanted to show Jesus and the saints in heaven but in ways that also brought them closer to people. This technique evolved from formal courtly settings to domestic environments that made Mary, Jesus, and the saints more approachable. The paintings show figures gathered in one setting; saints, angels, and even those who paid for the work of art are shown with the guests of honor: Mary and the baby Jesus.

Fra Angelico (14001455), the artist monk of San Marco monastery in Florence, Italy, is considered the first artist to arrange a group of figures as a sacra conversazione, or sacred conversation. In his Annalena Altarpiece, he brought figures together in the same space, as if at the court of a sovereign. The figures, of different historical periods, stand together respectfully on either side of the Virgin and Child.

To bring his figures together, he oriented them on a horizontal panel. Thus, the sacra conversazione technique brought about a big change to painting. Artists made less use of separate vertical panels and, instead, placed all the figures on one panel or canvas. Artists then began to use the horizontal format more frequently, which is the orientation that artists use most often today.

Fra Angelico painted several of these horizontal compositions. In addition, whereas earlier painters presented Mary and the baby Jesus as much larger than surrounding figures, to show their importance, Fra Angelico painted them proportionately the same size as other figures, although the two remain central in his sacra conversazione compositions.

Annalena Altarpiece, circa 143840, by Fra Angelico. Tempera and gold on wood; 70.8 inches by 79.5 inches. Museum of San Marco, Florence, Italy. (Public Domain)

The Annalena Altarpiece was commissioned by the convent of St. Vincent of Annalena and shows the Madonna and the baby Jesus seated at an angle on a simple raised throne. On Marys left we see (from left to right) saints Peter Martyr, Damian, and Cosmas; on the right are (left to right) the saints John the Evangelist, Lawrence the first martyr, and Francis of Assisi.

At the bottom of the painting is the predella, which is a series of panels arranged horizontally. A gold background hints that this is not a natural setting; there is a celestial feeling to the artwork. The figures, all with halos to indicate their holy status, are engaged in reading or interacting with each other, as if on a normal day in a heavenly court.

The artist introduced another innovation with St. Cosmas gesturing toward Mary and Jesus while looking at the viewer. The Annalena Altarpiece would become the model for other Florentine altarpieces into the early 1500s, according to GrandCentralPark.org.

Domestic Setting

This compositional technique caught on. Northern Renaissance painter Jan van Eyck, credited with inventing oil paint, used the sacra conversazione style to include an ordinary person in his painting. The Virgin and Child With Canon van der Paele shows Mary and the baby Jesus at the center, on a low throne surrounded by St. Donation on the left side of the painting, and on the right, the donor who paid for the painting, Canon van der Paele, flanked by St. George.

The Virgin and Child With Canon van der Paele, 1434, by Jan van Eyck. Oil on panel; 4 inches by 62.9 inches. The Groeninge Museum, Bruges, Belgium. (Public Domain)

The wealthy clergyman was gravely ill and intended the painting as an altarpiece memorial for himself. Latin inscriptions on the original borders identify the saints, while van der Paele is known from historical records. St. George, helmet in hand, presents the donor to Mary. The figures wear rich finery: furs, silks, and brocades.

This informal grouping, as if in Marys private quarters, shows Jesus as he plays with a bird while greeting his visitors. Van der Paele does not look directly at any of the heavenly figures, but stares into the middle distance, observing social and spiritual decorum. This is van Eycks only horizontal painting and one of the earliest known sacra conversazione compositions of the Northern Renaissance.

Madonna and Child With Saints Dorothy and George, 151518, by Titian . Oil on panel; 33.8 inches by 51.1 inches. The Prado, Spain. (Public Domain)

Titian made several paintings using this horizontal composition and arranged his figures in an even more intimate setting. As if in a great ladys living quarters, the Virgin plays with her wriggling child as the guests arrive. Saints Dorothy and George approach to play with the baby. In the relaxed and confident painting Titian brings the charms of the family circle to sacra conversazione, according to the Web Gallery of Art.

The saints appear as indulgent relatives of the playful child. A pulled-back green curtain appears often in these compositions, such as in Raphaels Sistine Madonna, as if giving viewers a glimpse of heaven.

Botticelli used the technique in artworks such as the San Barnaba Altarpiece. As angels pull back a curtain, the figures around the Virgin and Child appear animated and with expressive faces on each.

Dominico Ghirlandaios Sacred Conversation of the Ingesuiti shows the magnificent court of Mary and her child as they are surrounded by saints and angels. Archangels appear around MaryMichael on the left and Raphael on the rightand kneeling below her are the saints Justus and Zenobius. The strong, sharp lines and rich, glowing colors hint at a heavenly realm, while fruit trees and evergreens in the background present a natural setting.

As patrons placed these more intimate paintings in their private residences and used them as objects of prayerful devotion, artists responded in turn. These paintings would be a significant source of income for Italian artists.

Sacred Conversation of the Ingesuiti, 148486, by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Tempera on wood; 78.74 inches by 74.8 inches. The Uffizi, Florence, Italy. (Public Domain)

How to Treat Each Other

Renaissance artists used sacra conversazione to inspire viewers to have uplifting interactions with others. These paintings can show us how to have a social gathering: a gracious setting with soft, beautiful music, and an attentive host who serves well-mannered guests with quiet dignity.

We are and have always been social creatures. In todays culture of waning formality, casual gatherings focus on eating and drinking and not much on talk about whats important or inspiring. But we might just want to brush up on what we learned about how to behave in polite company. Like the three angels visiting Abraham and Sarah or Jesus at the Last Supper in the Bible, we may never know if a celestial being is visiting us or who might be our host.
Border Patrol agents apprehend illegal immigrants after they cross the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States, in La Joya, Texas, on Jan. 14, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Goliad Sheriff: Cartels Are Preparing for Influx of People Never Seen Before in US History

Border Patrol agents and Texas law enforcement officers are bracing for as many as 500,000 illegal immigrants waiting in Mexico to enter Texas in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector once Title 42 is lifted, Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd told The Center Square in an exclusive interview.

The Rio Grande Valley Sector, one of 20 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sectors, stretches from the Gulf of Mexico south of Brownsville west to the eastern tip of Falcon Lake in Starr County. RGV Sector Border Patrol agents are tasked with patrolling over 320 river miles, 250 coastal miles, and 19 counties equating to more than 17,000 square miles in the busiest sector along the southern border.

Located at the tip of Texas, the RGV Sector is the shortest distance to reach for those traveling from eastern and southern Mexico and Central America. Officials say its almost impossible to get to without the Gulf Cartel, which controls both sides of the Rio Grande River in the region.

Roughly 150 miles north, Boyd says he and others in law enforcement are seeing cartel movement they have never seen in their decades-long careers.

After spending the winter with normal smuggling activity along the corridors and not having activity in the brush, from what weve observed so far, smugglers are beginning to make preparations for a much larger eventsomething the likes of which weve never seen before, he told The Center Square. Theyre staging stolen vehicles on abandoned properties, supplies in shacks and in other drop off points preparing for heavy foot traffic heading north.

Were expecting a surge of people weve never seen in the history of the United States, all because of [President Joe] Biden ending Title 42, Boyd said, and because Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has the hands of border patrol agents tied, preventing them from enforcing Title 8.

The Biden administration announced it was ending Title 42, a public health authority that has allowed CBP and Border Patrol agents to quickly expel illegal immigrants during a public health emergency. Title 8 is a federal policy on expulsions.

After Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas altered immigration policy last year, including halting and restricting most deportations, Title 42 has been seen as the last measure holding back the influx of people entering the United States illegally from over 150 countries.

In Bidens first year in office, roughly two million people entering the United States illegally were apprehended or encountered by Border Patrol agents. Another one million are expected to enter illegally before or by the time Title 42 ends May 23.

To the cartels, repealing Title 42 is a lucrative windfall, critics of the decision say. In the small Mexican town of Ciudad Miguel Aleman across the river from Roma, Texas, for example, cartels were reportedly earning $70 million a week in their human trafficking operations last fall.

Historically, the Gulf Cartel has contracted with the Texas Chicano Brotherhood Gang based in Rio Grande City, in Starr County, as enforcers in Texas, Boyd said. After Homeland Security agents aggressively worked to help neutralize them, gang activity lessened in the area. But now, with an unprecedented opportunity to make even more money, the gang, or others like it, will be reinvigorated, Boyd said.

Illegal immigrants being trafficked into Texas are part of the modern day slave trade. This is huge money for cartels. Its far more lucrative than drugs, Boyd added.

Texas sheriffs, as the first and last line of defense in their counties, have been on the front lines fighting illegal immigration for decades. Underfunded and understaffed, they received additional resources through Gov. Greg Abbotts border security initiative Operation Lone Star after the state legislature last year allocated a record $3 billion to the initiative.

Despite having more resources and an effective multi-agency network to push back the cartels, Boyd said, no one can really fathom whats coming.

By Bethany Blankley
A resident behind barriers sealing off an area under lockdown in Shanghai on April 14, 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Growing Defiance of COVID-19 Curbs in China Brings Wave of Arrests

BEIJINGSun Jian, a 37-year-old masters degree student in the Chinese city of Yantai, for months staged a solo campaign against his universitys COVID-19 prevention measures, including blistering criticism on social media.

The last straw for authorities came on March 27, when Sun walked around his campus carrying a placard that read lift the lockdown on Ludong.

Police detained him and on April 1 Ludong University expelled him, according to a letter from the university seen by Reuters.

University officials did not respond to a request for comment.

In China, draconian lockdowns have brought starvation, food shortages, family separations, lost wages, and economic pain.

Suns protest reflects growing frustration and resentment in a society with a COVID-19 strategy that is increasingly challenged by the Omicron variant.

In some cases the push-back has gone viral on social media, with video clips of citizens scuffling with health workers and screaming anger over lockdowns from the windows of their apartments.

Sun said his university had moved classes online and banned students from leaving campus, receiving packages, or getting outside food deliveries.

He said his social media accounts had been blocked.

Venting Off

Arrests and detentions for COVID-related rule-breaking surged in March, according to the results of a search on the Weibo social media platform for police statements, posts by state agencies, and state media reports from around China.

The search found 59 confirmed police cases and 26 arrests for COVID rule-breaking in January, and fewer in February. But in March, more than 600 police cases and 150 confirmed arrests were reported on Weibo, the review by Reuters found.

It is likely that the figures represent only a fraction of actual cases as not every incident makes it to social media or is reported by the authorities.

Public security departments also announced a surge in clampdowns on COVID-19 rule violations in March, with cities and counties publishing 80 notices on their Weibo accounts, compared with seven in January and 10 in February.

Most infractions involve citizens trying to skirt rules such as reporting travels on a health app, falsifying COVID-19 test results, and sneaking out of locked-down neighborhoods.

Assaults on health workers also surged.

Police also reported arrests of citizens who were venting off dissatisfaction and using inappropriate language related to the pandemic.

As the resentment simmers, authorities are trying to control the public message, often with censorship of online complaints.

On April 5, videos of a protest against lockdowns in Langfang, a city near Beijing, were quickly removed from Weibo.

Last week, Shanghai announced a crackdown on rumors, threatening to shut down offending social media chat groups.

But pushback from the public can yield results.

Last month, students at Sichuan University in the city of Chengdu forced university authorities to lift a campus lockdown after protesting, the South China Morning Post reported.

State media warnings have at times added fuel to the fire.

Thousands of social media posts used a Weibo hashtag for a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency about police clamping down on COVID-related misinformation to post criticism of the Chinese regimes coronavirus response.

By Friday, it had racked-up over half a billion views.
Our public health agencies such as the CDC and NIH, and television medical experts seem unable to address key health messages that could have a dramatic effect in reducing risk of severe sequelae in higher-risk populations such as the minority and African-American population to the scourge of SARS-CoV-2.

These agencies and media echo chambers squandered many opportunities to inform the public on simple yet very effective messaging (vitamin D supplementation, obesity control, early treatment etc.) that could have reduced morbidity and saved lives. They continue to. Not just for Covid-19, but for many other illnesses.

For example, obesity emerged as a potent super-loaded risk factor behind age in the harmful sequelae and a human target for SARS-CoV-2 in most studies, in addition to being elderly, frail and having comorbid conditions. Being younger with comorbid conditions also placed one at risk.

We knew this data very early on, maybe one month post-March 2020 yet the CDC etc. failed to either read the data, understand the data, or act on the data. It would have behooved our agencies to have addressed these risks in large-scale education programs for the populace and especially by calling for a reduction in body weight and particularly for the minority sub-groups (African-Americans).

In a similar light, studies showed that vitamin D supplementation for African-Americans has been associated with a lowered risk of severe disease and mortality from SARS-CoV-2. So the evidence was there; just the action by health agencies was absent.

Early ambulatory outpatient treatment with successful combination and sequenced antiviral agents, corticosteroids, and anti-clotting therapeutics should be used (and should have been used) widely to help the people at risk. The African-American community is aware that Covid (is) a killer for the obese: like pouring gasoline on top of a fire.

Unfortunately, more than two years into the pandemic, the manifest issue of public health education and sound policy decisions remain absent and aloof, given the erratic and confusing responses from the health and governing officials.

Now we face another looming concern: the potential danger of the chlorine, polyester, and microplastic components of the face masks (surgical principally but any of the mass-produced masks) that have become part of our daily lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emergent reports, albeit nascent and anecdotal but nevertheless vitally important (and will be clarified and defined in time) regarding the manufacture of masks, where, many of them (face masks) are made of polyester, so you have a microplastic problemmany of the face masks would contain polyester with chlorine compoundsif I have the mask in front of my face, then of course I inhale the microplastic directly and these substances are much more toxic than if you swallow them, as they get directly into the nervous system.

A very recent 2022 British publication (Jenner et al. Detection of microplastics in human lung tissue using FTIR spectroscopy) focused on polypropylene that is a component of the face masks and reported that such microplastics were identified in all regions of the human lungs using FTIR analysis. Furthermore, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate fibres were the most abundant. Researchers concluded that inhalation was a route of MP exposure. And that this study is the first to report MPs within human lung tissue samples, using FTIR spectroscopy.

There were also early reports of toxic mold, fungi, and bacteria that can pose a significant threat to the immune system by potentially weakening it. Of particular concern to us is the recent report of breathing in synthetic fibers in the face masks. This is of serious concern.

Loose particulate was seen on each type of mask. Also, tight and loose fibers were seen on each type of mask. If every foreign particle and every fiber in every facemask is always secure and not detachable by airflow, then there should be no risk of inhalation of such particles and fibers. However, if even a small portion of mask fibers is detachable by inspiratory airflow, or if there is debris in mask manufacture or packaging or handling, then there is the possibility of not only entry of foreign material to the airways, but also entry to deep lung tissue, and potential pathological consequences of foreign bodies in the lungs.

Reports are that Graphene is a strong, very thin material that is used in fabrication, but it can be harmful to lungs when inhaled and can cause long-term health problems.

There is a risk of potential inflammatory/fibrotic lung diseases because we are inhaling these materials in the masks now for two years with more duration to come and no end in sight. These substances might also be highly carcinogenic. Not just for us as adults but we must be very concerned about the risks especially to our children since they depend on us as mentors and guides for their decision-making.

These blue surgical masks pervade our lives. They remain ubiquitous. Health Canada issued a warning about blue and gray disposable face masks, which contain an asbestos-like substance associated with early pulmonary toxicity. The warning is specific to potentially toxic masks distributed within schools and daycares across Quebec. Health Canada (and full praise to them).discovered during a preliminary risk assessment that the masks contain microscopic graphene particles that, when inhaled, could cause severe lung damage.

Reports are and were that for a while now, some daycare educators had expressed suspicion about the masks, which were causing children to feel as though they were swallowing cat hair while wearing them. We now know that instead of cat hair, children were inhaling the equivalent of asbestos all day long.It appears to be a substance known as graphene.

What is indeed alarming is that the SNN200642 masks that were being used all across Canada in school classrooms had never been tested for safety or effectiveness. This is indeed a catastrophic failure by the regulators as these surgical face masks are linked to early pulmonary toxicity.

What is indeed frightening is that all of these blue and similar surgical face masks cause plastic fiber inhalation and the outcomes could be devastating, especially to our children. Yet it has pervaded and persons making Covid policy decisions do not seem to care about the harmful implications. These face mask plastics will degrade very slowly over time and as such, in the lungs it may remain and just build up to dangerous levels.

We do not even know what is an acceptable level, for there should be none. There is debate that the immune system can attack such foreign objects, thus driving prolonged inflammation which may lead to diseases such as cancer. And reused masks which pervade our daily lives, and based on our personal experiences, do produce more loosened fibers.

Dr. Richard Urso showed us just how dangerous these are by putting them under a microscope, revealing the melt-blown polypropylene plastic. Some masks even contain fiberglass and this is very dangerous as we know to inhale. We as parents make these decisions; we have to step back and question many of these decisions we are making that seem suboptimal. If it does not seem right, then you have to push back and question and demand the science, demand the data from these seemingly untethered experts.

We certainly did not get (across the last two years) and are not presently getting the due diligence and protection from public health experts, the relevant health agencies, and policy makers that we need.

Moreover, the mass media seems incapable of doing the investigative type of journalism to fully inform the populace on what the public needs to know. We close by reiterating the warning in the JAMA publication that Face masks should not be worn by healthy individuals to protect themselves from acquiring respiratory infection because there is no evidence to suggest that face masks worn by healthy individuals are effective in preventing people from becoming ill.

Every act has a consequence, and there is always risk. It is therefore imperative to weigh the consequences before embarking on a specific course of action. These are risk management decisions especially for parents and not because a Dr. Fauci type tells you to do something means that it is accurate or necessary. Just consider the nonsense we heard about double masking where he said use them one day only to then retract on another day.

Children come with a potent innate immune system that works tremendously well. At the same time and similarly, their immune systems are still being developed, and we have forced lockdowns, school closures, and masking on a developing child. We have no prior experience on the subsequent outcomes pertaining to childrens development, health, and well-being.

We may be faced with catastrophic consequences of what we did to our children over the last two years of unsound Covid restrictive policies, and allowed government technocrats to force these upon them. These are matters too important to nonchalantly disregard.

Republished from Brownstone Institute

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Huntington Beach Fatal Hit and Run Suspect Arrested

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.A Huntington Beach local was found and captured Friday, April 15 after being suspected of hitting an elderly man with his car April 14.

Blake Patraw, 23, was arrested Friday on suspicion of fleeing the deadly collision just before 5 p.m on Thursday, at Yorktown Avenue just east of Newland Street, where witnesses said they saw a grey vehicle hit a pedestrian, who was outside the crosswalk crossing north on Yorktown, according to Jennifer Carey of the Huntington Beach Police Department.

The victim was John Carroll Stout, 81, from Huntington Beach, who eventually succumbed to his injuries after being taken to a local hospital.

Witnesses of the crime saw the vehicle, believed to be a 20162018 Toyota Prius, and noted it was traveling in the far left line eastbound on Yorktown Avenue, where it hit a man crossing the intersection after passing through Newland street.

When police asked for help on social media Thursday evening, they received numerous tips, leading them to Patraw.

A man claiming to have been the first witness to the scene commented on Huntington Beach Polices Facebook page saying that the suspects car at first slowed down a few hundred yards away, but then took off before anyone realized they were fleeing.

Another Facebook commenter said that a gray Prius came to her husbands shop the following morning, wanting a quick window fix. The husband was able to take pictures of his license plate, though the suspect soon got anxious and peeled out. It was unclear if these were tips police used to catch Patraw.
A group of people thought to be illegal immigrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, England, on April 15, 2022. (Gareth Fuller/PA Media)

Illegal Entry to UK by Small Boats Reaches 6,000 This Year

The number of people who entered the UK illegally by crossing the English Channel in small boats this year has reached about 6,000.

On Friday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that six boats carrying 181 people were detected, following the crossing of 562 people in 14 boats on Thursday.

The MoD started publishing daily updates on the numbers of small boat arrivals as the Royal Navy took over operational command from the Home Office of handling boats crossing the Channel as part of a shake-up that will see the planned transfer of illegal immigrants to Rwanda.

The Home Office did not reveal the exact number of channel crossings it detected on Wednesday, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the number was around 600, which would make it the highest number so far this year. This figure has not yet been confirmed by either the Home Office or the MoD.

According to figures compiled by the PA news agency, around 6,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in the UK in small boats so far this year.

Political commentator Nigel Farage on Friday criticised the Navys involvement as a waste of time and resources, claiming the vessels used are too high to take people on board so their role is limited to towing back empty dinghies.

An MoD spokeswoman said the patrol vessels are being used to bolster the capability in the Channel until more appropriate boats are sourced.

In March this year, 3,066 people made the crossing.

This is nearly four times the amount recorded for the same month in 2021 (831) and more than 16 times the number in March 2020 (187).

It is also the fourth-highest monthly total recorded since the start of 2020, behind July (3,510), September (4,652), and November (6,869) last year.

A total of 28,395 people made the crossing in 2021, compared with 8,417 in 2020.

Setting out his new plan to tackle illegal immigration on Thursday, Johnson said seven out of 10 of those arriving in small boats from Europe last year were men under 40 who paid people smugglers to queue jump and [are] taking up our capacity to help genuine women and child refugees.

Johnson said he accepts that these people are in search of a better life, the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start, adding, but it is these hopesthose dreamsthat have been exploited by vile people smugglers who are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard, with men, women, and children drowning in unseaworthy boats and suffocating in refrigerated lorries.

PA Media contributed to this report.
The Logan Correctional Center in Logan County, Ill., in July 2019. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Illinois Corrections Employees Sue State Over COVID-19 Vaccine or Testing Mandate

Several dozen employees of the Illinois Department of Corrections are suing the state over COVID-19 vaccine or testing mandates.

A lawsuit filed in Christian County Circuit Court requests a temporary restraining order.

The 46 employees work at 18 different correctional facilities run by the state of Illinois.

In one of the filings from attorney Thomas DeVore on behalf of the plaintiffs, the lawsuit contends under Illinois law, an individual may refuse to receive vaccines, medications or other treatments.

IDOC was one of the last holdouts of state employees Gov. J.B. Pritzker mandated last fall to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. After reaching an impasse, Pritzker and the union representing more than 10,000 IDOC employees negotiated through interest arbitration. An arbitration panel in December said IDOC employees should be mandated to get the vaccine.

Plaintiffs played no role in those negotiations, the lawsuit said.

If the State Employees refuse to submit to vaccination or testing, the Defendants are threatening their livelihood by threatening to place them on no-pay administrative leave into perpetuity until he or she complies, the lawsuit said. The employees have not been deemed to be a public health risk by any certified local health department and have not been subjected to any vaccination or testing request by any certified local health department.

If vaccinations are to be required, the lawsuit contends this can only be accomplished by the certified local health departments following procedural and substantive due process.

DeVore has secured temporary restraining orders in similar situations, including most recently against Chicago Public Schools where several employees sued to block vaccine or testing mandates.

The IDOC employees suing the state come from the Big Muddy River Correctional Center, the Centralia Correctional Center, the Dixon Correctional Center, East Moline Corrections, the Graham Correctional Center, the Hill Correctional Center, the Illinois River Correctional Center, the Illinois Joliet Treatment Center, the Illinois Lawrence Correctional Center, the Illinois Lincoln Correctional Center, the Illinois Logan Correctional Center, the Illinois Pontiac Correctional Center, the Illinois Robinson Correctional Center, the Illinois Shawnee Correctional Center, the Illinois Taylorville Correctional Center, the Illinois Vienna Correctional Center, the Western Illinois Correctional Center, and the Illinois Jacksonville Correctional Center.

A spokesperson for IDOC couldnt be reached for comment.

By Greg Bishop
USS Abraham Lincoln (L), and JS Kongo (front), sail in formation during a U.S.-Japan bilateral exercise at the Sea of Japan on April 12, 2022. (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force via AP)

Japan, US Conduct Aegis Destroyer Joint Drill Amid North Koreas Nuclear Threats

Japans Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) said Friday that its destroyer equipped with the Aegis air defense system joined a two-day drill with the U.S. destroyers amid North Koreas nuclear threats.

MSDF said that its destroyer Kongo, equipped with Standard Missile-3 interceptors, conducted ballistic missile information-sharing training with the destroyer USS Spruance and the cruiser USS Mobile Bay in the Sea of Japan, Japan Times reported.

During the two-day joint drill, MSDF and the U.S. Navy exchanged radar information and coordinated their response to an incoming missile.

MSDF stated that the drill was aimed at  strengthening the capability of [the Japan-U.S. alliance] for effective deterrence and response and maintaining regional stability.

12 APR, JS KONGO and #JASDF F-2 conducted a bilateral exercise with #ABRAHAMLINCOLN #CSG in the Sea of Japan in order to strengthen the capability of #JPNUSAlliance for effective deterrence and response. Our works contribute to the regional peace and stability.#FOIP pic.twitter.com/3mz7wrcRoZ  Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (@jmsdf_pao_eng) April 13, 2022

This is our recent effort to deepen [the Japan-U.S.] close alliance to defend our nation and to secure peace and stability of this region from peace time, Japans Defense Ministry said in a tweet.

The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier group, Abraham Lincoln, also conducted operations with the Japanese forces in the Sea of Japan to reassure allies of the U.S. commitment to maintaining stability in the region.

South Korean Yonhap News Agency cited unnamed sources who claimed that the aircraft carrier was also operating in South Koreas southeastern city of Ulsan, and that it would be staying in the East Sea for three to five days.

This is the first deployment of a carrier group to the waters between South Korea and Japan since 2017. That year the USS Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, and Nimitz, and their multi-ship strike groups, deployed in a show of force over North Koreas missile and nuclear weapons tests.

The warship deployment came amid speculation that Pyongyang could engage in a provocative act and conduct nuclear tests in anticipation of the countrys late founding leader Kim Il-Sungs birthday on April 15.

We are worried that, in connection with the upcoming April 15th anniversary, [North Korea] may be tempted to take another provocative action. We obviously hope not, but we will be prepared, Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for North Korea, told reporters on April 6.

International monitors had said that commercial satellite imagery showed preparations for a military parade in the run-up to the national event, but there was no mention in North Koreas state media of a military parade happening as of Friday evening.

The celebration comes after North Korea carried out a series of nuclear tests in recent months, one of which involved the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-17, which experts dubbed a monster missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States and beyond.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, the man accused of killing multiple people at a Colorado supermarket in March 2021, is led into a courtroom for a hearing, , in Boulder, Colo., on Sept. 7, 2021. (David Zalubowski, Pool/AP Photo, File)

Judge: Colorado Shooting Suspect Incompetent to Stand Trial

BOULDER, Colo.A judge ruled Friday that a man charged with killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket last year is still mentally incompetent to stand trial, further delaying court proceedings in the case.

But the judge also said that assessment could change soon.

Experts at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo have said there is a substantial probability that Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, can be restored to competency within the reasonable future and remain competent by taking medications, Judge Ingrid Bakke said during a brief hearing. It is a prognosis she first mentioned in a March 11 scheduling order.

The prosecution of Alyssa has been on hold since December, when Bakke first ruled that he was mentally incompetent  unable to understand legal proceedings and work with his lawyers to defend himself.

Alissa is being treated at the state mental hospital and was not in court for Fridays hearing. The judge set a July 21 hearing to again evaluate Alissas competency to stand trial.

Bakkes ruling came nearly a month after Boulder, the home of the University of Colorado, marked the first anniversary of the attack that killed workers, customers, and a police officer who rushed inside the store.

Few details have been released about Alissas condition. Reports on his evaluations are not available to the public, but a court filing discussing one of the evaluations last year said he had been provisionally diagnosed with an unspecified mental health condition that limits his ability to meaningfully converse with others.

Competency is a different legal issue than a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, which involves whether someones mental health prevented them from understanding right from wrong at the time a crime was committed.

After the hearing, District Attorney Michael Dougherty said the average time to restore someone to competency is six months. He declined to speculate on when Alissa, who as been at the state hospital for four months, may be considered competent.

Robert Olds, the uncle of one of the 10 people killed, front-end manager Rikki Olds, said Alissa has more rights than the victims. He remains fairly hopeful Alissa will go on trial but does not want to anticipate what will happen next because the legal process has been moving slowly.

Eventually it will happen, I hope, he said of a trial. There is always that outside chance it wont happen.

Investigators have not released any information about why they believe Alissa launched the attack or why he may have targeted the supermarket. He lived in the nearby suburb of Arvada, where authorities say he passed a background check to legally buy the Ruger AR-556 pistol he allegedly used six days before the shooting.

The March 22, 2021, attack at a King Soopers grocery shocked a state that has seen its share of mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting.

Boulder police Officer Eric Talley, a 51-year-old father of seven, was shot and killed while rushing into the store with an initial team of police officers. In addition to Rikki Olds, Denny Stong, Neven Stanisic, Tralona Bartkowiak, Teri Leiker, Suzanne Fountain, Kevin Mahoney, Lynn Murray and Jody Waters were killed inside and outside the supermarket.

The remodeled King Soopers reopened in February, with about half of those who worked there at the time of the shooting choosing to return.
Judge Rejects Stacey Abramss Effort to Challenge Georgia Fundraising Law

A federal judge has rejected an effort by Stacey Abrams and her gubernatorial campaign to challenge a new Georgia fundraising law.

Abrams recently filed a lawsuit against Senate Bill 221, which allows groups chaired by the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the nominee for either post from major parties to raise funds without limit.

The law took effect on July 1, 2021, shortly after being passed by the state legislature and signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who beat Abrams in 2018 and is running for reelection.

U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen, an Obama nominee overseeing the case, said the challenge was turned down because of the relief Abrams sought. In her filings, Abrams claimed to already be the Democratic Party of Georgias nominee for governor, even though the primary elections arent until May.

Rather than address the alleged unconstitutional inequity created by the application of the [law] whereby Governor Kemp is able to raise unlimited funds through his leadership committee during a time period when Abrams is not permitted to do the same, the injunctive relief currently sought by Plaintiffs would require this court to find Abrams already is the Democratic Party nominee for Governor despite the fact that the primary election does not take place until May 24, 2022, Cohen wrote in a 34-page ruling.

Abrams, her campaign, and One Georgia, her leadership committee, effectively seek to have this Court re-write Georgia election code and the law as it relates to when a candidate is recognized as the nominee of a political party, he said.

Abrams had argued that the law illegally bars her campaign from working with One Georgia, her leadership committee. Abrams and the groups had asked Cohen to enjoin defendants from investigating them for alleged violations of the law.

The ruling was against a motion for a preliminary injunction, which means the case isnt over.

Lauren Groh-Wargo, campaign manager for Abrams, said in a statement that due to the ruling, it is more urgent than ever that supporters go to Abramss campaign website and give whatever they can.

Kemps campaign didnt respond by press time to a request for comment.

Cohen had recently ruled in a similar case that was brought by former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), Kemps chief rival in the Republican primary.

Under the law, Kemps groups can raise unlimited funds while Perdues cannot because Kemp is the governor while Perdue is not the Republican nominee, at least for now.

Perdue cast doubt on the constitutionality of a law that imposes different contribution limits for candidates who are competing against each other. Cohen agreed, saying Perdue was likely to succeed on the claim that his First Amendment rights were being violated.

The law in question effectively negates the contribution limit upon which all candidates for governor in the primary election are bound for just one person: Governor Kemp, the incumbent, he wrote in his ruling.

He enjoined Kemps committee from expending funds for the purpose of reelecting Kemp or the defeat of a Kemp opponent through the primary election and, if necessary, the primary runoff.
John and Marcy Harrison at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, in Calgary, on April 15, 2022. (NTD)

CALGARY, CanadaMarcy Harrison, a costume specialist in the film industry, was impressed with all of the costumes and colors in Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Their costumes are beautiful and very colorful. Its all just gorgeous, Ms. Harrison said after seeing Shen Yun at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary on April 15.

Shen Yun, a New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company, features many aspects that make it a unique performance: talented artists reviving Chinese traditional culture through classical Chinese dance, a unique orchestra that blends traditional Chinese instruments with classical Western instruments, a patented animated backdrop technology, and beautiful hand-made costumes and props.

Legends say that Chinas traditional culture is a gift from the divine. Accordingly, many symbols and motifs found on early Chinese artifacts depict heavenly themes such as gods, fairies, and celestial creatures. And permeating these age-old designs is the traditional principle of harmony between heaven and man, says Shen Yuns website.

Today, these very motifs have inspired elements of Shen Yun costumes, architectural designs in the backdrops, and more. In their own intricate way, they too are a medium for telling the story of Chinas 5,000 years of civilization.

Ms. Harrison said she enjoyed learning about traditional Chinese culture through Shen Yun, adding that the performance is interesting and educational.

Its all very beautiful, she said.

Curtain call at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, in Calgary, on April 15, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

John Harrison, a pastor, said he felt he was immersed in the Chinese culture while watching the Shen Yun performance.

Im enjoying the history part of it.  Its eye-opening  to understand the culture, he said.

China had [5,000 years of culture], and some of that has been lost maybe over the last few decades or centuries. So its good to see it being revived through the show here today.

Essence of Chinese Culture

Robert Manahan and his daughter at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary on April 15, 2022. (Sunny Chen/The Epoch Times)

Robert Manahan, a senior IT architect, commented on the various aspects of the Shen Yun performance that he found to be excellent.

Its really fun to watch, he said. Its the essence of what Chinese culture I think would be about.

Mr. Manahan said he enjoyed how each dance piece portrays a different storyline and noted the expressiveness of classical Chinese dance. He also praised the dancers for their athletic skill in performing the difficult leaps, jumps, and other techniques on the stage.

Theyre so quiet on their feet. Theyre jumping high in the air, but its soundless on the stage, he said.

Mr. Manahan said he also found the spiritual themes in Shen Yun engaging.

I find it intriguing the way that [they show how humanity] starts with divinity, he said, referring to the opening scene in which deities come down from the heavens to establish a magnificent culture in the human world.

Shen Yun is performing in Calgary from April 15 to April 17.

Reporting by Sunny Chen and NTD.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
A Billings man admitted last week to firing the shot that killed a man staying in his home in 2020.

Robert Webster Knight Jr., 64, has pleaded guilty in Yellowstone County District Court to one count of negligent homicide after reaching an agreement with county prosecutors. Although he sentencing will take place at a later date, prosecutors have recommended that Knight spend 20 years in prison for his role in the death of 33-year-old Kenneth Cobb.

Billings police responded to a hang-up 911 call from a residence on the 400 block of 19th Street West in the early hours of May 15, 2020, the Gazette previously reported. On their way to the area, they received a second call with the caller saying hed just shot a man. Officers arrived at the home and found Knight standing in the front yard dressed in a bathrobe.

Knight agreed to speak with police the morning of the shooting, and at no point denied shooting Cobb. He said Cobb was a friend who, along with his girlfriend, had been staying at his house for the past several days.

The afternoon prior to the shooting, Knight told police he spent several hours drinking alcohol at home with his neighbors after dropping off Cobb at work. When Cobbs girlfriend brought him home from work that evening, the three of them went into the houses basement bar where Cobb continued to drink. When Cobb and his girlfriend started to argue, according to court documents, he left the two and went upstairs to his bedroom.

The argument escalated, and Knight told Cobb to separate himself from his girlfriend. When the fighting continued, he told Cobb to leave. Cobb resisted Knights attempts to push him toward the stairs, documents say, and refused to go. Knight tried to dial 911 from a landline once before going back upstairs and getting a handgun from his nightstand.

He pointed the gun at Cobb, who continued to argue with Knight. The first time he squeezed the trigger, the gun misfired. The second time, a bullet went into Cobbs chest.

Officers placed Knight under arrest, and county prosecutors initially charged him with deliberate homicide. He was released from custody after bonding out of jail on May 22, and his trial was delayed several times over nearly two years. The same week his case was set to go to trial, Knight reached an agreement with prosecutors.

Along with the 20-year prison sentence, county prosecutors have recommended that Knight pay any restitution connected to Cobbs death. He will remain out of custody until his sentencing.

Cobb was one of nearly two dozen people killed in Billings throughout a record-setting year of violence. Billings police investigated 22 homicides in 2020, according to the latest data from the department, 16 of which were cases of deliberate homicides. In 2021, officers investigated nine homicides, the most reported since 2015.

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Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on Feb. 10, 2022. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Lessons For Elon Musk: 5 Notorious Failed Hostile Takeovers

As any student of industry knows, Elon Musk is hardly the first person to attempt a hostile takeover. But while the Tesla chieftains $54.20 per share bid for Twitter continues to resonate, lets pause to consider earlier attempts at hostile takeovers by well-respected and well-financed entities and individuals thatto ransack some Musk-worthy clichestook off like a rocket ship but eventually vanished like a wisp of blunt smoke.

Hewlett Packards Failed Takeover of PricewaterhouseCooper

In September 2000, HP Inc. sought to expand its technology advisory services by acquiring PwCs consultancy unit for $18 billion.

But two months after making its unsolicited bid, HP abruptly walked away after failing to secure any common ground with PwC. HP Chairwoman and CEO Carly Fiorina lamented that because of the current market environment, we are no longer confident that we can satisfy our value creation and employee retention objectivesand I am unwilling to subject the HP organization to the continuing distraction of pursuing this acquisition any further.

Two years later, HPs executives received a surprise call from PwC. It seemed that HPs rival IBM was making a bid for PwCs consulting unit for $3.5 billion, a considerably lower sum than HP offered, and PwC wanted to see if HP was interested in picking up from where it was previously disconnected. Juergen Rottler, vice-president of marketing of strategy and alliances at HP Services, told ComputerWeekly.com that HP was not eager to pick up where it left off.

I dont know the exact number and talks never really got down to that level, but it was in the same ballpark as what IBM is offering, he said.

Microsofts Failed Takeover of Yahoo!

In February 2008, Microsoft Corporation made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo! Inc., with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer insisting the combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.

Yahoo!, however, begged to differ and said the offer was too low. Microsoft threw another $5 billion into the offer, but Yahoo!s leadership piled on new demands to the would-be buyer while holding highly publicized talks with News Corp. Unwilling to engage in a proxy fight, Microsoft withdrew its offer after three months with Ballmer grumbling that the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us.

However, investor Carl Icahn had spent $1 billion on Yahoo! stock and accused the company of being irresponsible in rejecting Microsoft. Icahn teamed with another deep-pocketed investor, T. Boone Pickens, in a revolt against Yahoo!, but the company pacified Icahn by expanding its board to accommodate him and two of his hand-selected candidates.

Yahoo! was eventually acquired in 2016 by Verizon Communications for $4.83 billion.

Roches Failed Takeover of Illumina

In January 2012, Switzerlands Roche Holdings AG, a maker of cancer treatment pharmaceuticals, offered $6 billion to acquire Illumina Inc., a San Diego-based biotechnology firm specializing in gene sequencing.

Roche tried to play hardball with Illumina, which surprised its would-be predator by pointedly rejecting its offers, even as Roche hinted it was willing to increase the offer Illumina CEO Jay Flatley dismissed as inadequate.

Roche withdrew after three months when Illumina shareholders voted to reject the Swiss companys candidates for their board of directors and the Roche requested to expand the boards size. Roche CEO Severin Schwan commented his company would continue to consider options and opportunities to develop further its portfolio of businesses in order to expand its diagnostics leadership position.

Fast-forward eight years and Roche announced it signed a 15-year partnership with, of all companies, Illuminawhich happened after Roches planned $1.2 billion merger with Pacific Biosciences fell through over regulatory concerns. Francis deSouza, who succeeded Flatley as Illuminas CEO, stated he was excited that his company has selected Illuminas sequencers as their platform of choice to accelerate the adoption and broaden the reach of oncology-based, distributable IVD [in vitro diagnostics] tests into clinical care.

Carl Icahns Failed Takeover of Netflix

In the autumn of 2012, Icahn was back to his corporate raider routine, this time casting his eye on Netflix Inc. In October of that year, Icahn revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he acquired a 9.98 percent stake in the streaming service.

The Netflix leadership, to borrow a cinematic expression, had already seen that film and knew how it could end. On Nov. 2, the companys board of directors adopted a poison pill plan designed to flood the market with new shares in the event someone acquired a greater than 10 percent stake in the company.

Icahn was caught off-guard by the companys action and complained in a CNBC interview that the poison pill strategy against him was really reprehensible. While he hinted a hostile takeover was certainly an alternative, Icahn never made good on his threat and held his Netflix shares until June 2015 when he sold them for $2 billionhe paid $321 million in 2012 for that stake.

Xeroxs Failed Takeover of HP

In November 2019, the leadership of Xerox Holdings Corp., which came into authority through Icahns machinations earlier in the year, made an unsolicited takeover $33.5 billion bid for HP.

Two weeks after the offer was announced, HPs President and CEO Enrique Lores and Chairman Chip Bergh sent a letter to their Xerox counterparts calling attention to the decline of Xeroxs revenue from $10.2 billion to $9.2 billion (on a trailing 12-month basis) since June 2018, which raises significant questions for us regarding the trajectory of your business and future prospects.

Xerox didnt quite get the hint and made increasingly aggressive overtures, raising the price of its asking price and even offering to take HP shareholders out for a free dinner at a fancy restaurant in the ritzy New York City suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut.

Xeroxs pursuit continued until March 2020 when it suspended its efforts as the COVID-19 pandemic took root. Xerox officially dropped HP from its crosshairs in April 2020, and its later M&A activity would be limited to smaller, privately held companies.

By Phil Hall

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during the daily press briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Feb. 25, 2021. (Nicholas Kamm/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

RussiaUkraine (April 16): US Says Nothing Will Dissuade It From Arming Ukraine

The latest on the RussiaUkraine crisis, April 16. Click here for updates from April 15.

US Says Nothing Will Dissuade It From Arming Ukraine

The United States will continue to pour weapons into Ukraine, despite Russia reportedly warning of consequences, State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN on Friday.

Price told CNN that nothing will dissuade the U.S. government from funneling weapons to Ukraine. Earlier, Russia reportedly sent a diplomatic cable to Washington warning of unpredictable consequences if these arms shipments continue.

The Russians have said some things privately, they have said some things publicly; nothing will dissuade us from the strategy that weve embarked on, Price told CNNs Kate Bolduan. If the Kremlin is concerned that the Biden administration is providing billions of dollars worth of security assistance to our Ukrainian partners  then were guilty as charged, he added.

The United States has sent more than $2.5 billion worth of arms and other military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its offensive in February. Having initially shipped thousands of anti-tank missiles and large amounts of ammunition to the war-torn country, Washington has more recently forwarded heavier weapons.

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Russia Says Urban Areas of Mariupol Clear of Ukrainian Forces as Zelenskyy Vows to End Talks

Russia said Saturday that there are no Ukrainian troops in the urban area of Mariupol, a key battlefield in the east of Ukraine.

The entire urban territory of Mariupol is completely cleared of militants of the Nazist group Azov, foreign mercenaries, and Ukrainian troops, Russian Defense Ministry wrote in a social media post.

The remainder of the Ukrainian groups are blocked on Azovstal, one of Europes biggest metallurgical plants located in the east of Mariupol, the Kremlin said.

Their only chance to save their lives is to voluntarily lay down their weapons and surrender, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed.

Russias announcement came right after Zelenskyy threatened that the elimination of Ukrainian troops in Mariupol will make talks impossible.

The more Borodianka-like cases appear, there will be no chance that negotiations will be held actually, he said during an interview with Ukrainian media. The destruction of all our guys in Mariupolwhat they are doing nowcan put an end to any format of negotiations.

Borodianka is an urban-style settlement about 37 miles northwest of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv from which the Russian forces recently withdrew. Zelenskyy said that more than 300 civilians were killed by Russian forces, with about 30 of them executed.

Read the full article here

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Russians Strike 8 Ukrainian Cities, Hit Depot

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russian forces shelled an oil refinery in the city of Lysychansk on Saturday morning, and a large fire erupted on its territory.

Haidai said it wasnt the first time the refinery was targeted and accused the Russians of trying to exhaust local emergency service. He underlined that there was no fuel at the refinery at the time of the attack and the remains of oil sludge were burning.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv in the east; Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Kirovohrad in central Ukraine; and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. The strikes underlined that the whole country remained under threat despite Russias pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

In the city of Kharkiv, nine civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded on Friday, while in the wider region two were reported dead and three wounded, according to the report.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office report, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of regional legislature Hanna Zamazeyeva said on Saturday morning that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

The besieged port city of Mariupol is still holding out, but the situation there is critical.

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Russia Bars UK Prime Minister Over Sanctions

Russia has barred the UK prime minister and a dozen other top British officials from entering the country in response to British sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Russias Foreign Ministry announced the move that targets Boris Johnson, a number of British ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, on Saturday.

The ministrys statement cited unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials in Russia.

The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas are detrimental to the well-being and interests of the residents of Britain. Any sanctions attack will inevitably backfire on their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, the statement said.

On Friday evening, the ministry announced the expulsion of 18 European Union diplomats from Moscow, in retaliation for the blocs declaring 19 diplomats from the Russian mission to the E.U. and to the European Atomic Energy Community persona non-grata.

The European Union said the expulsions were groundless, and that E.U. diplomats targeted were working in the framework of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

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Wife of Arrested Ukrainian Opposition Leader Appeals to UK

Oksana Marchenko, the wife of arrested Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk, has released a video proposing to swap her husband for the two British fighters who reportedly surrendered to Russian and Donbas forces in Mariupol earlier this week.

Marchenko, a former TV presenter, recorded her message in both Russian and English and posted it on social media on Saturday, appealing to the families and friends of British nationals Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner.

It is in your power to ask the prime minister of your country, Boris Johnson, to influence the Ukrainian leadership and achieve the release of Aiden and Shaun through their exchange [for] the Ukrainian opposition politician detained by the Kyiv authoritiesmy husband Viktor Medvedchuk.

Medvedchuk is a lawmaker and the leader of Opposition PlatformFor Life, the second-largest party in Ukraines parliament. He opposed the 2014 Western-backed coup in Ukraine, and believes that the countrys turn to the West is detrimental to its national interests. Opponents accuse Medvedchuk of being a pro-Russian figure, which he denies.

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Russia Strikes Armoured Vehicle Plant, Military Repair Facility in Ukraine: Interfax

Russia destroyed production buildings of an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and a military repair facility in the city of Mykolaiv, the Interfax news agency quoted Russias defense ministry as saying on Saturday.

The strikes were carried out by high-precision long-range weapons, it said.

Russia also downed one Ukrainian SU-25 aircraft near the city of Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine, Interfax added, citing Russias defense ministry.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko also said in an online posting that Kyiv was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district in the eastern part of the capital, saying there were explosions.

He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene and that victims details would be released later.

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Ukraines Richest Man Vows to Rebuild Besieged Mariupol

Ukraines richest man has pledged to help rebuild the besieged city of Mariupol, a place close to his heart where he owns two vast steelworks that he says will once again compete globally.

Rinat Akhmetov has seen his business empire shattered by eight years of fighting in Ukraines east but remains defiant, sure that what he calls our brave soldiers will defend the Sea of Azov city reduced to a wasteland by seven weeks of bombardment.

For now, though, his Metinvest company, Ukraines biggest steelmaker, has announced it cannot deliver its supply contracts and while his financial and industrial SCM Group is servicing its debt obligations, his private power producer DTEK has optimized payment of its debts in an agreement with creditors.

He said that he was in daily contact with the Metinvest managers who run the Azovstal and Illich Iron and Steel Works plants in Mariupol.

On Friday, Metinvest said it would never operate under Russian occupation and that the Mariupol siege had disabled more than a third of Ukraines metallurgy production capacity.

He claimed that he returned to the country on Feb. 23 and has been there ever since.

My ambition is to return to a Ukrainian Mariupol and implement our (new production) plans so that Mariupol-produced steel can compete in global markets as before.

According to Forbes magazine, Akhmetovs net worth in 2013 reached $15.4 billion. It currently stands at $3.9 billion.

I am confident that, as the countrys biggest private business, SCM will play a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, he said, citing officials as saying the damage from the war has reached $1 trillion.

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Russia, China to Boost Freight Rail Traffic

Russian Railways (RZD) said on Friday it has agreed with its Chinese partners to gradually increase the number of freight trains through connecting stations.

In April, rail cargo transfer [between Russia and China] increased by 27 percent month-on-month in Zabaykalsk, and by 10 percent in Grodekovo, RZD said, adding that Export cargo transportation to China through Kazakhstan and Mongolia is also growing.

The company noted that in addition to growing volumes of coal, others types of cargo have been sent via the Baikal-Amur (BAM) and Trans-Siberian railways. The number of applications submitted for transportation over these railways increased by almost 30 percent compared to last year. In the first quarter of 2022, more than 3,500 heavy and 1,700 connected trains carried cargo via the strategic route in the supply chains of the two countries. The volume of additional cargo exceeded 6 million tons, RZD said.

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Ukraine Deputy PM: 9 Evacuation Corridors, Including Mariupol, Agreed for Saturday

Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said nine humanitarian corridors had been agreed for Saturday to evacuate civilians, including from the besieged city of Mariupol by private cars.

Vereshchuk said in a statement that five of the nine evacuation corridors were from Ukraines Luhansk region in the east of the country, which local officials have said is under heavy shelling.

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Russian Crowd Mourns Black Sea Flagship After Sinking

Dozens of people gathered in the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Friday to mourn the sinking of the flagship of Russias Black Sea Fleet, a symbol, the crowd heard, of hope, revival, and power until its demise.

Some embraced and others laid flowers in memory of the Moskva missile cruiser at a monument to the 1696 foundation of the Russian navy in the center of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet.

Moscow said the ship sank while being towed in stormy seas after a fire caused by an ammunition explosion.

Ukraine said one of its missiles had caused it to sink.

Reuters was unable to verify the exact circumstances of the ships demise.

Even for those who have not been on it, the Moskva was a symbol for everyone, a symbol of our power, of our hope, of the revival of the fleet in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, said Reserve Captain Sergei Gorbachev, who spoke to the crowd in his naval uniform.

There will be victories, there will be tragedies, but the memory remains, Gorbachev said.

The crowd, which included a number of people who served on the ship, stood in respectful silence. Some wore the ribbon of St. George, a symbol of the Russian military.

The loss of every ship, especially a flagship, is a tragedy for all those tens of thousands of people who served there for over 20 years, said priest Georgiy Ployakov.

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Zelenskyy Claims Russian Oil Ban Key Step to Peace

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the United States has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also claimed: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

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Zelenskyy: Mariupol Discussed With Leaders

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the countrys military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

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Rescuers and Medics on Site of Explosion in Kyivs Outskirts: Mayor

Rescuers and medics were working on the site of an early Saturday blast on the outskirts of Kyiv, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said in an online post.

The explosion took place in Kyivs Darnytskyi district, Klitschko said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. It is the southeastern district of Kyiv, on the left bank of Dnipro river.

Klitschko added that information on wounded is being confirmed.

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At Least Two Die in Russian Attacks Across Ukraine: Officials

At least two civilians were killed and four wounded in Russian attacks across Ukraine, local officials said early on Saturday.

One person was killed and three wounded in shelling in the eastern region of Luhansk, Governor Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post.

A gas pipeline was damaged in Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, which was without gas and water, Gaidai said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Evacuate, while it is still possible, Gaidai said in a subsequent post, adding that busses were ready for those willing to be evacuated from the region.

One person died and one was injured in an overnight attack on a small village near Poltava, the capital of the central Ukraine Poltava region, the regions Governor Dmytro Lunin said in a post on the Telegram.

Explosions were heard early on Saturday in Ukraines capital, Kyiv, in the north and the western city of Lviv, but there was no information on casualties or damages.

Kyivs mayor said that rescuers and medics were working on the explosion site on the outskirts of Kyiv.

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Air Strikes Hit Lviv Region, Governor Says

The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine reported air strikes in the region on Saturday morning.

Maksym Kozytskyy claimed on the Telegram messaging app that Russian Su-35 aircraft took off from the Baranovichi airfield in Belarus and carried out missile strikes in Lviv.

Ukraines air defense system shot down four cruise missiles, Kozytskyy claimed.

He didnt offer any details about possible casualties or damage.

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Allen Zhong, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
It is baked into the way that these schools operate to devalue academic achievement because they dont want a paper trail of how theyre failing your kids, says Luke Rosiak, an investigative reporter at the Daily Wire and author of Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education.

Even before the pandemic hit, 66 percent of American 4th graders were scoring less than Proficient on the Nations Report Card assessment.

As minority students fall behind, schools in America are abolishing standardized tests, A-B-C-D-F grading scales, and entrance exams.

In pursuit of equity, they have stopped measuring things. They started cooking the books. They started orienting everything around the lowest common denominator. And the result is really devastating for society, Rosiak says.

Jan Jekielek: Luke Rosiak, great to have you back on American Thought Leaders.

Luke Rosiak: Thanks for having me, Jan.

Mr. Jekielek: Race To The Bottom: Uncovering The Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education. I just finished reading your book this morning. Theres an unbelievable amount of research going on here. You say in the epilogue that talking to a number of people back in 2019, a number of local Floridians, basically made you rethink your whole concept of politics. So tell me about that.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes, that was a big moment of transformation for me. I was working here in DC as a reporter covering Capitol Hill, all that Washington stuff that a lot of people, including myself, thought was the most important. I hadnt really thought much about local politics at all, but people started contacting me about problems in schools and it was so personal in how it affected them.

I realized that most of what Congress does, to be honest, youre not likely to feel it personally as far as your day-to-day life. Theres a lot of things that local government does that have an impact. I also realized that because most people werent paying attention to local politics, things could go wrong. I quit my job and I decided to spend a year focused on nothing but the school problem, which really occurs across all of these 13,000 local school districts.

Mr. Jekielek: Some of these districts actually impact a huge number of people. The case you make in the book is that who gets to be on the board is largely under the radar in a lot of cases. Some people dont even realize that there are radical agendas at play.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, and thats a very large county. It has 1.2 million people. In 2019, one of the things that really woke me up to this issue was learning that out of the 10 Democrats on the Fairfax County School Board, none of them had kids in the school system. In the whole school board, none of them had any kids in the school system. So why would you run for school board if you didnt have any kids? It turned out that they all had their own weird political agenda, and they were using the schools as a vehicle, either to gain access to children, or to money, or to whatever.

Mr. Jekielek: You spent a year putting this book together. You had the idea that you were going to put this into a book. You saw something unusual happening in your own school district. You had heard from people, because you were writing stories in other places.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes, thats right. People were contacting me about schools. Basically, I saw that something was coming, that schools mattered, and that no one was paying attention to them. Because of that, special interests had really started colonizing these schools. It was really pervasive. It was almost everywhere. It started in places like Seattle and Minneapolis, but soon spread to places where you wouldnt expect it.

Shortly after, of course, coronavirus hit and a lot of people started paying attention to schools. But I started working on this book before then, and what I found is that a lot of what happened during coronavirus and with CRT (Critical Race Theory) was what they had already wanted to do. They used coronavirus to really ramp it up.

Mr. Jekielek: Okay. Thats actually quite interesting. You contend in the book that it might not be that the teachers unions are really fearing for the teachers safety. It may be that there is some other agenda at play with their desire to keep the kids out of school and keep the teachers out of school. Please explain that to me.

Mr. Rosiak: Of course. Even when theres coronavirus lockdowns in place, you could still go out to eat, at least. I lived in Virginia where the lockdowns were pretty bad, but you could go out to eat, you could travel. There were airlines having a stewardess walking down these narrow aisles. Youve got the mailman going from house to house. Everyones working. You can go to Target and youve got cashiers there.

The one job category that was refusing to do their job was teachers. We all know that kids arent vectors of these diseases. Of course, they were shutting down schools to get money and they got $80 billion in one bill alone, one bailout bill. They got more money than the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe, and the schools werent even open.

Where was the money going? They were basically taking your kids hostage. We all know that by now. But the thing to realize is that they have always operated these schools as employment centers for adults, as much as they have as places to educate children. Thats a huge problem. Weve almost forgotten that schools exist to educate children. But you also have to ask, If this is the kind of people that would do that, what else have they been doing all these decades when we havent been paying attention?

Mr. Jekielek: What do you mean by taking kids hostage? What do you mean exactly?

Mr. Rosiak: They said, Were not going to open schools unless you meet our conditions. Primarily, the conditions were a lot of money that they said they needed for safety, but it really wasnt true. In Fairfax County, they had a warehouse full of so many masks that they ran out of room in the warehouse. The next day, as I watched the school board meeting, the superintendents staff was reporting, We cant even fit anymore masks in. Were just loaded up.

The next day, the teachers union says, If you want us to go to school, youre going to have to give us money to buy masks. Theres dishonesty to it. They basically said were not going to go to work until you do ideological stuff. In Los Angeles, the teachers union said, We want welfare for illegal immigrants or else were not going to educate your children. So theres politics to it. Then theres also the selfish materialistic element of the teachers unions, just using this to get a raise.

Mr. Jekielek: Lets talk about One Fairfax. You actually dedicate a chapter in the book to One Fairfax, what it is and the genesis of that whole idea.

Mr. Rosiak: Sure. One of the most important concepts to understand is equity. A lot of the book is about critical race theory, but I dont really call it critical race theory. I call it equity, because thats what the school system calls it. Of course, theyre going to deny doing CRT, but almost every school district in the country is on record as supporting equity. It means equal outcomes by race, and basically thats communism.

It means forcing equal outcomes, either by bringing the top performers down or by just rigging the statistics. One of the things that these equity initiatives do, effectively, is seize power. Because in any bureaucracy, you have all these different offices and divisions. Its like little fiefdoms. They implant the equity stuff above it all, so that every decision from every department has to be cleared through the diversity or equity department, because of its impact on race.

In Fairfax County, there are groups called PolicyLink, and the Government Alliance for Racial Equity. They are two nonprofits that most people havent even heard of, but theyre very important nodes in this effort to take over local governments and spread this radical agenda. Theyve been doing it for about a decade. So they did a study. Essentially, one of them did a study on Fairfax County to determine, How can we take it over? They did that through a lot of plotting over many years, and then they passed a policy that said, Every decision must be made through the lens of equity.

Then they hired this firm to tell them what that meant. It included both the school system and the county government. Its a very powerful policy. What was remarkable is, if you go into the documents about these two activist groups, theyre very explicit about their methodology for taking over. Its almost like dominoes. Well take over this county, then this town, and then this city. One of them, PolicyLink, covers more than 10 per cent of all Americans.

Theyve colonized a good portion of America with these radical policies. Essentially, people are all paying attention to Washington and asking, Whats your opinion on the president? Honestly, we all have our opinion about the president, but it doesnt count for much, whereas, we could have an impact on local government. There was almost no one going to these sleepy town halls or county council meetings. Those who were showing up were lobbyists for these radical groups. They very meticulously took over every county in the country, just knocking them over like dominoes.

Mr. Jekielek: Fascinating. You mentioned that the term equity is actually used because they did some focus groups. They said, Oh, equity is something that we can actually get people to respond to in the right way.

Mr. Rosiak: Exactly. They were talking about disproportionality. With policies like affirmative action or disproportionality people can see that not every statistic has to be equal. Thats kind of a crazy concept. But really, they put a lot of energy and effort into studying it all. How can we manipulate people by using language? They realized that with equity, a lot of Americans were not paying attention. They literally thought equity was the same as equality, just because they sound similar. I hate to say it was as simple as that, but theres a couple letter changes, and they make a huge difference.

Mr. Jekielek: Right. Because equity means equality of outcome.

Mr. Rosiak: Correct.

Mr. Jekielek: In practice, youre saying that means equalizing around the bottom. Maybe give me a few examples where that actually happened.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. During the Obama administration there was concern about discipline disparities in schools, and they called it the school to prison pipeline, which essentially means that black boys are suspended more than others in schools. So Obama sent a letter from the Department of Justice to every school system saying youre going to be investigated unless your discipline rates were the same for all races. The rate of Asians suspended for bringing knives to school had to be the same as the rate of blacks for bringing knives to school.

But what if one of them brings more knives to school than the other? What do you do? You wind up having to cook the books and let people off the hook for committing serious infractions. There were people being beaten up every single day in schools and the school was doing nothing about it, because they didnt want to send in a spreadsheet that had the wrong number of blacks suspended.

For example, in Los Angeles, over a couple years during the Obama administration, the number of suspensions went from 75,000 a year to only 5,000 a year. Its essentially the total curtailing of any disciplinary action in schools. Unfortunately, it wasnt because the kids became better behaved. Thats kind of what equity is. Instead of changing behaviors, you just change appearances superficially, so that the optics look better.

Mr. Jekielek: Right. Because then you can say, Wow, weve actually reduced the number of disciplinary actions dramatically. I dont know what percentage it would be.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes, exactly. Then another one is these magnet schools, and this is really importantplaces like Stuyvesant in New York City, or Lowell in San Francisco, or Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax County. These are magnet schools dedicated to cultivating our best and brightest by working really hard. They go on to do things like create the next coronavirus vaccine. Jonas Salk, who invented the polio vaccine, went through these specialized schools in New York City.

Its been incredible to see the school systems start devaluing academic accomplishment. Literally, the teachers have turned against working hard and doing homework and getting the right answers, all in pursuit of equal outcomes. What you could do is try to help the minority, so that they do better, but the teachers have basically said, No, were not going to do that. Were just going to stop measuring. They try to do away with tests where these disparities are revealed, and say, Its bad to test kids becausewhatever. They have all their excuses.

But its really to prevent creating this paper trail. Again, if you want to help minorities and poor kids, you do it the same way you help anyone else. You give them that rigorous education in math and science and writing. Then they go on to get these well paid jobs. So, in pursuit of equity, they have stopped measuring things. They started cooking the books. They started orienting everything around the lowest common denominator.

The result will be really devastating for society, not long in the future, but over the next five to 10 years. Were not even trying to get the kids to be smart, because its better for the teachers to look like theyre succeeding. By not giving these kids failing grades, theyre not creating these disparities.

Mr. Jekielek: Lets talk about Stuyvesant and how everything unrolled in New York. Im somewhat familiar with this situation, but I think you describe it really well. You mentioned how this approach actually spread out from New York. Can you give me an overview of what happened?

Mr. Rosiak: Sure. You get into Stuyvesant through a test called the SAT and its an objective test where youre asked to answer math problems and theres also a writing component. For years, they had a lot of blacks and Hispanics in these schools. But over time that started going down and there started being more Asians in the schools. I think 80 per cent of the kids in Stuyvesant are now immigrants or the children of immigrants. 42 of these kids are actually homeless, and these are the most hardworking, genius kids.

Its really a fascinating place. Its the embodiment of the American dream, where you can come to New York City with nothing and wind up at the top of society through hard work. One of the reasons they used this standardized test to get in was to make sure that wealthy well-connected people couldnt use their connections.

The kids had to be skilled. That was the only way in. It was really a way to keep the elites from capturing this school, and merit was the great equalizer. It brought this very rigorous school to the middle class and the working class. But because of the fixation on race, they basically decided to do away with a test. There were a lot of activists who were pressuring them, Dont use the exam to get into the math school, because asking kids to answer math questions is not a good way to determine whether they know math.

This is the kind of thing where every teacher, every teachers college, and all the teachers unions accept this premise, which is an absurd premise. Its a conspiracy theory that should be laughed out of polite society. Of course, a test is a reasonable way to ascertain whether these kids know math. Of course, a test does not discriminate against black people. Theyre literally stating, because theres an English component to the test on the English language, it is biased against African-Americans, and in favor of Asians who speak English as a second language. Its totally absurd.

The truth is children are individuals and some of them are seeking out this school and willing to do five hours of homework a day. We need to cultivate the best and brightest. What happened here in Fairfax County is they got rid of the tests and they wound up having to do remedial math.

If were a society that isnt prioritizing math in our schools, whats going to happen to technology, and the quality of life that is brought to us by inventions, healthcare, and national defense? This is really a bizarre notion and they got rid of a lot of these screen schools. They havent quite gotten rid of the tests for SHSAT in New York City, but theyve gotten rid of some of the middle schools. There is still a pressure to demolish these magnet schools.

Mr. Jekielek: There was a huge pushback, of course. You mentioned in the book that Asian-Americans, in terms of earnings, are pretty low on the scale, so theyre kind of confusing to this whole racial equity narrative.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. Thats one of the things thats really apparent when you look at that chapter about Stuyvesant is how dishonest all of these education people are. They used to say, The reason why blacks and Hispanics arent getting in, is they cant take the test on the weekend. The truth is that many of them are not seeking to go to the school at all. Its not racism. Theyre literally not even applying.

So they say, Well, if youre black, you cant take the test. Youre occupied on the weekend. Its such a weird thing to say. Its like these white people in New York City who say, Oh, all blacks are not available on Saturday and Sunday. Theyre at the black convention that day. So they moved the test to a weekday, and the percentage of blacks taking the test only went down.

Mr. Jekielek: What I cant help thinking is, could it possibly be because you failed in your job in educating a certain portion of the population? Could it be?

Mr. Rosiak: Right.

Mr. Jekielek: It seems like it isnt often on the table.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. Ultimately, thats the issue with Stuyvesant. There are a million students in New York City, and theres only about 20,000 in the specialized schools. So to be honest, it doesnt really matter. Weve got to stay focused on the million. Thats the bigger picture. So why do they care so much what happens to these 20,000 kids in the specialized schools? The answer is because its the optics. When you look at Stuyvesant, what you see is a big picture of how kids are doing in New York City as a whole.

When you see that the blacks and Hispanics are largely absent, then what you see is that the people like the superintendent of New York City have totally failed all these black and Hispanic kids. One of the ways to do this, of course, is to start helping the kids. But another way to do it is to conceal the problem by just getting rid of the test. Then you put a couple of token students into Stuyvesant, but what you dont realize is that the vast majority of black and Hispanic kids in New York City are not passing any of their tests.

What you have to understand is were spending $29,000 per student per year in New York City. How do you spend that much money and get such bad results? So thats exactly right. What equity is about is giving up on helping minorities by just equalizing everyone, not by helping them, but by just manipulating outcomes.

Mr. Jekielek: This just strikes me as so absolutely bizarre. It almost implies that theres something wrong with the kids. Clearly, theres nothing wrong with the kids. The obvious thing to look at would be the educators. The case you make through the book is that this is just kind of an elaborate method. Its like this whole CRT ideology is being used kind of cynically as a way to avoid responsibility for not being very good at educating some portion of the students.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. The most important part of this book is looking at education over the last decade or two. What you realize is that CRT is just the cover-up. The crime is that theyre failing all of our kids, and in particular, the poor and minority kids. The cover-up is the various excuses they have to conceal it. CRT is obviously the big one, because they say, Tests are racist. Many of the black kids in our district are scoring very poorly, but its not our fault. Actually, the tests are racist and objectivity isnt real and wanting the right answer is an attribute of whiteness.

Mr. Rosiak: I have the documents where the consultants are going from district to district saying these exact phrases. Its an insane conspiracy theory. Its not something that my friends who are liberal would believe, that showing up on time is an attribute of white culture. Can you imagine someone saying that? Id never heard a black person say that. Its so bizarre. But when you look at it in the context of how that serves the teachers, it basically says, Oh, its not your fault for letting down these kids. You didnt really fail them. Its just this massive conspiracy where theyre actually doing fine, even though it doesnt manifest in students getting the right answer.

Mr. Jekielek: I want to go back to New York now. You make the case that this idea, never let a good crisis go to waste, was basically used as a way to push these radical agendas further. Weve talked about that, but what about how that actually extended past New York? Youre suggesting that New York was the epicenter.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. The superintendent at the time, Richard Carranza, said that phrase repeatedly, Never let a good crisis go to waste. They have these associations through which the superintendents from the big cities coordinate. He got together with the rest of them, and pretty soon you see the same ideas happening elsewhere. Those ideas were, We already wanted to get rid of tests. The teachers had always opposed what they call standardized testing, and they called it high stakes testing.

Its just a test that helps figure out if the schools are doing a good job. But theyve always wanted to get rid of that. Under coronavirus they did, because they said, Theres no school, so you cant do a test. But they also wanted to do a number of other things. They wanted to move away from grades like A-B-C-DE-F, to another system that they call standard space assessments, which is basically grading on a scale of one to four.

If you think about it, the top on a scale of one to four is really 75 per cent and up. What theyve done is to turn a C-plus into an A. They have all these different schemes that theyve been wanting to do for 10 years. During coronavirus, you see them ramming them through all at once. We cant do the tests and therefore we cant have gifted-and-talented in magnet schools, because theres no tests. Were not going to do letter grades, because a lot of kids are just being totally failed by remote learning. Theyre all failing or theyre not even showing up. So let them convert their Ds to a pass-fail, or their Cs to an A, using standard space assessments.

So this was serving the interests of the teachers unions and the administrators, in the sense that they just concealed that they were failing these kids, and they started ramming them through during coronavirus. They were very explicit that they intended to use coronavirus to do things that would be permanent. It was essentially evil what they did to the kids. Even to this day, 50 per cent of the kids in Los Angeles are truant. Theyre just missing. They dont come to school anymore. We lost them.

Mr. Jekielek: I just saw that headline on our front page this morning. Its stunning. Thats a huge school system.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. Think about the kids in the Bronx. Maybe they have a single mom with many siblings, and mom has to go to work. But the teachers said, No, we wont show up for work, so just deal with it. The teachers unions had these rallies in New York City, working with the Democratic Socialists of America.

They have Randi Weingarten, the head of the union, with her arm draped around Al Sharpton. They have time to do racial activism. They have time to do these job shakedowns where theyre demanding higher pay. Theyre willing to engage in these crowded protests. What theyre not willing to do is go to school with a couple of children, but they are willing to harm kids to get their way.

Mr. Jekielek: So how did this get out? Why do you think that New York was the place this whole approach radiated out from?

Mr. Rosiak: The way that they coordinate is they have all these associations. The National School Board Association, thats the group that called the parents domestic terrorists. Youve got all these school boards and maybe youve got your little town and you think the people on the school board are good and maybe they are. But there is this association that purports to speak on behalf of all school board members, and they go around basically using that voice.

There are radical ideologues that have taken over all of the associations. The groups that are doing that are the philanthropic foundations, like the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Some of these groups serve to propagate policies throughout the country, because its like the association for superintendents, or an association for all the different officials. When there is a jurisdiction that does these radical policies, the associations can then replicate it all over the country.

Mr. Jekielek: When they see that it is, effective, from their perspective?

Mr. Rosiak: No, it doesnt have to be effective. It never is effective. It never works. They state that its best practice, because another district has done it. But it doesnt actually have to be effective. Thats what is amazing, none of the things that these educators push are effective. They do everything wrong. They taught reading wrong. They still teach reading wrong. They have this system they call the cueing system. What it basically means is instead of teaching the kids phonics, you just have them guess.

If theres a picture on the opposing page, maybe just guess the name of the picture. Maybe look at the first letter, and then just guess what the rest of it might be. These people are insane. Everything theyve done is wrong. We should never listen to them. Yet, these are the people who are saying, The parents job is basically subordinate. We know what is best. Were going to take your kids.

That is really important to understand. Take ideology out of it and look at the academics. That is what I try to do throughout this book. Whether its reading or anything else, theres not really any reason to trust these people.

Mr. Jekielek: Its like ideology has taken over in the place of basic education. Its like ideology is perceived as education.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes, thats right. You basically have to look at it as two different groups with this weird alliance of convenience. You have the true believers, the radical ideologues or communists, but then you have the teachers unions and the administrators who use that ideology, because it happens to serve their goal. Their goal is to stop measuring things, in case people might see that were failing kids in general, and especially poor and minority kids.

Mr. Jekielek: Fascinating. When you say communist, do you mean anything that would fit under the woke umbrella?

Mr. Rosiak: No. I mean communism in the sense that their equity is the forced redistribution of merit and achievement. Forced, equal outcomes is communism. I also mean the groups that are pushing this, again, are basically the foundations. People ask, Where is critical race theory coming from? Its coming from those foundations like the Ford Foundation. Those groups routinely fund nonprofits that want to overthrow capitalism, and they are explicitly anti-capitalist.

Mr. Jekielek: You put all this material together and its robust. What are your conclusions? You mentioned that it changed your mind to thinking, Wow, local politics is really where its at. But what else did you realize along the way that you didnt know?

Mr. Rosiak: Its funny, because since I started writing the book, I broke a number of stories in Loudoun County, Virginia, including the cover-up of a rape there. That really resonated with people, because it showed that teachers and administrators are willing to harm kids to get their way. Theyre willing to allow sexual, emotional, and physical abuse on your children to advance their financial and ideological agenda.

Mr. Jekielek: Or at least allow for it to happen.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. So there was tremendous attention paid to those stories, but some people started thinking the issue is Loudoun County, or the Virginia schools are bad. After having written the book I said, No, youre totally missing the point. The phenomena that you see in Virginia are the same as the schools that you see everywhere else. Theres this thing where everyone thinks Congress is bad, but everyone likes their Congressman.

Were seeing the same thing now with the schools. They think, Oh, the schools in general are bad, but my schools are good. I dont have to worry about it. My kids teachers are good. The issue that Im grappling with now is people think its not in their school, but it is. The book explains how it spreads through these consultants, these foundations, and these associations. It explains how it is baked into the way that these schools operate to devalue academic achievement, because they dont want a paper trail of how theyre failing your kids.

Basically, theyre not going to admit that all this stuff is going on, but I try to explain in the book how this is in your school district and how you can identify it. These ideas are so prevalent, so pervasive and so pernicious, that if we dont regain control of our schools now, I dont know whats going to happen to our country in 10 years.

The schools are not the domain of teachers. Theyre not the domain of administrators. Teachers go into colleges with the lowest SAT scores of any major, and then they graduate college with the highest GPA. So you see things like in San Francisco during coronavirus, they were renaming schoolstaking Abraham Lincolns name off of schools for anti-racism, but the schools were closed. Its total optics. Theyre always manipulating the superficial, so that parents dont see whats going on inside, which is academic rot. Your kids, regardless of their race or their income, are just not learning as much as they should be.

Mr. Jekielek: Theres something you mentioned in the book that I kept coming back to as I was reading. You mentioned that in critical race theory, I dont know if its a tenet or an approach or a tool, but you said theres counter-storytelling. What you just described makes me think this is a kind of counter-storytelling. Maybe briefly tell me what it is, and how you saw it manifest? Then Ill tell you more about why I keep thinking about it.

Mr. Rosiak: CRT opposes whiteness, but then it redefines whiteness to mean anything that is dominant. So theres this sleight-of-hand where its creepy enough to oppose whiteness, because its kind of like racist. But to oppose anything that is dominant is really just nihilism and anarchy. They will dismantle things just because theyre dominant. Theyll say that the scientific method is dominant and therefore it should be dismantled.

So CRT is a takeover ideology that rejects objectivity. One of the ways they do that is by saying lived experience counts more than facts. So you can go into a courtroom and a DA could find you guilty, but you could say that youre innocent in some subjective way. A society cant function on some philosophical framework that rejects objectivity. But thats what CRT does. It validates the lived experience, which is just whatever you say it is, or however you feel.

Thats what counter-storytelling is. They call it counter-storytelling, because the issue is if objectivity isnt real and all that matters is how we feel, then what if you and I feel differently? How do we reconcile that? So its counter-storytelling, because subjectivity preempts objectivity, but only if it furthers critical race theory. In other words, both of our feelings matter, but our feelings only matter if they serve the ends of CRT. If your lived experience is something that doesnt help advance the CRT takeover, then your lived experience doesnt matter. So it really is a takeover ideology that results in the total breakdown of anything that works, without really offering any solutions.

Mr. Jekielek: When I think about counter-storytelling, it strikes me as anything that advances the political agenda. Essentially, a made-up story is actually perfectly fine and legitimate to use, as long as its for the revolution or for the political agenda, so to speak. I saw that theme coming through again, and again, and again.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes, thats right. Youre exactly right. I said lived experience, but they admit it doesnt even have to be your lived experience. If your lived experience doesnt help advance their goals, you can just literally make something up. There is a tremendous dishonesty running through all of this CRT stuff and then the broader education stuff over decades.

Look at how they say things like, Schools are underfunded. Thats something theyve been saying for 20 years. Its never been true. Theyre just straight up lying. When I started working on this project, at first I thought, Is there some caveat here? Are they being like lawyers? Have they got some way where its technically true, but its misleading.

No, they just lie and they just repeat it enough until it feels like it is true. You cant believe how dishonest all of the discourse is around education. Its really just because people havent been paying attention or they just accept the word of whoever is saying it, because they would know best. Even when you talk about school boards, people will vote for teachers because they say, Well, theyre a teacher. They probably know about schools. Thats so lazy. Its such a conflict of interest to have a teacher on a school board. Its incredible. Why would you do that?

Even the Parent Teacher Association, why isnt it just a parents association? If you are a parent whos trying to do the right thing and be involved in your childs education, instead of monitoring whether the school is doing a good job, they relegate the parents role to going to the kitchen and baking cookies for the teachers, and then selling them and giving the teachers money.

They turn parents role in schools into giving extra money to the teachers and just being subordinate to them. Thats not the role that parents should have. But they know that once parents start paying attention, everything changes as far as schools in this country.

Mr. Jekielek: This reminds me of your chapter about Brian Davidson, a parent who really did take some very keen interest, and what the pushback against him was. I want to finish up with that anecdote, because its powerful what one parent can do. CRT, originally, was an idea. CRT is kind of a lens of looking at the world, correct?

Lets pretend that the answer to every question is racism. If we assume thats the CRT lens, perhaps in an intellectual way, you can use this as a way to study the world and see what you learn from that. But to adopt it as an ideology for reality or something thats an explanation for reality sounds bizarre. You mentioned the Howard Zinn perspective, which is actually quite similar. Howard Zinn himself built his whole history as a kind of a lens to look through. I dont think even he was suggesting that it was actually reality, but its been taken that way by a lot of school systems.

It seemed like theres a theme here of taking a very specific lens on the world that might be an academic lens for some sort of social theory studies and saying, No, this is actually reality. What do you think?

Mr. Rosiak: Yes, thats exactly right. CRT is a hammer looking for nails. Everything is racist. The problem is we live in a very broad world with a lot of things for the kids to learn about. Its not all about racism. They do have this problem if they cant walk and chew gum at the same time. CRT is a takeover mechanism. Its not just one thing out of many that your kids learn about. It will take over every other subject. I love it when they try to say its about teaching slavery in history class.

Thats so absurd. I spent two years studying this stuff. Theres no reasonable way you can think thats what this is about. This is about stuff in homeroom and science class and math class. In the Illinois Math And Science Academy, which is the top math school in Illinois, theyre saying math should be replaced by Mathmatx, which incorporates Indigenous Ways of Knowing. In the Indigenous Ways of Knowing, there is no such thing as the right answer to a math problem. And this is all pushed by a black consultant who wouldnt know anything about Native American stuff.

Its completely insane. Its a total takeover ideology. What really bothers me is if we take Democrat and Republican out of it, we all just want our kids to be happy. Having your kids focus relentlessly on this idea of negativity and oppression in America is bad. The kids dont have the context for that, and its not offered as a counter-perspective. Its offered every single minute of the day.

Were just making kids unhappy, and making kids sad is bad. We want to preserve a joyous and innocent childhood for our kids. Thats what they deserve.

Mr. Jekielek: As we finish up, I both loved and was horrified by the story of Brian Davidson in Loudoun County. Tell me a bit about him and what people can learn, and about how parents can learn how they might approach this.

Mr. Rosiak: Sure. Hes a mathematician, and this was back in 2014. The Obama administration wanted to start measuring schools, not by what percentage of kids pass their tests, but how kids were progressing over time. So it was really smart and it was a good policy. What you would do is whatever score a kid got on his state exam last year, take the same kids exam test the next year, and figure out did he improve by a lot? Did he actually go down? Is he holding steady? In that way, you can figure out whether the schools are doing their job and whether the teachers are doing their job.

The important thing is by doing that, you get rid of this noise about, Oh, schools in the inner cities are not good. Kids start at different places. Some of them enter kindergarten better prepared, but it doesnt mean the kids cant learn. And so there was this different way of viewing things that was way more accurate. The problem was because it was accurate, it showed that a lot of teachers were not actually doing their job.

It also showed that some teachers were good. The teachers unions were very opposed to using this system of measurements, called the student growth percentiles. Theyre actually breaking the law by not doing it. So this dad starts pointing it out, Excuse me, heres the law. Youre clearly breaking the law. They start targeting him. They call the police on him. They try to get his kids taken away by Child Protective Services.

The only reason they can come up with is, one day, his kids wore rain boots to school when they had kickball practice. Its insane. They literally tried to destroy this guys life. He was a popular father. He was elected president of the PTA. So the school system disbanded the PTA when he won. They called his father who was in his 90s to tattle on him. They called his employer. They did things to destroy this father who was simply calling attention to how we could analyze test scores in a way that could be helpful to improving the experience kids had in schools. It was so vitriolic. It was so intense and it was so personal.

I like the story, because it comes from 2014, 2015. This wasnt ideological. This guy actually wanted a President Obama policy enforced. But the reaction was the same as the reaction were seeing now to people that criticize CRT. Anyone who basically intrudes on the fiefdom of the teachers and administrators, they get that same reaction.

Mr. Jekielek: The thing that I found inspiring about the story, it was obviously very difficult, but the guy stuck with it against all odds.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. Thats what you have to do. You have to be persistent here. One of the things people can do is run for school board. You might think, Well, Im just a regular parent. I dont have any background in education. Thats the point. It is much better to have outsiders. Dont be confused by all their jargon. If youre not going to run for school board, at least show up for these meetings. You have to show up with courage and confidence.

You get courage by understanding that there are very bad people who are coming for your kids. If you dont fight, you cant rely on someone else to do it, because some of these school districts are pretty small. If not you, then whos going to step up? You gain confidence by learning everything you can, so that you can engage with them in a precise way.

Thats one of the things I try to help people with this bookunderstanding all their jargon. If they throw out this alphabet soup of nonsense at you, you can say, I understand what you said, but its stupid and heres why. Because it is stupid. Thats one of the things I found, they construct this needlessly complex language specifically to keep parents out. They have their whole education lingo. Its the dumbest ideas imaginable dressed up in unnecessarily long words. But its not that hard for parents to learn it and then show up, because weve got to take control. These are our schools.

You can also do everything I just talked about if youre not a parent. This journey started for me when I realized that out of all of the school board members in my town, none of them had kids in the school system. They were all there to push through weird politics. Well, by the same token, we as taxpayers, can go to these school board meetings and start being active.

If youre a grandparent, if your kids are grown, you have a right to those schools. The schools take the largest portion of your tax dollars, so they are your schools. Theyre part of your community. You have every right to hold them accountable. A funny thing about grandparents is sometimes parents worry that somehow their kid is going to be retaliated against. They cant retaliate against grandparents.

Mr. Jekielek: Heres a final thing. Something I learned from reading your book is just because its loud doesnt mean its the majority perspective. A lot of parents might think, Wow, all these people seem to be into this ideology. Whos with me here? Actually, there might be a lot. I know for a fact there are a lot more people that have issues with this approach to education. Its just not that obvious if you just look at the corporate media coverage.

Mr. Rosiak: Yes. Theres definitely a silent majority problem. For decades, even predating CRT, the people that have shown up to these meetings are the insiders. But parents matter. Parents are the most surprising, special interest group in America right now. Theres a special interest group for everything else. Theres a lot of us. Anyone whos ever procreated, youre one of us, the newest special interest group in America. Everything changes. It is not even a Democrat versus Republican idea. The stuff theyre doing in the schools is so radical that even most Democrats wouldnt agree with it.

You also have Asians that are really mobilized by the assault on rigor. The people in Virginia who are traditional Democrats, who then voted for Glenn Youngkin, are a good example of this. The traditional alliances all start shaking up once people start paying attention to schools. Paying an average of $17,000 per student per year, which is what we pay, and getting an average of 36 per cent literacy among 12th graders, and a 24 per cent proficiency in math is a completely untenable reality. Once we realize that, somethings got to change.

Mr. Jekielek: Luke Rosiak, its such a pleasure to have you on the show again.

Mr. Rosiak: Great to be with you.

Mr. Jekielek: Thank you all for joining us for this episode of American Thought Leaders with myself and Luke Rosiak, author of Race to the Bottom. Im your host, Jan Jekielek.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts as he attends a parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, in this image released by North Korea's Central News Agency on Oct. 10, 2020. (KCNA via Reuters)

North Korea Celebrates Founders Birthday, but No Signs of Military Parade

North Korea celebrated the 110th birthday of its late founder on April 15, but there was no sign of an expected military parade showcasing the countrys latest weaponry.

State media aired live footage of an evening gala in Kim Il Sung Square after sundown on April 15, although the footage gave no sign that an anticipated military parade took place.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), all the participants at Kim Il Sung raised stormy cheers of Hurrah when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared, and fireworks were set off.

KCNA reported that phrases such as independence in politics and self-reliance in defense were displayed at the complex to symbolize the nations path to victory.

It stated that the festival artistically depicted Kim Il Sungs native home and the sacred mountain of revolution, Mt. Paektu. Residents could also take photos in front of arches lit with phrases such as Pyongyang Is Best and We Are the Happiest in the World.

Pyongyang usually holds a military parade on the Day of the Sun, the birthday of its founder, Kim Il Sung, to display its new weaponry. The event on April 15 is also considered to be the most important national holiday in North Korea.

Specialist service site NK News cited on April 15 unnamed persons who claimed to have heard the sound of jet aircraft and helicopters flying low over the city center the day before the event.

Satellite imagery also shows that nearly non-stop training was taking place at the Mirim military parade training complex in the weeks preceding the national event, with thousands of troops marching in formation, NK News said.

But there was no mention in state media of a military parade happening as of the evening of April 15.

The United States and South Korea had also expected Pyongyang to mark the national event with new weaponry or engage in a provocative act by conducting nuclear tests.

The U.S. Navy reportedly deployed a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier group this week to the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula to reassure allies and partners of the U.S. commitment to maintaining stability in the region.

We are worried that, in connection with the upcoming April 15 anniversary, [North Korea] may be tempted to take another provocative action. We obviously hope not, but we will be prepared, Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for North Korea, told reporters on April 6.

North Korea has conducted more than 10 missile tests since the start of the year, one of which involved a Hwasong-17, which experts dubbed a monster missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States and beyond.

Reuters contributed to this report.
STORY AT-A-GLANCE

One study showed remdesivir lowered hospital days by 30%, yet doctors in Florida are finding that people who take the drug are staying longer than those who dont

The company priced the drug based on how much it could save in hospital costs. The cost to produce, package and ship one vial is $10, while the commercial price is $520 per vial

Big Pharma is poised to make large profits from drugs and vaccines that the U.S. government subsidized during the COVID-19 pandemic

I believe it is crucial that you proactively support your immune system and not wait for a drug or vaccine with unknown, potentially long-term side effects. Optimizing your vitamin D is likely the easiest, least expensive and most beneficial strategy

In early 2020, a global pandemic spurred the world into action, especially in the science community. Researchers began seeking to discover how the COVID-19 virus worked and to uncover the best methods for testing, treating and vaccinating. One of the interventions that the biomedical community has been pursuing is the use of antivirals, including remdesivir.

The drug was initially analyzed during the Ebola outbreak several years ago but never approved. Its development was the result of a collaboration involving Gilead Sciences, the CDC and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Testing was also done on SARS and MERS, which are both zoonotic coronaviruses, as well as two types of common human coronavirus which trigger the common cold. The medication was developed with a $99 million grant from the American government.[1] A 2017 report noted that the Department of Defense  is cost-sharing with Gilead biosciences for continued development of this product.[2]

At the time it was labeled GS-5734.[3] The initial studies that Gilead used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the drug had problems with the way they were designed, and changes made during the study would have negated the results.

Del Bigtree from Highwire, who serves as CEO of the Informed Consent Action Network, described the issues with the studies in detail. However, as just one of many technology platforms censoring or eliminating accounts that do not share the corporate view, YouTube terminated Bigtrees entire account.

This severing of information from public view has earned YouTube the title of ministry of information by some, because it infers that only YouTube/Google know whats right and wrong, according to user posts.[4]

Remdesivir Lengthens Hospital Stays for Some

As described in one study published in The Lancet, scientists conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation at 10 hospitals in China[5] from February 6, 2020, to March 12, 2020.

Two-hundred thirty-seven people were enrolled and randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a placebo group. The results showed that remdesivir was not associated with statistically significant clinical benefits, and had to be stopped early because it was believed to have caused adverse events.

Despite a lack of strong evidence that the drug is beneficial, it is being used globally. In a highly quoted study about the drug, it was purported that it may have shortened hospital stays by 31%, from 15 days to 11.[6]

Dr. George Ralls with Orlando Health reports they are seeing positive benefits with remdesivir.[7] However, he is also attributing a lengthier hospital stay to the time needed to complete a course of remdesivir. Interestingly, he also said the drug is keeping people in longer than if they werent taking the drug:

Once they start on this medication  they need it for five days, so they are in the hospital longer than they would have normally been. So that could be a reason why our inpatient numbers have ticked up a little.

It does not appear, then, that the drug is shortening hospital stays.

Alternatives Are Available, but Ignored

In a paper from Dr. Harvey Risch of the Yale School of Public Health, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was cited as necessary to helping halt the pandemic.

The combination of inexpensive medications is highly effective during the first phase of the infection, before hospitalization. This does not compete with the intravenous drug remdesivir, used only after a person is hospitalized. Risch noted:[8]

Remdesivir has shown mild effectiveness in hospitalized inpatients, but no trials have been registered in outpatients. Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been widely misrepresented in both clinical reports and public media, and outpatient trials results are not expected until September. Early outpatient illness is very different than later hospitalized florid disease and the treatments differ. Five studies, including two controlled clinical trials, have demonstrated significant major outpatient treatment efficacy. Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been used as standard-of-care in more than 300,000 older adults with multicomorbidities  These medications need to be widely available and promoted immediately for physicians to prescribe.

According to Global Research, the same protocol is showing significant success in China, India, Senegal and Brazil.[9]

As I have also written, French microbiologist and infectious disease expert Didier Raoult, director of a research unit at Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire in France, has reported that using a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, administered immediately upon diagnosis in 1,061 people, led to recovery and virological cure in 91.7% of patients.[10]

It is also important to note that unlike remdesivir  which has had side effects severe enough to stop clinical trials  the hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin combination showed no cardiac toxicity, rhythmic cardiac events or sudden death in patient data.

$3,120 Five-Day Remdesivir: A Spectacularly Good Value

The long-awaited price for remdesivir was announced June 29, 2020, by Gilead Sciences. As reported in NPR, there was months of speculation as the company tried to figure out how to balance profit and public health needs in the middle of a pandemic.[11] Daniel ODay, chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences, published an open letter in which he said:[12]

Remdesivir, our investigational treatment, is the first antiviral to have demonstrated patient improvement in clinical trials for COVID-19 and there is no playbook for how to price a new medicine in a pandemic.

While the drug has demonstrated only questionable benefits, ODay is correct in saying there are no guidelines on pricing a new medicine in a pandemic. Yet, he believes Gilead balanced corporate profits and public health when they settled on $520 per vial, which equates to $3,120 for the recommended five-day course of treatment (on the first day, a double dose is given).

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released the calculated total cost of production, packaging and a small profit margin May 1, 2020. The cost was rounded to $10 per vial.[13]

The same group noted that the company could charge a much higher rate depending on its effectiveness, with Dave Whitrap from ICER qualifying that statement by saying, If the drug doesnt impact mortality and only shortens recovery time, we figure a course of treatment is worth about $310.[14] Gilead is currently charging $2,810 more for a drug that has already proven it doesnt reduce mortality.[15]

ODay wrote that under normal circumstances a medication would be priced according to the value it provides.[16] In this case they estimated that early discharge from the hospital would save approximately $12,000 per patient.

They believe the $3,120 price tag does not hinder anyone from receiving treatment, while it balances their responsibilities to continue work on remdesivir and research on antivirals.

High Level Coronavirus Profiteering

When the price for the drug was announced, an analyst for SVB Leerink, which is an investment bank, described the price as a spectacularly good value. The analyst, Geoffrey Porges, added that it is unprecedented to price the drug below the medical costs that its saving. He believes remdesivir has the potential to save $40,000 per patient by preventing someone from entering the ICU.

He also believes theres more value that Gilead has not built into their price. In other words, a drug that taxpayers poured $99 million into the development of, and for which Gilead pays $10 per vial ($60 per course of treatment) to produce, is somehow underpriced at $3,120 for a single course of treatment.[17]

This is not the first time Gilead has leveraged exorbitant markups on their products. Sovaldi was billed as a groundbreaking drug to treat hepatitis C, for which Gilead charges $84,000 for each course of treatment.[18] While some see the price for remdesivir as reasonable, its important to remember that drug production is nearly riskless for Big Pharma as they are often subsidized by the government.[19]

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, has been outspoken about the profits the pharmaceutical industry and others are making off the pandemic, saying, The power of the industry combined with fear is driving extraordinary spending. It all suggests rosy times ahead for the pharmaceutical industry.[20]

Big Pharma Poised to Make Big Profits

The profiteering has started for Gilead, which has a market capitalization of $90 billion[21] and developed their antiviral drug with the help of your tax dollars. The day after the price was announced, the U.S. government bought 500,000 doses. Then, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said this was so patients would not be charged the real cost of the drug.

On the surface, this means individuals will not be charged, yet all Americans are paying with their tax dollars. Emergency vaccine spending bills were recently passed, allocating $6 billion for manufacturing and distribution and $20 billion for development.

As Doggett points out, The public will pay for much research and manufacturing. Only the profits will be privatized. Were in the extraordinary position of spending billions on vaccines before we know if they work.[22]

Rolling Stone reports that some large pharmaceutical companies have made pledges regarding the cost of future vaccines, including Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Astra Zeneca CEO Pascal Soriot announced, Well do it at no profit.[23]

Yet, when Doggett and his staff contacted the drug companies for clarification about what their statements meant, they did not get an answer, nor was there definition of cost included. Gestures like this may look good in the news but only time will tell if they keep their promises.

Without announcing an end date and knowing that many public health experts will be pushing a vaccine for many years, its highly unlikely that any pharmaceutical company will provide a drug at cost for more than a short time to meet the initial need.

Healthy Choices That Make a Difference

I recommend that you take a proactive approach in supporting your immune system. It has become more apparent with every passing week that optimizing your vitamin D level is likely the easiest, least expensive and most beneficial strategy you can use to minimize your risk.

The best time to start addressing your vitamin D level is right now, before you feel ill. Youll find more information about the importance of vitamin D and how the body uses it to combat coronavirus and other infectious diseases in a journal article I co-wrote, Evidence Regarding Vitamin D and Risk of COVID-19 and Its Severity.

It is my hope you use this resource to spread the word about the significance of vitamin D to your friends and family.

Originally published Dec 5, 2021 on Mercola.com
A California Department of Corrections officer speaks to inmates at Chino State Prison in Chino, Calif., on Dec. 10, 2010. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Public Commenters Weigh in on Early Release of California State Prisoners

Amid the pending decision to make it easier for inmates to earn good conduct credits for early release, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation took public comment on the issue during an April 14 teleconference in advance of establishing a permanent inmate credit-earning system.

The corrections department is seeking to pass a proposal that would allow state inmates to serve shorter sentences if they participate in firefighting, educational courses, and other rehabilitation programsan initiative that was created under Proposition 57 passed by California voters in 2016.

The good conduct credit program allows sentence reduction for incarcerated individuals who have demonstrated good behavior.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, rules were adjusted to make it easier for inmates to earn creditsallowing those with violent convictions to earn up to a third off their sentence and for non-violent convicts to earn up to half off their sentence, according to the corrections department.

Hundreds of speakers, in response, called in on Thursday morning.

Those supporting included former inmates, family members of those incarcerated, rehabilitation advocates and members of the Anti-Recidivism Coalitionan organization that strives to end mass incarceration.

Gary Burt, who said he was formerly incarcerated, argued that rehabilitative and education make communities safer, saying that [he knows] firsthand how important these opportunities are [for inmates to rejoin the society].

A former inmate who was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison when he was 21, spoke in favor of the early releases arguing that her release and rehabilitation gave her a chance to attend college and change her life.

Unfortunately, crime [happens], but I dont believe keeping people in cages will stop the crime from happening, she said. She detailed in her comments how sexual assualt and drugs within the prison system kept her from moving forward in life.

A daughter whose father was murdered also voiced support.

You cannot let your mistakes or their crimes define them for the rest of their lives, she said.

Others, however, blamed the states recent rise in crime on gang members, drug users, the homeless, and those formerly incarcerated who they said are struggling due to the rising cost of living.

People are literally struggling to pay rent, food, [and] everything is skyrocketing through the roof, one commenter said.

Meanwhile, district attorneys, California State Assembly Members, and victim advocates spoke against the proposal.

Our children cant walk to school safely anymore, one commenter said. Our homes are being broken into over and over. Vehicles are being vandalized, and we need these people to be put away.

Assemblyman Jim Cooper (R-Sacramento) spoke to the rise in crime, citing the recent shooter in Sacramento that killed six and injured 12 in Sacramento on April 3 after being released from prison in February despite serving only a portion of his 10-year sentence.

The district attorney of Yuba County, Clint Curry, said the issue of early release undermines the rule of law and endangers the public.

By the time a person earns a prison sentence, they have proven that they are dangerous and that they are not amenable to probation, he said. When we send someone to prison, it prevents them from victimizing the community.

A sister of a current felon who was convicted of carrying loaded guns around an apartment complex opposed the proposal and said inmates should serve their full time and then receive rehabilitation.

The corrections departments recent proposal would establish a permanent plan based on the current rules.
Toronto Falun Gong practitioners perform meditative exercises at the Ontario legislature during a gathering to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of Falun Gong adherents' mass appeal in Beijing, on April 14, 2022. (Michelle Hu/The Epoch Times)

Remember Those Who Stood in Defence of Truth: Toronto Falun Gong Adherents Commemorate Historic Appeal in Beijing

Falun Gong practitioners in Toronto gathered at the Ontario legislature on April 14 to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of a massive appeal in Beijing on April 25, 1999.

On that day, an estimated 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered at the Appeals Office of the State Council in Beijing to make an appeal in accordance with the law for the release of 45 adherents who had been arrested in the city of Tianjin on April 23 and 24.

Riot police beat and arbitrarily arrested the practitioners on the heels of a slanderous article about Falun Gong published in a national magazine. Other incidents of harassment of practitioners had been happening since June 1996, when the Propaganda Ministry instructed various levels of government to criticize the practice.

Jiang Zemin, then head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the popularity of Falun Gonga spiritual practice with meditative exercises and teachings based on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance that had around 70 million-100 million adherents by the late 1990sas a threat to the CCPs rule and had vowed to eradicate it.

On April 25, then-premier Zhu Rongji, the official head of the State Council, personally came out of the government compound to meet with the practitioners. A resolution was reached, and the thousands who had peacefully appealed quietly dispersed.

Less than three months later, however, on July 20, 1999, Jiang officially initiated a nationwide brutal persecution campaign against Falun Gong adherents that continues today.

Toronto Falun Gong practitioners gather at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the appeal to release arrested practitioners in China, on April 14, 2022. (Michelle Hu/The Epoch Times)

Roughly 100 Falun Gong practitioners gathered to commemorate what is now known as the April 25 incident, including over a dozen who took part in the appeal in Beijing on that historic day.

A Falun Gong spokesperson said adherents will continue to call for the end of the persecution that has continued for over two decades, while pushing for an independent probe into the state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in China.

Falun Gong practitioners who participated in the appeal in Beijing on April 25, 1999, pose at the Ontario legislature on April 14, 2022, during a rally to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the incident. (Michelle Hu/The Epoch Times)

The Evil Nature of the CCP

Feng Xiumin, a Falun Gong adherent who once worked at the Tianjin Municipal Peoples Government, read a statement at the rally, sharing her experience practising the meditative exercises and the CCPs clamp-down.

In the year of 1998, I got divorced, was laid off, and suffered from insomnia and stomach diseases.  I was helpless and in pain, and thought my life was coming to an end. It was at that time when I came to know about Falun Gong, Feng said.

When I began cultivation, I was not only rid of the illnesses I had suffered with, but I learned of the true purpose of life and  was spiritually elevated.

Falun Gong practitioner Feng Xiumin reads a statement during a rally at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on April 14, 2022. (Michelle Hu/The Epoch Times)

Recalling the day of the April 25 incident, Feng said the participants were peaceful and quiet.

Coming out of the April 25 incident, I came to understand the evil nature of the CCP, she said. I hope everyone can learn about the truth of [the incident], learn its real history, and remember those who stood in defence of the truth against the evil.

Falun Gong practitioner Lucy Zhao reads a statement at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on April 14, 2022. (Michelle Hu/The Epoch Times)

Lucy Zhao, who was also in China at the onset of the campaign of oppression following the April 25 appeal, said at the rally that Falun Gong practitioners have pushed back against the communist regimes persecution with peaceful and rational means over the past two decadesa period that will be remembered in history.

The CCP has pushed itself into a corner through its persecution of Falun Gong adherents, she said. The righteous path of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, [has] only become brighter throughout these years of severe trials.
Remains of barricades are pictured in a street of Severodonetsk as Russian troops intensified a campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol, part of an anticipated massive onslaught across eastern Ukraine, in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region, on April 13, 2022. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia Says Urban Areas of Mariupol Clear of Ukrainian Forces as Zelenskyy Vows to End Talks

Russia said on April 16 that there were no Ukrainian troops in the urban area of Mariupol, a key battlefield in the east of Ukraine.

The entire urban territory of Mariupol is completely cleared of militants of the Nazist group Azov, foreign mercenaries, and Ukrainian troops, the Russian Defense Ministry wrote in a social media post.

The remainder of the Ukrainian groups are blocked on Azovstal, one of Europes biggest metallurgical plants located in the east of Mariupol, the Kremlin said.

Their only chance to save their lives is to voluntarily lay down their weapons and surrender, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The partially destroyed Mariupol drama theater in Mariupol on April 12, 2022. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the post, there were about 8,100 Ukrainian soldiers or militants in Mariupol on March 11; 1,464 of them have surrendered, no more than 2,500 people are still blocked in Azovstal, and more than 4,000 have been killed.

The Epoch Times cannot verify the data independently.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN on April 15 that about 2,500 to 3,000 troops had died during the war. He appeared to be referring to the whole war, not specifically about the battles at Mariupol.

Russias announcement came right after Zelenskyy threatened that the elimination of Ukrainian troops in Mariupol would make talks impossible.

The more Borodianka-like cases appear, there will be no chance that negotiations will be held actually, he said during an interview with Ukrainian media. The destruction of all our guys in Mariupolwhat they are doing nowcan put an end to any format of negotiations.

Borodianka is an urban-style settlement about 37 miles northwest of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv from which the Russian forces recently withdrew. Zelenskyy said that more than 300 civilians were killed by Russian forces, with about 30 of them executed.

Russian soldiers and volunteers distribute bread in Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 12, 2022. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, which the Kremlin called a special military operation.

The United Nations said that as of April 15, 1,982 civilians had been killed and 2,651 injured in Ukraine since Russias invasion, and more than 4.8 million people had fled Ukraine.

Russian forces recently shifted the focus to the south and east of Ukraine where the separatist or disputed territories are located. The Kremlin is apparently intending to occupy the corridor connecting Crimea and Donbas, with Mariupol being a key city along the corridor.

However, a ceasefire over this area seems stuck with the two sides showing irreconcilable stances.

The gap between Russian and Ukrainian views seems unbridgeable on the issue of Crimea and Donbas; both areas have been de facto occupied by Russia or pro-Russian separatists.

Putin clearly demanded that Ukraine recognize Crimea as part of Russia, and Donetsk and Luhansk as independent. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy agreed to possibly set aside the disputes for those territories but also vowed to not give them up.

We understand the Russian side. We understand one of their provisions that is always talked about is to recognize Crimea as Russian territory. I will definitely not recognize that, he said during an interview with CBS on April 10.

And they would really like to take the southern parts of our country  but we were not ready to give up our territory from the beginning. Had we been willing to give up our territory, there would be no war.

Reuters contributed to the report.
A worker in a protective suit walks at an entrance to a tunnel leading to the Pudong area across the Huangpu river, after restrictions on highway traffic amid the lockdown in Shanghai on March 28, 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Shanghai Residents Clash With Police Over Neighborhood Quarantine Centers Under Construction

Footage that widely circulated on social media shows residents entered a neighborhood clash with police in Shanghai due to local authorities decision to acquire some of their communitys apartment buildings as quarantine centers.

According to the footage, dwellers in the Zhangjiang Nashi neighborhood compound rallied in protest of the local governments eviction order that forced them to move out. Police in white protective gear pushed back demonstrators while some women were crying desperately for help.

The Zhangjiang Group, which owns the compound, said in an April 14 statement that their quarantine construction met with resistance from part of residents, hinting at the clash between police and community dwellers.

Nine additional apartment buildings will be converted into quarantine facilities to battle the fresh outbreak in the city besides five already in use, according to the notice.

Resident Chen Ning (alias) told The Epoch Times that about 40 people tried to block workers from entering the construction site. Soon, scores of police officers arrived and forcibly dispelled them.

Another resident Li Xin (again a pseudonym) told The Epoch Times she was present at the protest scene on April 14.

The police could take away anyone they wanted to intimidate the rest, she said. They arrested altogether a dozen right from the scene.

Among the detainees was an elderly lady, whose husband was a paralyzed and bedridden patient, according to Li. Her son-in-law bent his knees to the police for her release.

Li said the ladys building was surrounded by three others, which are about 32 feet away and are required to function as quarantine centers. So, her whole family feel danger, worried that the old couple might be at risk of the virus.

Later, all the detainees were set free, according to Li.

Additionally, Chen said she experienced an internet shutdown and cellphone signal cutoff around the arrival of the police on that day. The telecommunications situation did not improve until the night of the day; and internet service did not resume until the following day, she said.

We have only one demand since the very beginning, said Chen. Dont create quarantine centers in [our] neighborhood. Dont transfer isolated people to [our] neighborhood. What concern us most is those in quarantine with risks of transmitting the virus.

A worker, wearing protective gear, guards the entrance to a neighborhood in lockdown as a measure against COVID-19 and he receives food from a delivery man, in Jingan district, in Shanghai, on March 29, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

The Zhangjiang Group claimed the community buildings are state-owned and on a rental housing program. It said it offered compensation for the change of residence to tenants.

However, Chen said she was never told that her building is a public rental housing. Nor did she receive any penny for benefit from the company, she said in the interview.

My [monthly] rent is 7,055 yuan ($1,107), excluding water, electricity, and gas bills, she said. Rent in a public rental housing is expected to be lower than that in other apartment buildings.

Chen said residents grew frustrated and helpless after the crackdown and rumors discrediting them for disobeying government COVID-19 policies.

Signs show the local outbreak continues to worsen and the city is building additional mobile cabin hospitals for surging cases or transforming other properties into such facilities.

Fang Xiao, Gu Xiaohua, and Hong Ning contributed to this report.
Policemen in personal protective equipment stand next to the entrance of a neighborhood during a COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown in the Jing'an district of Shanghai on April 15, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Shanghai Residents Fear the Growing Costs of Harsh Lockdown

Shanghai residents are continuing to reel under strict lockdown conditions brought on by the regimes Zero-COVID policy, with many concerned how it will affect the economy.

The lockdown has been ongoing for many of the citys 26 million residents for nearly three weeks. A city-wide lockdown was announced on April 3.

Shi Lei (pseudonym) lives in a closed control area due to several positive Omicron cases found in her neighborhood. She is unable to go to her workplace for one of Chinas leading companies.

If this goes on, the private sector will not be able to hold on, and we will definitely lose our jobs, Shi told The Epoch Times. We already have a tight cash flow.

The authorities on April 11 divided the city into three areasa closed control area, a control area, and a prevention area. As of April 12, there are more than 10,000 closed control zones, involving 15 million people; more than 2,000 control zones, involving 1.78 million people; and 10,000 precautionary zones, involving 4.8 million people.

Even if it is a so-called precautionary area, strict COVID prevention rules are in place.

Wang Hao (pseudonym), an emergency relief instructor living in Puxi district, said what was occurring does not heed well for Shanghais position as Chinas economic center.

It wont just be about the unemployment of the citys white-collar workers, but a question of how many years the whole countrys economy will be set back, Wang told The Epoch Times on April 11.

General view of a residential building during a COVID-19 lockdown in the Jingan district in Shanghai on April 8, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Despite the strict control measures, Omicron cases are said to soaring with the Shanghai Health Commission announcing that more than 200,000 people have been infected.

Shanghai authorities issued more notices on April 13 to further strengthen social order management during the pandemic.

The vast number of cases are asymptomatic, something not missed by Wang.

The ongoing prevention curbs can be regarded as just a game, a political campaign, he said.

The authoritys measures wont be effective as they neglect the rules of both medicine and economics, he said.

Chinas health committee released daily data on April 14, claiming that there were 3,486 new confirmed cases, no reported severe cases. Among them, Shanghai had 3,200 new local cases, while they earlier claimed there were 1,189 cases on April 12. Officials acknowledged in a press briefing that the outbreak in Shanghai is rapidly increasing, with community transmission not yet effectively contained and spillover to multiple provinces and cities.

Given the regimes practice of falsifying pandemic figures, there is no way to know the real situation, but it is likely to be more serious.

Shi said that they have to return to some sense of normality.

It has come to a stage where we have to live with the virus, Shi said.

We do not need to spend so much material and financial resources to seal off the city, she said.

After we unlock the city, the serious impact of the social problems caused by the current epidemic will be much higher than the epidemic itself.

A staff member walks inside a makeshift hospital that will be used for COVID-19 coronavirus patients in Shanghai on April 7, 2022. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Since the end of March, desperate residents have been seeking help online with reports involving starvation, no medical care, suicides, and forced mother-child separation.

Many are worried about access to food.

A video of a man in a Shanghai community shouting: We have not eaten for two days, any warm-hearted can help? was uploaded on Twitter on April 9.

In another video circulating online, Shanghai residents confront security officers, claiming that they have been isolated for nine days and had no food.

Wang said he has also been worried about the lack of food and how its affecting his family.

Its been 11 days and we havent been able to get any rice, Wang said.

We bought some rice through e-commerce on April 8, he said. It said it was to be delivered April 14, but it then delayed to April 15 when we checked it after two days but it was postponed again to deliver on April 16, at least for now.

Wang said many people are relying on group purchases for their daily necessities. The seller might not make the delivery if you buy not enough or your address is in a remote location, he said.

This is the current state of Shanghai  Zero Omicron policy has been a farce so far! Wang said.
An abortion clinic is set to open in Casper this summer.

The clinic would be the only facility to offer surgical abortions in Wyoming, and opponents have begun to organize against it.

Surgical abortions can end a pregnancy further in its term than abortions by medication. A Jackson doctor is currently the only provider of medical abortions in Wyoming.

The Casper clinics Second Street facility is still under construction, but its founder says it should be staffed and ready to open by the summer if all goes according to plan.

Its operated by Circle of Hope, a national health care nonprofit with a mission of providing reproductive care to underserved, rural areas. In addition to performing abortions, the clinic plans to offer family planning, OB/GYN and gender-affirming services.

Casper will be the companys first location, but founder Julie Burkhart said the organization is planning on expanding across the country. The nonprofit lists a Washington, D.C. address on its website, but registered the Casper address with the Wyoming Secretary of States Office earlier this year.

Casper is centrally located, so this clinic will be as accessible as possible to the majority of Wyomingites ... including people in the rural parts of the state, Burkhart said.

Its also positioned to be accessible to people in nearby areas of South Dakota and Nebraska, she said.

Protests planned

Abortion is a divisive topic in Wyoming  in this most recent legislative session, lawmakers passed three abortion-related bills through the committee stage, one of which became law. That bill would ban abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

The clinic is working with a community advisory board of Wyoming residents from local churches, tribes and health care.

There is a robust, diverse community of people in Wyoming who believe that people should be able access the health care they need, including abortion, said Rev. Leslie Kee of Caspers Unitarian Universalist Church, who sits on the committee.

Opening this clinic is essential for those across our state who currently find that care is out of reach, including people living in rural areas, members of Native tribes, and those with low incomes.

But others in Casper and around the state oppose the clinics opening.

I dont think theres a market for it, said Michelle St. Louis, an anti-abortion Casper resident. We all know teenagers who chose to go through with their pregnancy, its not their first inclination to get an abortion. Most women dont want to do that.

Several local residents are planning a prayer event outside the facility on April 21, and a life chain demonstration the following Sunday.

A larger coalition from across Wyoming is coordinating a trip to Casper for the clinics anticipated opening in June, Park County Right to Life President Tim Lasseter said.

The groups are planning a peaceful protest for the opening, Lasseter said, reaching out to churches and anti-abortion groups around the state.

We expect there to be a large turnout, he said. Were not looking for confrontation, were just looking to let people know we disagree.

Marti Halverson, president of Right to Life Wyoming, said the statewide group is planning multiple tracks of opposition to the clinic.

The organization has some money were willing to put behind the effort, she said Thursday, but declined to specify what members were planning.

You have 53 life-friendly legislators, a governor who says hes pro-life, Halverson said. This should be shut down tomorrow.

Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Burns, opposes abortion and said the practice shouldnt be used as birth control. Bouchard himself was adopted as a baby, and said that since Americans are leaving the country to adopt children, there should be no reason to abort a fetus that could be adopted in the U.S.

Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, is also an abortion opponent. Casper is the wrong place for an abortion clinic, he stressed.

"The D.C. left-wing interests bringing this to Wyoming are wrongly and totally inconsistent with our Wyoming values," he said.

Burkhart says shes no stranger to opposition  shes operated reproductive health clinics in Washington, Oklahoma and Kansas. Her former boss, nationally known abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, was murdered in 2009 at his Wichita church.

We do recognize that there are people in Wyoming who are opposed to what were doing, including many in the state legislature, Burkhart said.

We hope that those who oppose our work will do so peacefully and without harassing or intimidating people seeking or providing reproductive health care.

Existing services

Surgical abortions can be performed later in a pregnancy than medical ones, which are limited to those who have been pregnant for 10 or fewer weeks.

Until recently, one doctor in Jackson did provide surgical abortions  though state health department statistics from recent years show very few were actually performed. But after the doctor sold his clinic to St. Johns Health in 2020 and resigned as a hospital contractor in October, the Jackson Hole News&Guide reported that hes barred from practicing there by a non-compete clause in the sale.

Another Jackson-based doctor is now the states sole abortion provider, though her office only offers medical abortions.

Because of legal restrictions and other barriers to abortion access, people sometimes need access to abortion care after that (10-week) period, Burkhart said.

Chelseas Fund, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to Wyomingites seeking abortions, has assisted 63 people so far in 2022.

Their money helps cover the cost of the abortion medication, which starts at $350 for a mail-in dose. Nurse Cristina Gonzalez, who works with the fund, said they dont turn anyone away who needs help.

(The Casper clinic) would increase access because its providing options to individuals in the state, not overwhelming one resource, Gonzalez said. Now, if youre outside that 10-week time frame, youre looking at having to go to Colorado.

A Wyoming law passed in 2019 prohibits all abortions after viability, the point when a fetus could survive outside the womb.

According to the health department, 91 abortions were performed by Wyoming providers in 2020  the first full year the state required providers to report statistics.

One of those was reported as a surgical dilation procedure. Eighty-eight were medical, and the other two did not specify the method.

Among those who received abortions in 2020, 48 (or 53%) were already mothers to at least one child. Four had four or more children.

Every abortion during that year was performed before 10 weeks, though one did not report. More than half were performed before reaching six weeks of pregnancy.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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An Interpol logo shows at Interpol's Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore on Sept. 30, 2014. (Edgar Su/Reuters)

Singapore Rolls Out Comprehensive Update to Extradition Regime With Passing of Extradition Bill

Singapores parliament passed an Extradition (Amendment) Bill that aimed to reform the Extradition Act of 1968 and bring it, and related Acts, in line with international norms.

In his speech before Parliament on April 4, Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong said the bills objective was the modernization of Singapores extradition regime.

Whilst many of the concepts in the [Extradition] Act remain relevant and applicable today, apart from minor amendments in 1970 and 1998, the Act has remained largely unchanged, Tong said.

The amendments included in the bill (pdf) took into account global developments and international practice, and served as a comprehensive update to the Extradition Act.

Common law and civil law jurisdictions that were studied by Singapores Law Ministry for the bill included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Malaysia, France, Japan, and the United States.

Tong highlighted two areas of reform that were covered in the bill: an offense would generally be considered extraditable if it has a maximum punishment of two years or more (a threshold approach), and existing restrictions on extraditing fugitives to requesting foreign states would be expanded.

Threshold Approach to Replace the List Approach

The Extradition Act of 1968 only allowed extradition for offenses that were on a defined list, which was called the list approach. This approach was the norm back then, and aligned with the approach of the 1966 London Scheme for Extradition within the Commonwealth.

In 2002, the London Scheme was amended to adopt the threshold approach. Common law jurisdictions such as Australia, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, as well as jurisdictions in France and Japan, have also adopted the threshold approach.

The threshold of maximum punishment of two years imprisonment or more is also aligned with international practice.

Tong also noted that the requirement for extraditable offenses to be punishable under the laws of both Singapore and the requesting State would remain.

Restrictions on Extradition to Foreign States to Be Expanded

The bill introduced four additional restrictions for extradition requests, including cases where the fugitive was convicted in his or her absence, without opportunity of retrial, or when the offense is military and not criminal in nature.

The proposed amendments seek to strike the right balance between international cooperation and individual liberty, Tong said.

Another amendment introduced by the bill is to allow fugitives to consent to their extradition, instead of going through the entire extradition proceeding.

Tong said, This saves state resources and prevents the fugitive from being detained longer than necessary in Singapore as there is no need for a full extradition hearing to be carried out if there is consent.

However, the fugitives consent has to be voluntary and the fugitive must be informed of the consequences of giving consent.

Tong said, A specialty undertaking would be obtained from the requesting state, unless the fugitive waives such an undertaking.

This means that the fugitive will only be prosecuted for the offenses stated in the extradition request, and not for additional offenses, he said.

Tong noted allowing fugitives to consent to extradition was aligned with other jurisdictions like Australia, Canada, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Existing Extradition Treaties Take Precedence Over the Amendments

In response to questions from members of Parliament about the impact of the extradition bill on current bilateral treaties and arrangements, Tong said the amendments of the bill would generally not affect the status quo.

Singapores existing extradition treaties would be the primary source for our international obligations to foreign states and territories, he said.

As to whether the government expected a surge in extradition cases, Tong said, Our experience has been that states will continue to seek extradition for the most serious of offenses.

So, on that basis, we do not expect there to be an extraordinary spike given these amendments, he said.

Over the past decade, four fugitives have been extradited back to Singapore, while Singapore has extradited eight back to the requesting state, according to Singapores local paper, The Straits Times.

Tong said, Extradition is an essential component of international law enforcement and plays a key role in upholding the rule of law.

With these amendments, Singapore will enhance its ability to combat crime through international cooperation, he said.
South Carolina Considers Legislation Prohibiting Transgender Medical Procedures on Minors

South Carolina joins at least 10 other states with lawmakers considering legislation that would prohibit doctors from performing medical and surgical gender transitional procedures on minors who identify as transgender.

State Sen. Josh Kimbrell introduced on April 14 Senate Bill 1259, which would penalize physicians for performing the procedures.

Because the bill is in its early stages, specific penalties havent been drafted, but as it stands, the bill resembles other legislative efforts to prevent those under the age of 18 from committing to irreversible gender reassignment.

Its incomprehensible that we are allowing kids who wouldnt even be allowed to vote, join the military, or buy a pack of cigarettes to make a decision about changing their gender, Kimbrell told The Epoch Times.

Kimbrell said the gender-affirmation therapy that validates a childs decision that he or she was born with the incorrect gender is a social agenda.

Look, if theres someone over the age of 18 who wants to change their gender, its a free country. I would never try to criminalize that, he said. But we are talking about sexualizing kids. I think thats dangerous.

He referenced an investigation in which lawmakers worked with the South Carolina Department of Education to find out why transgender propaganda material geared toward children had been found in the public-school library system.

In November 2021, Gov. Henry McMaster called for the investigation after reports of the graphic novel Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe surfaced in the Fort Mill School District.

The book contains explicit images of sexual acts between minors, with one identifying as transgender.

I think thats unhealthy because kids are too impressionable at that age to make an informed decision about their sexuality or gender identity, he said. I do not believe kids should be caught up in these social issue debates. And thats what this bill is designed to do, to make sure that were not doing things to kids thats irreversible, leaving them to get older and regret it.

Because the sexuality of a person is core to his or her identity, Kimbrell said, that decision as to how its to be expressed is best made not by a parent, guardian, guidance counselor, teacher, physician, or government official, but through the persons own discernment and growth as a person into adulthood.

Kimbrell said hes also considering measures to defund the Medical University of South Carolinas (MUSC) pediatric department that he said performs gender reassignment procedures.

MUSC didnt immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment.

Though the bill hasnt taken public testimony yet, Kimbrell said he has physicians, pediatricians, and other medical personnel who are willing to testify in favor of the bill.

Other State Efforts

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law on April 8 making it a felony with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison if a physician gives pharmaceutical or surgical transgender treatment to a minor.

Alabama followed Arkansas, which became the first state to prohibit transgender treatment for minors in April 2021 after the Arkansas legislature voted to override Gov. Asa Hutchinsons veto of the bill.

Though the Texas legislature hasnt passed its own legislation prohibiting transgender treatment on minors, in February 2022, Gov. Greg Abbot ordered a probe on medical procedures for transgender children, directing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate the procedures as a form of child abuse.

Other states considering prohibitions on gender-affirming treatment for minors are Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee.

Opposition

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ-advocate organization, and the White House have criticized the legislation, calling it discriminatory and antagonistic toward transgendered youth.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that lawmakers who are contemplating these discriminatory bills have been put on notice by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services that laws and policies preventing care that health care professionals recommend for transgender minors may violate the Constitution and federal law.

Gender-affirming treatment for minors has been approved by medical boards such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

On March 31, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Population Affairs released a document titled Gender-Affirming Care and Young People, which endorses gender-reassignment surgery and hormone treatment for minors. On the same day, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a division of DHHS, released a document titled, Gender Affirming Care is Trauma-Informed Care, which promotes surgical procedures for minors.

Providing gender-affirming care is neither child maltreatment nor malpractice, the NCTSN document states.

Patrick Lappert, a plastic surgeon with Lappert Skin Care in Alabama, spoke in favor of the Alabama bill. He told The Epoch Times that gender-affirming care has become the only method of treatment allowed, and it ignores cognitive treatment of gender dysphoria, which he said has a 92 percent success rate if the child is followed into young adulthood.
South Carolina Death Row Inmate Chooses Execution by Firing Squad Over Electric Chair

A death row inmate in South Carolina has chosen to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair, which would make him the states first execution by firing squad, according to court documents filed on Friday.

Richard Bernard Moore, 57, has his execution scheduled for April 29 after spending more than two decades on death row. He is sentenced to death for fatally shooting Spartanburg convenience store clerk James Mahoney during an armed robbery in 1999.

Moore would also be the first person put to death in South Carolina since 2011. His initial execution was scheduled for November 2020, but it was deferred by the states Supreme Court after prison officials couldnt obtain lethal injection drugs.

In a written statement, Moore said he only decided to die by firing squad because he was required to make a choice, explaining that he didnt concede that either method is legal or constitutional but he more strongly opposed death by electrocution.

I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election, he said.

Moore would be only the fourth American to be executed by a firing squad since 1976.

His attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to postpone his death while another court reviews the legality of either available execution option. The lawyers have argued that prison officials arent trying hard enough to get lethal injection drugs and their client is being forced to choose between cruel and unusual punishment.

South Carolina has been unable to purchase lethal injection drugs for years now as U.S. pharmaceutical companies seek to limit how the product is used, which resulted in executions in many states nationwide being put on hold.

According to state law, death row inmates have to choose between the electric chair and firing squador lethal injection if they are available in the state.

South Carolina is one of four states in the United States that allow a firing squad. Other states that allow the method are Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The death penalty is authorized in 24 states, while three states have moratoriums in place.

During Moores 2001 trial, prosecutors said he entered the store looking for money to support his cocaine addiction and got into a dispute with Mahoney, who drew a pistol that Moore wrestled away from him.

Mahoney pulled a second gun, and a gunfight ensued. Mahoney shot Moore in the arm, and Moore shot Mahoney in the chest. Prosecutors said Moore left a trail of blood through the store as he looked for cash, stepping twice over Mahoney.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
A woman walks past posters showing precautions against the COVID-19 coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul on April 15, 2022. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korea to Drop All COVID-19 Rules, but Not Mask Mandate

South Korea will drop all COVID-19 restrictions starting next week as the Omicron-led outbreak begins to recede, but the mask mandate will remain in effect for the time being, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday.

The Omicron has shown signs of weakening significantly after peaking in the third week of March, Kim was quoted saying by the Korean Herald.

As the virus situation is stabilized and capabilities of our medical system are confirmed, the government decided to boldly lift social distancing measures, he added.

Kim said that the government will scrap the midnight business hour curfew on eateries and the 10-person limit on private gatherings on April 18. Large gatherings, such as rallies and other events, will no longer be restricted in size.

But the indoor mask mandate will remain in effect for a considerable period of time, he said.

With regard to outdoor mask-wearing, which poses a relatively lower risk, we will decide after two weeks based on a review of the virus situation, Kim remarked.

The Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the government will remove the seven-day mandatory quarantine for infected patients from late May, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Travelers entering South Korea will still need to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test two days before departure and submit a negative PCR test upon arrival, according to KDCA. All inbound travelers who are fully vaccinated will be exempt from the seven-day quarantine.

The countrys infectious disease level of COVID-19 will be downgraded from a Class 1 infectious disease to a Class 2, allowing patients to receive treatment at local clinics and hospitals without having to go through a quarantine period.

KDCA stated that the government will push for a return to the general medical system, where people can get diagnosis and treatment at local clinics and hospitals while enjoying everyday life despite being infected with the virus.

We have come to fully understand the characteristics of Omicron and equip ourselves with effective weapons like vaccines and treatment, it added.

The number of infected cases in South Korea appears to have passed its peak after hovering over 620,000 daily in mid-March, with the daily infection rates falling to below 130,000 on Friday.

The government has largely managed to limit deaths and critical cases through widespread vaccinations and scaled back its once-aggressive tracing and containment efforts.

Nearly 87 percent of the countrys 52 million population are fully vaccinated, with 64 percent having received booster shots, according to government data.

Reuters contributed to this report.
An employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) receives her COVID-19 vaccination at a site opened by the LAUSD for its employees in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 17, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Teachers, Parents Urge LA Unified to Bring Back Unvaccinated Teachers Back

LOS ANGELESA group of parents, teachers, and students gathered outside the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) headquarters on April 15, calling on the district to end its staff COVID-19 vaccine mandate and let unvaccinated teachers return to school campuses to help with the worsening teacher shortage.

Dozens of adults and children were holding signs that read Let Our Teachers Back to Classroom, Stop the Segregation, and Let My Daddy Work.

The rally was organized by the education advocacy group Los Angeles Educators and Parents United in response to new LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalhos recent plan to fill 400 vacant teaching positions in the district by drawing from a pool of about 3,000 administrators and other district staff.

The groups leaders said they believe the district is facing teacher shortages largely due to its staff COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which was enacted on Nov. 15.

Since November, the LAUSDthe largest school district in Californiahas fired 800 staff members for non-compliance with the mandate, and about 600 teachers were forced to move to teach remotely in the City of Angels, the districts online learning program.

A nurse practitioner administers a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a clinic for Catholic school education workers including elementary school teachers and staff at a vaccination site at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on March 8, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

LAUSD teacher Francis Moreno said she felt humiliated when she learned of Carvalhos plans to fill teacher vacancies with administrators, intervention specialists, and other office staff.

When we [learned] that [Carvalho is] going to bring personnel from LAUSD, like anybody [can] just fill these vacancies  we felt humiliated, we felt ignored, we felt like theyre just pushing us to the side, Moreno told The Epoch Times. Theyre not considering that a lot of [unvaccinated] teachers want to go back to their classrooms.

Moreno, who taught special education preschool in the district, had to shift to teaching third grade in the City of Angels programsomething she said she did not feel fully equipped for at the time.

Moreno said she thought the shift from district offices to classrooms would likely be difficult for the administrators pulled by Carvalho to fill teacher vacancies.

There are probably some administrators who have teaching credentials but have not been in the classroom for a long time, so obviously, its going to take a while for them to adjust, just like we did, she said.

Moreno went on to say that teachers in the online learning program have only about three hours worth of classroom teaching to do, and then are given clerical work, such as assignment records and contract paperwork, to do for the district.

It feels kind of like theyre switching our roles, she said. These administrators who are used to being on the computer and doing all this paperwork are going to go into the classrooms, and were the ones who are teaching three hours and doing all this other paperwork.

A YMCA staff member assists a child as they attend online classes at a learning hub inside the Crenshaw Family YMCA during the Covid-19 pandemic in Los Angeles on February 17, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

LAUSD teacher Yvonne Rios, who formed the group with several other educators and parents, said she thought it was ridiculous for the district to send administrators and uncredentialed new hires into classrooms instead of letting the experienced unvaccinated teachers back into their classrooms.

To fill teacher vacancies, the district has also hired 2,336 new teachers this school year, of whom only 26 percent are fully credentialed by the state to teach, according to a March 29 report by the districts Board of Education.

Instead of sending us highly qualified and credentialed teachers back, [the district is] also hiring people that are not credentialed and just starting teaching school, Rios said.

Rios also pointed out that since last year the state no longer requires teacher candidates to take the California Basic Skills Test or the California Subject Matter Exams for Teachers to earn a credential.

Instead, candidates can demonstrate their subject proficiencies and skills by earning a college degree in the subjects they are going to teach or completing approved college courses with a B or better grade, according to EdSource, a nonprofit media reporting on Californias education.

EdSource also attributed the state-level reform to a persistent teacher shortage in California that became more urgent during the pandemic as testing centers closed, teacher retirements increased and the number of teachers earning credentials declined.

A high school teacher holds a class remotely in Los Angeles on Sept. 8, 2020. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

A January report by nonprofit education research group Learning Policy Institute found that some of the largest districts in the state had 10 percent of vacancies still open at the start of the 202122 school year while one district had a quarter of its vacancies unfilled.

In addition, the report found that the number of substandard teaching credentials and permitssuch as teaching through internship programs that lead to full credentials or teaching with 1-year permits or waiversissued in California nearly tripled in the recent seven years, to the point of more than 13,000 in the 20192020 school year.

Rios chalked the statewide teacher shortage up to stress, which has been exacerbated by strict COVID-19 protocols and student learning gaps caused by the pandemic.

Teaching has been very hard, with all these new mandates that they require, she said. My second graders were kindergarteners when the pandemic hit, and with the masks, theyre having trouble with basic things like learning to talk and socializing. And so, I just think the teachers who loved teaching got burnt out and didnt love teaching anymore.

Both Moreno and Rios said if the district keeps its staff vaccine mandate, they will seek to teach in other districts, which could be foreshadowing a potential teacher exodus from online learning programs next school year.

Los Angeles Educators and Parents United already sent a letter to the district on April 8 requesting to meet with Carvalho to talk about allowing unvaccinated credentialed teachers to return to campuses and removing student and staff COVID-19 vaccine mandates for the upcoming school year.

A spokesperson for the LAUSD was not immediately available for comment.
Teachers Unions Other Foes: Liberal Parents

Khulia Pringle would seem an unlikely critic of the local Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. The St. Paul native embarked on a teaching career in the hope of improving a school system that she saw as failing her daughter. By the time she finished her training in 2014, she had grown so disillusioned with the public school system that she took a job with an education reform group, helping to recruit and place hundreds of tutors in schools across the state.

While she shares the unions emphasis on pushing for higher pay and smaller classrooms, the self-described liberal education activist says the federations three-week strike last month provided final confirmation of her worst fear: The union and public education system place a higher priority on serving their own needs than they do on serving students and parents, 60 percent of whom are minorities.

Students are just coming back to some sort of normalcytheyre already behind, she says. These strikes arent asking for any of the things that will solve the disparities between black and brown and indigenous children.

Pringle is part of a growing chorus of parents and educators across the country who are challenging the public education establishment. While much attention has focused on opposition by conservative parents and red state lawmakers to the teaching of critical race theory and gender issues, resistance is percolating among blue state parents like Pringle who have long championed teacher unions and progressive school boards.

The second front in the battle over public education is clear: From San Francisco, where voters ousted several left-wing, union-endorsed school board members in February, to Chicago, Massachusetts, and other blue enclaves, parents are demanding reform.

Teachers enjoyed immense support in the early days of the pandemic, but their unions reluctance to return to the classroom, even as scientific findings established childrens resilience against the disease, appears to have alienated a substantial number of parents.

In December 2020, Gallup found that three-quarters of those polled rated teachers as ethical and trustworthy, setting an all-time record since it began asking the question. When Gallup asked the same question in December 2021, the results were startling. In the space of 12 months, support for teachers fell about 15 percent, to a point or two below their previous all-time lows, according to the pollster. A 2021 survey from nonprofit think tank Education Next found the public held less favorable views of the education system than other public services. Americans nationwide were twice as likely to give police forces A or B grades than they were public schoolsthis despite the backlash against cops in the wake of George Floyds death.

The sagging poll numbers reflect a mounting challenge for public school teachers and their unions, which have long counted on public support when they have gone out on strike to secure better pay and working conditions.

That trust has been so eroded because of what parents have gone through for the past 18 to 20 months, so now parents have to question what they are being told by teachers, said Keri Rodriguez, a Massachusetts mother of five. Theres been so much overreach and they have asked for so much grace from parents across the country; well, unfortunately we have watched teachers respond with not much effort in remote learning.

Rodriguez is an even more unlikely opponent of teachers unions than Pringle. She made a career in the organized labor movement, rising to an executive position at labor giant Service Employees International Union Local 1199 and served as chair of the Somerville Democratic Party. But even as she rose in progressive circles in the most progressive of enclavesa city where Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 89 percent to 10 percentshe began to question the partys alliance with teachers unions.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at The Farm at 95 in Selma, N.C., on April 9, 2022. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

Only in the education system are parents treated as if we should be passively going along and allow others to not only run the system but run it in a way thats beneficial to adults, Rodriguez says. We started to see how kids are getting the short end of the stick.

Critics see this dynamic as particularly pronounced in the labor movements embrace of lockdowns and remote learning. The results could be seen in Minnesota, where high school graduation rates dropped for the first time in 12 years in 2021. In a normal school year about 90 percent of Minneapolis students participate in statewide proficiency tests. But in 2021, only 48 percent of district students took the testssignificantly less than the 80 percent of students who took the tests statewide. Those Minneapolis students motivated enough to take the tests from home performed poorly, with only 35.5 percent considered proficient, down from the districts 42.2 percent proficiency rate in 2019. Test scores during the pandemic also revealed growing racial disparities in achievement. Proficiency rates in math among black and Hispanic children plummeted by 34 percent in 2021, compared with a 19 percent decline among white students.

The results in Minneapolis mirror those in other major school districts that resisted the return to the classroom. Washington, D.C. public schools enforced some of the strictest lockdowns in the country. Performance among its students, some 84 percent of whom are minorities, plummeted during the pandemic. Racial disparities in proficiency were particularly acute. White children fell 4 percent in literacy proficiency as only 70 percent met district benchmarks. By contrast, only 28 percent of the districts black students met benchmarksa nearly 40 percent decline. Black students are now less likely to meet literacy standards than Hispanic students, many of whom come from households where English is not the primary language, even after those students experienced a 29 percent decline in proficiency during the pandemic.

Using Union Tactics Against Unions

Rodriguez is now using tactics that the labor movement taught her, trying to mobilize against some of the strongest and most politically connected labor behemoths in the country after founding the National Parents Union. NPU now partners with more than 600 parent advocacy groups and activists across the country maintaining chapters in every state on a $4 million budget. By contrast, the American Federation for Teachers and the NEA represent nearly 4.7 million educators nationwide. The unions have never been more active than during the pandemic. The two dominant behemoths spent about $196 million on political activities and lobbying in 2020 and 2021, a 55 percent jump from their spending in the two years leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, according to federal labor filings.

Rodriguez acknowledges NPU is fighting an incredibly powerful juggernaut. Much like the labor movement, the National Parents Union operates on a local level through activists, including Khulia Pringle, the St. Paul teacher who now serves as a top official with the Minnesota chapter.

Pringles daughter graduated in 2015, but the mother resolved to fight for other parents in her community against an education system she believes values its own interests over those of children. When the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers launched its strike in early Marchone that came on the anniversary of the districts post-COVID re-openingshe felt compelled to act.

MFTs 1,500 members sought higher pay, smaller classrooms, and greater mental health support for students struggling in no small part because their schools had been closed.

Pringle felt that the strike should be used to achieve equity, beyond what she saw as the unions lip service to that goal. Instead, she contended, it addressed none of the things that parents are leaving the district for, adding: Reform has been an uphill battle because white liberals will march in the streets when a black man dies, but not when a black child cant read.

Pringle would spend all of March organizing food drives and arranging childcare for parents who found themselves at the mercy of the federation as it barred 30,000 children from the classroom.

Ultimately, MFTs tactic worked, insofar as it reached a tentative agreement with the school district on March 25, winning concessions on class sizes and support staff pay. The superintendent and several other school officials resigned. But there are signs that could prove a pyrrhic victory.

Minnesota public schools hemorrhaged students in 2021, as Local 59 fought to preserve remote learning and rallied for mask mandates in the classroom. Private and home-school enrollment statewide surged by 6.6 percent and 34.2 percent, respectively, between 2019 and 2021. Public school districts, meanwhile, saw a 3 percent drop statewide driven in large part by a whopping 12.7 percent decline in Minneapolis.

While there has been no opinion polling among Minnesota residents during the strike, there are signs that the federation has failed to galvanize the public: A petition to support the strike had garnered 6,800 backers by the time it concludedwell short of the union goal of 12,800. MFT did not return RealClearInvestigations requests for comment.

The Minneapolis strike came on the heels of a one-week work stoppage in Chicago that left more than 350,000 students back at home after a prolonged public school shutdown. The Chicago Teachers Union has effectively employed strikes or the threat of strikes to win concessions from local leaders. Former mayor Rahm Emanuel believed parents would be outraged by the disruption when CTU went on strike in 2012, but he granted concessions after seeing them support the union. A similar pattern played out when teachers again went AWOL in 2019.

Students leave William Wells High School in Chicago, on March 14, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Many parents today, however, have cooled on Windy City work stoppages after witnessing the ill effects of prolonged remote learning.

Ryan Griffins oldest child had just started kindergarten when the 25,000-member CTU went on strike in October 2019. He supported the strike, though he did not realize at the time that the month leading up to it would represent the high point of his childs learning. The second grader has now spent the majority of his student life behind an iPad. Griffins kindergartener has never known a classroom without masks. When the CTU decided to stage another strike to open 2022, Griffin and many other parents were less sympathetic to labor leaders.

In the past Wed be out there supporting teachers in the picket lines, says Griffin, who comes from a proud union family. But over the last two years a schism has formed between parents and teachers: We saw the pandemic used as leverage to get other things. I think those incentives got misaligned.

If workers go on strike against Honda, the 360,000 CRVs the automaker sold in 2021 would keep humming right along. Schools do not hum along in such disputes. Griffin and the parents of the nearly 350,000 children saw classes cancelled for five days after the union pushed for tighter COVID restrictions amid the rise of the omicron variant.

An Inbox Filled With Death Threats

The frustrating thing is parents on the picket line have said pay teachers everything they need because they are essential. In the last two years we have seen teachers claiming that they are not that essential, Griffin says. Historically were on the same side, but the pandemic sort of whipped everything.

Griffin founded the Chicago Parents Collective in 2021 to foster community among parents trying to navigate the pandemic. The group has grown to more than 1,800 members that span 70 percent of the districts schools. His simple message attracted massive support from parents, but it also brought him into the crosshairs of activists, who saw him not as a concerned father, but as a political opponent. His inbox filled up with death threats. His bosses received calls for his firing. Were basically a parent Facebook grouptheres no political agenda  but parents get labeled every name under the sun to discredit you and your motivations.

Union officials insist they are unfazed by recent headlines of parental revolts. NEA did not respond to request for comment, but an AFT spokesman said, Far more parents of children in K-12 schools approve of how unions are handling the pandemic than disapprove, pointing to polls showing broad public support throughout the pandemic.

But rhetorical shifts from AFT president Randi Weingarten reflect at least some appreciation for the criticism that the American education system has faced. Behind the scenes, Weingarten helped craft shutdown policies and remote learning advisories for the Centers for Disease Control in the early days of the Biden administration. She was unapologetic about the need to maintain stringent public health standards in schools, even as those same protective measures were abandoned in many states and localities for dining, tourism, and sporting events. By the summer of 2021, however, Weingarten began to hedge, attempting to take credit for the reopening of K-12 schools and in-person learning.

A general view of the Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta, on April 23, 2020. (Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images)

A sizable number of American voters have dismissed that rhetoric. While a plurality of voters, according to a poll from Education Next, were indifferent or unsure of whether unions helped or hindered efforts to reopen schools, those who did take a position were overwhelmingly negative. One in three said teachers unions hindered reopeningthree times higher than respondents who thought they helped the effort. The demographic most likely to blame unions for impeding in-person learning was teachers. More than 40 percent of educators polled told Education Next that labor leaders interfered with a return to the classroom, a startling rebuke of Weingartens public claims.

Early studies appear to corroborate the suspicions of those teachers. Michigan State University researchers found that school districts without a collective bargaining agreement were twice as likely as their unionized counterparts to reopen. Among Michigans 800 public and charter schools, shutdowns were more closely tied to unionization and Democratic control than they were to the number of COVID cases.

Corey DeAngelis, national research director at the American Federation for Children, says the resistance to reopening is more about power than safety. It is only a matter of time before frustrated Americans pull back the curtain and hold teachers unions accountable.

Data consistently showed this involuntary form of remote instruction hurt many children academically, mentally, socially, and physicallyand that schools could reopen safely. Schools should have been the first places to open and the last places to close, yet that didnt happen, DeAngelis says. Here we are, nearly two years later, with some power-hungry teachers unions pushing for more closures that hurt kids and their families.

Public health experts had been warning of a mental health crisis among Americas youth in the lead-up to the pandemic. While the CDC found that suicide rates fell by 2 percent in 2020 overall, those gains masked the toll taken on children. Adolescent suicide attempts jumped 31 percent in 2020, fueled in part by the social isolation caused by the pandemic-driven lockdowns. The suicide rate among boys between the ages of 10 and 14 jumped 13 percent.

This is life and death for our children, Rodriguez says. Parents started to see the disastrous effects of socialized isolation on mental health and seeing less school spread than community spread.  They saw teachers unions fight science.

Stock photo of a depressed student. (Christopher Catbagan/Unsplash)

Not just parents, but a small percentage of teachers, too, have come to reject continued lockdowns and overly stringent COVID-19 protocols. Greg Dolan, a Pittsburgh area educator so fed up with mask policies that he ran for the school boardnarrowly losing in a deep blue suburbsaid he was frustrated with the level of influence unions exerted over the classroom at the expense of children.

As a teacher who began his career in Covid, I have seen heroic efforts from my fellow teachers in managing everything thrown at us these past two years. However, I have also watched in shock as those who claim to speak for teachers constantly put themselves and their personal interests ahead of children, Dolan says. The strikes, unreasonable demands on students, and selfish ultimatums undermine our reputationand its time rank and file teachers disavow these actions.

Dolan is the exception among the education establishment. Most teachers in America have enthusiastically embraced teacher strikes. About 90 percent of Chicago teachers voted to authorize the January strikes, while 97 percent of Minneapolis educators did the same.

Rebecca Friedrichs, a veteran California educator who once went to the Supreme Court to sever ties to her teachers union, said the strikes in the wake of reopening have exposed labor leaders and made the brazen political goals of the unions clear as day.

Theyve been using you and your kids for far too long while terrifying the best of teachers and undermining our educational system, Friedrichs says. Unions deny your children a great education while lining their pockets with taxpayer dollars.

This article was written by Bill McMorris for RealClearInvestigations.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to hold a rally in Sarasota, Fla., on July 3, 2021. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

Trump Endorses JD Vance For Ohio GOP Senate Primary

Consistently criticized by his opponents for comments he made about Donald Trump in 2016, JD Vance on April 15 received the stamp of approval they all soughtan endorsement from the former president for the Ohio GOP U.S. Senate primary.

Trump made the announcement on Friday saying that the Hillbilly Elegy author and venture capitalist has the best chance of defeating Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan in the general election. Ryan is the clear frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

Trump will headline a Save America rally at the Delaware County Fairgrounds north of Columbus, Ohio on April 23. Early voting in Ohio started on April 5 and continues through May 2.

Ive studied this race closely and I think J.D. is the most likely to take out the weak, but dangerous, Democrat opponentdangerous because they will have so much money to spend. However, J.D. will destroy him in the debates and will fight for the MAGA Movement in the Senate, Trump wrote in a statement.

Its time for the entire MAGA movement, the greatest in the history of our Country, to unite behind J.D.s campaign because, unlike so many other pretenders and wannabes, he will put America first, Trump added. In other words, J.D. Vance has my Complete and Total Endorsement.

JD Vance received the endorsement from Donald Trump for the OhIo GOP Senate primary on April 15. (JD Vance for Senate)

A Trafalgar Poll released on April 15 showed Josh Mandel leading the Republican field with 28 percent, followed by Vance (22.6 percent), Mike Gibbons (14.3 percent), Matt Dolan (11.6 percent), Jane Timken (7.5 percent), Mark Pukita (2.1 percent), Neil Patel (0.8 percent), and 13.1 percent undecided.

The poll also found that 54.9 percent of respondents, who are likely GOP primary voters, are either more likely or much more likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Trump.

Republican pollster David Lee conducted a survey for Protect Ohio Values, a pro-Vance super PAC, that was released on April 6 and showed Vance, Gibbons, and Mandel in a tie for the lead at 18 percent each.

Donald Trump is the best president of my lifetime for the simple reason that he never bent to the mob and fought consistently for hardworking Americans, Vance said in a statement. He set an example in the White House that Ill follow in the Senate. Together, were going to take this country back. Im honored and thrilled to have his support.

Upon learning on April 14 from sources that Trump planned to back Vance, representatives from the Gibbons, Mandel, and Timken campaigns, and around three dozen GOP county chairs from across Ohio, authored a letter urging the former president to not endorse a candidate in the Senate race.

This is not an easy endorsement for me to make because I like and respect some of the other candidates in the race  theyve said some great things about Trump and, like me, they love Ohio and they love our Country, Trump wrote.

Gibbons, a Cleveland investment banker, is a vocal Trump supporter who is campaigning on the America First platform.

While I would have loved the endorsement, I continue to be in a strong position in this race because I have been an America First champion and fighter, Gibbons said. I will continue to fight for what I believe in and I am confident Ohioans will vote for my authentic conservative message.

Timken is the former Ohio Republican Party chair who frequently talks about how she delivered Ohio for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

This race is about who can defeat Tim Ryan and retake the Republican Senate majority in November. I am that candidate and I look forward to having President Trumps endorsement in the General Election, Timken said.

While todays announcement is disappointing, it does not change the fact that I had President Trumps endorsement to serve as chair of the Ohio Republican Party, where Im incredibly proud to have dismantled the Never-Trump Kasich establishment and turned Ohio into a pro-Trump, conservative stronghold.

Jane Timken, chair of the Ohio Republican Party, speaks at a Make America Great Again rally in Lewis Center, Ohio, on Aug. 4, 2018. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

While I was traveling over 150,000 miles across Ohio doing that important work for the America First agenda, JD Vance was in Silicon Valley and cable news studios trashing President Trump, calling him an idiot, noxious, and publicly considering voting for Hillary Clinton to stop Trump.

Ohio voters want someone who has fought and delivered for the America First movement  and wont support an elitist who insulted their intelligence and then pretended to be MAGA when it suited his political ambitions, Timken added.

Vance has taken heat from opponents about his critical social media comments about Trump in 2016, but Donald Trump Jr. has praised Vance and recently appeared at a fundraiser for the Hillbilly Elegy author and venture capitalist.

Vance apologized for denouncing Trump in now-deleted tweets. He wrote that he would not vote for Trump and would instead support Evan McMullin, who ran as an independent.

In 2016, Vance said the future president was reprehensible and that he makes people I care about afraid.

At campaign stops, Vance often explains how his viewpoint of Trump evolved over time.

You know what? Facts change, Vance said. I saw the corruption that exists in this country. I saw Donald Trump as the only person in either party fighting against it, and Ive been a huge supporter of Trump for the past several years.

Vance has multiple ties to Trump allies. PayPal co-founder and Trump connection Peter Thiel, Vances former boss, has a super PAC that invested $10 million to back Vance. Tony Fabrizio was a Trump campaign pollster and is conducting surveys for Vances campaign. Former Trump campaign staffer Andy Surabian is a senior adviser to Vance.

Donald Trump Jr. recently tweeted that JD is 100% America First and attended a fundraiser for the candidate in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this month.

Earlier this year, Vance talked to Trump at Mar-a-Lago in a meeting coordinated by Thiel.

Hes certainly aware that I criticized him, and we talked about it, Vance said after the conversation with Trump. I think he understands where I was then, where I am now, and why I changed my mind.

Trumps endorsement of Vance will serve as another test of the former presidents influence in heated Republican primaries. He backed Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania GOP U.S. Senate primary earlier this month.

GOP sources close to Trump said that he spent recent days talking to donors and advisers gauging their thoughts about supporting Vance.

Like some others, J.D. Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades, Trump said.
US to Resume Oil, Gas Drilling on Federal Lands, With Increased Oil Royalty Rate

The Biden administration on April 15 said it would resume plans to facilitate oil and gas drilling on federal lands, but that it would offer fewer acres of land than initially proposed for lease sales, and charge higher royalties to oil and gas companies.

The Interior Departments Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will make 144,000 acres of federal land available for leasing by energy companies. The figure is about 80 percent less than the 733,000 acres that had previously been under evaluation.

The decision came as a result of robust environmental review, engagement with Tribes and communities, and prioritizing the American peoples broad interests in public lands, the Interior Department stated.

Companies will be charged royalties of 18.75 percent of the value of extracted oil and gas productsa bump up from 12.5 percentto ensure fair return for the American taxpayer and on par with rates charged by states and private landowners, the department said.

For too long, the federal oil and gas leasing programs have prioritized the wants of extractive industries above local communities, the natural environment, the impact on our air and water, the needs of Tribal Nations, and, moreover, other uses of our shared public lands, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a statement.

Today, we begin to reset how and what we consider to be the highest and best use of Americans resources for the benefit of all current and future generations.

The move comes amid ongoing pressure for the Biden administration to address high energy prices across the nation, especially gas prices above $4 a gallon.

It also brings the administration into compliance with an injunction from the Western District of Louisiana.

Biden, just a week after taking office in January 2021, paused new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, via Executive Order 14008. The administration was ordered in June 2021 to resume the sales, with the federal judge in Louisiana siding with several oil- and gas-producing states and saying Interior officials had offered no rational explanation for the pause on new leasing.

The BLM is set to issue final environmental assessments and notices for upcoming oil and gas lease sales on April 18. The sales notices will cover leasing decisions in nine statesAlabama, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.

Interior Department officials declined to specify which states would have parcels for sale or to give a breakdown of the amount of land by state, saying that information would be included in the April 18 sales notices. They said the reduced area being offered reflects a focus on leasing in locations near existing oil and gas development, including pipelines.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Washington Irvings brief autobiographical essay The Authors Account of Himself opens his book of numerous writings titled The Sketch Book. First published in London in 1809, this slightly satirical introductory essay gives a brief glimpse into Irvings admiration for his blossoming American continent:

Cover page of The Sketch Book, 1819, by Washington Irving. (Public Domain)

Her mighty lakes, like oceans of liquid silver; her mountains, with their bright aerial tints; her valleys, teeming with wild fertility; her tremendous cataracts, thundering in their solitudes; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure; her broad deep rivers, rolling in solemn silence to the oceanno, never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery.

The author would return to these bucolic descriptions of early America in his two most famous stories found in the book: Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. From his experiences abroad, Irvings utilization of German folklore mixed with a return to simpler, pastoral Colonial America reveal a classic duality between Old World traditions and industrial progress. The popularity and appeal of The Sketch Book would influence major American authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Irvings Success

Irving was widely regarded as Americas first commercially successful author of the post-Revolution period. His collection The Sketch Book was composed and published in Europe, for after Irving started showing symptoms of tuberculosis, his brother-in-law sent him from New York to traverse the European continent for about two years between 1804 and 1807. While traveling, Irving took down short sketches of local culture, people, landscapes, and politics.

During this time, Irving had little in the way of American authors for imitation. Most published writings during the Revolutionary period were in the form of political tracts, pamphlets, and satirical essays. However, during his European retreat, English Romantic authors were being widely read and accepted in British cultural circles. It is likely that Irving would have come across the likes of Byron, Coleridge, and Shelley, to name just a few.

Later, Irvings book was published in four installments that began in 1819 while he was once again living in England. This stint in Europe lasted close to two decadeswhen he saw success with The Sketch Book and was becoming Americas preeminent man of letters. His appeal to British audiences came from his observational stories, such as Westminster Abbey and A Sunday in London. But it was Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that would keep his name in American literary circles for generations to come.

Folklore, Romance, and Colonial America

Historically, the early 1800s was an era of rapid expansion and technological advancement in both America and Britain. With the advent of steam technology and coal mining, life would begin to evolve drastically for Americans. New York City had a population of 123,000 in 1820 and by 1850 grew to 813,000. Irving witnessed massive cultural and population changes while writing The Sketch Book.

At the same time, Americas land also was growing as Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and westward expansion quickly followed. Both Irvings Colonial upbringing in sparsely populated New York and his travels throughout industrializing Europe emphasized for him this era of change.

The scientific, cultural, and political changes that were flowing from European industrialization and late Enlightenment thought were in stark contrast to the emerging Romanticism, with its focus on chivalry and bygone eras. The Sketch Bookdescribing the previous eras countryside, people, and their shared cultural beliefswhich circulated in the freshly established United States in the 1820s, also contained these elements of Romanticism.

Irvings pastoral descriptions of Dutch New York reflect his attachment to the early development of the continent in both Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. For instance, as Rip climbs into the nearby mountains, he is struck by the beauty of the scene before him:

[Rip] saw at a distance the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic course, the reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing itself in the blue highlands.

The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane, 1858, by John Quidor. Oil on canvas, 26.8 inches by 33.8 inches. Smithsonian American Art Museum. (Public Domain)

Also consider this passage from Sleepy Hollow that describes the location of the quaint village that hides the haunting spectral headless rider:

A small brook glides through [the valley], with just a murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tapping of a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility.

Irving establishes both these early-American tales deep in a type of bygone serenity and calm before injecting European folklore. This pairing creates a duality that later would be apparent in more Gothic and Romantic writings, such as Poes Fall of the House of Usher and Ligeia.

Legends and Customs

Irvings work seamlessly blends German legends into the early-American customs and cultures found in Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy Hollow. Tales of ghosts, witches, and a harkening back to preindustrial eras were all heartily embraced by the likes of Romantic writers in Europe toward the end of the 18th century.

As literary scholar George Philip Krapp notes in the introduction to the 1906 edition of The Sketch Book, up to that time nothing like Irvings two stories had appeared in American fiction. Moreover, Irving strove to use German folklore from the Old World and bring them to life in sleepy, Colonial America. This is clearly seen in Rip Van Winkles encounter in the hills with the gnome-type specters of Hendrick Hudson and his crew, and whose drink puts Winkle to sleep for close to two decades. Upon awakening, he finds his pastoral and quaint Dutch village replaced with post-Revolution America, where local politics has taken over his much-beloved village square.

Sleepy Hollow also is upended by the Old World superstitious apparitions that lurk within the quiet hollow. The Headless Horseman itself is described as a German Hessian officer of the Revolutionary War who stalks the lonely country roads and churchyards at night. Irvings description of the local populations clinging to superstition and folklore paints a more European tradition than other Colonial-era tracts that focus more on logic, reason, and the rejection of such thinking:

The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country. 

Even Ichabod Crane, a supposedly erudite man dispatched to teach the village school children, is most susceptible to the regions tales and deeply held myths. His fear is what Brom Bones feeds upon in their rivalry over the love of Katrina Van Tassel and is Cranes undoing as he finally encounters the Headless Horseman at the climax of the tale.

These two stories were successful in establishing an early European Romantic influence on the budding American literature. Both Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow offer a Romantic look at Colonial America with its pastoral scenery and sleepy villages while prioritizing the myths and folklore that were imported from the European continent. This type of narrative helped influence a wave of Romantic writers in American society, from Transcendentalist thinkers such as Thoreau and Emerson to the dark Romantics of American Gothic like Hawthorne and Poe.

The witty, satirical, and often ironic look at people, cultures, and places in The Sketch Book would also have an impact on Mark Twains writing in the latter half of the 19th century.

A modern copy, by Matthew Brady, of a daguerreotype of Washington Irving by John Plumbe. Library of Congress. (Public Domain)

If we look at the great 19th-century American authors, we see Irvings early influence as Americas first commercially successful author. We should take time to return to his work and relish his imagery of the peaceful and tranquil Hudson Valley that is rife with haunting European traditions and folklore.
What Can Taiwan Learn From Ukraine?

Commentary

Now that were about five weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some basic lessons learned can be applied to possible aggression against Taiwan.

I wrote several months ago about not being distracted by potential conflict in Ukraine; the main game was China lashing out. With the no limits partnership now in effect between China and Russia, we need to take this arrangement very seriously. China, as the senior partner, and Russia, as the junior partner, have communicated that anything and everything is on the table for this partnership to topple and replace the United States. This includes nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare. The stakes are now mortal for the world.

It appears that step one of actioning this agreement between Russia and China was Putins commitment to China for the seizure of Ukraine in a few short days. I can imagine the overconfident Russian senior military staff and leaders guaranteeing Putin and their Chinese counterparts a Desert Storm in Ukraine. One thing the Russians arent good at is showing flexibility and initiative when things dont work out in warfare, which is normally what happens in conflict.

The debacle of the northern column toward Kyiv, Ukraine, being stilled for weeks, the inability of the Russians to project logistics and maintenance support (including bad Chinese tires on their vehicles), the absence of the Russian Air Force, the withdrawal and movement of Russian forces to save their hold on the Donbas, and what may be a successful strike on the Russian Black Sea flagship all point toward a struggling Russian military.

Im certain that the Chinese military staff is as shocked by this Russian lack of success in the same way the Chinese military staff was shocked by the incredible success of the U.S.-led Desert Storm operation.

This failure to deliver quick results in Ukraine will likely affect the calculus of any Chinese direct military action toward Taiwan. I received briefs from the U.S. Intelligence Community on the swift and unquestioned outcome of any Chinese move on Taiwan before my official U.S. government trips to meet with the Taiwanese military. What we have now seen should inspire the Taiwanese, reset U.S. government thinking, and cause a serious pause in any Chinese plans to seize Taiwan.

The Decisive Effect of Feeling Like a Nation

Another intangible, hard to calculate factor affecting a battle or war is the mood and spirit of the warring parties. Although U.S. intelligence may have accurately predicted an attack by Russia, they also presumed a quick Russian victory. Part of the explanation for Ukrainian success in standing up to the Russians is the shared emotional feeling of being a nation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspired this feeling and attitude early on when he rebuffed a defeatist U.S. offer of evacuation. Zelenskyys instinct to react this way has rightly made him the stuff of legend and history (however, we still need absolute truth on alleged Ukraine-related Hunter and Joe Biden corruption and the true nature of U.S. government bio-lab related efforts in Ukraine).

Under President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan has developed this same feeling of national identity. Long ago, I was told that China feared the day when Taiwanese would feel Taiwanese rather than Chinese. That tipping point is far in the rear-view mirror. Tsai has shown similar legendary leadership in the face of a much larger aggressor. The feeling of being a nation can be decisive, as were seeing in Ukraine. The conscript and poorly led Russian forces havent fared well in Ukraine; these factors also should strongly favor Taiwan and cause heated debate among the Chinese military staff.

Ability to Generate and Project Force, Logistics, and Maintenance

There are many examples of the failure of the Russians to pull off their own Desert Storm, but none is clearer than the attempt to seize Hostomel (Antonov) Airport, located to the west/northwest of Kyiv. In the past few days, more reports have come out with details of this epic battle.

In the early days of the conflict, Russia landed elite, airborne forces at Hostomel, but then failed to swiftly link up this initial assault with additional, heavier units by grounda fatal error in any landing of paratroopers behind enemy lines. The failure at Hostomel, along with many other indicators of Russian units running out of ammunition, fuel, food, and water over different invasion routes, reflects poorly on the Russians. The Russians failed to achieve Kyiv, only 50 miles by ground, in six weeks against an ill-prepared and under-equipped Ukrainian military and population.

China successfully transiting 100 miles across the ocean, with no amphibious landing experience against a much better equipped, trained, and motivated Taiwan military and civil population, with strong Japanese and U.S. militaries close by, now seem illogical and prone to a similar tragic failure after the experience in the war so far in Ukraine.

Balancing Deterrence Capabilities With Asymmetric Capabilities

One area I received numerous lectures on from the U.S. military and intelligence elements before my meetings with the Taiwan military was the need for Taiwan to dispense with the desire to have prestige systems, such as tanks and submarines, and focus on numerous missiles and other asymmetric capabilities such as sea mines, autonomous vehicles, and cyber.

I disagreed at the time and still do with this standard American viewpoint to some extent. The missiles and other capabilities have indeed proven to be quite effective in Ukraine, so these are much needed by Taiwan if a Chinese attack occurs. But the tanks and submarines also have an extremely visible and important deterrent effect, which may help prevent an attack from happening in the first place. If Ukraine was better equipped with some modicum of prestige weapons, maybe the foolish Russian misadventure would have never happened.

All things considered, the Ukraine experience thus far points toward military calamity for the Chinese Communist Party and bodes well for the Taiwanese people and nation.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Gillette police are looking for a woman missing under suspicious circumstances for nearly a month. They are asking the public for help in the search.

Irene Gakwa was last seen on Feb. 24 in a video call with her parents, according to a statement from the Gillette Police Department. A post on the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations missing persons page says she was last heard from on March 4 in Gillette.

She was reported missing on March 20.

Gakwa is a 32-year-old Black woman described as 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing around 89 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

According to police, she had been living with a man in Gillette until her disappearance. The man is reportedly not cooperating with investigators and is considered a person of interest in the case.

Police say they received a tip that Gakwa may have been taken to a mine site, oil and gas location or other rural area in a car or crossover SUV between Feb. 24 and March 20.

Digital evidence and location data is being used to try to locate her, police said, and has provided positive leads.

According to DCI, her phone is currently not pinging on the network.

Investigators have conducted interviews with Gakwas friends and associates, a statement Thursday said, and have executed 24 search warrants for her.

"We receive tips daily, and are following up on those and processing data from search warrant returns," said Lt. Brent Wasson on Friday.

Anyone with information related to Gakwas disappearance, or about any suspicious activity in the area, should contact the Gillette Police Department at (307) 682-5155.

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Why Russian Oligarchs Cant Evade Sanctions Through Bitcoin

Blockchain data platform Chainalysis explored if Bitcoin can be used for mass Russian sanctions evasion in a recent blog. Here are their findings:

Ticket Size

Chainalysis relied on a 2017 study by the National Economic Bureau, which estimated that Russian oligarchs hold nearly $800 billion in offshore funds. The platform used the number for its analysis even though it did not account for assets held within Russia.

Free Float

Using a metric to measure the liquidity of a cryptocurrency called free float, Chainalysis compared BTC, Ethereum, and Tether.

Bitcoin had the lowest share of overall supply in the free float at 14 percent, but its (measured in dollars) is the largest among the three coins because of the apex coins large market cap.

Table indicating digital assets, percent of supply in free float, and supply free float In dollars (Courtesy of Chainalysis via Benzinga)

Even so, the three assets combined have a free float of $296 billion. This amount is expected to move within a year-long period but is less than half of the $800 estimated wealth of the oligarchs.

Liquidating the large amount held by the Russian oligarchs would exert significant downward pressure on Bitcoin prices, according to Chainalysis.

The models, based on an analysis of liquidations and price movements on 19 exchanges, estimate that Bitcoins price would decrease by 10 percent after the sale of just $1.46 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.

Exchanges as Roadblocks

The analysis noted that most cryptocurrency transactions take place within or between platforms such as exchanges. Centralized exchanges are the only places where cryptocurrency can be converted into cash, according to Chainalysis.

Since the largest cryptocurrency services are regulated, and users go through know-your-customer procedures, it would be difficult for oligarchs to move funds in stealth.

Remember, like all transactions on the blockchain, transfers to services are publicly visible, and extremely large movements are a topic of conversation in the cryptocurrency community, said Chainalysis.

Cryptocurrency inflows received by services. (Courtesy of Chainalysis via Benzinga)

Considering that daily inflows touched a high of $80 billion on May 19 last year, it would take 10 days of service inflows at that level for Russian oligarchs to move cryptocurrency worth $800 billion so that it can be liquidated, according to Chainalysis.

Mixer No Can Do

Mixers, a service often used by criminals to obfuscate their activities, may not help oligarchs either. Mixers take cryptocurrency from multiple users and redistribute it back to them in a random mix, with each user getting what they contributed.

However, if one user floods a mixer with funds, much of the funds returned to them would consist of the original amount they put indefeating the very purpose of the service.

Chainalysis said mixers on average receive under $30 million worth of cryptocurrency per day, but the amount reached as high as $160 million in early December.

Daily cryptocurrency value received by mixer. (Courtesy of Chainalysis via Benzinga)

If Russian oligarchs were to send $160 million worth of cryptocurrency per day to mixers, it would take 5,000 days to move their total collective wealth, according to Chainalysis.

Our findings suggest that the markets arent liquid enough to support the movement of the hundreds of billions controlled by sanctioned Russian oligarchs, concluded Chainalysis.

By Shivdeep Dhaliwal

 2022 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Wisconsin Governor Vetoes GOP-Sponsored Parents Bill of Rights

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has vetoed some two dozen Republican-sponsored bills, including one dubbed the Parents Bill of Rights that would have given parents more say in their kids education.

Evers on April 15 signed 15 bills into law, while vetoing 28 others, including Assembly Bill 963, which would have established a number of parental rights relating to decisions regarding a childs religion, medical care, and education, while creating a cause of action if these rights were violated.

The Parents Bill of Rights would have allowed children to sit out certain lessons that parents find objectionable on grounds of religion or personal conviction, while also giving parents the right to review any instructional materials used in the classroom and to request notice when certain subjects will be taught or discussed.

The legislation would have also allowed parents to determine what names and pronouns their children are referred to at school.

In a note explaining his decision to veto the bill (pdf), Evers accused lawmakers of using children as political pawns and called the measure divisive.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have to stop using our kids as political pawns, Evers wrote. I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to sowing division in our schools, which only hurts our kids and learning in our classrooms.

Acknowledging that parents are the first and best teachers our kids have and that improving childrens school performance is best achieved when parents are actively involved in their kids lives, Evers called for different measures than the ones set out in the bill so that we can better empower and facilitate parent engagement, which is critically important for our kids success.

Evers also vetoed a bill that would have banned teaching the concept known as critical race theory in Wisconsin schools and that would have prevented discrimination against people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Republicans lack the necessary votes to override Everss vetoes.

Parents Voices Not Being Heard

Wisconsin state Rep. Rick Gundrum, a Republican who co-authored bill 963, issued a statement responding to the veto, accusing Evers of ignoring the concerns of parents who object to certain ideas, materials, and practices in classrooms.

This legislation was created after hearing the concerns of many parents who have said their voices are not being heard in their respective school districts, Gundrum said.

Governor Evers doesnt seem to care that parents are not being informed or are being misled about what is happening in the classrooms.

Last year, parents in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against a school district over a policy that let students change their names and pronouns without parental consent.

Wisconsin state Sen. Alberta Darling, a Republican who co-authored the Parents Bill of Rights, said in a statement that the legislation amounted to common-sense protections for every family and would have given parents clear cut rights in the states statutes.

Governor Evers seems to believe that government should have a bigger say than parents and that is flat-out wrong, she said.

Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, a Republican whos looking to oust Evers in this years gubernatorial election, said in a statement that Everss veto makes it clear that he thinks education bureaucrats should have more of a say in a childs education than their own parents.

In an earlier interview on Fox News, Kleefisch said Wisconsin parents are mobilizing against what she characterized as a leftist agenda in the states school districts.

Parents are furious. They are seeing how these out-of-touch leftists and school board members who have allied themselves with the far fringes of the Democrat party have taken over at school districts, she said.
STORRS  The University of Connecticut is reinstating its mask requirement after a rise in both state and university COVID cases, school officials announced Friday afternoon.

Masks will be required in all indoor instructional settings, such as classrooms, labs, studios, rehearsal rooms and clinics, as well as work spaces and indoor events with more than 100 people, school officials Carl Lejuez, the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, and Eleanor JB Daugherty, the dean of students and associate vice president of student affairs, said in a letter to students.

The requirement is effective Monday and applies to the Storrs and regional campuses. The policy will remain through the end of the semester and final exams, Lejuez and Daugherty said.

The goal of this decision is to protect health on our campuses and to help ensure that the remaining weeks of the semester and UConns commencement ceremonies can be conducted in-person, Lejuez and Daugherty said. A widespread outbreak that overwhelms university health services and available isolation space could potentially disrupt both.

The university said physical distancing will not be required. Catering and dining guidance is unchanged and will apply to upcoming events and awards ceremonies.

The school sited a substantial rise in COVID-19 positivity rates both in the state of Connecticut and on UConns Storrs campus and the potential risk this poses to the remainder of the in-person semester and commencement.

As of Friday, the states seven-day positivity rate stood at 6.5 percent with almost 4,000 new cases. Some 161 people are hospitalized with the virus, 44 more than Thursday, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.

The university relaxed its masking requirements in March, and more so earlier this month, when the states COVID-19 positivity rate was consistently low at about 2 percent, Lejuez and Daugherty said. The number of positive cases among students was also consistently low, he added.

Over the past week, Lejuez and Daugherty said there have been about 150 new positive cases both on- and off-campus.

UConns classrooms and workspaces remain extremely safe; resuming the masking requirement for these spaces during a time of rising infection rates further enhances that level of safety, Lejuez and Daugherty said.
LONDON (AP)  Six people have been arrested after climate change activists climbed onto an oil tanker in central London to protest investments in fossil fuel, British police said Saturday.

The Extinction Rebellion climate activism group said two Olympic athletes  gold medal-winning canoeist Etienne Stott and Laura Baldwin  were among those protesting Friday. The oil tanker protest was part of mass climate demonstrations Friday that saw hundreds of activists blocking four key bridges across the British capital, causing delays and disruption across central London.

Extinction Rebellion said thousands of people are expected at Londons Hyde Park on Saturday for more protests.

More than 600 people have been arrested over the past two weeks after environmental activists climbed atop oil tankers, padlocked themselves to structures and blocked roads at oil depots across the U.K. The group Just Stop Oil, which is affiliated with Extinction Rebellion, is demanding that Britain's Conservative government stop any new oil and gas projects.

The demonstrations are part of a growing climate action movement that has also seen the group Insulate Britain obstruct highways and roads to press its demands that the government fund more energy-efficient homes. The demands have become more urgent as energy prices are skyrocketing in the U.K. and elsewhere.

A spokesperson for Shell said the company respects the right of everyone to express their point of view - we only ask that they do so with their safety and the safety of others in mind.

We agree that society needs to take urgent action on climate change. Shell has a clear target to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050, in step with society," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, police in central England said nine people were charged after Just Stop Oil held a demonstration Friday at an oil terminal in Kingsbury, near the city of Birmingham.

___

Read all AP stories on climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
A nationwide baby formula shortage worsened by a recall of a Michigan health care company's powdered formula continues. Some retailers are limiting how much customers can buy in a given transaction.

Walmart and Target, as well as major drug store chains CVS and Walgreens, are limiting the amount, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Infant formula is the sole source of nutrition for many infants and is an essential product, an official for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in an email. Just 25% of infants born in 2017 were fed exclusively through breastfeeding in their first six months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Throughout the pandemic, the FDA has been monitoring potential supply chain risks for this category of products and has been reaching out to infant formula manufacturers and their trade groups," the FDA official continued.

The out-of-stock percentage for baby formula hovered between 2% and 8% in the first seven months of last year, but it has been growing steadily since then and reached 23% in January, Datasembly reported, which analyzed more than 11,000 sellers of baby formula in the country.

During the week of March 13, some 29% of baby formula products were out of stock at retailers nationwide, potentially due to the recall.

The shortages are severe enough that, according to a report by WXYZ Detroit, a Detroit mom was forced to have a family member in Chicago buy her son's sensitive stomach formula and bring it to Detroit since she was close to running out.

Abbott Nutrition's factory in Sturgis, Michigan voluntarily issued a recall covering certain powdered Similac, Alimentum and EleCare formulas on Feb. 17 after reports of infant sickness and two deaths.

"Our first and foremost priority is ensuring that any recalled product is taken off the market and are working with the USDA and manufacturers to ensure that parents have access to alternative, safe infant formula," the FDA official said in an email. "We will and must continue focusing on taking all steps possible to protect the health of those who rely on safe powdered infant formula."

More on the recall: Baby formula recall extended after infant dies

FDA inspectors, who are investigating the conditions at the plant, had been on-site inspecting the Sturgis factory from late January to March 18, according to reporting by The Associated Press. Abbott has not confirmed how many units have been recalled, but the companys brands include some of the best-selling baby formulas in the world, including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare.

"Throughout the pandemic, the FDA has been monitoring potential supply chain risks for this category of products and has been reaching out to infant formula manufacturers and their trade groups," the FDA official said in an email. "As Abbott Nutrition was initiating its recall, the FDA intensified this outreach to infant formula manufacturers to inquire about their capacity and potential impacts given this developing situation. We continue discussions with all infant formula manufacturers and will consider all tools available to support the supply of infant formula products."

The recalled Abbott products can be identified by examining the coding on the bottom of each container. The affected formulas all have an expiration date of April 1, 2022, or later. The company has set up a website where parents can check if products have been recalled.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture offered the following statement in an email:

"Food and Nutrition Service is providing maximum flexibility, including regulatory waivers, for State agencies as they work with their infant formula rebate contractors and other stakeholders to respond to this recall. On February 18th, one day after Abbotts voluntary recall of certain powder infant formulas, FNS issued a letter to WIC State agencies with information on how to swiftly respond to the recall, including information on how to request certain waivers from FNS."

More information on the waivers and the Abbott recall is available here.

"FNS continues to monitor this evolving situation very closely," the USDA spokesperson said.

More information on infant formula feeding can be found on the CDC's website.
PHOENIX (AP)  The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors announced Friday that they may appoint one of three Republicans running to replace former County Attorney Allister Adel to temporarily fill her post, a move that would help that person's election chances.

But first, the board wants all three to interview for the interim position and answer questions in writing about how they'd do the job, including whether they believe the Republican-dominated board made a mistake when they certified the 2020 election results.

The board has been heavily criticized by some Republicans for certifying President Joe Biden's win but has steadfastly stood by the results and its election procedures.

The three Republicans seeking the post in the August primary are Anni Foster, Gov. Doug Ducey's top lawyer, Goodyear city prosecutor Gina Godbehere, and Rachel Mitchell, a longtime county prosecutor who briefly served as interim county attorney in 2019 and was a Republican counsel during U.S. Senate hearings on the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The lone Democrat to make the ballot is Julie Gunnigle, an attorney and former prosecutor who ran against Adel in 2020 who advocates for criminal justice reform.

Adel resigned last month amid criticism of her performance, including the dismissal of 180 misdemeanor cases because charges were not filed before the statute of limitations expired. She also was facing scrutiny over whether an admitted alcohol abuse problem was affecting her ability to do the job.

Gunnigle said the board's decision to appoint Adel in 2019 led to her using her post to campaign and engage in political prosecutions. She said fixing the county attorney's office is a full time job that requires someone to run it full time and not campaign for office.

Adels office and the Phoenix Police Department were criticized heavily in a now-discredited gang case brought against demonstrators at an October 2020 protest against police brutality.

The board must appoint a Republican for the job under state law, but does not have to consider naming one of the candidates.

Board Chair Bill Gates did not immediately respond to questions about whether appointing one of the GOP candidates would give them an unfair advantage in the primary or November's general election.

"This process will allow us to get to know the candidates better and determine if one of them is the right fit to serve in this position until voters choose a new County Attorney in November, Gates said in a statement.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolinas capital that authorities do not believe was a random attack.

Three people who had firearms have been detained in connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting at Columbiana Centre, Columbia Police Chief W.H. Skip Holbrook said. He said at least one of those three people fired a weapon.

We dont believe this was random, Holbrook said. We believe they knew each other and something led to the gunfire.

Authorities said no fatalities have been reported but that eight of the victims were taken to the hospital. Of those eight, two were in critical condition and six were in stable condition, Holbrook said. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 73, he said.

Daniel Johnson said he and his family were visiting from Alabama and were eating in the food court when they first heard shots ring out and started seeing people running.

Johnson said people were screaming for their children and spouses, knocking over tables in the food court as they fled.

Everybody was trying to get outside, Johnson said. When I was coming out, you could see baby strollers turned over, peoples phones and left keys. It was kind of a hectic situation.

Johnson said he gathered his wife, daughter and son and began heading toward the exit after letting the crowd clear out for a bit.

My biggest thing was  and not to sound selfish  was to make sure that our family was OK and to get them out safely because this is not something that we love to do for Easter weekend.

Heavy police presence continued in the area hours after the shooting, though officers began letting more traffic through the streets surrounding the shopping centers and strip malls that are usually packed on weekends. Officers were also stationed outside a nearby hotel designated as a reunification area for people at the scene of the shooting and their families.

Workers from a couple of stores remained clustered in the mostly empty parking lot Saturday evening, waiting for police to let them back inside to retrieve their car keys and personal belongings so they could leave. They said they did not hear or see anything during the shooting but followed the malls alert system and were evacuated by police shortly after. They declined to give their names, citing company policies.

Todays isolated, senseless act of violence is extremely upsetting and our thoughts are with everyone impacted," Columbiana Centre said in a statement. "We are grateful for the quick response and continued support of our security team and our partners in law enforcement.

The shooting is the latest in a rash of shootings at or near malls across the country.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head Wednesday outside Brooklyn's Atlantic Terminal Mall. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Officials said he was with a group of boys when they got into a dispute with a second group.

On Tuesday, a Southern California shoe store owner mistakenly shot a 9-year-old girl while firing at two shoplifters at the Mall of Victor Valley, police said.

And earlier this month, police said six people were killed and 12 others wounded in Sacramento, California, during a gunfight between rival gangs as bars closed in a busy area near the Downtown Commons shopping mall and the state Capitol.
Dr. Shaikha Fatimah Tagwai Aji is a medical professional of high reputation. She has over the years galvanized economic support to advance the course of Africa through her businesses and organizations. From her base in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, she has thrown her weight behind the upcoming event "The Gambia Voice Business Summit/Awards 2022" The activities will commence from 18th to 20th August 2022 at Sir Dawda Jawara International Conference, Banjul, The Gambia.

Speaking via telephone conversation with the founder and publisher of The Voice publication, Ambassador Elvis Iruh, she renewed her commitment to again be part of the activities as she did in the previous event in Dubai. She assured the publisher that she will galvanize her entire network to participate in this year's ceremonies in The Gambia.

"I am delighted to endorse your event for this year in the Gambia. I would work hard to ensure that you receive great participations from my network to this event as we did in Dubai last year. I personally recommend to our Diaspora friends to visit the Gambia to tap into in the vast opportunities abound in the country", she stated.

According to her, I have a very close ties with the country and my sister is a top political figure in the Gambia; so I would be coming to join her for us to promote the Gambia to the world and ensure that more business interests are developed for the country.

While appreciating her commitment to The Voice publication, the publisher used the opportunity to wish her a very healthy birthday celebration which took place on 15th April 2022. Although low key, she was surrendered by her children with birthday cakes and best wishes. Happy birthday to you Her Excellency. We pray for good health and more strength to continue the work of advancing African course to the global scene.

Dr. Aji enjoys access at the highest levels to key decision makers in both public and private sectors globally, and especially in Africa. She has championed the building and strengthening of economic and political relationships between the emerging countries and economies of Africa and those of the more developed world. Her target has always been poverty reduction and capacity building through education and through the creation of employment opportunities to benefit particularly women and children.

She supports the promotion of information technology as a key tool for both social and business-to-business networking and this is an essential part of her mission. She ispassionately determined to improve the quality of life for women in Africa and to create meaningful opportunities for all.

Dr. Aji was one of the first women to organize the All African First Lady Summit on peace, economic development, and the empowerment of women in Africa. She has used her impressive managerial skills to highlight and promote sustainable development in the poorest nations of Africa, and to highlight the impressive successess and achievements of those that are more prosperous. She is the Princess of support, encouragement, empowerment, and hope, for the woman of Peace. She is the very charismatic Chairperson and CEO of the H&HGT LLC Group of Companies, Executive President of Voice of Women in Africa, Global Voice of Women Organization and also the Vice President of International Organization for Economic Development (IOED).

Dr. Aji is a recipient of about 30 international awards and numerous commendations and accolades, including the prestigious title of (Grand Order Of Africa) Ambassador of the Renaissance African at the World Council of Pan-African Organizations (PANAFRICA) in 2002, a meriterious tribute to her dynamism, many successes, and selfless sacrifices in pursuit of her lifes work. These recognitions serve to validate and underline the impressive Fellow Chartered Management Accountant of ICMA (CICMA) GLOBAL WOMEN OF THE YEAR 2015 WE CARE FOR HUMANITY  WCH/UN success and the power of her vision for the assistance and support of the underprivilege. While contributing to building the social and economic systems and infrastructure necessary for sustainable societal developmentt and wealth creation; and especially by setting up of more and easier access to micro-credit schemes to support small and medium scale projects in Africa. Her medical programs are for the prevention and treatment of HIV AIDS, STDs, and malaria. Last year she was recognized alongside the First Lady of The Gambia, Her Excellency, Mrs Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow in Dubai, UAE.

Dr. Ajis many business endeavours are for financing Humanitarian projects in Africa, to improve the lives of women, children and other philanthropic projects in Africa.
The leader of the South Dakota Senate has named a lead prosecutor for the impeachment trial of state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg and scheduled it for late June. Wednesday's announcement from Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck comes one day after House lawmakers voted to impeach Ravnsborg for a car crash that killed a pedestrian. Ravnsborg is the first official to be impeached in South Dakota history. He must take a leave until the Senate decides whether to remove him from office. Schoenbeck set the trial for June 21-22. He said Pennington County prosecutor Mark Vargo will argue in favor of the two articles of impeachment. One is for crimes that led to the death of Joe Boever and the other is for malfeasance in office.
The battle for the presidential ticket of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 General Election is already pitching Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a foremost leader of the party, against his political godson and Nigeria's vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), as the two leaders are set for a titanic battle at the forthcoming APC presidential primary where the party's flagbearer would be chosen.

The political space, especially in the South West geo-political zone, has therefore become fully charged with the declaration of VP Osinbajo, last week, of his interest in the 2023 presidency after months of speculation as the gravity of Nigerian politics swiftly moved to the zone for obvious reasons.

THEWILL Newspaper's cover story for the week, titled, 2023 Presidency: Osinbajo, Tinubu at Daggers Drawn, Set For Epic Clash, takes a look at the epic battle ahead as the big clash now looks inevitable. The report maintains that the coming days will bring about intense rivalry and horse-trading between the camp of the two gladiators. The article adds that President Muhammadu Buhari is strongly leaning towards a hybrid Igbo aspirant, a minority Igbo from a South/South State as his preferred successor.

On our backpage, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Austyn Ogannah, writes that the 2023 presidential election is going to be a make or break poll for Nigeria, in a piece titled, 2023: Presidential Candidates APC And PDP Must Present To Nigerians, as he, once again, makes a strong case for presidential power to shift to the Igbo for peace, harmony, economic progress and ultimate unity in order to ensure stability for the country.

DOWNTOWN, the colourful all-gloss lifestyle and culture magazine insert of THEWILL, goes fully digital from this Easter weekend edition as it features a cover story on fashion trends that have been resurrected. Other regulars bring exciting tips on places to visit and movies to watch over the long Easter break. As always, our edition for this week is loaded; so relax and enjoy our exciting package.

Get a copy from this Sunday and through the week nationwide at newsstands. Digital copies are available on: www.thewillnigeria.com / www.thewilldowntown.com / ISSUU.COM and PRESSREADER.COM

And for the latest trends and updates, follow our handles on: Twitter: @thewillng @thewilldowntown and Instagram: @thewillnewspaper @thewilldowntown @thewillsociety

Signed: MANAGEMENT


Pattani rattled by blasts after peace talks

PATTANI: Police are investigating a double bomb attack in Sai Buri district which left a fisherman dead and three explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) officers injured. The attacks are believed to be the work of a group operating under the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo).

deathpolicepoliticsviolencereligion

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 16 April 2022, 08:05AM

A cloth banner declaring Free Patani. Patani is not Siam, with a BRN flag attached, in Yala province on Mar 13. Photo: Abdullah Benjakat

Police were alerted to the first explosion at 3am yesterday (Apr 15) when a villager identified as Surasak Dibuntham called police reporting that a bomb had gone off by a pond in Moo 8 village in tambon Paen, said Pol Col Chaleomchai Phetkat, superintendent of Sai Buri district police, reports the Bangkok Post.

They found another villager, Nawi Pramon, dead at the scene. He had gone fishing at the pond in the early hours, said Pol Col Chaleomchai. Police collected a flyer containing an illustration of a panther and text in the Malay language reading Daulat tuanku G5 Askar di-raja Patani, he said. Daulat tuan ku can be interpreted as Long live the king while Askar di-raja Patani translates as Soldiers of the king of Patani.

Police are investigating whether the message was left by an armed group called Pulo G5 as implied in the text, said Pol Col Chaleomchai, adding this group has been involved in several bombings in the deep South.

The second blast went off at 7am while a bomb disposal team was working at the scene, injuring three of them, one of whom was severely injured, said a source.

Pulo G5 is a newly formed Pulo group, said the source. The attack was carried out despite the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) agreeing in a recent round of peace talks to avoid causing violence during Ramadan, which runs from Apr 2 to May 1.

However, Pulo, which usually operates under Mara Patani - an umbrella organisation of Malay-Muslim separatist fronts from southern Thailand - was not included in the most recent round of talks. Gen Wallop Raksanoh, former National Security Council secretary-general, led the Thai negotiating team in the talks, which were arranged by a Malaysian facilitator.

Fourth Army Region commander Lt Gen Kriangkrai Srirak said security forces had been expecting an attack by a third party despite the Ramadan agreement. The army will next try to find out whether Pulo wants to engage in new peace talks, he said, adding the government is always ready to talk.

Lt Gen Thira Daewa, commander of the Fourth Region Army Corps, speaking in his capacity as secretary of the peace talks team, said the attacks appeared to be symbolically aimed at demonstrating Pulos anger at being excluded from the talks.
Phuket couple to scale Nepals Chulu West for Soi Dog

Phuket residents Yanisa Kingmala-Beven and her husband Rohun later this month will attempt to climb Chulu West in Nepal to help raise funds for Phukets Soi Dog Foundation.

animalscharity

By The Phuket News

Saturday 16 April 2022, 10:00AM

Yanisa with rescue dog Gi on a training session in the Phuket hill

The summit of Chulu West, in the Annapurna region of Nepal, stands 6,419 metres high. Yanisa and Rohun plan to make the climb within 21 days.

The couple will begin their trek from Kathmandu on April 27.

After five days we will leave the trail in Manang at 3,500m and climb up the remote Marsyangdi Valley overlooked by some of the worlds mighty 8,000m peaks, including Manaslu and Annapurna, explains Rohun.

We should reach base camp at 4,900m by day 9 for acclimatisation and snow-training. We then move slowly up towards a tented high-camp at 5,120m and then Camp 1 at 5,500m. The summit-day challenge begins at 1am with an 8 to 10-hour climb up the West Ridge and finally, the steep knife-edge leading to the summit at 6,419m [21,059 feet], he adds.

The couple plan to arrive in Pokhara on May 15 and transfer back to Kathmandu by May 17.

Yanisa is leaving Soi Dog after nearly four years as a volunteer coordinator at the foundations shelter in the north end of the island.

I love dogs. We have four rescue dogs of our own, Yanisa told The Phuket News before departing for Nepal.

Our goal is to raise awareness of the appalling suffering of millions of sick, injured, abandoned and homeless street dogs and cats in Southeast Asia, she added.

The goal is to raise US$3,000 to support Soi Dog projects to rescue and protect dogs and cats throughout Southeast Asia.

We want to help support Soi Dog projects in Southeast Asia as well as some funds going to help dogs affected by the war in Ukraine, Yanisa added.

The couple have been in training for the challenge for the past nine months.

I walk 20,000 to 25,000 steps with the dogs five days a week, and I run 5km two days a week

I also do a 10km hill walk with my backpack two times a week, Yanisa explained.

She also does weight training five days a week.

When doing her hill walk in Phuket, Yanisa carries 10-12kg in her backpack, the same weight she will be carrying during the climb.

This will be only my personal belongings, like supplements, spare clothing, climbing gear, food snacks and first aid kit. We will have a head guide, one Sherpa and a second Sherpa at high altitude to carry up food and set up the tents. We will each be roped to a Sherpa when climbing on the snow from base camp up to the summit. Yanisa explained.

For good luck she will be carrying her Buddhist amulet around her neck, and bringing with her fitness and a positive attitude.

It will be a challenge. I have never done any mountain climbing before, Yanisa admitted.

This will be my first time. It will be a big challenge for me. I must say I am excited and nervous.

Yanisa has never experienced the extreme temperatures she will face on the mountain, expected to reach -15 to -20 Celsius. The coldest she has endured is about -5C while on holidays in Chamonix, France with her husband.

The below freezing temperatures previously cost Rohun the chance to complete a climb of Mera Peak, which at 6,476m is the highest of the trekking peaks in Nepal.

That climb Rohun was also attempting in order to raise money for Soi Dog.

He made it to within 300m of the summit, but had to turn back because of the extreme cold, Yanisa explained.

I will be wearing very warm clothes. I do not want to fail because of this, she said.

She said she is concerned, but confident, about the safety aspect of the climb. Sure, I am confident in the safety. We have been preparing for this, and we will have a Sherpa. We will not be doing this alone, Yanisa said.

It is not easy to climb Chula West, and not many people our age make climbs like this. I am 51 and Rohun is 64. He has diabetes and high blood pressure, but it is under control, she assured.

After returning from the mountain, Yanisa and Rohun will go to England for a three-month break for rest and recuperation, and begin their life in retirement.

But when they return to Phuket, Yanisa and Rohun will return to help out as volunteers at Soi Dog.

I love dogs and I will definitely go back to volunteer. All my lovely dogs are there, Yanisa said.

Soi Dog Operations Director Sam McElroy expressed the strong support from Soi Dog for Yanisa and Rohuns quest.

We are so excited to support Yanisa in attempting this challenge. She and her husband, Rohun, have been training really hard for it.

We are speechless at their bravery and commitment to help end the suffering of the stray dogs and cats in Southeast Asia. Yanisa and Rohun both share a passion for animal welfare and have been part of the Soi Dog Family for years, he said.

Yanisa puts her heart and soul into everything she does and we really hope they can both achieve this ambitious feat on behalf of the 1,600 animals we have here at Soi Dog.

Your donation to support their challenge will directly go towards helping the stray dogs and cats of Southeast Asia. Everyone here will be cheering them on all the way. Phuket  please get behind them! Go Yani and Rohun! he said.

The first 28 days of the campaign saw B24,148 of the B87,849 target set raised through donations by just 12 people. The fundraiser will remain open until May 29.

All donations go directly to Soi Dog with no fees or costs. Donations can be made in any currency. Visit https://www.soidog.org/content/rohuns-fundraiser

To keep up to date with Yanisa and Rohuns Chulu West Challenge, follow them on their Facebook page Rohun and Yanisas Fundraiser for Soi Dog (click here).
Shanghai residents scuffle with police over virus policy

SHANGHAI: Shanghai residents scuffled with hazmat-suited police ordering them to surrender their homes to COVID-19 patients, videos on social media showed, providing a rare glimpse into rising discontent in the megacity over Chinas inflexible virus response.

ChineseCoronavirusCOVID-19

By AFP

Saturday 16 April 2022, 08:15AM

Shanghai residents locked down since early April have complained of food shortages and over-zealous officials forcing them into state quarantine. Photo: AFP

Shanghai, a city of 25 million and Chinas economic engine room, has become the heart of the countrys biggest outbreak since the peak of the first virus wave in Wuhan over two years ago, rattling the countrys adherence to a strict zero-COVID policy.

Residents locked down since early April have complained of food shortages and over-zealous officials forcing them into state quarantine, as authorities rush to construct tens of thousands of beds to house COVID-19 patients with daily infections topping 20,000.

Late Thursday (Apr 14), videos circulated on social media showing residents outside a compound shouting at ranks of officials holding shields labelled police, as the officers tried to break through their line.

In one clip, police appear to make several arrests as the residents accuse them of hitting people.

The incident was triggered after authorities ordered 39 households to move from the compound in order to meet the needs of epidemic prevention and control and house virus patients in their apartments, according to Zhangjiang Group, the developer of the housing complex.

It has provided a rare window into public anger in China, a country where Communist authorities brook little dissent and censors routinely wipe information relating to protests from the internet as fast as it is uploaded.

In one live-streamed video, a woman can be heard weeping and asking why are they taking an old person away? as officials appeared to put someone into a car.

Zhangjiang Group said it had compensated the tenants and moved them into other units in the same compound.

In another video, which was live-streamed, a woman is heard yelling Zhangjiang Group is trying to turn our compound into a quarantine spot, and allow COVID-positive people to live in our compound.

The group recognised videos of the compound that had appeared on the internet on Thursday and said the situation had now settled down after some tenants obstructed the construction of a quarantine fence.

Chinas censors quickly stepped in to scrub evidence of the clash from Chinese social media sites - as they did with several other videos that have appeared over the last few weeks - with search results for the name of the apartment complex disappearing from the Twitter-like Weibo by yesterday morning.

Shanghai residents have taken to social media to vent about food shortages and heavy-handed controls, including the killing of a pet corgi by a health worker and a now-softened policy of separating infected children from their virus-free parents.

Authorities have vowed the city would not relax in the slightest, preparing over a hundred new quarantine facilities to receive every person who tests positive - whether or not they show symptoms.
Cultural activities held in Ethiopia to celebrate upcoming UN Chinese Language Day

Xinhua) 13:53, April 16, 2022

Students of Confucius Institute participate in the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed to promote the Chinese language and culture.

The Chinese Language Day celebrations, which were jointly organized by the AAU and the Confucius Institute at the AAU, are said to serve as an important platform for creating awareness of the Chinese language in particular and Chinese culture in general to Ethiopians.

In welcoming participants, Academic Vice President of AAU Emebet Mulugeta said the celebrations would inject much-needed momentum into promoting the Chinese language in Ethiopia and boost the people-to-people ties between the two countries.

"Beyond the celebrations, it has a lot of implications. Learning the Chinese language means learning the Chinese culture, expanding cultural exchanges, expanding business and expanding academic exchanges. It has a very important implication," she said. "While celebrating this day, we also try to see the broader perspective of learning the Chinese language."

A series of cultural activities were held, in which Chinese language students at the Confucius Institute at the AAU demonstrated various elements of the Chinese culture and language, including the calligraphy, paper-cutting, Chinese traditional costumes, and Peking Opera facial masks.

In addition, members of the 23rd Chinese medical team to Ethiopia demonstrated traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture and cupping to a crowd of the AAU community who gathered together inside the premises of the AAU main campus in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Amenuael Alemayehu, dean of the College of Humanities, Language Studies, Journalism and Communications at the AAU, stressed the celebrations would serve to further promote the Chinese language and culture across the East African country.

"The Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University is one of the vibrant institutes we have today. It is the only foreign language institute in our college to attract students every year," he said.

He emphasized that amid the growing demand for Chinese language studies among young Ethiopian students, the Confucius Institute at the AAU in partnership with the AAU will welcome new students for the Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) as the first MA program in the Chinese language for the next academic year.

He said celebrating Chinese Language Day will further promote the Chinese language in Ethiopia.

"I believe this international Chinese Language Day (celebrations) will also help the institute to be more visible; it will increase the awareness of students within and outside the institute. People can learn about the Chinese language and culture from such events," said Alemayehu.

Melaku Mekonene, a third-year Chinese language student of the Confucius Institute at the AAU, said the celebrations showcased the growing popularity of the Chinese language in Ethiopia, Africa's second populous nation.

"Today we have seen the huge significance given to the Chinese language here in Ethiopia. As a Chinese language student, this gives me great pleasure due to the growing future prospects," Mekonene said. "I am certain that with the growing significance given to the Chinese language here, more and more students and the general public will learn the language in the years to come."

Yohanis Elias, another Chinese language student, said such celebrations would serve to further deepen students' awareness of Chinese culture.

"We all are happy to attend this Chinese Language Day celebration events. It also helped us to know more about Chinese culture, such as the Chinese dressing style, costume and traditional Chinese medicine," he said.

Che Zhaoguang, the cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, said the celebrations will have huge significance as language plays a very important role in deepening and enhancing Ethiopia-China ties.

"Chinese is one of the official languages of the United Nations and in recent years more and more people around the world are learning the Chinese language to better understand contemporary China," Che said. "We believe the future cooperation between our two countries in the fields of education, culture, tourism, and economy, among others, will be surely promoted."

The Confucius Institute at the AAU, in collaboration with its partners, commemorated the Chinese Language Day in line with the decision by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 to mark the Chinese Language Day on April 20. The decision envisaged celebrating multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as promoting equal use of all six of the UN's official working languages throughout the organization's structure and activities.

April 20 was chosen as the Chinese Language Day to pay tribute to Cangjie, an imaginary figure in traditional Chinese lore regarded as the inventor of Chinese characters.

Students wearing Peking Opera masks attend the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum says state agencies may use their present budgets as a starting point for drafting new two-year spending plans. And although agency heads should consider inefficiencies, they wont have to identify potential cuts. The Republican governors guidelines come as state coffers are fattened by soaring oil prices and revenue is far exceeding forecasts. Burgum signaled he intends to include a state employee pay raise in his next two-year budget recommendation, though he did not provide details on how much he will suggest to lawmakers, who may adopt an equal raise for themselves.
Today

Windy with showers this morning then scattered thunderstorms developing during the afternoon hours. High 53F. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tonight

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 32F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 68F. E winds shifting to WSW at 10 to 15 mph.
North Dakota regulators want utilities input on electric vehicle charging infrastructure and programs meant to reduce power consumption during peak usage times.

The three members of the Public Service Commission discussed the topics at a recent meeting and gave utilities a deadline of June 15 to provide feedback. The request was prompted by the federal infrastructure bill that Congress passed last fall, which directs state utility regulators to look into such matters.

The legislation tasks each state with considering measures to promote electric vehicles and related infrastructure, Commission Chair Julie Fedorchak said.

The PSC is asking utilities to provide information on establishing rates that consider promoting affordable electric vehicle charging options, improving customers' charging experience, accelerating third party investment in charging, and recovering charging infrastructure costs.

At this point, were just gathering information on these particular issues as written in law, Fedorchak said. Theres nothing that requires us to promote these goals.

North Dakota has just several hundred electric vehicles and is among the last states in the nation to install fast-charging stations. Momentum has built in recent years to expand charging infrastructure, and a number of cities including Bismarck now have a few stations.

The PSCs other request of utilities has to do with programs related to demand response and demand flexibility. Under demand response programs, utility customers voluntarily agree to have their power curtailed during periods of unusually high electricity demand. Demand flexibility involves shifting high energy consuming activities such as charging an electric vehicle to off-peak times.

Commissioner Sheri Haugen-Hoffart said the commission seeks comments from utilities on existing programs and future opportunities, current rate mechanisms for recovering costs, and previous state actions surrounding demand response and flexibility.

Fedorchak described demand response as low-hanging fruit to improve efficiency within the power sector, particularly as the industry develops tools enabling customers to more closely monitor and adjust their electricity usage.

I feel like its an important step to take now that those tools exist to help shave the peak  which also can then reduce the need for adding additional generation resources, which are paid for by customers and expensive to develop, she said.

Commissioner Randy Christmann said demand response has benefits, but he will be following the matter closely because it's an area where, as a country, we cant get too carried away. He said there are scenarios in which curtailing power could become a problem -- even for the commissioners if they were to schedule a hearing at a facility elsewhere in the state where they would need to be assured of adequate power availability for the day.

Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.

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SPRINGFIELD  A state appellate court ruled this week that it will not block enforcement of the Pritzker administrations mandate that certain categories of public employees either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing.

The 2-1 ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeals upheld a Sangamon County judges decision on April 1 not to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the policy.

The decision involved three consolidated cases in which public employees are seeking to overturn the mandate. The cases include suits against Gov. J.B. Pritzker, various state agencies, the Pekin Fire Department and the Deland-Weldon school district.

Pritzker first issued a vaccine mandate on Aug. 26, 2021, through an executive order that applied to health care workers, school employees, higher education personnel and students, and state employees who work in congregate facilities. The order also authorized other entities, both public and private, to enact their own vaccination and testing requirements.

The employees sued to block enforcement of the order citing the states Health Care Right of Conscience Act which, among other things, makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone for refusing to receive any particular form of health care that they find contrary to their conscience.

That law was originally enacted to shield health care workers from liability for refusing to perform or assist in abortions. During last years fall veto session, however, lawmakers passed an amendment to that law making a specific exception for health care measures that are intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

That provision does not officially go into effect until June 1. But lawmakers inserted language in the measure stating the section is a declaration of existing law rather than a new enactment.

In other words, the General Assembly said it was only clarifying something that was ambiguous in an existing law, which in this case involved the word discriminate.

The Sangamon County circuit court cited that law in denying the plaintiffs request for a temporary restraining order, saying that even though it hasnt taken effect yet, it can still be used as an aid in understanding the original statute.

But the plaintiffs appealed, noting that the new law has not yet gone into effect while also arguing that even though the amendment claims to be a declaration of existing law, the legislature cannot retroactively change the meaning of an otherwise unambiguous statute.

In their appeal, the plaintiffs cited a 2020 decision from the 2nd District Court of Appeals involving the same statute that said there was nothing ambiguous about the word discriminate.

To the contrary, the ordinary meaning of the word is set forth in its dictionary definition, the 2nd District court wrote.

That case involved a nurse in a public health clinic who claimed religious objections to providing family planning services or referring patients for abortions.

In its ruling Wednesday, however, the 4th District appellate court said that simply because a word has a dictionary definition does not make its meaning within a statute unambiguous. In this case, the court said, it would only be discriminatory if an employer punished workers who refused to be vaccinated or tested as a matter of conscience but did not punish those who refused for other reasons.

The vaccine and testing requirements, the court wrote, could actually be seen as merit-based policies because those who are vaccinated or tested are less likely to spread COVID-19 in the workplace.

The plaintiffs also challenged the vaccine and testing mandates under the Illinois Department of Public Health Act, which gives that agency supreme authority in matters of quarantine and isolation.

But the appellate court rejected that argument as well, saying that the employers in the three cases had not quarantined or isolated anyone, but had instead only threatened loss of employment.

To be fired is not to be quarantined or isolated from the community at large, the majority wrote.

The opinion was written by Justice Peter Cavanagh, with Justice James Knecht concurring.

Justice Robert Steigmann wrote a dissenting opinion. He argued that the word discriminate has a clear and understandable meaning and that the legislature included in the statute numerous examples of the kinds of discrimination that are prohibited.

He also argued that the 2021 amendment to the Health Care Right of Conscious Act could be used as an interpretive aid in understanding the original statute because he found nothing unambiguous about the original law.
John Badman

ALTON  The Main Street United Methodist Church in Alton on Friday hosted an Easter art exhibit by Scott Erickson in Haskell Park.

The display included 12 pieces of art based on the Stations of the Cross depicting the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday preceding Easter Sunday.
EDWARDSVILLE  Living only one block away on McKinley Avenue, Kenny Krumeich, a lifelong Edwardsville resident, sees the propane tanks on the property at 210 First Ave. nearly every day.

Most of the tanks have been there for nearly 55 years, with no major incidents.

But every time he sees the tanks, he cant help but wonder what would happen if something did go wrong.

These tanks are a ticking time bomb and they need to be removed, said Krumeich.

Ask city officials if they would like to look out their window and see a patch of giant bombs laying across the street. That brownfield in the midst of the city is a shame upon those who claim the power to zone and regulate land use for the good of the city.

Removing the propane tanks, which have been at the property since 1967, has been an ongoing crusade in recent years for the 64-year-old Krumeich, who spent 18 years and five terms as an Edwardsville Township trustee.

Krumeich provides updates on the issue through his Facebook group page, Edwardsville Illinois Concerns (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2065494697008176), which had 53 members as of Tuesday. He also has a petition on change.org to have the tanks removed and it had 51 signatures as of Monday.

This is a long story, and it has a lot of tentacles, Krumeich said.

The story began in 1967, when the Edwardsville City Planning Commission heard a request from Skelly Oil Company (Skelgas) for a variance to store 60,000 gallons of flammable material on the lot at the intersection of First Avenue and Longfellow Avenue.

On Aug. 24, 1967, the Edwardsville City Council approved a motion to have the flammable material stored at the site. At the time, Skelgas had someone in the office there six days a week.

Since then, Skelgas was purchased by Ferrellgas in 1996, and the office at the Edwardsville site has long been closed. There are still numerous tanks at the site.

Several years after the Praxair explosion on June 24, 2005, when fire swept through thousands of flammable gas cylinders at the Praxair gas repackaging plant in St. Louis, Krumeich started a petition to have the tanks removed. He appeared before the Edwardsville City Council and then-Mayor Hal Patton, but he said no action was taken.

According to the Madison County Recorders Office, the property is listed as vacant industrial land, with the tax bill going to New Skelgas in Liberty, Missouri. A Google search for that address now lists it as being for Ferrellgas.

In addition to the recorder's office, Krumeich checked with the Madison County Treasurers Office about the property, which has 672 square feet, and found that Ferrellgas paid $471.64 in taxes in 2020.

Calls to the Madison County Recorder's, Assessor's and Treasurer's offices confirmed the information.

More recently, Krumeich has talked to the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM), which conducted an inspection of the property on March 24.

Information from the OSFM report included:

Large tank too close to residential areas

Unable to verify date on tank due to locked fencing

Multiple smaller tanks laying on their side

Large tank not fully protected with crash protection

No name on property. No other than emergency signage.

Has proper extinguishers in place and tagged

The report added that no other action has been taken at this time.

Krumeich claims he spoke with the offices of Gov. JB Pritzker, state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville and state Sen. Rachelle Aud-Crowe last week.

I also contacted the Illinois EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) offices in Collinsville and Springfield, but their Springfield office told me twice that they couldnt do an environmental impact study on the property," he said. "They told me I could do it with the permission of the property owner or have someone else do it, but I didnt want to do that.

Mayor Art Risavy, meanwhile, has been aware of Krumeichs concerns for many years, going back to when he was the 7th Ward Alderman.

Ive researched it pretty extensively and back in 1967, the Edwardsville Planning Commission approved a variance that allowed (Skelgas, now Ferrellgas) to do what they are doing there, and that variance is still in place today, Risavy said.

The city monitors the site to make sure that 60,000-gallon threshold is not being exceeded. From everything I can see there, they are in compliance.

On April 9-10, Krumeich got a surprise when he found out that some of the propane tanks at the First Avenue had been removed, while other tanks had been added.

Risavy, reached on Monday, said he was unaware of the changes at the site over the past few days, but said he would notify the citys Public Works Department.

In the meantime, Risavy said he and other city officials would continue to keep an eye on any new developments at the propane tank site.

I understand Kennys concerns and hes a great community member and hes concerned for the wellbeing of his neighborhood, Risavy said. He feels those tanks are a danger and I know some other people feel the same way.

Im going to continue to follow up on the issue. We will not stop monitoring what is going on there.

Monitoring the property at 210 First Ave. is a regular duty for Eric Williams, who is public works director for Edwardsville.

I went by the property a couple of times (on Monday) and I didnt see any activity there, Williams said. Kenny (Krumeich) calls us periodically and we reached out to Skelgas (Ferrellgas) to make sure there were still utilizing the site.

We also checked it over the winter and there was a lot of activity with trucks coming and going. During the coldest time of the winter, we expected them to be getting propane for home heating in the outlying areas.

Williams added that Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford is among the city officials who make sure that the property is being used in compliance with the ordinance.

Chief Whiteford works regularly with the Illinois State Fire Marshals office to do inspections on the site. (Ferrellgas) has permission to use the site for what they are using it as, Williams said.

Krumeich, who was a member of the Edwardsville Planning Commission for 14 years, is also concerned about the signage  or the lack thereof  at the propane tank site.

Krumeich emphasized that he believes he is not alone in his concern about what could happen if there ever would be an emergency at the site.

There are a lot of stores and restaurants within a few blocks of those tanks, and then youve got (residential neighborhoods) on Fifth Avenue, Fourth Third, Third Avenue, Second Avenue, First Avenue  all in the Miller Heights area, Krumeich said.

After that, its all Leclaire, from McKinley on up to the water tower. People on the opposite side of Troy Road would feel the aftershocks if these tanks ever blow. It could have happened last year (in December) when we had that tornado.

If the tanks are eventually removed, Krumeich is hopeful that the city will be able to obtain grant funding from the state of Illinois to help pay for removal and cleanup.

It was in the distant past when these tanks were first put here, and its time to redevelop this dangerous eyesore into something beneficial to the community, Krumeich said. It would also remove the threat of blowing up a nice neighborhood. The taxpayers are entitled to have this parcel used and taxed at its potential.
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MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexicos Congress is set to vote on a constitutional reform promoted by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that would undo much of the market opening in electrical power carried out by his predecessor. It is unclear if Lopez Obrador has the votes to push the reform through. But the U.S. and other countries have raised concerns the move will affect foreign investors and violate trade agreements.

WHY DID MEXICO INVITE FOREIGN COMPANIES IN?

Prior the 2013 energy reform, Mexico faced several problems: high electricity rates, scarce generating capacity and dirty power plants that often burned fuel oil to produce electricity. So the government built pipelines to import cleaner U.S. natural gas, allowed companies to buy electricity from independent generators and gave foreign and private firms incentives to install cleaner wind-power turbines or gas-fired plants.

WHY DOES MEXICO'S PRESIDENT WANT TO UNDO REFORM?

Mexico may have given private and foreign firms too many incentives. They received preferential treatment in pricing and purchasing, and didn't have to pay the state-owned utility, the Federal Electricity Commission, fees for distributing power through government-owned transmission lines.

The state-owned utility lost market share and income, but still had to maintain transmission lines. Worse, with some government plants idle, fuel oil  a dirty byproduct of Mexico's antiquated oil refineries  began building up, until there was no place to store it.

WHAT DOES THE CURRENT REFORM AIM TO DO?

Lopez Obrador likes state-owned companies and doesn't want the Federal Electricity Commission to go bankrupt or lose more market share. So he has proposed guaranteeing the commission a market share of at least 54% of the electrical power market, with private firms given as much as 46%." The commission would be given preference, buying power from its own plants first, while often cleaner energy from private generators would be last in line.

For example, the reform puts private natural gas plants almost last in line  ahead of only government coal-fired plants  for rights to sell electricity into the grid, despite the fact they produce power about 24% more cheaply.

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIONS TO THE PROPOSAL?

Private companies, mainly from Spain and the United States, invested billions of dollars in Mexico to build wind, solar and gas-fired plants under the terms of the 2013 reform. Now, suddenly, the government wants to change those rules.

And companies with plants, factories and stores in Mexico need to plan how much their energy costs will be and how green the energy will be, so they often signed long-term power supply contracts with private generators. These contracts could now be declared illegal.

Mexican laws require free competition in the power industry. And the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, or USMCA, prohibits member nations from passing laws that favor domestic producers or state-owned firms.

WHAT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN?

A lot of lawsuits and possibly trade disputes. Critics say the reform will hurt investors and their confidence in Mexico. The companies are likely to file for court injunctions, and the U.S. government may file a USMCA complaint, which could eventually result in compensatory tariffs on Mexican products.

Lopez Obrador has already passed a law giving the state utility more discretion in deciding whose electricity to buy, but it remains stalled by court challenges. The president may not get the two-thirds majority in Congress needed to pass the constitutional reforms he seeks.

Critics say the reforms may end up forcing Mexicans  and the U.S. retail and auto companies that work in Mexico  to buy more expensive, dirtier electricity.

IS IT ONLY ELECTRICITY THAT WOULD BE AFFECTED?

No. Lopez Obrador also included a clause declaring lithium  a key component of batteries for electric cars and other devices  a strategic mineral that only the government can mine. A Chinese company has invested in a yet-unopened Mexican mine. Even if the electrical reforms fails, Lopez Obrador has vowed to send another bill on the lithium issue to Congress separately.
Nuclear energy has always been divisive, and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine has intensified the debate.

Faced with soaring energy prices and a natural gas supplier like Russia that cant be trusted, the United Kingdom has announced plans for building up to eight new reactors. France expects to continue much of its electricity from nuclear power, while Germany has pledged to continue phasing out its nuclear plants, resisting pressure to keep them in service.

As for the U.S., power generation from splitting atoms has declined in recent years, and more reactors are being retired than built.

If youre in Illinois, however, youre all-in on nuclear energy  for better or worse. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has made sure of that.

When the governor signed a sweeping energy plan last year, he committed the citizens of the state to extending the lives of three old nuclear plants that otherwise were due to be shut down. An estimated $700 million will go to the parent of scandal-plagued Commonwealth Edison, which has agreed to continue operating the unionized plants in exchange for the government bailout.

Do other states less invested in nuclear energy  or Germany, for that matter  know something Illinois doesnt? Actually, no. The pros and cons are well understood, and they start with money.

For all the assurances about nuclear power plants being clean, efficient and reliable, they have proven to be expensive. They require a fortune upfront to build, cost overruns and delays are the norm and theyre especially uneconomical in states like Illinois where deregulation has made electricity prices uncertain.

Setting aside the slow motion damage from emissions at fossil fuel power plants, nuclear facilities are potentially much more dangerous. They create some of the deadliest waste imaginable and they are targets for terrorists and others looking to do harm.

If anyone needs a reminder, consider Chernobyl, site of historys worst nuclear accident on an April evening 36 years ago, and still an active threat today. In the early stages of the Ukraine invasion, Russian forces occupied the site and scared all of Europe by cutting power to the plant and kicking up its radioactive soil.

Also consider Japan, which like Illinois had banked on atomic power until the 2011 earthquake and tsunami devastated its Fukushima nuclear plant. In the aftermath, nuclear energy has gone from supplying about 30% of the countrys electricity to just 7.5% as of 2019.

Worldwide, the number of nuclear plants is down, and the share of power they generate has fallen to 10.3%, from a peak of 17.5% in the mid-1990s.

Nuclear plants are back in vogue today partly because of the impact of Russias war on energy prices, but even more so because they make electricity without releasing carbon into the atmosphere, which causes global warming. As the world races to reduce fossil fuel emissions, as it must, the risks of nuclear power are being reweighed.

In the U.K., which since the 1990s has reduced its reliance on nuclear power, a key goal is to roll out a new generation of smaller, cheaper reactors. Other countries are revisiting their nuclear power options as well, and the European Union, pressed by the rising influence of France, is angling to encourage investment by formally declaring reactors green.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions that damage the climate was an important part of Pritzkers energy package. He signed the legislation at Chicagos Shedd Aquarium, presumably to suggest that he was saving the penguins as well as the union jobs at ComEds nuclear plants that were more relevant to the bills passage.

Despite the enormous subsidy for a utility that admitted to engineering a state government bribery scheme, other parts of the legislation show promise: Illinois is overdue on phasing out its dirty coal-fired power plants, which the law should finally accomplish.

Promoting electric cars will help reduce emissions compared with gasoline-powered vehicles, even after accounting for the electricity used in charging.

As for the atomic governors role in ensuring Illinois remains wedded to nuclear power, the reality is that the state will have company. Nuclear power will be a part of the worlds energy mix for many years to come. Its possible that innovators will find a responsible way to deal with radioactive waste and otherwise mitigate the risks. Investors are making new bets on a revival, and, like practically all commodity prices these days, uranium prices are soaring.

Its too soon to declare a renaissance for nuclear power but keeping minds and options open makes sense for Illinois right now.

Lets cross our fingers that Pritzkers $700 million payoff to a company that cheated the state for years at least delivers the juice.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  The man accused of shooting at a Louisville mayoral candidate had visited the politicians home the day before the attack, but left after the gun he brought with him jammed, according to new details alleged by federal prosecutors during a hearing Friday.

Quintez Brown, 22, wanted to kill Craig Greenberg to prevent him from winning the upcoming mayoral election, prosecutors argued, citing Browns internet search history, text messages, and online posts around the time of the February shooting.

The day before, Brown took a Lyft ride to the candidate's home and, minutes later, searched the internet for instructions on how to fix a gun loaded with a backwards bullet, prosecutors said. He then left.

Magistrate Judge Colin Lindsay on Friday granted Browns release to home incarceration, but the suspect remains in federal custody because the judge also granted a request from federal prosecutors to pause the release while they file an appeal.

In arguing against Browns pretrial release, prosecutors asserted that Brown was erratic, unpredictable, and likely to disappear, and warned that he could attempt another shooting.

Greenberg, a Democrat, said he was at his campaign headquarters Feb. 14 with four colleagues when a man appeared in the doorway and began firing multiple rounds. One staffer managed to shut the door, which they barricaded using tables and desks, and the shooter fled.

Greenberg was not hit by the gunfire, but said a bullet grazed his sweater.

Brown, a social justice activist who was running as an independent for Louisvilles metro council, was arrested shortly after.

The morning of the shooting, prosecutors said that Brown purchased another gun at a local pawn shop. He then took a Lyft ride to Greenberg's campaigns office, where the attack occurred.

Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Brown on charges of interfering with a federally protected right, and using and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence by shooting at and attempting to kill a candidate for elective office.

If convicted of all federal charges, Brown faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and maximum sentence of life in prison in addition to any sentence he receives on state charges of attempted murder and wanton endangerment. He has pleaded not guilty in state court.

Brown's attorneys said they acknowledged the serious nature of the allegations, but insisted that Brown be released, saying incarceration would have a detrimental impact on Brown's mental health and wellbeing.

They argued that if Brown is allowed to be on home incarceration, he would have consistent access to mental health resources and the support of his family and would not be a danger to the community. They also said that before his arrest last week, Brown had been on home incarceration for weeks without any issues.

Days after the shooting, Brown had been placed on home incarceration and fitted with a GPS ankle monitor after a group called the Louisville Community Bail Fund paid the $100,000 cash bond.

The earlier decision to place him on home incarceration drew bipartisan criticism, including from Greenberg, who said it was "nearly impossible to believe that someone can attempt murder on Monday and walk out of jail on Wednesday.

A few of Brown's professors and supervisors from the University of Louisville testified in support of his release Friday. Dr. Ricky Jones, a professor of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville, said that Brown was astar of the university and a talented writer.

Brown, a former intern and editorial columnist for the Courier Journal, had been prolific on social media before the shooting, especially when it came to social justice issues. He was also involved in community violence prevention efforts and was a Martin Luther King Scholar at the University of Louisville, which included a full-ride scholarship.

Brown disappeared for about two weeks last summer. After he was found safe, his parents issued a statement asking for patience and privacy while they attended to his physical, mental and spiritual needs.

He was one of the most brilliant kids I've ever met," Jones said, describing Brown as very respectful, analytical, and well-liked. Jones also noted that he would even let Brown live with him if that was what the court wanted.

At one point during his testimony, Jones voice started to shake and he became emotional. Several people sitting in the pews in the back of courtroom also began to cry.

I really wonder what happened to him, he said.

___

Hudspeth Blackburn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Bring together a group of veterans and stories will follow. Bring them together for a two-day trip to Washington, D.C., and visits to war memorials, and the stories will only get better.

Mel Mayher and Richard Pavliceck, both of Dickinson, sat down for breakfast at the Bismarck Airport on Sunday morning. They drove from Dickinson together, and joined Jim Weaver, of Minot, whom they'd just met for the first time, for coffee and a doughnut as they waited to get on the Western North Dakota Honor Flight airplane. The new friends shortly were sharing stories of their experiences, the common bond among veterans of any military branch.

Mayher, a Navy veteran, arrived in Vietnam on a ship with 2,500 Marines in 1965. The Marines and the sailors got along OK, but Mayher threw out a sly grin as he described the Marines Corps, which technically is a part of the U.S. Department of the Navy.

They cant walk on water, he chuckled, adding they get their uniforms and their checks from us.

That shot aside, Mayher said theres a lot of respect among veterans of all branches.

Theres not a one of us that wouldnt back the other up, he said.

Mayher, Pavliceck and Weaver were among 93 veterans treated to the trip on Sunday and Monday. It was the first for the new chapter of the Honor Flight Network, which is dedicated to honoring military veterans with an expense-paid trip to the nations capital to view historic sites and war memorials. Trips are funded through business and private donations, service organizations and fundraisers.

The trip earlier this week evoked many memories for vets. It also provided them, volunteers and accompanying media with many new experiences, and many stories.

Volunteering advice

Among the volunteers on the flight was Army veteran Patience Mosbrucker, who along with her husband, Dwight, was making her first Honor Flight run.

She was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, at one point and had visited most of the monuments the veterans were scheduled to visit. Before the trip she told a number of vets to prepare themselves for what theyd see and how theyd react.

Its super emotional, she said. When veterans get together, they speak a language no others speak, and they reveal things they wouldnt say to others."

Remembering Dad

It wasnt Weavers first trip to D.C. Of all hed seen before, the World War II Memorial was the most humbling.

I cant describe it, he said Sunday, and referred to all those who pitched in for the war cause. We wouldnt be where we are today if it wasnt for all these people.

The next day, Weaver, a Vietnam vet, said while at the World War II memorial that it was special to him because his father was a veteran of the war and had served in Europe. His father died on Christmas Eve 11 years ago.

I didnt make it down to Florida when he died, Weaver said.

Marine response

Mayhers comment about the the Marine Corps was one of at least two heard on the first day of the trip, and the Marines took a number of good-natured shots from veterans of other military branches. An Army vet mentioned that the person who kept asking the bus driver to stop at a liquor store must have been that Marine near the front of the bus.

It could very well have been, quipped Marine veteran Bob Albrecht, of Bismarck. And the comment from the Navy man about Marines not being able to walk on water? Albrecht shrugged.

The Navy, he said. Thats the sister to the Marine Corps.

Albrecht after breaking rifle range records found himself as a forward observer and sniper in Vietnam in 1969. He and a radio man were sent as far north as they could get us.

We did more observing than anything, he said.

Albrecht was one of eight military personnel who carried President Dwight Eisenhowers casket into the Capitol Rotunda and escorted it by train to Abilene, Kansas, in 1969.

Coming home

When Albrecht returned from Southeast Asia he never imagined there would be a memorial like the Vietnam Wall, nor did Richard Dewitz, of Tappen, an Army veteran who served in 1967-68. Both said their return to North Dakota was much more friendly than what they saw when they arrived on the West Coast.

At best we were ignored, Dewitz said. Some people made rude comments or acted like they were spitting on the ground in front of us.

Protestors were few in number but quite vocal and drew considerable media attention, according to Dewitz.

In reality, they were right to oppose (the war) because it didnt do any good, he said. But he disagrees with the way they protested and their treatment of returning soldiers.

We did what we were asked to do because our country asked, he said.

To him, the Vietnam memorial symbolizes people showing they did care, as a country.

This makes the ones who were in combat feel better, he said.

Eavesdropping

Jim Blotter of Turtle Lake was stationed in Scotland during the Korean War. He was trained in radio repair -- fixing what he called some pretty sophisticated (expletive).

We listened to the Russians, he said.

He and his cousin Donald Sondrol, also of Turtle Lake, stood together as they took in the giant statue at the Iwo Jima Memorial. Sondrol was most grateful for the welcome at the D.C. airport Sunday by North Dakota National Guard soldiers stationed in the nation's capital, calling it the most impressive thing Ive seen so far.

Job description

Nicholas Ressler, 78, of Mandan, served in the Army during the Vietnam Era as an armored intelligence specialist.

Thats a fancy way of saying 'scout,' which is a fancy way of saying 'bait,' he said.

The changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery -- home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- stood out for him, not only for the dedication of the soldiers, but for the respect the monument -- the whole setup -- gives to the countrys military fallen.

Is there another country that does what we do here? he said. Think of the dedication these young men have, the commitment. Its unbelievable.

Ressler is the 11th of 12 children in his family. Seven, including one sister, served in the military.

Tough duty

The precision of the guards at Arlington impressed Lee Wolf, 73, of Center, an Army veteran who built roads and airstrips and helped locals in Vietnam with various projects.

But Wolf didnt feel his expertise would cross over to the guard work done by the young men at Arlington.

Im not that kind of person, he said. It takes a special person to do that.

As the buses pulled into Arlington, driver Kokina Brown, of Baltimore, told the veterans to look for headstones with pointed tops. Some veterans requested them, she said, so no damn Yankee can sit on my headstone.

Better now

For Joe Gross, of Devils Lake, being greeted by North Dakota National Guard members at Baltimore-Washington International Airport was the best welcome home I ever received.

Hes an Army veteran, and arrived in Vietnam's A Shau Valley after the battle of Hamburger Hill.

I picked up body parts, he said, adding that the rest of his time in the Army never did get any better.

He mustered out at Fort Lewis, Washington, and was greeted there by a woman he referred to as a skinhead. She threw a dirty diaper at him, soiling his uniform. Military police helped him find new clothes and told him it would be best if he didnt fly home in uniform.

The political climate was only a little better when he got home. His wife, who was in nursing school at the time, had been hiding the truth about where Gross was and why he didnt visit her.

She told her friends I was in prison, he said.

They were married for 39 years before his wife died of cancer.

Tears of gratitude

A Wisconsin man visiting the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial struggled to talk about why he extended his hand to two Western North Dakota Honor Flight members.

Dean Julien, 56, of Greendale, was in D.C. as a chaperone for a group of high school orchestra and chorus members. He and the vets went different directions after they shook hands, and the North Dakotans didnt see the tears stream from under his tinted glasses.

I dont think they get enough accolades, he said. Shaking their hands and thanking them was something little I can do. Im just grateful.

Appreciation

The difficulty and hard work that went into organizing the Honor Flight wasnt lost on the veterans.

Jim Brown, 86, of Reeder, said he appreciated the trip and called the task of putting it together immense.

How long am I going to sit and daydream about this trip? he said.

Brown noted the salutes and applause directed to the veterans from people at stoplights. The respect of the silent changing of the guard stood out for him too, as did the bigness of Washington, compared to little old downtown Reeder.

The whole trip was so nice, the Navy veteran said.

Others agreed. One took the microphone as the airplane approached Bismarck on Monday evening and asked the veterans to give Honor Flight staff a round of applause. He didnt have to ask twice.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP)  The journey of the Palestinian who opened fire at a street-side bar in Tel Aviv last week, killing three young Israeli men and sending the city into lockdown, began a two-hour drive away in an impoverished refugee camp deep inside the occupied West Bank.

Twenty years after Jenin saw one of the biggest battles of the second Palestinian uprising, Israel is once again launching near-daily raids into the camp and trading fire with local fighters. Decades of dispossession, poverty and violence have only deepened the camp's reputation as a bastion of armed struggle against Israeli rule.

Tires, gutted appliances and other rubble are piled up near the entrances to the camp, which is transformed into a fortress at night, when the raids usually occur. Narrow roads wind through a confusion of squat concrete homes built on a hillside, some adorned with portraits of slain Palestinians and the flags of armed factions.

Palestinian assailants have killed 14 Israelis in a series of attacks in recent weeks, and clashes at a major Jerusalem holy site on Friday have raised tensions further.

Last Thursday, Raad Hazem, a 28-year-old from the Jenin camp, attacked the bar in central Tel Aviv and eluded a massive manhunt for hours before police shot and killed him near a mosque.

A large poster celebrating Hazem as a martyr to the Palestinian cause was hung over the main entrance to the camp after the attack, praising him for imposing a curfew on the seaside metropolis.

Israel has launched a wave of arrest raids across the West Bank, igniting clashes with Palestinian militants. At least 25 Palestinians have been killed, many of whom had carried out attacks or were involved in the clashes, but also an unarmed woman and a lawyer who appears to have been killed by mistake. Twelve were from in or around Jenin.

The renewed violence came as little surprise to Ahmed Tobasi, the artistic director of the Freedom Theater, which was co-founded by a famous militant and offers drama classes, performance facilities and a safe space for young Palestinians in the camp.

What do you expect from a child who grows up in a refugee camp, who sees army raids morning, noon and night?" he said. His fathers a prisoner, his brothers a prisoner, his mother has been detained, his friends are prisoners or martyrs.

Theres no opportunity to be anything else, he said.

The camp is home to Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. Like other camps across the Middle East, it has grown into a crowded, built-up neighborhood where a U.N. agency provides basic services.

Jenin emerged as a militant stronghold during the 2000-2005 intifada, when Palestinians launched scores of suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians, and Israel imposed closures and carried out deadly raids. On March 27, 2002, a suicide bomber struck a large Passover gathering in the coastal city of Netanya, killing at least 30 people and wounding 140.

Days later, Israeli troops launched a massive operation in the Jenin camp. For eight days and nights they fought militants street by street, using armored bulldozers to destroy rows of homes, many of which had been booby-trapped. An AP reporter who visited the camp immediately afterward said it looked like an earthquake had hit.

At least 52 Palestinians, up to half of whom may have been civilians, were killed in the fighting, according to the U.N. Twenty-three Israeli soldiers were killed, including 13 in a single ambush.

Two decades later, the Palestinians' dream of an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza  territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war  is more remote than ever.

Peace talks ground to a halt more than a decade ago, and Israel continues to build and expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which it unilaterally annexed and considers part of its capital. Gaza is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority's limited self-rule is confined to West Bank cities and towns.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to Palestinian statehood, but his government has taken steps to improve economic conditions, including easing some movement restrictions and issuing thousands of work permits to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel had hoped such measures would help prevent a repeat of last year, when protests and clashes in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ignited an 11-day Gaza war.

Now, in the wake of the attacks, Israel is tightening restrictions around Jenin and calling on the PA, which coordinates with it on security matters, to take action.

But the increasingly corrupt and authoritarian PA is mired in a crisis of legitimacy that would grow even worse if it is seen to be fighting alongside Israel. Palestinian officials say the relentless Israeli raids in Jenin only undermine it further.

We are ready in principle to work on enforcing law and order, and to implement our agreements with the Israelis, but in exchange for what?" Jenin's governor, Akram Rajoub, told The Associated Press. I dont work for the Israelis. If I dont see a political solution on the horizon, then why should I do anything?

Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired Israeli general who held senior positions in the West Bank during the intifada and is now at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, says it's the other way around.

Youre looking at the chicken and the egg here. We operate there because they dont," he said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Tel Aviv attack, but other officials did not. Rajoub visited the mourning tent of the attacker's family and gave a speech filled with praise that he later posted to Facebook.

Thats something very disturbing," Kuperwasser said. The Palestinian Authority still thinks its in an ongoing struggle against Zionism and against Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

In the Jenin camp, the PA is seen as a public service provider at best, and at worst as collaborators with the occupation.

The Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian resistance are on opposite sides," said Osama Hroub, a local leader with the Islamic Jihad militant group, which has a strong presence in Jenin.

"The Palestinian Authority performs its specific security duties in exchange for economic favors, with no regard for the Palestinian people, he said.

Few expect another full-blown uprising. Israeli officials say the recent attacks appear to have been carried out by lone assailants with perhaps some accomplices, rather than by militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

On the streets of Jenin, the tires are piled up in anticipation of the next confrontation.

We are going to live on our land and die with dignity, and we arent going to surrender to the occupation," Rajoub said.

___

Associated Press reporter Nasser Nasser contributed to this report.
EL PASO, Texas (AP)  On all but three Sunday afternoons since last Easter, Bob Guerra  a Catholic deacon  has carefully packed his favorite crucifix, a Spanish-language Bible, hundreds of Communion wafers secured in Ziploc bags and other liturgical items into a plastic storage box.

Then he lugs it a few miles to Fort Bliss, an Army base in the desert on the outskirts of El Paso, where he helps celebrate Mass for hundreds of migrant teens held at a vast tent shelter.

That shelter and similar facilities across the southwest were set up by the Biden administration and its predecessors to deal with surges of minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without parents or guardians. For the faithful young people they hold, the clergy and volunteers who visit bring comfort and healing through the sacraments.

"Theyre praying with such devotion you can see the tears rolling down their eyes, Guerra says of the teens' acts of faith he witnesses every Sunday after they receive Communion and kneel before a little cross. On Easter Sunday, he plans to gift them their own miniature crosses and cookies baked by local nuns.

Among the teens praying fervently at Fort Bliss during last year's unprecedented arrivals of unaccompanied children was Elena, then 15. She asked that she not be identified further because of the dangerous circumstances she fled in Guatemala.

Elena told The AP that for weeks she asked God to let her out of the shelter as soon as possible. Then, when other girls also being held grew inconsolable, she prayed they'd be released first. As the days went by, she started worrying God might be bored by her petitions, and prayed for forgiveness.

What sustained her for two months before her release was receiving the sacraments, including Communion distributed during a Mass celebrated by the Catholic bishop of El Paso, Mark Seitz.

When he arrived, you could feel like a peace, something that comforts you, something that you need, Elena recalled during this Holy Week, which shes observing with relatives far from El Paso. God was with us to endure so many days without family.

In the shelter, she was so grateful for Mass, which she used to attend with her mother in Guatemala, that she braided a friendship bracelet for Seitz, who wears several on his right wrist.

They have this faith that if anything became stronger on their journey, said Seitz of the hundreds of teens he has ministered to since last Easter at Fort Bliss.

On most Sundays, the Rev. Rafael Garcia, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish located four blocks from the border in downtown El Paso, celebrates Mass there, as he has at different shelters for five years.

All of us that go, we find we are transformed ourselves, says the Jesuit priest. Not all come (to Mass), but those who do are people of very strong faith.

Suddenly and often tragically detached from their countries and the families who raised them, their only strength is prayer, said the Rev. Jose de la Cruz Longoria, pastor at five Catholic parishes around Pecos, Texas, who ministers to teens at the shelter there. Thats why the point is to show them at Mass that hes a God who loves and forgives.

In murmured prayers in Spanish and Indigenous languages at makeshift altars, kids in shelters  most of them 12- to 17-year-olds from Central America  ask Gods help for their lonely, uncertain journey and for loved ones they left behind.

They pray for their friends lost on the way, and that their family members might accept and love them, says Dominga Villegas, who helped organize Palm Sunday Mass, complete with palm fronds, for more than 200 teens at the Pecos shelter.

In growing numbers since 2014, hundreds of thousands of under-18 children have come alone to seek safety and a better life in the United States. Since October, the Border Patrol has encountered an average of more than 11,000 unaccompanied minors a month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Some have no family, but many are rejoining a parent or are sent to other family members in the United States to escape poverty and violence.

When unaccompanied minors are apprehended or turn themselves in to U.S. officials after crossing the border without authorization, they are sheltered in facilities managed by the Department of Health and Human Services until the government vets a family member or sponsor to ensure they can be safely released.

Under the past three U.S. administrations, especially when the number of minors crossing the border surges suddenly and emergency intake shelters like that at Fort Bliss are hastily arranged, controversies have erupted over the conditions and duration of the youths' stay at these facilities, where media access is tightly restricted.

While awaiting their release, many teens struggle with regrets and low self-esteem, faith leaders told The AP. Theyre battered not only by the trauma they fled, but by the guilt they feel for fleeing, sometimes without saying goodbye to beloved relatives who raised them  and for having ended up in a place far different from their dreams, with no clear path ahead.

They dont have any taste yet for the end of the tunnel. They cant allow themselves to feel that already this is a victory and a blessing from God, says Lissa Jimenez, a psychologist who held a day-long spiritual retreat at the Pecos facility in March.

By the end of the ten-hour day, she saw them sit up straighter as she encouraged them to trust in the identity that being children of God gives us, independently of race, of our situation.

Its the same message that priests bring through Mass and confession, even for youths who are not Catholic but approach them anyway because they just want to talk, said the Rev. Brian Strassburger, a Jesuit who ministers to shelter youths in Brownsville and celebrates Mass across the border at a migrant camp in Reynosa, Mexico.

We try to give them comfort, assure them that God is with them. That their parents still love them, he said.

Many of the teens who were active in their churches back home volunteer to read Scripture or chant psalms. Sacred music helps put others at ease, said Roland Guerrero, who has brought his guitar, mics and music sheets to Fort Bliss on all but a couple of Sundays for a year.

His efforts for social justice and migrant rights extend far beyond this ministry. Bishop Seitz, the Jesuit priests and many other faith leaders also provide shelter, food and advocacy on both sides of the border.

I know what Im doing is a Band-Aid, said Guerrero of musical worship on a Sunday during Lent as he prepared to drive to the shelter. That doesnt denigrate it, because in faith theres no way to know whats going on inside an individual child.

He compares it to planting seeds of hope  just as in Montana, a favorite song of Catholic and Protestant shelter children. It's based on the Gospel verse that faith even as minuscule as a mustard seed is enough to move mountains.

Esa montana se movera (this mountain will move), Guerrero sings, strumming his vintage acoustic Gibson guitar. I have them sway. Then they start dancing again.



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.
IVY GOODMAN, Stonington, Girls, Lacrosse, Senior; Goodman scored 12 goals and had 13 assists in three games. Her seven assists in the Bears win over Waterford established a school record. She surpassed the 50-goal mark for the season in Stoningtons victory over Ledyard.

DEAN PONS JR., Westerly, Baseball, Senior; Pons, a senior, struck out 14 batters in the Bulldogs five-inning win against Wheeler School/Rocky Hill. Pons had an assist on the remaining out, throwing out a runner on a groundout. Pons allowed just one hit and walked only two.

KATIE PIERCE, Wheeler, Girls, Lacrosse, Sophomore; Pierce scored five goals and the Lions beat Griswold to earn their first victory of the season. Wheeler avenged an earlier loss to the Wolverines this season with the 15-4 victory.

WEEKO THOMPSON, Chariho, Girls, Track Sophomore; Thompson, a sophomore, bettered her school record in the discus at the Classical Classic meet. She finished first in the event and also won the shot put.

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On April 28, North Dakota will note the 50th anniversary of the defeat of a major rewrite of the state constitution by a vote of 107,643 to 64,073 in 1972.

Ninety-eight delegates included 39 businessmen, 26 farmers and 14 lawyers, were divided politically with 56 Republicans, 31 Democrats and 11 independents. It was a diverse group.

Because the voters are unfamiliar with state constitutions, they are vulnerable to the major interest groups opposing adoption. And when voters lack understanding they are inclined to vote No. They did just that.

With the help of an excellent summary written in 1973 by Marilyn Guttromson, state government services librarian at the time, we can look back to affirm that the citizens didnt have a clue about constitutions and the need for revision.

In 1929, Gov. George Shafer advocated a commission to revise the constitution and appointed five members but the recommendations were shoved aside with the argument that the Depression prevented further consideration.

In 1941, reorganization once again became an issue when Gov. John Moses pushed for a serious study. The Administration Service in Chicago produced a comprehensive reorganization but the Legislature decided to lay it aside because of World War II.

The idea to redraft the state constitution was resurrected in 1961 but major measures were submitted to the electorate and defeated throughout the 1960s. By this time the Legislature was on board and, in frustration, placed the call for a constitutional convention on the ballot.

To the surprise of experienced observers, the people approved the call by a vote of 56,734 to 40,094. The delegates were nominated by the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, with opportunities for independents to run against the nominees.

The proposed constitution was an outstanding document from the political science point of view. Included among its proposals were:

- Reducing the number of elected state officials from 13 to seven. North Dakota has more state-elected fiefdoms than any state in the Union except South Carolina. The people may like voting for state officials but they dont know the names, qualifications or conduct of most of these state officials.

If you doubt this, just walk down the street and ask passersby who the state treasurer or the insurance commissioner is. Fifty years later, reduction of elected officials still makes common sense.

- Retaining the right to work provision, something designed to suppress unions but didnt have the votes for repeal

- Creating an independent state ombudsman to protect employees and citizens from abusive power or agency inaction.

- Granting the Legislature flexibility with state property taxes.

- Guaranteeing North Dakotans the right to a healthy environment.

- Establishing a nonpartisan legislative reapportionment commission.

- Making election contests justiciable in a court of law.

In spite of the economic and political differences of the delegates, 91 delegates voted yes, four voted no and three were absent. It was a convincing consensus.

But the right-wing John Birch Society, the labor unions and the elected officials rumored constitutional revision to death. An interesting alliance of adversaries in bed together.

So it was back to the drawing board. The Legislature did cherry pick some of the proposals in succeeding elections but it was piecemeal at best. Some of the proposals were defeated; a few others adopted.

As a civics lesson, we can only conclude that voters are not informed enough to change constitutions with changing times.

Voters need to acknowledge their limitations and until they do the state will function with flaws in its system of government because significant changes are beyond the comprehension of the average voter.

A well-informed electorate is critical for the success of a democracy.

Lloyd Omdahl is a political scientist and former North Dakota Democratic lieutenant governor.

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A recent study showed that SARS-CoV-2 RNAs can be reverse-transcribed and integrated into the genome of human cells [ 25 ]. This gives rise to the question of if this may also occur with BNT162b2, which encodes partial SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In pharmacokinetics data provided by Pfizer to European Medicines Agency (EMA), BNT162b2 biodistribution was studied in mice and rats by intra-muscular injection with radiolabeled LNP and luciferase modRNA. Radioactivity was detected in most tissues from the first time point (0.25 h), and results showed that the injection site and the liver were the major sites of distribution, with maximum concentrations observed at 848 h post-dose [ 26 ]. Furthermore, in animals that received the BNT162b2 injection, reversible hepatic effects were observed, including enlarged liver, vacuolation, increased gamma glutamyl transferase (GT) levels, and increased levels of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) [ 26 ]. Transient hepatic effects induced by LNP delivery systems have been reported previously [ 27 30 ], nevertheless, it has also been shown that the empty LNP without modRNA alone does not introduce any significant liver injury [ 27 ]. Therefore, in this study, we aim to examine the effect of BNT162b2 on a human liver cell line in vitro and investigate if BNT162b2 can be reverse transcribed into DNA through endogenous mechanisms.

BNT162b2 is a lipid nanoparticle (LNP)encapsulated, nucleoside-modified RNA vaccine (modRNA) and encodes the full-length of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein, modified by two proline mutations to ensure antigenically optimal pre-fusion conformation, which mimics the intact virus to elicit virus-neutralizing antibodies [ 3 ]. Consistent with randomized clinical trials, BNT162b2 showed high efficiency in a wide range of COVID-19-related outcomes in a real-world setting [ 5 ]. Nevertheless, many challenges remain, including monitoring for long-term safety and efficacy of the vaccine. This warrants further evaluation and investigations. The safety profile of BNT162b2 is currently only available from short-term clinical studies. Less common adverse effects of BNT162b2 have been reported, including pericarditis, arrhythmia, deep-vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction, intracranial hemorrhage, and thrombocytopenia [ 4 20 ]. There are also studies that report adverse effects observed in other types of vaccines [ 21 24 ]. To better understand mechanisms underlying vaccine-related adverse effects, clinical investigations as well as cellular and molecular analyses are needed.

Several vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed, with particular focus on mRNA vaccines (by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), replication-defective recombinant adenoviral vector vaccines (by Janssen-Johnson and Johnson, Astra-Zeneca, Sputnik-V, and CanSino), and inactivated vaccines (by Sinopharm, Bharat Biotech and Sinovac). The mRNA vaccine has the advantages of being flexible and efficient in immunogen design and manufacturing, and currently, numerous vaccine candidates are in various stages of development and application. Specifically, COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has been evaluated in successful clinical trials [ 2 4 ] and administered in national COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in different regions around the world [ 5 8 ].

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, and it emerged as a devasting health crisis. As of February 2022, COVID-19 has led to over 430 million reported infection cases and 5.9 million deaths worldwide [ 1 ]. Effective and safe vaccines are urgently needed to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates associated with COVID-19.

Genomic DNA was extracted from cell pellets with PBND buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.3, 50 mM KCl, 2.5 mM MgCl2, 0.45% NP-40, 0.45% Tween-20) according to protocol described previously [ 32 ]. To remove residual RNA from the DNA preparation, RNase (100 g/mL, Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) was added to the DNA preparation and incubated at 37 C for 3 h, followed by 5 min at 95 C. PCR was then performed using primers targeting BNT162b2 (sequences are shown in ), with the following program: 5 min at 95 C, 35 cycles of 95 C for 30 s, 58 C for 30 s, and 72 C for 1 min; finally, 72 C for 5 min and 12 C for 5 min. PCR products were run on 1.4% (w/v) agarose gel. Bands corresponding to the amplicons of the expected size (444 bps) were cut out and DNA was extracted using QIAquick PCR Purification Kit (Qiagen, 28104, Hilden, Germany), following the manufacturers instructions. The sequence of the DNA amplicon was verified by Sanger sequencing (Eurofins Genomics, Ebersberg, Germany).

Huh7 cells were cultured in eight-chamber slides (LAB-TEK, 154534, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) with a density of 40,000 cells/well, with or without BNT162b2 (0.5, 1 or 2 g/mL) for 6 h. Immunohistochemistry was performed using primary antibody anti-LINE-1 ORF1p mouse monoclonal antibody (Merck, 3574308, Kenilworth, NJ, USA), secondary antibody Cy3 Donkey anti-mouse (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA, USA), and Hoechst (Life technologies, 34850, Carlsbad, CA, USA), following the protocol from Thermo Fisher (Waltham, MA, USA). Two images per condition were taken using a Zeiss LSM 800 and a 63X oil immersion objective, and the staining intensity was quantified on the individual whole cell area and the nucleus area on 15 cells per image by ImageJ 1.53c. LINE-1 staining intensity for the cytosol was calculated by subtracting the intensity of the nucleus from that of the whole cell. All images of the cells were assigned a random number to prevent bias. To mark the nuclei (determined by the Hoechst staining) and the whole cells (determined by the borders of the LINE-1 fluorescence), the Freehand selection tool was used. These areas were then measured, and the mean intensity was used to compare the groups.

RNA from the cells was extracted with RNeasy Plus Mini Kit (Qiagen, 74134, Hilden, Germany) following the manufacturers protocol. RT-PCR was performed using RevertAid First Strand cDNA Synthesis kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, K1622, Waltham, MA, USA) following the manufacturers protocol. Real-time qPCR was performed using Maxima SYBR Green/ROX qPCR Master Mix (Thermo Fisher Scientific, K0222, Waltham, MA, USA) with primers for BNT162b2, LINE-1 and housekeeping genes ACTB and GAPDH ( ).

Huh7 cells (JCRB Cell Bank, Osaka, Japan) were cultured in 37 C at 5% COwith DMEM medium (HyClone, HYCLSH30243.01) supplemented with 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum (Sigma-Aldrich, F7524-500ML, Burlington, MA, USA) and 1% (v/v) Penicillin-Streptomycin (HyClone, SV30010, Logan, UT, USA). For BNT162b2 treatment, Huh7 cells were seeded with a density of 200,000 cells/well in 24-well plates. BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer BioNTech, New York, NY, USA) was diluted with sterile 0.9% sodium chloride injection, USP into a final concentration of 100 g/mL as described in the manufacturers guideline [ 31 ]. BNT162b2 suspension was then added in cell culture media to reach final concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 g/mL. Huh7 cells were incubated with or without BNT162b2 for 6, 24, and 48 h. Cells were washed thoroughly with PBS and harvested by trypsinization and stored in 80 C until further use.

Figure 5. Detection of DNA amplicons of BNT162b2 in Huh7 cells treated with BNT162b2. Huh7 cells were treated without (Ctrl) or with 0.5 g/mL of BNT162b2 for 6, 24, and 48 h. Genomic DNA was purified and digested with 100 g/mL RNase. PCR was run on all samples with primers targeting BNT162b2, as shown in and . DNA amplicons (444 bps) were visualized on agarose gel. BNT: BNT162b2; L: DNA ladder; Ctrl1: cultured Huh7 cells; Ctrl2: Huh7 cells without BNT162b2 treatment collected at 6 h; Ctrl3: Huh7 cells without BNT162b2 treatment collected at 24 h; Ctrl4: Huh7 cells without BNT162b2 treatment collected at 48 h; Ctrl5: RNA from Huh7 cells treated with 0.5 g/mL of BNT162b2 for 6 h; Ctrl6: RNA from Huh7 cells treated with 0.5 g/mL of BNT162b2 for 6 h, digested with RNase.

A previous study has shown that entry of LINE-1 protein into the nucleus is associated with retrotransposition [ 35 ]. In the immunofluorescence staining experiment described above, increased levels of LINE-1 in the nucleus were observed already at the lowest concentration of BNT162b2 (0.5 g/mL). To examine if BNT162b2 is reversely transcribed into DNA when LINE-1 is elevated, we purified genomic DNA from Huh7 cells treated with 0.5 g/mL of BNT162b2 for 6, 24, and 48 h. Purified DNA was treated with RNase to remove RNA and subjected to PCR using primers targeting BNT162b2, as illustrated in . Amplified DNA fragments were then visualized by electrophoresis and gel-purified ( ). BNT162b2 DNA amplicons were detected in all three time points (6, 24, and 48 h). Sanger sequencing confirmed that the DNA amplicons were identical to the BNT162b2 sequence flanked by the primers ( ). To ensure that the DNA amplicons were derived from DNA but not BNT162b2 RNA, we also performed PCR on RNA purified from Huh7 cells treated with 0.5 g/mL BNT162b2 for 6 h, with or without RNase treatment (Ctrl 5 and 6 in ), and no amplicon was detected in the RNA samples subjected to PCR.

Figure 4. Immunohistochemistry of Huh7 cells treated with BNT162b2 on LINE-1 protein distribution. Huh7 cells were treated without (Ctrl) or with 0.5, 1, and 2 g/mL of BNT162b2 for 6 h. Cells were fixed and stained with antibodies binding to LINE-1 ORF1p (red) and DNA-specific probe Hoechst for visualization of cell nucleus (blue). ( a ) Representative images of LINE-1 expression in Huh7 cells treated with or without BNT162b2. ( b  d ) Quantification of LINE-1 protein in whole cell area ( b ), cytosol ( c ), and nucleus ( d ). All data were analyzed using One-Way ANOVA, and graphs were created using GraphPad Prism V 9.2. All data is presented as mean  SD (** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; **** p < 0.0001 as indicated).

Next, we studied the effect of BNT162b2 on LINE-1 protein level. The full-length LINE-1 consists of a 5 untranslated region (UTR), two open reading frames (ORFs), ORF1 and ORF2, and a 3UTR, of which ORF1 is an RNA binding protein with chaperone activity. The retrotransposition activity of LINE-1 has been demonstrated to involve ORF1 translocation to the nucleus [ 35 ]. Huh7 cells treated with or without BNT162b2 (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g/mL) for 6 h were fixed and stained with antibodies binding to LINE-1 ORF1p, and DNA-specific probe Hoechst for visualization of cell nucleus ( a). Quantification of immunofluorescence staining intensity showed that BNT162b2 increased LINE-1 ORF1p protein levels in both the whole cell area and nucleus at all concentrations tested ( bd).

Figure 3. LINE-1 mRNA levels in Huh7 cells treated with BNT162b2. Huh7 cells were treated without (Ctrl) or with 0.5 (V1), 1 (V2), and 2 g/mL (V3) of BNT162b2 for 6 (green dots), 24 (red dots), and 48 h (blue dots). RNA was purified and qPCR was performed using primers targeting LINE-1. RNA levels of LINE-1 are presented as 2 CT values relative to house-keeping genes GAPDH and ACTB. Results are from five independent experiments (n = 5). Differences between respective groups were analyzed using two-tailed Students t-test. Data are expressed as the mean  SEM. (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001 vs. respective control at each time point, or as indicated;  p < 0.05 vs. 6 h-Ctrl).

Here we examined the effect of BNT162b2 on LINE-1 gene expression. RT-qPCR was performed on RNA purified from Huh7 cells treated with BNT162b2 (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g/mL) for 6, 24, and 48 h, using primers targeting LINE-1. Significantly increased LINE-1 expression compared to control was observed at 6 h by 2.0 g/mL BNT162b2, while lower BNT162b2 concentrations decreased LINE-1 expression at all time points ( ).

Figure 2. BNT162b2 mRNA levels in Huh7 cells treated with BNT162b2. Huh7 cells were treated without (Ctrl) or with 0.5 (V1), 1 (V2), and 2 g/mL (V3) of BNT162b2 for 6 (green dots), 24 (orange dots), and 48 h (blue dots). RNA was purified and qPCR was performed using primers targeting BNT162b2. RNA levels of BNT162b2 are presented as logged 2 CT values relative to house-keeping genes GAPDH and ACTB. Results are from five independent experiments (n = 5). Differences between respective groups were analyzed using two-tailed Students t-test. Data are expressed as the mean  SEM. (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001 vs. respective control at each time point, or as indicated).

RT-qPCR results showed that Huh7 cells treated with BNT162b2 had high levels of BNT162b2 mRNA relative to housekeeping genes at 6, 24, and 48 h ( , presented in logged 2 CT due to exceptionally high levels). The three BNT162b2 concentrations led to similar intracellular BNT162b2 mRNA levels at the different time points, except that the significant difference between 1.0 and 2.0 g/mL was observed at 48 h. BNT162b2 mRNA levels were significantly decreased at 24 h compared to 6 h, but increased again at 48 h.

To determine if BNT162b2 enters human liver cells, we exposed human liver cell line Huh7 to BNT162b2. In a previous study on the uptake kinetics of LNP delivery in Huh7 cells, the maximum biological efficacy of LNP was observed between 47 h [ 33 ]. Therefore, in our study, Huh7 cells were cultured with or without increasing concentrations of BNT162b2 (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g/mL) for 6, 24, and 48 h. RNA was extracted from cells and a real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed using primers targeting the BNT162b2 sequence, as illustrated in . The full sequence of BNT162b2 is publicly available [ 34 ] and contains a two-nucleotides cap; 5- untranslated region (UTR) that incorporates the 5 -UTR of a human -globin gene; the full-length of SARS-CoV-2 S protein with two proline mutations; 3-UTR that incorporates the human mitochondrial 12S rRNA (mtRNR1) segment and human AES/TLE5 gene segment with two CU mutations; poly(A) tail. Detailed analysis of the S protein sequence in BNT162b2 revealed 124 sequences that are 100% identical to human genomic sequences and three sequences with only one nucleotide (nt) mismatch in 1926 nts ( Table S1, see Supplementary Materials ). To detect BNT162b2 RNA level, we designed primers with forward primer located in SARS-CoV-2 S protein regions and reverse primer in 3-UTR, which allows detection of PCR amplicon unique to BNT162b2 without unspecific binding of the primers to human genomic regions.

4. Discussion

In this study we present evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 is able to enter the human liver cell line Huh7 in vitro. BNT162b2 mRNA is reverse transcribed intracellularly into DNA as fast as 6 h after BNT162b2 exposure. A possible mechanism for reverse transcription is through endogenous reverse transcriptase LINE-1, and the nucleus protein distribution of LINE-1 is elevated by BNT162b2.

Intracellular accumulation of LNP in hepatocytes has been demonstrated in vivo [ 36 ]. A preclinical study on BNT162b2 showed that BNT162b2 enters the human cell line HEK293T cells and leads to robust expression of BNT162b2 antigen [ 37 ]. Therefore, in this study, we first investigated the entry of BNT162b2 in the human liver cell line Huh7 cells. The choice of BNT162b2 concentrations used in this study warrants explanation. BNT162b2 is administered as a series of two doses three weeks apart, and each dose contains 30 g of BNT162b2 in a volume of 0.3 mL, which makes the local concentration at the injection site at the highest 100 g/mL [ 31 ]. A previous study on mRNA vaccines against H10N8 and H7N9 influenza viruses using a similar LNP delivery system showed that the mRNA vaccine can distribute rather nonspecifically to several organs such as liver, spleen, heart, kidney, lung, and brain, and the concentration in the liver is roughly 100 times lower than that of the intra-muscular injection site [ 38 ]. In the assessment report on BNT162b2 provided to EMA by Pfizer, the pharmacokinetic distribution studies in rats demonstrated that a relatively large proportion (up to 18%) of the total dose distributes to the liver [ 26 ]. We therefore chose to use 0.5, 1, and 2 g/mL of vaccine in our experiments on the liver cells. However, the effect of a broader range of lower and higher concentrations of BNT162b2 should also be verified in future studies.

In the current study, we employed a human liver cell line for in vitro investigation. It is worth investigating if the liver cells also present the vaccine-derived SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which could potentially make the liver cells targets for previously primed spike protein reactive cytotoxic T cells. There has been case reports on individuals who developed autoimmune hepatitis [ 39 ] after BNT162b2 vaccination. To obtain better understanding of the potential effects of BNT162b2 on liver function, in vivo models are desired for future studies.

In the BNT162b2 toxicity report, no genotoxicity nor carcinogenicity studies have been provided [ 26 ]. Our study shows that BNT162b2 can be reverse transcribed to DNA in liver cell line Huh7, and this may give rise to the concern if BNT162b2-derived DNA may be integrated into the host genome and affect the integrity of genomic DNA, which may potentially mediate genotoxic side effects. At this stage, we do not know if DNA reverse transcribed from BNT162b2 is integrated into the cell genome. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the effect of BNT162b2 on genomic integrity, including whole genome sequencing of cells exposed to BNT162b2, as well as tissues from human subjects who received BNT162b2 vaccination.

46, Human autonomous retrotransposon LINE-1 is a cellular endogenous reverse transcriptase and the only remaining active transposon in humans, able to retrotranspose itself and other nonautonomous elements [ 40 41 ], and ~17% of the human genome are comprised of LINE-1 sequences [ 42 ]. The nonautonomous Alu elements, short, interspersed nucleotide elements (SINEs), variable-number-of-tandem-repeats (VNTR), as well as cellular mRNA-processed pseudogenes, are retrotransposed by the LINE-1 retrotransposition proteins working in trans [ 43 44 ]. A recent study showed that endogenous LINE-1 mediates reverse transcription and integration of SARS-CoV-2 sequences in the genomes of infected human cells [ 25 ]. Furthermore, expression of endogenous LINE-1 is often increased upon viral infection, including SARS-CoV-2 infection [ 45 47 ]. Previous studies showed that LINE-1 retrotransposition activity is regulated by RNA metabolism [ 48 49 ], DNA damage response [ 50 ], and autophagy [ 51 ]. Efficient retrotransposition of LINE-1 is often associated with cell cycle and nuclear envelope breakdown during mitosis [ 52 53 ], as well as exogenous retroviruses [ 54 55 ], which promotes entrance of LINE-1 into the nucleus. In our study, we observed increased LINE-1 ORF1p distribution as determined by immunohistochemistry in the nucleus by BNT162b2 at all concentrations tested (0.5, 1, and 2 g/mL), while elevated LINE-1 gene expression was detected at the highest BNT162b2 concentration (2 g/mL). It is worth noting that gene transcription is regulated by chromatin modifications, transcription factor regulation, and the rate of RNA degradation, while translational regulation of protein involves ribosome recruitment on the initiation codon, modulation of peptide elongation, termination of protein synthesis, or ribosome biogenesis. These two processes are controlled by different mechanisms, and therefore they may not always show the same change patterns in response to external challenges. The exact regulation of LINE-1 activity in response to BNT162b2 merits further study.

The cell model that we used in this study is a carcinoma cell line, with active DNA replication which differs from non-dividing somatic cells. It has also been shown that Huh7 cells display significant different gene and protein expression including upregulated proteins involved in RNA metabolism [ 56 ]. However, cell proliferation is also active in several human tissues such as the bone marrow or basal layers of epithelia as well as during embryogenesis, and it is therefore necessary to examine the effect of BNT162b2 on genomic integrity under such conditions. Furthermore, effective retrotransposition of LINE-1 has also been reported in non-dividing and terminally differentiated cells, such as human neurons [ 57 58 ].
Russias warplanes bombed Lviv and its missiles struck Kyiv on Saturday, as Moscow followed through on a threat to launch more long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities after the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet flagship.

An explosion was heard and smoke seen in Kyivs southeastern Darnytskyi district, where Moscow said it had struck a factory that repairs tanks. The capitals mayor said rescuers and medics were working there but gave no further details.

Ukraines military said Russian warplanes that took off from Belarus had also fired missiles at the Lviv region near the Polish border, where four cruise missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defences.

Russia said it also struck a military vehicle repair factory in Mykolaiv, a city close to the southern front.

The attacks followed Russias announcement on Friday that it would intensify long-range strikes in retaliation for unspecified acts of sabotage and terrorism, hours after it confirmed the sinking of its Black Sea flagship, the Moskva.

Kyiv and Washington say the ship was hit by Ukrainian missiles, a striking display of Ukraines military success against a far better-armed foe. Moscow says it sank after a fire.

A month and a half into President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, Russia is trying to capture territory in the south and east after withdrawing from the north following a massive assault on Kyiv that was repelled at the capitals outskirts.

Russian troops that pulled out of the north left behind towns littered with bodies of civilians, evidence of what U.S. President Joe Biden this week called genocide  an attempt to erase Ukrainian national identity.

Russia denies targeting civilians and says the aim of what it calls its special military operation is to disarm its neighbour, defeat nationalists and protect separatists in the southeast.

Ukrainian troops are still holding out in the ruins of the besieged coastal city of Mariupol, scene of the wars heaviest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe, where tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped for seven weeks under bombardment.

The situation in Mariupol is difficult Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city, defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a televised briefing.

EVACUATE WHILE STILL POSSIBLE

Russia has been sending additional troops to try to drive Ukrainian forces out of the Donbas, two provinces in the south-east which Moscow demands be fully ceded to Russian-backed separatists it has backed since 2014. Ukraine says it has so far held off Russian advances there.

One person was killed and three wounded in shelling in Luhansk, one of the two Donbas provinces where Russia is trying to advance, Governor Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post.

A gas pipeline was damaged in the frontline towns of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, which were without gas and water, Gaidai said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Evacuate, while it is still possible, Gaidai said. Buses were ready for those willing to leave.

Ukraine gained the upper hand in the early phase of a war many Western military experts had predicted it would quickly lose. It has successfully deployed mobile units armed with anti-tank missiles supplied by the West against huge Russian armoured convoys confined to roads by muddy terrain.

But Putin appears determined to capture more Donbas territory to claim victory in a war that has left Russia subject to increasingly punitive western sanctions and with few foreign allies.

All independent media has been shut at home, opposition figures have been jailed or driven abroad and dissent effectively stamped out.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said about 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in seven weeks of war, compared to up to 20,000 Russian troops.

Moscow has given no updates on its military casualties since March 25, when it said 1,351 had died. Western estimates of Russian losses are many times higher. There are few independent estimates of Ukrainian military losses.

Ukraine says it is impossible to count civilian deaths, estimating tens of thousands have been killed in Mariupol alone. Around a quarter of Ukrainians have been driven from their homes, including a tenth of the population that has fled abroad.

Zelenskiy said the military situation in the south and east was still very difficult.

The successes of our military on the battlefield are really significant, historically significant. But they are still not enough to clean our land of the occupiers. We will beat them some more, he said in a late-night video address.

Zelenskiy has appealed to Biden for the United States to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, joining North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria, the Washington Post reported.

SOURCE: REUTERS
The salary landscape has become somewhat murky since the pandemic fueled remote work. How has this impacted efforts to pay a fair market wage? What steps should organizations take to ensure salary practices are competitive and appropriate to attract top talent? What sources of information should they turn to for evaluating the competitiveness of their pay practices? What used to work that doesn't anymore?

Here, we look at these questions and offer some advice for employers operating in an increasingly competitive talent market.

It all starts with your pay philosophy

All employers have a pay philosophy, whether theyve clearly articulated it or not. In short, do your pay practices lead, lag or match the market? Theres nothing inherently right or wrong with any of these philosophies. There are, of course, different outcomes that might be expected.

Related: What Business Leaders Can Offer to Keep and Develop Employees

For instance, taking a lead role might make your company more attractive to job candidates, but could result in your spending excessively to attract talent. Conversely, lagging the market could make it more challenging for you to find qualified employees who stay on board for the long term.

Conduct a job analysis and update job descriptions

Your compensation approach should support and align with your organizations strategic objectives. Based on those objectives, you would then evaluate the various jobs in your organization to determine the extent to which they help to contribute to, or drive, organizational objectives. For instance, a salesperson in a B2B sales organization is likely to contribute more than a billing clerk in that same organization. All positions are important; conducting a job analysis is simply a way to determine the relative importance of the various jobs you hire for.

Its also important to ensure job descriptions remain updated. As skill requirements change, and as new technology emerges, how jobs are done changes too, and so does the relative worth of those jobs.

Identify benchmark jobs

Smaller organizations may only have a handful of jobs that need to be evaluated. In larger organizations, though, there may be hundreds of jobs and accompanying job descriptions. In these organizations, benchmark jobs are used as a point of comparison.

These might be jobs that are most prevalent in your organization, jobs that are hard to fill or jobs that are selected based on other criteria that make them important for ensuring competitive wage rates. Generally, they would represent the higher-paying jobs as other jobs within the organization would have salaries set relative to these positions.

Determine the market you will be recruiting from

Some positions  for instance, retail clerks or bank tellers  are likely to be recruited from a local market. Other positions, like web developers or C-suite executives, are likely to be recruited from a much broader regional, state, national or even international market.

The pandemic experience has had a significant impact here. Prior to March 2020, many organizations might have said that a significant portion of their workforce needed to be drawn from a relatively local market. Now, though, we have all learned that many jobs can be performed remotely from across the country or across the world.

Determine pay ranges for the positions you will benchmark

In determining market-based pay ranges, companies need to research what other organizations are paying for similar positions. This information can come from professional trade organizations, from surveys conducted by compensation consultants or from other sources.

Salary surveys, which used to be a go-to source for relevant and reliable salary information, no longer carry as much clout for a couple of reasons. One, these surveys tended to lag by a year or two, meaning that, in a quickly shifting market, the data is no longer likely to be accurate or up to date.

Related: Employees Now Have the Upper Hand. How Should Companies Respond?

In addition, the impact of the pandemic and a sudden increase in remote or hybrid work has complicated the salary landscape. Because of these shifts, some companies are taking a national or international approach to setting wage rates. This would mean that an employee working remotely from a small town in Montana would be paid less than the one working remotely in Manhattan because of cost-of-living differences. (Ive seen Google practice this.)

An important first step in determining whether pay is competitive is to monitor competitors. Their job postings, listings or ads may contain salary information. In some states and locations, pay transparency is becoming a requirement. Effective May 15, for instance, New York City will begin requiring employers to include salary ranges in job postings.

Glassdoor, Indeed and PayScale are popular services for obtaining salary and compensation trends data. While sources like these are populated with input from employees and may not be as reliable as other sources, they can indicate what your applicants are likely looking at as they do their own research on what theyre worth. LinkedIn Salary is another source of information about pay ranges that potential employees often turn to.

Related: Wild and Wacky Job Titles of the Future

The length of time a job remains open can factor in. Just as when selling a house, the actual demand received can be very telling. With open jobs, if you receive a lot of interest very quickly, you may be above market; conversely, if your job postings sit open for long lengths of time, you may be offering a below-market salary.

An ongoing process

The bottom line, though, while money is important, its not the only thing thats important to employees. Be creative in crafting a compensation and benefits package that offers value to employees, and be forthright about communicating the value of that package and the other amenities your company offers.

Evaluating pay to ensure competitive positioning is not a one-and-done event. Its an ongoing process that should be repeated and updated regularly, especially in a constantly evolving global economy.

Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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ALBANY  A group of advocates, including a former NASA director, wants the states Climate Action Council to include nuclear power initiatives in its scoping plan for a carbon-free environment.

State leaders adopted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which calls for New York to have 100 percent zero-emissions electricity by 2040.

The draft plan aims to drastically reduce emissions over the next couple of decades by building out the states infrastructure for wind and solar power plants as well as harnessing low-carbon fuels such as green hydrogen and bioenergy. Council members believe the transition will cost a small share of New Yorks economy and can yield up to $120 billion in net benefits.

Climate scientist and former director of NASAs Goddard Institute James Hansen commended the legislation but critiqued the states initial scoping plan this week, arguing that it gives short shrift to our most reliable, proven means of decarbonization  nuclear power.

Nuclear power has the smallest land footprint and lowest life cycle carbon emissions of any energy source, he said. It can generate electricity around the clock or as needed. It is also among the safest forms of energy on the planet.

Hansen is part of a growing group of advocates, including scientists, union representatives and community leaders, pushing the climate council to incorporate measures that expand the use of nuclear power in its plan.

When asked if the council plans on including initiatives that use nuclear power to achieve its carbon-free goals, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said the council adopted recommendations including an analysis considering cost, health, safety, community impact and environmental concerns of nuclear power generation.

During an informational presentation at the Empire State Plaza Thursday by Nuclear New York, industry leaders touted nuclear as a boon that doesnt take as much time or large-scale resources to construct while providing environmental, economic and health benefits.

Speakers emphasized the need to use all clean energy resources now because climate change demands it immediately.

Hansen said nuclear power currently supplies much of the states carbon-free electricity and that extending the life of reactors can limit greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective way. The scientist pointed to strategies deployed in California and Germany that incorporated systems predominantly composed of solar and wind power, which in his opinion are limited.

He said those two forms of power help with early decarbonization in replacing fossil fuels without requiring transmission upgrades and hefty storage but can lead to rising electricity rates and grid instability since they are low-density energy renewables.

In the same breath, he offered other European countries and Canada as good examples.

France, which decarbonized its grid with nuclear years ago, has announced support for a new generation of reactors, he said.

A DEC spokesperson said the state has already realized "considerable cost declines" for solar, onshore and offshore wind technologies citing "distributed solar incentives reduced 85 percent over the last decade, 20 to 40 percent year-over-year cost declines in large-scale land-based renewables, and 40 percent cheaper offshore wind prices compared to 2018 estimates."

"The state has also pioneered new contracting mechanisms that help limit ratepayer impacts when market revenues provide more support for renewables outside of state contracts," the spokesperson added.

A 2021 study on life cycle assessment of electricity generation options by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe confirmed nuclear power can deliver long-term low-carbon electricity at scale, although it faces perceived obstacles of public acceptance, high upfront costs and disposal of radioactive waste.

Herschel Specter, an engineer and president of Micro-Utilities, said concerns over nuclear waste are absurd. He noted such waste has sat in pools around the country for decades and he has yet to hear of anyone harmed by it, adding that new disposal methods bury the waste hundreds of feet underground, where he anticipates the public wouldnt be exposed to radiation from it.

And in defending nuclear powers safety, Hansen referred to a study he did 10 years ago that concluded nuclear power had saved 1.8 million lives by displacing polluting fossil fuels, a number he believes can be multiplied several times over by midcentury.

John J. Murphy, a leader of the Clean Energy Jobs Coalition, and Mike Bradshaw asserted instead of driving massive subsidies toward renewable sources, New York should favor clean energy facilities that create and maintain the largest number of high-skilled and high-paid jobs.

DEC's spokesperson said a study from one of the council's working groups showed employment in solar and wind energies is expected to grow more than three-fold over the next couple of decades to peak in 2040 wih up to 67,000 jobs. The department's data also indicated nuclear employment would remain steady at about 5,000 jobs over the same period.

Murphy, though, said a small modular reactor creates 400 percent more jobs than a similarly sized solar farm.

If we don't change course, we're on a path to job displacement, not job creation, and the answer lies in plain sight, he said.

This is one of a series of Times Union stories this year focusing on climate change and its impacts.
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WATERVLIET  The McNulty Veteran Business Center has been honored as a national resource partner by the U.S. Small Business Administration in recognition of its work with veterans.

The McNulty Center is a nonprofit host organization for the Veteran Business Outreach Center for New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Veteran Business Outreach Center Director Amy Amoroso said the award came as a big shock, although she and her fellow staff are humbled and honored by it.

The SBA bestows this honor on organizations that have "offered critical support to small business owners navigating pandemic challenges," a news release noted.

The organization serves about 2,000 veterans, service members and military spouses each year, offering programs to help them kick-start businesses as they transition out of military careers into civilian life. During the pandemic, the center maintained its momentum by moving its programs online.

To date, the centers clients have launched businesses in tech, hospitality, construction and more - some even grew businesses beyond national borders.

Amoroso believes these individuals military training and skills give them a leg up in entrepreneurial ventures.

Theyre used to a crunch-time deadline, she said.

The McNulty Center is small but mighty because it is mission-driven, Amoroso finds.

With a small team of three, we put our heart and soul into this because it's a pleasure and an honor to serve those that have served our country, she said.
On Thursday, April 14, 2022, the Moskva, the flagship vessel of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, reportedly sunk to the bottom of the ocean. As AP reported:

The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, a guided-missile cruiser that became a potent target of Ukrainian defiance in the opening days of the war, sank Thursday after it was heavily damaged in the latest setback for Moscow's invasion. Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the vessel with missiles, while Russia acknowledged a fire aboard the Moskva but no attack. U.S. and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.

Back in 2020, the Russian State-owned news agency TASS reported that this same ship had been armed with a piece of the True Cross, a Christian relic that is believed to have been part of the cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified approximately 1,989 years ago today:

A Christian relic, a piece of the True Cross on which the believers say Jesus Christ was crucified would be kept at the Moskva missile cruiser, the Black Sea fleet flagship, archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church's Sevastopol District Sergiy Khalyuta told TASS. He explained that the relic is a wood chip only several millimeters long. It is embedded into a 19th century metal cross, which, in turn, is stored in a special reliquary.

The Washington Post has some more information on the sinking of the ship, but even they can neither confirm nor deny whether the Russian news agency was actually telling the truth about the True Cross. Either way, it's hanging out somewhere at the bottom of the sea now.

At press time, Jesus's extant foreskin could not be reached for comment.

What happened to the Russian flagship Moskva? [Adela Suliman / Washington Post]

Russia's damaged Black Sea flagship sinks in latest setback [Adam Schreck / AP News]

Christian relic, a True Cross piece, to be kept at Russia's Black Sea fleet flagship [TASS News Agency]

Image: Joseolgon / Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Colu Henry isnt a fan of baking. So much so that the writer and recipe-developer tried to name her latest cookbook Please Bring Dessert  a nod to what she wants from guests invited to her Hudson home. Her publisher, concerned readers would assume the title meant it was a baking book, balked.

No matter. Henry, a New York Times contributor whose second cookbook, Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food, comes out April 26, shines in the savory realm anyway. The majority of her latest book is devoted to simple recipes that elevate into beautiful dishes by adhering to the concept that sophisticated food doesnt need to be fussy.

Henry lets readers into her pantry and fridge to see what to have on hand to make easy-fancy food a reality. Some of her recipes encourage eating with your hands: buttery kimchi shrimp, soft boiled eggs with pickled chiles, and a variety of fancy toasts.

Included in her pages is the pasta e ceci recipe that became one the New York Times most popular recipes of 2020. That version of the classic chickpea stew was vegetarian, while in Colu Cooks, the recipe called My Cec calls for pancetta. When buying pancetta locally, Henry opts to keep it simple and suggests Shoprite or Price Chopper (Its not gourmet but it does the trick, she says).

Another easy-fancy recipe is roasted mushrooms with sour cream, herbs, and lemon. Its super simple and looks so much more beautiful than it should, she says. Her favorite fungi are from Tivoli Mushrooms, Hotel Tivoli chef Devin Gilroys mushroom farm.

They started doing direct-to-consumer during the pandemic. I ordered a ton. If youre cooking mushrooms, Henry suggests following a recipe in the Embellishment chapter for an Italian chili crisp  garlic, fennel seed and hot pepper. Drizzling that over the top is next level.

Tara Donne Tara Donne Roasted mushrooms with sour cream, herbs and lemon, and Pretend I'm Vacationing in Italy Salad, by Colu Henry. (Photos by Tara Donne) Roasted mushrooms with sour cream, herbs and lemon, and Pretend I'm Vacationing in Italy Salad, by Colu Henry. (Photos by Tara Donne)

Henry, who is also the author of Back Pocket Pasta, is looking forward to embarking on a book tour that will include a West Coast sweep: Sonoma, San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, and maybe Austin. The book was supposed to come out a year ago. I am not a person that would do well promoting a book via Zoom, she says.

Especially not one with a mission to inspire people to make unfussy, uncomplicated food thats also elegant, pretty, and special.

The thing you probably dont know about me 

I majored in musical theatre and sang cabaret in New York City when I moved from Boston in 1999. Peel Me A Grape by Dave Frishberg was my signature song.

My favorite place in the Hudson Valley is 

My backyard. During the pandemic, we got a lot more edited friend-wise, and we spent a lot of time outside because we couldnt go inside. My husband made our backyard beautiful. We live in town, its not much of a yard, but he made a beautiful fence. It was where everyone came to spend time.

I cant live without 

Cafe Mutton. Its newish. Shaina [Loew-Banayan] opened this awesome restaurant with everything I want to eat  a fried bologna sandwich, rice porridge with crispy chili oil and chicken, insanely beautiful salads. Its a heavy menu. Their Bloody Mary comes with seasonal pickles and a piece of cheese. Its shamelessly over-the-top indulgent and its super close to my house. They have a potato chip dip omelet! They do a soft scramble that is what you want it to be. I think its the best food in Hudson right now.

Downtime is the best time Make the most of your Hudson Valley weekend, every week with our newsletter.

East or west side of the river?

East. Its where I live, where I know my farmers. I can go to a bar that no one else I know will go to even though its right in town with my next-door neighbor and drink martinis. When you have that juxtaposed with Morningstar Farm  I have the best of both worlds. I like that there is an Amtrak that runs into town. Thats convenient.

The weirdest thing in my pocket right now is 

I got my husband this waxed canvas wallet 12 years ago. It was falling apart; he was putting masking tape on it. A friend of ours got him a wallet as a joke for Christmas. I said, I think its time to let this go, do you want to throw it out? He was like, Yeah. And  I couldnt! I keep it in my pocket. I have a jacket I wear every day. I know its weird and corny, but I like it. It makes me feel secure. I like reaching down and being able to hold on to it.

Man, I wish tourists would stop 

Weekend traffic!

Didnt you move to Canada?

We bought a house in Nova Scotia. Its a very crazy story! We went looking in the fall of 2020. I needed to get out of here and I married a Canadian, so I had the luxury of doing that. We got priced out of where we wanted to be; people in Vancouver were buying property. Last summer we looked at houses further south. Its 14 acres with apple trees and across the street from the beach. We plan on going for the entire summer. It needs work. I will be sad to miss the summer here and September more than anything else. My hope is people will come visit; I want it to be a house where people come and commune.
CORINTH  Jessica Oulacha says it happens several times a week. A student at the Corinth High School gets into a fistfight with another student.

I dont know whats at the root of it all is, said Oulacha who shared videos on Facebook of the school scuffles. I do know they are not doing enough. The fights are often not broken up, they suspend (the students) for three days and then they come right back to school and just start another fight. There are no major consequences ... the student who started a fight in my sons class came back the next day and started pounding on another student.

Superintendent Mark Stratton disagrees. He admits the district has seen an increase in school fighting, but he said the district is making every effort to tamp down violence.

We have taken a lot of proactive steps, said Stratton, who offered a list of district actions. In addition to suspension, the district hosted an assembly earlier this month to speak to the high school students on the consequences of fighting. He also said he has asked an administrator to assign extra supervision in the halls, moved a bullying report link to the websites main page and has reminded students that they can reach out to the schools social worker, psychologist and counselors, if they need emotional support.

I acknowledge the uptick but we are a peaceful and proud community, Stratton said. We are talking about a small percentage of students. The vast majority are absolutely wonderful kids. Its a handful of students ... because we are having more fights than typical, its alarming some of our parents.

While a Corinth parent is worried about students, Saratoga Springs Board of Education member Amanda Ellithorpe argued at a Tuesday board meeting that teachers and school resources officers are also at risk of becoming victims of school violence.

Your teachers are scared. Are they not? she asked the board President Anjeanette Emeka. I do know they are ... they are scared of their physical safety ... they live in perpetual fear.

She also said that after watching a video of a school fight shared on social media (since taken down), she was upset by how the school resource officer was treated.

To see our police officer treated that way made my stomach churn, she said. Ellithorpe also said that a district teacher told her that she cant believe Im still sending my kids to this district.

Saratoga Springs Superintendent Michael Patton was not available on Friday to confirm the teacher sentiment. Yet, at the meeting, he reminded the board that all incidents of violence must be reported to the state Department of Education. A look at Capital District schools report shows that a lot of last years school assaults, bullying and use and sale of drugs and alcohol took place in suburban schools more than rural and urban.

The report for 2020-21 at Saratoga Springs High School had one incident of assault that resulted in physical injury. However, it had nine incidents of drug possession and two incidents of alcohol use. The Maple Avenue Middle School had three assaults resulting in physical injury, but only three incidents of drug use and sale.

At Corinth, last years report showed there were no incidents of assault and only one drug use incident in the high school. Nothing was reported at the middle or elementary schools.

Other schools in the Capital Region with higher incidents of assaults included Shaker Junior High School with seven incidents, Schalmont High School with five incidents, Koda Middle School, which is part of the Shenendehowa School District, with four incidents and Scotia-Glenvilles districts Sacanadaga Elementary School with three incidents.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES Superintendent James Dexter said that all 31 school districts that his organization encompasses have seen a rise in student fighting. He said it often starts on social media, outside of the school setting, and bleeds into the school day.

We are seeing things with social media that we have never seen before, he said. People are not appropriate. They dont treat each other well. Something is posted at night and the students sees the other student the next day in school and there is an altercation. The hard part for the schools is picking out what happens off school and what happens in school. People forget that we cant discipline students for conduct off school property.

Dexter also said the pandemic exasperated the situation because students lost their connection to teachers and peers during months of virtual learning.

Oulacha thinks the students who are perpetually in trouble for fighting should be expelled. But Dexter said that is not an option as every student has a constitutional right to an education.

Oulacha would also like more adults to step in. Three videos shared with the Times Union, including one in a classroom, had no adult intervention. Dexter said teachers have to be careful not to get hurt, but agreed they are part of the solution.

The teachers do have a role, he said. If they are assigned to the hallway, she should be in the hallway or if there are issues to be in touch with the principal. We want them to help control the situation, try to break students up and call for help.

He said superintendents are constantly seeking solutions. As part of that quest, the Queensbury High School will host a public event on May 19 at the high school fields where the school community will meet with providers for children and families so that everyone knows what resources are available. Moreover, he said, the community must set the standard for behavior.

Nothing can exist solely in the school, he said. We have to re-establish a community-wide expectation for our kids. Its a societal issue manifesting itself in the schools.  We have to solve this with our communities."
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Iain Boyd, University of Colorado Boulder

(THE CONVERSATION) Russia used a hypersonic missile against a Ukrainian arms depot in the western part of the country on March 18, 2022. That might sound scary, but the technology the Russians used is not particularly advanced. However, next-generation hypersonic missiles that Russia, China and the U.S. are developing do pose a significant threat to national and global security.

I am an aerospace engineer who studies space and defense systems, including hypersonic systems. These new systems pose an important challenge due to their maneuverability all along their trajectory. Because their flight paths can change as they travel, these missiles must be tracked throughout their flight.

A second important challenge stems from the fact that they operate in a different region of the atmosphere from other existing threats. The new hypersonic weapons fly much higher than slower subsonic missiles but much lower than intercontinental ballistic missiles. The U.S. and its allies do not have good tracking coverage for this in-between region, nor does Russia or China.

Destabilizing effect

Russia has claimed that some of its hypersonic weapons can carry a nuclear warhead. This statement alone is a cause for concern whether or not it is true. If Russia ever operates this system against an enemy, that country would have to decide the probability of the weapon being conventional or nuclear.

In the case of the U.S., if the determination were made that the weapon was nuclear, then there is a very high likelihood that the U.S. would consider this a first strike attack and respond by unloading its nuclear weapons on Russia. The hypersonic speed of these weapons increases the precariousness of the situation because the time for any last-minute diplomatic resolution would be severely reduced.

It is the destabilizing influence that modern hypersonic missiles represent that is perhaps the greatest risk they pose. I believe the U.S. and its allies should rapidly field their own hypersonic weapons to bring other nations such as Russia and China to the negotiating table to develop a diplomatic approach to managing these weapons.

What is hypersonic?

Describing a vehicle as hypersonic means that it flies much faster than the speed of sound, which is 761 miles per hour (1,225 kilometers per hour) at sea level and 663 mph (1,067 kph) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters) where passenger jets fly. Passenger jets travel at just under 600 mph (966 kph), whereas hypersonic systems operate at speeds of 3,500 mph (5,633 kph)  about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) per second  and higher.

Hypersonic systems have been in use for decades. When John Glenn came back to Earth in 1962 from the first U.S. crewed flight around the Earth, his capsule entered the atmosphere at hypersonic speed. All of the intercontinental ballistic missiles in the worlds nuclear arsenals are hypersonic, reaching about 15,000 mph (24,140 kph), or about 4 miles (6.4 km) per second at their maximum velocity.

ICBMs are launched on large rockets and then fly on a predictable trajectory that takes them out of the atmosphere into space and then back into the atmosphere again. The new generation of hypersonic missiles fly very fast, but not as fast as ICBMs. They are launched on smaller rockets that keep them within the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

Three types of hypersonic missiles

There are three different types of non-ICBM hypersonic weapons: aero-ballistic, glide vehicles and cruise missiles. A hypersonic aero-ballistic system is dropped from an aircraft, accelerated to hypersonic speed using a rocket and then follows a ballistic, meaning unpowered, trajectory. The system Russian forces used to attack Ukraine, the Kinzhal, is an aero-ballistic missile. The technology has been around since about 1980.

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A hypersonic glide vehicle is boosted on a rocket to high altitude and then glides to its target, maneuvering along the way. Examples of hypersonic glide vehicles include Chinas Dongfeng-17, Russias Avangard and the U.S. Navys Conventional Prompt Strike system. U.S. officials have expressed concern that Chinas hypersonic glide vehicle technology is further advanced than the U.S. system.

A hypersonic cruise missile is boosted by a rocket to hypersonic speed and then uses an air-breathing engine called a scramjet to sustain that speed. Because they ingest air into their engines, hypersonic cruise missiles require smaller launch rockets than hypersonic glide vehicles, which means they can cost less and be launched from more places. Hypersonic cruise missiles are under development by China and the U.S. The U.S. reportedly conducted a test flight of a scramjet hypersonic missile in March 2020.

Difficult to defend against

The primary reason nations are developing these next-generation hypersonic weapons is how difficult they are to defend against due to their speed, maneuverability and flight path. The U.S. is starting to develop a layered approach to defending against hypersonic weapons that includes a constellation of sensors in space and close cooperation with key allies. This approach is likely to be very expensive and take many years to implement.

With all of this activity on hypersonic weapons and defending against them, it is important to assess the threat they pose to national security. Hypersonic missiles with conventional, non-nuclear warheads are primarily useful against high-value targets, such as an aircraft carrier. Being able to take out such a target could have a significant impact on the outcome of a major conflict.

However, hypersonic missiles are expensive and therefore not likely to be produced in large quantities. As seen in the recent use by Russia, hypersonic weapons are not necessarily a silver bullet that ends a conflict.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/how-hypersonic-missiles-work-and-the-unique-threats-they-pose-an-aerospace-engineer-explains-180836.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday signed a redistricting measure expected to preserve Republican supermajorities in the Kansas Legislature while also making it possible for conservatives to elect more members to the state school board.

Kelly didn't say why she signed the measure in announcing her action, but she had praised the new House and Senate maps as fair to incumbents and a pretty good job. The maps also had bipartisan support among lawmakers.
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KHARKIV, Ukraine -- Russias bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.

Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.

The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andres tweeted that the non-governmental organizations staff members were shaken but safe.

The organization says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andres said the attack in Kharkiv shows that to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance" and that his groups chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Mother, grandmother weep over a 15-year-old killed in shelling of Kharkiv

 Elderly mother feels lost, seeks son's body in Ukrainian town of Bucha

 Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, other cities

 We pray for you: Ukrainian Jews mark Passover, if they can

 Ukraines port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

Follow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke Saturday with the leaders of Britain and Sweden about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city.

Mariupols fate can be decided either through battle or diplomacy, he said.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

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NEW YORK  A Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol for weeks.

Gov. Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Frolov died a heroic death in battle without saying where or when he was killed. Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St. Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.

Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war.

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WASHINGTON  Austrias chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is in his own war logic when it comes to Ukraine.

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told Meet the Press that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and it was not a friendly conversation.

He said Putin said he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesnt trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future.

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VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily Saturday in St. Peters Basilica, attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three Ukrainian parliamentarians.

The pontiff noted that while many writers have evoked the beauty of starlit nights, the nights of war, however, are riven by streams of light that portend death.

Francis's call for an Easter truce in order to reach a negotiated peace appeared in vain Saturday, as Russia resumed missile and rocket attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond in a reminder that the whole country remains under threat.

At the end of his homily, Francis directly addressed directly Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov and Ukrainian lawmakers Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko and Rusem Umerov, who sat in the front row.

In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer, Francis said, then with emotion he added that the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen, the last three words in Ukrainian.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The Invictus Games for injured and ill service personnel and veterans opened with a standing ovation and a tribute from Prince Harry for Ukrainian team members who left their war-torn nation to compete.

With Harry and his wife Meghan in the front row for the opening ceremony Saturday night, competitors cheered for nearly a minute as the Ukrainian team waved their nations blue-and-yellow flag after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed them.

Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military service members and veterans, by giving them the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.

Welcoming all competitors to the event that was delayed by two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, Harry singled out the 19-strong Ukrainian team and their supporters.

Your bravery in choosing to come and for being here tonight cannot be overstated, he said, a day after meeting the Ukrainians at a reception.

You know, we stand with you. The world is united with you. And still you deserve more. And my hope is that these events, this event, creates the opportunity ... of how we as a global community can better show up for you, Harry added.

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FORT IRWIN, Calif. __ U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary.

The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in Californias Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

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RIYADH  Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday, their second call since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields.

The Saudi readout of the call said the crown prince affirmed support for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The kingdom recently announced $10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlins statement added the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war for years, as well as their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+. The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.

Ukraine has urged nations around the world to cut their dependency on Russian oil imports that it says finance Russias military war on Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces shelled an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk on Saturday, and a large fire erupted, a regional governor reported.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said it wasnt the first time the refinery was targeted and accused the Russians of trying to exhaust local emergency services. He underlined there was no fuel at the refinery at the time of the attack and the remains of oil sludge were burning.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv in the east, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kirovohrad in the central Ukraine and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. The strikes underlined that the whole country remained under threat despite Russias pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

In Kharkiv, nine civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded on Friday, while in the wider region two were reported dead and three wounded, according to the report.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of regional legislature, Hanna Zamazeyeva, said Saturday that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

Zamazeyeva said the targets included several residential blocks where there are no military facilities.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised remarks on Saturday that 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians -- more than half of them women -- are being held captive by the Russians.

Vereshchuk said Kyiv intends to swap the captive soldiers, since Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops but demands to release the civilians without any conditions.

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ROME  Italy is barring all Russian ships from its ports starting Sunday, as part of expanded EU sanctions announced earlier this month. Ships already in Italian ports must leave immediately after completing their commercial activity, according to a notice sent to port authorities.

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BERLIN  Peace activists took part Germanys traditional Easter marches on Saturday, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine but also in at least some cases opposing helping Ukraine defend itself with weaponry.

A Berlin event drew 400 people and one in Hanover 500, the dpa news agency reported, citing police. Marches took place in cities including Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Duisburg. Banners included End the war in Ukraine and He who sends weapons reaps war.

The countrys vice chancellor, Greens politician Robert Habeck, warned demonstrators against sending the wrong message, saying there will only be peace when Putin stops his war of aggression. He said in an interview with the Funke media group that it was clear who the aggressor is who and who are defending themselves in an emergency and whom we must support, also with weapons.

Ukrainian officials say Germany has sent anti-tank and anti-aircaft weapons as well as night vision equipment, body armor and machine guns.

Germany's locally organized peace marches date back to the days of the Cold War and focus on issues such as disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

____

KYIV, Ukraine -- Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person died and several more were wounded in Saturday morning airstrikes on the Darnytski district of the capital, as Russian forces resumed scattered attacks in western Ukraine.

Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks, which the Russian Defense Ministry said targeted an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital, were an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat even as Russian forces refocus on the east, where a new offensive is feared.

Klitschko urged Ukrainians not to return to Kyiv just yet, warning in televised remarks Saturday that strikes on the capital are likely continue and its suburbs are rigged with explosives.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. We cant prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

The mayor added that because of the mines, Kyiv residents are barred from visiting parks and forests in the northeastern areas that border liberated territories formerly occupied by Russians.

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MOSCOW -- Russia has barred the UK prime minister and a dozen other top British officials from entering its country in response to British sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Russias Foreign Ministry announced the move that targets Boris Johnson, a number of British ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, on Saturday.

The ministrys statement cited unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials in Russia.

The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas are detrimental to the well-being and interests of the residents of Britain. Any sanctions attack will inevitably backfire on their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, the statement said.

On Friday evening, the ministry announced the expulsion of 18 European Union diplomats from Moscow, in retaliation for the blocs declaring 19 diplomats from the Russian mission to the EU and to the European Atomic Energy Community persona non-grata.

The European Union said the expulsions were groundless, and that EU diplomats targeted were working in the framework of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting that Kyiv was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district in the eastern part of the capital.

He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene of explosions" and that victims details would be released later. Klitschko urged residents to heed air raid sirens.

Thick smoke rising from the site on the eastern side of Kyiv could be seen from parts of downtown near the Dnipro River.

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WASHINGTON  Ukraine is sending top officials to Washington for next weeks spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where discussion will focus on the Russian invasion and its impact on the global economy.

Coming to the gathering are Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to a World Bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been officially announced.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the U.S. has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

___

TIJUANA, Mexico  A Russian man and a Ukrainian woman were married in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in hopes of entering the U.S. together.

Daria Sakhniuk was allowed to enter the U.S. as a Ukrainian refugee but her partner, Semen Bobrovski, was unable to travel there following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They left Ukraine as the war began.

Bobrovski told El Sol de Tijuana that he believed the marriage Thursday would bolster his chances of entering the U.S. with his new wife. The U.S. allows only Russian nationals with family members in the U.S. to enter the country.

Without it, we wont be able to cross because, still to the official American government, we are strangers to each other," he said.

___

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the nations military and intelligence agency leaders.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said.

He added: The occupiers problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.
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SCHENECTADY  The Community Forest Management Plan, meant to provide a plan to maintain, protect, and enhance Schenectadys community forest will get an airing later this month.

We look forward to hearing from the community as we roll out this comprehensive plan to create a healthy and sustainable community forest that is properly managed and cared for, benefiting all of Schenectadys residents, said Mayor Gary McCarthy.
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GREENVILLE  A squad of Vietnam War veterans has launched an effort to commemorate 17 fallen troops with ties to Greene County communities.

Bernard Malone, Tim Broder Sr. and James Sill, all of whom were organizers of the former Northeast USA Vietnam Veterans Reunion Association, are now leading the Northeast USA Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund project to build a Battle Cross monument in Greenvilles Veterans Memorial Park at Routes 81 and 32.

The reunion group had hosted the largest reunion of Vietnam veterans for 20 years until 2019 at Freehold and later Greenville.

Malone of Delmar, an Army veteran, is project president. Broder of Freehold, a Seabee veteran, is project vice president and secretary. Sill of Delmar, a Navy veteran, is project treasurer.

They are trying to raise more than $100,000 for the Battle Cross composed of a bronze replica of items a service member has in the field of battle  boots, a rifle, dog tags and a helmet  presented in the shape of a cross. That design reflects what most units did to commemorate fallen soldiers during memorial ceremonies in the South Vietnam combat zone.

The names of 17 troops killed in action will be etched on three granite slabs. The monument will also include a tall pole with a large American flag and two short poles for American flags. Expenses also include installation and landscaping.

Sill says the monument will become our Mini Wall with the granite parts reminding folks of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

We also want to memorialize and celebrate the service and sacrifice of all military members from Hudson Valley community, said Malone.

The Battlefield Cross will also be a memorial that symbolizes the honor, service and sacrifice of all troops killed in battle, said Broder.

When we had our final reunion in 2019 after 20 years, we announced that we were still going to stay involved and erect a monument with the names of those from Greene County who were killed in the Vietnam War, Broder said. We had planned on doing it a bit sooner, but then COVID happened.

The monument dedication date is Sept. 17, but first the group has to raise the funds necessary to purchase the monument, engrave and install it. There also are plans to install a flagpole and purchase several large flags.

Sill said the monument to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice is a fitting way of honoring their memory.

I want people to remember the Vietnam veterans because we were a lost bunch of people when we returned from Vietnam, Sill said. It was an unpopular war, but I always tell people  I had a job to do. I didnt have any decision to make. It was our duty to serve, and it was for, hopefully, the peace of America and so people would have the right to demonstrate against us.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

The cost of erecting the monument can be lower if in-kind services are provided by businesses, such as purchasing concrete or other services, according to Sill. The cost for the granite and stonework is estimated at between $20,000 and $25,000, Broder said. The tall flagpole will cost thousands.

Donations can be mailed to Northeast USA Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 326, Freehold, NY 12431. Checks should be made out to Northeast USA Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which can be abbreviated to NEUSAVVMF.

The monuments will commemorate:

Marine Cpl. Paul Edward Albano, 22, of Hannacroix, killed in action while serving as a door gunner on the helicopter that was shot down on March 28, 1967.

22, of Hannacroix, killed in action while serving as a door gunner on the helicopter that was shot down on March 28, 1967. Marine Pfc. William Michael Bagshaw of Catskill, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 1st Marine Division on Feb. 26, 1968. He died 13 days after he arrived in country at 18 years old.

of Catskill, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 1st Marine Division on Feb. 26, 1968. He died 13 days after he arrived in country at 18 years old. Air Force Airman 1st Class John Irwin Cameron, 22, of Coxsackie, killed in action when his observation aircraft was shot down on Feb. 2, 1966.

22, of Coxsackie, killed in action when his observation aircraft was shot down on Feb. 2, 1966. Marine Sgt. Norman Wilbur Clearwater of Catskill, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 9th Amphibious Brigade on Dec. 27, 1967.

of Catskill, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 9th Amphibious Brigade on Dec. 27, 1967. Army 1st Lt. Eugene Jerome Curless Jr., 20, of Medusa, killed in action while on duty as a company commander with the 25th Infantry Division on March 25, 1968.

20, of Medusa, killed in action while on duty as a company commander with the 25th Infantry Division on March 25, 1968. Marine Cpl. John Francis Dedek, 22, of Oak Hill, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines on Feb. 22, 1969.

22, of Oak Hill, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines on Feb. 22, 1969. Marine Pfc. William John Dolan, 19, wounded while on duty as a rifleman with the 3rd Marine Division on April 16, 1968, and died April 17, 1968. He is buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Tannersville.

19, wounded while on duty as a rifleman with the 3rd Marine Division on April 16, 1968, and died April 17, 1968. He is buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Tannersville. Marine Cpl. Ronald Francis Hock, 22, of New Baltimore, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 3rd Marine Division on July 31, 1966.

22, of New Baltimore, killed in action while serving as a rifleman with the 3rd Marine Division on July 31, 1966. Army Pfc. Arnold Melvin Hull, 20, of Oak Hill, killed in action while serving as light weapons infantryman with the 1st Cavalry Division on Dec. 17, 1966.

20, of Oak Hill, killed in action while serving as light weapons infantryman with the 1st Cavalry Division on Dec. 17, 1966. Marine Lance Cpl. Paul Lewis, 19, of Saugerties, killed in action while serving as an assault man with the 1st Marine Division, on May 24, 1968.

19, of Saugerties, killed in action while serving as an assault man with the 1st Marine Division, on May 24, 1968. Army Pfc. James Ronald Oakley, 21, of Grand Gorge, killed in action while serving as a direct fire crewman with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment on Feb. 23, 1968.

21, of Grand Gorge, killed in action while serving as a direct fire crewman with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment on Feb. 23, 1968. Army Sgt. Tunis Rappleyea Jr., 21, of West Kill, killed in action while serving as a direct fire crewman with the 1st Cavalry Division on Nov. 22, 1967.

21, of West Kill, killed in action while serving as a direct fire crewman with the 1st Cavalry Division on Nov. 22, 1967. Army Spc. 4 Michael Joseph Rowcroft, 19, wounded while serving as a medic with the 2nd Battalion, 506 Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division on Aug. 27, 1968. He succumbed to his wounds at age 41. He served as director of the Greene County Veterans Service Agency from 1980 until his death.

19, wounded while serving as a medic with the 2nd Battalion, 506 Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division on Aug. 27, 1968. He succumbed to his wounds at age 41. He served as director of the Greene County Veterans Service Agency from 1980 until his death. Marine Cpl. Robert Bruce Schampier, 19, of Alcove, killed in action while serving with the III Maine Amphibious Force on March 6, 1968.

19, of Alcove, killed in action while serving with the III Maine Amphibious Force on March 6, 1968. Army Warrant Officer Mark Vedder Schmidt, 26, of Leeds, killed in action while serving as a helicopter pilot with the 25th Infantry Division on Dec. 27, 1967

26, of Leeds, killed in action while serving as a helicopter pilot with the 25th Infantry Division on Dec. 27, 1967 Army Spc. 4 Harry Joseph Sickler, 20, of Lanesville, killed in action Nov. 1, 1964 while on duty as a helicopter repairman with the Transportation detachment on Nov. 1, 1964.

20, of Lanesville, killed in action Nov. 1, 1964 while on duty as a helicopter repairman with the Transportation detachment on Nov. 1, 1964. Marine Staff Sgt. John Donald Wyszomirski, 28, of Catskill, killed in action while serving as an infantry unit leader with the 1st Marine Division on Aug. 12, 1966.

For more information about the Vietnam veterans monument project, email nevietvets199@yahoo.com.



News of troops and units can be sent to Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or email brownt@timesunion.com.


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VASYLKIV, Ukraine (AP)  The final hours before Passover found the chief rabbi for Kyiv and Ukraine in a cemetery. Before he could mark the Jewish peoples escape from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago, he was burying a man who didnt escape a Russian bullet.

Rabbi Moshe Azman doesnt know how many Jewish people have been killed in Russias invasion. But on Friday, on a rural hillside, he buried one more.

People of all nationalities, they are in this tragedy, he said.

The dead man was from Bucha, the community outside Kyiv whose name is now shadowed by horror. The man last posted on his Facebook page in the earliest days of March. His body was only recently found after the Russians withdrew.

No family attended his burial, and the rabbi didnt know where they are.

He was a quiet man, the rabbi said. A very good guy. He had been shot and his body showed signs of possible torture.

This Passover, I pray to God he will make miracles, the way he made miracles for the Jewish people in Egypt, the rabbi said. The Ukrainian people would like to be free of the Soviet Union, where he was born. I dont want to go back, he said.

When asked what he thought about the Russian governments claims of de-Nazifying Ukraine, the rabbi paused, then turned and indicated the grave.

This is the answer, he said. They killed him. And not only him. The Russians are killing Russians, Ukrainians, Jewish people, including children, even at hospitals, without asking who they are, he said. He believes these are war crimes.

The rabbi's message to Jewish people in Ukraine who cant celebrate Passover because theyre trapped or have no food is simple, direct and meaningful: We pray for you. He worries about the people in the besieged city of Mariupol, the bombarded city of Kharkiv.

The rabbi said he and colleagues had been working to get the needed Jewish food to hundreds of thousands of people throughout Ukraine. Be strong, he said. Believe in God. He wished for a new, good world, without war.

Passover also was being celebrated in the Ukrainian cities of Odesa, Dnipro and Kharkiv, the rabbi said, though he wasnt sure about Chernihiv.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

At the synagogue in Kyiv shortly before the dinner, a young boy said Ooh! as wine bottles were popped open. It was not clear how many people would attend because of the curfew.

One attendee, Natan Skybalskyi, said he usually marked Passover elsewhere but saw fellow wartime volunteers like him as a new family. He had been pitching in as a driver to help with evacuations, he said.

Some people are still waiting for that deliverance.

I hope this is the last Passover we have in war, Skybalskyi said.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday adopted Republican-drawn maps for the state Legislature, handing the GOP a victory just weeks after initially approving maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The court reversed itself after the U.S. Supreme Court in March said Evers' maps were incorrectly adopted, and came just as candidates were about to begin circulating nominating papers to appear on this year's ballot without being sure of district boundaries.

Democrats would have made some marginal gains under Evers plan, but Republicans were projected to maintain their majorities in the Assembly and Senate, according to an analysis from the governors office.

Evers map created seven majority-Black state Assembly districts in Milwaukee, up from the current six. The map from the Republican-controlled Legislature had just five.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court had adopted Evers' map on March 3, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it on March 23. The high court ruled that Evers' map failed to consider whether a race-neutral alternative that did not add a seventh majority-black district would deny black voters equal political opportunity.

Evers told the state Supreme Court it could still adopt his map with some additional analysis, or an alternative with six majority-Black districts. The Republican-controlled Legislature argued that its map should be implemented.

The Wisconsin court, controlled 4-3 by conservatives, sided with the Legislature.

The maps proposed by the Governor ... are racially motivated and, under the Equal Protection Clause, they fail strict scrutiny, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler wrote for the majority, joined by Justices Patience Roggensack, Rebecca Grassl Bradley and Brian Hagedorn.

The Legislature's maps, they wrote, are race neutral and comply with the Equal Protection Clause, along with all other application federal and state legal requirements.

Hagedorn, a conservative swing justice, initially backed Evers map but reversed himself once the matter came back before the court. In a separate concurrence, he wrote that the U.S. Supreme Court decision required the state court to adopt a race-neutral map, and the Legislature's maps are the only legally compliant maps we received.

The court's three liberal justices  Jill Karofsky, Ann Walsh Bradley and Rebecca Dallet  dissented. Karofsky, writing for the minority, said the Legislature's maps fare no better than the Governor's under the U.S. Supreme Court's rationale.

If, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Governors addition of a Milwaukee-area majority-minority district evinces a disqualifying consideration of race, then the Legislatures removal of a Milwaukee-area majority-minority district reveals an equally suspect, if not more egregious, sign of race-based line drawing, Karofsky wrote.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos tweeted praise for the ruling, saying Republicans have thought our maps were the best option from the beginning.

Evers called the decision outrageous and said the court had backtracked on an earlier finding that the Legislature's maps unlawfully packed Black voters to reduce their voting power.

At a time when our democracy is under near-constant attack, the judiciary has abandoned our democracy in our most dire hour, Evers said.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

Republicans hold a 61-38 majority in the Assembly and a 21-12 advantage in the Senate. Even under the GOP map that the state court initially rejected, they were not expected to gain a supermajority that could override any Evers veto.

The U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in the Wisconsin case marked the first time this redistricting cycle that it has overturned maps drawn by a state.

The court has signaled it may significantly change the ground rules that govern redistricting. The courts involvement comes after its 2019 ruling that federal courts have no role in stopping partisan gerrymandering.

In February, it stopped a ruling by a panel of federal judges requiring Alabama to redraw its maps to give Black people a better shot at selecting their representatives, saying it may need to revise the long-standing case law that governs that. Its that case law that the high court referred to in the Wisconsin ruling.

The court declined to block maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. But four conservative justices wrote that they want to rule on the novel legal theory that state legislatures, rather than state courts, have supreme power in drawing maps.

While the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Wisconsins legislative maps, it adopted the congressional maps as proposed by Evers. Republicans currently hold five of the states eight seats. That map made one of those GOP districts more competitive.

Redistricting is the process of redrawing political boundaries based on the latest census. Mapmakers can create an advantage for their political party by packing opponents voters into a few districts or spreading them among multiple districts  a process known as gerrymandering.
The nicest thing I can say about the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics is that whenever I walked from my former office in the state Capitol to attend one of its dispiriting monthly meetings at its warren of offices on Broadway, I got a vigorous workout on the walk back uphill.

"Uphill" is, of course, the best adjective to define the future course of New York's battle with public corruption, as evidenced last week by the speedy resignation of Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin. The federal indictment unsealed Tuesday morning describes a quid pro quo scheme so transparent that it could have involved the exchange of two burlap bags each printed with a dollar sign.

After no doubt breathing a sigh of relief at Benjamin's hasty exit, Gov. Kathy Hochul defended herself by noting that he had allegedly lied during the vetting process that ended with his appointment last summer as the next in the line of succession to significant executive power  a gig that has given us two of the last three governors (David Paterson and Hochul), and is therefore rather important.

New Yorkers deserve to know more about whether Hochul's administration robustly questioned Benjamin after his benefactor, real estate baron Gerald Migdol, was indicted in November on felony charges of making fraudulent campaign contributions to the former state senator's campaign for New York City comptroller. As recently as two weeks ago, Hochul was expressing "utmost confidence" in her lieutenant even after the Daily News reported he had failed to let her know he had been subpoenaed in the Migdol matter. Loyalty is a wonderful thing in politics as in life, but her failure to extract as much as a public mea culpa from Benjamin was telling.

The case against Benjamin was brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, continuing that office's near-total dominance in the field of state corruption prosecutions. Once again sitting on the sidelines was the Northern District (which hasn't brought a notable or even banal corruption case since its pursuit of Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno in 2009), the Albany County district attorney's office, and JCOPE.

The deathwatch has begun for that panel, which according to legislation passed in the state budget has less than three months left in its misbegotten existence before it's replaced by the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. The first problem with that name is that "ethics and lobbying" go together about as well as "fresh air and cigarettes." The second problem: No one is going to be able to say "CELG" as anything but the cough-like "kelgh"  though good-government advocate Blair Horner told me there's a movement afoot to pronounce it with a soft C as "selig," suggestive of the Woody Allen movie "Zelig," about a chameleon-like character who is endlessly deceiving those around him.

However you say it, CELG will operate under more open rules  both in terms of public transparency and its ability to approve investigations  than JCOPE did, but the bar for improvement here is lower than a snake's bellybutton.

At the risk of sounding immodest: While there was a lot of very good reporting on JCOPE over the past decade, no outlet paid more attention than the Times Union did. This is largely due to the good work of investigative reporter Chris Bragg, who made it a central part of his beat, and investigations editor Brendan Lyons, who in November 2019 cracked open what was surely the most egregious example of JCOPE's decrepitude: the revelation that details of a supposedly confidential vote by the panel had been leaked to then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, after which the whole matter was whitewashed by the state inspector general's office.

Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter.

This paper's editorial board hammered JCOPE (November 2021: "Worst. Ethics. Watchdog."); this column rarely missed a chance to kick it in the slats, and I regret nothing.

It is very hard to make readers care about ethics enforcement. It's a lot easier to enjoy the adrenaline rush when politicians like Benjamin get arrested  but by that point, of course, the system has failed to prevent corruption. The Times Union, for as long as I've worked here, made a conscious decision to pay close attention to the operation of JCOPE and its predecessor watchdogs, as well as the inspector general's office and the other often lackluster elements of the state's ethics immune system.

As good government groups have pointed out, corruption is a tax New Yorkers might never know they're paying. Consider the $50,000 Senate grant that Benjamin funneled to an education nonprofit led by Migdol  so-called "bullet aid" funds that Benjamin requested only after he allegedly realized he needed a way to grease his benefactor. That's $50,000 that could have gone to help communities in ways that might not have been associated with graft.

Advocates and elected officials  and our editorial board  have noted that CELG will preserve too many of the worst elements of JCOPE. It will, for example, still be led by commissioners appointed by the same elected officials it is supposed to police. A crew of law school deans will get to vet the list of nominees, but still.

Which means that our reporters will stay on the case, watchdogs on the watchdog.
A prominent businessman provided $50,000 toward the defense of two Buffalo Police officers who were accused of shoving 75-year-old protester Martin Gugino to the ground and causing his fractured skull.

The $50,000 came from Douglas Jemal, developer of several major projects in Buffalo, according to Thomas H. Burton, attorney for the two officers and the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association.

In my book, Mr. Jemal is a great American, said Burton. He felt these two officers had been treated unfairly and called my office, totally out of the blue, to offer his help. He offered to pay for their entire defense, but we capped it at $50,000.

Jemal, who is based in Washington, D.C., but also has a home in Buffalo, confirmed Burton's account in a telephone interview with The Buffalo News on Friday.

"I reached out because I was worried that these two officers were not going to get a fair day in court," said Jemal. "When you look at the video of what happened, I think people dramatized the video and tried to make these officers out to be thugs, which they are not."

Burton represents Officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe, who were cleared by an arbitrator last week of using unnecessary force against Gugino during a Black Lives Matter demonstration outside City Hall on June 4, 2020.

A WBFO reporter's cellphone video of the encounter  which resulted in Gugino falling to the pavement, cracking his skull and bleeding profusely from his ear  went viral and was viewed by millions of people after the incident.

Buffalo cops who pushed protester Martin Gugino to ground cleared of wrongdoing Arbitrator Jeffrey M. Selchick said he found that Officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe did not violate Police Department regulations and did not intend to injure Martin Gugino, 75, during the protest outside City Hall on June 4, 2020.

Criminal charges against the two officers were filed, and then dropped after an Erie County grand jury reviewed the incident. Both officers denied that they tried to hurt Gugino.

On April 8, a state arbitrator ruled that the two officers did not intend to injure Gugino and had not violated any Buffalo Police regulations. A federal court lawsuit filed by Gugino, accusing the officers of violating his civil rights, is still pending.

The officers, who were suspended after the incident, were reinstated to active duty after the arbitrators decision.

Speaking to The News after the ruling, Burton lauded Jemal for what he called his unsolicited, voluntary and extremely generous support of the two officers.

"I have been defending police officers for almost four decades now, and this is the first time I have ever had a private citizen reach out and do something like this," Burton said.

Jemal said he was thrilled with the arbitrator's ruling.

"I'm glad that our judicial system worked in this case," Jemal said. "I didn't do this because I knew the officers. I still haven't met them to this day. They did thank me, through Mr. Burton."

Jemal added that his financial support of the officers was "not a publicity stunt" and was not done to curry favor with police officers.

"I did it because I felt it was the right thing to do. I don't give a (expletive) what people think about it," the 79-year-old developer said.

Gugino and two attorneys who have represented him in the federal lawsuit could not be reached for comment Friday.

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ALBANY  A physician assistant who is a suspect in the killing of a 35-year-old New Scotland man was arrested by police and federal agents as he drove across the Virginia border from Tennessee on Friday evening, according to police.

Jacob L. Klein, 40, had emerged as a person of interest in the slaying of Philip L. Rabadi, who was a physician assistant at St. Peter's Hospital, in the wake of the homicide. The victim had been bound, slashed and mutilated in his Miller Road residence several miles south of Albany.

Police have not disclosed a potential motive for the homicide, but Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said Klein was "stalking" Rabadi's wife  who had once been Klein's girlfriend  for three days before the murder. She was unaware of the surveillance, Apple said.

While she knew Klein, her husband did not, the sheriff said. He added that investigators believe they know why Klein was stalking Rabadi's wife, 29-year-old Elana Z. Radin, but said, "I can't go into detail on that."

Klein spent much of his childhood in Cobleskill. A former schoolmate of Klein's at The Albany Academy, who asked not to be identified, said that growing up Klein was known as "Larry" or "Lawrence," which is his middle name. The former schoolmate said Klein had commuted from Schoharie County to the private school in Albany for several years and had graduated in 1999.

Rabadi, who was a surgical physician assistant and began working at St. Peter's Hospital in 2019, is from Albany and graduated from the University at Albany and Albany Medical College, where he had been an honors student. Before that he graduated from Guilderland High School, where he was a top tennis player and student athlete.

Federal agents assisted in the surveillance and arrest of Klein, who is being held in custody without bond on a federal warrant charging him with unlawful flight from prosecution. Under federal statutes, a person who allegedly commits a felony and crosses state lines for the purposes of fleeing can be arrested by federal agents.

Klein also faces a charge of second-degree murder on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in Albany County Court, Apple said.

Klein could remain in federal custody for more than a week and will initially appear before a U.S. magistrate before being returned to Albany, where he will be turned over to state authorities and is expected to face additional charges in connection with the homicide, Apple said.

Using data and video from license plate readers, doorbell video cameras and other electronic devices, Apple said investigators were able to put together a timeline of Klein's activity before and after the murder.

Law enforcement sources said that cell phone data also was critical in tracking Klein's movement over a three-day period before he was arrested. In addition, Klein at one point took an Uber in Albany and video from that ride has been seized by police.

The electronic data indicated Klein had visited the couple's residence prior to the homicide.

Initially, investigators suspected Klein had flown to Albany and boarded a return flight at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday following the homicide. They now believe he drove his vehicle from Franklin County, Va., where he has a residence, to Albany. He rented a vehicle at an Enterprise car-rental business on Central Avenue and apparently used that vehicle to surveil Rabadi's residence and also to visit St. Peter's Hospital, where both Rabadi and his wife worked.

The sheriff said Klein drove to Albany three days before the murder. After covertly "stalking" Rabadi's wife, he waited until she left for work at St. Peter's Hospital early Wednesday morning and went to the couple's residence, Apple said. Ring and Nest cameras of neighbors captured footage of part of the confrontation when Rabadi opened the front door at about 7:30 a.m., he said.

Radin had left the residence to go to work at St. Peter's around 6 a.m. that morning.

A source briefed on the investigation said that as Klein confronted Rabadi, the resident appeared to react as if a weapon was brandished before he retreated into the house with Klein behind him. Police recovered a handgun from the glove box in Klein's vehicle when he was arrested just after 6 p.m. on Friday.

Rabadi did not show up for his shift at the hospital that morning and when he could not be reached, his wife, who is also employed as a physician assistant at St. Peter's, called 911, Apple said.

She and Rabadi's father arrived at the house about the same time as a sheriff's deputy, and they were "right behind" the deputy when she found Rabadi's body in the garage, he said.

Rabadi was bound and deceased at the time they discovered his body, with injuries that included multiple stab wounds to his upper body and head.

Klein allegedly drove away from the residence and returned the rental vehicle that morning just before 10 a.m. at the Enterprise business at 900 Central Ave. On Thursday, license-plate readers in Virginia showed him traveling in that state in his vehicle. He returned to his residence and federal agents kept watch on him overnight Thursday, according to a person briefed on the investigation.

On Friday, investigators continued undercover surveillance of Klein, largely based on tracking his mobile phone, and initially thought he was fleeing as he drove into Tennessee. But later that day, Klein, who had stopped in Memphis, began driving back toward his residence in Virginia.

As he approached the border of Virginia, a fleet of state troopers from both states, with a helicopter overhead, stopped Klein along a highway less than a half mile into Virginia. A law enforcement source said that he remained in his vehicle for several minutes and would not immediately follow orders to get out with his hands up. At one point, the source said, Klein appeared to reach toward his glove box but then stopped and sat for several more minutes.

He eventually left the vehicle and surrendered to police without incident.

Apple said they had no record that Klein was currently working at any medical facilities in Virginia.

Radin has ties to the Syracuse area and she attended the SUNY College of Medicine in Brooklyn, graduating in 2016  a year after Klein had graduated from the same school. They had a personal relationship for several years, but it's unclear whether they met while attending medical school or became acquainted during their medical careers.

Klein is a military veteran with no prior criminal record. He previously worked as a physician assistant in California and upstate New York, including at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson. He has ties to the Cobleskill area and central New York, and also previously lived in southern California, according to public records.

The Times Union first reported Friday that police sources said video evidence, witness accounts and other evidence placed Klein in the Albany area on the morning that Rabadi was killed, including at the New Scotland residence.

Rabadi and Radin were married in September in West Sand Lake and purchased their residence off New Scotland Road about two months before they were married, according to Albany County property records.

State Police and the FBI are assisting in the investigation.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has led tributes following the death of former minister and European Commissioner Michael OKennedy.

He said few people had left such a rich political legacy as the former Fianna Fail TD, who has died at the age of 86.

The Taoiseach said: Fighting his first election in 1965, Michael served the people of Tipperary North with great commitment as a TD from 1969, and many times more until 2002.

A man of great integrity and friendly demeanour, Michael had a front row seat for the formative years of modern Ireland.

A senior counsel, he had a keen legal mind, and brought great wit, intelligence and determination to several ministerial roles spanning three decades.

This experience was crucial whether serving as minister for foreign affairs, finance, labour, agriculture, transport, economic planning and development, or public service.

The Taoiseach continued: Michael was also a strong voice for Ireland on the international stage, serving as European Commissioner in the early 1980s, before returning to the Dail to serve his beloved Tipperary North once again.

He also served ably as a senator, in 1965, and again from 1993 to 1997, in an extraordinary 37-year career in national politics.

I want to express my deepest sympathies to the OKennedy family at this very difficult time, especially to his wife Breda and children Brian, Orla and Mary.
A man has been taken into custody after a disturbance involving a gun at a downtown Anchorage hotel that caused police to block off a large area
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Miami Herald.
The Chicago Fire Department says a fire that roared through a prominent church on Chicagos South Side was sparked by a propane torch on the buildings roof
Right now we notice that the local murder count continues to spike despite so many political efforts to shift blame & responsibility for the worsening crisis.

Here's the latest from a Friday evening shooting that turned deadly . . .



Homicide 3800 block of East Gregory

Just before 5pm, officers were called to 3800 E Gregory in regard to a shooting. Upon arrival, they located the victim, an adult male, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to the hospital with life threatening injuries. The succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the hospital.



Detectives and Crime Scene Personnel have responded to the scene. They will be processing the scene and speaking to witnesses.

Detectives are asking if you have any information, please call detectives at 816-234-5043. Or you can remain anonymous by calling the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest in this case.

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Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City police say man shot near Gregory, Cleveland has died Kansas City police said a man shot late Friday afternoon near Gregory Boulevard and Cleveland Avenue has died from his injuries.Police were called just before 5 p.m. to the area.Authorities said the victim sought help at a convenience store after being shot.

Kansas City police investigate fatal shooting Friday KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One person died from injuries sustained in a Friday afternoon shooting in Kansas City, Missouri. Police said the shooting happened just before 5 p.m. in the 3800 block of East Gregory Boulevard. Officers arrived to the scene and located an adult male suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.

Developing . . .
Once again we celebrate the eternal question . . .



"Why is tonight different from all other nights?

Right now it's because there's a rare cross reference amongst all people of the book.

Jewish Passover begins at sundown Friday. Two days later, Christians celebrate Easter Sunday. Both major holidays occur during Islam's Holy Month of Ramadan, which began April 1.

And because we admire this screenshot from one of our favorite movies . . . We share just a bit of info for the faithful and those who might consider the ascendancy of Western Civilization.

Here's one more bit of tribute by way of TKC news gathering . . .



Jason Kander talks Jewish Kansas City, PTSD & politics Since 1920, the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle has provided its readers with Jewish news and opinion from a variety of perspectives - local, regional, national and international. The paper is mailed to subscribers each week and also is available for purchase at The Chronicle's office.

Ukrainian Jews displaced by war find Passover especially poignant this year The decision to leave home is not an easy one. Olena Khalina was in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv when the war started. Russian planes dropped bombs right outside her home. "The sound is something ..." Khalina trails off. "I even cannot find the word.

Liev Schreiber Helps Cook for Ukrainian Refugees in Poland for Passover: 'Happy Pesach' Liev Schreiber is helping prepare nearly one ton of brisket with World Central Kitchen as part of a traditional Passover feast for Ukrainians fleeing the war in their home country In honor of Passover this year, the 57-year-old actor and director said he's helping prepare almost one ton of brisket with chef Jose Andre's World Central Kitchen for the Jewish holiday, for Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country.

Analysis: There's not a 'right' way to celebrate Passover, and that's OK Many celebrants have used Passover to signal their support for a variety of freedom struggles -- to ask and answer questions about the world around them and the role they want to play in it

Ramadan, Passover and Easter overlap this weekend: Here's what to know From matzah to chocolate eggs to dates, this weekend will showcase a variety of different foods as people across the world celebrate holidays of the main Abrahamic religions. Jewish Passover begins at sundown Friday. Two days later, Christians celebrate Easter Sunday. Both major holidays occur during Islam's Holy Month of Ramadan, which began April 1.

A Passover Guide for the Perplexed Here are some helpful things to know ahead of Passover 2022: 1. Some 3,600 years ago, the Passover Exodus catapulted the Jewish people from the lowest ebb of spiritual and physical servitude in Egypt, to the highest level of liberty in the Land of Israel. 2.

Opinion: The rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter recalls a shared religious journey Charles L. Cohen is E. Gordon Fox Professor of American Institutions, Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of The Abrahamic Religions: A Very Short Introduction. This spring, a set of major Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious observances overlap.

Developing . . .


This week Prez Biden targeted "ghost guns" and pledged more cash to fight crime.



Meanwhile, the local situation continues to look increasingly dangerous as we roundup more police reports, mugshots and all manner of local crime news.

Check TKC news gathering . . .

Northeast Middle School student charged with killing classmate to remain in juvenile detention A Jackson County judge on Friday ordered that the student charged with killing a classmate at Northeast Middle School remain in juvenile detention. The 14-year-old male student was charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in Jackson County Juvenile Court.

Argument over $50 debt ends in Independence murder KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An Independence man is charged with murder for shooting another man Thursday in an argument over a $50 debt. Darrel Maggard, 35, is charged in Jackson County Court with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.

Suspect charged in Mission, Kansas, deadly shooting of teen MISSION, Kan. - A 19-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, man is facing charges in a recent deadly shooting in Mission, Kansas. The shooting is just the second homicide in Mission, Kansas, in 23 years and the first since 2012.

3 sheriff's deputies shot, suspect killed in central Kansas Three sheriff's deputies were wounded by gunfire and a suspect was killed during a shootout in central Kansas on Thursday, law enforcement authorities said.Cowley County Sheriff David Falletti said the deputies were responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle on U.S. 77 north of Winfield.

KCK police looking for man, vehicle involved in possible abduction KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Kansas City, Kansas police detectives are asking the public for help in identifying a vehicle involved in a possible abduction incident Friday night. Police said the incident happened shortly after 7 p.m. at the McDonald's at 75th and State Avenue and may have involved someone driving a dark colored, possibly black, newer model BMW SUV with Kansas license PBX0000.

Kansas City homicide totals in 2022 nears pace in record-setting 2020 KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) --- Friday night's homicide in Kansas City continues a deadly week in the metro. It was the fifth homicide in the past two days, leaving Kansas City, Mo., 42 homicides so far in 2022. That total is nearly parallel with the pace in 2021 and 2020.

Comedy Club of KC warns of ticket scam KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Comedy Club of Kansas City is warning customers of a scam that's no laughing matter. The club is asking customers to avoid buying tickets from a company called EventTicketsCenter.com. The comedy club said the website claims to be a third-party ticket reseller.

KCPD struggles with 911 call taker shortage, longer wait times KANSAS CITY, Mo. - When you dial 911, it should ideally take about 10-15 seconds to speak with someone. Right now, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department's wait time is closer to 21 or 22 seconds due to staff shortages.

Kansas City criminal defense attorney breaks down juvenile prosecutions, sentencing Criminal Defense Lawyer John Picerno says usually in cases of first-degree murder, even minors can expect to go on trial as an adult. The punishment for crimes, if convicted, can vary significantly depending on whether a suspect is certified as a child or an adult in court.

Kansas City skating rink plans to honor teen stabbed to death at Northeast Middle School Next Thursday, the lights at Winnwood Skate Center will be bright for one of their regulars who can't attend anymore."Every Friday and Saturdays," said Judy Teague, of Winnwood Skate Center.Manuel Guzman, or Manny as they called him, frequented the skating rink with many of his friends."Because that was just the thing he loved to do.

Developing . . .
A quick note from an STL architect is worth a glimpse at our I-70 sister city seems to envy all of our local land and desperately searches for excuses as residents flee.

Meanwhile . . .

Kansas City residents should consider that the STL exodus is a warning that there is NOTHING preventing local cowtown decline save our good judgement about the future.



Here are the basics in the debate over the comparison . . .



"The St. Louis land area is 70 square miles and is urbanized. Redevelopment is far more difficult in St. Louis City than the urbanization contributing to Kansas Citys growth."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Heres how Canadians can navigate travel in the age of Omicron

Travellers can make the best of the tools at their disposal to keep themselves and others safe said Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a Canadian virologist.
Since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion, enemy forces have kidnapped more than 30 local government heads and local deputies in Zaporizhzhia region. Most of the officials have been already released.

Head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Starukh said on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

"We have more than thirty kidnapped heads of local governments and deputies of local councils. Most of them - more than twenty - have already been released. Some of them have left the occupied territories. Some of them remain to work. The fate of another part is unknown to us, the governor said.

As Ukrinform reported, in Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian military kidnap heads of territorial communities, local council deputies, journalists and teachers. In particular, in occupied Melitopol, Russian soldiers kidnapped Mayor Ivan Fedorov and head of the city's education department Iryna Shcherbak.
Ukrainian defenders destroyed 76 Russian invaders, two tanks and three Grad multiple launch rocket systems in southern Ukraine in the past day.

According to Ukrinform, the Operational Command South reported this on Facebook.

"During the day, the situation in southern Ukraine was characterized by increasing enemy aggression. Desperately trying to keep its positions in the southern front, the world's most shameful army is firing at civilians in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions," the statement said.

The work of snipers was recorded in some areas, the statement said.

Enraged by the losses in the Black Sea, the enemy has intensified missile attacks, involving additional forces in all directions and continuing to launch missile strikes on industrial and civilian infrastructure throughout Ukraine.

Mykolaiv and several other settlements in the region came under heavy fire, including cluster munitions prohibited by international conventions.

Work is underway to clear rubble from damaged buildings. There are casualties among the civilian population.

According to the Operational Command South, the enemy lost 76 invaders and 16 units of military equipment in the southern regions on April 15. In particular, two T-72 tanks, two self-propelled howitzers, three Grad multiple rocket launchers and a reconnaissance drone were destroyed by accurate shots from the Javelin anti-tank missile system.
A total of 200 children have been killed and 360 children have been injured in Ukraine since the Russian invasion started.

The relevant statement was made by Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As of 08:00, April 16, 2022, according to the data from the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations and other sources, which are yet to be confirmed, a total of 200 children have died and 360 children have been injured since the Russian invasion started, Denisova wrote.

In her words, it is now impossible to determine the actual number of casualties among children, as Russian troops are conducting active hostilities within Ukrainian cities.

A reminder that Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine Matti Maasikas stated earlier that Russias abduction of Ukrainian children and their planned adoption by Russian families is yet another cynical, appalling violation of International Humanitarian Law.

Photo: AA

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Over 50 days since the Russian invasion started, a total of 270,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid has been delivered to Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Yulia Sokolovska when reporting on the results achieved by the Coordination Center for Humanitarian and Social Affairs, an Ukrinform correspondent reports, referring to the Office of the President of Ukraine.

According to Sokolovska, a total of 270,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid was imported to Ukraine. Food was purchased from Ukrainian producers and meal kits were made for almost 12 million Ukrainians.

The SpivDiia information resource is processing the hotline requests to meet the specific needs of citizens. More than 48,000 reqquests have already been processed, Sokolovska said.

According to First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, logistics centers have been set up on the western border with Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and Slovakia in the first week, where international donors and partners send humanitarian aid.

Lviv Region has become the largest hub of humanitarian support in Ukraine, receiving 51% of cargo from abroad.

According to Svyrydenko, special attention is given to the problem of fuel supply. From the first days of the war, the government agreed with the Polish Governmental Agency for Strategic Reserves to provide 20,000 tonnes of fuel as humanitarian aid. At the same time, an agreement was reached with the largest networks of gas stations on its dispensing through their gas stations to certain categories of recipients.

Among the humanitarian hubs located across the country, the cargo is distributed among regional military administrations, charities, local governments, NGOs and volunteers, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.

According to him, during the 50 days of the war, the whole country was united, and each non-frontline region helps the frontline region every day.

Tymoshenko noted that, with the help of the convenient platform help.gov.ua, people from all over the world fill out questionnaires every day and send assistance to Ukraine.

In order to resolve logistics issues, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry has a special logistics center, which includes Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukrposhta and other carriers.

A reminder that, on March 2, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to establish the Coordination Center for Humanitarian and Social Affairs, intended to provide assistance to Ukrainian citizens amid the Russian armed aggression.

mk
About 700 Ukrainian servicemen and more than a thousand civilians currently remain in Russian captivity.

Thats according to Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraines Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, who spoke on national television, Ukrinform reports.

"More than a thousand civilians have been captured by the Russians, including more than 500 women. We will not exchange any military for civilians, as this is prohibited by the Geneva Convention. We demand the unconditional release of our civilians. As for the number of POWs, we have an approximate parity: we have about 700 of their prisoners of war and they have about 700 of our soldiers," Vereshchuk said.

The deputy prime minister emphasizes that the Russians do not fully comply with the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners. The main goal of Ukrainians in captivity is to survive.

Moreover, Vereshchuk said, Russians swap prisoners selectively and take no account of the lists drawn by the Ukrainian side. Nevertheless, the official calls on all relatives of POWs to remain patient and strong: Ukraine is working to have everyone released.

As reported, on Saturday, April 16, the work of nine humanitarian corridors was agreed in the warzones.
Russian invaders have fired on the Lysychansk oil refinery, remaining oil sludge is still burning.

Head of the Luhansk Military and Regional Administration wrote this on Telegram and shared a photo from the scene.

"The Russians fired on the Lysychansk oil refinery. In the morning the orcs hit the oil refinery company, a fire broke out in 5,000 square meters, extinguishing continues There is no fuel. The remnants of oil sludge are burning, the governor wrote.

According to him, this is not the first shelling of this plant, the racists are targeting it systematically to deplete the State Emergency Service.

"At the same time, the Russians continue to shell the residential areas of Lysychansk. Stay in the shelters! Haidai stressed.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure facilities, conducting massive shelling of residential areas of Ukrainian cities and villages using artillery, multiple rocket launchers and ballistic missiles.

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Despite the statements by Russian invaders that Tochka-U tactical missiles are allegedly used only by Ukraine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces has published the interception of a conversation between representatives of Russias military and aerospace forces, which confirms the existence of such missile systems in Russia.

According to Ukrinform, the relevant report has been posted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Telegram.

"Evidence of the use of Tochka-U tactical missiles by orcs has been published, despite repeated statements by Moscow authorities that Tochka-U tactical missiles are allegedly used only by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Here is the interception of a conversation of the aerospace forces of the horde, which confirms that on March 18, 2022, two An-124 of the aerospace forces of the horde arrived at the airport in Machulishchi. One of them with the registration number RA-82010, under call sign 82010, brought 3 units of Tochka-U tactical missile systems to Belarus, the report says.

It is noted, this information is confirmed not only by the intercepted conversation, but also by the video showing how Tochka-U tactical missiles are transported from the territory of the military airfield in Machulishchi on that day.

As Ukrinform reported, Russian forces launched a missile attack on the train station in Kramatorsk on April 8. At the time of the shelling, there were thousands of people waiting to be evacuated to the safer regions of Ukraine. According to the latest figures, 59 civilians were killed and 109 were injured. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russians hit the Kramatorsk train station with Tochka-U missiles.

On April 9, in Chernihiv region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down a Russian Tochku-U missile launched by Russian forces from Belarus.

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Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President's Office, has called on the European Union not to delay supplies of weapons to Ukraine.

1. Ukraine asks Europe for weapons. 2. Europeans support the call for their governments. 3. The European Union gives Ukraine weapons, not the ones we asked for. 4. Weapons take too long to arrive. Democracy wont win from playing this game. Ukraine needs weapons. Not in a month. Now, Podoliak wrote on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure facilities, conducting massive shelling of residential areas of Ukrainian cities and villages using artillery, multiple rocket launchers and ballistic missiles.

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Military commissariats of the Central Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are encouraging conscripts, who are in reserve, to sign short-term contracts for a period of three months to one year.

The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Due to hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, the rotation of units of the 68th Army Corps of the Eastern Military District in the Syrian Arab Republic has been postponed.

In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the enemy did not take active actions. During the regrouping of troops, the movement of units of the 83rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces from the territory of Belarus was recorded.

The threat of missile strikes on critical infrastructure facilities from Belarus is persisting.

In the Siverskyi direction, the enemy is finishing the regrouping of troops of the Central Military District. Russian invaders are likely to continue missile and artillery strikes from the territory of Russia on Ukrainian military and civil infrastructure facilities.

In the Slobozhanskyi direction, Russian troops are focusing efforts on regrouping, enhancing their groups and maintaining positions near the city of Kharkiv.

In the Izium direction, Russian occupiers are attempting to maintain the captured frontiers and positions near such settlements as Sukha Kamianka, Sulyhivka, Brazhkivka, Mala Komyshuvakha and Andriivka.

The enemy is trying to improve the tactical situation. During the day, Russian troops attempted to conduct offensive and assault operations and advance deep into the village Dovhenke. The enemy failed and suffered significant losses. To strengthen the group in this direction, the units of the 106th Airborne Division were deployed from the territory of Russia.

After creating an assault group and setting up reserves, the enemy will attempt to resume an offensive in the direction of Barvinkove and Sloviansk.

In the Donetsk and Tavriiskyi directions, Russian invaders are trying to fire and conduct assault operations in most areas. The enemy strengthened the grouping of troops by moving the separate units of the Central Military District from Belgorod Region to Svatove.

Russian invaders are likely to continue storming the contact line in Donetsk Region and Luhansk Region. The enemy will focus efforts on capturing such settlements as Popasna, Rubizhne, Mariupol, as well as advancing towards Vuhledar and Marinka. Russian troops will make preparations for an offensive in the Kurakhove and Avdiivka directions.

Meanwhile, the moral and psychological condition of the units of the 1st Army Corps operating in the Donetsk direction is deteriorating. This is due to the significant losses of units, which were replenished at the expense of the mobilized.

In the Southern Bug direction, Russian troops are attempting to gain full control over Kherson Region and maintain the captured frontiers. In the city of Kherson, the Russian occupation administration distributed propaganda leaflets calling for peaceful coexistence with the occupiers. At the same time, Russian occupiers continue to intimidate and terrorize local residents.

According to the available data, the probability of involving a task force of Russian troops from Transistria in the armed aggression against Ukraine is remaining low.

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RTHK: Blasts in Kyiv as fighting rages in Mariupol

Ukraine said on Friday it was trying to break Russia's siege of Mariupol as fighting raged around the city's massive steel works and port, and the capital Kyiv was also rocked by some of the most powerful explosions in two weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the military situation in the south and east of the country was "still very difficult," while praising the work of his armed forces.

"The successes of our military on the battlefield are really significant, historically significant. But they are still not enough to clean our land of the occupiers. We will beat them some more," Zelenskyy said in a late-night video address, calling again for allies to send heavier weapons and for an international embargo on Russian oil.

Russia said it struck what it described as a factory on the outskirts of Kyiv that made and repaired anti-ship missiles, in apparent retaliation for the sinking on Thursday of the Moskva, the flagship of Moscow's Black Sea fleet.

Ukraine said one of its missiles had caused the Moskva to sink, while Moscow said the ship sank while being towed in stormy seas after a fire caused by an explosion of ammunition.

The United States believes the Moskva was hit by two Ukrainian missiles and that there were Russian casualties, although numbers were unclear, a senior US official said.

Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week-long conflict in the country. Home to 400,000 people before hostilities began, the city has been reduced to rubble. Thousands of civilians have died and tens of thousands remain trapped in the city.

Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a televised briefing that Russia had used long-range bombers to attack Mariupol for the first time since its February 24 invasion.

In his address, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's allies have the power to make the war much shorter, by sending the weapons his government needs. "I always tell all our partners ... that the amount of support for Ukraine directly affects the restoration of peace. It literally defines how many more Ukrainians the occupiers will manage to kill," he said.

Moscow has said its main war aim is to capture the Donbas, an eastern region already partly held by Russian-backed separatists, after its troops were driven from the outskirts of Kyiv this month.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 2,864 people were evacuated from conflict areas on Friday, including 363 people from Mariupol who used their own transport. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-04-16. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
NATO's expansion to worsen Ukraine crisis, decay European security

Xinhua) 14:20, April 16, 2022

WARSAW/MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Transferring massive weapons to Ukraine, massing a large number of troops in eastern Europe, and welcoming Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, NATO has been very much engaged itself so far in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Analysts say NATO's disregard of Russia's legitimate concerns on security issues and its continuous expansion is the root cause of the outbreak and escalation of this conflict. If it continues to slim down the small buffer zone left between Russia and itself, the situation will undoubtedly go worse.

DEPLOYMENT IN THE EAST

NATO's eastern flank usually refers to the three Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.

Before the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, NATO deployed one combat force in each of the three Baltic countries and Poland, and implemented a rotation mechanism with non-permanent garrison troops there.

But for now, NATO doubles the size of the four above-mentioned combat forces and declared four new NATO battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia at the NATO summit held last month.

NATO is seen by many as a Cold War vestige, and has been questioned over the necessity of its existence after the end of the Cold War.

The military alliance promised in the 1990s that it would not expand "one inch eastward," according to then U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. However, led by the United States, NATO has expanded eastward five times since 1999, increasing the number of member countries from 16 to 30, advancing more than 1,000 km eastward, and reaching the Russian border.

RECRUITMENT IN THE NORTH

In addition to strengthening deployments on the eastern flank, NATO is also recruiting new members on the north wing. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly said that if Finland and Sweden apply to join NATO, NATO will welcome them and ensure that their entrance will be accepted soon.

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Stoltenberg said that the alliance is "in the midst of a very fundamental transformation" that will reflect "the long-term consequences" of Russia's military operation.

Both Finland and Sweden have long pursued a policy of military non-alignment. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, NATO has failed to win over the two countries several times.

But now Finland and Sweden made some changes in their positions in face of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, delivering anti-tank weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.

Some analysts point out that before the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia had repeatedly confirmed and confided its red line to both the United States and NATO, for which both showed a total disregard. If NATO continues to fan the flames such as taking in new members, it will lead to further escalation of the situation.

CONFRONTATIONAL GESTURE

When answering a question about the prospect of the countries which may join NATO, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Monday that further expansion of NATO, including the admission of Finland and Sweden into the alliance, will not contribute to security in Europe.

"In itself, the alliance is rather a tool sharpened for confrontation. This is not an alliance that ensures peace and stability. Further expansion of the alliance, of course, will not bring additional security to the European continent," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Dmitry Belik, a member of Russia's State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said on Monday that NATO seeks to build up its military presence near the Russian borders, but the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO will not benefit these countries, and "Russia will not watch this indifferently."

"This issue seriously affects our security, so we will be forced to take retaliatory steps," he told the Izvestia newspaper.

"The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO puts them in a very difficult position," he added.

According to military expert Viktor Litovkin, in the event that Finland and Sweden decide to join NATO, Russia will justifiably strengthen the Russian-Finnish border, as well as the entire water area of the Gulf of Finland.

"Russia will have to strengthen ground forces and air defense, deploy significant naval forces in the Gulf of Finland in the event of Finland and Sweden joining the alliance," the expert noted.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Bianji)
Starting April 17, in line with the fifth package of sanctions imposed by the European Union over Russias aggression against Ukraine, all seaports in Belgium will suspend servicing commercial vessels flying a Russian flag, with certain exemptions remaining in place, laid down in the EU decision.

Thats according to the press service of the countrys largest Port of Antwerp.

https://newsroom.portofantwerp.com/impact-of-the-conflict-between-russia-and-the-ukraine-on-port-of-antwerp

Based on the rules of the European Union, a roadmap has been drawn up for banning Russian-flagged ships from Belgian ports. This roadmap will be implemented as of Sunday, April 17. The rules were drawn up by the ministers of the North Sea and Foreign Affairs, the maritime police, Defense, Customs, the Department of Mobility and Public Works and DG Shipping, the statement reads.

The Maritime Information Crossroads receives a list of the Russian ships coming to a Belgian port and follows that ship closely, the press service notes, adding that the permission given to the ship is only valid for the ship, the Belgian port, the exact timing, and the goods mentioned in it.

The port authorities are responsible for the follow-up. For each of the permitted Russian ships arriving in the port, the port authorities must again request the proof of permitted cargo.

The export of a large number of goods including those which can be used for both civilian and military purposes ("dual use") is prohibited.

Goods that may be delivered to European ports are natural gas, petroleum, coal and other solid fossil fuels, all pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural and food products (such as wheat), fertilizers, and humanitarian aid. These rules will be in effect until August 10, 2022.

Port of Antwerp expresses its support and empathy for all the human suffering caused by the conflict in Ukraine. As a world port, the port of Antwerp is regularly confronted with the consequences of geopolitical movements. This conflict has led to a number of European sanctions against Russia. In order to monitor the impact of the crisis in the port as well as beyond, Port of Antwerp remains in close contact with customers and the competent authorities, reads the update on the ports website.

The administration says the port has no major maritime goods flows with Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, was the fifth most important trade partner in 2021 with a throughput of 11.6 m tons.

The fifth package of EU restrictive measures against Russia, adopted on April 8, 2022, provides, among other things, for a ban on the purchase, import or transfer of coal and other solid carbon fuels to the EU if they originate in Russia or have been exported from Russia from August 22, 2022. Annual coal imports to the EU currently amount to EUR 8 billion.

Sanctions also include a ban on access to EU ports for Russian-flagged ships. Exceptions will be made for agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid, and energy.

The EU is currently preparing a sixth package of sanctions, which may also include supplies of Russian energy to Europe, including oil. EU countries are also taking consistent steps to get rid of dependence on Russian gas by finding alternative and more reliable sources of supply, as well as relying on the development of renewables.
Germanys Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann believes arms supplies to Ukraine are legitimate from the international law perspective as Ukraine is waging a legitimate defensive war against Russia.

The minister made his statement in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Ukrinform reports.

"So, if they exercise their legal right to self-defense, supporting them with arms supplies cannot lead to becoming a participant in the war," said the politician with the Free Democratic Party .

He added that this was not only his personal opinion, but also the stance of the federal government. Buschmann also noted that Germany has become one of the countries in the world that were the first to systematically investigate and collect evidence of war crimes in Ukraine. He called on all the Ukrainian refugees who had become victim or witness of war crimes to contact any police station in the country.

While commenting on U.S. President Joe Biden's remarks accusing Russia of "genocide," Buschmann said: "There is no doubt that heinous and horrific crimes are being committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine."

At the same time, the politician noted that in order for genocide to be legally proven, there must be an intention to completely or partially destroy a national, racial, religious, or ethnic group as such, and he is not sure whether there is any evidence of this intention in this situation.

"But I think President Biden wanted to express not so much a legal assessment in a technical sense as to send a clear political message," Buschmann said.

The day before, as Ukrinform reported, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Vice Chancellor of Germany Robert Habeck (Alliance '90/The Greens) stated the need to increase arms supplies to Ukraine. At the same time, he warned that in the matters of supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine (tanks, artillery, aircraft, etc.) Germany should be careful not to become a target for Russia, so he ruled out the possibility of providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with heavy tanks or fighter jets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have discussed the defense support for Ukraine and the toughening of sanctions against Russia.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Talked to Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. I described the critical situation in Mariupol. We discussed defense support for Ukraine and toughening of anti-Russian sanctions. I thanked for supporting Ukraines membership in the EU, Zelensky noted.

A reminder that, on May 5, 2022, the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Poland are planning to hold a joint conference to raise funds to help Ukrainians.

mk
Gov. Kathy Hochul's move to freeze the Seneca Nation of Indians bank accounts last month left Linda Logan frightened.

To have our economic resources frozen like that it was frightening," Logan said at a Seneca Nation rally Friday at Niagara Square. "We were not able to function, to buy medicines and the simplicities of life. That was a big thing. I just felt like she had taken the breath out of our ability to breathe and function.

Madison Brown called it an aggression.

My stepmom and my dad both hold nation jobs so they didnt have a paycheck basically, said Brown, 17. We have elder services. We have transportation services. We had pharmaceuticals that we had to pay for.

Brown and Logan joined upward of 75 others who participated in the Seneca Rally for Economic Justice, organized over the $564.8 million in casino revenue the state pressured the Seneca Nation to turn over last month.

Seneca president says Hochul extracted 'ransom money' for new Bills stadium "The governors new stadium wont be a product of progress," Seneca Nation President Matthew Pagels said. "It will be a monument to Albanys vindictive desire to punish the Seneca people. Ultimately, its something were all too familiar with.

Hochul used a state law to ask KeyBank to freeze the Senecas bank accounts until it paid the money.

Her move came after repeated court rulings that found the Senecas owed the money. A spokesperson for Hochul pointed out that despite the consistent court rulings, the nation had refused to pay.

The nation's members discovered the frozen accounts on a Saturday when they couldn't withdraw money from ATMs. The Seneca Nation Council voted the following Monday to send the payment to the state.

The sentiment among those at the rally was clear about what's at stake when the nation negotiates a new casino compact to replace the current one, which expires in December 2023.

Its Unity Day, and were here today because were in a huge fight now against New York State, and were here today to protest and to fight against economic injustice, said organizer Leslie Logan, a founding member of the Seneca Mothers of the Nation.

The Seneca funds and the Bills stadium: a Q&A So far, Gov. Hochul's plan to tie the Seneca funds to the stadium costs has generated little attention from state legislators locked in a budget battle over the state's controversial bail reform law and other issues.

Those at Fridays rally said they will push for a fair casino revenue sharing compact going forward.

Tax breaks, state subsidies, investments and other incentives should be recognized a part of the negotiations, they said.

One sign read: Seneca Economic Footprint: 4,500 Jobs, $2.3 Billion; NO State Subsidies, NO Investment.

Largely, the message is we receive $0 from New York State," said Odie Porter, a member of the Seneca Mothers of the Nation. "Weve invested $2.3 billion back to New York State through the compact, but we also have over 4,000 jobs and we have endless vendors and so were supporting all of Western New York. We want to set the record straight about really the economic engine that the Seneca nation is."

The $564.8 million delivered to the state amounts to 25% of the slot machine revenues at the Senecas' three casinos in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca between 2017 and 2021. Under the 2002 compact that led to the construction of the casinos, the Senecas agreed to pay that share to the state during the last half of the 14-year casino deal. But the two sides have been at odds as to whether the Senecas have to continue paying that 25% share under the seven-year compact extension that took effect in 2017. About $418.2 million of the payment will be directed to the new Buffalo Bills stadium project.

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(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2022 ) :Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday while expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine, condemned raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque and escalation of violence by the Israeli forces.

The prime minister in a tweet also stressed upon the international community to protect innocent Palestinian lives and uphold the international law and the UN Charter.

"Condemnable raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque & escalation of violence by Israel in gross violation of HR & humanitarian laws. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinians. Time for international community to protect innocent Palestinian lives, and uphold international law & UN Charter," he posted on his twitter handle.
The World War II era destroyer the USS The Sullivans has been endangered before. Western New Yorkers and others rallied around to keep it afloat; we expect the same to happen this time.

The ship, docked at the Buffalo and Erie County Military & Naval Park, was taking on water Thursday. Crews were pumping out 13,000 gallons per minute.

Were not going to give up the ship and failure is not an option, said Paul Marzello, president and CEO of the naval park.

Efforts to stabilize the ships continued Friday. Marzello said they had reached equilibrium, pumping out as much water as was coming in.

The 79-year-old, weather-beaten vessel was also leaning on its side last spring, with leaks in the hull. The naval park launched a fundraising campaign and donations came in from far and wide. West Herr Automotive Group gave $50,000.

The developer Douglas Jemal provided an initial $10,000 and held a fundraiser in March 2021 that raised about $85,000. The Save The Sullivans campaign raised more than $1 million in eight months.

The ship was named for the five Sullivan brothers, Iowa natives who were among 687 aboard the USS Juneau who were killed after it was struck by a Japanese torpedo in the Pacific Ocean in November 1942.

Their story was turned into a Hollywood movie. The Fighting Sullivans, released in 1944, starred Academy Award winner Anne Baxter.

The decommissioned ship, a National Historic Landmark, is a Fletcher-Class destroyer. Its fate attracts interest from all corners of the world, with fans eager to honor the memory of the working-class Iowa family who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Weve had a lot of inspirational messages from people around the country and other countries, and we just want to let people know this is a setback, Marzello said Thursday.

Jemal added: We will have a moral obligation to pick her back up again, dust her off and stand her up, and thats exactly what were going to do. Get ready to help.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
(@Abdulla99267510)

The election held amid tight security while the PTI and PML-Q MPAs boycotted the house proceedings conducted by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari.

LAHORE:(UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-April 16th, 2022) PML-N leader and Opposiiton Leader in the Punjab Assembly has been elected as new Punjab Chief Minister after he secured 197 votes.

The elections were held amid tight security while PTI and PML-Q MPAs boycotted the proceedings of the session.

Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari presided over the session in the presence of heavy police contingents, and conducted the voting on the seat of Punjab chief Minister. Chaudhary Pervez Elahi of PML-Q was the rival candidate but he was attacked by some leaders of the PML-N and his hand got fractured.

He said the candidate of PTI and PML(Q), Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, got no vote, as they boycotted the voting process.

The election was held on the basis of Division of House.

The Punjab Assembly witnessed chaos after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) lawmakers brought"lotas" and threw them at Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari as he arrived to chair the session for the election of the Chief Minister. They also lashed out at dissident PTI members, who parted ways with the party and decided to support the Opposition.

The lawmakers of the ruling party also threw "lotas" at Mazari and then attacked him despite the presence of security guards. Mazari was also slapped by PTI members, following which, he was escorted by Sergeant-At-Arms.

Those arrested include Wasiq Abbasi, Nadeem Qureshi, Ijaz Khan, taimur Ahmed and Umer Tanveer.
Senior Vice president of PML-N Balochistan Nawab Salman Khan Khilji on Saturday condemned the attack on Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari and valiance in the Punjab Assembly by PTI and PML-Q workers

QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2022 ) :Senior Vice president of PML-N Balochistan Nawab Salman Khan Khilji on Saturday condemned the attack on Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari and valiance in the Punjab Assembly by PTI and PML-Q workers.

In a statement, he said that the rule of democratic and political traditions has been destroyed in the Punjab Assembly which has no precedent for this in the past.

He said immediate action should be taken against those involved in the violence and attack on the Deputy Speaker.

Nawab Salman Khan Khilji said that on the occasion of election of Chief Minister in the Punjab Assembly on the orders of the High Court, the members of PTI and PML-Q, seeing their defeat when they attacked on Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Dost Muhammad Mazari which was condemnable.

He said that all the constitutional bodies of the country were slapped on the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly who showed their nonpolitical attitude saying that InshaAllah, the PML-N and its allies would also be successful in Punjab and Hamza Shahbaz Sharif would become the Chief Minister of Punjab.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah along with his cabinet members on Saturday attended the funeral prayer of great social worker and philanthropist Bilquis Edhi at Memon Masjid

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2022 ) :Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah along with his cabinet members on Saturday attended the funeral prayer of great social worker and philanthropist Bilquis Edhi at Memon Masjid.

The provincial government on Friday issued an official obituary on the said demise of Bilquis Edhi. The government issued a notification which reads as "Government of Sindh shares the grief and expresses its heartfelt condolences on the said demise of the most active philanthropist and Co-Chair of Edhi Foundation, Msr Bilquis Bano Edhi, the widow of renowned philanthropist Mr Abdul Sattar Edhi (Late).

The Sindh government issued another notification to announce one day mourning on 16th April, 2022 throughout the province of Sindh.

The Chief Minister visited Edhi Center when the body of Bilquis Edhi was shifted there and offered condolences with her son Faisal Edhi.

Sindh Chief Minister paying rich tribute to Bilquis Edhi, said that her services for humanity would be written in golden words on the annals of history. She played a motherly role in nurturing unwanted babies, shelterless women and children. "May Allah rest her soul in eternal peace," he prayed for her.
Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations said Saturday as another 40,000 fled the country in 24 hours

Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2022 ) :Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations said Saturday as another 40,000 fled the country in 24 hours.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 4,836,445 million Ukrainians had left the country since the Russian invasion on February 24 -- a number up 40,200 on Friday's total.

The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) says nearly 215,000 third-country nationals -- largely students and migrant workers -- have also escaped to neighbouring countries, meaning more than five million people in all have fled Ukraine since the war began.

It is one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises ever.

"People's greatest wish is to go back home. But for so many, there is no home to return to since it's been destroyed or damaged, or is located in an area that is not safe," said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR's representative in Ukraine.

"Housing is one of the areas of greatest concern. Although hundreds of thousands of people are now staying in temporary reception centres or with hosting families who have generously opened their homes... longer term solutions need to be found." Nearly 2.75 million Ukrainian refugees -- nearly six in 10 -- have fled to Poland. More than 730,000 reached Romania.

UNHCR figures show nearly 645,000 Ukrainians fled in February, with nearly 3.4 million doing so in March and more than 800,000 leaving so far this month.

Women and children account for 90 percent of those who escaped, with men aged 18 to 60 eligible for military call-up and unable to leave.

Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those still inside the country.

Beyond the refugees, the IOM estimates 7.1 million people have left their homes but are still in Ukraine.

Before the invasion, Ukraine had a population of 37 million in the regions under government control, excluding Russia-annexed Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist-controlled regions in the east.

Here is a breakdown of how many Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries, according to UNHCR: - Poland - Nearly six out of 10 Ukrainian refugees -- 2,744,778 so far -- have crossed into Poland.

Many people who go to Ukraine's immediate western neighbours travel on to other states in Europe's Schengen open-borders zone.

Magdalena Tosheva, the IOM's site manager at the Medyka crossing in southeastern Poland, said that despite a decrease in arrivals, refugees still needed access to information, transport, accommodation, work and education.

"People were arriving stressed, tired and cold from the other side of the border," she said.

"Vulnerable people are mainly women with very small children with no solutions, no relatives here, no protective environment." - Romania - A total of 732,473 Ukrainians entered the EU member state, including a large number who crossed over from Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine.

The vast majority are thought to have gone on to other countries.

- Russia - Another 484,725 refugees have sought shelter in Russia.

In addition, 105,000 people crossed into Russia from the separatist-held pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine between February 18 and 23.

- Hungary - A total of 454,098 Ukrainians have entered Hungary.

- Moldova - The Moldovan border is the closest to the major port city of Odessa. A total of 421,130 Ukrainians have crossed into the non-EU state, one of the poorest in Europe.

Most of those who have entered the former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people have moved on but an estimated 100,000 remain, including 50,000 children -- of whom only 1,800 are enrolled in schools.

- Slovakia - A total of 332,707 people crossed Ukraine's shortest border into Slovakia.

- Belarus -Another 22,827 refugees have made it north to Russia's close ally Belarus.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2022) Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that some 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and about 10,000 were injured in the course of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

"As to our military, out of the numbers we have, we think that we have lost 2,500 to 3,000... We have about 10,000 injured. It is hard to say how many will survive," Zelenskyy told CNN.

Zelenskyy found it difficult to name the number of civilian casualties due to a lack of information from the "blocked" territories in the south and east of Ukraine.

On March 12, Zelesnkyy said that some 1,300 Ukrainian troops were killed. Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said at the end of March that Kiev is no longer providing information about its army losses as it is a military secret. Russian Defense Ministry said in March that about 14,000 Ukrainian troops were killed and 16,000 injured in the course of the operation.
Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music.
Even before Russias invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials warned about cyberattacks originating in Russia against critical American infrastructure. Now, U.S. security agencies are increasingly cracking down on the networks used by cybercriminals, including for ransomware attacks. Dino Jahic has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
As important as a new Bills stadium was for Buffalo, the just-finished state budget included another benefit that could be far more significant for Western New York: As Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged when she unveiled her spending plan, the budget includes money that will help make the University at Buffalo  and with it, the region  a powerhouse in innovation and research.

Thats a big win on its own, but it could also leverage two federal bonanzas $100 million from the Economic Development Administration Regional Challenge Grant program and a designation as a $1 billion tech hub under the pending U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. Each could bolster the regions engineering/tech sector by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Those tantalizing  and very real  possibilities are separate from the $68 million the state is providing UB to construct a new building for its engineering program. The university will have to raise an additional $34 million to complete the $102 million project. SUNY Stony Brook won a similar grant. The goal, Hochul said, is to help the two flagship universities attract $1 billion each in mostly federal research funding by 2030.

Separately, but interwoven, is UBs ambition to become one of the nations Top 25 public research universities by bolstering its doctoral programs and focusing on groundbreaking research. Together, these programs feed the tech economy already growing in Western New York, including M&T Banks new tech center in Seneca One tower.

M&T Chairman and CEO Rene F. Jones recently said the banks tech hub is showing positive results and helping to create a broader tech community. That community is energized by 43North, the business plan competition that also has offices in the tower, along with its eight startups that won prize money in the competition last October.

Seneca One is also home to Cleveland-based AML RightSource, which plans to hire 363 new employees in Buffalo by 2026, nearly tripling its local workforce. In South Buffalo, meanwhile, Tesla continues to work on its advanced solar roofing model, a challenging project that, despite frustrations, could make Buffalo a star in a durable 21st century industry.

Thats the hopeful path were on, and last week, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer came to Erie County to show what could lie ahead. With UB President Satish Tripathi, he pushed their efforts to win one of the $100 million tech hubs the federal challenge grant will fund.

The region is one of about 60 finalists for 20 grants and, as Schumer said, it is well-positioned to be a hub for advanced manufacturing and tech companies. UB is ready: Tripathi observed that the university already has experts and research in all the growing tech areas, from artificial intelligence and data science to robotics, cybersecurity and biomedical sciences.

Schumer also is working to rally support for the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which he introduced last year. The legislation would create 10 $1 billion tech hubs around the country and Schumer is optimistic about this regions chances of winning one.

The Buffalo-Rochester area certainly fits the bills goal of funneling federal investment for research and development into regions that havent had that kind of funding and that will benefit the most from it. Differing bills have passed in the House and Senate but have yet to be reconciled.

All of this points the way toward a new industrial/tech/engineering economy for Buffalo, but backstopping it all is the essential effort to put UB in the top ranks of American research universities. The record of such universities is to serve as petri dishes for the high-tech companies and workers at which this region is aiming.

Thats the significance of Hochuls success in helping UBs engineering program reach higher. Its like the rings from a pebble thrown into a pond. Only this was a boulder.

  

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About 600,000 Catholics took part on Friday in a re-enactment of the Holy Week Stations of the Cross in Mexico City's popular neighborhood of Iztapalapa, which had been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There are 600,000 people," Claudia Sheinbaum, mayor of Mexico City, who celebrated the 179th anniversary of the tradition this year, told reporters.

"Since I was a child, my father brought us  for me it is a satisfaction" to come back to attend the religious representation, said Susana Montano, 63.

"I felt sadness  like traditional things were getting lost," she added of the health restrictions that kept her from attending the flamboyant Passion of Christ in 2021.

About 100 people, including actors and musicians, took part in the Catholic staging.

Carrying photos of their loved ones, parishioners made their way through the crowd to catch a glimpse of the actors.

Iztapalapa has recorded 8,847 deaths from the pandemic. The actors, who have been preparing for a year, had to present a negative test for COVID-19 to participate.

Nearly 324,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Mexico since the pandemic began, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
The free flow of information about Russia's war on Ukraine was a focus of this year's TED - Technology, Environment and Design - conference in Vancouver, Canada. It was the first such gathering of esteemed speakers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and architect Alison Killing was among the eclectic group of speakers opening the conference. She won the journalism award for using satellite imagery and open-source information to help uncover detention and forced labor camps in China's Xinjiang region.

Killing spoke days after reports emerged of satellite imagery showing possible war crimes being committed by Russia in Ukraine. She told VOA one of the best ways to keep information flowing into Ukraine and Russia is for private citizens in both countries to use virtual private networks, or VPNs, on the internet.

"I think that open-source data and investigations have a really important role to play in helping to provide good information and in providing that information in a way that anyone can go and check it," she said.

But Killing added that information, as always, must be fact-checked.

Bektour Iskender, who runs Kloop  a blogging website he started in 2007 to counter state-controlled media in Kyrgyzstan  said if governments are going to block websites, the more the better, because that encourages people to start using VPNs and other methods to seek independent sources of information.

"The worst situation, I think, is when a few media outlets are blocked, but like 95% is available, and then people just don't care about the ones which are blocked, because they still have most of information available," Iskender said. "But when you have like 50% of media, content blocked, then people start caring."

Katherine Mangu-Ward, the editor-in-chief of Reason magazine, said that while social media sites can play an important role in disseminating unfiltered information from sources on the ground, it's important not to lose focus on who is doing the censoring and why.

"I think people can really get caught up in debates about misinformation on Facebook and, you know, who's gatekeeping Twitter," she said. "They can forget that there is a much, much more serious threat, which is authoritarian states, just bottlenecking true information about really, really important issues like Russia's role in Ukraine right now."

Billionaire Elon Musk appeared at the conference hours after announcing a $43 billion takeover bid for Twitter. The co-founder of electric car manufacturer Tesla said he would change the social media platform, including allowing users to edit tweets after posting them and making Twitter's algorithms open source.

Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates launched his upcoming book, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic. He urged developed countries collectively to spend $1 billion a year to prevent future pandemics by creating a team he called Global Epidemic Response and Mobilization, or GERM. The team would be made up of 3,000 doctors, diplomats, and policy and communication experts who would work with the World Health Organization to contain any future pandemic contagions within 100 days.

In an unusual move for the conference, TED head curator Chris Anderson started by asking the assembled crowd and those watching online to donate to five organizations helping with humanitarian relief in Ukraine. A total of $2.15 million was pledged by attendees to help relief efforts in Ukraine.

Editor's note: This report has been updated to correct the credit of the first inline photo.
The Taliban prohibition on girls' education shows the movement's ultra-conservatives retain tight control of the Islamist group and exposes a power struggle that puts at risk crucial aid for Afghanistan's desperate population, experts say.

The ban has triggered international outrage and even left many in the Taliban movement baffled by the decision.

"The order was devastating," a senior Taliban member told AFP. "The supreme leader himself interfered."

All Taliban officials who spoke to AFP on the subject did so on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the topic.

Secondary schools for girls were ordered to shut last month, just hours after being reopened for the first time since the Taliban's return to power in August. The shocking U-turn came after a secret meeting of the group's leadership in the city of Kandahar, the Taliban's de facto power center.

Officials have never justified the ban, apart from saying the education of girls must be according to "Islamic principles." But one senior Taliban official told AFP that Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and some other senior figures were "ultra-conservative on this issue" and dominated the discussion.

Two groups  the urban and the ultra-conservatives  have emerged in the movement, he said. "The ultra-conservatives have won this round," he added, referring to a group of clerics including Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Sharai, Minister for Religious Affairs Noor Mohammad Saqib and Minister for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Mohammad Khalid Hanafi.

Reimposing Kandahar's influence

The clerics feel excluded from government decisions and voicing their opposition to girls' education is one way to restore their influence, said Ashley Jackson, a London-based researcher who has worked extensively on Afghanistan.

She told AFP the "outsized influence of this out-of-touch minority" has prevented the country from moving ahead with something the vast majority of Afghans favor  including much of the leadership.

"It shows that Kandahar remains the center of gravity for Taliban politics," said International Crisis Group analyst Graeme Smith.

A senior Taliban member said the hardliners were trying to appease thousands of fighters who hail from the deeply conservative countryside. "For them, even if a woman steps out of her home it is immoral. So, imagine what it means to educate her," he said.

The Taliban member said Akhundzada was against "modern, secular education" as he associated it with life under former Western-backed presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.

"That's his worldview."

The Taliban returned to power last year as U.S.-led forces ended an occupation in place since an invasion ousted the hardliners in 2001.

In the 20 years between the Taliban's two reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though the country remained socially conservative.

Activist and Islamic scholar Tafsir Siyaposh noted girls in Afghanistan have always studied in single-sex classes and followed an Islamic curriculum, so the ban shows the Taliban just wanted to "oppress the rights of women by giving excuses."

Blow to foreign aid

A Taliban source in Pakistan confirmed differences at the leadership level on the issue, but said the movement was in no danger of fragmenting. "There is a debate on this issue ... but we are trying to overcome our shortcomings," he said.

Still, analysts say the ban was a blow to Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and to raise aid to address Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis.

Jackson said neither Akhundzada nor those closest to him "fully understood or appreciated" the consequences of their edict for an international community that has linked official recognition to the group's respect for women's rights.

Even some senior Taliban officials agree.

"We are telling them (the ultra-conservatives) that running a country is different from running a madrassa," said one Taliban official from Kandahar, using the term for an Islamic school.

"Everything was going smooth until this harsh order came. And it came from our leader so we have to follow it  but we are trying to change it," he said.

The ban reduces the willingness of governments to cooperate with the Taliban said the ICG's Smith. "It raises the question of who exactly they should speak with inside the Taliban."
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Russia is clamping down on news and the internet. Overseas media organizations and activists are finding new ways in.
This was not where Nadiya Trubchaninova thought she would find herself at 70 years old, hitchhiking daily from her village to the shattered Ukrainian town of Bucha, trying to bring her son's body home for burial.

The questions wore her down, heavy like the winter coat and boots she still wears against the chill. Why had the 48-year-old Vadym gone to Bucha, where the Russians were so much harsher than the ones occupying their village? Who shot him as he drove on Yablunska Street, where so many bodies were found? And why did she lose her son just one day before the Russians withdrew?

After word reached her that Vadym had been found and buried by strangers in a yard in Bucha, she spent more than a week trying to bring him home to a proper grave. But he was just one body among hundreds, part of an investigation into war crimes that has grown to global significance.

Trubchaninova is among the many elderly people left behind or who chose to stay as millions of Ukrainians fled across borders or to other parts of the country. They were the first to be seen on empty streets after Russian troops withdrew from communities around the capital, Kyiv, peering out from wooden gates or carrying bags of donated food back to freezing homes.

Scarf tied to a boot

Some, like Trubchaninova, survived the first weeks of the war only to find it had taken their children.

She had last seen her son on March 30. She thought he was taking a walk as part of his long recovery from a stroke. "It would be crazy to go farther," she said. She wondered whether he went driving to search for a cellphone connection to call his own son and wish him a happy birthday.

She wondered whether Vadym thought the Russians in Bucha were like those occupying their village, who told them they wouldn't be harmed if they didn't fight back.

More than a week later, she found his makeshift grave with the help of a stranger with the same name and age as her son. The following day, she spotted the body bag containing Vadym at a Bucha cemetery. He always stood out for his height and his foot stuck out from a hole in the corner. Anxious not to lose him, she found a scarf and tied it there. It was her marker.

She believed she knew where her son's body was held for days, in a refrigerator truck outside Bucha's morgue. She was desperate to find an official to hurry the process of inspecting her son and issuing the documents needed to release him.

"I get worried, where he'd go, and whether I'd be able to find him," she said.

Once she collected his body, she would need a casket, which equals a month of her pension, about $90. She, like other elderly Ukrainians, hasn't received her pension since the war began. She gets by selling the vegetables she grows, but the potatoes she meant to plant in March withered while she was hiding in her home.

Her aging cellphone keeps losing battery life. She forgets her phone number. Her other son, two years younger than Vadym, is unemployed and troubled. Nothing is easy.

"I would walk out of this place because I feel it's so hard to be here," Trubchaninova said, sitting at home under a tinted black-and-white photo of herself at 32, full of determination.

She recalled watching her television, when it still worked, in the early days of the war, as broadcasts showed so many Ukrainians fleeing. She worried about them. Where are they going? Where will they sleep? What will they eat? How will they remake their lives again?

"I felt so sorry for them," she said. "And now, I'm in that situation. I feel so lost inside. I don't even know how to describe how lost I am. I'm not even sure I'll put my head on this pillow tonight and wake up tomorrow."

Like many elderly Ukrainians, she worked without taking time for herself, determined to give her children an education and a better life than her own.

"Those were my plans," she said, agitated. "What plans do you want me to have now? How do I make new plans if one of my sons is lying there in Bucha?"

On Thursday, she waited outside the Bucha morgue again. After another long day without progress, she sat on a bench in the sun.

"I just wanted to sit in nice weather," she said. "I'm going to go home. Tomorrow I'll come again."

Across town that day was the kind of closure that Trubchaninova wanted so badly. At a cemetery, two 82-year-old women rose from a bench and crossed themselves as the now-familiar white van arrived carrying another casket.

The women, Neonyla and Helena, sing at funerals. They have performed at 10 since the Russians withdrew.

"The biggest pain for a mother is to lose her son," Neonyla said. "There is no word to describe it."

They joined the priest at the foot of the grave. Two men with handfuls of tulips attended, along with a man with cap in hand.

Finally, on Saturday, Trubchaninova was reunited with her son. In a small cemetery in a field in her village under a cast-iron sky, she clutched at a donated casket. She knelt and she wept. And Vadym was buried.
Indonesia, like other major Southeast Asian countries, is tilting its military relations toward the United States as China raises pressure over disputed waters, analysts say.

Late last year, Beijing demanded in December that Indonesia stop drilling for oil and natural gas north of the Southeast Asian country's Natuna Islands, which lie in the southernmost part of the South China Sea  a tract that Jakarta calls the North Natuna Sea.

In July and August, Chinese law enforcement vessels patrolled a new Indonesian drilling site near the islands, and a Chinese survey ship conducted seabed surveys in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone, according to the U.S.-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

China calls about 90% of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea its own, citing records of historical usage as cause for its claims. Four other Southeast Asian countries and Taiwan contest all or part of China's claims. They all value the sea for oil, natural gas, shipping lanes and fisheries.

Military exercises

The Indonesian army announced this week that its forces and the U.S. military are expanding their annual bilateral Garuda Shield exercises this year to 14 participating countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

This year's exercises, which will take place August 1-14, will be the largest ever conducted in Indonesia, the news website GBP Aerospace & Defence reports.

Due to perceived threats from China in the disputed sea, Indonesia is increasingly considering the United States and other Western allies as military supporters, analysts say.

"That has caused Indonesia to look to the U.S. and other countries, but the U.S. in particular, as a kind of counterbalance," said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in 2014 his country would become a "global maritime fulcrum"  a force between the Indian and Pacific Oceans  through changes to domestic and foreign policy that included strengthening its maritime security and protecting its maritime boundaries.

Since then, the 17,500-island archipelago's coast guard has expelled and confiscated fishing boats from other countries, including China. In late 2018, the country opened a base, with more than 1,000 personnel, in the Natuna Islands.

"I think both Indonesia and China are getting more serious in addressing their overlapping exclusive economic zones, and, therefore, you will see these sorts of confrontations more often nowadays," said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

China has been an "irritant" to Indonesia since the 1990s, Thayer said, and President Widodo has mobilized "tens of thousands" of air and naval assets in the North Natuna Sea.

Indonesian forces so far have been "unable to curb Chinese intrusions" into their exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, writes Felix Chang, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, in a September 2021 analysis.

Wider trend in Asia

From March 28 to April 8, the United States and the Philippines held one of their largest-ever annual joint military exercises. Taiwan, a rival to China for the past eight decades, is likely to join the U.S. military-organized Rim of the Pacific Exercise this year as an observer, Taiwanese media outlets said earlier this year.

Experts have told VOA that the Southeast Asian claimants to the disputed sea privately approve of the U.S. Navy sending warships to the waterway as warnings to China.

The Philippines and Vietnam have tried over the past decade to balance their foreign policies between Washington and Beijing, the nongovernmental organization International Crisis Group said in separate reports. Washington represents security, while Beijing is a neighbor and a source of trade and investment.

Chinese reaction

China and the U.S. were Cold War foes, and they're rival superpowers today.

China probably worries little about Indonesia's views toward the U.S., Oh said. The Southeast Asian state "did not quite align itself with the U.S." and has not condemned Russia over its war in Ukraine as many countries have, he said.

Officials in Beijing have not commented on this year's expanded Garuda Shield exercises.

Indonesia counts China as its top export destination, worth an annual $16.8 billion, and biggest source of foreign investment, at $1.4 billion in the last three months of 2019.

Indonesia's Muslim population may object to a stronger U.S. role in the country, said Paramitangrum, an international relations lecturer at Bina Nusantara University in Jakarta. Washington has tried to break up cells of radical Muslims in the country, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The efforts began after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, although they receive less emphasis now.

It's the United States approaching Indonesia for stronger military ties rather than vice versa, she said.

"As long as China does not do anything or does not release statements that reveals that they are powerful or they would like to show off their power, that will be fine for Indonesia and Indonesians," Paramitangrum said.
Russia's foreign ministry said Saturday it had barred entry to the country for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members and politicians.

The move was taken "in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British Government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would expand the list soon.

The Kremlin has described Johnson, who has been one of Ukraine's staunchest backers, as "the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian."

A week ago, Johnson visited Kyiv where he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised each other for their cooperation since the Russian invasion, which Moscow calls a "special operation."

"The UK and our international partners stand united in condemning the Russian governments reprehensible actions in Ukraine and calling for the Kremlin to stop the war," a British government spokesperson said in response to Moscow's decision to bar Johnson and other British politicians.

"We remain resolute in our support for Ukraine," the spokesperson added.
North Korea celebrated the 110th anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il Sung on Friday with fireworks, a procession and an evening gala in Pyongyang's main square, with thousands of people in colorful traditional dress singing and dancing.

"The Day of the Sun" is North Korea's biggest annual public holiday. Kim, who died in 1994, founded the authoritarian regime now led by his grandson, Kim Jong Un.

This year's holiday marks 110 years since Kim Il Sung was born on April 15, 1912, and North Korea typically stages bigger celebrations on every fifth and 10th anniversary.

Leader Kim Jong Un visited his grandfather's mausoleum and attended a "national meeting and a public procession" in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square but gave no reported public remarks. A senior official spoke at the meeting, saying that North Korea would overcome all difficulties and always emerge victorious, state news agency KCNA said.

State media aired live footage of an evening gala in Kim Il Sung Square after sundown on Friday but gave no sign of an anticipated military parade.

Other earlier events included concerts, art exhibitions and ideological seminars. A light festival opened in downtown Pyongyang, with dancing fountains and decorated boats on the Taedong River, KCNA reported.

The festival "artistically depicted" Kim Il Sung's native home and "the sacred mountain of revolution, Mount Paektu," KCNA said. Residents could take photos in front of arches lit with phrases such as "Pyongyang is Best" and "We Are the Happiest in the World."

North Korea's economy has been battered by the border closures and international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, and aid organizations have warned of potential humanitarian crises.

Gifts to loyalists

Earlier in the week, Kim Jong Un gave new apartments to some of his loyal elites, including the country's most famous TV presenter, and attended the opening of a major public housing project.

International monitors had said commercial satellite imagery showed preparations for a military parade in the run-up to the holiday, but there was no confirmation of a parade happening as of Friday evening.

The celebrations came after North Korea resumed testing in March its largest intercontinental ballistic missiles, for the first time since 2017, and officials in Seoul and Washington say there are signs it could soon resume nuclear weapons tests, too. Major weapons tests are sometimes timed for key holidays.
Indigenous Australians experienced racism and unfair treatment during the catastrophic "Black Summer" bushfires, according to new research. It has found that First Nations communities suffered more than other groups because of failures by the authorities during the crisis.

Australia's "Black Summer" was its most intense bushfire season on record.

Between July 2019 and March 2020, the blazes swept across 24 million hectares of land. Thirty-three people died, and thousands of homes were destroyed.

New research released this week has found that large numbers of Indigenous people suffered "extreme trauma" from both the fires and the emergency response. They were turned away from evacuation centers and ignored in disaster management plans.

The study by the Australian National University's Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research blames deep-seated racism and the lingering consequences of European colonization in 1788.

The study's lead author, Bhiamie Williamson, said that racism was often a factor.

"Aboriginal people did go to the evacuation centers only to be turned away because the staff there said we've helped enough of your people today; we've helped enough of your community members, Williamson said. When you speak to people who are directly affected and you ask them why is that these things are happening to you, all of them connect it to historical racism and colonization. The most damaging instance that happens for people who have lived through these disasters and are still recovering is feeling like they have been forgotten."

Aboriginal Australians make up about 3% of the Australian population.

The university study asserts that disaster preparation plans also ignored the needs of First Nations communities.

Williamson said there are "scary similarities" between the way First Nations communities were treated during the bushfires of 2019-2020 and this year's devastating flooding in eastern Australia.

"We can look at another natural disaster that has recently occurred: the flooding, particularly in northern New South Wales  the Northern Rivers area, Williamson said. We see a lot of the same issues happening. So, has practice changed? No. Are there people looking to change practice? Yes. But these are very big institutions. These are very big processes. It would require legal reform, and these are much longer-term changes that we need."

There has, so far, been no official government response to the Australian National University's study.

A Royal Commission into the Black Summer fires said that Indigenous bushfire techniques that use controlled burns to reduce the amount of vegetation could boost Australia's resilience to natural disasters.

The commission warned that global warming was inevitable, and that "compounding disasters" in Australia would become more frequent. The high-level inquiry, published in October 2020, said that natural hazards, including wildfires, floods and storms, could happen simultaneously or one after another.
A stamp depicting a Ukrainian soldier making an obscene hand gesture at the Russian Black Sea flagship Moskva has become a collector's item for Ukrainians who see it as a sign of victory.

At the central post office in the capital, Kyiv, hundreds of Ukrainians of every age queued for hours on Friday to get their hands on one of the 1 million copies printed so far.

"That ship was the biggest one they had.  They gambled a lot on it, and we destroyed it!" said Yury Kolesan, 22, who waited for 2 hours to get a set of 30 stamps. "It's a new phase of the war, one of victory!"

The warship sank on Thursday after an explosion and fire that Ukraine claimed was caused by a missile strike, a claim backed by one U.S. defense official on Friday. Russia said the damage was caused by an explosion of munitions on board.

The missile cruiser gained publicity in the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine when its crew called on a unit of Ukrainian border guards to surrender, only for them to defiantly refuse.

The incident quickly became a symbol of Ukraine's resistance against Russia's assault.

Ukraine's postal service last month launched a competition to illustrate the episode.

Out of more than 500 submissions, Lviv designer Boris Groh's winning entry shows a Ukrainian soldier from behind making the obscene gesture at the warship.

It has proved a hit, selling out in many post offices and quickly appearing for resale online.

"We wanted to print more but the bombing last night in Kyiv affected the work of the factory and we did not manage to print the necessary quantity," Ukrainian postal service chief Igor Smelyansky told AFP.
In one corner you have a squad of armed police officers, in the other, a 70-something unarmed white protester. When the bell rings, the protester is pushed, winds up on the ground with a fractured skull resulting in a monthlong hospitalization.

The case winds up in arbitration and the result, (insert drum roll) the police win. It was reported that one officer testified that the victim was getting close to his police firearm and he was also concerned he might catch Covid-19. Both legitimate concerns. How close to the firearm was the geriatric protester and was the officer masked? It was reported that 57 members of the police Emergency Response Team resigned in solidarity with the charged officers. Did any resign in solidarity with the injured protester?

Some could argue that the protester had no right to be there during a curfew. Others could argue that if the protester had been Black, the result may have been more tragic.

Perhaps this is a good opportunity for a police refresher course in how to deal with unarmed protesters, especially senior unarmed protesters.

Paul Bojanowski

Cheektowaga
Nearly 400 people have died in floods in South Africa's eastern coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal. In the normally bustling city of Durban, survivors are left to begin digging themselves out of the mud and debris.

Ankle-deep in mud, residents of the informal settlement called Mega Village in the south end of Durban have begun the arduous process of cleaning up after devastating floods.

The heavy rains  that saw as much as 300 mm (13 inches) fall within 24-hours at its peak  have been called one of the worst weather events South Africa has ever seen.

Ben Motshwa is among the countless residents of Mega Village who saw their homes, made of corrugated iron, wash away in the blink of an eye Monday.

When the flood was coming, we only had to run, he said. There was nothing we could do. And if were running, where are we running to? We didnt have anywhere to go to. Just moving. Just going to where we think there is some sort of dry area where we can maybe stand. We lost basically everything.

Motshwa said his small printing business was also washed away, leaving him with no source of income.

The community, built on a flood plain, is a symptom of the countrys preexisting housing crisis, now under even greater pressure.

The government estimates that over 13,500 homes were damaged by the floods, of which nearly 4,000 were destroyed.

Many people have sought temporary shelters.

Mlungisi Thabethe and his wife were among dozens of people who registered for shelter, sleeping on the hard floor of a community hall in an apartment block by Mega Village.

We came here because we have no house, no nothing now, he said. Me, Ive got only my bag here and my umbrella. And I got a chance to take my jacket. And then thats all I have now, nothing else. Im lose everything. Even my trust now. I lose my hope too. I dont know what Im going to do.

Even residents who didnt lose their homes were battered by the destruction.

Both electricity and water to Mega Village was out for nearly a week.

Appliances were broken, furniture and belongings were drenched and damaged.

The government has pledged to deliver aid to everyone affected, but for residents battling to clear out the debris, help wasnt coming fast enough.

Tutu Hlophe, a sangoma or traditional healer in Mega Village, started his cleanup, hand-washing the mud off his clothes and linens, along with his neighbors.

He said it wasnt the first time the area was flooded  although it was the worst  and he doesnt trust the ruling African National Congress to deliver aid.

This government of ANC cant help us, he said. Ten years now staying in this area, everything is not okay.

He added that change is needed because people are just suffering and need the governments help.

Officials from the regional government visited the community Friday to assess the damage and prioritize what necessities need to be delivered.

Cosmos Khanyeza, a community leader in Umlazi, who was helping set up temporary shelters for flood victims and collect aid, said officials promised to bring foam mattresses and blankets for the homeless Saturday.

People they are sleeping down, down on the floor on this cold weather, he said. And people are scared to go back to their shacks or to build another shack in that place because they said they dont (want to) become the victims again if the floods happen again.

Those in shelters may be staying dry, but low-lying communities have found themselves at risk again.

The South African Weather Service warned heavy rains that returned Saturday could cause repeated flooding and mudslides, further damaging homes and infrastructure.
The Taliban accused Pakistan on Saturday of launching cross-border military raids inside Afghanistan, which reportedly caused dozens of civilian casualties.

Local Taliban officials confirmed to VOA on condition of anonymity that Pakistani jets on Saturday bombed several villages in the border province of Khost, killing at least 30 civilians, including women and children.

The claims could not be immediately verified by independent sources. Hundreds of residents in Khost were in the streets Saturday to protest the deadly airstrikes, chanting Death to Pakistan.

Separately, Taliban officials in the adjoining Kunar province reported overnight cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops, targeting civilian areas in the Shultan District.

A provincial government spokesman, Mawlawi Najibullah, told VOA the shelling killed at least six residents in the Shultan District. He did not confirm reports of Pakistani airstrikes taking place in Kunar.

Officials said the military actions prompted Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to summon the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul, Mansoor Ahmad Khan, to his office Saturday and give a "strong demarche" or official protest note to him.

The Afghan side condemned the recent attacks on Khost and Kunar provinces, stressing prevention of such acts, Muttaqis office said in a statement.

It quoted the foreign minister as warning the military violations by Pakistan would deteriorate bilateral ties and allow antagonists to misuse the situation leading to undesired consequences.

The statement did not mention, however, whether the raids had caused any casualties.

Chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a statement, later stressed the need for resolving bilateral problems through political means.

IEA calls on the Pakistani side not to test the patience of Afghans on such issues and not repeat the same mistake again, otherwise it will have bad consequences, Mujahid warned. He used the official name for the Taliban government, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

Officials in Islamabad have not commented on the allegations that their forces were behind Saturday's attacks.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it was working to establish facts on the ground and verify the extent of losses.

"UNAMA is deeply concerned by reports of civilian casualties, including women and children  Civilians are never a target," the mission tweeted.

The border regions of Afghanistan are known for harboring fugitive leaders and fighters of the banned Pakistani Taliban militant outfit, known by its acronym, TTP, waging deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Islamabad says the TTP, which is designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations, is plotting terrorism against the country from its Afghan sanctuaries.

Pakistani officials have acknowledged a recent spike in TTP attacks, particularly in northwestern districts on the Afghan border, which reportedly have killed and wounded dozens of soldiers.

The latest such attack took place Saturday when militants ambushed a Pakistani military convoy in the volatile North Waziristan district opposite Khost, killing seven troops.

The Pakistan government has repeatedly urged the Taliban rulers to rein in TTP activities since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan last August, days before U.S.-led foreign troops withdrew from the country after 20 years.

It is widely known that the TTP provided recruits and sheltered Afghan Taliban commanders on the Pakistani side of the porous border between the two countries to launch insurgent attacks against the then-Western-backed government in Kabul and international troops inside Afghanistan.

In recent years, the Pakistani military undertook major offensives against TTP bases in Waziristan and adjoining districts, forcing thousands of militants to flee into Afghanistan. The crackdown had significantly reduced terrorism in Pakistan, but the return of the Taliban to power in Kabul eight months ago has resulted in a dramatic spike in TTP-led militant violence.
Thousands of faithful attended the "Way of the Cross" prayer service, presided over by Pope Francis at Rome's Colosseum on Friday, a ceremony overtaken by the war in Ukraine.

It was the first time the traditional event on Good Friday, which marks the day Jesus Christ died on the cross in the Christian calendar, was held at the Roman monument since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also comes two days before Easter, Christianity's most important holiday.

The pope, who has repeatedly condemned the conflict in Ukraine, and has called for an Easter ceasefire, prayed that the "adversaries shake hands" and "taste mutual forgiveness".

"Disarm the raised hand of brother against brother," he said.

"I have lived in Rome for more than 30 years, but today it seemed very important to come," Stefania Cutolo, a 52-year-old Italian teacher, told AFP as a choir rehearsed for the evening event.

"The message tonight, after two years of closure due to the pandemic, is doubly important. In this context where nationalism is returning to Europe, we must act," she added.

Shortly after 9 p.m. (1900 GMT), in front of 10,000 faithful, the Pontiff opened this highlight of Holy Week.

Organized since 1964 in the sumptuously illuminated Roman amphitheater, the Way of the Cross event was held in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican for the last two years, with very low attendances amid the health crisis.

"We meet the whole world here. We hear all languages. It's marvelous," enthused Marie-Agnes Bethouart, 71, who arrived at Friday's event with her husband and two grandsons.

Among the crowd, a yellow and blue flag stood out among the candles. They are the colors of Ukraine.

Among the families who were entrusted with carrying the crucifix at each of the 14 stations of the cross were two women, one Russian and one Ukrainian, who are life-long friends.

The women carried the cross during one portion of the Way of the Cross, the traditional procession that commemorates the 14 stations of Jesus' suffering and death, from his condemnation to his burial.

But the Vatican's initiative, intended as a gesture of reconciliation in the face of the war that began February 24, was not well received by Ukrainian officials.

On Tuesday, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, denounced an "inappropriate, premature and ambiguous idea, which does not take into account the context of Russia's military aggression".

For his part, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See said he "shared the general concern."

In a sign of the sensitivity of the issue, the Ukrainian media boycotted the broadcast of the ceremony, while the Vatican had added commentary in Ukrainian and Russian for the broadcast.

In the crowd at the event, Anastasia Goncharova, an 18-year-old tourist from Kyiv, said, "I don't think it's a really good idea because we are no longer brother nations. They are killing our children, they are raping our children, stealing our house. It's disgusting"

In the end the two Russian and Ukrainian friends did carry the crucifix together.

A contemplative silence replaced an original text for the occasion, which was intended to deal more specifically with the war in Ukraine.

Most of those attending welcomed the Vatican's Russia-Ukraine initiative.

"It is the cross, and therefore the pain of these two peoples, but also hope, because we believe that after the war there will be peace. It is very beautiful," said Bethouart.
Twitter's board of directors on Friday voted unanimously to use a tactic called a "poison pill" to fend off Elon Musk's attempt to take over the company.

In such a defensive tactic, all Twitter shareholders except Musk could buy more shares at a discount. This would dilute the world's richest person's stake in the company and prevent him from recruiting a majority of shareholders supporting his move.

If Musk's ownership in Twitter grows to 15% or more, the poison pill would go into effect.

Musk, who earlier this week was revealed as the company's largest individual shareholder, with 9.2% of the shares, later offered more than $43 billion, or $54.20 a share, to purchase the entire company.

Musk's offer would provide a substantial premium over Twitter's current stock price of just more than $45 a share.

Free-speech concern expressed

When Musk made his offer, he lamented the company's stance on free speech.

"I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy," Musk said in the filing. "I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form."

But instead of putting Musk's offer up for a vote with Twitter shareholders, the company's board said Friday that it would instead offer its shareholders a chance to buy even more shares at a steep discount, effectively diluting the price of the stock.

The plan "will reduce the likelihood that any entity  gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium," the company said.

The Twitter board's plan will be effective for one year.

As rumors of a poison pill action circulated Thursday, Musk speculated via Twitter on what might happen.

"If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty," he wrote. "The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale."

One analyst, Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, told the New York Post that the board's move was a "defensive measure," adding that shareholders would not likely view it positively.

"We believe Musk and his team expected this poker move, which will be perceived as a sign of weakness, not strength, by the Street," Ives told the Post.

Josh White, a former financial economist for the Securities and Exchange Commission, told BBC that Musk's negotiation tactics might not be the "right approach" if Musk wants to acquire the company.

"I actually think if he was truly serious about the takeover attempt, he would have started at a price and left the window open for negotiation," White said.

Twitter 'storm'?

Edward Rock, who teaches corporate law and governance at New York University's law school, also had doubts about whether Musk was serious about buying Twitter.

As Rock told NPR, Musk can show he is serious by revealing how he plans to finance the takeover, which he did not show in his SEC filing, or launch a proxy contest to replace Twitter board members in response to its poison pill.

If Musk fails to do so, Rock said, "he's not going to acquire the company, and people can just write it off like some of his other Twitter storms."

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
A Frenchman and a Moroccan received heavy prison terms on appeal Friday for an attack plot that was foiled after an intelligence agent posing as a jihadi infiltrated their cyber network.

Yassine Bousseria, 42, was sentenced to 24 years in prison for participation in a terrorist conspiracy to prepare terrorist acts, the same term he had been handed by a lower court in February.

The other man, Hicham El-Hanafi, 31, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, also in line with the lower court ruling.

A third person convicted in the case, Frenchman Hicham Makran, was sentenced to 22 years in jail in February and did not appeal.

The three were tried on charges of joining a terror group with a view to carrying out attacks.

An agent from France's DGSI domestic intelligence service, using the codename Ulysse, had infiltrated communication networks of Islamic State (IS) group in a ruse that led to the arrest of the three.

The case began in 2016. After intelligence indicating the IS group was seeking to obtain weapons for a "violent action" on French soil, the DGSI agent penetrated an encrypted Telegram messaging loop and make contact with an IS "emir" in Syria, nicknamed Sayyaf.

Sayyaf said the jihadis needed munitions including four Kalashnikovs, which Ulysse said he could supply.

In June 2016, Sayyaf sent Ulysse $16,000 in cash.

With this money, Ulysse then told Sayyaf that he had bought weapons and hid them in a forest north of Paris. The surroundings were then equipped with surveillance cameras.

French intelligence then received information that the two French citizens, who had been around the Turkish-Syrian border, had come home.

They were arrested and found to have a USB key encrypted with the coordinates of the arms cache.
Russia's warplanes bombed Lviv and its missiles struck Kyiv as Moscow followed through on a threat to launch more long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities after the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet flagship.

Fighting

* Russia destroyed production buildings of an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and a military repair facility in the city of Mykolaiv, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia's defense ministry as saying.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN on Friday that between 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died so far in the war and another 10,000 have been injured.

Diplomacy

* Russia's foreign ministry said it had barred entry to the country for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members and politicians.

* Ukraine is working with NATO member Turkey as much as possible for more support over Russia's invasion and understands - even though it is not happy with the reality of Ankara's parallel ties to Moscow, a Ukrainian diplomat said.

* Russia warned the United States of "unpredictable consequences" if the West continues its "irresponsible militarization of Ukraine," The Washington Post said on Friday.



Business and economy

* Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) may fall between 30% and 50% this year, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said in televised comments.

* Ukraine's richest man has pledged to help rebuild the besieged city of Mariupol, a place close to his heart, where he owns two vast steelworks that he says will once again compete globally.

* Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and top finance officials will attend next week's IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington and meet G7 and other officials, sources said on Friday, the first such in-person opportunity of the war.



Mourning the dead



* The handmade sign on the gate warns "The cemetery is mined. Danger," but residents of the formerly occupied town of Trostyanets in northern Ukraine still come to visit the fresh graves of family killed in the war.

Quotes



* "The situation in Mariupol is difficult and hard. Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city," said defense ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, at a briefing on Friday.
The United Nations said Thursday it has released $100 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to help millions facing hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.

Millions in these seven countries cannot feed themselves and their families because of armed conflict, drought, and economic turmoil made worse by COVID-19.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also said the spillover effects of the war in Ukraine threaten to drive millions of people even closer to famine.

OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told VOA Yemen, South Sudan, and Somalia are already in what the United Nations calls a Phase 5 emergency  catastrophic hunger or famine.

Other countriesNigeria, Sudan, and Kenya for exampleEthiopia as wellwe have millions of people who are just one step away from this catastrophic phase, he said. And we have to avoid that they end up in that phase because that is where people literally die from starvation and disease on our watch. If we have to avoid that, we need to act now.

Ukraine and Russia are known as the breadbasket of the world, supplying nearly a third of the worlds wheat and barley exports. The World Food Program said the war in Ukraine will increase global hunger.

It said the conflict is disrupting food and energy markets and driving food prices beyond consumers reach.

The United Nations launched appeals for each of the seven countries months ago for global total of $43 billion. Laerke said only 6.5% of this amount has been funded. He said the U.N. knows the $100 million it has made available for emergency relief will not solve the problems facing these countries.

But it does plug a hole. It does cover a gap that is immediate, that is urgent, and that is absolutely necessary if we want to save lives in these countries, he said. And that is the function of Central Emergency Response Fund. It is kind of a provider of last resort.

Laerke added that U.N. agencies hope donors will understand the situation facing these countries and support their humanitarian operations. If not, he said, drastic cuts will have to be made in critical projects.
In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.

The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

If the images seem familiar, they are; similar scenes are playing out on televisions and websites worldwide right now as Russian forces pound Ukrainian cities with airstrikes, killing scores of civilians. The information war on social media has showcased impassioned nightly speeches by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Russian efforts to accuse Ukraine's forces of faking mass killings in towns such as Bucha  massacres that the West blames on Moscow's troops.

Equipment to communication

"I think right now the whole Army is really looking at what's happening in Ukraine and trying to learn lessons," said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. Those lessons, she said, range from Russia's equipment and logistics troubles to communications and use of the internet.

"The Russia-Ukraine experience is a very powerful illustration for our Army of how important the information domain is going to be," said Wormuth, who spent two days at the training center in the Mojave Desert watching an Army brigade wage war against the fictional "Denovian" forces.

"We've been talking about that for about five years. But really seeing it and seeing the way Zelenskyy has been incredibly powerful. ... This is a world war that the actual world can see and watch in real time. "

At the center, the commander, Brigadier General Curt Taylor, and his staff have ripped pages out of the Russian playbook to ensure that U.S. soldiers are ready to fight and win against a sophisticated near-peer enemy.

It's a common tool. For example, his base and the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana both shifted to counterinsurgency training during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And the military services have focused other training on how to fight in cold weather  mimicking conditions in Russia or North Korea. But these latest changes have happened quickly in the early months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

On the attack

About 4,500 soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, are out in the vast desert training area at Fort Irwin, where they will spend two weeks fighting the NTC's resident 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which acts as the enemy military. Soldiers from the regiment  known as Blackhorse  are arrayed in and around Ujen, which also includes role-players acting as the locals.

As the sun was rising earlier this past week, Army Col. Ian Palmer, the brigade commander, stood on Crash Hill, on the outskirts of the town, preparing his soldiers to launch an attack. Lines of tanks spread out in the distance. Heavy winds the night before hampered his progress, so the attack was a bit behind.

He said the exercise is using more drones by the friendly and enemy forces, both for surveillance and attacks. So his forces are trying to use camouflage and tuck into the terrain to stay out of sight.

"You know if you can be seen, you can be shot, wherever you are," he said.

Down in the makeshift town, the opposition forces are confident they can hold off Palmer's brigade despite the size difference. The Denovians only have about 1,350 forces, but they are throwing everything they have at the brigade, from jamming and other electronic warfare to insurgency attacks and propaganda.

The role of social media

The role-players have their phones ready to film and post quickly to social media.

The Denovian forces want to portray the unit in the worst possible light, said Taylor, and constantly twist the narrative on social media so Palmer's troops realize they are in a battle for the truth.

That's a challenge, he said, because "when I've got a bunch of casualties and I'm getting overrun on my left flank and my supply trains aren't where they need to be and I can't find the bulldozers, it's hard to think about something that someone said about me on Twitter."

The training goal, Taylor said, is teaching the brigades that come in how to fuse all elements of their combat power into a coordinated assault.

"Everyone can play an instrument, but it's about making music  bringing it all together in a synchronized fashion. And what you saw today was the artillery was doing the artillery thing, the aviation was doing the aviation thing and the maneuver guys were doing the maneuver thing. But part of the delay in their assault on the town was they couldn't synchronize those three," he said.

Assessing the failures

Again, they can look to Ukraine to see how Russia failed to do that in the early weeks of the war. U.S. leaders repeatedly noted that in Russia's initial multipronged assault in Ukraine, commanders consistently failed to provide the airstrikes and support their ground troops needed to move into key cities such as Kyiv.

That failure led to Russian troops bombing the cities from the outskirts, hitting hospitals, apartment buildings and other structures, and killing civilians.

When the next brigade arrives at the training center, Taylor said it will face an enemy on board with doing just that.

"We will be very focused on how to fight against an adversary that is willing to destroy infrastructure because that's how we think our adversaries will fight," Taylor said. "We've got to be prepared for urban combat where we have an adversary that is indiscriminately firing artillery."

Wormuth, the Army secretary, said seeing the training also underscored other lessons the U.S. is taking from the war in Ukraine.

"As we're watching what's happening to the Russians now, it's informative for us to think about what is right, from a modernization standpoint," she said, noting that some U.S. tanks are very heavy and the terrain in Europe is muddier, not like the hard-packed sand of the desert.

The Army, she said, has to determine "what's the right balance between the mobility of a tank, the survivability of a tank and the lethality of a tank? If you want to make it more mobile, you make it lighter, but that makes it less survivable. And so you have to decide where you're going to take risks."
U.S. border authorities arrested 210,000 migrants attempting to cross the border with Mexico in March, the highest monthly total in two decades and underscoring challenges in the coming months for U.S. President Joe Biden.

The March total is a 24% increase from the same month a year earlier, when 169,000 migrants were picked up at the border, the start of a rise in migration that left thousands unaccompanied children stuck in crowded border patrol stations for days while they awaited placement in overwhelmed government-run shelters.

Biden, a Democrat who took office in January 2021, pledged to reverse many of the hardline immigration policies of his Republican predecessor, former President Donald Trump, but has struggled both operationally and politically with high numbers of attempted crossings.

Republicans, who hope to gain control of the U.S. Congress in November 8 midterm elections, say Biden's rollback of Trump-era policies has encouraged more illegal immigration.

Biden officials have cautioned that migration could rise further after U.S. health officials said they will end a pandemic-era border order by May 23. The order, known as Title 42, allows asylum seekers and other migrants to be rapidly expelled to Mexico to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

While more than half of the migrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months have been from the traditional sending countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, migrants have increasingly been arriving from more far-flung places, including Ukraine and Russia.

U.S. officials are preparing for as many as 18,000 migrant encounters per day in the coming weeks but are also readying for smaller increases.

The 210,000 migrants arrested in March, a figure made public in a court filing on Friday night, is the highest monthly total on record since February 2000, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics dating back to 2000.

Another 11,000 migrants attempted to enter at a legal crossing along the southwest border in March without a valid visa or permission, the court filing said.

Roughly half of the migrants encountered in March were expelled under the Title 42 order, the court filing said.
Vietnamese police arrested the country's deputy foreign minister on Thursday for allegedly receiving bribes connected to a repatriation flight program during the pandemic, officials said.

In recent months the communist nation has ramped up an anti-corruption drive, targeting government officials and business people.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Public Security issued a statement saying To Anh Dung and two other officials had been arrested as part of an investigation into a bribery scandal connected to repatriation flights for Vietnamese citizens since 2020.

Police searched the residences and workplaces of the three on Thursday.

No other details on the case were revealed.

The 58-year-old Dung was appointed Vietnam's deputy foreign minister in 2019, after holding various positions at the ministry since 1991.

After closing its borders to slow the spread of Covid-19, Vietnam organized nearly 800 charter flights to bring citizens home from 60 countries and territories, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Travelers faced complicated procedures while paying exorbitant airfares and quarantine fees to get home, reports said.

Police have arrested five other people connected to the case since January.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang previously said those involved in the wrongdoing should be "seriously punished" under the law.

Vietnam had closed itself to the world for almost two years before reopening in mid-March.

The country shifted from a zero-Covid policy to living with the virus once vaccination rates increased.
Well, here we are again, a mass shooter taking control of, and shooting, a group of 30 innocent people, minding their own business at a subway station in New York City. We all watched as they ran for their lives and not one of them could do anything else but run and hide. If youre fast enough, you could get between the gunman and a slower person, thus giving you somewhat of an edge to live.

The reason 30 people were shot and the gunman initially got away is because of the gun laws we have in New York State and New York City. Likely not one of those, honest citizens of New York State, were allowed to carry a concealed weapon in New York City. However, the shooter was able to carry a concealed weapon with 30 rounds of ammo and did not quite care about the laws. The laws do not pertain to criminals, period. That being said, I would like to challenge, the governor, senators, the mayor, police commissioner, attorney general and any, or all of the billionaires and millionaires who sit in their offices and dream up gun laws that put honest citizens in harms way by prohibiting them from protecting themselves and others by carrying a concealed weapon in the city.

I challenge you to walk through New York City, ride the subway and go about your business without a bodyguard or carrying concealed. Please become one of us. Ill walk with you and ride with you wherever. But I would like the privilege of carrying my concealed weapon. If something happens, you are on your own, just like us. Which one of you lawmakers are up to the challenge?

Kenneth Zuchlewski

Buffalo
The head of the U.N. World Food Program said people are being "starved to death" in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, and he predicted the country's humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen as Russia intensifies its assault in the coming weeks.

WFP executive director David Beasley also warned in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press in Kyiv that Russia's invasion of grain-exporting Ukraine risks destabilizing nations far from its shores and could trigger waves of migrants seeking better lives elsewhere.

The war that began Feb. 24 was "devastating the people in Ukraine," he said, lamenting the lack of access faced by the WFP and other aid organizations in trying to reach those in need amid the conflict.

"I don't see any of that easing up. I just don't see it happening right now," he said.

The fluid nature of the conflict, which has seen fighting shift away from areas around the capital and toward eastern Ukraine, has made it especially difficult to reach hungry Ukrainians.

The WFP is trying to put food supplies now in areas that could be caught up in the fighting, but Beasley acknowledged that there are "a lot of complexities" as the situation rapidly evolves.

A lack of access is part of the problem, he said, but so is a shortage of manpower and fuel as resources are diverted to the war effort.

"It's not just going to be the next few days  but the next few weeks and few months could even get more complicated than it is now," he said. "In fact, it's getting worse and worse, concentrated in certain areas, and the front lines are going to be moving."

easley expressed particular concern about the port city of Mariupol, where a dwindling number of Ukrainian defenders is holding out against a Russian siege that has trapped well over 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating.

Russian forces that control access to the city have not allowed in aid, even though the WFP has demanded access.

"We will not give up on the people of Mariupol and other people that we cannot reach. But it's a devastating situation: the people being starved to death," he said.

Russia is determined to seize the city so its forces from the annexed Crimean Peninsula can fully link up with troops elsewhere in the eastern Donbas region, Ukraine's industrial heartland and the target of the coming offensive.

The U.N. food chief warned of disastrous ripple effects due to Ukraine's role as major international grain supplier.

A global food shortage caused by the war could prompt "mass migration beyond anything we've seen since World War II," he said, echoing remarks he made to the U.N. Security Council last month.

Russia and Ukraine together produce 30% of the world's wheat supply and export about three-quarters of the world's sunflower seed oil. Half of the grain the WFP buys for distribution around the world comes from Ukraine.

Some 30 million metric tons of grain bound for export are unable to be shipped because of the war, Beasley said. Ukrainian farmers are struggling to access fertilizer and seed, and those who can plant may see their harvest rot in the fields if the war drags on and there's no way to ship it, he warned.

The shipping challenges have forced the WFP to halve rations for millions of people, many in Africa, and more cuts may be needed, he said.

"People are going to be starving to death," he said.

Beasley also visited areas near Kyiv that were ravaged by the Russian invasion, including the town of Bucha, where evidence of mass killings and other atrocities against civilians have shocked the world.

He described neighborhoods "completely decimated by bombings," likening what he saw to a nightmare that was impossible to believe.

But he stopped short of describing the killings a genocide, as U.S. President Joe Biden did this week.

"Well, I know one thing. People are dying," he said when asked about Biden's comments. "But there's no doubt in my mind this is a horror story and it is truly heartbreaking."
South African officials say they are releasing emergency funds Friday to help people deal with the aftermath of recent massive rains and deadly floods along the countrys eastern coast.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the region a disaster area.

Authorities say the unprecedented rainfall killed 341 people and left tens of thousands more without shelter, water and electricity.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said in a television interview on Newsroom Afrika that $68.3 million is available for immediate use, and millions more will be made available later.

"A total number of 40,723 people have been affected, Sihle Zikalala, the premier of KwaZulu-Natal province, said.

There is a sense of despair amid the stench of sewage, growing stronger as the rains, which wrought so much devastation, stopped and the tropical heat returned, Agence France-Presse, the French news agency reported.

The news agency adds that some people have been without water and electricity since Monday.

Protests have emerged in some areas over what demonstrators say is the countrys slow response to the disaster.

We are working as quickly as we can, Durbans city government said in a statement.

The South African Weather Service has issued a warning about more rain and flooding this weekend in KwaZulu-Natal and neighboring Free State and Eastern Cape provinces.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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The second episode of Ozark is primarily about getting the Byrde operation off the ground (even as Marty considers leaving it all behind), heightening the marital drama between Wendy and Marty (sending Marty to some pretty dark places), and placing the chess pieces like the Langmores, the Blue Cat Lodge, and Lickety Splitz on the board.

A family is like a small business, Marty tells his bewildered kids as the episode opens. This family has torn down its former establishment and has to put up a new one. As Marty searches the Ozarks for fronts for his money-laundering scheme, he has his first run-in with the Langmore clan, which unfolds in one of the best character introductions of the modern-TV era. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner), a genius surrounded by idiots. The fact that Ruth and Martys first true encounter takes place with the kind of heightened stakes that could get Marty killed makes perfect sense. This dynamic has been life-or-death from the very beginning.

Wendy goes house shopping while Charlotte and Jonah stay at the motel. What do they tell the kids? Wendy, who was just caught cheating, already has the nerve to accuse Marty of throwing a pity party, pointing out that her lover Gary was collateral damage to Martys choices. Well, sorta. She notes that Gary was a good man, not like Bruce. The good and bad will die if they get around the Byrdes. Marty points out that he might have caught Bruce skimming if he hadnt been distracted by his wife cheating on him. The only joy in his life recently? Hearing Gary hit the pavement. Wendy hits him. (He deserves it, honestly.)

Its Sam! Kevin Johnsons put-upon local has no idea what hes in for when Wendy Byrde shows up at his realty office and wants to look at houses. While Wendy is shopping with him, Marty looks for investment opportunities around the Ozarks. He keeps striking out. For example, he gets a storage space in town but not an investment in the entire operation. He also gets a bit of a warning about poor planning from the proprietor that he should probably heed.

While Wendy looks for a place to live and Marty looks for a place to launder, Charlotte meets Wyatt Langmore (Charlie Tahan) when he tries to hand her a Bible. Its not a bad pick-up line. However, the religious angle doesnt work on Char nearly as well as the financial one. Notice how much more attention she pays to Wyatt when he says that his dad is a lawyer and that theyre going wakeboarding later with his brother, Three (Carson Holmes).

Marty finally gets to Lickety Splitz with its owner, who steadfastly refuses to call it anything but a titty bar. He looks for fetish workers, like the topless, very pregnant woman on stage or plain Janes with a work ethic. The owner figures out that Marty is interested in looking for money laundering. Leave it to the titty-bar owner to be the one to figure out Marty first. He offers to work with him. A dumbstruck Marty knows that its a very good, cash-heavy front, but its not great to have someone who already knows his deal.

Sam finally gets Wendy to the right house, where she meets Buddy Dieker (Harris Yulin), a man who will play a major role in their lives, and not just because he lives in the basement. The irascible codger has only about a year left to live and is renting out the rest of the house while his final minutes tick by on the bottom floor. Its creepy but gives the Byrdes the kind of house that theyre accustomed to living in and surrounds them with just a bit more death.

Speaking of death, Marty is thinking about his own. Hes eating a sandwich on a cliff called Sweetwater Bluff when he stands, dropping the sandwich off the edge. He watches it fall. Does he want to join it? Maybe.

While Charlotte speeds around the lake with the Langmores, Jonah gets bored watching Shark Week. He heads out for a walk and meets a boy named Tuck (Evan Vourazeris). Its another seemingly random event that will basically save Martys life. The premiere had the brochure. The second episode has Tucks knife. More on that later.

Wendy is trying to decide if she wants a grumpy old man living in her basement. We learn that Buddy is 82 with a bad ticker that wont be replaced. He doesnt mince words, which Wendy kind of admires. He calls tampons period plugs, which Wendy kind of hates. When Buddy refers to Marty as the Decider, it almost feels like a challenge that will make Wendy more likely to say yes. She is the decider in this family.

The cops come after the boat and Charlotte learns the very hard way that Wyatt and Three dont come from a wealthy family. They throw Charlotte overboard, leading to a meeting between Wendy, Marty, and Sheriff Nix (Robert Treveiler), who basically wants them to pay up. The Byrdes play hardball, and Marty hears about Ruth Langmore for the first time. Shes tough, shes 19, and Marty knows shes probably robbed them already. He panics and rushes to the motel to find an empty suitcase under the bed.

Marty doesnt hesitate. He rents a boat and finds his way to Ruth and the rest of the Langmores, eavesdropping as the gang discusses how Wyatt lured Charlotte away so Ruth could steal the cash. Marty rushes in and meets Boyd (Christopher James Baker) and Russ Langmore (Marc Menchaca), two more branches on this sketchy family tree. Marty is seriously outnumbered, but dont forget that he doesnt have much to live for at this point. Hes already been contemplating jumping off a cliff. What could the Langmores really do to him?

And the truth is that Martys dead anyway if he doesnt get that money back. He starts to negotiate. What could the Langmores do with all that cash? He tells them about Omar Navarro, the head of the cartel, and that stealing his money is a very bad idea. If they keep the money, theyll have to kill Marty. His strategy is to lay it all out on the line. These people are in TOO DEEP.

Ruths business savvy kicks in. She calls some of Martys bullshit and notes how his death may help everyone, including the drug addicts he essentially enables. Marty pushes back by suggesting that even if he dies, someone in this dirty crew will break. Its a great scene thats even better in retrospect when considering how much will happen between Marty and Ruth. Everybody but the pair leaves the room, and Ruth gets her first of many great scene-enders: Almost got that done, didnt I? Why do I have this feeling we both know that youd be better off dead?

A quick trip back to Chicago reveals that Petty is moving to the Ozarks soon to chase after Marty Byrde, leaving his partner Trevor Evans (McKinley Belcher III) behind. He doesnt seem to care much about what the relocation will do to their relationship.

Marty wakes up early the next day and kisses his kids on the head. Is he ready to jump? Did he take Ruths words to heart? Marty learns about the Blue Cat through Jonah, who tells him about meeting Tuck after Marty finds the new knife. Its a crumbling lodge that could use money like Martys. But hes still planning to jump. He tells Wendy about the $1 million in life insurance and that theres money in a storage unit. Email Del. No one else can find the money. Wendy does keep encouraging him not to do it, although Linney deftly leaves the door open just enough to allow us to wonder if she doesnt know its the best plan for her.

After a call to his detective about insurance investigations related to possible suicides, Marty bails. He comes home, shocking Wendy, and goes to the Blue Cat, where he meets Rachel Garrison (Jordana Spiro). She turns him down but reconsiders when she sees Marty defend Tuck against some bullying bar-crawlers shortly after that. Marty has no idea how much the Blue Cat will change his life.

In the final scene, Wendy shows the kids their new house (and their new roommate). Almost as if the days emotion has torn down all of her defenses, she drops the hammer on the children: Your father is laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. I shit you not.

Dirty Laundry

 Its incredible to consider how many of these people have no idea that meeting Marty Byrde has essentially signed their death warrants. Ozark has had a higher body count than even fans realize.

 But not Sam! Other supporting players may come and go, but Sam is still around in season four. He may actually have the longest trajectory from first to the last episode outside of the Byrdes and Ruth Langmore herself.

Its funny to see these early characters reflected in later ones, like how there are echoes of Del in season fours Javi and Petty in Mel, the private dick sniffing around Helens disappearance.
As with most Netflix dramas, the mid-season sag starts to set in a bit in this episode of Ozark, the most transitional so far. Its a slow hour but still contains some significant developments and an introduction of two crucial characters in the arc of this series with an ending that seems kind of casual but really shapes the entire dynamic between Marty and his son Jonah.

It opens with a voice-over in which Marty explains the process of money laundering. They literally have to dirty up the money, throwing it into a washing machine to make it seem more used. They need a cash operation that can have easily manipulated books. You mix the $5 million from the cartel into the deposits from the cash operation, which go to a bank in another country and back into a standard checking account that can be drawn on from around the world. Cut to Del in a foreign land, taking out the money that Marty has laundered. Sometimes, the show hints at its international scope  how money from a tourist at a strip club called Lickety Splitz could be fueling a drug cartel on the other side of the world. Everything is connected.

After the prologue, theres some transitional chatter. Should they put the Byrde assets in Wendys name? Marty doesnt like this idea and brushes her off. He has no time to think about the future; hes trying to keep everyone alive today. At the same time, the Jonah-Buddy friendship is beginning in earnest. The youngest Byrde wants to know if Buddy is hurting while hes dying. Were all dying the minute were born, Buddy tells the young man. Dont waste this life. Its good advice.

Over at the Blue Cat, theres a bit of alpha-female play between Rachel and Ruth. However, considering Rachel suspects her new employee of being an accomplice to robbing Blue Cat clients, one could argue that Ms. Langmore is lucky to keep her job.

Marty gets a call from Del, which lights a fire under the rising kingpin of the Ozarks. Marty needs to get his hands on Lickety Splitz, and he wants Ruth to help. He starts by offering her 10 percent of a robbery, and she counters by demanding 80 percent, which is kind of amazing and reveals how hard she plays. They settle, and she goes to interview with Bobby Dean (Adam Boyer), the gross dude who runs the club and encourages his dancers to become sex workers for some extra cash. He also demands she participate in the audition part of the interview, and Ruth closes the door. But Ruth is just casing the joint, and so she hurts the sleazeball before heading for the door.

While the vultures will be circling Bobbys body soon enough, theyre over the corpse of a coyote in the woods for now. Jonah finds it and drags it home. Marty talks to Ruth about the safe when he sees his son disemboweling a dead animal on the dock. Jonah is a bit of a weird one, clearly increasingly fascinated by life and death. Thats what happens when you watch cartel murder videos on YouTube and chat with the old guy in the basement about how he can hear the Grim Reapers footsteps.

Ruth and her underage crew go on a field trip to Lickety Splitz! Even Three, who looks like hes about 12, is in the mix. The cops roll up after a call reporting shots fired, and all hell breaks loose when they see underage clients in the club. The commotion allows for arrests and a distraction so Ruth and Marty can take the safe. When they break it open, they find more documents than cash. Ruth isnt happy. Marty is.

That happiness will be short-lived, as it always is for Marty. Hes brought down to earth by his daughter Charlotte, who castigates him and Wendy for what theyve been saying about Jonah. And she does it in front of her brother, who tragically says, You think Im weird, dont you? While that line is sad, the next one ripples through the series: Why should I believe anything you say when youve been lying to me my entire life?

After hearing Wendy talk to someone on the phone about their situation  and its a bit hard to believe that Marty wouldnt confront his wife right then and there  Marty goes to see Bobby in jail. He offers him $200,000 for the club, and it becomes clear that hes trying to steal the operation by getting its owner arrested. At first, Bobby doesnt bite, but Marty reveals he is in possession of the bearer shares from the safe. Basically, Marty already owns the club; hes simply offering to purchase it for show. Bobby better act quickly because the price is now $175,000.

With that settled, and after some Blue Cat business, Marty can figure out who Wendy was calling. It turns out that it was Gary! The dead guy! Was she leaving messages on his voice-mail? It inspires Marty to watch the video of his wife and her lover. Will he ever tell her it exists? She marches in and tells Marty about her work with Sam and how that can help the laundering. What did you do today for our family, she asks. Bought a strip club, Marty answers.

Bobby drives up to the Snell plantation, and the show finally introduces two of its biggest players: Darlene (Lisa Emery) and Jacob Snell (Peter Mullan). It turns out that Lickety Splitz was laundering their money. Bobby tries to assuage Jacob and says that hell work it out with Marty. After a bit of villainous monologuing by Jacob, Darlene kills Bobby. Its an effective introduction to two people who will cause major problems for the Byrdes.

The episode ends with another major development that will have a long-term impact. It turns out that the opening voice-over was Marty talking to Jonah, teaching him the tricks of the trade. It will eventually tear the Byrde family apart.

Dirty Laundry

 Can we talk about Peter Mullan, one of the best character actors of all time? Hes just so consistently perfect for every role he takes and will be starring in Prime Videos mega-expensive The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in late 2022. For a great Mullan turn that you may not have seen, check out 2011s Tyrannosaur, co-starring Olivia Colman.

 Theres a brief scene in which Wendy gets a call from Garys son about his fathers death and she suddenly hangs up. Was she playing with fire by calling her ex-lover? Or would he have tracked her down anyway? As it lands here, after Marty discovers the calls, you have to wonder if Marty somehow alerted Gary Jr. to scare Wendy out of her new habit of blabbing to a dead mans voice-mail.

 Wendy wears a Murphys Bleachers shirt through some of this episode, which Chicago Cubs fans will love, as its one of the most famous bars near Wrigley Field.

 While Wendy wears a tee with the image of her favorite watering hole, Ruth wins the fashion contest with her Tupac shirt. Ruths love for hip-hop is eternal.
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Trump EPA head files his bid for Senate seat Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Scott Pruitt, who led the Environmental Protection Agency until resigning amid ethics scandals in 2018, is launching a U.S. Senate bid in Oklahoma. Pruitt, 53, is running to fill the unexpired term of Sen. James M. Inhofe (R), who announced in February that he will step down. Pruitt filed his state declaration of candidacy on Friday, the deadline for candidates to submit their paperwork to run in the June primary. Pruitt also confirmed his Senate bid in an interview with the Associated Press.

Before being tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the EPA, Pruitt was the Oklahoma attorney general and served in the state Senate. He also pursued an unsuccessful U.S. House bid in 2001.

 Felicia Sonmez

Inmate selects firing squad for execution

A prisoner scheduled to be the first person executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair this month, according to court documents filed Friday.

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Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is the first state prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead.

Moore has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted of the 1999 killing of a convenience store clerk. If executed as scheduled, he would be the first person put to death in the state since 2011 and the fourth in the country to die by firing squad in nearly half a century. I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, Moore said.

South Carolina is one of four states to allow a firing squad, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

 Associated Press

Hundreds of birds dead from avian flu

Avian flu has probably killed hundreds of double-crested cormorants nesting at Baker Lake near Barrington.

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Since February, more than 23 million birds in commercial flocks have been killed by avian flu or euthanized due to the outbreak, mostly outside Illinois, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Cases have been reported in 24 states this year, with Iowa the hardest hit, the Associated Press reported.

Federal and state officials said this is the worst avian influenza outbreak in the United States since 2015, when over 50 million birds died from the flu or were euthanized.

In Illinois, officials closed Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge and Emiquon Preserve in central Illinois from March 16 to March 25 after a likely outbreak among migratory geese. The USDA reported that avian flu was detected in a handful of wild birds found dead in Champaign, Will and other counties last month.

The outbreak at Baker Lake, about 40 miles northwest of Chicago, appears to be the first large die-off of wild birds from the disease in Illinois, wildlife biologist Chris Anchor said. The state pathologist confirmed that seven double-crested cormorants at the rookery tested positive for avian flu, he said.

 Chicago Tribune

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Kent Brewer has been employed by the Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery in southern Prince Georges County since his release from prison. (Jasmine Hilton/The Post)

The program is part of an effort to reduce barriers and help people in prison reenter communities.
Onefinestay, which AccorHotels bought in 2016, has a rental that comes with an indoor pool. (Onefinestay)

Hotel chains have been venturing into the short-term rental market, a domain long dominated by peer-to-peer platforms.
In February, amid Russias unprecedented military buildup on Ukraines borders  and the Biden administrations equally unprecedented strategy of actively declassifying intelligence gathered about Russias intentions to invade its neighbor  national security adviser Jake Sullivan took a question at a White House press briefing about the credibility of the U.S. during the crisis.

How, asked a reporter, could the public trust the U.S. governments claims about Russias intentions in Ukraine given how it had used faulty intelligence to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq?

Sullivan seemed to anticipate the query. There was a fundamental distinction between the disclosure of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq War and with Ukraine and Russia today, answered Sullivan. In the situation in Iraq, intelligence was used and deployed from this very podium to start a war, Sullivan said, referring to the administration of former President George W. Bush. We are trying to stop a war, to prevent a war, to avert a war.

The U.S. would continue to operate in good faith and share everything that we know to the best of our ability while protecting sources and methods, said Sullivan.

As this interchange revealed, the use  and abuse  of intelligence to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq has cast a long shadow over U.S. politics, sowing distrust in Americas intelligence community and wider national security bureaucracy.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

And, fairly or not, no U.S. spy agency was more closely associated with Iraq-related intelligence failures than the CIA. Former CIA Director George Tenets reported characterization that the evidence showing Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) was a slam dunk is now immortalized in American politics as a kind of shorthand for hubris and the capacity for official deception.

Though Iraq still lingers in the American consciousness, the CIA finds itself in a very different, and more salutary, position today regarding the intelligence battle over Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Story continues

Current U.S. strategy has also placed great weight on the intelligence community. Its the first time since Iraq and WMDs where the public has been asked to trust the agency during a major foreign policy crisis, said Jeff Asher, a former CIA analyst.

Indeed, unlike with weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the agencys and the wider intelligence communitys analysis about Russias intentions to attack Ukraine (though not the reported prognostications of a quick rout of Kyiv) have been widely borne out. And its warnings about Russian false flag operations being used as a pretext for war look prescient, as Russia continues to float baseless theories about a potential Ukrainian chemical weapons attack.

The lessons that led to todays successes were hard-won, experts told Yahoo News. Over the years, the agencys analytic corps absorbed the failures surrounding 9/11 and the debacle of the Iraq War, said Asher, the former CIA analyst. In fact, studying how the CIA went astray in its analysis of both events is now used as a training module for agency analysts, he says. Those lessons are sort of built into the analytic culture at the CIA now, Asher said.

A U.S. Army sergeant stands guard near a burning oil well in Southern Iraq in 2003. (Arlo K. Abrahamson/U.S. Navy/Getty Images)

The intelligence community has had a generation to think about those things, and what went wrong, Asher said.

The January 2017 intelligence community assessment detailing Russias covert intervention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was another watershed moment in the CIAs public-facing intelligence efforts, Asher said, and one where its analysts fundamentally got it right.

But the Obama administration, potentially worried about domestic political fallout and the sensitivity of the sourcing, failed to fully exploit this now public information surrounding Russias interference campaign  a lesson the Biden administration seems to have learned with its novel declassification strategy regarding Ukraine, according to Asher.

Agency leadership has also been key in the rebound, with CIA Director Bill Burns  a former career diplomat and Russia hand who has helped craft the Biden administrations disclosure strategy  unusually well-tailored for the current moment, say experts. In a nod to Burnss diplomatic acumen, President Biden even sent the CIA director, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, to Russia in November to try and deter Moscow from invading.

Burnss thinking about Russias designs on Ukraine was influenced by his time in Moscow, as was his exposure to Russian President Vladimir Putin's grievance-focused worldview. Understanding the Kremlin was as much about psychology as geopolitics, wrote Burns in his 2019 memoir.

Burns strongly endorsed the administrations declassification strategy in a recent appearance before Congress. In all the years I spent as a career diplomat, I saw too many instances in which we lost information wars with the Russians, he said.

An apartment complex in Kyiv, Ukraine, that was heavily damaged by a Russian attack, March 18. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

I think we have had a great deal of effect in disrupting their tactics and their calculations and demonstrating to the entire world that this is a premeditated and unprovoked aggression built on a body of lies and false narratives. So this is one information war that I think Putin is losing, said Burns.

Still, unsurprisingly for a spy service, many of the CIAs contributions on Ukraine have been decidedly less public. The agency has developed a close intelligence-sharing relationship with its Ukrainian counterpart, say former U.S. intelligence officials. The CIA also made a series of covert moves that have helped prepare the Ukrainian security services for the current crisis. Shortly after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the agency initiated secret paramilitary training programs for Ukrainian special operations personnel in the U.S. and on Ukraines former eastern front. These secret initiatives helped teach forces loyal to Kyiv the skills that have enabled it to mount an unexpectedly fierce resistance to the Russian onslaught, say former officials.

Secret programs notwithstanding, the major revelation of the Ukraine crisis may be how the rapid, ostensibly good-faith dissemination of intelligence can color public discourse and debate during times of intense international stress  and even function as a type of public diplomacy.

Ukraine has shown how the IC [intelligence community] can effectively harness the speed of 21st century information sharing to provide effective messaging in support of U.S. foreign policy objectives, said Asher.

_____

What happened this week in Ukraine? Check out this explainer from Yahoo Immersive to find out.
Simon Taylor. Credit: Theres occasional guitar strumming, a loop station and singing. Rhapsodising about the differences between commercial and public radio, he confounds with a lot of comedians get into radio because its a stable job. And theres a charming, random magic trick to bring the energy up. Predictable punch-lines punctuate Taylors set which is dominated by tales of his turbulent travels across America and his darling elderly nonno. You could be left feeling warm and fuzzy, rather than aching from laughter. Donna Demaio

Alfie Brown, Sensitive Man 

Mantra on Russell, until April 24 Alfie Brown. Credit: If you spend a lengthy preamble explaining how elaborately structured your show is, its probably advisable to deliver one that goes to plan. We sincerely hope that this was not the plan. Alfie Brown is here from the UK to deliver social satire and allegedly speak some truth to the culture. Its a shame then that his points are generally baffling and too often slathered in smug condescension. It all begin with Brown detailing a bizarre deal he made with his girlfriend that means he has a pass to have sex with anybody he likes while in Australia, an odd opening gambit that youd hope would pay off later in the show to justify the weird energy it brought to the room. It doesnt.

The rest is smarter-than-thou takes on topics like how our value judgments of others now skew more towards thoughts than action, how boring it is that everyones depressed these days (Brown says hes bipolar) and the mental health of conspiracy theorists. Loading In the right hands this is interesting territory and a potentially welcome respite from the prevailing stand-up approach. Unfortunately, Browns interminable set-ups, feeble pay-offs and tired jabs at countries that arent England make it more tedious than transgressive. It all ends with a screeching halt as Brown belatedly realises hes gone 10-minutes over time. Jet lag is a tough beat and may have cost Brown a star here, but on this evidence its difficult to imagine this could soon transform into a show thats as interesting as he thinks it is. Patrick Horan

Sammy Js show runs until April 16. Credit: Sammy J, Symphony in J minor 

Melbourne Town Hall, until April 16 Times have changed for full-throttle satirist, writer, comedian and radio presenter Sammy J. Memories of drawing a minuscule crowd at the Melbourne Town Hall remain, but nowadays, he packs the main room at Council headquarters - a refined artist who no longer offends the over 50s. A proud political nerd, Sammy J delivers a steady stream of hypnotic, exquisitely crafted tunes, injecting levity into todays gloom.

He ponders if in 200 years his sketches may become an historical resource, broaching topics such as Scott Morrisons cat, marginal seats, Uber driver chats, bog roll hoarding and crotch sweat. Riotous laughter follows the recount of why the contextually potty-mouthed entertainer will never again be invited to perform on cruise ships. Melanie Bracewell. Credit: Accomplished on the piano, and with sublime accompaniment from schoolmate cellist Richard Vaudrey, Sammy J produces an elevated, classy hour of satire - wrapped in the fervour and dagginess only he can muster. Donna Demaio Melanie Bracewell, Ooh La La 

Supper Room, Melbourne Town Hall, until April 24 Melanie Bracewell has come a long way, leaving Jacinda Ardern impressions in her wake.

The Cheap Seats TV host feels lucky and awesome jumping from a 40 seat room to filling a 250 seater at the festival and traipses through childhood memories with diary-like precision. Sibling rivalry, nerdy boyfriend, dating apps and therapists are analysed. Fleeting audience chats are expertly massaged into the routine. But its Bracewells masterful callbacks that entrance. Lets just say eggs and eye tests are the focus as she relays life experiences and thought bubbles with gusto. Amusing extrapolations interspersed with snappy one-liners are fashioned into a blitzing, clever, supremely satisfying set. Oh, and if you shop at Typo, a mighty dig is coming at you. Donna Demaio Tom Cashman. Credit: Tom Cashman, Graphs 

Victoria Hotel, April 14, Melbourne Town Hall, until April 22

If you like your comedy warm, affable and with a dash of geek, Tom Cashman falls squarely in the centre of your Venn diagram. Discussing the decline of social aptitude throughout lockdowns, a peach of a gag about the levels of rudeness in holding up individual fingers, and the fact that doctors treat single people differently to those in relationships, Graphs is marked throughout by bar and pie charts, diagrams and Powerpoint presentations. Having recently gone viral for approaching a real estate agency and asking for a reference from previous tenants of the landlord, the highlight of the show comes from the tales that follow. His self-described annoying troll has since been debated in the Lower House in Canberra about whether to bring it into law. Activism at its finest. Cashmans approach to comedy is idiosyncratic, but deftly handled. All variables point to a high chance of a long and successful career. Tyson Wray Chimp Cop, Imposter Syndrome 

TIC Swanston, until April 24

John Carpenters 1982 film The Thing has a prime place in the pantheon of horror/science fiction. The premise  an alien menace with the power to take any form  is a perfectly efficient method of generating paranoid suspense, since the evil can be any one of us. It also turns out to be a prime producer of laughs, as sketch humour team Chimp Cop

make clear. A space crew find themselves besieged by a shape-shifting nightmare  its a simple hook on which to hang this smart collection of SF gags. Chris Parker. Credit: They know their reference points, from jump scares to body horror played for laughs. If youre looking for hot takes on current events, keep walking. But if youre tickled by classic long-form, genre-based comedy  think The Naked Gun or Flying High  this will fill your tank. John Bailey Chris Parker, Gentle Man 

Mantra on Russell and Victoria Hotel until April 23

Searching for some comedy thats camper than all get-out? Chris Parker has you covered. Prefer something with a bit more of a message and meaning? Well, maybe look elsewhere. With a voice that pierces the air when it pontificates, Parker has a commanding stage presence but not a lot to say. Whether it be discussing with the audience about the amount of coffee they consume on a daily basis, act-outs portraying toxic masculinity or the fact that all of his friends are either gay or women, Parker walks down a well-trodden path of material  offering little that hasnt already been more acutely articulated by a generation of comedians past. There are laughs  and the majority of the sold-out Wednesday night crowd lapped it up  but compared to other offerings at this years festival Gentle Man feels limp and hollow. Tyson Wray Josh Glanc, Vrooom Vrooom 

Greek Centre, until April 24
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Chocolate maker Deniz Karaca pushes his hand into a large sack of cocoa beans, making a gentle rattling sound as the dry brown husks clink inside the jute. This 60-kilogram bag, shipped from cocoa farmers in Tanzania, is one of 100 or so stacked in his small warehouse factory in Carrum Downs, on Melbournes south-eastern industrial fringe. A few steps away, a heated barrel tumble-roasts cocoa beans, four kilograms at a time. Another machine winnows the roasted beans, making huffing and clanking sounds, and a trio of barrel-shaped stone grinders slowly mashes and squishes the husked cocoa nibs to create the smooth, molten brown liquid that will eventually become chocolate, a portion of the one tonne each month that is produced in Cuvee, Karacas artisan bean-to-bar operation. Were in the lead-up to Easter, the busiest time of year for anyone who manufactures chocolate, and a team of six is busy cranking out bar chocolates to send to restaurants for their desserts, plus chocolate eggs destined for boutique retail channels. One day, an employee calls in sick and Karacas urgent task becomes ribbon tying. Im getting better at bows, he says. Australians eat an average of 5.1 kilograms of chocolate a year, much of it in the form of chocolate eggs and bunnies at Easter, with the period accounting for about one-eighth of the nations $1.9 billion annual spend on chocolate. Its a jolly picture: even the rabbits look happy as their heads are snapped off and eaten. Australians eat an average of 5.1 kilograms of chocolate a year, much of it in the form of chocolate eggs and bunnies at Easter. Credit:Peter Tarasiuk But behind the foil-wrapped seasonal merriment and the squealing delight from egg hunts is an industry with a dark side. Cocoa farming is deeply implicated in forced and child labour. It is subject to climate-change impacts that threaten production. Farms impinge on protected forests. And the huge corporations that dominate the world chocolate market know this, have failed to eliminate it, and continue to rake in the profits. The cocoa supply chain is very, very broken, says Karaca. The more you find out about it, the more surreal it becomes. You cant believe its happening. Is it really true that children get stolen from their home country, transported to another country, and made to work for free? Yes. And why? So we can enjoy chocolate, a luxury product; something you dont need to eat at all. All the big companies know about it. Their answer is, What are we going to do? Stop buying cocoa? 

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Karaca, 38, has been working with chocolate since an apprenticeship at 16 in his native Germany. Chocolate is fascinating, he says. Its simple but also so complicated, and it gives you endless opportunities. Chocolate has taken Karaca around the world: hes worked on luxury cruise ships, taught chocolate arts in India, Singapore and Japan, and has led some of Australias busiest and most demanding pastry kitchens, including Epicure, where he was executive pastry chef. Karaca has also won a slew of industry awards, including Patissier of the Year and Australian Chocolate Master. He placed third in the World Chocolate Masters in 2013, the highest ranking ever achieved by an Australian. Chocolate maker Deniz Karaca at the Cuvee chocolate warehouse factory in Melbournes south-east. Credit:Peter Tarasiuk You might expect pastry chefs to be jolly, rotund, sugar-rushing, flour-dusted types, but in my experience they tend to be more like Karaca, lean, tight figures, as precise as the measurements they must follow to bring their creations into being. Chocolate is so versatile, he says. You can make giant sculptures, a souffle, brownie, a layered tart. You can get lost in it. Ive done it for so long, its become part of me. At the pinnacle of a career obsessed with chocolate, it dawned on Karaca that he was disconnected from its origins. In the kitchens I worked in, cooking was about local ingredients, getting in touch with farmers, talking about where food came from, he says. I took that in but never really applied it to myself. I was always highlighting chocolate; I was in love with it, but Id never seen the raw ingredient. Like the vast majority of chocolatiers, pastry chefs and chocolate-makers, Karaca didnt make chocolate from scratch: he was a melter, starting with chocolate buttons in bags. When he started Cuvee as a side hustle in 2014, he bought cocoa liquor or cocoa mass, interchangeable terms for ground cocoa nibs, the refined basis for most chocolate creations. I did that for a year or so, he says. The more you get involved with chocolate, not just eating it, not just working with it, but processing it, you start questioning: where does it come from, who is making it? He went on a farm tour to Ghana with premium brand Callebaut. I noticed there are lots of things they dont show you, he says. I realised there was a lot missing.

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Three-quarters of the worlds cocoa beans come from the West African countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana. Ivory Coast farms about 40 per cent of the worlds supply on about one million farms, most of them tiny family operations of one to three hectares. Ghana supplies a further 35 per cent from an estimated 800,000 farms, again most of them smallholdings. The price of cocoa beans is tied to the futures markets in London and New York, and farmers are usually at the mercy of middlemen, who are squeezed in turn by those further up the supply chain: the huge manufacturers such as Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Olam, Kraft, Nestle and Mars. The industry is growing at 5 per cent a year and is expected to be worth more than $US180 billion by 2025. Meanwhile, the average African cocoa farmer earns less than $US1.20 a day, not quite half the amount considered a living income. Many live without electricity or running water, without phone or internet, disconnected from the markets that impinge on them. A study found there were 1.6 million child labourers on West African cocoa farms. Poverty in Africa means many families enlist children to help. Light after-school and holiday tasks are one thing. Hacking into cacao pods with machetes, spraying fertiliser, carrying heavy loads and missing school to do it all is another. In both Ghana and Ivory Coast, governments, industry bodies and commercial players denounce such hazardous work. But that isnt the same as purging it from their supply chains. A 2020 US study found there were 1.6 million child labourers (defined as children under 12 working, or children aged between 12 to 18 engaged in hazardous work, such as chopping or fertilising) on West African cocoa farms. In agricultural households, 37 per cent of children in Ivory Coast and 51 per cent in Ghana were found to be engaged in hazardous child labour, an increase of 14 per cent in 10 years. Things are getting worse, not better. Ivory Coast is also known as a site of child slavery, typically involving children from Mali and Burkina Faso, even poorer countries to the north. Boys aged around 12 to 15 are stolen, tricked or trafficked over the southern border and forced to work on farms. They dont speak local languages, dont know where they are, sleep in shacks, are not paid and arent free to leave, even if they did know where to go.

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Danish documentarian Miki Mistrati is committed to exposing this situation. He has made three films about the cocoa industry in West Africa, including newly released documentary The Chocolate War, which tracks a US court case brought by human rights lawyer Terry Collingsworth. The plaintiffs are eight young Malian men who say they were trafficked to Ivory Coast as children and made to work on cocoa farms. They seek compensation from Nestle, Cargill, Barry Callebaut and other chocolate companies, asserting that the US entities are responsible for child slavery in their supply chains and that they facilitate and abet a system that contributes to human rights abuses. The businesses havent argued the facts of the case, but deny they are responsible. The case is pending. The big chocolate companies are signatories to a 2001 pledge called the Harkin-Engel Protocol, in which they promised to eliminate the worst forms of child labour from cocoa supply chains by 2005. The deadline has been extended four times. The most recent promise is that reliance on child labour will be reduced by 70 per cent by 2025. The biggest change between 2008 [when I made my first film, The Dark Side of Chocolate] and now is that the companies didnt admit there was a problem then, says Mistrati. Now they recognise theres a problem, but they dont do enough to eradicate it. Small-scale farmers supply Tanzanian trader Kokoa Kamili with cocoa beans directly, enabling them to be paid more for less work. Credit: He was last in Ivory Coast in November 2019 and in Ghana in January 2022. Its exactly the same, he says. If anything, the pandemic has made it worse. Modern slavery is something I know for sure is happening as we speak and I have a life mission to stop it. He adds pesticide use is routine. You see kids carrying school backpacks, but theyre not full of books, they are full of poison and they are spraying the cocoa trees. You see a lot of deforestation and trees dying. Its devastating. Every major chocolate manufacturer gestures towards their good works. Nestle, for example, has built schools and offered cash incentives to farmers for sending their children to school. Child labour is unacceptable and heartbreaking, a Nestle spokesperson tells me. Unfortunately, in many countries children still do work that affects their development and prevents them from attending school. Unfortunately, no company sourcing cocoa from these two countries [Ghana and Ivory Coast] can guarantee that it has completely removed the risk of child labour from its supply chain. The company plans to invest $1.9 billion in the child labour program between now and 2030. Nestles operating profit for 2021 was around $24 billion. Ive long been partial to a Lindt gold bunny at Easter, so I looked into the sourcing practices of parent company Lindt & Sprungli. A spokesperson from the Swiss headquarters tells me: Lindt & Sprungli strongly condemns all forms of child labour and we believe child labour issues can be resolved by addressing their root causes. With our sustainability program for cocoa beans  the Lindt & Sprungli Farming Program  we aim to improve the livelihoods of cocoa-farming households and their communities and thereby reduce the risk of child labour. The Farming Program sounds great when you read about it on its home page, but keep clicking and the warm fuzzies evaporate. Benchmarks are monitored by partner group Earthworm Foundation, whose most recent report in 2020 notes that while the program engages with 66,144 farmers in Ghana, the Earthworm team visited just three individual cocoa farms. Farming in protected forests is also a big issue; the report notes 3536 of its registered farmers were located in protected areas. A transition plan has been developed.

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Multibillion-dollar corporations are willing to close their eyes to all these issues, says Deniz Karaca. They set up something to tell their customers and put on their websites. Its an alibi. They could pay people properly for their beans but thats not as economical. They could pay people properly for their beans but thats not as economical. The Fairtrade movement pays a premium for the beans it buys and an additional grant to communities, then it on-sells the beans to manufacturers who have been certified to use the Fairtrade stamp. Brands come and go from the program. There are a lot of fine-sounding ethical labels out there  Cadburys Cocoa Life, Rainforest Alliance, for example  but not all labels are equal, says Molly Harriss Olson, CEO of Fairtrade ANZ. Cadbury used to be Fairtrade-certified in Australia, then they worked out it would be cheaper to do less and create their own standard. They are getting the advantage of an ethical label without being audited or independently certified. Cadbury is owned by Mondelez. A 2021 report from the companys Cocoa Life program states, We have made progress, but more systemic change needs to happen to improve the lives of the 4.5 million cocoa farmers globally. In 2019, 10 per cent of Ivory Coast cocoa-farming families working with Cocoa Life achieved a living income. I feel bad about my Lindt bunnies. Karaca felt bad about his chocolate, too. I didnt do the right thing, he says. It was too hard, too expensive, too much bother. I feel guilty for that. But I got to a point that if I wanted to keep making chocolate, I wanted to do the right thing. The idea that the people growing the beans were living in poverty so we can have a luxury product that they never even get to try, that just didnt sit right. I had to do things differently. A year after starting Cuvee, Karaca decided to change the way he did things: The idea that the people growing the beans were living in poverty so we can have a luxury product that they never even get to try, that just didnt sit right. Credit:Peter Tarasiuk The only way to be sure  or surer  that cocoa farmers are paid well is to source beans directly or through trusted dealers. The Australian commodity price for cocoa beans has fluctuated between $3.09 and $3.50 per kilogram over the past year. The cheapest we buy cocoa beans at is $9 a kilo, says Karaca. I can go tomorrow and buy $6 a kilo finished chocolate from Callebaut. I would say it about anything  chicken, chocolate or shoes  if it seems too cheap, it is too cheap. Theres something wrong somewhere along the way.

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A man working in IT said: Im a little concerned that he didnt know just basic economic figures [] He owned up to it pretty quickly which made me like him a little bit more but at first, I was alarmed. Wentworth is a contest between a Liberal MP and a high-profile independent, but those involved in other focus group research have a similar story. Albaneses bad head for numbers was not his only problem in these first campaign days. He foolishly exaggerated his economic credentials  which speaks to his desperation to establish them in the public mind. He described himself on Tuesday as having been an economic policy adviser to the Hawke government, when he actually was a research officer to Tom Uren, at that stage a junior minister.

Karen Middleton in her biography, Albanese: Telling it Straight, says he wrote reports and policy proposals, including notes on the economy for Urens electors, and a position paper for the Left faction on dividend imputation before the 1985 tax summit. On Thursday came a third own goal  this time leaving open a gate for the government to charge through. Asked about border policy, Albanese reaffirmed Labor would turn back boats if they appeared. He also said offshore processing wouldnt be needed if boats were turned back. Taken literally, this was a statement of the obvious. But it invited an interpretation that Labor had scrapped its commitment to offshore processing. It hasnt, but the slightest imprecision is dangerous because Labor has always been vulnerable on the issue. Albanese clarified, but it had been another example of failing to take enough care.

Through the week, Albanese did try to smarten up his presentation, and make his news conferences tighter. However, his preparation remains underdone, and within Labor theres criticism of the narrowness of the group running things and the high degree of centralisation of the campaign. A ragged week hits both a leaders confidence and that of his team. How it shakes out will depend in part on whether the next round of polls show any shine has been taken off Labors vote. Albaneses problems have made Scott Morrisons first week rather easier than he might have anticipated. But by Thursday the prime minister was starting to feel the heat, with the travelling media peppering him over his stubborn resistance to setting up a robust integrity commission (rather than the pallid model he proposed). Its clear Morrison, who demands Labor agrees to his model before introducing legislation, has little intention of trying to forge a deal if re-elected. This will play poorly for him in the teal seats where high-profile independents are challenging Liberal incumbents.

Morrison was appearing with the member for the Tasmanian seat of Bass, Bridget Archer, who crossed the floor in a bid for a debate on a crossbench bill for an integrity commission. At Thursdays news conference Archer acquitted herself as well as she could in the circumstances. But another Liberal candidate, Morrisons captains pick for the Sydney seat of Warringah, held by independent Zali Steggall, was in a heap of trouble this week and the PM found himself in the middle of it. Katherine Deves had social media posts last year (now deleted) that talked about transgender children being surgically mutilated and sterilised and criticised police for participating in Wear it Purple day, celebrating diversity. Loading Morrison on Monday praised Deves for standing up for something really important  that was, ensuring girls and women playing sport were playing against people of the same sex. Deves, he said, was standing up for things that she believes in, and I share her views on those topics.

By Wednesday, when more had come out about Daves, and she apologised for her inflammatory posts, Morrison said lamely theyre not views that I was aware of. To which the obvious question was: why not? Morrison and his factional ally, minister Alex Hawke, had delayed a batch of preselections until the last moment. Morrison had led the three-person selection committee for a suite of candidates, including the candidate for Warringah. Why hadnt the Liberal Party vetted Deves properly? If it had, and was aware of the social media posts, did it think no one would notice? It will be another mark against Morrison and Hawke when the election postmortem in NSW examines the preselection fiasco. That postmortem will be excoriating if Morrison loses, more benign if he wins.
Of the many reasons to look forward to Sunday, May 22, the most obvious is that one leadership career will finally be behind us. Such is the self-indulgence of the pair vying to win this federal election  the captains picks, the waffling press conferences  you might be forgiven for thinking that their personal futures are the biggest stakes in the contest.

Instead, while leaders are mostly interchangeable and designed for obsolescence, the viability of some Australian democratic institutions is on the line, with more far-reaching consequences. One of the two major parties, for instance, is about to plummet off an existential cliff.

Should Labor lose another election against a government so insubstantial as this, then its reason for existence is what? Of course, this also happened in May 2019, so you might say that the federal ALPs irrelevance is match-hardened and therefore durable. But surely, if it cannot defeat this Morrison-Joyce government, enough is enough.

The election will end one leadership career. Credit:James Brickwood and Alex Ellinghausen

On the other side, the Liberal Party has gambled its claim to meaningful existence on winning. Scott Morrison disenfranchising his entire rank-and-file party membership in selecting candidates is an all-or-nothing gamble. Why would anyone now join the Liberal Party? Only if it wins the election can the leadership rebuild trust with its remaining members (presumably so it can break their hearts again next time). But if Morrison loses his punt, his party can brace for an election post-mortem that is not so much figurative as literal.
After 45 days of war, its the first day that a funky Kyiv cafe has reopened and Im there with a man whose job it is to save lives. Paul Niland, the founder of Lifeline Ukraine, sits with me; Im back in a city I often came to before the war. I want to mark the fact that most of my friends and family have survived the siege of their city. I want to hug them and hear them. Paul among them.

My coffee companion describes the rule of one. Its what his suicide-prevention hotline is founded on. Australians were there at Lifeline Ukraine in its early days and its one of the connections between this ancient and now scarred place and the country I call home.

The wreckage of an apartment building in Borodyanka, near Kyiv, where as many as 200 people had been feared dead. Credit:AP

Our focus is on the needs of each person who calls, no matter their circumstances or background or state of mind, says Niland, an Irish expat with more than 20 years in Ukraine. Its about non-judgment. For our hotline counsellors, its about being fully engaged with that one person in that one moment to save one life.

As air raid sirens went off, bombs fell, and suburbs were levelled by Russian military occupiers, calls to Lifeline Ukraine had increased by 40 per cent since the start of the war. Service, though, was never interrupted as Niland and his team switched to remote locations, such as bomb shelters, and to having some calls answered by allied services in Estonia and Poland and Israel.
Washington: Russian troops have laid siege to Mariupol for more than a month, cutting its citizens off from food, water, heat and humanitarian aid with few exceptions.

Now as it appears poised to capture the strategic Ukrainian port city, the governor of the Donetsk region said that while his countrys troops remained in control, Mariupol has been wiped off the face of the earth by Russian forces.

Pavlo Kyrylenko told CNN that troops were still courageously defending Mariupol against the Russian forces that have bombarded the city on the Sea of Azov, leaving it in ruins.

A serviceman stands at a building damaged during fighting in Mariupol, on the territory which is now under the control of the self-determined Donetsk Peoples Republic. Credit:AP

The enemy cannot seize Mariupol. The enemy may seize the land that Mariupol used to stand on, but the city of Mariupol is no more, Kyrylenko said. The city of Mariupol has been wiped off the face of the earth by the Russian Federation, by those who will never be able to restore it.
Loading The move was taken in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials, the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would expand the list soon. Explosions were heard in the early hours of Saturday in Ukraines capital, Kyiv, and the western city of Lviv. Air raid sirens were going off over most of Ukraine early on Saturday. Kyiv was rocked by some of the most powerful explosions in two weeks on Friday. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for striking the ship and a senior US defence official said on Saturday (AEST) it was indeed hit by at least one Ukrainian missile.

Earlier more than 900 civilian bodies were discovered in the region surrounding Kyiv  most of them fatally shot, police said, in an indication that many people were simply executed. The jarring numbers emerged shortly after Russias Defence Ministry promised to step up missile attacks on Kyiv in response to what it called Ukraines aggression on Russian territory. Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling on Thursday. The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyivs regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95 per cent died from gunshot wounds.

Consequently, we understand that under the [Russian] occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said. More bodies were being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added. The largest number of victims were found in Bucha, where there were more than 350, he said. Olga Kosyanchuk, 63, left, stands next to the coffin of her husband Anatoliy Kosyanchuk, 56, who was captured by Russian soldiers on March 29, and found dead with heavy head injuries in Bucha. Credit:AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha gathered and buried bodies while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were tracking down people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views. In Kyiv, a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations. Tentative signs of pre-war life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes.

Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified. The cruiser Moskva in port Sevastopol in Crimea on April 7, 2022. Credit:Maxar via AP However, Ukrainian officials said their forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. And after more than a day of the Pentagon saying it could not confirm the claim, a senior US defence official said it now believes the Moskva was hit on Wednesday by at least one, and probably two, missiles, creating the large fire aboard. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment. The guided-missile cruiser Moskva, named for the Russian capital, then sank while being towed to port on Thursday after suffering heavy damage. Though Moscow did not acknowledge any attack, the loss of the ship represents an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia. The Moskva had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles. The last time a warship as large as the Moskva sank in combat was 1982. A British submarine torpedoed an Argentinian navy cruiser called the ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War, killing over 300 sailors.

The sinking of the Russian warship reduces Russias firepower in the Black Sea, although military analysts disagreed on the events significance to the course of the war. Either way, the loss was viewed as emblematic of Moscows fortunes in a seven-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine. Loading A flagship Russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov boasted on Twitter. Zelensky has made a direct appeal to President Joe Biden for the US to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, one of the most powerful and far-reaching sanctions in the US arsenal. Russia has sent a series of warnings to the Biden administration, including a formal diplomatic protest this week, demanding that it halt shipment of advanced weapons to Ukraine that could strike into Russian territory, or risk unspecified unpredictable consequences, The New York Times reported.

The final hours before Passover found the chief rabbi for Kyiv and Ukraine, Moshe Reuven Azman, in a cemetery. Before he could mark the Jewish peoples escape from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago, he was burying a man who didnt escape a Russian bullet. Credit:AP Russias warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring day as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets on Friday, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand. In one central park, a small group of people including a woman draped in a Ukrainian flag danced to the music of a portable speaker. News about the Moskva overshadowed Russian claims of advances in Mariupol which has been blockaded by Moscows forces since the early days of the invasion. Dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against a siege that has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians. A building damaged during fighting in Mariupol. Credit:AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov

Mariupols mayor said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence in Mariupol of atrocities against civilians like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv. The Mariupol City Council said locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies that were buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials of people killed by them. Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown, the council said on the Telegram messaging app. Zelensky said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting with the countrys military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies. The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelensky said.
There are 116,867 libraries in the United States. Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1833 funded the first tax-supported public library. The Nebraska Territory established the first library in Omaha in 1856-57. Columbus Public Library was established in 1878.

Advocates for public, private, and school libraries have been leading influencers and fundraisers and have come from every walk of life. Many of us have spent a great deal of time in a library. Initiate a discussion with anyone about their visit to a library and a dialog will kindle regarding the attention, expertise, and enthusiasm of the staff, and amazement about ever-evolving services. Learning to access these resources, whether in person, on-site, or online, is an essential skill that provides expected, and sometimes unexpected, life-long benefits derived from early through advanced age. Libraries serve and support everyone, and provide equitable access to information that we can understand and appreciate as a fundamental expectation and valued privilege.

Libraries have always been recognized as a visible and vital center of the communities they serve. Inspiring quotes abound worldwide regarding libraries:

Books and doors are the same thing. You open them, and you go through into another world. Jeanette Winterson; English Author.

It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish. S.I. Hayakawa; Canadian-born American academic and politician.

A trained Librarian is a Powerful Search Engine with a Heart. Sarah McIntyre; American Author and Illustrator.

In the non-stop tsunami of global information, librarians provide us with floaties and teach us to swim. Linton Weeks; Washington Post Writer.

I have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card. Laura Bush; American teacher, librarian, memoirist, author and former First Lady of the United States.

When in doubt go to the library. J. K. Rowling; British Author.

There are many books that have been written where a central character is a library, a librarian, or staff in a bookstore. Recently, several books have coincidentally become a part of my reading journey where a characters life, based on author experiences, was enriched, engaged, and/or encouraged and changed for the better.

 "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haas

 "The Secret, Book, & Scone Society" by Ellery Adams

 "The Sentence" by Louise Erdrich

 "The Personal Librarian" by Marie Benedict and Victoria C. Murray.

We can all be advocates for libraries as easily as by getting to know the staff, and learning and utilizing the incredible services. If and when its possible, participation can be at another level by becoming involved in the Columbus Public Library. Contact them about information regarding the Friends of The Library, Library Board, Library Foundation Board, Adopt-a-Shelf, event volunteers, and organizational partnerships. More information is available at: http://www.columbusne.us/174/Get-Involved

Libraries and their staff have been treasured resources since their existence began. Become an advocate whenever and wherever you can and visit your library frequently!

Kathryn Ballobin is the a member of the Columbus Public Library Board of Directors.
Today

Mostly sunny and warmer, though still a bit breezy.

Tonight

Mainly clear skies.

Tomorrow

Plenty of sun and still a little breezy at times but also comfortable.
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HANOI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam recorded 18,474 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down by 1,602 from Friday, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new infections, which are all domestically transmitted, are reported in 62 cities and provinces.

The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the epidemic hotspot with 1,361 new cases reported on Saturday, followed by the northern provinces of Phu Tho with 1,070 and Bac Giang with 874.

Also on Saturday, local health authorities of northern Vietnam's Quang Ninh province reported 4,880 previously detected COVID-19 cases.

The newly recorded infections brought the total tally to 10,417,887 with 42,934 deaths. Nationwide, as many as 8,931,374 COVID-19 patients, or nearly 86 percent of the infections, have so far recovered.

More than 209.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the Southeast Asian country, including nearly 192.1 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.

Vietnam has by far gone through four coronavirus waves of increasing scale, complication, and infectivity. As of Saturday, it has registered more than 10.4 million locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since the start of the current wave in April 2021, said the health ministry. 
Did you know the average lifespan of a tree planted today in Nebraska can be 50 to more than 100 years?

One way to commemorate a loved one, friend or co-worker is to plant a tree in the Columbus Community Hospital memorial walkway, which is located in the southwest portion of the hospital property. This area has a wonderful variety of trees  some that will be blossoming soon, a few that tower over others, several that provide shade on a hot summer day, and others that send a beautiful fragrance toward the entrance of the hospital on a spring day.

The Columbus Community Hospital Foundation offers memorial trees as a wonderful way to cherish the memory of someone precious to us. We currently have space for seven additional trees in the memorial walkway area. A memorial tree with a plaque is $450; however, depending on the variety of trees a donor chooses, that cost could vary.

The hospital foundation staff works closely with the donor to help them select the variety of trees they would like and ensure they will be planted at the right time of year. The foundation staff also works hand in hand with hospital plant operations team members, who assist with placing and planting the tree.

We provide a tree-planting ceremony that includes the donor and as many friends and family as they would like to attend. During the planting, we invite clergy to say a few words. Then the attendees are invited to assist by adding a scoop of dirt, packing it down, providing water in between scoops and spending time reflecting and sharing memories of the honoree. Participants have shared laughter, tears, stories, and fond memories during the last few tree-planting ceremonies.

As part of the tree planting ceremony, I recite a poem I write specifically for our memorial trees. Here is an excerpt: Roots taking hold, deep and strong, set for years to come. A steady trunk, branches spread out, soaking up the water and sun. Buds and blossoms bursting through, a sight for our eyes to behold. Leaves abound, providing shade, a quiet refuge for us, truth be told. Winter will come, branches stand firm against the Nebraska chill. A solid trunk, strong deep roots, priceless treasure standing still.

Future generations can walk through these trees, read the memorial plaques and recall the fond memories of their loved ones.

Please consider planting a tree in memory of your loved one, friend or co-worker. What a beautiful, lasting way to honor someone youve loved and lost.

Cori Fullner is the executive director of the Columbus Community Hospital Foundation.

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As our oldest National Park, Yellowstone turns 150 years old this spring, work continues on other federal lands, and large land masses on Native American Indian reservations. The work in the Great Plains beyond federal dollars expended by the Bureau of Indian Affairs is assisted by various consultants and societies assisting almost 26 tribes in our region from a variety of governmental agencies. There are 476 recognized tribes, nationwide.

New Century Environmental (NCE) biologists from Columbus were in Deadwood South Dakota this past week at the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society sharing information about research and wildlife conservation on Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North and South Dakota. A scenic location, the area is blessed with bighorn sheep, mule deer and antelope seen throughout the week while at the conference.

NCE was fortunate early in the week to work with the Standing Rock Chairman of the Tribe, Ms. Janet Alkire, about the unique and abundant natural resources located on the reservation and help her write her keynote speech for the conference. I was fortunate to present information about Cannonball and Missouri River flora (plants) below the DAPL pipeline that had not been documented previously on the reservation. Sharing keynote points about s of North Americas listed imperiled species (species of greatest conservation need) are plants.

Seth Gutzmer, NCE biologist, an upland gamebird and habitat specialist, presented 10 years of gamebird trends on the reservation and promoted management and habitat recommendations based on habitat loss, climate change, over-grazing and invasive species impacts. Gutzmer presented real-world improvements to habitat that transform bird populations. This fall, Gutzmer has accepted a graduate assistantship offer at the University of Central Missouri to evaluate impacts on small mammals and other fauna from solar and wind renewable energy installations across the country. He will also teach undergraduate biology, ecology and wildlife management labs.

Jordan Kort, biologist and predator calling expert, present a listed mammal species presentation featuring black footed ferrets and very rare bats found on Standing Rock Indian reservation. NCE research methodologist Kurt Tooley (one of the best acoustic bat monitoring experts in the U.S.) and biologist Jordan Kort have developed innovative sampling techniques related to black footed ferret calling and thermal imaging that will be pilot tested during a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) study conducted over the next year. This is an example of innovative techniques developed for population inventory the private sector can bring value to the table in a struggling effort for better management.

Tribes are waiting to see if Americas Wildlife Recovery Act could be passed later this year. Funding for natural resource work and management is minimally supported by grant awards and some donations. NCE biologists have assisted tribes locally and regionally in the last 25 years with almost 4 million dollars successfully awarded to Great Plains tribes.

This spring NCE just started a Tribal Wildlife Grant project funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Santee Sioux Nation in Knox County that will inventory common and rare amphibians and reptiles in reservation wetlands and compile threats to future populations. This was the only tribal wildlife grant funded in the Great Plains region in 2022. We are also developing a Santee Sioux Wetland Conservation Plan with a grant awarded through the Environmental Protection Agency in a separate effort.

The firm also works on an invasive species inventory and tribal youth development projects for the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska in southeast Nebraska in Richardson County with that work being funded by BIA. This is also a two year study.

At the end of the day our goal is to bring good science to inform the successful management challenge of reservation resources for tribes that in many cases may not be realized without this supplemental funding. As a small business, we continue to find ways to procure funding and develop new technologies for game & fish and environmental departments that otherwise might not be involved with hands on management.

Our ultimate goal is to work to preserve dwindling natural resources on reservation lands not only for tribal members but for all Americans in a world projected to have 9 billion people in 2042.

Happy Easter everyone!

Michael P. Gutzmer, PhD is principal and owner of New Century Environmental LLC and provides environmental consulting services in the Great Plains. NCE works with water, wetlands, habitat development threatened and endangered species and pollution problems. Please email me at mgutzmer@newcenturyenvironmental.com.

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Thawing permafrost is roiling the Arctic landscape, driven by a hidden world of changes
Living a Christ-like life is what many Christians strive to do. St. Francis Principal Jennifer Dunn has done just that. In fact, she's said to be a great model of Jesus Christ to the staff and students of the school, according to President The Rev. Eric Olsen.

She's an effective leader and has really good management skills, Olsen said. The reason that we have a Catholic school is to be able to mold disciples of Jesus Christ. And fortunately, that's her greatest strength.

Its due to these qualities that Dunn has been named the 2022 Rural Administrator of the Year by the Archdiocese of Omaha. The Humphrey principal learned the news during Mass held last week.

I felt I have managed to fool people into thinking I am somehow deserving of this because I know of so many other administrators who are amazing and are certainly more deserving than me, Dunn said. I am thankful my shortcomings can be overlooked and I greatly appreciate the support of this school community and administration.

Dunn is an Elgin native who has been an administrator at St. Francis for 12 years. She, her husband and their four children have lived in the Humphrey community for that same amount of time; they moved here when she accepted the position at the school.

Becoming an educator was something she knew she would enjoy, Dunn said, though she started college undecided. She took some social work classes and realized that wasnt for her. She then began education classes and has been in that field since.

My first teaching position was with Omaha Public Schools teaching fourth grade. My husband and I then moved to central Nebraska near where I grew up, Dunn said. I had the opportunity to teach a combination first and second grade class at Spalding Academy in Spalding for three years and then first grade with a couple years of a combination kindergarten and first grade classroom at St. Boniface in Elgin for five years. It was during that time that I began my administrative degree.

Olsen said the award nomination process involves the school board, community members/school families and a pastor of the school nominating the individual.

Olsen noted that the school had a teacher unavailable at the beginning of the year, which put Dunn in a difficult situation  she had to find an educator for that class when it had already started. She was able to remain flexible and adjust schedules as needed, he added, and has remained a great leader through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The ability to stay positive and helpful, and be a good leader during that time was really something that was extraordinary, Olsen said.

She did a fabulous job managing both of those situations, keeping up with COVID responses and all the information that was coming from the CDC and the different local health offices and managing all the chaos that came with that.

According to Dunn, there are a variety of reasons why she enjoys her role as St. Francis principal. The first is seeing the students learn, grow and develop both academically and spiritually over the years.

I knew them in kindergarten and see how far they have come when they graduate, Dunn said. The second aspect is the ability to have a direct role in the students' total educational experience including their faith life. I can sub in any classroom and do occasionally when needed. This helps me stay grounded  working directly with the students.

Dunn being named the Rural Administrator of the Year is also the credit of St. Francis school as a whole, Olsen said.

It's a team game; no one wins an individual award without the support of the people around them. And so it very much is a group effort, Olsen added. Being a small school, it really involves the entire community for the school to be successful  her success is really a sign of the school's success.

Additionally, its a testament to the Humphrey community as a whole, he said.

We're very blessed with two very vibrant schools and a very small community. To be able to have any of those schools honored is really a great testament to how the community supports its educational systems, he added.

Dunn will be honored at the 45th annual Archbishops Dinner for Education being held in September in Omaha. Another Platte County woman, St. Anthonys Elementary School teacher Cathy Hutchinson, will also be honored as well as a 2022 Elementary Educator of the Year.

But, according to Dunn, this recognition doesnt mean that St. Francis will not stop improving upon itself.

This designation means our work isn't done; we continue to reevaluate what we are doing. This designation means all our efforts should focus on graduating disciples of Jesus, Dunn said. This designation is not an ending point of something, it's a new beginning.

Hannah Schrodt is the news editor of The Columbus Telegram. Reach her via email at hannah.schrodt@lee.net.

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The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced Friday the appointment of Jennifer Park to serve as the park manager for Gifford Pinchot State Park in York County.

Park will manage the 2,338-acre park located in northern York County along PA 177 between Rossville and Lewisberry. The park consists of reverting farm fields and wooded hillsides with the 340-acre Pinchot Lake serving as a prime attraction.

Jen has succeeded in every one of her previous roles with the department and we are confident she will provide exemplary leadership in this new role at Gifford Pinchot, Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said in a news release. Her passion for the outdoors and her desire to continue in Pennsylvanias rich history of conservation make her a great fit for one of our most popular parks in the region.

Park previously served as the manager at Cowans Gap State Park. She replaces Brian Heath, who is now the park manager at Delaware Canal State Park.

A native of Fredonia in Mercer County, Park holds a bachelors degree in Park and Resource Management from Slippery Rock University. Her service at DCNR includes spending time as an environmental education specialist at Chapman State Park, a program specialist within the Bureau of State Parks central office, an assistant manager at Nockamixon State Park, and as the manager at Washington Crossing Historic Park.

Im honored to be managing the Gifford Pinchot Park complex and look forward to being a part of this new chapter and community, Park said. My love of parks and passion for resource management began early for me growing up in western PA. I want to continue that legacy so other state park kids and Pennsylvanians can have similar experiences growing up loving parks and becoming stewards of our natural spaces.

Email Jeff at jpratt@cumberlink.com or follow him on Twitter @SentinelPratt.

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WINNIPEG -The RCMP say a Manitoba man accused in the deaths of three family members is now in custody.

WINNIPEG -The RCMP say a Manitoba man accused in the deaths of three family members is now in custody.

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They say in a release that 50-year-old Trevis Mcleod was arrested without incident Friday evening in downtown Winnipeg by city police officers and later turned over to the RCMP's Major Crime Services.

Mcleod is facing three counts of second degree murder and one of arson in the deaths of his 32-year-old wife, six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.

Investigators said the bodies of the three were found last Sunday in the wreckage of a house fire in Portage la Prairie, west of Winnipeg.

Police had been searching for Mcleod since that incident.

They did not provide any further information about the case in their release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Apr. 16, 2022.
LONDON (AP)  Six people have been arrested after climate change activists climbed onto an oil tanker in central London to protest investments in fossil fuel, British police said Saturday.

Demonstrators take part in an Extinction Rebellion protest on Westminster Bridge in London, Friday, April 15, 2022. Climate-change protesters have snarled traffic by blocking four London bridges. Cars and red double-decker buses backed up along roads as hundreds of Extinction Rebellion activists occupied Londons Waterloo, Blackfriars, Lambeth and Westminster bridges, calling for an end to new fossil fuel investments. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP)  Six people have been arrested after climate change activists climbed onto an oil tanker in central London to protest investments in fossil fuel, British police said Saturday.

The Extinction Rebellion climate activism group said two Olympic athletes  gold medal-winning canoeist Etienne Stott and Laura Baldwin  were among those protesting Friday. The oil tanker protest was part of mass climate demonstrations Friday that saw hundreds of activists blocking four key bridges across the British capital, causing delays and disruption across central London.

Extinction Rebellion said thousands of people are expected at Londons Hyde Park on Saturday for more protests.

More than 600 people have been arrested over the past two weeks after environmental activists climbed atop oil tankers, padlocked themselves to structures and blocked roads at oil depots across the U.K. The group Just Stop Oil, which is affiliated with Extinction Rebellion, is demanding that Britain's Conservative government stop any new oil and gas projects.

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The demonstrations are part of a growing climate action movement that has also seen the group Insulate Britain obstruct highways and roads to press its demands that the government fund more energy-efficient homes. The demands have become more urgent as energy prices are skyrocketing in the U.K. and elsewhere.

A spokesperson for Shell said the company respects the right of everyone to express their point of view - we only ask that they do so with their safety and the safety of others in mind.

We agree that society needs to take urgent action on climate change. Shell has a clear target to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050, in step with society," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, police in central England said nine people were charged after Just Stop Oil held a demonstration Friday at an oil terminal in Kingsbury, near the city of Birmingham.

___

Read all AP stories on climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
A CITY councillor is asking Winnipeg to consider a voluntary fund for homeowners to donate to reconciliation efforts as part of their property taxes.

A CITY councillor is asking Winnipeg to consider a voluntary fund for homeowners to donate to reconciliation efforts as part of their property taxes.

Shawn Nason (Transcona) said he was inspired by Victoria moving forward on a similar fund, which will ask homeowners if they would like to add between five and 10 per cent on top of their annual property tax to go to First Nations in the B.C. city.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Transcona Coun. Shawn Nason

Nasons motion, which references the Victoria initiative and suggests that Winnipeg "adopting a similar approach would help foster a journey of reconciliation," will be put forward to the upcoming East Kildonan-Transcona community committee meeting April 25.

If members vote in favour of making the recommendation, it would go to the executive policy committee, which would have to then refer to the Winnipeg Public Service, which would have 180 days to put together a report on such a funds feasibility and possible purposes.

"Its one of those things, I dont see a harm in it. Its voluntary, some people may wish to contribute to this and see great value; others have sounded off (that) this is a federal government responsibility," Nason told the Free Press.

"Those individuals obviously are not aware that reconciliation involves all of us, at all levels of government."

It wouldnt be tax deductible  unless the public service suggests this, Nason said  and would be used on top of the reconciliation initiatives already funded by taxpayers. Ideally, the city councillor said, the creation of the fund would happen after conversations with Indigenous leadership in Winnipeg.

When asked if he had reached out to any Indigenous leadership prior to announcing the motion, Nason said hed connected "informally" with Southern Chiefs Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.

Brian Kelcey, an urban policy consultant who previously worked as a special adviser to then-mayor Sam Katz, called the idea easy to do and a good idea in theory. Its not uncommon to see cities with a voluntary contribution line on their property tax forms, but its unlikely to create a large amount of revenue in action, he said.

"I think the logistics and the spirit of it are a little more clear in Victoria, and youre dealing with the City of Victoria itself as a relatively small city, where its going to be really clear who the moneys going to in a circumstance like that," he said.

Considering Victoria hasnt even put the practice in place yet, there isnt a lot of empirical evidence to prove itll be effective, Kelcey said.

"It might be more effective if you looked at something like a foundation structure, where people were getting tax credits from making larger contributions. Or more to the point having a broader and more comprehensive reconciliation strategy to solve problems that the citys expected to solve, might be more effective."

Nason said should the report be requested, residents would have the opportunity to submit where theyd like to see the money go.

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"It could be to support specific events on (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) that are over and above what were already doing. It could be for monuments," he said. "The report will come back to inform us.

"The city has multiple reserves for various undertakings this is just a reserve that I envision as an opportunity to further our reconciliation efforts."

The idea was "exciting" for Isabel Daniels, a wellness co-ordinator at Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre (a non-profit that works with at-risk Indigenous youth in Winnipeg), but also elicited concern it would go to superficial projects instead of into the hands of people who need it.

"We dont need another monument. Monuments arent changing our lives," she said, adding supports for Winnipegs homeless population would be more valuable.

"We have a lot of derelict buildings around the city  lets fix them up and put people in them."

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Under the dimmed lights of the RBC Convention Centre, Fraternal twins Mason and Jonah McDowell, 5, stand wide-eyed and jittering beside their best friend, Wyatt McLeod, 6.

Under the dimmed lights of the RBC Convention Centre, Fraternal twins Mason and Jonah McDowell, 5, stand wide-eyed and jittering beside their best friend, Wyatt McLeod, 6.

The boys are here to meet Safari Sarah, a dinosaur trainer who works with Jurassic Quest.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kolton Patterson pops his out of a dinosaur head for a photograph at Jurassic Quest at the Convention Centre on Friday.

The trio bounce on the balls of their feet as they glance at Safari Sarah and then back at one another with wide, gap-toothed grins.

In her arms, Sarah carries a baby camarasaurus.

She has swaddled the small dinosaur in a white baby blanket, concealing her hands which  unknown to the boys operate the dinosaurs mouth. She leans in, and the puppet comes to life, planting kisses on their cheeks.

The children burst into giggles.

Melissa McDowell and Lisa McLeod laugh along, snapping photos of the encounter. The mothers are happy to see their children at play, they say.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Fitzwilliam Butler rides a dinosaur.

For the second time since 2019, the travelling, animatronic dinosaur exhibit is in town and has transformed the convention centre into a Jurassic wonderland for kids such as Mason, Jonah, and Wyatt.

The show features herds of life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, demonstrations, real dinosaur bones, games, inflatables and rides.

"Its just a relief, finally to be back to normal and be able to have them experience kid things and not have to worry. And not have to feel like they are missing out on just living life," McDowell says.

McLeod booked tickets to see the exhibit in March but held off from telling the boys.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dezhere Policarpio and Serge Uwimana play with their daughter as she pops her head out of a dinosaur egg.

Given the uncertainty of the pandemic, it would have been devastating to have to cancel, she says.

When McLeod and McDowell surprised them Friday morning with news that they would see the dinosaurs, McDowell says they were beyond excited.

"We kept saying, When are we going to be there? When are we going to be there?" Jonah says, describing the moment he and his twin brother found out.

The three boys love dinosaurs and have spent many hours watching dinosaur trainers such as Safari Sarah on the Jurassic Quest YouTube channel, Mason adds.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS People watch the JoJo Raptor show.

Safari Sarah, whose real name is Sarah Menard, is used to being somewhat of a celebrity at the exhibit.

Jurassic Quest is wildly popular with children, she says, gesturing to the people around her.

Throughout the convention centre, the chorus of squeals and laughter is endless.

Kids clamber over one another to ride on large, rocking dinosaurs or take pictures in the open jaws of T-rex statues.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS People watch the JoJo Raptor show.

Some children cling to their parents hands and drag them between displays, while other perch on their shoulders and crane their necks to see over the crowds.

Almost everyone is smiling.

Winnipeg has quickly become one of the organizations favourite stops because the children here are so passionate about dinosaurs, Menard says.

"The kids here really know their stuff," she says. "They know the dinosaurs and how to pronounce them. I am always surprised."

Jurassic Quest goes out of its way to make its dinosaurs as real as possible. Many of the creatures eyes blink and their chests expand as if they are breathing, she says.

The organization hires paleontologists to ensure they are anatomically correct, so having such an educated audience is encouraging for staff, Menard says.

The troupe rolled into town Wednesday as a spring snowstorm battered the southern part of the province.

"We were worried about that. We were also worried about if people would be able to come out to the show," she said. "We just kept a really close eye on it, and it ended up working out fine.

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Fortunately, the weather did not slow down the numerous semi-trucks and trailers that carry the crew and cargo. They arrived without incident and workers spent most of Wednesday and Thursday setting up, Menard says.

Jurassic Quest spends 46 weeks on tour between Canada and the U.S.

This year, the Canadian tour is bigger than ever, with organizers adding a new ancient aquatics section, more inflatables and extra dinosaurs for children to ride, Menard said.

The exhibit opened Friday at 9 a.m. and will stick around until Sunday at 6 p.m. before moving to Edmonton.

Tickets for today are nearly sold out, with only a few remaining.

fpcity@greepress.mb.ca
A former Asper School of Business student who left his semen on the clothing of three young children in a gym locker room has, on appeal, been granted a conditional discharge, sparing him a criminal record.

A former Asper School of Business student who left his semen on the clothing of three young children in a gym locker room has, on appeal, been granted a conditional discharge, sparing him a criminal record.

Court of Queens Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris ruled the original sentencing judge erred by focusing on the effect of the offence on society. "In my opinion, it is in the public interest that the accused be given every opportunity to become a useful and contributing member of the community to its fullest potential," Harris said in the ruling.

The now 25-year-old man, identified in court documents only by the initials C.B., pleaded guilty last July to three counts of mischief and was sentenced to 15 months of supervised probation.

Court was told that on three occasions in early 2019, the man entered the community locker room at the Frank Kennedy Active Living Centre at the University of Manitoba, where he removed the clothing of young girls from their lockers and "deposited his semen" on the garments before returning them to their lockers.

In each incident, the childs mother noticed the semen before the child had put their clothes on. Police analyzed the semen for DNA and identified C.B. as a suspect.

The original sentencing judge rejected C.B.s request for a conditional discharge, ruling it was contrary to the public interest.

"It would have been evident to you by the size and the nature of the clothing that it was childrens items on which you were depositing your bodily fluids," the judge said.

"I do find thats very concerning, from a public morality view, and also from a feeling of community safety. This is a facility where families go to learn to swim, to enjoy the water. It was in the community change room, and their items were taken and violated It erodes the feeling of safety that people can have when using these facilities."

Harris said the sentencing judge concluded issues of "public morality" precluded a conditional discharge without properly assessing what factors were relevant to the public interest.

C.B. was at the top of his class at university, but withdrew from school after he was charged by police. He was also forced to quit his job at a grocery store where he would come into contact with children, a violation of his bail.

Since his arrest, C.B. has used his time to learn French and completed more than 100 hours of volunteering with Reconciliation Thunder, an Indigenous non-profit group.

C.B. underwent counselling on his own initiative, and according to a psychotherapists report provided to court is a "very low risk" to reoffend.

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C.B. told his psychotherapist he considered his actions "a prank," and stopped immediately when he overheard parents complaining and realized they could have a damaging effect on the children.

C.B. is not a Canadian citizen and a criminal record would jeopardize his professional opportunities and ability to travel abroad, Harris said.

"I am mindful of the impact on the victims and their parents and the fact that there were three separate incidents It is difficult to fathom the depth of that sense of violation caused by these repugnant acts," Harris said.

But a criminal record is not necessary to deter C.B. or others or denounce his actions.

"I believe that a sentence which will facilitate the accuseds rehabilitation and enable him to contribute to society to the fullest of his potential is the most appropriate sentence."

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Tracy Sandersons world has been torn apart by opioid addiction, even though shes never touched the deadly drugs.

Tracy Sandersons world has been torn apart by opioid addiction, even though shes never touched the deadly drugs.

The Winnipeg grandmother lost her 27-year-old stepdaughter Melissa to suicide in 2008, a tragic end to a life destroyed by opioid addiction.

Five years later, she found her youngest daughter Alexandria  an 18-year-old first-year University of Manitoba student  dead from a fentanyl overdose. When a small piece of foil fell from Alexandrias face, Sanderson knew it meant shed been smoking the drug.

She knew that because her older child, Kelsie, now 31, began using fentanyl in 2007 at the age 16.

"(Alexandria) hid it from us very well, but I wasnt looking," says Sanderson, 58. "Im sure if I was looking, I would have seen the signs.

"I wasnt looking at her. I was busy trying to keep my other daughter alive."

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tracy Sanderson lost a daughter to an opioid overdose and a stepdaughter to suicide after a life destroyed by opioid addiction. A third daughter is currently in recovery.

It took years for Sanderson, a retired social worker, to acknowledge how Alexandria died. She then became an advocate with Overdose Awareness Manitoba in 2016.

As she watches the number of opioid-related deaths rise in Manitoba each year, she feels sadness, but not surprise.

"Because of the lack of resources, because of a lack of government stepping in and doing anything to try and stop this epidemic," she says. "They throw a few bucks here and there theres not enough harm reduction."

Overdose deaths have risen steadily in Manitoba since 2019, when there were 200; the number increased to 372 in 2020 and 407 in 2021.

The statistics dont come as a surprise to those who work with people battling addictions.

A health-care worker at a Winnipeg Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinic, who asked to not be named, says the facility is run by devoted staff but doesnt have the resources to meet the growing need.

RAAM clinics are drop-in centres for people who want help with substance abuse. Theyre a low-barrier option for people whove decided theyre ready to get help. They can get counselling and other support, including prescriptions for medication to dull their cravings. There are two in Winnipeg  817 Bannatyne Ave. and 146 Magnus Ave.  and one each in Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk and Thompson.

The health workers clinic sees from 16 to 22 people daily, including patients theyre following up on and new walk-ins. People are turned away when the clinic has hit capacity. Clients dont have to be sober, but cant enter if theyre "too" intoxicated. Anyone behaving violently or aggressively wont be admitted.

A client is assessed by a nurse to determine which drugs they use, how they are affected by withdrawal and what the client wants to happen.

"Sometimes either their needs, wants or requests are just beyond what we can give," he explains. "I cant get someone into, say, a treatment program tomorrow."

If someone has been turned away, he says they will "move heaven and earth" to get them in.

"Personally, every person that we dont see, or we have to turn away, theres a little voice in the back of my head saying, Is that the one youre gonna read about (in the obituaries) on Saturday?" he says. "And thats hard. That breaks my heart."

"Every person that we dont see, or we have to turn away, theres a little voice in the back of my head saying, Is that the one youre gonna read about (in the obituaries) on Saturday?" RAAM clinic worker

Hes been in health care for decades and has worked with RAAM clinics since they were introduced in Manitoba in 2018.

He says the provincial government has little interest in improving supports for people with addictions, and he calls that "disgusting."

"The government doesnt see us with the same needs, in my personal opinion, as they do others," he says.

In its 2022 budget unveiled Tuesday, the province set aside $1 million to expand capacity and hours at RAAM clinics.

After the Free Press requested a comment from Mental Health and Community Wellness Minister Sarah Guillemard, a spokesperson emphasized the province has invested $58 million in 40 projects since 2019 "to improve mental health and addiction services throughout the province."

The health-care worker argues that small amounts of money earmarked for different projects makes it difficult for treatment providers to offer streamlined services.

"I get very frustrated, because if you look at the (Addictions Foundation of Manitoba) building on Portage Avenue If you really want to make addictions treatment what it needs to be, knock that place down, and put a 10-storey building with every resource: us, treatment, detox, counselling, followup, addictions physicians," he says.

"Put all that under one roof and stop piecemealing it where people are going from here to there, to here to there."

He says drug-related deaths have spiked during the pandemic because the available supply of illegal substances became tainted when the Canada-U.S. border closed. People began making some of it themselves, using unsafe ingredients.

"We have a lot of fake drugs in Winnipeg," he says.

In 2021, 38 people died after overdosing on a mix of fentanyl and etizolam. It marked the first year etizolam (a sedative prescribed for anxiety and insomnia that, when combined with fentanyl, can be fatal) was listed as the cause of a drug-related death in Manitoba.

"I really wish (Health Minister) Audrey Gordon would come down and spend the day with us, or spend half a day with me. Come spend half a day and see the people, come see the families, come see the children who come with the parents that are addicted and stop throwing dribs and drabs of money," he says.

"Just because addicts arent pretty, and thats why theyre not given the money or the resources thats necessary."

"I really wish (Health Minister) Audrey Gordon would... come spend half a day and see the people, come see the families, come see the children who come with the parents that are addicted and stop throwing dribs and drabs of money." RAAM clinic worker

People seeking help at the clinic have ranged from the well off to those who have lived on the streets for decades. Hes seen police officers, doctors, engineers.

"Ive seen friends die. Ive opened the paper and theyre dead, theyve killed themselves, overdosed," he says. "It brought me into this, because it makes me angry, because no one has to die from addiction. No one."

In 2020, the provincial government promised $890,000 over three years to set up eight more beds to help get patients quickly transferred from RAAM clinics into detox. There are currently 82 detox beds in the province, five of which are closed in Thompson and eight at Main Street Project owing to staffing and pandemic issues.

Six beds have been added since the pandemic started, all mobile beds at Klinic in Winnipeg.

Arlene Last-Kolb, co-founder of Overdose Awareness Manitoba, says theres no point in funding more beds if users have no way to ensure the drug they use wont kill them.

"If we dont start talking about the supply, people will continue to die. We couldnt provide enough treatment and health for all of these people," she says.

"Not everybody who uses substances wants treatment, but they want to know that theyre safe. And what is happening here is we have a supply out there that is unsafe, and people are not consenting to this. If we had wine that was poisoning people, it would not be happening, because people did not consent to take that poison in their wine."

"If we had wine that was poisoning people, it would not be happening, because people did not consent to take that poison in their wine." Arlene LastKolb

The provincial government wont consider the proposition that people in Manitoba who use drugs deserve to use them safely, be it through drug-checking services or safe-injection sites, says Last-Kolb, who lost her 24-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose in 2014.

"My frustration comes from when I do these monthly meetings with our harm-reduction community, and all the different people that work with people that use substances," she says.

"And when I meet with my families, its a completely different conversation than when I have a conversation with government. I dont know how else to say  theyre not listening, theyre not paying attention."

At the municipal level, conversations focusing on safe use and decriminalization are ramping up, but not getting to the finish line.

A recent motion tabled by councilors Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and Markus Chambers (St. NorbertSeine River) for the city to ask Ottawa to create an exemption allowing Winnipeg to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illegal substances was shot down in an eight-eight tie.

Rollins has been calling for a harm reduction-based approach to Winnipegs drug problem for years, asking for supports including supervised consumption sites for people to test their drugs without fear of arrest.

She says the motion was shot down, in part, because many councillors dont believe addressing the citys drug-addiction problem is among their responsibilities.

For years, she has requested meetings at the provincial level to discuss the problem but has never received a response.

"The stark failure of government, and the stark differences between this province and this city, and any other capital city in Canada is astonishing," she says.

"The stark failure of government, and the stark differences between this province and this city, and any other capital city in Canada is astonishing." Coun. Sheri Rollins

Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec all have open supervised-consumption sites. The City of Edmonton is currently moving forward in the process to decriminalize personal possession of drugs. Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto have asked the federal government do the same.

"The pressure that I see groups and community-based organizations under is unreal, but the sheer amount of mourning that families are going through, the trauma and the silencing, because we dont even have the narrative in this province that many other provinces have in terms of harm-reduction services," she says.

Away from the health workers frustrations and political debate about what should and shouldnt be done, the people with addictions struggle to live another day.

Kelsie Sanderson, Tracys 31-year-old daughter, is in a sober-living home. Shes been in public and private treatment centres multiple times since she first tried fentanyl at 16.

"(Alexandria) was my best friend. That was really hard on me, I carry a lot of guilt surrounding her death," she says.

"I had a really hard time trying to get myself to heal from that, because I honestly didnt think that I deserved it, until I started going to meetings and connecting with people with similar stories and learned that it wasnt anybodys fault."

Kelsie has been sober for stretches since; her sons, now 11 and four, were born while she was clean. When COVID-19 hit, she relapsed again after finding it difficult to access the resources that were helping her get by.

"(During) the COVID pandemic, my depression had skyrocketed, my anxiety had gotten really bad and I didnt know how to get help, because I wasnt sure what was open and what wasnt, because everything was shut down," she says. "And then things would open up again, when they thought numbers are going down, and then it would close again."

A year ago, feeling hopeless about the future because of the pandemic, she transitioned from using fentanyl to "down"  a combination of fentanyl and heroin.

"My life had gotten so bad, it had gotten so unmanageable, that I didnt think that I was going to make it out alive, which scared me," she says.

But she checked herself into the sober-living home after five previous attempts. Shes hopeful.

"You cant understand unless youve been through it, or have seen it firsthand, or have had your family be torn apart from it." Kelsie Sanderson

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She wants to eventually get her high school equivalency General Education Development certificate and reunite with her two boys now under Tracys care.

She dreams of going into social work like her mother. And Alexandria, who planned to follow her mom into the field and worked part time at a womens shelter when she was 18.

In the meantime, she hopes people will be empathetic when reading her story.

"You get a lot of negative opinions from the outside people who have never seen it or have really had someone they know (go) through it, so its really easy to say bad things about people who have struggled in addiction or alcoholism," she says.

"But you cant understand unless youve been through it, or have seen it first-hand, or have had your family be torn apart from it."

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Today, when Mike Storozuk delivered the newspaper, he was in it.

Today, when Mike Storozuk delivered the newspaper, he was in it.

For nearly a decade, the 50-year-old carrier has made sure the 85 subscribers on his route in Selkirk get their daily edition of the Free Press.

Storozuk, who lives with an intellectual disability, hasnt missed a day throughout his career, said Charlie Dodd, who manages the communitys Free Press carriers.

In addition to being his boss, Dodd is a friend and caretaker to Storozuk, someone he says is hard-working and reliable.

Rain, shine, no matter what, hes out there, Dodd said. He may not finish on time, but he always gets it done.

Storozuks dedication to the job was on full display during Thursday mornings miserable weather when Selkirk resident Kelly Cook spotted him completing his route.

Storozuk is a well-known fixture in the community, so when Cook saw him pushing his bike over snow-covered roads, he snapped a photo, hoping to garner some recognition for his hard work.

He rides that bike around town, and he rides it with his little cart, no matter what time of day or weather with his papers in the back, singing as he comes down the street, Cook said. I think its wonderful.

Storozuk is one of the hundreds of Free Press carriers who headed out into Thursdays ferocious wind, sleet and snow to complete their routes.

On Wednesday and Thursday, all papers made it to subscribers in the Winnipeg region, but road closures prevented deliveries in some areas, including Portage la Prairie, Brandon, the Interlake, Minnedosa and Dauphin, said Al Guenther, who manages the newspapers rural circulation department.

The Free Press circulation team managed to deliver roughly half of the papers destined for rural communities near Winnipeg, including Selkirk, St. Andrews, Lorette and LaSalle, he said.

I continually get surprised and impressed by a lot of our contractors, Guenther said. These guys are going out in the worst of the weather, and its pitch-dark if the highways open, they are going out.

Nobody knows this better than Fred Heinrichs, who has been delivering papers to areas northeast of Winnipeg for 31 years.

Heinrichs, who lives near Lorette, recounts early winter mornings digging a path through the snow to make it to his delivery vehicle. He has found himself stuck on rural roads waiting for a tow truck on more than one occasion.

Not many people would do what (we) do, he said. Most of my customers do understand (when there are delays), but a couple of them dont.

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A little empathy goes a long way, he added.

On Wednesday and Thursday, numerous readers reached out to Free Press publisher Bob Cox to express their gratitude to the paper carriers who braved the storm.

This was the worst delivery challenge we have had this year, Cox wrote in an email statement. The storm hindered our deliveries, but did not stop them completely.

Subscribers who did not get their papers on time will receive missed copies along with their next delivery.

We will catch up by Saturday. Its no fun to get a newspaper that is old, but we deliver them, in any event, Cox said.

The Free Press employs an email alert system to notify readers about delays and provide a link to the papers e-edition.
The long journey is almost over for a young Ukrainian family who arrived in Winnipeg Friday.

The long journey is almost over for a young Ukrainian family who arrived in Winnipeg Friday.

Its only a matter of hours now before theyre driven through the forests of the Canadian Shield to a lodge in northwestern Ontario. The hope is there, the children  whove been through so much  can be kids again while the parents adjust to their new home country.

Viktoriia Katsal, Christian Anayo Egwuom, and their two children, Davyd Egwuom, 9, and Filip Egwuom, 4, will be staying at Browns Clearwater West Lodge in Atikokan, Ont., thanks to an initiative headed by the lodges owner, Aniela Hannaford.

"I want to thank them so much for giving my kids and my family this opportunity to smile once again," Egwuom said. "We still pray for those back home; we still remember them so much."

Hannaford knew she wanted to open her doors to Ukrainian families the moment she heard Russian forces were shelling the nation. Without hesitation, she freed up the lodge this year to accommodate as many families fleeing the war as possible.

"Were providing work for the first three families for the next six months," Hannaford said. "After that, we have another facility right beside where theyre going to be staying Well bring families over and rotate them so they can come over, decompress, intentionally choose the community they want to be in, have some time to find work and housing, and get set up comfortably."

Hannaford connected with the family through a Facebook group for Ukrainian refugees seeking housing in Canada  Katsal was the first to respond to Hannafords post.

The chaos and bloodshed in Ukraine took an emotional toll on Egwuom and Katsals children, the father said. At one point, the family had been in hiding for eight days  the boys in tears for much of this time, Egwuom said.

The parents decided it was in the familys best interest to flee their home in Kryvyi Rih, a city of about 600,000 people in central Ukraine. After crossing into Poland, the family stayed in Austria for three weeks before departing to Canada.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Viktoriia Katsol and Christian Anayo Egwuom with their children Davyd, 9, and Filip, 4, arrive from Ukraine and are welcomed to Winnipeg by Taras Maluzynsky (left background) of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and Aniela Hannaford (right), owner of Browns Clearwater West Lodge in Atikokan, Ont. Hannaford has opened her lodge to people escaping the Russian invasion.

Once they secured visas, the rest fell into place.

Egwuom, who was born in Nigeria and moved to Ukraine 14 years ago, said hes overwhelmed by how co-ordinated the Hannafords were in getting his family to Canada. Hannafords sister, who lives in Kitchener-Waterloo, drove to Toronto to greet the family when they first arrived in Canada.

"They cared for us; they gave us all we needed," Egwuom said. "We lacked nothing  not any single thing."

Hannafords sister hosted the family for two days, before helping them catch one of the first flights to Winnipeg after Manitobas spring snowstorm had passed.

Egwuom said that upon leaving Ukraine, his childrens conversations gravitated to things that had happened back home. But, since arriving in Canada, their talk has shifted to curiosity about this new country

Egwuom said his son Davyd has enjoyed experiencing the difference in weather from Toronto to Winnipeg.

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"We have a beautiful beach campground thats packed in the summer, so theyll experience northwestern Ontario extremely naturally," Hannaford said.

Hannaford has co-ordinated with professionals in the health care, employment, education, faith, and immigration sectors in several northwestern Ontario communities to help the family settle in.

The two other Ukrainian families Hannaford is supporting will make the journey to Canada once their immigration documents are finalized.

"Then its just organizing flights to get them over here," Hannaford said.

Hannaford is collecting donations for the families through the crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo. The portal can be found under the campaign name "Help bring Ukrainian refugees to Atikokan."

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
THE governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta have in the past month taken steps to stop wild pigs from running rampant. Its incumbent on Manitoba to do as much.

Opinion

THE governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta have in the past month taken steps to stop wild pigs from running rampant. Its incumbent on Manitoba to do as much.

The feral boars are causing great damage in Manitoba, the Manitoba Pork annual meeting on April 8 was told by wild-pig expert Ryan Brook. He called them "the single most successful invasive large mammal on the planet."

"There are no predators, they are insanely aggressive, they eat just about anything and they keep going all year," said Brooks, a University of Saskatchewan animal science professor.

Such porcine pronouncements might seem exaggerated to Manitobans who have never personally encountered a wild pig. Perhaps some skeptics believe reported sightings should be accorded the same credibility as reports of mythical creatures such as Sasquatch and unicorns.

Brook is aware of the disbelief. He said one of his biggest challenges is just convincing people wild pigs exist.

A reason the creatures are seldom spotted when compared with commonly-seen wildlife such as deer is that wild pigs have evolved to avoid humans. Theyre smart and elusive. They hide in wooded areas. When humans are nearby, they can become nocturnal.

Unfortunately, evidence for their existence is undisputed. The Canadian Wild Pig Research Project has recorded more than 60,000 sightings across the country, including more than 1,000 photographs of the stealthy creatures in Manitoba, mainly in the northern Interlake and Parkland, with many hundreds in the Spruce Woods area.

Other than photos, the presence of wild pigs is confirmed by ecological destruction. The powerful beasts  they weigh up to 100 kilograms  tear up the forest floors, destroy crops and plow through wetlands and grasslands. They eat almost anything, including rodents, birds, eggs, deer, livestock and family pets. There is also fear wild pigs could endanger Manitobas pork industry by spreading diseases such as African swine fever.

Such problems were not foreseen when Canadian farmers first imported wild boars from Europe in the late 1980s. Some escaped through inadequate fencing, others were set free when the market for boar meat was not as profitable as hoped.

It was initially thought that, when free in the wilds, the foreign breed would not survive Canadas frigid weather, but they adapted to winter, heaping cattails into burrows called "pigloos."

They reproduce quickly, becoming sexually mature at six months and have two litters per year of four to six piglets. They stay in small herds called sounders, and can move up to 25 kilometres in a day.

When humans discuss possible solutions to the wild-pig problem, the conversation inevitably begins with one proposal: shoot them. The reasoning is that hunters are eager to set their sights on game that tastes delicious when roasted.

Its not so easy, though. Manitoba tried hiring hunters when the escaped boars first became a problem about 25 years ago, but this method didnt stem the burgeoning population. In fact, sport hunting made it worse. Unless hunters kill an entire sounder, the remaining pigs will disperse and become even more elusive, starting new sounders in new terrain and becoming more active at night to avoid hunters.

In January, Manitoba created an agency called the invasive swine eradication project. It would do well to consider tactics employed in other jurisdictions.

Alberta has launched a Squeal on Pigs campaign that urges residents to report sightings. It also began a pilot project on April 1 that pays government-approved trappers $75 per set of wild-pig ears, with trappers encouraged to eliminate entire sounders.

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Last month, Saskatchewan announced new measures to encourage public reporting, to increase control efforts and put a moratorium on new wild-boar farms.

If Manitoba needs more incentive, a new development is particularly alarming. Researchers believe Manitobas wild pigs will, if unchecked, soon enter Riding Mountain National Park.

Perhaps this is where Manitoba should draw the line. Like a military force defending its territory, Manitoba can take its stand at the boundaries of Riding Mountain. Keep the feral swine out of this wilderness gem by whatever means necessary, knowing the potential infiltration can only be stopped at an early stage.

As Brook, the wild-pig expert, warned: "Once you have firmly established wild pigs, get ready to live with them. They are there forever."

carl.degurse@freepress.mb.ca

Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board.
AP/Madeline Monroe/The Hill Illustration

Russia reportedly warned the U.S. in a letter that shipments of sensitive weapons to Ukraine could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Well break down the letter and the assistance that Washington has sent Ukraine since Russias invasion began. Plus, well talk about the Pentagon backing Ukraines claim that it hit a key Russian warship with two missiles.

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, Im Jordan Williams. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Russia warns of unpredictable consequences

Russia has sent a formal letter to the U.S. warning that shipments of sensitive weapons from the United States and NATO were exacerbating tensions in Ukraine and could lead to unpredictable consequences, The Washington Post reported.

The letter, which was viewed by the Post, added that the U.S. has flouted the rules governing the transfer of weapons to conflict zones.

Russia further accused NATO of impeding early peace negotiation with Ukraine in order to continue the bloodshed.

The State Department declined to confirm any private diplomatic correspondence.

However, a spokesperson added that it can confirm that along with allies and partners that we are providing Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of security assistance, which our Ukrainian partners are using to extraordinary effect to defend their country against Russias unprovoked aggression and horrific acts of violence.

How Washington is arming Ukraine: The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled $800 million in additional military equipment to Ukraine as Russia prepares to launch an offensive in the eastern part of the country.

The U.S. has rushed more than $3.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including $2.6 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The most recent round of U.S. security assistance includes a mixture of arms and other supplies that Washington has already provided Kyiv, as well as new capabilities that had not previously been sent over.

Story continues

HAWKS MAKE INROADS OVER ARMING UKRAINE

Biden administration officials hawkish on arming Ukraine with more advanced and deadly weaponry are making inroads to shift a White House policy that has come under criticism for being too slow and cautious in its decision making.

While President Bidens announcement of the new $800 million security assistance fell short of the specific requests made by Ukraine, it also represented a real shift.

Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the recent package of military assistance is a significant change and is a sign that the administration and U.S. allies have consistently turned up the heat against Russia.

Are there still red lines? Yes, he added, but said the U.S. has walked right up to those lines without crossing them.

Read more here

Pentagon backs Ukraines claim on Russian warship

Ukrainian forces hit the Russian warship Moskva with two Neptune missiles, causing it to catch fire and sink in the Black Sea, the Pentagon told The Hill Friday.

The U.S. assertion backs up the account of Ukrainian forces, who on Thursday claimed to have struck the Moskva with the anti-ship cruise missiles, seriously damaging whats known as the flagship of Russias Black Sea fleet.

Has Russia acknowledged this? Russia only acknowledged that the entire crew of the vessel was forced to evacuate after an overnight fire caused the ships stored ammunition to explode but did not mention an attack.

The Russian navy later attempted to tow the ship into port on the Crimea peninsula for repairs, but it sank.

Possible ramifications: The Moskva  which can carry a crew of about 500  gained prominence at the start of the invasion when it told Ukrainian troops on Snake Island to surrender, only to be told to f itself. The moment was widely shared as a rallying cry and sign of Ukrainian resistance.

Its sinking could prompt a ramp up of the Kremlins attacks on Ukraine. Russias Defense Ministry warned it will increase strikes in retaliation for hits on Moscows assets, even as it continued to deny the ship had been successfully attacked.

Read the story here.

Graham leads bipartisan trip to Taiwan

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) led a six-member group of U.S. lawmakers on a two-day visit to Taiwan this week, a visit that has sparked anger from Beijing.

Graham tweeted that the people of Taiwan are great allies of the United States and called Taiwan a beacon of freedom in a troubled region.

Who went to Taiwan? Graham along with Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) landed in Taiwans Songshan Airport in Taipei on Friday.

China reacts: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian in Beijing denounced the visit on Thursday, saying China is firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan.

Relevant U.S. lawmakers should abide by the one-China policy upheld by the U.S. government. The U.S. should  stop official contacts with Taiwan, and avoid going further down the dangerous path, Zhao said at a daily briefing.

We will continue to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhao said.

Chinas military also announced it had conducted military drills around Taiwan on Friday as the two-day visit by the delegation of U.S. lawmakers was underway.

Recent fears over Taiwan: China cautioned the U.S. against supporting Taiwan and trying to build a Pacific version of NATO earlier this year amid the crisis in Ukraine, which is resisting a Russian invasion.

Moscows actions raised fears about the future of Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignty.

More generally, worries about a Chinese invasion of Taiwan had stepped up over the last year.

Read the full story here.

ON TAP FOR MONDAY

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual event entitled Aerospace Nation: Understanding AFRLs WARTECH at 9 a.m.

WHAT WERE READING

Zelensky says world should prepare for Russia to use nuclear weapons

New texts show two GOP lawmakers offered advice to Trumps team on challenging election

Vulnerable Democrats buck Biden on Trump-era immigration fight

Thats it for today! Check out The Hills Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you Monday!

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

A cemetery worker takes a rest from working on the graves of civilians killed in Bucha during the war with Russia, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated  and refuted by witnesses  throughout 52 days of war.

The toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine. An infant and at least eight other people died, officials said.

In the towns and villages just outside Kyiv, authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago. Smoke rose from the capital again early Saturday as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike that killed one person and wounded several.

The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return.

A cat rests inside the grave of Lyudmyla Kononuchenko, 51, who was buried by family and friends after being hit by a rocket on March 23 during the war with Russia, in Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 15, 2022. The corpse of Lyudmyla was exhumed in the yard of her house and taken to the morgue for analysis. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

It was not immediately clear from the ground what was hit in the strike on Kyiv's Darnytskyi district. The sprawling area on the southeastern edge of the capital contains a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shopping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas and railyards.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said an armored vehicle plant was targeted. He didnt specify where the factory was located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

Volunteers carry the body of a man killed during the war to a refrigerated container in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

He said the plant was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with air-launched high-precision long-range weapons. As the U.S. and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraines defenses ahead of whats expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area since the Russian military vowed this week to step up missile strikes on the capital. Another hit a missile plant Friday.

The Russian missiles hit the city just as residents were emerging for walks, foreign embassies planned to reopen and other tentative signs of the city's prewar life started resurfacing, following the failure of Russian troops to capture Kyiv and their withdrawal.

A woman looks for goods dropped from the apartment building partly damaged by shelling, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Thursday, April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

Kyiv was one of many targets Saturday. The Ukrainian presidents office reported missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours in eight regions across the country.

The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, which has been only sporadically touched by the wars violence, reported airstrikes on the region by Russian Su-35 aircraft that took off from neighboring Belarus.

In apparent preparations for its assault on the east, the Russian military has intensified shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in recent days. Friday's attack killed civilians and wounded more than 50 people, the Ukrainian presidents office reported.

In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 14, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

On Saturday an explosion believed to be caused by a missile sent emergency workers scrambling near an outdoor market in Kharkiv, according to AP journalists at the scene. One person was killed, and at least 18 people were wounded, according to rescue workers.

All the windows, all the furniture, all destroyed. And the door, too," recounted stunned resident Valentina Ulianova.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Saturday's toll was three dead and 34 wounded.

FILE - In this photo provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Russian navy missile cruiser Moskva is on patrol in the Mediterranean Sea near the Syrian coast on Dec. 17, 2015. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

Nate Mook, a member of the World Central Kitchen NGO run by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said in a tweet that four workers in Kharkiv were wounded by a strike. Jose Andres tweeted that staff members were unnerved but safe.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met with Vladimir Putin this past week in Moscow  the first European leader to do so since the invasion began Feb. 24  said the Russian president is in his own war logic on Ukraine.

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Nehammer said he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war and we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Oksana Kolesnikova embraces the coffin of her son Anatoliy Kolesnikov, 30, a territorial defense soldier who was killed by Russian soldiers in Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday , April 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Nehammer said he confronted Putin with what he saw during a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where more than 350 bodies have been found along with evidence of killings and torture under Russian occupation, and it was not a friendly conversation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists that the continuing siege of the port city of Mariupol, which has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians, could scuttle attempts to negotiate an end to the war.

The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol  what they are doing now  can put an end to any format of negotiations, he said.

Firefighters drive towards a fire at a factory after a Russian attack in the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Later, in his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs more support from the West to have a chance at saving Mariupol.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said, or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

Zelenskyy said the situation in Mariupol remains inhuman and Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.

A woman injured in a Russian attack is treated by emergency workers in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had been driven out of most of the city and remained only in the huge Azovstal steel mill.

Capturing Mariupol would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraines eastern industrial heartland.

Zelenskyy estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, and about 10,000 have been wounded. The office of Ukraines prosecutor general said Saturday that at least 200 children have been killed, and more than 360 wounded.

Galyna Bondar, mourns next to the grave of her son Oleksandr, 32, after burying him at the cemetery in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Oleksandr, who joined the territorial Ukrainian defence as a co-ordinator was killed by a gunshot by the Russian Army. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Russian forces also have taken captive some 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday. Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops as prisoners and intends to arrange a swap but is demanding the release of civilians without any conditions, she said.

Russia's warning of stepped-up attacks on Kyiv came after it accused Ukraine on Thursday of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed hitting targets in Russia.

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Russian Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov, whose troops have been among those besieging Mariupol, was buried Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, Gov. Alexander Beglov said. Ukraine has said several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed in the war.

Firefighters work to extinguish multiple fires after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In the Vatican, Pope Francis on Saturday invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily at St. Peters Basilica that was attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three members of Ukraine's parliament. Francis did not refer directly to Russias invasion but has called, apparently in vain, for an Easter truce to reach a negotiated peace.

___

Chernov reported from Kharkiv. Yesica Fisch in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Robert Burns in Washington and Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The case of a teenage couple killed and tossed down an abandoned mine shaft culminated in murder convictions Friday for a Utah man who prosecutors said killed the pair because he found them hanging out with his girlfriend.

FILE - Ciara Coleman looks on during a funeral service on April 7, 2018, for Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson, 17, and boyfriend Riley Powell, 18, in Eureka, Utah. The case of a teenage couple killed and tossed down an abandoned mine shaft culminated in murder convictions Friday, April 15, 2022, for a Utah man who prosecutors said killed the pair because he found them hanging out with his girlfriend. Jarrod Baum, 45, faces up to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and other counts in the 2017 slayings after a monthlong trial. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The case of a teenage couple killed and tossed down an abandoned mine shaft culminated in murder convictions Friday for a Utah man who prosecutors said killed the pair because he found them hanging out with his girlfriend.

Jarrod Baum, 45, faces up to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and other counts in the 2017 slayings after a monthlong trial.

Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson, 17, and Riley Powell, 18, disappeared days after Christmas. Their bound and stabbed bodies were found months later in Utahs west desert, 100 feet (30 meters) down an abandoned mine shaft.

Prosecutors said they died after meeting up with a friend, Morgan Lewis, on Dec. 30 at her home in Eureka, a former silver mining town. While they were there, her boyfriend, Baum, returned home. He grew angry because he had forbidden Lewis from having male friends over, and she previously dated Powell.

Lewis told police her boyfriend tied up Otteson and Powell, duct-taped their mouths and threw them in the back of Powells Jeep. Then he drove them, along with Henderson, to the site of an abandoned mine outside town.

There, he beat and stabbed Powell before cutting Ottensons throat, then tossed them down.

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"He retaliated against Riley and Morgan and made her watch so she would know this is what happens when you break my rules," said prosecutor Ryan McBride, Fox13 reported.

The couples family and friends searched for months before Lewis was pulled over during an unrelated traffic stop on March 25. She eventually agreed to cooperate with police.

Much of the prosecutions case was based on her testimony, which was questioned by the defense. Attorney Dallas Young said there was a lack of DNA evidence linking the slayings to Baum

"You cannot believe (Lewis), and you cannot be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt," he argued, according to KSL.

Prosecutors countered that Lewis and Baum had burnt and bleached important evidence, obliterating DNA.

Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty, but Utah County Attorney David Leavitt later took it off the table as he vowed to no longer pursue capital punishment.
Approximately 150 people gathered last weekend at Winonas bandshell for a bipartisan rally in bipartisan support of Ukraine.

Ten individuals took time to speak at the rally, including, but not limited to, Mayor Scott Sherman, state Sen. Jeremy Miller, and state Rep. Gene Pelowski, along with a woman from Ukraine, a Vietnam veteran, and a Winona Senior High School student.

The event, organized by WSHS social studies teacher Dwayne Voegeli and city council members Steve Young and George Borzyskowski, raised $2,600 for Ukrainian refugees in Bytow, Poland, Voegeli said.

Voegeli shared that the original goal that organizers had set was to raise $2,000 over two weeks for Bytow  which is Winonas sister city. While that goal was met with the event, fundraising will continue to hopefully raise more to help the refugees.

WSHS students helped raise the funds by staffing the donation table.

Knitcraft donated to the rally a large Ukraine flag to fly during the event. The citys fire department was present to hang this flag on one of its trucks, along with a U.S. flag on another truck.

It was a very positive gathering, Voegeli said.

To donate to refugees in Bytow, checks  made out to Winona for Ukraine  can be sent to 359 Pleasant Hill Drive, Winona, MN 55987.

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Musicians, churches, students, service organizations and other caring community members are uniting to support the kids of Ukraine in a fundraising concert for UNICEF on Sunday, May 1, at 2:30 p.m. at the Wesley United Methodist Church, located at 114 W. Broadway.

Presented by Cafe Congo, three local groups are contributing their talents to the cause of helping the innocent children of war-torn Ukraine.

Admission is by freewill donation with 100% of those tax-deductible gifts going to the United Nations Childrens Fund/Ukraine, which has been helping in Ukraine since the start.

Sharing their musical talents will be: The Winds in the Bluffs, (a clarinet quartet: Dr. Frank & Ruth Bures, Ryan Ballanger and Chris Buswell), whose program will include arrangements of Ukrainian songs created just for this event; Wildflowers (a female folk group: Patti Darbo, Amanda Grace, Aleah Harvey and Cindy Johnson), whose 3-part harmonies and smooth vibes are sure to soothe the weary souls; and The Kyiv Kombo! (a jazz quartet: Ray Dretske, Paul Leithold, Rich MacDonald and Larry Price), who formed up specifically to be a part of this important musical event.

The 2-hour event will also include moving presentations by people impacted by the war.

Even if you cant be at the concert, the organizers encourage you to support this cause by making a direct donation to www.unicefusa/ukraine.org or sending a check made out to FCC memoline: Cafe Congo/Ukraine and mail to First Congregational Church, 161 W. Broadway, Winona, MN 55987.

Cafe Congo is a social action initiative of the First Congregational Church of Winona and has raised over $25,000 for good causes in over 50 concerts since 2015.

For more information, email sbachler50@yahoo.com.

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Residents on Monday stand atop of a Russian tank damaged during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces defeated Russia in Kyiv, a significant feat, said University of Missouri associate professor Stephen Quackenbush.

Quackenbush is director of the Defense and Strategic Studies Program in MU's Truman School of Government and Public Affairs.

Some of his previous research has centered on the importance for invading armies to capture a country's capital.

"They lost the battle for Kyiv, frankly," Quackenbush said of Russia. "They may come back."

Russia didn't withdraw from Kyiv to be nice, he said. It was defeated.

"We know that Russia lost the battle for Kyiv, and that's significant," Quackenbush said.

Kyiv seems to no longer be an interest of Russia, said Irynka Hromotska, MU photojournalism graduate student from Ukraine.

"Their Plan A of taking Kyiv in three days failed," Hromotska said. "Now they don't mention at all about how they're going to take Kyiv."

Ukrainian students at MU celebrated the sinking of the Russian Black Sea flagship Moskva, but Quackenbush said its significance is mostly symbolic and adds to Russian missteps.

"I think it's significant symbolically," Quackenbush said.

It's humiliating for Russia and boosts Ukrainian morale, he said.

The ship won't be replaced because Turkey won't allow a Russian military ship through its waters, he said.

Vlad Sazhen, an MU exchange student from Ukraine, was happy about the news of the sinking of the Russian ship. It's the same ship that threatened Snake Island, prompting a response that included an expletive.

Sazhen on Thursday wore his T-shirt about the encounter, reading "Russian warship, go F*** yourself."

Sazhen is working with MU to allow him to remain here and to bring his girlfriend, Alina, to MU to study and help her leave Ukraine. She informed him on Thursday of her good score on an English language test that will document her language ability if she comes to MU, he said.

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That was his best news of the week, he said.

The International Student Emergency Fund is trying to raise money to allow both of them to attend MU.

"Basically it all comes down to the fact that we need funding to get Alina here," Sazhen wrote in a text message. "There is a considerable amount of money to be raised, but some individuals and organizations have already made some contributions and we are considerably thankful for it."

A fundraiser for Ukraine organized by MU nursing student Tori Copto raised $600 for medical supplies for Ukraine from events on Speakers Circle on Friday and Monday.

Although news of the sinking was not yet available when she was interviewed on Thursday, Hromotska also commented about reports of it being damaged.

"That's great news obviously," Hromotska said.

The Russian military outnumbers Ukraine's military, but Russia's military has performed poorly and Ukraine's military has performed well, Quackenbush said.

Russia has announced a new commander of operations, but now Russia is focusing its attention on the Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine.

"Now they've put all the effort on the southern operations," Quackenbush said.

There's continued fighting in Mariupol, he said.

"Mariupol continues to rage," Quackenbush said. "How much longer the Ukrainian defenders can hold out will be of key importance."

Sazhen has a friend in Mariupol who he heard from this week, he said.

All the patients in the hospital where his friend worked have been evacuated, Sazhen said.

His friend is now on the outskirts of town, which is an area controlled by Russia.

"I'm worried for my friend," Sazhen said. "I don't want him to suffer."

Russian military forces are gathered on the eastern border of Ukraine, but Quackenbush said those are battle-damaged and weary forces that don't appear ready for an offensive.

"I think right now they want to capture all of Luhansk and Donetsk and maintain their hold on Mariupol," Quackenbush said.

There may be combat between Kharkiv and Kherson, he said.

"I'm very concerned about Kharkiv," Sazhen said of his hometown. His grandmother has remained in Kharkiv while his parents and sister are in Poltava.

The students said they're pleased President Joe Biden this week called Russian actions in Ukraine a genocide.

"We are very grateful it's been called what it is," Hromotska said. "Essentially calling it anything else is diminishing what Ukrainians are going through."

"It sends a good signal to the world," Sazhen said.

Another good signal is the eagerness of Finland to join NATO, he said.

People in Ukraine are worried about May 9, the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II, Hromotska said.

Russia may be planning something, she said.

Quackenbush said he doesn't necessarily anticipate anything for the anniversary.

"Without a significant change, without a coup against Putin, this war is going to continue for a number of months," Quackenbush said.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Russia focusing attention on Donbas now, MU professor said
BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday morning held a phone conversation with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

Xi asked Mohammed to convey his greetings to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, saying that at present, the international and regional situations are undergoing profound and complex changes, further highlighting the strategic and overarching significance of China-Saudi Arabia relations.

He said that over the past year, China and Saudi Arabia have joined their efforts and moved forward together, facilitating new development in bilateral ties.

The Chinese side gives priority to developing relations with Saudi Arabia and stands ready to work with the country to continuously deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership and to bring more benefits to the two countries and their people.

The Chinese side supports Saudi Arabia in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and stability, and in independently exploring a development path suited to its own national conditions, Xi stressed.

China will continue to synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and forge a high-level cooperation pattern between the two sides in such fields as energy, economy and trade as well as high technology, Xi said.

The Chinese side supports Saudi Arabia's Green Middle East initiative and welcomes Saudi Arabia's participation in the Global Development Initiative, Xi added.

China and Saudi Arabia should strengthen solidarity, practice true multilateralism, safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law, the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and uphold international fairness and justice as well as the common interests of developing countries, said Xi.

China is ready to work with Saudi Arabia to promote peace and stability in the Middle East, push for an early conclusion of the China-Gulf Cooperation Council free trade area agreement and jointly build a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era, said Xi.

Mohammed conveyed King Salman's greetings to Xi, and once again congratulated China on the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Calling China an important comprehensive strategic partner of Saudi Arabia, the crown prince said that in recent years, Saudi Arabia-China ties have seen great progress in various fields and China has provided a model of economic development and political stability for countries worldwide.

Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to China's status and to the development of its relations with China, and firmly adheres to the one-China principle, Mohammed said.

He added that his country will continue to staunchly support China's legitimate position on such issues concerning core interests as Xinjiang, resolutely oppose any interference in China's internal affairs and firmly safeguard the rights of all countries to choose their own political and human rights paths independently.

The crown prince said that Saudi Arabia is willing to work with China to strengthen high-level exchanges, sign agreements to synergize the Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 with the Belt and Road Initiative, and deepen cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, transportation, infrastructure and energy.

Saudi Arabia stands ready to boost communication and coordination with China in international and regional affairs, supports China's just position on major international and regional issues, and backs the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council to enhance cooperation with China, he added.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine.

(Source: Xinhua)
'We all realize that we will not be forgiven.' Ukraine braces for new assault after sinking of Russian flagship
COVID-19 deaths in Britain are surging as the result of every restriction being ended by Boris Johnsons Conservative government.

In the last week, almost 2,000 people have died in Britain from COVID-19, as fatalities reach levels not seen since the height of the pandemic in January and February 2021. The 2021 deaths were during a period before vaccines were widely available to the population.

On Wednesday, 651 people were reported dead, the highest number since February 17, 2021. The 1,984 lives lost in the seven days to Thursday represent an increase of 665 deaths over the previous week, or 50.4 percent.

Clinical staff care for a patient with coronavirus in the intensive care unit at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England, May 5, 2020 [Credit: Neil Hall Pool via AP]

The Daily Mail declared the 651 figure artificially high because it includes some who should have been counted yesterday. But the previous day saw 288 deaths recorded, making it 939 fatalities over both days no matter how the data was sliced up. Hundreds more deaths followed, with 350 announced Thursday.

Rising COVID deaths in Britain are part of a persistent death toll across Europe as the inevitable consequence of restrictions being lifted everywhere, including on travel between countries. Over 10,000 deaths have been recorded throughout the continent in each of the last two weeks. Taken over a year this would add more than half a million more deaths in Europe, assuming the fatalities rate stays as it is, and bring the official death tally to around 2.3 million.

On the day the UK recorded 651 deaths, Germany recorded 307; Russia 267; Italy 155 and France 152. In Spain, where the population has already suffered over 103,000 deaths, the authorities did not even provide a figure for that day.

The media has either not even reported the shocking increase in UK deaths, or relegated it to a minor report.

On Thursday, Dr. Dan Goyal, a National Health Service consultant and academic, tweeted, FFS, 350 more gone today! 2,000 lives lost this week! Thats X 5 more than any other infectious disease. That keeps Covid the 3rd biggest killer of all adults in the U.K. Vaccine rates plummeting. Mask wearing and self-isolation gone. Where the feck is the media uproar?

A Doctor in Emergency Medicine posted, Yesterday there were 651 deaths in the UK from covid. 651!!!! Nothing on the news. This isnt living with covid. Its living with zero restrictions.

Yesterday, Kit Yates, a mathematical Biologist at the University of Bath and member of the Independent Sage group, tweeted, It's important to remember that falling covid doesn't mean low covid. Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey suggests prevalence is around where it was at the January peak, which is still extremely high. One in 14 people currently infected in England.

This was in response to official figures showing that COVID cases overall are falling. It is claimed there were 217,308 cases up to Thursday, compared to 328,471 over the previous seven days.

However, case figure reports must be viewed with extreme caution given that universal free testing was done away with in Britain at the start of April. Under conditions in which the working population of over 30 million are not only back in the workplace, but actively encouraged to work even if they have the virus, the spread of COVID is likely to be far higher.

The Guardian reported that although there had been small decline in the number of cases reported nationally, experts analysing the data say it is too soon to say whether infections have passed their peak Declines have been recorded in England across most age groups; however, the trend in the week ending 9 April was unclear for those in school years 7 to 11 and those aged 70 and over, with 7.2% of the latter thought to have had Covid in the most recent week, the highest level yet for that age group.

A central plank of the governments homicidal agenda of living with COVID is to end all reporting of the spread of the disease. Therefore, at this stage, the only reliable indication of the prevalence of COVID is the number of hospital admissions and deaths.

While hospitalisations are below the numbers recorded during the second wave in early 2021, this is mainly due to the impact of the mass vaccination of the population. That given, while there was a fall in admissions in the week to April 4 compared to the week to March 28, per 100,000 population, on Thursday there were still 19,770 patients in hospital with COVID in Britain.

A family hold roses and candles in memory of a loved one who died of COVID, National Covid Memorial Wall, London, March 28, 2022 (WSWS Media)

According to the governments measure, which tallies people who passed away within 28 days of a positive COVID test, 171,046 are dead. The more accurate figure recorded by the ONS, based on COVID-19 being mentioned as a cause of death on a death certificate, finds that 191,164 people have perished. The i news noted, About nine in 10 deaths with Covid-19 on the death certificate since the start of the pandemic have coronavirus as the primary cause of death, with a minority listing the virus as a contributory factor.

For more than two years, COVID has ravaged the worlds population as the ruling class everywhere, except for China and a few other countries, following a herd immunity policy. According to official figures over half a billion people have been infected globally, with over 186 million cases recorded in Europe. France, Germany and Britain have all recorded well over 20 million cases among their populations, with France approaching a staggering 30 million.

Millions are now suffering from Long COVID, a series of debilitating conditions that can afflict people for months or years even if their infection was only mild. It is feared that some cases could last for a lifetime. COVID is proven in numerous studies to be a devastating disease, which if it does not immediately kill can attack and damage the heart, the brain and other vital organs.

According to research published in November, an estimated 100 million were suffering from Long COVID. However, this was based on a World Health Organization estimate of 237 million worldwide COVID infections. Infections have more than doubled globally in just the four months since.

In a piece headlined, Long Covid: the invisible public health crisis fuelling labour shortages, the Financial Times noted that UK labour market data show a rise of some 200,000 since the start of the pandemic in the number of people who are not working or job-seeking because of long-term ill health; and a quarter of UK companies say long Covid is one of the main causes of long-term staff absence.

The UK also publishes an official monthly count of self-reported cases, in which an estimated 1.2mn people said in March they had persistent long Covid symptoms lasting at least 12 weeks, with women, people aged between 35 and 49, health workers and teachers most affected. A total of 784,000 said they had been suffering for at least a year, and 322,000 said it limited their day to day activities a lot.

ONS data reported by the newspaper the previous week found that an estimated 1.7mn people, or 2.7 percent of the UK population, reported experiencing symptoms lasting for more than four weeks after they had, or suspected they had, the disease as of March 5. This represents a slight rise from 2.4 percent about a month earlier.

Allowing COVID to rip and to keep profits flowing at all costs can only lead to further more deadly COVID variants. One such could be the Omicron XE variant, of which hundreds of cases have been detected in Britain. Analysis shows that this arose as the result of the unrestricted Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, which has fuelled recent cases and deaths. XE is a known as a recombinant as it combines genetic characteristic of other variants, in this case BA.1 and BA.2. XE was first detected in the UK on January 19 and by March 22, 637 cases were present in England.

The World Health Organisation has warned that XE could be more transmissible than the BA.1 and BA.2 variants. This assessment was backed up by the UK Health Security Agency, with the most recent data showing a growth rate for XE 9.8 percent higher than BA.2.
Artistic Remedies for Creative Hearts (ARCH) has partnered with Starr Hill Brewery and Taproom in Crozet to help people strengthen their mental health and access their resiliency by being creative.

ARCH will host an online silent charity auction to benefit The Beryl Solla Art Educational Scholarship Fund for ARCH between May 1 and May 15. The fund will allow those with financial need to take ARCH classes, participate in their programs and find their place in a supportive community.

ARCH was founded in 2021 with the mission to teach emotional resiliency through creative expression. Their classes teach artmaking as a viable tool for self-awareness and self-confidence while promoting positive social interactions and improving emotional well-being.

Since February 2022, Starr Hill Crozet has welcomed ARCH into their taproom and co-hosted creative pop-up activities on premise once a month. Activities have included gel plate printing and kinetic dragon puppets.

Even simple art projects can help people get to know themselves better, said ARCH program director Rose Guterbock. Gel plate printing requires that you relinquish control in your artmaking process. Creating mythical creatures can provide insight into how you visualize the unseen. Its particularly wonderful when families create together. That promotes communication, good listening skills and the opportunity for real connection between people.

Starr Hill has also chosen ARCH to be its Cheers for Charity partner in May.

Starr Hill thoroughly enjoys working closely with our community nonprofit and charity partners to bring awareness to the important work these organizations are doing, said Lynsie Steele, social media and digital content coordinator for Starr Hill Brewery. ARCH has a fantastic mission, and we look forward to not only working with them monthly, but we are also heavily invested in curating a successful Cheers for Charity program with them this May.

The online auction will be available for preview on Monday, April 25 and bidding begins May 1.

Auction items will be on view in person for two days only at Starr Hill Brewery in Crozet where they will be displayed over Mothers Day weekend: Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8. They include artwork by local artists Chicho Lorenzo and Sigrid Eilertson, an original lithograph by French artist Georges Braque, hand thrown pottery, experiences like horseback riding and printmaking, and wearable art pieces created by artisans in Central Virginia.

Visit the taproom at 5391 Three Notchd Road, Crozet, VA 22932. Contact ARCH at www.artisticremedies.org.
This interview is part of the World Socialist Web Sites effort to support the building of the CP Workers Rank-and-File Committee, which was established last month by rail workers in Canada to fight for their demands after their latest strike was sold out by the Teamsters union.

Write to cpworkersrfc@gmail.com or contact the WSWS to help build the committee and share your experiences.

Canadian Pacific locomotives are seen in Fort Edward, N.Y., on Friday, June 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with a former engineer at CP Rail about the companys disregard for workplace safety and attempts to silence concerns raised by workers through the use of its draconian disciplinary regime.

The worker told us that, when he hired on at CP Rail out of high school, he worked first as a conductor for three years before taking a six-month training course to qualify as a locomotive engineer.

CP Rail conductors rely on spare boards that are supposed to inform them on train schedules, so they know when they have to start work. Improved scheduling is a major demand for rail workers in their ongoing struggle due to the companys refusal to provide accurate train lineups.

The worker told us, I was set up as a conductor in a pool where I had to watch two spare boards, so I was constantly looking at the lineups. They were completely off 90 percent of the time. Its like theyre throwing darts at a board. You do not know if an engineer will book sick before hes about to get called and you get the call when you are supposed to be getting your rest. Or, right before bed, the phone rings and you are expected to be there in two hours to run a train not fully rested.

If workers are called in for a shift without rest, the worker explained that they have little option but to go. Theres the fear of punishment if you do not take the call, he said. With the demerit system at CP, they can give you demerits for not tying up your boots or not having your vest done up. It is outrageous in the sense that there is no wiggle room. And sometimes, there is no warning. It could be your first offence and you are booked in for a statement. The statement is sent to LR [Labour Relations] who review the case and come back with a decision. We call it a kangaroo court because there is no chance of winning, no matter what argument the union presents. Ive never heard of a guy coming out winning.

Say you book off sick in that two-hour period before starting a shift, it is a guaranteed statement and 25 demerits. And the points are not even standard, just arbitrary. What they do is load you up with 55 demerits, so you are on edge and at risk of losing your job. After 55, they can use any excuse  performance, safety, or attendance  to dismiss you.

If you are booking sick between Wednesday and Sunday, that is like working on the weekend. So now a target is on your back. If you have two absences in a 6 month or 12 month period it is considered a pattern, so guys come in sick, tired, and stressed out with personal issues because they do not have the option of calling in off.

Fatigue among engineers and conductors is a chronic problem, creating the conditions where tragic accidents can occur. An engineer could be on the unit of the engine a mile behind the conductor performing switching duties, commented the worker. Sometimes he is making huge moves, and relying on radio contact, so he cannot visually see what the conductor is doing on the ground, and he is relying on him to make decisions. But if he lines the wrong switch, it costs the company $300 to fix it. And if he had 55 demerits already, he is probably going to get fired.

Even if you are just a member of the crew when something goes wrong, it does not matter if you were remotely responsible, you are slapped with a demerit or a random drug test. We jokingly call it the family plan. Human error happens every day. Maybe there is just a lapse of judgment or maybe the conductor was not rested, but the reprisals just snowball from bad to worse.

Our interview took place as the report into the Field derailment in 2019 by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) was being released. The derailment, which occurred due to a brake failure on a steep grade during extremely cold temperatures, claimed the lives of three rail workers. One of the TSBs main findings was that CP Rail failed to give the trainmaster on duty the night of the derailment appropriate training to fulfill his role.

The trainmaster gives you instruction as to which cars and where to pickup, the worker explained. Some are qualified engineers, but some are just office people that are not part of the actual operation of the train. They sit in the office building with trains on a computer screen, and then they give you a list of cars to pick up.

Very junior employees fresh out of conductor training are put into these office jobs instead of guys that have been out there for 40 years whove seen and done it all, and theyve seen some bizarre stuff. But these green employees have no real-world experience, and they are put into management positions when they cannot even put on a handbrake. It is so frustrating. But if you came back with a different approach, with a different argument, they overrule you 99 percent of the time. It was a foregone conclusion that they were right. So, instead of listening to an engineer or conductor with 30 years experience, you have to listen to a guy with just one year under his belt.

Turning to the Field derailment, the worker continued, The trainmaster would have had to talk to the division manager or operations manager, potentially employees with little to no experience with trains. These positions have so many different names, the titles are constantly changing. I dealt with a lot of position names and titles that were essentially the same job. And their experience never changed. They were usually junior employees, non-union, they were on salary and got scheduled days off. They are headhunters. They are there to be the companys eyes. The company rat.

An operation manager would have been running that subdivision. The rail traffic controller (RTC) would get instructions from the operations manager. The RTC gets on the radio, they instruct the staging of the train. Sometimes they get the superintendent involved. Even if you knew in your heart that this is not the right decision, that it is crazy, if you go against them you are called in for a statement because it went against their authority. Those guys in Field were in a lose-lose situation.

I ran 20,000-ton coal trains 32 miles from Sparwood, BC [a mountain route similar to Field], on a heavy grade. If your brakes were not at 100 percent, there is a chance of a runaway. You had to be on your game. It was very unnerving. You are kind a hoping and praying that everything is going to work out right.

I will give credit to the crew in that subdivision. They knew what to do. If something was not right, they would have brought it up to management. But lots of times they just say, Bring that train down the hill, we have to get that train out. We do not want to hear your excuses.

Braking problems have been rife throughout the rail industry over recent years, with the TSB acknowledging that 189 unexpected movements were reported to it between 2010 and 2019. The worker told us he believes this to be the product of poor maintenance motivated by managements efforts to cut corners.

Management would cut down the units that have dynamic braking, which helps your stopping factor, he said. They would limit the full factor because you are short of units. Sometimes you are short one on the head end, so you do not have that full capacity. The dynamic braking does not stop the train, the air brakes do that, but it helps train handling and makes the train less susceptible to derailment. Or sometimes you still have the dynamic braking power, but the unit is not functioning at 100 percent. That happens more often than people would like to know.

There are a certain number of cars that do not need to have air brakes and they push that ratio to the limit. As far as the actual cars, the braking capacity would not be near as acceptable.

This dangerous safety environment is maintained by CP Rail through a dictatorial workplace regime and the threat of dismissal for anyone who speaks up. The worker explained to us how his own dismissal occurred over a safety concern.

I had a few demerits from absenteeism, he said. I had about 35-40 demerits. I was an engineer on a coal train weighing about 20,000 tons and I was doing a live change-off. The conductor was younger, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost. I asked him what was wrong, and he said that his manager-engineer, a guy out of the office, was going to be running this 20,000-ton coal train, for the first time ever. Managers get qualified to run trains through the approximately 6-week-long manager training program done through a simulator out of the office in Calgary, Alberta.

The mixing of crews, where a manager and a unionized employee are working together as part of a train crew, is a huge issue, and I was upset. A manager can throw you under the bus in a second, so there is zero trust, especially since the manager is an office guy who has never been on the ground. So, it is a very uncomfortable situation for the unionized guys.

After talking with this conductor, I got frustrated and angry and I confronted the manager who was in the station with the trainmaster. He was cocky with me. I asked him about his qualifications and if he had ever run a 20,000-tonne coal train.

Nope, he said, this is my first trip. I told him what I thought about managers running trains, that he should not be out here, and that the conductor is scared senseless. I also told him what I thought of the management training program and that I had been through six months of training where I had to perform many training trips and evaluations. I asked him who would be riding with him, and he said it was just him and the conductor.

I was not reported on by the manager trainee but by the trainmaster who was in the area who overheard me. She turned me in for bad mouthing the manager and I was dismissed for harassment and conduct unbecoming. The next morning, I was called in for statements about the incident along with my union rep.

The next thing I knew I was being fired for sticking up for my fellow employee, the junior conductor who was not comfortable speaking up for fear of reprisal. I thought it was my responsibility as a senior employee to stick up for the junior employee. But with my accumulation of demerits, I had a target on my back, and I was in their crosshairs. All that they needed was a final nail in the coffin. This incident put me over the threshold of 55 demerits, which gave them grounds for my dismissal.

Maybe the conversation did get a little heated, but I did not verbally insult or swear up and down at the manager trainee. I was literally just asking him questions about how he felt about the position he had put this conductor in and the position the company has put them both in.

You need experience to know what the engineer is doing beside you. For the first couple years you are just going for a ride. There is such a huge scope of what you need to know before you feel comfortable on the train. Until you actually get behind the throttle and feel 152 cars push you ahead on a hill, there is no theory or anything that you can read or talk about that is close to the experience of running an engine.

The conductor of the train was called in for statements and he had my back 100 percent. He said in his statement that I was looking out for his best interest.

The worker noted that CP Rail justifies putting poorly trained managers on a train crew with a conductor by citing efficiency. If no engineers are available, they would rather send a manager than wait 30 minutes for the on-call engineer to arrive. If they push back, because theyre non-union, they do not even get a statement, the worker added. They are just fired.

They talk about efficiency, but these managers would not do track speed ever. They creep around at 15 miles an hour in these subdivisions because they do not know what they are doing. It is hard on equipment, and your ETA is way off. They do not know the track profile, but there are lots of spots where you have to know the lay of the land. All of us knew how long it took from one station to the next, and you would be waiting and waiting and waiting for this guy. He would be creeping by at 5 to 10 miles an hour, so the crew waiting is going over their hours and now they are under pressure to get the train out. But you could not say anything about it over the radio.

Back in the day, every manager was required to run a train. Even the 50-year-old secretary had to know how to run the train or be part of the train crew. They would do their day jobs and be on call for the rest of the night. And there was a form of respect between the managers and the running train employees. Then it just snowballed into just hatred and disrespect. And no trust.

The conductors are always on edge for fear of making a mistake. We call it the pucker effect. Just so Creel can get his crazysalaryandbonuses. Amounts that are unheard of. And now to lockout employees over a couple percent raise? The crews deserve better.

The worker concluded, Its productivity first. Safety is lower on the totem pole than making money.

Do not take any shortcuts, they say. But cutting training from six months to six weeks is a massive shortcut. You can preach this stuff all you want about safety and employee mental health, and it is all just fluff, the bottom line is they need that train from A to B as fast as they can.

One of the hardest subdivisions in Canada is Revelstoke to Field, yet it is one of the most junior territories in Canada. Man, it is a tough subdivision. Crazy grades and snow. The older guys get out of them as quickly as they can. CP does not even try and recruit senior engineers to the worst subdivisions, they send the more junior employees to those territories.

So, you gotta learn fast. There is no wiggle room or time to get adjusted. You gotta just do it. Kudos to those guys because they do an excellent job for what they are given.

But anything can happen. As an engineer, I did not visually inspect every car. You trust the employee in their position, and if, because of cost cutting and taking shortcuts, they did not do their job  then you gotta go with that. But when there is a mistake, CP is out hunting for a scapegoat.

Ive heard from managers more than once that safety is the cost of doing business. But is someones life really the cost of doing business? Equipment can be replaced, but lives cannot.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP), International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), and Northern Province Fishermen Action Committee held a powerful picket and rally April 12 in Jaffna, the capital of Sri Lankas Northern Province, to support the ongoing mass movement against President Gotabhaya Rajapakse and his capitalist government and fight to mobilise the working class on a socialist action programme.

Picketers with banner identifying the SEP as the Sri Lankan section of the world Trotskyist movement. (WSWS Media)

Central to this programme of democratic and anti-capitalist demandssuch as the abolition of the authoritarian executive presidency, opposition to IMF austerity, and the establishment of workers control over the distribution of essential goods so as to ensure adequate food, fuel and medicine for allis the call for workers to build action committees in all workplaces and neighbourhoods. By mobilising the social power of the working class, these committees will enable it to rally the rural poor behind it in the struggle to ensure the socioeconomic crisis now ravaging the island is resolved at the expense of big business and the rich, not working people.

The US-NATO war against Russia has exacerbated an already disastrous economic situation, driving up the price of essentials and depleting Sri Lankas foreign reserves to the point that it cannot import basic foods and medicines, cooking gas and fuel.

The Rajapakse government, along with the opposition parties, is seeking a $4 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund vultures. It is determined to impose savage IMF austerity measures that will place the full burden of the economic crisis on Sri Lankas workers and toilers, threatening them with unprecedented deprivation, hunger and even starvation.

SEP members picketing in Jaffna on 12 April 2022 (WSWS Media)

As a result of this intolerable situation, a mass movement demanding the immediate resignation of Rajapakse and his government has erupted. It has developed entirely outside the opposition parties and the trade unions, which have systematically suppressed the class struggle.

The anti-government protests have rapidly developed in all parts of the country, including in the majority Tamil north and east, demonstrating the objective unity and common interests of all workers on the island, Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim.

Northeastern Sri Lanka, which was devastated by the anti-Tamil communal war waged by successive Colombo governments, is suffering intensely from the current economic crisis.

In this desperate situation, the SEPs picket and rally calling for the working class to advance its own programme based on its essential needs, not what the capitalist politicians claim is affordable, won a powerful response.

Workers, fishermen, farmers and SEP/IYSSE members participated in the picket line. Bring down the Rajapakse government; Abolish the executive presidency along with repressive anti- working class laws; Build Workers Action Committees; No to hunger and austerity; Ensure foods, fuel and medicines for all; Repudiate all the foreign debts were the slogans chanted by the pickets.

The SEP/IYSSE campaigners distributed the party statement issued April 7. It declared: The Socialist Equality Party stands squarely behind the demands of working people: Gota has got to go! But what is to replace him? It is not enough to demand Rajapakses removal. He is only the present-day ugly face of a corrupt and reactionary presidential state system that is organised to secure the wealth and interests of the capitalist class and perpetuate the exploitation and impoverishment of the workers and peasants throughout the island.

Several Jaffna-based media covered the April 12 SEP/IYSSE protest, including Shakthi TV and Samuham media.

The event was carried out under the surveillance of police intelligence agents who stayed throughout and recorded it in its entirety. Even 12 years after the end of the civil war, the North and Eastern provinces are still under military occupation and civil activists and other government opponents are often targeted under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Representatives of the Fishermens Action Committee, IYSSE and SEP addressed the picket line.

T. Sampanthan, an SEP Political Committee member, noted that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, the presidents elder brother, had delivered a speech the day before in which he threatened the protesters indirectly with blood, by referring to the Sri Lankan capitalist states criminal record of bloodily suppressing youth protests in 1988-90 and the 26 years of civil war.

The Rajapakse government, said Sampanthan, is determined to go ahead with the IMF austerity programme, backed by military and police repression. All the other capitalist parties, be it the official opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB, United People Power), the SLFP, JVP, UNP or the Tamil capitalist parties, are maintaining a pose of passive hostility to the protests. This is because they fear the unification of Sinhala and Tamil working people on a common social basis, and are in fundamental agreement that harsh austerity measures, targeting the social and democratic rights of working people, have to be implemented. To that end, they act very nervously, trying to divert the mass movement into supporting the coming to power of an interim capitalist government and other manoeuvres.

Sampanthan stressed that the political question the mass movement now faces is who will come to power next. After bringing down the Rajapakse regime, the working class and the oppressed masses cant allow another capitalist government. Only the working class can advance a program against the IMF austerity. The first step towards this programme is building action committees in every factory, workplace and working class neighbourhood

The SEP-IYSSE picket was held in front of the main bus terminal in Jaffna. Sri Lanka Transport Board workers observing it expressed their agreement with the SEPs programme. We have decade-long wage increase demands, they explained. There are a lot of workers without job permanency. Some of them have worked more than a decade with no rights and less salary.

The bus workers continued, With the current cost of living we can no longer get by. When we are enrolling for the job we have to get the membership in the union that belongs to the ruling party. Now our mouths are shut with the Essential Public Services Orders (which ban strikes). These unions do not do anything for the workers.

Avishka, a Uva Wellassa University student, expressed opposition to the austerity measures. April 4, we also held a protest against President Rajapakse in front of the university. We cannot afford our meals in the university canteen anymore.

Avishka, a Uva Wellassa University, student holding SEP placard (WSWS Media)

I am coming from a working class family, continued Avishka. My father was a water board worker. I do not see any improvement in our social conditions. We have two acres of paddy fields which normally yield 80 sacks of rice. Without fertilizers (the government has banned their import to save foreign currency) this time it was just 32. The government represents the interest of tiny layers of big business like Dilith Jayaweera.

Avishka said that he does not believe the promises made by the SJB. I have not forgotten that they were also ruthlessly implementing an IMF programme when they were in power. All the other parties supported Sirisenas government.

Siva, a fisherman, said that he had lived in Pudukudiruppu, Mulativu when the final battles of the Sri Lankan civil war took place. It is a miracle that today I live without any disability, he explained. I experienced the most horrible and continuous shell attacks, to which we had already become accustomed under (the previous) Chandrika Kumaratunga government. All our family members hid in separate underground 2-by-2 feet bunkers.

He added: People who ordered these atrocities will not be sensitive to hunger and people dying without medicines.

I have participated in a previous SEP public meeting, said Siva, and listened to comrade Wije Dias (the SEP general secretary). I reject both the LTTEs separatism and the Colombo governments Sinhala chauvinism. It is really important that you teach the masses the historical roots of the racial discrimination against Tamils and work to unify the working class.

Sarojiny, a 56-year-old woman, approached the pickets. Firstly, she said, I want to say that I support your partys protests because you tell the real problems that we face severely. I am a day-wage labourer from Nelliyady. After the COVID-19 pandemic it is really hard to find a job. Now I almost do not have a source of income. The prices of everything are going higher than ever. It is difficult for us to live. Many people like us are facing this economic hardship.

Sarojiny talking to SEP campaigner at Jaffna picket (WSWS Media)

We are struggling, continued Sarojiny, to get even one meal. With no cooking gas, searching for firewood is another big problem. Bread prices have also affected us because we depend on this mostly as breakfast. I have been living without a proper house. Every government is playing with the housing question to deceive us.

No parliamentarians are concerned with our problems, observed Sarojiny, even the Tamil parties are not concerned with our plight.

Ranjan, a private security officer, said: Even though I am 62, I have to go to work because my family has eight members. The government has abandoned us. We dont know how to manage these price increases, food shortages. We are all facing one common problem as workers, we have no ethnic, racial, language differenceswe are all the same.

During the campaign for the picket, a government hospital pharmacist spoke out against the shortage of essential medicines, adding the government is culpable. This is very dangerous. We cannot import medicines. You cannot even buy them for a higher price.

If we are not going to procure vital medicines, we are approaching a catastrophe. We will have to witness patients dying in front of our very eyes. I for one am not ready to witness such a situation inactively.

The hospital pharmacist agreed with our demand that foreign debt must be repudiated. Your statement says Instead of the $US7 billion due this year flowing into the coffers of the international banks, it should be used to pay for the food, fuel, medicines and other essential goods needed by working people. This is a very practical solution to the medicine shortages.
Washington Metro Rapid Transit Cars at Reagan National Airport: (Source: Wikipedia)

On March 24, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) board held a hearing that concluded that the transit agency still has no near-term solution for the defect impacting most the rail systems train cars.

WMATA general manager Paul J. Wiedefeld was quoted by the Washington Post saying, As the cause appears to be a combination of factors, I do not expect a near-term solution. This meant that railcar service reduction would last for the DC region through the summer.

WMATA pulled its entire 7000-series railcars on October 17 last year after a series of dangerous derailments happened. The recall impacted 60 percent of its 1,300-railcar fleet. The cause was defective axles along the wheelbases which widened gradually over time.

According to the Post, the suspension of Metros most advanced and previously most reliable cars has challenged the agency at a time when ridership and revenue continue to suffer from the prevalence of telework. The Post editorial board weighed in Tuesday with a statement expressing concern over the economic prospects of the region with Metros continued mishaps. The statement declared Metros prospects are bleak.

The statement continues: Ridership is climbing but is still down by two-thirds from pre-pandemic levels. Subway operating revenue, driven largely by passenger fares, was more than $530 million in the fiscal year before the pandemic; in the current year, it will not reach $100 million. The Post added, no strong recovery in that income stream is likely until federal workers return to their offices, the prospects of which remain uncertain.

The current lack of rail cars comes against the backdrop of a transit system which has been plagued by crises. The system has encountered increasingly hazardous situations on its transit routes as defective equipment, overworked and improperly trained personnel have impacted services.

The most serious episodes in recent years include a 2009 collision that left eight dead and 80 injured. Another involved an electrical fire on the Yellow Line in downtown Washington D.C. in 2015 that resulted in the asphyxiation death of a passenger.

The continuing safety issues have crippled services, leading to a catastrophic drop in ridership that the pandemic has only deepened.

Metro leaderships response to the crisis has been a mixture of pragmatic quick-fixes and deception. In December, the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) re-ordered the 7000-series complete removal after a brief nine-day period in which the WMATA had promised to monitor the wheelbase for any impending defects.

WMSC spokesperson Max Smith told the Post at the time that metro failed to take action, despite the detection of minuscule movements along the wheelbases.

WMATA officials continue to attempt to push for the return of unsafe railcars to service despite the problems. At the Metro board hearing last month, Metro chair Paul Smedburg told the WMSCs Smith that the system cannot wait until the end of these safety processes and protocols to get approvals for railcars to return. Instead, Smedburg demanded timely decisions to be made as we go, or this will continue to drag on.

Smith countered by alleging [Metro] has not submitted a 7000 series return-to-service plan to us as required by and described in our order. The safety agency spokesperson added that the WMSC was working to make sure that theyre sharing information with us and that we can provide any feedback as soon as we can.

The rush to return to full-capacity operation comes as efforts are being made to drop all COVID-19-related protections in the transit system. At the hearing, general manager Wiedefeld expressed no concerns about overcrowding. Ive been using the systemits not where it was pre-COVID  but its gotten me around very well, and I just think the system is a very good system, even at a reduced level, he said.

The transit agency still aims to gradually return the 7000-series rail cars through the summer. Metro will bring back more of their older 6000-series rail cars to help reduce service-level wait times.

Last month it was reported that Hitachi Rail was awarded a contract to build a new 8000-series railcar fleet for the system by 2024. The factory will be located in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland. The new factory will cost $70 million and is expected to employ 1,300 workers.

The Hitachi Rail contract was part of the Biden administrations drive to increase manufacturing in the US. The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) reportedly pressured to have the factory stationed nearby in compliance with the Buy American Act of 2021. The bill requires that 70 percent of manufactured components be produced and assembled domestically.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into a law Thursday a bill that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The move builds off of other draconian legislation introduced in many Republican-led states aimed at severely curtailing or eliminating outright the constitutional right to an abortion.

House Bill 5 (HB5), known as the Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act, reduces the right to an abortion from 24 weeks to 15 weeks. The new law does not allow any exceptions in cases where pregnancies were the result of rape, incest or human trafficking. Instead, it contains exemptions only if the abortion is deemed necessary to save a mothers life, prevent serious injury or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. Gov. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)

The legislation went to DeSantis desk after it passed the Republican-controlled state senate by a vote of 2315 along party lines. HB 5 is modeled after Mississippis 2018 Gestational Age Act, an abortion ban that allows the operation after 15 weeks only in medical emergencies or for severe fetal abnormality, and has no exception for rape or incest.

Republican Rep. Erin Grall, the Florida bills sponsor, introduced the legislation with inflammatory and reactionary remarks that directly challenged the landmark 1973 decision of the US Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade which upheld the right to abortion. The reality of the Roe decision is that men on the Supreme Court proclaimed that women, in order to achieve equality with men, must be able to kill their own children, Grall declared. As a woman, I refuse to accept such a perverse version of equality.

In justifying the most stringent abortion law in the states history, Republican lawmakers combined invocations of religious dogma with anti-scientific conceptions. Speaking in front of a church audience at Thursdays signing, Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls proclaimed: Like many of you, I believe that life is a gift from God. We are blessed to be Floridians because behind me stands the most pro-life governor in America.

Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson provocatively declared: Abortion kills children and forever changes the life of mothers, the father and the entire extended family. Every unborn child is a special and unique human being deserving of protection from harm and the chance to grow up in a loving family, Simpson said.

DeSantis argued that HB 5 protects the rights of unborn children starting at 15 weeks. This is a time where these babies have beating hearts, they can move, they can taste, they can see, they can feel pain, they can suck their thumbs, and they have brain waves. The governors remarks are devoid of scientific evidence and run directly at odds with the medical concept of fetal viability, the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb. The likelihood of survival is generally considered to be after around 23 or 24 weeks, which was legally affirmed in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey .

Several abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood and the Abortion Care Network submitted an amicus brief last December to the Supreme Court opposing the Mississippi law and the overruling of Roe, asserting the new law would cause grave harm to countless numbers of women in the region.

The brief notes that many of those seeking second-trimester abortions dont even realize they are pregnant earlier than 15 weeks and that those wanting the procedure later are often low-income women who must overcome incredible barriers just to travel to a health center, including a lack of transportation.

In the face of dwindling resources for abortion facilities and legal bans outlawing their presence across the South, many women have to resort to traveling out of state for the procedure, often at expensive costs. For decades, Florida served as a refuge for women seeking abortions in the region, and now many will have to turn to North Carolina as the nearest state allowing abortion after 15 weeks.

At Thursdays press conference, DeSantis heaped praise on the bill for representing the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state and this generation. This is the same governor who has ferociously opposed all public health measures throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, devoutly embracing the unscientific herd immunity doctrine of allowing the deadly virus to rip through the entire population.

This policy has led to the infection of more than 6 million Floridians and killed a staggering 73,600 people. His homicidal policies also included the forced reopening of schools and threats to withhold funding from schools which implemented mask mandates, which has put the lives and health of millions of young children at risk.

The attack on the right to abortion in Florida is part of a wave of anti-abortion laws sweeping the United States. Republican lawmakers have been emboldened to step up their fascistic assault against abortion in large part due to the dominance of a reactionary majority on the Supreme Court, which has signaled its support for rescinding the democratic right, and the inaction of the Democrats to stop it.

Just this week, laws have been enacted in Oklahoma and Kentucky effectively banning the operation in their respective states.

Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law Tuesday a near-total abortion ban, making it illegal to perform the procedure except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency. The law now makes the procedure a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $100,000. Like the Florida ban, the Oklahoma bill has no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

The Oklahoma legislation follows the decision of Texas lawmakers to ban nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy last year, which led to Planned Parenthood clinics in the state seeing an explosive growth in patients from Texas after the prohibition went into effect. Although the measure stipulates no criminal charges or convictions will be levied against those receiving an abortion, the law would force working class women to seek out back-alley abortion procedures that greatly heighten the risk of death or mutilation.

Also this week, Republican legislators in Kentucky overrode a veto imposed last week by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear against an abortion bill banning the procedure after 15 weeks, restricting access to abortion medication and making it more difficult for minors to obtain an abortion. No exceptions are granted in cases of rape or incest, but only medical emergencies. Several abortion advocacy groups filed legal challenges to the law, arguing that its new restrictions on abortion providers violate the Constitution and amount to a de facto ban on all abortions.

Under the bill abortion drugs cannot be administered to a patient without obtaining their informed consent at least 24 hours prior, which involves signing a state document that includes an acknowledgment that it may be possible to reverse the effects of the abortion-inducing drug if desired but that this should be done as soon as possible. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, such a claim is not based on science and does not meet clinical standards.

The legislation also adds an amendment targeting minors obtaining an abortion. While current statutes do not allow for such abortions unless an attending physician obtains the informed written consent of the minor and a parent or legal guardian, the new bill now makes it a requirement for a consenting parent or legal guardian to make a reasonable attempt to notify any other parent with joint or physical custody at least 48 hours before providing consent. This is aimed at strengthening the hand of anti-abortion parents and blocking minors from acquiring the procedure.

Anti-abortion legislatures now have their eyes set on the draconian Mississippi law, which was taken up in a legal challenge brought to the Supreme Court last December. While the ruling in the Mississippi case, which will ultimately determine whether the constitutional precedent established by Roe is to be upheld or repealed, has yet to be decided, the prohibitions being implemented should be seen as a sharp warning of preparations being made to allow the outlawing of abortion entirely.

In August, the Supreme Court refused to block the new Texas state law allowing vigilante-style private lawsuits against abortion clinics. This decision was issued with no hearing or legal arguments and only a two-page ruling. The Supreme Court eventually threw out a Department of Justice challenge after it was handed a temporary injunction against the Texas law. The high court has also thrown out most Texas abortion providers legal challenges.

The swift introduction of reactionary anti-abortion laws in Florida and elsewhere will have a disastrous impact on poor and working class women, who do not possess the financial or logistical resources to travel to other states or countries that provide abortion services. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party and its privileged social base have sought to divert the abortion issue into gender and other forms of identity politics, which ignores the fundamental class character of the assault on reproductive rights. Wealthier women, regardless of the legal status of abortion services in various states, can simply fly to different regions or countries for access to the procedure.

There can be no confidence in the Democrats putting up a serious fight against attacks on abortion. Posturing as defenders of democratic rights, the strategy of the Democrats has been to resort to empty condemnations of Republican actions and appeals to the same court officials politically aligned with the far right. President Joe Biden, in a tweet last month, called Floridas new abortion restriction a dangerous bill that will severely restrict womens access to reproductive health care. Nothing has been proposed by his administration to defend the right to abortion since then.

Socialists oppose all attacks against abortion and other democratic rights. The right to an abortion can only be defended based on a struggle for the political independence of the working class against the entire capitalist two-party system, including a headlong confrontation with the Democratic Party. This struggle invariably entails a fight for a revolutionary perspective against the capitalist system.
On Friday morning, the Washington Post reported that Russia has submitted a formal diplomatic note, protesting the US transfer of billions of dollars in military hardware to Ukraine, and raising the prospect of Russian retaliation against US/NATO arms shipments.

Russias diplomatic note accused the United States of adding fuel to the conflict and warned of unpredictable consequences.

It said, We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security.

Ukrainian soldiers use a launcher with US Javelin missiles during military exercises in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. (Ukrainian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Responding to these statements, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told CNN, The Russians have said some things privately, they have said some things publicly; nothing will dissuade us from the strategy that weve embarked on.

Price said that if Russia is concerned that the White House is providing billions of dollars worth of security assistance to our Ukrainian partners  then were guilty as charged.

These reckless statements came amid a major intensification of the war this week. On Thursday, the Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, sank, after allegedly being struck by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles.

On Friday, the Pentagon backed the account of the Ukrainan government, saying the sinking of the vessel was the result of a Ukrainian strike, and not, as Russia had claimed, an accident.

A White House official told the Washington Post, What the Russians are telling us privately is precisely what weve been telling the world publicly  that the massive amount of assistance that weve been providing our Ukrainian partners is proving extraordinarily effective.

The Post also quoted George Beebe, former director of Russia analysis at the CIA and Russia adviser to former vice president Dick Cheney, as saying They have targeted supply depots in Ukraine itself, where some of these supplies have been stored.

Beebe continued, The real question is do they go beyond attempting to target [the weapons] on Ukrainian territory, try to hit the supply convoys themselves and perhaps the NATO countries on the Ukrainian periphery through which US supplies are transferred.

Beebe warned that if Russia suffers further military setbacks, then I think the chances that Russia targets NATO supplies on NATO territory go up considerably There has been an assumption on the part of a lot of us in the West that we could supply the Ukrainians really without limits and not bear significant risk of retaliation from Russia I think the Russians want to send a message here that thats not true.

The US weapons being shipped to Ukraine include 300 kamikaze drones known as Switchblades, 300 armored vehicles, and 11 Mi-17 helicopters, as well as land mines, radar, thousands of anti-tank weapons and nuclear protective equipment. Announcing the action, the Pentagon declared, The United States has now committed more than $3.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration. This includes $2.6 billion just within the past two months, since the beginning of the war.

The intensification of the war occurs against the backdrop of the militarization of Eastern Europe. Finland is highly likely to join NATO, the countrys Minister of European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen said in an interview on Friday, just days after Finlands prime minister said the country would consider joining NATO in a matter of weeks.

On Friday, Reuters reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced another $2 billion in military spending, with over $432 million going to arms shipments to Ukraine.

In the aftermath of the sinking of the Moskva and Russian allegations of Ukrainian attacks on its soil, there were reports of missile strikes inside the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev.

As the war rapidly escalates, there is increasingly open talk of the use of nuclear weapons. On Thursday, William J. Burns, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said Russia could respond to the escalation of the war with the use of nuclear weapons.

Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that theyve faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons, Burns said at a question and answer session at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Asked to comment on Burns statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN Friday, Not only me  all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried.

The combination of Burns warning of the potential use of nuclear weapons and Prices statement that nothing will dissuade the US from escalating the war paints a picture of staggering recklessness. The United States is massively expanding its aims in the conflict, seeking not just to bleed Russia white over months and years, but to impose a strategic defeat on Russia with the aim of overthrowing its government and installing a puppet regime.

A major contributing factor to the desperate and reckless policy of the Biden administration is the internal crisis in the United States. This week, Politico published an article entitled Bidenworld projects calm about Covid but bite their nails in private, which admitted that the Biden administration, having totally dismantled the infrastructure to track the COVID-19 pandemic in order to create a climate of normalcy has no idea how widespread the pandemic is in the US.

Prices are soaring, real wages are plummeting, and there is increasingly open talk of an imminent recession. Under these conditions, the Biden administration sees war as a desperate means to enforce national unity in the face of a growing movement of the working class not only in the United States, but internationally.

The Biden Administrations intensification of US involvement in the war will, however, only deepen and intensify the crisis and spur the emergence of working-class opposition.
In a securities filing on Thursday, Twitter revealed that the worlds wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, offered to buy the company for $43 billion. Taking place just one week after he became the largest Twitter shareholder by purchasing 9.1 percent of its stock over the previous two months, the filing elaborated on Musks view that Twitter needed to be transformed as a private company because it needed to build trust with its users.

Elon Musk (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

On Friday, Twitter moved to block Musk from significantly increasing his stake in the company by adopting what is known on Wall Street as a poison pill. The maneuver, which is also called a shareholder-rights plan, triggers an option for other stock owners to purchase shares at a discount and make it difficult for the billionaire to own more than 15 percent of the company. The reason it is called a poison pill is because the defensive tactic causes the value of stock to fall and makes it less attractive for the hostile buyer.

The 13D/A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday disclosed that Musk delivered a letter to Twitter on Wednesday that contained a nonbinding proposal to buy all the companys stock that he did not own for $54.20 a share, a value that is 18.2 percent above the days closing price of $45.85.

Giving an indication of Musks arrogance and clownishness, the Wall Street Journal pointed out that the amount of his offer per share was a thinly veiled marijuana reference. Meanwhile, his letter amounted to an ego trip for Musk and included statements like, Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.

Musk, who has a personal wealth of $264.6 billion according to Forbes Real Time Net Worth as of this writing, called his proposal his best and final offer. He said he was not going to play the back-and-forth game and indicated he might sell his shares if he did not get his way.

That Musk should or could become the private owner of Twittera critical social media resource used by organizations, public officials, and individuals to communicate in real time with the publicis a deeply reactionary idea. Known as a microblogging platform, Twitter enables political parties, journalists, artists and others to issue statements, make announcements and comment on contemporary events throughout the day. The social media company has more than 6,000 employees, 186 million worldwide users and 38 million users in the US.

Musks securities filing letter to company chairman Bret Taylor said, I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy. However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.

Musk then added, If the deal doesnt work, given that I dont have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder. He said this was not a threat, just an acknowledgment that Twitter is not a good investment essentially without his personal involvement as owner.

Speaking during an onstage interview at Technology, Education, Design (TED) 2022 in Vancouver later in the day, Musk said that Twitter was a defacto town square, and Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. On Thursday, he tweeted that he will, endeavor to keep as many shareholders in privatized Twitter as allowed by law.

The Wall Street Journal commented on the nature of the Twitter takeover plan, As is often true with Mr. Musk, his dalliance with Twitter is unfolding at rapid speed, partly in public, and in a manner hard to imagine from any other modern business leader.

Although Musk claimed that he had sufficient assets to make the $43 billion purchase, the Journal pointed out that he has given no indication of how he might pay for the deal. While most corporate takeovers involve the buyers coming to the table with money in their hand or a guarantee from a bank that the cash is readily available. Musk had neither of these when he was making his last and final offer.

The Journal said that nearly all of Musks $260+ billion is tied up in shares of Tesla and SpaceX. Selling those stakes would trigger big tax bills and reduce his control, the Journal says, and added That leaves borrowing against those stakes. But that would be tricky too.

Tesla shareholder rules allow executives to borrow up to 25 percent of the value of their holdings in the company. Since Musks stake in the electric car manufacturer is approximately $176 billion, this would appear to be enough for him to borrow the money required to make good on his offer for Twitter.

However, the Journal reports, Musk has already pledged 88 million of his Tesla shares for personal use, thus reducing his credit limit. Another problem is the volatility of the Tesla stock on Wall Street, which itself is subject to the unpredictable behavior of Musk, and banks are not likely to lend him the money.

Wall Street investors have indicated that they have no confidence that a Musk deal will be completed as Twitter shares fell by 2 percent on Thursday. It is also significant that among the most vocal Twitter investors opposed to the Musk takeover is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a representative of Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi Arabia-based Kingdom Holding Company, who tweeted on Thursday, Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer.

His bogus comments about the future of civilization notwithstanding, Musks record during the pandemic alone exposes his talk about first amendment rights as completely disingenuous. One can only imagine how the man who said in March 2020 that the coronavirus pandemic is dumb will do as the owner and top decision maker at Twitter.

Regardless of what he says about the importance of free speech, it is a fact that among the biggest threats to functioning democracy is the existence of wealthy individuals such as Musk himself. Democracy cannot function in a society where the top 1 percent has more wealth than the bottom 90 percent of the population.
A Southwest Airlines plane on May 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Attempting to characterize the official response to the third year of the pandemic in the United States, it might be helpful to consult a textbook in psychiatry to find an appropriate diagnosis. Perhaps a criminal justice handbook would be more prudent.

In the face of another tide of the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, the response by the Biden administration is to see nothing, say nothing and do nothing. As Politico recently wrote, The White House is publicly arguing that the country has finally arrived at a promising new stage in the pandemic fightone that a recent spike in COVID cases wont spoil. This goes completely against any sane public health advice and, as some experts have noted, is being done quite openly on the basis of political calculation.

Unabashedly, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the presidents medical adviser, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have openly endorsed the White Houses view to allow the population to face another surge of infections, suggesting people can make individual choices on the amount of risk they want to take. Fauci recently said on ABC , Whats going to happen is that were going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk they want to take.

Such comments, however, do not qualify as sound medical advice for a highly contagious, rapidly evolving airborne pathogen in a highly mobile, interconnected, global society. In the final analysis, the political motivation of Faucis statement shows it is a threat to the working class, which has always assumed the largest burden of the pandemic.

Dr. Maureen Miller, professor of epidemiology at Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health, observed to ABC News, Were at a time when US public health authorities are basically declaring People, youre on your own when it comes to determining how to co-exist with COVID-19. Sadly, the tools weve relied on to determine risk levels are being discounted at best and discontinued at worst.

There has been a revolving door between the demands of the White House and guidance supplied by the CDC that have, in a stepwise fashion, all but eliminated the ability of the public to track the spread of COVID in any meaningful way.

Perhaps even more asinine are recent comments by public health expert Dr. Ashish Jha, the White Houses new COVID-19 response coordinator. Commemorating his recent appointment by kicking off his celebrity tour of the news programs last week, he told NPR, If you think about where we are as a country, we are at a really good moment.

By a really good moment Jha is not referencing the recent lull in cases after the last wave of infections that killed nearly 180,000 people since mid-December, of which 41 percent were vaccinated based on data tracked by the CDC.

Nor the fact that one million have died due to the criminal policies that have enjoyed bipartisan support. They do not speak to the 200,000 children who have lost a parent or caregiver, or the millions debilitated by Long COVID who face a dim prospect for their future earnings and treatment.

Nor do his comments speak to the millions of uninsured who can expect a steep out-of-pocket expense for COVID-19 tests, vaccines and any treatments because all the public funding for such programs has been allowed to run dry.

Instead, Jha, a personification of the complete submission of science and public health to the diktats of Wall Street, is referencing the abandonment of all meaningful metrics for tracking COVID-19 and, therefore, its imposition on economic activity. The decimation of the entire public health infrastructure and reconfiguring it into an apparatus of the policy of profits before lives has been the really good moment that both Republicans and Democrats have been salivating over.

Indeed, what objectively characterizes the third year of the pandemic is obfuscation. It has become a politically silent pandemic.

Politicos report is critical because it shows that behind the scenes, government employees close to the White House acknowledge that new COVID-19 cases are being grossly undercounted. So, why isnt the public being warned?

On the issue, a person close to the Biden administration told Politico, Theyre like, We dont know if this is something to be worried about or not. But you cant tell the public that. A more damning admission would be difficult to find when in the balance are the health and welfare of millions of people who have already suffered repeated disastrous waves of the virus.

By all official indications, the BA.2 surge is gaining visible momentum after several weeks of low reported daily cases.

According to the New York Times COVID tracker, 32 states and Washington D.C. are reporting a positive 14-day change of new cases. The Northeast faces the initial impact, with Vermont, Rhode Island and Washington D.C. seeing the highest case rates.

The Johns Hopkins COVID dashboard noted that the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in the US, which had stalled for most of March, began to uptick in early April. Daily reported cases nationwide are at 35,272, up 25 percent over the last two weeks. However, these figures are inconsistent with what the daily COVID-19 death rate would suggest. The seven-day average has retaken an upward turn after a consistent decline from mid-February until recently, with just over 500 dying on average each day from their infection. As death is a lagging indicator by a few weeks, the upturn implies a significant rise in unrecognized infections over the last few weeks.

Placing these into context, former US Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Dr. Scott Gottlieb said on CBSs Face the Nation last week, Theres no question that were experiencing an outbreak in the northeast, also the mid-Atlantic, [and] parts of Florida as well  Its driven largely by BA.2, and I think we are dramatically undercounting cases. Were probably only picking up one in seven or one in eight infections. So, when we say there are 30,000 infections a day, theres probably closer to a quarter of a million infections a day.

The observation by Gottlieb is supported by wastewater data which has seen a divergence from SARS-CoV-2 concentrations seen in sewage water and confirmed COVID-19 cases. On March 9, 2022, viral concentrations were around 104 copies per milliliter, and the average in cases had declined to 37,590 per day. While wastewater levels have jumped nearly threefold, confirmed COVID-19 cases remained largely unchanged. The highest concentrations are in the Northeast with 472 copies, though all regions of the country are seeing a rise.

The BA.2 subvariant of Omicron now accounts for more than 85 percent of all sequenced infections. When this version of the virus dominated France, Germany and the UK, hospitalizations and deaths climbed once more despite assurances from their political leadership that the pandemic was over.

On April 13, 2022, the UK reported 658 deaths, with a seven-day average reaching close to 400 per day and climbing. By comparison, the death toll during the BA.1 surge peaked at around 270 daily deaths. The death toll from BA.2 in Germany matched the BA.1 surge, and in France, the death toll is climbing again. These experiences are relevant to the US, especially as population vaccination rates are lower than in these countries.

Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Childrens Hospital, told ABC News , An effective public health response depends on high quality, real-time data. Underreporting, driven by changes in testing behavior, lack of public interest and severely underfunded local public health departments, create a perfect storm of misleading case counts and hospitalizations.

Jeffrey Duchin, a health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington, said of the CDCs new COVID-19 metrics, The hospitalization threshold that the CDC came up with is too high. To wait for that high level to implement a measure  defeats the purpose of early action.

These warnings are being made at a moment when new variants of Omicron are being reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). Specifically, two strains, BA.4 and BA.5, are rising as a proportion of new cases in South Africa. They have also been detected in Denmark, Scotland and England.

They harbor two new mutations seen in previous variants of concern called L452R and F486V, which possibly can make the virus more capable of evading the immune system. Jeremy Kamil, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, told Newsweek, These are interesting new lineages. What is most interesting and concerning to me is the spike mutation F486V. This amino acid substitution escapes many of the broadly neutralizing antibodies people have that can protect from several variants.

For now, there is insufficient data or experience with these versions to know how they will behave during rampant community spread. But the constant emergence of COVID-19 variants underscores the complete indifference the ruling elites have to the dangers posed by allowing the virus to continue to assault the worlds population.
More than 900 high schools in Texas offer paramilitary law enforcement classes. Adolescents between 14 and 18 take part in programs that train them in police repression.

This ominous reality is documented in At the Ready by Texas-based director and cinematographer, Maisie Crow. Screened at the Sundance film festival this year, the film was shot in 2018 and 2019 at Horizon High School in El Paso, Texas, home to one of the regions largest law enforcement education programs. In this public institution, students are groomed to become police officers and border patrol agents for the notoriously brutal BORTAC unit. El Paso is the biggest city on the US-Mexico border, with a large immigrant and Mexican-American population.

At the Ready (2021)

As Crows film points out, law enforcement is one of the few career paths in El Paso that offers wages comparable to the national average. Salaries start at around $40,000 a year for jobs often not requiring a college degree.

At the Ready opens as a column of innocuous yellow school buses rolls by a group of teens sporting military gear and lining up in formation. An authoritative voice shouts: Heres the schedule: active shooter at 12; hostage negotiations at 1:30; drug raid at 2:30. Riot helmets and war fatigues make up the awkwardly fitting attire. The atmosphere is meant to be realistically intimidating.

In the classroom, one of the instructors, a former cop, explains that his charges will learn about basics: how to handcuff; how to lift fingerprints; how to do traffic stops; how to do verbal commands and to use force and its going to be paramilitary style. A supporter of fascistic Texas Senator Ted Cruz, this educator repeatedly uses the phrase Light em up! to describe how the students, with their plastic guns drawn, should expect to confront a suspect.

Recruitment into a criminal justice club begins with a slick video advertisement making false claims about the programs supposedly humanitarian purpose. A pro-police Blue Lives Matter flag hangs on the clubs wall and also appears on the students uniform vests.

Director Crow focuses on three Latinix subjects: Cristina, whose family supports her career choice largely because of the pay; Cesar, whose father was deported on drug charges to Juarez, Mexico; and Kassy, who after the film became Mason, a transgender male. Kassy is a lonely highschooler whose divorced parents have little time for her. Enthusiasm for the club, something of a surrogate family for Kassy, turns to disillusionment due to the homophobic character of the program and its propagandists.

At one point Cristina tries to justify her decision to continue with the training: Being Latino and living in the border city, civilians see us as the enemy, and they dont see the good we do for the community. We provide gifts for low-income families for Christmas and turkeys for Thanksgiving. Yet they see us as family wreckers. Ive been yelled at, cursed at, spit on and punched at just because of what I do. No surprises there.

The films drama plays out against images of President Donald Trump spewing his xenophobic filth. While a caravan of thousands of refugees escaping desperate poverty and rampant violence in Central America makes its way toward the American border, Trump rants that the miles-long convoy is creating a national emergencyThis is an invasion of our Countryand our Military is waiting for you!

Kassy refuses to join a club debate because of references to refugees as pests.

Cristina is shown watching a video of children being separated from their parents at the border. (More than 5,500 migrant families were pulled apart at the Southwestern border beginning in 2017, wrote the New York Times in a July 2021 article.)

Clearly disturbed, she responds: The door opens from the processing center, and theres like 7-year-olds, 8-year-olds. And theyre just walking there. And they look at us. And were like, oh, my God. Like, we thought it would be like adults or something, and no, it was like minors. We were really shocked because they were there because they were chasing a dream. So thats, like, one thing I dont like to just know that Im cutting their dreams off.

Intermittently, the camera captures El Pasos poverty stricken neighborhoods and overall blight.

In an interview with NPR, director Crow explains that she was at a high school on the border near Laredo, Texas. And while I was there, I saw students running down the hallway with the red fake guns that you see in the film, and I was very taken aback and started asking, you know, what these kids were doing. And it was the law enforcement program at the high school.

Crow points out that the students were learning how to do felony traffic stops, how to do drug raids, how to execute warrants for arrest, how to do hostage negotiations, how to take down active shooters. Theyre really learning the range of things that law enforcement officers are training to deal with.

At the Ready

In the movies press notes, the filmmaker voices dismay at seeing the effects of encroaching paramilitarization. In the 100-mile radius from the border, where law-enforcement agencies operate with near impunity, it is not uncommon to come across immigration checkpoints, surveillance blimps and helicopters working from the air. Not to mention local police, state troopers, sheriffs, Texas Rangers, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] agents that dot the highways, surveilling communities.

As paramilitarization permeates the border, its reach is now extending to Texas public schools, she adds. Crow also asserts that criminal justice programs grew in Texas after the state legislature passed House Bill 5, a law that put more vocational training programs in high school classrooms. Moreover, she wondered how his [Trumps] rhetoric and divisive nature might impact those in their most formative years.

Much of the material here is striking and disturbing. It would have been interesting if Crow had spoken to non-participants and probed what they thought about these blatant police-military exercises in their school.

The militarization of high schools in the US is proceeding along two lines: first, the transformation of schools into virtual fortresses, flooded with weapons, armed guards and other security measures, in the supposed name of fighting crime and preventing shooting incidents; second, the introduction of programs such as the one in Texas to push working class and impoverished young people toward the police or military.

As the WSWS has noted, nearly every school system in the US has some sort of relationship with local police forces, with cops assigned to schools often designated as school resource officers. While police officers are broadly distributed throughout public schools, they are especially prominent in working class neighborhoods with lower incomes. Coinciding with the militarization of schools, resources for students have been largely cut or eliminated.

The school militarization goes hand in hand with ideological indoctrination. The American media loves to decry the brainwashing that goes on under any government of which Washington disapproves. What is the Texas program and others like it? They are intended to build up forces among young people dedicated to free enterprise and the American way of life and generally loyal to the political and status quo. The sinister role of such paramilitary youth movements in the past hardly has to be emphasized.

However, whatever the authorities may think, the youth are essentially rebellious and hostile to the system, including the youth in Texas. Some 60,000 people marched in Houston in 2020 in protest against the police murder of George Floyd. Other significant protests occurred in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Fort Worth; all in all, 45 Texas cities witnessed rallies or marches. No wonder then that the fundamental attitude of the establishment toward young people is one that combines fear and hostility.
Medical workers wait for people at a temporary COVID-19 testing center in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea continues to rage out of control, particularly among children. Last week, the Central Disease Control Headquarters reported on the mass infection of children between the ages of 0 and 9. As of April 7, one out of two children tested for the dangerous virus receives a positive diagnosis, totaling 1,823,539 kids. This is a direct result of the policies of the Moon Jae-in administration and the South Korean ruling class to remove all virus mitigation methods in its drive to return to normal.

The 09 age bracket accounts for the largest number of infections in the South Korean population as a whole, with 48,494 cases per 100,000 people. The next largest group impacted is adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19, accounting for 41,726 cases per 100,000. These figures indicate the widespread infection taking place in schools. The surge in cases has also led to 20 deaths among children and adolescents, all of whom died following Seouls implementation of its with COVID policy last November, in which the population was forced to live with the deadly virus.

Hundreds of people are dying each day, with the seven-day average on April 13 standing at 285 deaths daily. Put in perspective, approximately the same number of people die each day on average from a preventable disease as the 304 people who died in the Sewol Ferry sinking in 2014, a disaster that engendered widespread anger and anti-government sentiment.

Hundreds of thousands of new infections take place daily, with cases surpassing the official totals in every other country nearly every day. Nearly 16 million infectionsequal to 31 percent of the populationhave officially been confirmed, and more than 20,000 people have died, the vast majority since November. Those who have recovered now face the danger of Long COVID and debilitating complications resulting from infections.

However, these figures hide a far grimmer reality. Those who died before testing positive for COVID-19 or from complications following infection are considered hidden deaths, and not included in official counts. Dr. Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious disease at Korea University Guro Hospital stated last month in the Korea Biomedical Review, The actual number of deaths related to Covid-19 may be two to three times the number of the official death toll. The cumulative number of deaths is estimated to be at least 30,000.

As around the world, the governments agenda is to normalize mass sickness and death. Government health officials make the claim that the spread of Omicron was inevitable and that social distancing measures were no longer viable. It blames the public for the current situation.

However, the surge in cases was not inevitable and took place because of the removal of all pandemic control measures. This included the elimination of mass testing, contact tracing, and quarantines. Currently, PCR tests are only available for those over 60 or in a high-risk group; quarantine has been reduced to only seven days for confirmed infections while close contacts are not required to quarantine at all.

The Moon administration furthermore claims that COVID-19 mitigation measures harm small businesses and the self-employed. While this layer has undoubtedly suffered during the pandemic, Seouls primary concern was to remove all restrictions on the ability of big business to turn a profit, no matter the impact on workers or any other section of the population.

Seoul made clear in early 2020 that it would prop up big business and financial institutions with unlimited money, no questions asked. Workers, small-business owners, and the self-employed on the other hand were left to flounder.

Speaking for finance capital, a March 30 article in the Wall Street Journal essentially congratulated South Korea for its inhumane and deadly policy. It cited Dr. Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco, who said, South Korea could become the first country to transition to endemic.

The use of the term endemic is being used to falsely claim the virus is less dangerous and to justify the removal of all social distancing measures. South Korean authorities have also promoted in practice, if not explicitly stated, the unscientific concept that mass infection will result in greater immunity in the future.

On March 31, the Korea Herald published interviews with health experts, who challenged the claim that the Omicron variant represented a weaker or less dangerous form of COVID-19 and that the removal of social distancing measures has popular support.

Dr. Oh Ju-hwan of Seoul National University stated, If natural immunity is indeed superior, then contracting a mild disease would be considered a blessing, which it is not. The super immunity from a combination of vaccination and natural infection is at best an assumption at this point.

Dr. Lee Jong-koo, a former head of the Korea Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, stated that immunity through mass infection has no basis in science and evidence

From how I see it, nothing justifies 300 to 400 people dying every day with morgues running out of space for bodies. The worst part is we dont know if this is going to be the last of the virus.

The Moon Jae-in administrations decision to allow a deadly virus to run rampant through the South Korean population is based entirely on the interests and demands of big business, not the vast majority of society.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has named a former Republican delegate to lead Virginias criminal justice services agency, and made the acting state health commissioner a permanent appointment to oversee the state public health system.

Youngkin also has picked a new chief information officer to lead the Virginia Information Technologies Agency after his first choice left after less than a month on the job.

The governors office confirmed on Friday that he has appointed Jackson H. Miller as director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The agency provides training and funding to law enforcement agencies, while regulating private security companies and conducting research on criminal justice policy.

It also confirmed that the governor made permanent the appointment of Dr. Colin Greene as state commissioner of health. Greene, a longtime U.S. Army doctor, had been acting as health commissioner since January, after he replaced Dr. Norman Oliver to lead the Virginia Department of Health.

Those appointments were among more than two dozen that Youngkins office announced on Friday afternoon. Among them, the governor named Robert Bob Osmond as chief information officer to replace Phil Wittmer, who had returned to Kansas in February after less than a month on the job at VITA.

Osmond previously had worked in technology positions at the Virginia Department of Transportation. Most recently, he served as chief of technology and business strategy at VDOT.

The IT agency, serving 65 executive branch agencies and more than 55,000 state employees, also lost its No. 2 leader, Chief Operating Officer Jon Ozovek, who left soon after Wittmer took over from former CIO Nelson Moe.

Michael Watson, the agencys chief information security officer, had been serving as acting CIO. Demetrias Rodgers, the deputy chief operating officer, is acting as COO.

In other appointments, Youngkin named longtime state budget analyst Michael Maul as director of the Department of Planning and Budget, replacing Dan Timberlake, who had retired in January.

The governor also named Randy McCabe as state comptroller, replacing David Von Moll, who is retiring after 21 years in a job that has a low profile but high importance in state government. McCabe has been serving as deputy comptroller.

Miller, 54, who already has begun work at the criminal justice services agency, served in the House of Delegates from 2006 to 2018, including six years as majority whip when Republicans controlled the House under then-Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford.

First elected in 2006 to fill an unexpired term after the death of longtime Republican Del. Harry Parrish, he served five two-year terms in the 50th House District, representing Manassas and part of Prince William County.

Miller lost his seat to Lee Carter, a self-declared Democratic Socialist, in 2017. The seat is held now by Del. Michelle Maldonado, D-Manassas, who defeated Carter in a three-way Democratic primary last year.
ADDIS ABABA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 247 suspected rebels have surrendered in recent days in Ethiopia's western Benishangul-Gumuz regional state, local authorities said on Friday.

In a press statement, the state's communications affairs office said the group included 57 suspected rebels who had firearms with them during their surrender.

The individuals are members of a banned rebel group, the Benishangul-Peoples Democratic Movement, the statement said.

"Security forces have also in recent days managed to rehabilitate 9,000 civilians who had fled to nearby forests escaping insecurity," it added.

In recent years, inter-communal violence and rebel attacks have led to the death of thousands of civilians and the displacement of more than 100,000 others in western Ethiopia.

Benishangul-Gumuz region, located along the border with Sudan, hosts Ethiopia's largest development project, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. 
The United Nations Childrens Fund warned Wednesday that 62 percent of the population in South Sudan will face food insecurity in the coming months.

The organization said 62.7 percent, or 7.74 million people, will face crisis or worsening levels of food insecurity between April and July, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis.

The analysis says 1.34 million children under the age of five will be impacted by acute malnutrition due to food insecurity.

More than 80 percent of those who are food insecure in the country come from the states of Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, Lakes and Eastern Equatoria.

The condition has become worse due to floods, droughts, conflicts, economic downturn, displacement and disrupted livelihoods, according to the United Nations.

FAO is concerned by the rising number of food-insecure people driven by the additional burden of heavy flooding that has occurred in the country for the last three consecutive years, Meshack Malo, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) representative in South Sudan, said.

To tackle acute hunger, we need to produce more food where it is needed most. FAO will continue to provide seeds, tools and fishing kits to people in urgent need of assistance. We also need increased investment to allow us to find innovative ways to help South Sudanese farmers adapt to climate change so they can grow enough food to meet their nutritional requirements, added Malo.

Three UN agencies are calling for more funding in order to provide humanitarian aid to South Sudan.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The incident took place outside of Hong Kong's eastern waters, per reports. AP

An explosion occurred aboard an oil tanker in waters east of Hong Kong, reports said.

At least one crew member died and six were injured, per South China Morning Post.

The incident occurred on the Panama-flagged vessel "Chuang Yi," per the report.

An explosion aboard an oil tanker east of Hong Kong killed one person and left six injured on Saturday.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) first reported the news.

The Government Flying Service was notified of the incident at around 4 a.m. ET., 300 km east of Hong Kong, per the outlet.

After contacting the service, The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center sent two helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft to the site, according to the outlet.

Priscilla Yip, a spokesperson for the The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, told Insider that the vessel was a Panama-registered tanker named "Chuang Yi" and had 13 crew members onboard.

"The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre immediately tasked the Hong Kong Government Flying Service for rescue and six crew members have been evacuated from the tanker so far," Yip told Insider. "The Hong Kong Marine Department will continue to follow up with the incident."

According to SCMP, a spokesman said the fire aboard the Panama-flagged vessel was contained but it caused the death of one crew member. Another suffered second-degree burns to 30% of his body, and two others had burns to the face, the outlet added.

The first helicopter arrived around 7 a.m. ET and picked up three seriously injured crew members, while the second helicopter was still en route to rescue two Indonesians and one Myanmese man who were also injured in the blast, per the report.

The Government Flying Service told SCMP that the Marine Department and the tanker operator would handle the transfer of the dead crew member's body but said the vessel had no more power.

It is unclear at this stage which company the vessel belongs to.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sometimes life imitates art so on-the-nose-ly you wonder if its a bit. Thats precisely the case with Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro, who on Friday during the networks show The Five went on a rant about undocumented immigrants from Mexico that feels like shes practically daring Cecily Strong to whip out her impression of Pirro on the next episode of SNL.

Specifically, among other things Pirro sounded rather worried about the possibility that people coming into the country from Mexico might be alcoholics. No, seriously.

[Biden] is opening up the borders to people we dont even vet. We dont know who among them is a criminal, who among them is a pedophile, whos an alcoholic, who likes children, who is convicted of murder, whos a Latin King. Dont we have a right to know that? Pirro asked.

Jeanine complains about not knowing if any undocumented immigrants are alcoholics pic.twitter.com/3g7DQaznxj  Acyn (@Acyn) April 15, 2022

Now a couple of things. First, no, actually, we *dont* have the right to know if someone is an alcoholic, whether theyre American or Mexican. Second, the claim Biden has opened up the border is very inaccurate. All hes done is say he wants to restore the border crossing rules to their pre-pandemic status quo. He has not proposed any relaxation of how we have vetted people for decades.

And also, A) being an alcoholic is absolutely not actually a crime, and B) its actually unconstitutional to use alcoholism, a medical problem, as a basis to deny someone entry or deport them later.

But thats not why youre here. Youre here because of Cecily Strong, whose entire impersonation of Pirro amounts to basically leaning in on the idea that Pirro is constantly drunk. That of course comes from several incidents on Pirros show that a lot people sure thought seemed like she might have been intoxicated.

Of course, to be absolutely clear Pirro has denied she has ever been drunk on her show, but we know shes aware of the jokes they make on SNL. So we think this might be bait. In any case, we hope our readers understand that alcoholism is not a crime nor is it a reason to deny someone entry into the United States.
THE PERFORMER | Josh Brolin

THE SHOW | Prime Videos Outer Range

More from TVLine

THE EPISODE | The Land (April 15, 2022)

THE PERFORMANCE | Brolin doesnt grace the small screen often, and after watching his explosive performance in this new supernatural Western, were tickled hes found his way back there.

The actor stars as Royal Abbott, a rancher who discovers a mysterious hole on the cusp of his spacious Wyoming land. While the premiere episode did a bang-up job introducing the storys central characters and oddities, it was Episode 2 where Brolin more than staked his claim.

After covering up a murder and being pushed into the terrifying hole himself, Royal awoke on his property with more questions than answers. The characters typically stoic disposition was rattled to its core, as he attempted to quell his familys worries about the murder and his whereabouts. But soon, the pressure of keeping secrets to protect his son, plus an icy chat with his hostile neighbor tightly wound him up like a wire on a winch. Brolin allowed the characters fortitude to slowly and subtly chip away, letting us witness just how big of a toll it was all taking.

But the grand slam scene occurred at the Abbotts dinner table, as Royal prayed for the dead mans family and confronted his conflicted feelings about God and religion. In one fell swoop he asked for guidance, while questioning the existence of a higher power, Brolins tone filling to the brim, then spilling over with frustration and unbridled rage. As he begged Him to fill that great void, he demanded an explanation because this world of yours isnt quite adding up.

The actors intensity flew off the rails as he delivered the monologue with a fiery tongue, quivering lip and eyes that transformed from hateful to hurt. Like Royals family, we were stunned in silence. And it didnt stop there. After declaring they would move their cattle away from the precarious pasture, the patriarch unleashed even further, madly screaming, There is a great void! while shaking convulsively and slamming his fists. It was a downright chilling performance that made us feel his characters fear of the unknown, and we cant wait to see how it all shakes out.

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Chris Sullivan

HONORABLE MENTION| No matter on whose side you fell during This Is Us slow and painful dissolution of Kate and Tobys marriage, youve got to admit: Chris Sullivan did a bang-up job of portraying Toby at the end of his rope. Sullivans talent shone in Tuesdays episode, as the Damons realized that their union was over. He gave Tobys anger such a sharp, needling edge that we wanted to throw something at him as he and Kate fought; then he quickly pivoted to breaking our hearts with Tobys shame and need as he begged Kate in a breaking voice for one more try at being a happy couple. For several episodes now, Sullivan has handily played the gamut of complicated emotions that arise when two people grow apart. Tuesdays hour was some of his best work to date.

Killing Eve Series Finale Villanelle Jodie Comer Sandra Oh

HONORABLE MENTION

| After four seasons of chasing each other around the globe, Killing Eves Eve and Villanelle finally caught up with each other in this weeks series finale, and it was a pleasure to see Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer tap into a fun, lighthearted side of the duo we hadnt seen. The two took a road trip together in a stolen camper van and shared some intimate moments  that kiss!  along the way, with Oh and Comer getting positively giddy like new lovebirds. Plus, Comer was triumphant as Villanelle took vicious revenge on The Twelve, and Oh delicately touched on Eves true feelings for Villanelle as she performed an impromptu wedding ceremony. Yes, their story may not have had a happy ending, but Oh and Comer still put a glorious bow on one of TVs most fascinating pairings.

Abbott Elementary Quinta Brunson

HONORABLE MENTION

| A lot of the credit for Abbott Elementarys incredibly strong freshman season has to go to Quinta Brunson, who is not only the ABC comedys creator, but also anchors the show as second grade teacher Janine Teagues. In this weeks season finale, the teach went through a relationship rollercoaster when her boyfriend Tariq got a job in New York and assumed that Janine would move with him. Reacting to the ridiculous things coming out of her beaus mouth, Brunson brought the laughs with her quietly resigned looks. Then she tugged on our heartstrings when a talk with a scared student lead Janine to find the courage to tell Tariq that they should take a break. But no moment was more satisfying than Janine finding her strength as a teacher with a group of rowdy kids. Brunson definitely passed this school year with flying colors.

Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in Comments!

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Turin, Italy (Jahz Design/SWNS)

These fascinating photographs show the abandoned and crumbling theatres of Europe.

Dimitri Bourriau, 38, says he has visited over a thousand abandoned places around the world, but has a passion for former show halls.

The Paris-based photographer's work has seen him tour locations including Italy, Belgium, Portugal and as far afield as Morocco and Georgia.

Tangier, Morocco (Jahz Design/SWNS)

Charleroi, Belgium (Jahz Design/SWNS)

He says his mission is to keep a photographic trace of old theatres so that no one forgets them.

Dimitri explains: My series of photos Innuendo Teatro is a series that I have been working on for six years. It brings together some of the most beautiful theatres I have visited.

I am passionate about architecture and theatres so I combined my two passions in photographing old theatres.

Turin, Italy (Jahz Design/SWNS)

Paris, France (Jahz Design/SWNS)

I have travelled several continents in search of abandoned theatres. I try to transcribe what I see in photos. Keep in photos a trace of its old theatres so that no one forgets them.

Photographing old theatres is not easy, it is often very dangerous. Buildings are often in danger of collapsing. You have to be very patient.

The exterior of Gran Teatro Cervantes in Tangier, Morocco (Jahz Design/SWNS)

Gran Teatro Cervantes interior (Jahz Design/SWNS)

One of my favourite theatres is the Gran Teatro Cerventes in Morocco. It was an emblematic place of Tangier. It was abandoned for over 60 years. It was an old Spanish theatre built by a wealthy merchant in 1913.

I had come across an old newspaper article that talked about this theatre. I had no idea if it still existed. I had forgotten its existence until one day, one of my contacts in Morocco told me about it.

Porto, Portugal (Jahz Design/SWNS)

Kutaisi, Georgia (Jahz Design/SWNS)

I decided to take a plane ticket and go see this theatre for myself. I was surprised by the imposing size of the building. Once inside, it was extremely dark. I had to wait for the light to come in.

There was a real atmosphere, everything was still there, the seats, the stage, nothing had changed for 60 years. Everything was covered in dust.

Bar-le-Duc, France (Jahz Design/SWNS)

Paris, France (Jahz Design/SWNS)

I stayed several hours to visit all the rooms. It was the most beautiful abandoned theatre that I have discovered.

SWNS
Nicola and David Yoon couldn't find any love stories that looked like theirs.

A few years after the couple's daughter was born, Nicola wrote her debut YA romance novel, "Everything, Everything"  later adapted into a major film  because she wanted her daughter, who is half Jamaican American and half Korean American, to see herself at the center of a love story.

"Characters who looked like were always the sassy sidekicks," Nicola tells USA TODAY.

"Always the sidekick, never the star," David agrees. "We were like, 'This is bizarre, because we know for a fact that we fall in love.' "

The Yoons, two self-described "romantic goobers," met in graduate school and each found success as authors before forming the publishing imprint Joy Revolution (launching next spring), which aims to promote love stories starring people of color.

Authors (and married couple) Nicola and David Yoon founded Joy Revolution to spotlight love stories starring people of color.

The world of mainstream romance novels, both for grownups and young adults, has transformed in the last few years. An industry once completely flooded with stories about straight, white, able-bodied, cisgender people falling in love has begun opening up to queer, disabled and authors of color  and found that readers are devouring diverse love stories and are yearning for more.

Get your beach read list started: The best summer rom-com books that made us hot and bothered in the best way

Diverse romances always existed, but they weren't accessible

The Yoons are far from the only ones who became writers because they didn't feel represented in the stories they grew up reading.

"I didn't read anything that had authors of color or characters of color," Farah Heron, author of "Kamila Knows Best," a Bollywoood retelling of Jane Austen's Emma, recalls of her childhood. "I never read anything with characters remotely looking like my family."

Robbie Couch, whose second YA romance novel, "Blaine For The Win" just hit bookshelves, didn't see any books starring queer characters at his the bookstores while growing up in rural Michigan. Those books existed elsewhere in niche markets, but none were accessible for a young kid in a small town, especially pre-internet.

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"It would have made a world of difference to see myself reflected back at me in the pages in my fingertips," Couch says.

"Blaine for The Win" author Robbie Couch

Today, it's easier for young people to see themselves in novels. Not only do more local and major book retailers sell more diverse titles, online communities make storytelling even easier to find.

"The biggest thing that has changed is accessibility," says Casey McQuiston, whose next novel (and YA debut), "I Kissed Shara Wheeler," arrived May 3. Now 31, McQuiston, whose pronouns are they/them, didn't have many resources as a teen to access indie publishers where they might find queer fiction.

"If it wasn't being sold at Target, Barnes & Noble or Walmart or in my school library, I probably was not going to get my hands on it," they say. "The fact that these books are being sold in mainstream stores, on tables and on end caps is huge for queer readers  lowering that barrier of entry for readers who are just dipping their toe. That has been amazing to watch and I hope that only continues to grow."

More book recommendations: 50 Black YA authors you should read, from Angie Thomas to Walter Dean Myers

Beverly Jenkins paved the way for diverse romance writers

Before a diverse field of authors  such as Talia Hibbert, Jasmine Guillory, Akwaeke Emezi, Kosoko Jackson, Jesse Q. Sutanto, Quintana Albertson, Sonali Dev, Kwana Jackson, Nalini Singh, Denise Williams, Tracey Livesay, Mia Sosa, Alyssa Cole, Olivia Waite, Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera, Julian Winters and Leah , just to name a few  found success in the romance world, there was Beverly Jenkins.

Beverly Jenkins: A popular romance writer, Jenkins is best known for historical romance. She is a USA TODAY bestselling author with more than 40 books and anthologies to her name, most notably Indigo, Something Old, Something New, Destinys Embrace and Forbidden. In 2017, Jenkins received the Romance Writers of Americas Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jenkins, a USA TODAY bestselling writer, is well-regarded by many in the industry as a trailblazer. She's the first author to put Black characters at the forefront of historical romances.

"You can't talk about romance without talking about Miss Bev," McQuiston says. "I always like to point people backward toward the people who did the work to get us here."

Heron points out it only takes a few books to do well to change minds. "That opens the door for publishers to see the value in the stories," she says. "Readers are asking for Black more romance. They want South Asian characters. And so publishers started listening. And it was around the same time that rom-coms exploded."

Turning point: From bodice-rippers to rom-coms

"Rebel," by Beverly Jenkins

Photos or hyper-realistic renderings of shirtless men or embracing couples used to be the norm on covers of romance novels. Some authors, including Jenkins, still take this route, while others have adopted a brightly colored aesthetic that relies on graphic designs. Heron doesn't think it's a coincidence that those covers gained popularity just as diversity was increasing in the industry.

"Some people say the fact that we moved into illustrated covers opened a lot of doors for characters of color, because it was easier to get a character of color illustrated on the page because they didn't need to use stock photos, or maybe readers are more likely to pick up a book without a very large photo of a person of color on it," Heron says.

Depending on who you ask, those in the industry will point to various times in the last 10 years as major turning points for the romance novel space.

"The Chai Factor" by Farah Heron

"The market wasn't really buying (many) POC romances before 2019," Heron says. Her first book, "The Chai Factor," sold to publishing house HarperCollins Canada in 2017, but it "didn't sell easily."

Couch was in the early stages of thinking about writing a book in 2015 when he shared an idea about a YA story about a straight girl to his friend, "They Both Die at the End" author Adam Silvera.

" He asked me, point blank: Why isn't your main character gay or queer?" Couch recalls. "I really had to stop and think about why that was the case, even though I've personally felt so passionately about queer representation. I think even back in 2015, the market wasn't where it is today in terms of being as inclusive."

Save for a few "trailblazer books," not many queer stories had made it past their "niche market" label to the mainstream. But there's been a "sizeable shift" in the past seven years, especially for YA books, Couch says.

Generation Z readers are "much more open to consuming stories about all different types of people," Couch says. "Particularly young readers are hungry for more queer stories and we're seeing that reflected in the industry changes."

And, of course, 2020 and the summer of Black Lives Matter protests prompted a reckoning within writing communities through movements such as "We Need Diverse Books." At the same time, books about anti-racism soared to the top of best seller lists and publishers, news outlets and social media users sought to promote Black voices.

"The world has changed so much," Heron says. "My kids see characters like them in TV, in books. They are not only taking in media from here: They will watch Japanese anime and (Korean) dramas, and so they're already taking in other cultures and seeing characters of color. I think it's a fantastic time for them to be growing up."

Not quite 'happily ever after' for everyone yet

It hasn't been long since a book starring a South Asian character was practically required to have the words "chai" or "Indian" in the title, or to feature a woman with henna and a sari on the cover, recalls Nisha Sharma, author of "Dating Dr. Dil."

Author Nisha Sharma

"We have come a long way in the sense that we are not just a single stereotype," Sharma says. "But we are not far enough to feel truly represented in romance today because there are just not enough people from different points of view that are writing their truths and accepted for their truths."

And despite progress, all is still not equal in queer representation in mainstream publishing, McQuiston notes. They would like to see more queer stories "not by and about white people" and more books starring trans characters, particularly transfeminine stories.

"Publishers are finally starting to catch up to the fact that audiences don't want to see the same stories over and over," McQuiston adds. "These gatekeepers in publishing who are the ones signing the checks are starting to catch on to the fact that it can not only pay off, but strengthen the body of work that a house is putting out to include more and more types of stories and more and more types of people."

Promoting diverse authors is just the beginning. To make true progress, authors argue, diversity needs to run throughout the industry, through all aspects of publishing: marketing, editing, finance and especially those calling the shots. Diversity, equity and inclusion needs to "permeate the actual business structure," say Sharma, who also serves as a DEI lead for a major global technology company and has done consulting research on publishing houses' diversity efforts.

"Think of DEI in an organization like Jenga," she adds. "You have to have multiple pieces working together in order to hold up the framework. If you only have one building block, which is diverse books, the whole structure is going to fall."

'The struggle cannot be' the whole story

When David Yoon's YA rom-com "Super Fake Love Song" debuted, one bit of feedback stood out to him: One reader enjoyed the story, but wondered why they walked away from the book without learning much about Korean culture.

"There is still that expectation with a writer of color to teach their culture instead of to simply exist," Yoon said. "If 'Super Fake' was an entirely white cast, you wouldn't say, 'well, I wish I'd learned more about Anglo-Germanic culture."

Writers deemed "diverse" are often expected to explain their background to mainstream readers, which uncovers another big remaining issue in the industry: "Mainstream readers" is usually interchangeable with "straight, white, cisgender and able-bodied consumers."

"The onus should not be on the writer to educate the reader, because that means that publishing is still approaching diverse narratives from a (cisgender, heterosexual), white lens," Sharma says. "The unspoken expectation that publishing has for diverse authors is that we are required to teach something about our culture. And that is not something I will ever, ever want to do. My goal as an author is only to provide joy and love and laugh. If you learn something in the process that is secondary  it's great if it happens, but it's not a requirement."

"One Last Stop" by Casey McQuiston

Even after McQuiston found overwhelming success with their 2019 debut novel, "Red, White and Royal Blue," about the son of the President of the United States and the Prince of Wales falling in love, they still faced apprehension about the marketability of their second book: "One Last Stop," a time-warp romance between two women.

"I was building off the success of my first book so it was less scary, but I still had a lot of fear that romance readers are made up in large part by straight women, and are cis-het women going to be willing to read about queer women?" McQuiston said. "With any queer book that you're publishing, you're trying to reach mainstream success and there's that barrier that you have to get straight people to buy into a love story that they might not find relatable."

'Everybody deserves a happy ending': The gay royal romance novel is having a moment

Difficult topics are important to highlight, but they aren't and can't be the only stories told.

"We need both," Nicola Yoon says. "I don't wake up in the morning thinking about the struggle, because that would steal my whole joy in life. I have a husband that I adore and a kid that I adore and I'm pretty happy  I want to hold onto that. The struggle just cannot be everything."

'Representation really does matter'

The conversation about representation in media in 2022 is worlds away from what it was even a few years ago. Sometimes, that makes it easy to lose sight of why it's important.

"Queer stories right now are more important than ever," Couch argues, as school libraries around the country ban books about gender and sexual identity, and lawmakers debate and pass bills that threaten healthcare for trans children.

"Weve seen significant strides forward in terms of queer representation in romance novels, and in books and TV and film, and whenever you have a few steps forward, you're going to of course be hit with backlash. There's going to be a subset of people that are scared of that change. We need stories that are inclusive to queer kids more than ever because we have leaders who don't see them as fully human."

Ted Cruz grilled Ketanji Brown Jackson on 'Antiracist Baby': Here's why you should read it

Against a harsh political backdrop, diverse romance stories serve as a reminder that everyone is worthy of love.

"It's really easy to be cynical about representation," McQuiston adds. "Yes, representation only matters so much because there's also policy and money and all of those things, but representation really does matter when it comes to being a reader and feeling like you've been shut out of types of narratives that you love you're entire life. It's a lonely experience sometimes. It's really important to see somebody like you as the main character who gets to have a happy ending."

Not long after after Nicola Yoon published "Everything, Everything," she stood on a film set with her husband and their young daughter as actor Amandla Stenberg brought the main character to life.

The Yoons' daughter watched the scene unfold, then turned to her parents. "She looks like me," she said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Best summer romance books 2022: Diversity among queer, BIPOC authors
Russia has banned the UKs Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a list of other senior ministers from entering the country over what it describes as the UKs hostile position regarding its war with Ukraine.

Besides Johnson, the UKs Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and ten other named ministers are also on the list of those barred.

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The Kremlin explains the decision as one that follows recent UK sanctions against Russia, including freezing the assets of a catalogue of high net-worth individuals living in London, since Vladimir Putins decision to invade Ukraine nearly two months ago.

This also follows Johnsons surprise trip to the Ukraine capital city of Kyiv last weekend, when he was photographed meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and accompanying him on a walk through the streets of the beleaguered city.

US President Joe Biden was faced with a similar ban by Moscow last month. Biden has accused Putin of war crimes.

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This Feb. 26, 2021, file photo shows an oil well east of Casper, Wyo. The Biden administration is raising royalty rates that companies must pay for oil and natural gas extracted from federal lands as it moves forward under court order with sales of public fossil fuel reserves in nine states. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File)
Arizona Governor George W.P. Hunt's Tomb as seen in 1969.

On our first Thanksgiving in Arizona, our family picnicked in Papago Park. While there we walked over and took a look at Governor George W.P. Hunts tomb. We were impressed by it. This was at the beginning of WWII. We kids asked my dad so many questions about the tomb that he read up on the governor.

We learned that George W.P. Hunt was born in Huntsville, Missouri, in 1859. When he was 18, he ran away from home. After nearly three and a half years of travel, the future governor arrived in Globe.

He had many different jobs while in Globe. He worked as a waiter, a mucker in the Old Dominion Mine, did some cattle ranching and was a delivery boy for Baileys General Store. Baileys was bought out by the Old Dominion Commercial Co. Ten years later, Hunt became president of Old Dominion Company in 1900.

He served several terms in the Territorial Legislature, including stints in both houses. From 1898 to 1904, he served as Gila Countys treasurer.

He married Helen Duett Ellison, daughter of a Globe rancher, in 1904. They had one daughter, Virginia. In 1905 he returned to the Territorial Council (todays Senate), where he remained until statehood.

Following the Congressional Enabling Act of 1910, Hunt was elected a delegate to the State Constitution Convention, becoming its president. The charter for statehood was approved by the citizens of Arizona and by Congress. However, it was rejected by President William Howard Taft. Taft objected to the initiative process that was included in the constitution. Arizona removed the initiative component out of the states first constitution and statehood was finally granted on February 14, 1912, with Hunt serving as our first governor.

After statehood was achieved, Gov. Hunt and his fellow Arizonans put the initiative component right back into the constitution, where it exists to this day.

Governors served two-year terms from the advent of statehood through 1967. Between 1912 and 1933, Gov. Hunt served a total of seven terms as Arizonas governor, not all consecutively. He initially lost his bid to serve a third term. He successfully appealed the election results to the Arizona Supreme Court and was seated for his third term on Dec. 25, 1917. In the early 1920s, taking a break from statewide office, Hunt served as the U.S. minister to Siam (todays Thailand).

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Ive often wondered how Gov. Hunt managed to stay in the voters favor for such a long period of time. Apparently, he loved to campaign. He also loved traveling throughout the state, so he became very well-known by the citizens he served. He did not like having enemies. He went out of his way, all his life, to make friends of those people with whom he disagreed.

After Hunts wife died in 1931, he lost in the primary in the 1932 race. Helen was his greatest supporter and soul mate. She cared for the family and home and made his life a happy one. He never recovered from losing her. Gov. Hunt died on Christmas Eve in 1934 at the age of 75.

Reared on a local dairy farm, former Scottsdale city councilman (1971-76), state legislator (1979-85) and honored oral historian Paul Messinger founded Messinger Mortuaries in 1959. He can be reached at 480-860-2300 or 480-945-9521.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why Arizona Gov. George W.P. Hunt served 7 terms
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) addresses reporters after the weekly policy luncheon on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.





A bipartisan group of senators are visiting Poland and Germany this weekend to meet with NATO partners and military officials over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, marking the second trip that lawmakers have made to Poland in recent weeks.

"This strong, bipartisan delegation proves the Senate stands united in its support for Ukraine," the 10 senators said in a joint statement on Thursday. "During our time in Poland and Germany, we will have the opportunity to gain greater insight on the U.S. and NATO response through engagements with top military leaders. We will return with better insight on how Congress can and should continue to support the Ukrainian people and our NATO allies, and see firsthand the heartbreaking humanitarian impact of Putin's war of aggression."

The senators heading to the two countries include Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Angus King (I-Maine), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas).

Ernst is leading the trip, according to a press release from her office.

Among the places and people that the lawmakers have visited on their trip so far are the Gen. John Shalikashvili Mission Command Center in Wiesbaden, Germany, U.S. ambassador to Germany Amy Guttman at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin and German State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.

Ernst also said that they met with NGOs in Poland and visited a refugee center.

The development comes one week after a separate bipartisan Senate delegation traveled to Poland to meet with Polish officials and visit refugee sites amid the Ukrainian invasion.

The senators who participated in that trip included Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)

The latest trip also comes several days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Congress and continued his push for a no-fly zone to be established over Ukraine, an idea that has faced resistance from the U.S., or warplanes and air defenses.
Long nails are a major trend these days, seen on the hands of superstars like Cardi B and Billie Eilish. But a biologist warns this new trend may come with health hazards when considering what may be growing underneath.

Jeffrey Kaplan, a biology professor at American University, told USA TODAY that the area under the fingernail in the crevice is where most of the bacteria live.

"The longer the nail, the more surface area there is for microorganisms to adhere," he said. "Studies have found 32 different bacteria and 28 different fungi underneath fingernails."

Kaplan said it doesn't matter if you have long artificial nails, long natural nails, gel nails, acrylic nails or nail polish, because there is an increased probability of carrying microorganisms which makes it more difficult to decontaminate with handwashing or scrubbing.

Studies find MRSA, staph underneath

One study found MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant bacteria that causes serious infections in hospitalized patients, underneath half of the fingernail samples collected, according to Kaplan.

A judge checks on the contestants' nails during a nail art creative design contest at the China 2011 Hair and Beauty exhibition in Beijing, China.

Also, some of the bacteria under nails can be found on the skin like staphylococcus which can lead to an infection.

"You can transmit fingernail bacteria to your system by scratching, nail-biting, nose-picking and finger-sucking," Kaplan said.

He said the worst thing that could happen from the bacteria and fungi is a nail infection, which would not be life-threatening, but could leave your fingernails disfigured.

Infant deaths linked to long fingernails

That is why most, if not all healthcare workers, are required to wear short nails due to being at risk for transmitting disease, according to Kaplan..

Two nurses at an Oklahoma City hospital may have contributed to the deaths of 16 babies in 1997 and 1998 because of bacteria found underneath their long nails, The New York Times reported.

What's everyone talking about?: Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day

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Epidemiologists found a link between the deaths of the infants in the neonatal unit and the bacteria under the nails but did not prove it was the definite cause.

"When surgeons scrub for surgery and then they test their hands, there's always bacteria under the fingernail and you can't get rid of it," Kaplan said.

Long nails trend on social media

Kayla Newman, a nail tech based in North Carolina, told USA TODAY that none of her clientele has had infections or "nasty nails" in her eight years of service.

"Generally people who have long nails know how to maneuver with them and keep them clean," she said. "If you're spending upwards of $60 to get your nails done and you don't keep them clean, that doesn't make sense."

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Newman has seen the trend for long nails grow over the last couple of years, and social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok showcase artistic designs on nails that can be over 2 inches long.

She said the most common complaint she gets from clients who have long nails are broken nails, especially if they are new to the trend.

Newman suggests for people with long nails to regularly make appointments with their nail tech because the strength of nails can shift when they grow out.

"Nails are an awesome luxury to have," she said. "I encourage people to get them done because when you look at your hands and see them nice and done whether they are long or short, it makes you feel amazing."

Two-time Olympic champion Gail Devers of the U.S. sports her long green finger nails at the indoor track and field meeting in Erfurt, eastern Germany, Feb. 5, 1997. Devers finished third in the 60m sprint.

Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Are long nails health hazards? Experts weigh in on bacteria, fungi
The Duchess of Sussex attending a reception, hosted by the City of The Hague and the Dutch Ministry of Defence, celebrating the forthcoming Invictus Games, at Nations Home, Invictus Games Park (Zuiderpark), in The Hague. Picture date: Friday April 15, 2022. (Photo by Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Images)

Meghan Markle's latest act of kindness is one that's sure to resonate with moms everywhere. On Friday, the Duchess of Sussex and her husband, Prince Harry, arrived at The Hague, Netherlands for the Invictus Games, where they were led to the venue by a small group of competitors. According to royals journalist Omid Scobie, Markle noticed the temperature was dropping and handed her tan coat to a mother who was carrying her newborn baby.

While the exact moment Markle handed over her coat doesn't appear to have been photographed, there are pictures of the smiling mom walking alongside the Duchess with her baby wrapped up warmly in a jacket. "En route to the venue, the couple were escorted by #TeamNetherlands competitors and family - one of whom was proudly carrying a newborn," Scobie tweeted. "Noticing the sudden drop in temperature, Meghan quickly handed over her coat to the mom to help keep the baby warm."

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As a mother of two herself, it's no surprise that Markle would show such compassion to a fellow mom and her little one. The Duchess has been open about the juggle struggle that comes with being a working mom, but she's also made it clear she loves balancing mom time with things like appearances at the Invictus Games. As reported by ITV News, during a 2019 event in Cape Town, Markle told Lara Rosmarin, chief executive of Cape Innovation and Technology, "Being a working mum and travelling as well with a baby, my goodness it's a lot, but it's all so exciting."

En route to the venue, the couple were escorted by #TeamNetherlands competitors and family-one of whom was proudly carrying a newborn. Noticing the sudden drop in temperature, Meghan quickly handed over her coat to the mom to help keep the baby warm. pic.twitter.com/mVDbg0sSgH - Omid Scobie (@scobie) April 15, 2022

Since stepping away from their royal duties, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spent more quiet time as a family. However, they're both still passionate about giving back whenever they can, and the Invictus Games are one of the couple's favorite events. On Saturday, the couple spoke at the opening ceremony, where Markle acknowledged what a long road the 2022 participants have been on due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

"For each team, my husband and I both recognize it's been a lot to get here, both physically and emotionally, not least of which for the Ukraine team, whom we are all standing with," Markle said, as reported by People. "One thing I know for sure is that every single moment it has taken to get here will be worth it, because it is here, at the Invictus Games, that we honor your years of active duty on the field and your continued service to your country, to your family and your community off the field."

Markle's impassioned speech made it clear that she's dedicated to supporting the players and their families any way that she can - even if it means giving them the coat off her own back.
LAS CRUCES - Prices at the gas pump in New Mexico continued to fall Friday, dropping an average of 4 cents per gallon since last week.

The national average for a regular gallon of gas is now $4.27, according to AAA, breaking the July 2008 record of $4.11, which would be around $5.30 today when adjusted for inflation, as reported by USA Today.

Aside from inflation and loosened COVID-19 restrictions leading people to venture out more, Russia's invasion of Ukraine remains a large factor behind rising prices. Sanctions put on Russia include the country's selling of crude oil, which is one of the biggest factors in determining gas prices.

More: The Reporter's Notebook podcast, Ep. 10  Pain at the Pump

Russian crude oil accounts for only 3% of U.S. imports, but it has a big role because it produces "heavier, sour crude" oil, according to Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a professor at the University of Houston. He added Russia's oil is also needed because U.S. refineries are not designed to use only light, sweet crude oil.

A woman holds a nozzle as she refuels her car on July 16, 2015, at a Costco gas station in Robinson Township, Pa. Prices for coal, natural gas, oil and the fuels made from crude such as gasoline and diesel are all far less expensive than they have been in recent years, delivering big breaks for consumers and decimating energy company profits and leading to huge layoffs.

As gas prices continue to rise, this tracker from Gas Buddy can help you find the cheapest gas prices are around Las Cruces. Currently, the cheapest gas in Las Cruces is at Murphy Express, 3480 Northrise Dr.

Lowest Gas Prices in Las Cruces

Gas price hits new high

Meanwhile, the price per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline has continued to rise consistently across New Mexico for the past year, according to GasBuddy.com.

Price Trends for New Mexico

Jordan Mendoza of USA Today contributed to this report.

Damien Willis is a Lead Reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-541-5443, dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Where to find the cheapest gas prices in Las Cruces, New Mexico
Finland and Sweden appear to be edging closer to joining NATO, a move that leaders and experts see as the best way to confront Russia as it escalates its rhetoric on nuclear weapons.

The conflict in Ukraine has forced the two Nordic nations to reconsider their absence from the alliance forged after World War II, which commits members to defending one another if attacked.

Mr. Putin is proving NATO relevant and necessary, said Sean Monaghan, a visiting fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. If NATO didnt exist, youd have to invent it.

Finland in particular but also Sweden are very stoic on these matters and see Russia with clear eyes. And thats why I think ultimately they will join NATO because theyve seen Russias revisionist threat has been building. And now it has boiled over with the invasion of Ukraine, and theres kind of no way back, and the best way for them to secure themselves against the threat posed by Russia is to join NATO.

As politicians and poll results in the two countries have reversed course on the prospect  favoring joining NATO after decades of abstaining  Moscow has renewed its threat of using nuclear weapons.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russias Security Council and former president of Russia, wrote in a Telegram post on Thursday that there can be no talk of non-nuclear status for the Baltic if Finland and Sweden join NATO, adding that the balance must be restored.

He said that should Finland and Sweden become part of the alliance, Moscow would need to seriously strengthen the grouping of land forces and air defense, deploy significant naval forces in the waters of the Gulf of Finland.

Its a particularly concerning threat to Finland, which shares an 800-mile border with Russia.

Finnish Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen said Friday that it is highly likely her country will join NATO, calling Russias brutal war in Ukraine a wake-up call to us all.

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That eagerness could also put more pressure on Sweden, which would be left as the only Nordic country outside the alliance and which would break its longstanding practice of neutrality by joining.

The fact that these countries were not on track to join NATO three months ago and now they are is definitely a response to Russian aggression. Russia should realize its aggression against Ukraine has spooked a lot of countries, even to the point that a country like Sweden, which has a 200-year history of nonalignment, is now looking at actually joining NATO, said Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO who also served as a special envoy on Ukraine.

Finlandization was coined as a word to describe the Soviet Unions insistence that Finland not exercise its own choices on security. Now theyre going to do it anyway. So in that sense, these are definitely responses to Russian aggression, and its probably good for Russia to realize that, he added.

NATO expansionists are hopeful the two countries will formally signal their intention before NATOs June meeting in Madrid, where members could sign an accession protocol that would also need to be individually approved by each countrys legislative body.

Experts say they are likely to be welcomed into the alliance.

They have advanced, modern militaries and are seen as security providers versus security consumers, Monaghan said.

But beyond the practical defense implications, the move would also send a significant message.

This takes place within the context of what President Biden has called the contest between autocracies and democracies. So certainly membership would project an image of Western solidarity, transatlantic solidarity and I think would be an injection of democratic values into NATO, so that would be visible to Russia as well, said Gene Germanovich, an international defense researcher with the Rand Corporation.

Once newcomers are invited by NATO members, each of the 30 member countries would have to go through their own process for approving the treaty, a task that can last years but one that experts are hoping with proper motivation could take as little as a few months.

Volker said he was hopeful Sweden would complete its own internal decision-making prior to the June summit.

NATO summit leaders  want to be able to make this decision once and then they want to close any gray zone between going to be a member of NATO but not yet a member of NATO and ultimately becoming a member of NATO  they want to close that gap as quickly as possible, he said.

But there are a few potential sticking points.

Leo Michel, a former director for NATO policy at the Department of Defense, said Hungary is the international player most likely to slow walk the ratification, while any opposing word from former President Trump, a frequent NATO critic, could complicate getting consensus in the U.S. Senate, where a two-thirds vote for approval is needed.

Given the closeness of Viktor Orban in Hungary to Putin, I could imagine at least that Hungary might be slow to ratify, said Michel, now a fellow with the Atlantic Council.

Given the way Trump treated NATO  Im a little bit nervous that they will get all of the necessary Republican votes. Maybe they will in the end  [but] I actually dont think it will be easy, he said.

If he finds this something else to attack the administration on, there may be some people who listen to that and dont want to go crossways with him, he added.

Its not clear how Russia might respond to a NATO expansion, though experts view ground action as unlikely.

If you look at Russias current predicament, from a conventional forces perspective theyre very occupied needless to say in Ukraine, so it would be difficult to redirect substantial forces to the North, Germanovich said.

But Russia would seek to punish alliance members via other means such as disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks as well as potentially acting on its nuclear threats.

Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that theyve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons, CIA Director William Burns said in a speech Thursday.

While weve seen some rhetorical posturing on the part of the Kremlin about moving to higher nuclear alert levels, so far we havent seen a lot of practical evidence of the kind of deployments or military dispositions that would reinforce that concern, Burns said. But we watch for that very intently, its one of our most important responsibilities at CIA.

Joining NATO would show Finland and Sweden do take Russia seriously, even as they buck any pressure from Putin.

Presumably Mr. Putin will be unhappy with Finland and Sweden joining NATO. One of the purported reasons for going into Ukraine was to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, so if Finland and Sweden do join, hell have only have himself to blame, Monaghan said.

And there will be quite some kind of poetic justice, as it were, if NATO could prove the open-door policy that Putin wanted to slam shut, he added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
TRENTON - A Freehold man was sentenced to five years in federal prison this week after he pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution and the illegal sale of firearms in Monmouth and Ocean counties, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Enrique Quijada, 25, was a member of a gun trafficking conspiracy that stretched from Florida to New Jersey, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey.

The weapons Quijada conspired to sell included multiple handguns and a semi-automatic rifle, the statement said.

He was apprehended after he attempted to sell the firearms  as well as cocaine  to an undercover FBI operative, according to the federal government.

At the time of his arrest, Quijada was in the United States unlawfully. In addition to admitting to one count conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking and one count of cocaine distribution, he also pleaded guilty to one count of firearm possession by an alien unlawfully present in the U.S., the statement said.

U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson imposed the sentence Thursday at the federal courthouse in Trenton.

More FBI news: Feds investigating allegations Ocean County employment was offered in exchange for kickback

Background

From May 2020 through September 2020, Quijada and co-defendants Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria, Waldin Espinosa-Ozoria, Javier Rodriguez-Valpais and Jacquelyn DeJesus conspired to sell firearms to individuals working at the direction and under the supervision of the FBI, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria  the alleged leader of the conspiracy  acted as a straw purchaser of firearms in Florida, the statement said. A straw purchase is when someone purchases a firearm on behalf of another person who is not eligible to own a gun.

Earlier this week: 3 men charged in sexual assault attack against woman after night out at Marlboro bar

The U.S. Attorneys Office explained that Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria and DeJesus then transported the firearms across state lines and into Monmouth County, where members of the conspiracy  which included Quijada  sold the weapons locally.

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Rodriguez-Valpais sold a .223 caliber semi-automatic rifle to Quijada, who in turn sold the rifle to an undercover FBI operative. Quijada also sold cocaine to the operative, the statement said.

Three members of the conspiracy  Javier Rodriguez-Valpais, Waldin Espinosa-Ozoria, and Jacquelyn DeJesus  previously have pleaded guilty for their roles in this criminal case. The charges against Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria are pending.

Multistate investigation

In addition to the prison term, Thompson sentenced Quijada to three years of court supervision after his release from prison.

The federal government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian D. Brater of the U.S. Attorneys Offices Criminal Division in Trenton.

Special agents from the FBIs Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., led the investigation that has resulted in these convictions, Sellinger said.

He also credited the FBIs Tampa Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark and Tampa field divisions; and the Freehold Police Department for their assistance in the case.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Freehold NJ: Gunrunner, drug dealer nabbed by FBI sentenced
A man is awaiting extradition to Massachusetts after being arrested in Fulton County on Friday.

The Fall Rivers Police Department in Massachusetts reached out to the Fulton County Sheriffs Office over the weekend with a 14-year-old girl who had been impregnated by a family member of hers, Roque Garcia-Ortiz.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Authorities say they feared Garcia-Ortiz was traveling to the metro Atlanta area to fly to Puerto Rico where he has family.

The FCSO Scorpion Unit found and arrested Garcia-Ortiz in a hotel in East Point.

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He is being charged with three counts of rape, three counts of aggravated rape of a child and rape of a child with force.

Garcia-Ortiz is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail.

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When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Narhiza Shkrobotko was living in Orikhiv, a small city about 100 miles northwest of Mariupol. One night early in the war as shells fell in the region, the journalist and activist saw out her window a flash of a bright light.

Living about 70 miles from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, she feared the worst.

"I was very scared that it was an explosion at the nuclear power plant," said Shkrobotko, 22. "I immediately started trying to connect to the internet to find out if there was a danger."

Though that light did not signal the disaster she feared, more danger was to come.

Russian troops shelled the plant, and reports emerged March 3 that it had caught on fire amid the fighting. Russian forces gained control of the area and occupy it under the management of the Russian energy company Rosatom. The situation remains precarious.

Guns, bomb shelters and anti-radiation meds: More people in Finland are preparing for war with Russia

The violence at the Zaporizhzhia plant reminded the world of the potential environmental nightmares in Ukraine  a country that suffered historys worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.

Radiation is far from the only environmental problem facing Ukraine as it approaches a third month of war.

The Russian invasion threatens environmentally fragile sites throughout the nation, which served as an industrial center dating back to the Soviet Union.

Ukrainian journalist and activist Narhiza Shkrobotko was frightened by a Russian attack on a nearby nuclear plant.

Military action at Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors, chemical plants, mines or other manufacturing facilities could lead to another environmental catastrophe, said Kristina Hook, a professor of conflict management at Kennesaw State University who studies warfare's impact on the environment.

The Pridniprovskiy Chemical Plant outside Dnipro, a riverport town of nearly a million people, once produced half the yellowcake uranium used in the Soviet Unions nuclear arsenal, Hook said. Mostly abandoned, the site contains 40 million tons of radioactive waste  15 times more than what remains in Chernobyl.

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The concern here is that a large quantity of waste could spill into the Dnipro waterway and down into the Black Sea, Hook said, putting the entire European continent at risk.

'We want to use our own names': Language experts explain importance of Ukrainian cities' spellings

What happened at Chernobyl? What to know about nuclear disaster

The Donbas example

To understand the environmental hazards facing Ukraine, one need only look to its eastern Donbas region, invaded in 2014 by Russia.

The Donbas region, which takes its name from the abbreviation of the Donets Coal Basin, contains more than 900 active and inactive coal mines, according to Hook. When the Soviet Union fell apart in the early 1990s and the region ceased to be a major economic hub, many mines were abandoned and flooded with toxic groundwater.

Kristina Hook, professor of conflict management at Kennesaw State University, says an environmental disaster in Ukraine could threaten all of Europe.

The only way to keep the tainted water from polluting the water supply is to pump it out. Since Russian-backed separatists occupied many parts of the region, environmental monitoring agencies largely have been unable to assess what, if any, measures ensure the water is safe.

Hook and fellow researcher Andrew Marcantonio found that critical infrastructure systems such as wastewater processing and trash removal were targeted and destroyed when Russians invaded the region in 2014, further disrupting systems designed to protect water from contamination.

As in the earlier war, Russia shows a willingness to threaten environmental calamity as a means to control the population.

The seizure of Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhia plants are acts of "nuclear terrorism," said Oleh Savytskyi, a policy and energy expert at the Ukrainian Climate Network and a board member of EcoAction, a nongovernmental organization.

"It is certainly a kind of terrorist activity," said Iryna Stavchuk, Ukraine's deputy minister of environmental protection and natural resources. The Russian army is "using these horrible risks as a means to create pressure on Ukraine."

'Genocide': Biden calls Russia's invasion of Ukraine a 'genocide.' Is it a war crime?

Long-term damages

Even if the reactors are unscathed and Ukraine maintains its independence, officials worry what postwar environmental legacy will remain.

Leaks and damage to facilities containing toxic substances add to the terror Ukrainian civilians face as they try to escape danger and violence.

In February, Russian bombs hit airfields and an oil depot in Vasylkiv, near the capital of Kyiv, according to the town's mayor, who warned of toxic fumes flooding the air.

On March 21, officials told residents of Novoselytsya in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine to stay inside after an ammonia leak at a chemical plant that produced fertilizers.

In Hook's research, she detailed the way even domestic structures can present danger when shelled. In Irpin, homes that caught fire after being bombed by Russian troops probably would emit asbestos and particulate matter.

War in Ukraine: Wake of violence revealed as Russian troops withdraw

Short- and long-term health consequences may result.

"For a young, healthy person, even a high dosage rate wouldnt constitute an immediate risk, although as they age, they might be at an increased risk of cancer respiratory issues," Hook and Marcantonio wrote in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, noting that young children with asthma or other chronic respiratory problems could have problems right away.

Stavchuk knows well the long-term health risks of damage to Ukraine's chemical and nuclear facilities. She was a child at the time of the Chernobyl disaster and said her generation has been haunted by the fallout.

"As a nation, as people who live close to Chernobyl, we have these (health) problems, and many people of my age have thyroid cancer," she said. "It's quite a common disease. So these impacts are felt for many, many years."

The future threats

Improvements to reduce toxic exposures have come to a halt.

Before the war, Savytskyi said, Ukraine was making progress toward environmental reforms. The country implemented regulations, he said, to clean and modernize industries and meet standards set by trade agreements with the European Union.

"The work that we were doing for the last eight years is unable to proceed because of this aggression," Savytskyi said.

When the rebuilding of Ukraine begins, mitigating the environmental damage caused by war must be a priority, Hook said. People must be able to safely drink the water, breathe the air and farm crops.

"I think we need to be realistic that environmental redress is only going to happen in a meaningful way when the Ukrainian state is back in control of these (environmentally fragile) sites," she said.

Picking up where the country left off before the war will be challenging, Stavchuk said.

Ukraine: Ford Shelby Super Snake, Chevy Corvette sell at auction for $1M to aid Ukraine

"I don't know how to work with it," she said on a call from Lviv after fleeing her home in Kyiv. "Because even if the war is over, we have so many tasks of just rebuilding the country."

Evacuated to western Ukraine, Shkrobotka, the journalist, said she's not thinking about the environmental aftereffects of the war  not yet.

Though she is farther from the most intense fighting, she said she still can't sleep properly. She worries about relatives who remain in cities under siege.

"This time feels like one horrible, exhausting day during which I constantly check the news, check friends and family, bring food and hot water to the checkpoint of our military and constantly thank the boys and girls who protect me and my family for every minute of our life," she said.

Shkrobotka said the war's damage to the environment, like so much else in her country, will be unavoidable. "I hope that after our victories, we will be able to cope with all the consequences and maybe even improve the situation," she said.

Renee Hickman is a reporter at the Wausau Daily Herald, part of the USA TODAY Network. She was a U.S. Fulbright grantee in Ukraine in 2018-2019.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war: Nuclear radiation and other environmental threats loom
Wayne Brezinka at his home studio in Old Hickory, Tenn., Friday, April 8, 2022. Brezinkas upcoming project is focused on the war in Ukraine, which is an issue close to him because he is of Polish descent.

Wayne Brezinka was fired from his first art director job in Nashville. Now, he creates commissioned portraits for editorial spreads in national and international publications. His latest project, focused on the war in Ukraine, was set to debut Saturday in Washington, D.C.

How did he do it?

I havent given up, Brezinka said in his home studio in Nashville. I fully believe this is my gift for the world. Its a way of communicating what words cant.

Brezinka is lost for words when he attempts to relay his feelings about the invasion of Ukraine, an issue that is close to his heart because of his ancestry.

A portrait of Wayne Brezinkas grandparents, John Walter Brezinka and Johanna Angeline Kostreba, sits in his home studio in Old Hickory, Tenn., Friday, April 8, 2022. Brezinkas upcoming project is focused on the war in Ukraine, which is an issue close to him because he is of Polish descent.

I saw these devastating pictures of nothing, he said. Of ashtrays of land. How could you even begin to rebuild? I had no idea.

Brezinkas family comes from Poland. His great grandparents immigrated to the United States in 1892 and started a new life. Their son, John Walter Brezinka, was born in the U.S. in 1897.

His family shares their name with a town in the southern part of the country  Brzezinka  the location of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

How important it is to honor the past, honor them, Brezinka said. Those who have gone before us. We cant cut that part of ourselves off. They are always with you.

As I watched the invasion unfold, I thought of my grandparents.

A prototype used while creating a recent piece of work by Wayne Brezinka in his home studio in Old Hickory, Tenn., Friday, April 8, 2022. Brezinkas upcoming project is focused on the war in Ukraine, which is an issue close to him because he is of Polish descent.

Brezinka channeled painful emotions into Facing War, the exhibition of his recent work at the Glover Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. He thought of Ukrainians who have fled their homes with only the clothes on their backs. And he thought of those refugees who have been accepted by their neighbor Poland.

He was first moved to create a portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has inspired the world with his leadership and grit in the face of the Russian invasion.

He approached this portrait like his previous works, looking for physical elements that tell a story about his subject. Brezinka used layers of newspaper clippings as a backdrop, and created silhouettes of soldiers standing with the president, waving the Ukrainian colors.

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He continues that theme of yellow and blue into "Slava Ukraini" (Glory to Ukraine) which features a white dove carrying a red bear, a geopolitical symbol often used to represent Russia.

All four pieces for "Facing War" can be viewed online at waynebrezinka.com.

A portrait of Wayne Brezinkas grandparents, John Walter Brezinka and Johanna Angeline Kostreba, sits in his home studio in Old Hickory, Tenn., Friday, April 8, 2022. Brezinkas upcoming project is focused on the war in Ukraine, which is an issue close to him because he is of Polish descent.

Local Art Scene: Nashville's trees face a lot of adversity. These nonprofits came together to help them.

A gift to the world

Brezinka's art is widely digitally published, but in person, viewers can fully appreciate his use of mixed-media and detailed layering. The work has a vivid three-dimensional quality, even in photos. It's what keeps his editorial clients coming back again and again.

"Everything is so at-your-fingertips with computers," Brezinka said. "It gets really tiresome to me. It loses something, just from that flat, digital look."

When he first started using mixed-materials during his time as a graphic designer, his peers hated it. He would run newspapers and grocery bags through the color copier to add texture and dimension to his design. Despite losing his job, he stayed true to himself and his artistic style.

Now the art directors he works with calls his art a "breath of fresh air."

He is passionate about creating art as a way to say something for those who cannot speak.

"You can say nothing and sit back and do nothing. Or you can use your gift and lean into it."

Wayne Brezinka at his home studio in Old Hickory, Tenn., Friday, April 8, 2022. Brezinkas upcoming project is focused on the war in Ukraine, which is an issue close to him because he is of Polish descent.

Reach reporter Molly Davis at mdavis2@gannett.com or on Twitter @mollym_davis.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's Wayne Brezinka creates project inspired by war in Ukraine
Steven Miles and Matthew LeBrun are pictured outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Department of Justice.

A Florida man accused of assaulting police officers during the Capitol riot was arrested this week.

Prosecutors said Steven Miles was caught on video smashing a Capitol window with a wooden plank.

More than 800 people have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot.

A Florida man accused of attacking police officers and smashing a Capitol window with a plank during the January 6 attack was arrested earlier this week, officials said.

Steven Miles, 39, of Zephyrhills, Florida, faces nine charges related to his role in the insurrection, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; civil disorder; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon.

Miles was arrested on Tuesday and made his initial appearance the same day in the Middle District of Florida. He was released pending further proceedings, the Department of Justice said in a Wednesday statement.

Prosecutors said Miles joined a group of Trump supporters marching to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and wound up on the West Front of the building. While there, the group of rioters confronted police officers who were trying to protect the Capitol. During the fight, Miles shoved and attempted to punch multiple police officers, according to court documents.

Following the fight with authorities, Miles moved to a staircase leading to the Upper West Terrace, prosecutors said. Surveillance footage captured him using a wooden plank to smash a window on one of the Senate Wing doors. Miles then entered the building through the broken window, according to court records.

Surveillance footage captured Steven Miles smashing a Capitol window, according to court documents. The Department of Justice

He briefly walked through the building and then exited through a door, prosecutors said. Investigators later used cell phone records to place Miles at the scene.

A man who was with Miles that day was also arrested on Wednesday and listed as a co-defendant in the case. Matthew LeBrun, 33, of New Orleans, Louisiana, faces four charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

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According to court records, the FBI was alerted to the men's presence at the attack after an anonymous tipster reached out to the agency. The witness told investigators that she met the two men and posed for a photograph with them. She said she heard them talking about how they broke into the Capitol by breaking a window, prosecutors said.

An anonymous tipster shared this photo with the FBI following the Capitol riot. The Department of Justice.

Miles could not be reached for comment. An attorney for the man was not yet listed as of Friday.

More than 800 people have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot, and 251 rioters have pleaded guilty thus far.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Like an Island (Lilot), a hybrid documentary fable tinged with magical realism by Swiss director Tizian Buchi, has won the Grand Jury Prize at international documentary film festival Visions du Reel in Nyon, Switzerland.

The debut feature had its world premiere at the festival, bearing testimony to the events reputation as a launchpad for new talent and its tradition for hybrid fiction-reality films. A total of seven first features are among the winners. It is the first time since 2013 that a Swiss film has picked up the festivals top prize.

More from Variety

A small urban island becomes the metaphor of contemporary Europe and lends itself to a deep reflection about the absurdity of borders, rules, fences and barriers. A brilliant observation, a surprising wondering, that rewrites the coordinates of geographical spaces in universal terms, said the jury, composed of filmmaker Jessica Beshir, the winner of last years Grand Prix, Beatrice Fiorentino, general delegate of the Venice Film Festivals Critics Week, and Jovan Marjanovic, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

The runner-up Special Jury Award went to Bitterbrush by Emelie Mahdavian, a doc about two female range riders in the American West, which made a splash when it premiered in Telluride, for its cinematically triumphant, raw, yet tender, portrayal of two womens nomadic existence in this rewrite of the classic Western genre, the jury said.

Russian director Marusya Syroechkovskayas debut feature, How to Save a Dead Friend, received a Special Mention, for its punk rock attitude in skillfully piecing together a story of another lost generation in Russia, according to the jury.

The festivals more experimental Burning Lights section was judged by Chiara Maranon, director of content at MUBI, Switzerlands Cyril Schaublin, who won best director for his debut feature Unrest in this years Berlinale Encounters section, and Argentinian producer Gema Juarez Allen (Lina From Lima).

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They awarded their top prize to yet another first feature, A Long Journey Home, by Wenqian Zhang, a family portrait about cohabitation, emancipation and the search for ones place within the family.

With an equally tender and formally bare approach, the film humbly draws our attention to the intimacy of a household. With precise cinematic decisions, domestic situations unfold before the camera, weaving together a family portrait of strong emotional resonance, that raises important questions about the ties that bind us, as it bridges an intergenerational gap in contemporary China and beyond, said the jury.

The Special Jury Award in the Burning Lights segment went to Herbaria by Argentinas Leandro Listorti, who delicately combines archival and fresh images to chronicle the immense work that goes into plant classification and preservation.

A film of extraordinary lucidity, said the jury, that brings together two universes  plants and cinema  in a revelatory game of analogies. Taking the time to explore the multi-layered nature of preservation, the film finds unsuspected warmth in scientific and methodical processes, rendered visible in an act of poetic justice.

A Special Mention went to Europe by Philip Scheffner, for dealing with the subject of immigration in a novel way and with a great sense of humanity while showing that silence and the out of frame are remarkable tools to discuss the fiction of borders.

In the National Competition, Swiss-Japanese filmmaker Julie Sando picked up the Jury Prize for Fuku Nashi, a moving encounter between two lonely souls that tells the story of Yukiei who returns home to her grandmothers house after years of absence. Sando also nabbed the Zonta Award for a female filmmaker whose work reveals mastery and talent.

The National Competitions Special Jury Award went to Le Film de mon pere, Jules Guarneris first feature, described by the jury as an intimate portrait of a family whose members live close to each other and yet seem far apart. The filmmaker succeeds in making an honest and entertaining film that tells of house spirits and control freaks, of searching for and cutting ones roots, and at the same time asks the question: what does family mean?

Serbian filmmaker Luka Papics absurd comedy Without, about an eccentric artist who embarks on a journey to find his pet dog, won the International Medium Length and Short Film Competition Jury Prize.

Best Short Film went to Aralkum by Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko, the story of the last inhabitants on the shores of the Aral Sea, who have lost their way of life to desertification  a film that opens a door on a landscape swept by human excess, said the jury.

Jaime by Francisco Javier Rodriguez, the portrait of a young man affected by a mental disorder, received a Special Mention in the Short and Medium category.

The Interreligious Award went to Iranian artist and director Vida Dena for Ma vie en papier, in which drawings she shares with the daughters of a Syrian refugee come to life to relate the memories, dreams and destiny of the family in exile.

Peruvian director Manuel Bauers debut feature, Steel Life, a fascinating journey across Perus Altiplano to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, won the International Critics FIPRESCI Award.

The Audience Award went to Sara Dosas poetic archival montage Fire of Love, which has been blazing through the festival circuit since premiering at Sundance.

The festivals artistic director Emilie Bujes welcomed the prizes, which she said reflect the wealth of diversity at Visions du Reel. New voices rub shoulders with the films of established filmmakers and engage in a dialogue with the works of our guests Marco Bellocchio, Kirsten Johnson and Hassen Ferhani. We are particularly pleased that the diversity of film genres, generations, approaches and geographies that guide us have been rewarded and welcomed by the public and the juries, she said.

The 53rd edition of Visions du Reel ran from April 7 through April 17. The festivals first full physical edition in three years  the event was one of the first to go completely online in 2020 and held a limited on-site hybrid edition last year  drew an estimated 45.000 people, around the same number as 2019.

We made the bet to reinvent the festival, and we won  thanks to a very strong return to face-to-face events and an increased virtual dimension acquired during the pandemic, said festival president Raymond Loretan, for whom the Visions du Reel team has transformed a crisis into an opportunity in an exemplary manner.

See the full list of Visions du Reels 2022 awards below:

International Feature Film Competition

Grand Jury Prize

LIlot by Tizian Buchi

Special Jury Award

Bitterbrush by Emelie Mahdavian

Special Mention

How to Save a Dead Friend by Marusya Syroechkovskaya

Burning Lights Competition

Jury Prize

A Long Journey Home by Wenqian Zhang

Special Jury Award

Herbaria by Leandro Listorti

Special Mention

Europe by Philip Scheffner

National Competition

Jury Prize

Fuku Nashi by Julie Sando

Special Jury Award

Le Film de mon pere by Jules Guarneri

International Medium Length and Short Film Competition

Jury Prize for the best Medium Length Film

Without by Luka Papic

Jury Prize for the best Short Film

Aralkum by Daniel Asadi Faezi & Mila Zhluktenko

Special Mention

Jaime by Francisco Javier Rodriguez

Special Youth Jury Award for a medium length film

Churchill, Polar Bear Town by Annabelle Amoros

Special Youth Jury Award for the best Short Film

Marianne by Rebecca Ressler & Lara Porzak

Interreligious Award

Ma vie en papier by Vida Dena

Zonta Award

Fuku Nashi by Julie Sando

International Critics Award  FIPRESCI Award

Steel Life by Manuel Bauer

Perception Change Award

Children of the Mist by Ha Le Diem

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Arizona's state prison complex in Florence handles executions for the state.

An Arizona death row prisoner says his religious rights will be violated if he is not granted access to his spiritual adviser during his potential execution.

The Arizona Supreme Court recently granted the states request to set a briefing schedule for Frank Atwood, who was sentenced to death in Pima County in 1987 for the murder of an 8-year-old girl, Vicki Lynne Hoskinson.

Atwood is currently being held in the Browning Unit at the Eyman State Prison Complex in Florence.

In early May, the Court will have a conference where they could decide whether to grant a warrant and set a date for Atwoods execution.

Should that occur, Atwood, who practices the Greek Orthodox faith, wants his priest to be able to lay hands on him and pray over him during the execution.

The current Department of Corrections protocols allow for a spiritual adviser to speak with the prisoner in the death chamber from another room via microphone, but do not allow them to be in the same room as the prisoner.

Attorneys for Atwood filed a complaint this week in the United States District Court of Arizona, Tucson Division, claiming the DOC protocols would violate his constitutional rights. They are asking the federal court to stay any pending execution warrant from the state supreme court until the DOC changes their execution protocols to allow the spiritual adviser in the room and to place his hands on Atwood during prayer.

In the complaint, Atwoods attorneys highlight his history of devout faith.

Although he is incarcerated on Arizonas death row, he observes a strict schedule of prayer and study at the direction of his priest, Father Paisios, Abbot of the St. Anthonys Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence, who baptized him into the faith in July 2000, the attorneys wrote.

The complaint states Paisios has visited and ministered to Atwood regularly for many years despite, at different points, imposition by the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry of unlawful impediments.

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According to the complaint, the current DOC execution protocols violate Atwoods rights under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

Mr. Atwood seeks the modification of ADCRRs Execution Protocol to comport with his religious exercise under the law, said his attorney, Joseph Perkovich. Should he face execution, he seeks to do so in a manner consistent with fundamental tenets of his devout Greek Orthodox faith. He seeks the ability for his longtime spiritual advisor to administer last rights to him as the State would attempt to put him to death.

The Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of a death row prisoner in Texas who challenged the state prison systems ban on the practice of a spiritual adviser laying hands on the prisoner during an execution. Writing the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said the prisoner is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief because he will be unable to engage in protected religious exercise in the final moments of his life.

The Arizona Department of Corrections declined to comment pending litigation.

Have a news tip on Arizona prisons? Reach the reporter at jjenkins@arizonarepublic.com or at 812-243-5582. Follow him on Twitter @JimmyJenkins.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona prisoner seeks to have spiritual adviser present at execution
The Michigan Department of Education recently announced an additional 29 grantees for "10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms", after reopening the matching grant program for a second application window.

LANSING  The Michigan Department of Education recently announced an additional 29 grantees for "10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms," after reopening the matching grant program for a second application window.

Ten Cents a Meal, Michigans state-funded farm to institution grant, provides matching incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

The grant has gone from a regional pilot program in 2016 to finally being available to applicants statewide for the 2020-2021 school year. The latest investment of $5 million dollars from the state affirms the importance of 10 Cents a Meal in providing fresh, healthy, local fruits, vegetables, and dry beans for Michigans children.

"One of my proudest accomplishments during my legislative tenure is the growth of 10 Cents a Meal, especially here in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. This program is critically-important in getting fresh Michigan fruits and vegetables to our students and we now have a total of 257 grantees across the state. I am thrilled to see Cheboygan Area Schools, Harbor Springs School District, Inland Lakes Schools, and Brimley Area Schools join as 10 Cents a Meal grantees, said Sen. Wayne Schmidt (R) of Traverse City.

The grant is currently in its second year of statewide availability, and there are now 257 unique grantees for the 2021-22 school year, representing more than 585,000 children.

Compared to last years 143 grantees, the program has seen a nearly 80% increase in grant recipients in a single year.

10 Cents a Meal is open to school districts (public, public school academies, or private), and non-school sponsors of USDA Child Nutrition Programs such as residential childcare institutions (RCCIs), child care centers and after school programs participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

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Its so encouraging to see this promising trend that Michigans youngest children of all income levels, from Detroit to the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula, are benefiting from the high nutritional quality of locally grown food, said Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities Policy specialist Nathan Medina.

Groundwork is a key Michigan Department of Education partner on the 10 Cents a Meal program.

The 29 new grantees include the following: Freeland Community School District, White Cloud Public Schools, Daily Shepherd Child Care Center, Boys And Girls Club Benton Harbor, Harbor Springs School District, Fremont Public School District, Association For Child Development, Ludington Area School District, Grand Rapids Metropolitan YMCA, Charlotte Public Schools, Dee's Little Angels Child Care Center, Bambi Land Child Care, Bright Beginnings, Newaygo Public School District, Children's Paradise Learning Center, Inc., Orchard Hill Reformed Church, Napoleon Community Schools, Summerfield Schools, Springport Public Schools, Inland Lakes Schools, Cheboygan Area Schools, Capac Community Schools, Kalkaska Public Schools, Brimley Area Schools, Fruitport Community Schools, Child Star Development Center, A & W Day Care Center, Steepletown Neighborhood Services, and Village Of Shiny Stars Child Care.

For more information about the program, please visit the 10 Cents a Meal website at www.tencentsmichigan.org.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Michigan Department of Education adds additional Northern Michigan grantees to meal program
Border Patrol agents detain a group of migrants near the border wall, after they entered the United States from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, border with El Paso, Texas, on February 3, 2022. / Credit: Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images (HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

The number of migrant arrivals along the U.S. southern border soared in March to the highest levels since 2000, surpassing 200,000 for only the third time during the Biden administration, according to government statistics submitted to a federal court Friday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported processing migrants 221,303 times along the Mexican border last month, which overtook the previous peak under the Biden administration in July 2021, when U.S. officials recorded 213,593 migrant encounters, agency figures show.

Nearly 210,000 of the migrant encounters last month were recorded by Border Patrol, which arrests migrants who entered the U.S. illegally. The last time monthly Border Patrol apprehensions were higher was in March 2000, when the agency reported 220,063 migrant arrests, according to historical CBP data.

The increase in border arrivals comes as the Biden administration prepares to wind down the Title 42 pandemic-era rules, which have allowed U.S. authorities to swiftly expel migrants without processing their asylum claims. The policy, first instituted under the Trump administration, is set to expire on May 23.

U.S. immigration authorities carried out 109,549 expulsions under Title 42 in March, representing nearly 50% of all migrant apprehensions. Roughly 111,000 migrants and asylum-seekers who arrived last month were processed under regular immigration procedures, which allow them to request asylum.

Border Patrol agents detain a group of migrants near the border wall, after they entered the United States from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, border with El Paso, Texas, on February 3, 2022. / Credit: Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images

The encounters recorded by CBP do not represent the number of migrants processed by the agency because many border-crossers attempt to enter the U.S. multiple times. Since the start of the pandemic, the rate of repeat crossings has soared, as some migrant adults try to re-enter the U.S. after being expelled.

Single adults who are not expelled are either detained, deported under a process known as expedited removal or released with a notice to appear before a judge. In March, U.S. officials deported or returned 12,070 migrants who were processed under regular immigration procedures, the government data shows.

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Migrant families traveling with minor children who are not processed under Title 42 are generally released with court notices, sometimes with tracking devices, such as ankle monitors. Most unaccompanied children, who are exempted from Title 42, are transferred to government shelters in the U.S. interior.

In March, U.S. border officials released 65,771 migrants with a court notice or under a process known as parole, which allows them to admit foreigners on humanitarian grounds. Just over 24,000 migrants were sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Roughly 9,000 migrants remained detained by ICE as of April 3.

The planned termination of Title 42 in late May has alarmed Republicans and some centrist Democrats, many of whom have tough re-election contests this November.

On Thursday, 18 states joined a lawsuit filed by Republican officials in Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri seeking to block Title 42's rescission. Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott has launched additional moves to challenge the Biden administration following the Title 42 announcement, directing state officials to bus migrants to Washington, D.C., and inspect commercial trucks entering the U.S.

In Congress, four moderate Democratic senators joined a group of Republicans to introduce a bill earlier this month that would force the administration to delay ending Title 42 until after the national public health emergency over COVID-19 is lifted.

The Democratic critics of the decision to lift Title 42 have said they don't believe the Department of Homeland Security is adequately prepared to respond to a potential spike in border arrivals when the Title 42 expulsions are halted.

But DHS officials have said they've started making preparations for the policy's end, deploying additional Border Patrol agents, expanding capacity at migrant holding sites and securing more buses and aircraft to transport migrants and prevent overcrowding at processing facilities.

According to a DHS contingency plan, the department is preparing for worst-case scenarios in which between 12,000 to 18,000 migrants enter U.S. border custody per day, an unprecedented increase from the current 7,000 daily apprehensions average.

While some more centrist Democrats have joined Republicans in criticizing the end of Title 42, many Democrats have called for the policy's termination for months, citing the end or relaxation of other pandemic restrictions.

Progressive advocates have also pointed out that the Trump administration first implemented Title 42 in March 2020 over the objections of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public health experts who did not believe the extraordinary measure was needed to control the spread of the coronavirus.

In her termination order earlier this month, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Title 42 was no longer necessary to protect public health because of the availability of coronavirus mitigation tools, the drop in infections since the winter Omicron surge and increased vaccination rates in the U.S. and abroad.

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Ukrainian Military Forces servicemen block a road in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 24, 2022. Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

A Russian diplomatic note told the US to stop arming Ukraine, warning of "unpredictable consequences."

The note was delivered to the State Department earlier this week, the Washington Post reported.

The note was sent as the US was preparing to announce a new aid package for Ukraine.

Russia this week sent a diplomatic note to the State Department calling the US to stop sending military aid to Ukraine.

The Washington Post first reported on the document, also called a demarche. "We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security," it read.

The note was sent as the Biden administration readied itself to announce the latest round of aid to Ukraine  an $800 million package that includes "highly effective weapons systems."

"These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers. I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters," President Joe Biden said in a Wednesday press release regarding the new aid package. "In addition, we continue to facilitate the transfer of significant capabilities from our Allies and partners around the world."

The State Department announced earlier this month the Biden administration has sent more than $1.7 billion in aid to Ukraine since the invasion started on February 24.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is seen behind the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine. Gleb Garanich/File Photo via Reuters

Russian soldiers gave up control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant earlier this month.

Troops stationed there will "feel the consequences" of radiation poisoning soon, a Ukrainian official said.

Yevhen Kramarenko said Russians dug trenches and drove into the most contaminated areas of the site.

Russian troops who seized Chernobyl will soon suffer the effects of radiation exposure after digging trenches in the nuclear zone, the head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management said Wednesday.

Yevhen Kramarenko told reporters that Russian troops, who occupied the Chernobyl exclusion zone for five weeks, had dug trenches and shelters for their vehicles in an area known as Red Forest.

The Red Forest is a 1.5-square-mile pine forest that died as a result of radiation exposure shortly after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. It remains the most contaminated part of the exclusion zone, according to Reuters.

"We believe very soon [the Russians] will feel the consequences of radiation that they have received. Some of them will feel it in months, some of them in years," Kramarenko said at a press conference Wednesday. "But anyway, all of the servicemen who were there will feel it at some point."

He also confirmed earlier reports of Russian soldiers driving around the Red Forest without any protective gear and inhaling clouds of radioactive dust.

Radiation poisoning can cause different effects depending on the strength and length of exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In more extreme cases, radiation poisoning can lead to internal bleeding and skin burns, as well as thyroid cancer and cardiovascular disease, per the CDC.

Russian troops left the exclusion zone at the beginning of the month after some of their soldiers "panicked" at the first sign of radiation illness, Ukraine's state power company, Energoatom, said, according to The Guardian.

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It is unclear exactly what their supposed symptoms were, although they "showed up very quickly," Energoatom added.

The Russian troops have since gone to Belarus and Russia, Kramarenko said, adding that Ukrainian officials are now working on developing additional safety measures around the area to "avoid in the future any events similar to what we had to happen."

The power plant was fully decommissioned after the 1986 nuclear accident and the remaining work at the site is mostly directed toward decontamination.

Kramarenko said it is unclear how high radiation levels are around the site at the moment because there is currently no electricity.

"Until then we won't understand the damage done," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
I have to say, its really nice of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to turn to migrants who recently entered the country seeking asylum and ask if taxpayers in his state can offer them a free, all-expenses-paid bus ride to Washington, DC.

Youre probably asking, Wait a minute, I thought Abbott was one of those right-wing politicos who never misses a chance to pull some political stunt that dehumanizes immigrants but still backfires spectacularly. Why would he be generously offering state money to give them nice rides somewhere?

I cant explain it. All I know is Texans are paying for chartered buses that, according to news reports, have reclining seats, free movies, free water and baby food, and stop for free meals at McDonalds.

'They helped us'

A story in the Washington Post said Victor Rodriguez, a 27-year-old barber from Venezuela, jumped at the chance to take a free bus ride to D.C. with his wife, Ordalis, 26, and their two children, Jeremias, 5, and Luciana, 1.

Rodriguez told the paper: The truth is, they helped us. They gave us a hand so that we could arrive here and honestly, we are very grateful.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Isnt that nice of Gov. Abbott to surprise Texas taxpayers by using their money to give Mr. Rodriguez and his family a comfortable ride to somewhere they wanted to go? And best of all, its a place far away from a state that has a governor who uses human beings as pawns in a fantastically self-owning game of own the libs.

Neat!

Ordalis Heras, a 26-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker with two children, also received a complimentary taxpayer-funded bus ride to the nations capital. She told the Texas Tribune: We are very thankful for all the help that has been given to us. Frankly, we did not have the money to get here otherwise, so we are very thankful for the help.

Trump dialing down the rhetoric?: LOL! The mountebank of Mar-a-Lago is worse than ever.

Involuntary kindness to migrants

What a relief. Im sure Texans who support Abbotts consistent anti-immigrant rhetoric are delighted to know theyve involuntarily helped pay to make an asylum-seeking familys life a little better.

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Christina Abraham, a Chicago-based human rights attorney, told me that what Abbott is doing  what Im calling Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts Taxpayer-Funded Kindness-to-Migrants Initiative  is not illegal, as long as its voluntary.

From Trump 2020 to 'Don't Say Gay': GOP leadership wastes millions of taxpayer dollars

If I was a tax-paying citizen of Texas, Id be curious to know how much this is costing taxpayers, because it seems it only benefits Abbotts campaign, Abraham said. Paying for a bus taking 22 to 30 people at a time sounds like a really inefficient way to alleviate any immigration issues.

An Abbott spokesperson wouldn't answer direct questions about the Taxpayer-Funded Kindness-to-Migrants Initiative and referred me to a statement released April 6 that said putting migrants on buses to Washington is a "response to the Biden border disaster." The statement said the state "will use any and all lawful powers to curtail the flow of drugs, human traffickers, illegal immigrants, weapons, and other contraband into Texas."

How giving migrants a chance to take a bus ride they want to take accomplishes any of those things is unclear.

Migrants wanting to seek asylum in the U.S. are directed to inquire with Mexican authorities by a Customs and Border Protection officer on the Paso Del Norte bridge in El Paso, Texas on December 6, 2021.

Abraham continued: It raises the question to me as to what his true motivation was and whether hes using taxpayer funds to perform publicity stunts that benefit his campaign and not the people of Texas.

A publicity stunt? Heavens, no

Oh, I cant imagine Abbott would pull a publicity stunt. Lately the governor has been way too busy ordering taxpayer-funded state troopers to perform unnecessary secondary inspections of trucks at points of entry along the border, jamming traffic for miles and keeping food and other goods from entering the country.

While the inspections have uncovered no smuggled drugs or humans, the AP reported that U.S. grocery shoppers could soon notice shortages on shelves and higher prices unless the normal flow of trucks resumes.

So no, Abbott doesnt strike me as the kind of guy to pull a political stunt that makes him look like a numbskull pandering to people willing to act against their own self-interests. (Late Friday, the governor quietly repealed the inspection order, presumably because he's a very serious person who only does serious things.)

Ghost guns are real guns: We'll regulate them to save lives.

It seems clear his decision to approach people  people who fled unspeakable violence, came to this country seeking asylum, turned themselves into border officials who then screened and processed them as required by law  and offer a free chartered bus ride to a spot right outside the Fox News studio in Washington, DC, was 100% sincere.

I think it was highly exploitative, Abraham said.

OK, sure. But at least the people of Texas approve of Abbotts busing program and are just fine paying for it, right?

Right?

Right.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Twitter @RexHuppke and Facebook: facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who's paying for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to bus migrants to DC?
A US Army soldier fires an AT4 anti-armor weapon during an exercise at the Vaziani Training Area in Georgia, August 7, 2019. US Army/Spc. Ethan Valetski

Russia's invasion of Ukraine featured a disinformation campaign and attacks on civilian areas.

The US is already using those lessons in army training for possible future wars, The AP reported.

US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the whole military is trying to learn lessons from Ukraine.

US Army trainers are already using lessons from Russia's war in Ukraine to train soldiers for potential future conflicts with adversaries like Russia or China, The Associated Press reported.

"I think right now the whole Army is really looking at what's happening in Ukraine and trying to learn lessons," Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told The AP.

According to The AP, this month's training at National Training Center involves role-players that speak Russian. The scenario's focus is on enemy forces that use social media to create propaganda about US troops as well as forces that use missiles in their effort to take over cities.

Wormuth told The AP that the crisis in Ukraine shows how important the information domain is going to be for US forces.

Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor said that the goal is to train brigades on how to use all their tools in combat to wage a coordinated attack, including countering misinformation online.

Russia has used disinformation online and on state-sponsored media to advance the narrative that Russia is the aggressor in the invasion. Using actual images from the war, propaganda machines give a different explanation of what happened.

Another part of the training will focus on dealing with an enemy that's willing to use missiles to strike civilian areas, The AP reported.

Russia has attacked hospitals, and apartment buildings, among other civilian buildings. Ukraine, alongside numerous other countries, has accused Russia of war crimes in the targetting of civilian areas.

"We've got to be prepared for urban combat where we have an adversary that is indiscriminately firing artillery," Taylor said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Eight tornadoes touched down Wednesday night in Louisville and around Kentucky, the local National Weather Service has confirmed.

Four of the tornadoes reached at least EF-1 intensity, according to NWS Louisville, while three other weaker tornadoes were recorded at EF-0 levels. Surveys continued Friday to determine where the twisters started and ended but had ended by Saturday.

Just one tornado, an EF-1, touched down in Louisville, hitting an area near Fern Creek in southeastern Jefferson County.

Three tornadoes were confirmed in Shelby County, according to social media posts from the weather agency  two at EF-1 levels and one EF-0. One EF-1 tornado and one EF-0 tornado caused damage in LaRue County, while two other EF-0 tornadoes have been detected in Spencer County.

Surveys are now complete. 8 confirmed tornadoes touched down on the evening of April 13. #lmkwx #kywx #inwx pic.twitter.com/oxCSLT9jpT  NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) April 16, 2022

More storm news: Jefferson County Public Schools to return to classes Friday

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer declared a state of emergency on Thursday morning to speed recovery efforts to areas affected by the storms

No one in Jefferson County was hurt or killed, he said, which Fischer attributed to "residents taking heed of the warnings and alerts and taking the steps necessary to protect themselves and their families."

Watch: Aerial footage of storm damage in Louisville after EF-1 tornado hit city

A number of homes in Louisville's Glenmary subdivision were damaged, though, with Fern Creek Fire Chief Nathan Mulvey estimating Thursday morning at least 15 families were temporarily displaced.

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Jefferson County Public Schools were back in session Friday after classes were canceled Thursday morning due to power outages at about a dozen schools, as well as debris on roadways that would have made transportation of students difficult.

The district said the School Calendar Committee will ask for the missed school day to be forgiven so the final day of classes will remain May 26, a decision that'll be made by the Jefferson County Board of Education.

Reach Ana Rocio Alvarez Brinez at abrinez@gannett.com; follow her on Twitter at @SoyAnaAlvarez

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville storm: Eight tornadoes hit Wednesday in Kentucky
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With some of the world's most dangerous roads, India published a draft proposal in January mandating the installation of six airbags in all new passenger vehicles starting October 1. However, automakers in India believe that mandating six airbags in passenger cars will raise vehicle prices and drive away potential buyers. It should be noted that the suggested rules for six airbags have not yet been finalised.

According to R C Bhargava, such a measure would harm sales of low-cost automobiles and put more pressure on companies already dealing with high prices. Bhargava predicts that sales of small automobiles would continue to fall in the wake of the epidemic, while demand for large, costly vehicles will rise.

With yearly sales of roughly 3 million units, India is the world's fifth-largest vehicle market, headed by Maruti Suzuki, which is majority-owned by Suzuki Motor of Japan, and Hyundai Motor of Korea.

Read also: Tata Curvv: All you need to know about the electric SUV concept

In the country`s price-sensitive market, the majority of cars sell for around $10,000-$15,000. Providing driver and front passenger airbags in all cars is already mandatory. Adding another four airbags will increase the cost by Rs 17,600 ($231), according to auto market data provider JATO Dynamics.

In some cases, the cost could be higher as companies will need to make engineering changes to the car's structure to accommodate the additional airbags, said Ravi Bhatia, president for India at JATO.

"Companies will need to decide whether it is feasible to make the changes and if the model will sell at a higher price. The damage will be significant at the lower end of the market where there is huge price sensitivity," he said.

More than 133,000 people were killed in 355,000 road accidents in India in 2020, government data showed. Car passengers accounted for 13% of deaths.

Indias road transport ministry is firm on its plan and is pushing automakers to agree to the rules, two sources told Reuters. The ministry estimates four additional airbags to cost no more than $90, but even then it is facing resistance.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has asked the ministry to "review and reconsider" the rules saying "side and curtain airbags are not mandated anywhere in the world".

In a letter to the ministry in February, the industry lobby group warned that with the cost of cars steadily rising in recent years enough time must be given for the airbags rule "to reduce risk of impact on industry growth".

The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has told the ministry they can meet the additional demand for airbags but would need 12-18 months to ramp up local production.

The ministry, SIAM and ACMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With inputs from Reuters

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Jyotiraditya Scindia, India's Civil Aviation Minister, announced on 14th April that his government was working to increase the connection between Gujarat and Mumbai and as part of the RCS-UDAN program of the centre. Keshod, in the Junagadh district of Gujarat, had just opened its improved airport, and an Alliance Air flight from Mumbai had just taken off.

Keshod airport was set up by the then Nawab of Junagadh in 1930 but was lying unused for decades before Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to revive it. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has revived Keshod Airport at a cost of Rs 25 crore, and the first flight would be to Mumbai, with Scindia saying that Keshod will soon be linked to Ahmedabad as well.

"In the coming days, we plan to provide maximum connectivity to Gujarat," Scindia said at the programme attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and State Civil Aviation Minister Purnesh Modi.

Read also: Buy me a fighter jet: Ukraine calls for support amid Russian aggression; netizens start crowdfunding

"When on March 27, I announced the summer schedule, three new flights from Ahmadabad, to Amritsar, Agra, and Ranchi, were announced. At the same time, we have connected Porbandar and Rajkot with Mumbai. We are connecting every corner of Gujarat with the country's financial capital," he added.

He said two greenfield airports will be developed in Gujarat, with an annual capacity of 25 lakh and 30 lakh passengers respectively. Besides two new greenfield airports, five new flights, and flights from Mumbai and Ahmedabad to Keshod, Scindia said his ministry was meeting the demands of the CM and the state civil aviation minister.

From April 27, a flight connecting Porbandar with New Delhi will start operating, Scindia announced. The Union civil aviation ministry had taken steps that were not taken in 75 years of the country and had "democratized" flights by making it affordable for even common people to board them, Scindia said.

With inputs from PTI

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, amidst the war, has been requesting NATO and the USA for fighter jets without any response in his favour. The countries believe that such a move might lead to an escalation in tension between the nations. However, instead of waiting for help, Ukrainians have started a crowdfunding campaign named '#buymeafighterjet' to restock the nation's fighter force.

The campaign is going viral with a video on social media showing a Ukrainian Pilot wearing a helmet with the visor down strolling in front of a MiG-29 that appears to be damaged, following which he asks for donations so that Ukraine can acquire operable fighter jets. Further, the pilot says, help me to protect my sky, filled with Russian planes that bomb my land, kill my friends and destroy our homes and everything I have ever known, he adds, Give us wings to fight for our sky.

According to reports, Ukraine has lost over 30 fighter planes in the six weeks since Russia launched its military attack. However, it's unclear whether the aeroplane in the video was recently damaged or was one of the numerous unserviceable planes destroyed during the conflict.

Also read: Star Air launches first direct flight between Belagavi and Nagpur, reduces travel time to 1 hour

The average cost of a plane is quoted at $25 million on the #buymeafighterjet project's website. As per the information on the website, the Ukrainian Air Force now deploys the Su 25, Su-27, Su-24, and MiG-29 combat jets. According to the page, a new MiG-29 Fulcrum can cost $25 million, while a Su-27 Flanker can cost up to $40 million.

Donors are not asked to contribute directly to the fighter jet crowdfunding initiative online because a complete chart of aircraft type, location, and availability is connected.

They are instead invited to send an email for more information. "Experts will assist you on technological and legal difficulties," the site claims.
New Delhi: Kaynes Technology India Limited (KTIL), an end-to-end and IoT solutions enabled integrated electronics manufacturing player, has filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating to Rs 650 crore, and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 7.2 crore equity shares by a promoter and an existing shareholder, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

The OFS comprises sale of up to 37 lakh equity shares by promoter Ramesh Kunhikannan and up to 35 lakh equity shares by existing shareholder Freny Firoze Irani.

The offer also includes reservation of up to Rs 1.5 crore for subscription by eligible employees.

The company may consider a further issue of equity shares, including a rights issue, private placement, preferential offer, or any other method aggregating up to Rs 130 crore. If such placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced.

The proceeds from the fresh issue worth Rs 130 crore will be used to repay debt and Rs 98.93 crore will be utilised for funding capital expenditure for its manufacturing facilities at Mysore and Manesar.

Also, the company plans to use Rs 149.30 crore towards investment in its arm Kaynes Electronics Manufacturing Pvt Ltd for setting up a new facility at Chamarajanagar in Karnataka. It will use up to Rs 114.74 crore for funding working capital requirement and general corporate proposes.

Mysore-based Kaynes Technology is a leading end-to-end and IoT (Internet of Things) solutions enabled integrated electronics manufacturing player, having capabilities across the entire spectrum of electronics system design and manufacturing services.

It has experience in providing conceptual design, process engineering, integrated manufacturing and life-cycle support for major players in the automotive, industrial, aerospace and defence, outer-space, nuclear, medical, railways, Internet of Things, information technology (IT) and other segments.

The company has eight production plants in the states of Karnataka, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. It has a total capacity of approximately 600 million components as of December 2021.

For FY21, the company posted a revenue of Rs 420.63 crore as against Rs 368.24 crore in the preceding fiscal. Net profit for the period under review was at Rs 9.73 crore as compared to Rs 9.35 crore in the previous financial year. Also Read: Twitter Acquisition: Elon Musk may bring wealthy partners to dodge boards poison pill strategy

DAM Capital Advisors and IIFL Securities are the book-running lead managers to the issue. Also Read: iPhone 12 Mini selling for less than Rs 30,000 on Flipkart, heres how to avail offer

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New Delhi: The properties of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, have been confiscated by the Income Tax department, an official said on Friday.

Nine acres of agricultural land in Nashik are being taken over by the Income Tax department, the official added. Last month, the Central government informed the Rajya Sabha that assets amounting to Rs 19,111.20 crore relating to fugitives economic offenders Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi have been attached by March 15 this year.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary made the declaration in a written reply to a question asked by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Brij Lal.

In the cases pertaining to Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi who have defrauded Public Sector banks by siphoning off the funds through their companies which resulted in a total loss of Rs 22,585.83 crore to the public sector banks, as of March 15, 2022, the Minister said, "assets worth Rs 19,111.20 crore have been attached under the provisions of PMLA".

In addition, the Minister said assets worth Rs 335.06 crore have been confiscated by the government of India. Also Read: Apple MacBook Air, Pro users, ALERT! Malicious apps wont let you use device unless paid

The Punjab National Bank scam relates to the fraudulent letter of undertaking issued by the bank. Jeweller and designer Nirav Modi is the key accused in the case. Also Read: iPhone 13 available at just Rs 760 per month! Heres how to get Apple smartphone at attractive price

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New Delhi: The auspicious and much-awaited occasion of Hanuman Jayanti - Lord Hanuman's birthday is marked this year on April 16. Hanuman bhakts pray to the Lord and throng temples on this day, seeking his blessings. Many also observe vrat or fast on this special day.

Hanuman Jayanti falls every year in Chaitra month on full moon day.

HANUMAN JAYANTI PUJA TIMINGS:

Hanuman Jayanti on Saturday, April 16, 2022

Purnima Tithi Begins - 02:25 AM on Apr 16, 2022

Purnima Tithi Ends - 12:24 AM on Apr 17, 2022

(as per drikpanchang.com)

Hanuman Janmotsav or Hanuman Jayanti usually falls in Chaitra or in Vaisakha but in Southern states of the country including Kerala and Tami Nadu, it is celebrated in Dhanu, locally known as Margazhi. The day is celebrated differently, depending upon region-to-region. This explains the existence of various cultures in our society.

HANUMAN JAYANTI SIGNIFICANCE AND RITUALS:

On this day, Hanuman bhakts wake up early and head to temples for offering prayers.

- They offer sindoor (vermillion), sweets, flowers, coconut to the Lord and in return get the same as prasad including Ganga Jal or Holy water of Ganges.

- Visiting Lord Rama and Hanuman temples on this day is considered to be auspicious. Bhakts recite Hanuman Chalisa, bhajans and mantras for pleasing the god.

Lord Hanuman symbolises power, strength and is an ardent Lord Rama follower. His devotion towards Rama is hailed and praised in various ancient scriptures like Ramayana.

LEGENDS ASSOCIATED WITH LORD HANUMAN'S BIRTH:

- According to Valmiki Ramayana, Apsara Anjana prayed to Lord Shiva and set out on an intense meditation for 12 long years to get a child. After being pleased with her devotion and intense prayer, Lord Shiva granted the son to Anjana and her husband Kesari, who was the son of Brahaspati.

Kesari was the king of Sumeru. Hanuman was the son that Lord Shiva granted to Anjana and Kesari. He was born on the Anjaneri mountains.

However, as per other beliefs, Hanuman is believed to be the reincarnation of Lord Shiva.

- There is another set of legends that says Vayuthe wind god on Lord Shiva's instruction transferred his male energy to Anjana's womb, therefore, Hanuman is also known as Pawan Putra Hanuman (son of wind).

- As per Vishnu Purana and Nardeya Purana, the birth of Hanuman, a Vanara, is linked to how once Narada cursed Vishnu for making him look like a Vanaraape. Narada, who had sought Lord Vishnu's help to impress a princess felt humiliated when the lord instead made him look like an ape (Narada wanted his face to look like that of the Lord) and the princess laughed at him.

After this, Narada cursed Lord Vishnu that one day he shall be dependent on a Vanara. The Lord told Narada, that he had made him look like a Vanara for his own good and made him realise that Hari in Sanskrit also means Vanara.

Hearing this Narada repented his curse but the Lord comforted him by saying that one day this curse shall act as a boon as it would lead to Lord Hanuman's birth (an avatar of Lord Shiva) who would help Lord Rama (an avatar of Lord Vishnu) in killing Ravana.

Here's wishing a very Happy Hanuman Jayanti to all!
Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its long-range 'Vision EQXX' concept car, which travelled over 1,000 km on a fully charged battery, the longest-ever distance reached by an EV on a single charge to date, in a direct challenge to Elon Musk's Tesla in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. The journey from Germany to the south of France began in cold and rainy circumstances, according to the company. It was completed at typical highway speeds, including extended fast-lane cruising at speeds of up to 140 km/h.

"The battery`s state of charge on arrival was around 15 per cent, amounting to a remaining range of around 140 km, and the average consumption was a record-breaking low of 8.7 kWh per 100 km," the company said in a statement. The route profile - from the motorway to mountain passes, including roadworks - and the weather conditions presented the Vision EQXX with a wide variety of challenges.

Read also: Ola Electric scooter trouble continues, broken suspension bends EVs body

According to the company, the lightweight design concept of the VISION EQXX is comprehensive -- from the materials used to innovative bionic structures that deliver a favourable power-to-weight ratio.

The car has sustainable carbon-fibre-sugar composite material used for the upper part of the battery, which is also used in Formula 1, and the rear floor is manufactured using an aluminium casting process.

The innovative design approach resulted in a weight saving of up to 20 per cent compared to a conventionally manufactured component.

"The EVA is the most efficient Mercedes ever built. The technology programme behind it marks a milestone in the development of electric vehicles. It underpins our strategic aim to lead in Electric`," said Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

Since the electric drivetrain generates little waste heat thanks to its high efficiency, passive cooling is sufficient throughout the journey, said the automaker.

The aerodynamically highly efficient solution increases the range by 20 km. The VISION EQXX has unequivocally proven the real-world potential of outstanding efficiency for electric vehicles," said the company.

The Mercedes-Benz EV poses a tough challenge to other electric luxury sedan leaders, including the Porsche Taycan, Audi E-tron GT, and the upcoming Tesla Roadster.

The automaker plans to go fully electric by 2030, aiming for half of its global sales to comprise plug-in hybrids and EVs by 2025. Mercedes` lineup will have nine models by the end of the year, including electrified versions of its E-Class and B-Class vehicles.

With inputs from IANS

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Okinawa Autotech, one of India's major electric two-wheeler businesses, has announced that it will recall 3,215 Praise Pro scooters with immediate effect to address any battery-related issues. This is part of the company's full health check-up camps for power packs. The batteries will be inspected for loose connectors or other damage and serviced for free at any of the Okinawa licenced dealerships in India.

The electric 2W maker is working closely with the dealer partners to ensure that the repair experience is as per the convenience of its customers, for which the vehicle owners will be contacted individually. This voluntary campaign is in the wake of the recent thermal incident.

The timing of the recall is important as earlier, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant had asked original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to voluntarily recall their vehicles batches involved in the EV fire incidents.

Also read: Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX Concept EV claims a range of 1,000 km on single charge

"Manufacturing of (battery) cells isnt regulated. The battery management system needs to be strengthened. There has been a clear partnership between battery manufacturing and battery management," Kant stated in an interview.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the EV fire incidents may have taken place due to higher temperatures.

"This is a very serious issue, and we have ordered a forensic investigation into each individual event," said Gadkari in Lok Sabha on March 31, stressing that the government will take appropriate action after a detailed technical report is submitted after the 30-day probe.

With inputs from ANI

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Ola Electric's nightmares seem set to continue, as another instance has gone viral on the social media and comes only a few days after reports of an S1 Pro catching fire in Pune was reported. Several pictures of a broken-down Ola S1 Pro have gone viral on the internet, and the front apron appears to have been damaged by the failure of the front fork. Let's have a look at what happened.

In the most recent incident that happened in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, the Ola Electric S1 Pro scooter crashed head-on with another motorcycle, causing Ola's front suspension to break. According to the source, the scooter rider who was injured suffered minor injuries and left the scene on his own.

Read also: Telugu star Mahesh Babu now owns Audi e-tron electric SUV worth Rs 1.14 crore

Last year, Ola Electric's electric scooters, S1 and S1 Pro, garnered a lot of talk in India. The firm was able to acquire a large number of pre-orders as a result of the publicity. As a result of some difficulties, the manufacturer has had to postpone the start of deliveries considerably.

Despite assurances from Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal on social media that the bulk of the company's scooter orders had been fulfilled, a large number of consumers remain anxious. Several issues have been documented with the scooters that consumers have received.

Ola Electric scooters have also experienced a variety of other issues. Due to a software bug, owners have reported the scooter switching riding modes while riding, resulting in cases of persons being harmed or critically injured. A substantial number of consumers have also reported unexpected battery drain and subsequent difficulties to recharge.

On social media, Bhavish Aggarwal said that the Ola Electric scooter maker places maximum focus on safety and is devoted to delivering high-quality goods, even though problems are showing up everywhere.

SOURCE

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New Delhi: As instances of communal clashes and hate violence continue to rise in India, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid, who was recently targeted for his Hindutva-ISIS remark, has on Friday said that a divided nation will never rule the world and urged people to replace fear with faith.

"We cannot live by stone pelting and demolitions alone. Former unjustified by felt injustice and the latter arrogant misuse of the law. A divided nation will never rule the world so give up the policy of divide and rule at home. Faith must replace Fear, not be fear," said Khurshid in a Facebook post.

"Muslims, as always will lay down their lives for the nation, But are hurt when their children are attacked in pointless hate. When the State chooses to bypass rule of law and destroy homes and lives what respect is left for patriotism?" he added.

The Congress leaders comments came in the light of the recent Khargone violence that took place during Ram Navmi celebrations

In the social media post, Khurshid was referring to the demolition of houses of some people involved in the attack on a Ram Navami procession a day after communal clashes erupted in Madhya Pradesh`s Khargone.

He further said that the governments and non-state actors who attack Muslim citizens for self-promotion must realise they attack the noble dream of Hindu-Muslim unity, the cornerstone of our Republic and bonds of social harmony.

Several incidents of stone-pelting were reported in some states on Sunday during a Ram Navami procession.

The district administration and police demolished illegal buildings of miscreants involved in the attack on a Ram Navami procession.

The authorities ran the bulldozer over about 45 houses and shops. Around 16 houses and 29 shops were demolished.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday assured the victims of Khargone violence of rebuilding their houses.

"Shouldn`t bulldozers be used against those who trouble the poor? The houses of the poor were burnt in Khargone. They should not worry as `Mama` will build their houses. We will recover from those who burnt their houses," said Chouhan.

About Salman Khurshid, the Congress leader made headlines earlier in November after he in one of his books drew a comparison between Hindutva and radical Islamists groups like ISIS.

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New Delhi: With a slight but sudden uptick in daily Covid-19 cases, especially in Delhi and surrounding cities, the question of whether or not its the beginning of another, possibly fourth wave of coronavirus is natural.

Amid the fourth wave scare, Dr Gagandeep Kang, top virologist and professor at Christian Medical College in Vellore said that labelling this slight rise in infections as Fourth wave would be a stretch.

Also Read: What is 'stealth Omicron' variant that can trigger fourth Covid-19 wave in India?

Having said that, the top expert also added that Indian must prepare themselves for reinfections, despite vaccination and previous Covid history.

While talking to NDTV, Kang told, Saying that the recent surge in cases is the onset of the fourth wave would be a stretch, however, people must be prepared for reinfections irrespective of vaccinations or previous infections.

The virologist also advised against dropping ones guard amid the changing projections.

Covid cases rising in Delhi-NCR

The recent surge in daily cases of virus infection in Delhi and its neighbouring state Haryana has sparked concerns over the possibility of a fresh Covid wave.

Delhi has seen over two-fold rise in new infections in the last one week, as per the health bulletin released by the Delhi government. On Friday, the national capital reported 366 new Covid cases taking the current positivity rate to 3.95%.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus positivity rate in Gurugram has seen an uptick and now stands at 8.5%.

XE variant behind the coronavirus surge?

While the variant continues to pose risk in the neighbouring countries with a record surge in Covid cases in China and a few other Russian nations, it is still not ascertained whether the XE variant is behind the uptick in Covid cases in India.

XE is believed to be a combination of two lineages of the highly transmissible Omicron variant BA.1 and BA.2 (stealth Omicron).

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Kolkata: With the Trinamool Congress party leading comfortably in the Bengal by-polls, former Union Minister and party's Ballygunge Assembly candidate Babul Supriyo dedicated his "win" to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. I dedicate my win to CM Mamata Banerjee and Ma-Mati-Manush. BJP's position shows the effect of fuel price hike," said Supriyo. He added, "The results are a slap to BJP for their hubris and the way they demean Bengalis," said Supriyo.

He added that "Shatrughan Sinha won by a margin of over 1lakh votes and we'll work together with him."

Meanwhile, TMC workers and supporters celebrated the tunes of drumbeats in Asansol as the party leads in the by-poll to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat. TMC's Shatrughan Sinha is leading with 3,75,026 votes while BJP's Agnimitra Paul is trailing with 2,18,601 votes in Asansol. Speaking to ANI, Agnimitra Paul said, "There were some shortcomings from our end because of which we had to face defeat. The public's verdict will be accepted. Few cases of rigging were seen at some places but central forces worked really well. We will work at grassroots levels in the forthcoming days".

Reacting to Supriyo's win from Ballygunge, she said, "Babul Supriyo's victory in Ballygunge was predictable, Keya Ghosh has put up a big fight. We urge Police, administration, and the Election Commission to keep a check on violence in the state. Post-poll violence should not take place in West Bengal."

Babul Supriyo won the Ballygunge assembly by-poll in Bengal, defeating his nearest rival of the CPI(M), Saira Shah Halim, by a margin of 20,228 votes. Supriyo garnered 51,199 votes against Halim's 30,971 votes. Interestingly, Halim has overtaken BJP's Keya Ghosh who bagged just 13,220 votes, thus lending some credence to the communist party's claim that it was on a revival path. Kamruzzaman Choudhury of Congress pocketed 5,218 votes.

(With ANI inputs)

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New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday (April 15, 2022) launched an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that the central probe agencies were being used in a big way in Maharashtra and West Bengal as those "who are ruling the country wanted power in these two states at any cost".

He also hinted that the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, which form the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi, intend to face the next state Assembly elections, scheduled for late 2024, together.

"Central agencies are being used on a big scale in two states of the country. One is West Bengal and the other is Maharashtra. It is clear those who are ruling the country wanted power in these two states at any cost," Pawar said.

He said people, as well as elected representatives from the two states, did not "cooperate" with the BJP in its bid to form governments, so those whose expectations were dashed are busy interfering in these two states, resulting in raids being carried out.

Pawar was responding to a question about the comment of party colleague Eknath Khadse on how the situation in Maharashtra would have been different, in terms of probe agency raids etc, if some BJP leaders would have been jailed for alleged irregularities.

The 81-year-old also said that recent statements about loudspeakers in mosques by parties like Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and BJP could vitiate the atmosphere in the state.

He added that the people of the state must stand united to ensure communal harmony.

Responding to a question, Pawar said MNS chief Raj Thackeray, going by his recent speeches and statements, may be treading the path of Hindutva, but then went on add that one need not speak about a party that had been rejected soundly by people in polls.

With an electricity crisis looming in the state, Pawar said the MVA government was very serious about the issue and was taking all steps to resolve it.

On the electricity crisis, he said, apart from Maharashtra, states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were also facing coal shortages, adding that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was very serious about the issue and aimed to give relief to people soon.

(With agency inputs)

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The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh on Saturday won by-election to the Khairagarh Assembly constituency in Rajnandgaon district and maintained its winning streak in by-polls in the state. Congress' Yashoda Verma won the election by a margin of 20,176 votes against her nearest rival Komal Janghel of the BJP, a poll official said.

Verma got 87,879 votes while Janghel secured 67,703 votes, he said. Narendra Soni, the nominee of the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), could get only 1,222 votes, less than the NOTA (none of the above) option which bagged 2,616. By-election was held on April 12 following the death of incumbent JCC (J) MLA and former MP Devvrat Singh in November 2021.

With the victory, the strength of Congress in the 90-member Assembly went up to 71. The opposition BJP suffered a fourth successive defeat at the hands of Congress in assembly bypolls held after the 2018 elections in the state.

In 2018, Congress had swept the elections winning 68 out of 90 seats while the BJP won 15. The JCC (J) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested the poll in alliance and bagged five and two seats, respectively. In 2019, Congress won bypolls to Dantewada (won by the BJP in 2018) and Chitrakot assembly constituencies.

The byelection to Chitrakot was necessitated after Congress MLA Dipak Baij was elected as MP. In 2020, Congress won Marwahi seat in the byelection after the death of former chief minister and sitting MLA Ajit Jogi. The current strength of the BJP in the state assembly is 14.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel congratulated Congress party candidate Yashoda Verma for winning the Khairagarh by-poll. In a tweet today, Baghel said, "The people of Khairagarh reaffirmed today that it is the Congress that does what it says. Congratulations to Yashoda Verma ji on being elected as the 71st Congress MLA in Chhattisgarh. This would not have been possible without the hard work of each and every one of our workers."

Further, in a veiled attack towards the Opposition in the state, the Chief Minister in a tweet today wrote, "Along with this, the people of Khairagarh gave a broad message and also told the merchants of hatred that the people of Chhattisgarh are peace loving. If you try to do hate business here, then the people of Chhattisgarh will not forgive."

Khairagarh assembly seat had fallen vacant following the death of JCC-J legislator Devvrat Singh, scion of the erstwhile royal family of Khairagarh. This news holds importance ahead of the Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections that are slated to be held next year. (With agency inputs)

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A Special CBI court on Saturday refused to grant further custody of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to the Central Bureau of Investigation after it sought his custody for a further three days. Anil Deshmukh`s lawyer Aniket Nikam opposed the CBI`s custody demand.

Meanwhile, the court rejected the plea of the CBI, which had arrested Deshmukh in connection with a corruption case on April 11, for a further three days of custody. The court instead sent him and the other accused, suspended police officers Sachin Waze, Kundan Shinde and Sanjeev Palande to judicial custody.

CBI had filed a plea seeking only the custody of Deshmukh for three more days for interrogation, saying that the others could be sent to judicial custody as their custodial interrogation was not needed.

Deshmukh and the other three accused were in the custody of the investigating agency from April 6 to 11 in connection with an alleged corruption and extortion case. On April 11, CBI asked the court for further five-day custody of the accused to confront them with more witnesses and suspects.

The court granted the custody which ended today. Following this, the former Minister Anil Deshmukh, Sachin Waje, Kundan Shinde, and Sanjeev Palande were produced in a special CBI court in Mumbai where CBI asked for his further custody.

Notably, the Former Maharashtra Home Minister was arrested by ED in November, last year in connection with the alleged Rs 100-crore extortion and money laundering case.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had accused Anil Deshmukh of asking dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore from hotels and bars in Mumbai every month. ED registered a case against Deshmukh and others based on a corruption case filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze in March 2021 in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani`s house Antilia in Mumbai.

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New Delhi: After violence and communal clashes in Madhya Pradeshs Khargone during Ram Navmi celebrations, Bhopal Police is on high alert and prepared a special security plan to avoid any friction during the Hanuman Jayanti processions on Saturday, reported ANI.

To ensure a peaceful celebration on the occasion, the Bhopal police has installed drones that will monitor suspicious movements or any discrepancies in the event.

How Bhopal Police will monitor Hanuman Jayanti celebrations

Speaking to ANI, the Commissioner of Police, Makrand Deoskar on Friday had said that apart from the drones, the police department has deployed a large police force to keep a watch on the procession.

"In view of the Hanuman Jayanti procession, we have deployed a police force for the procession arrangements. Monitoring will also be done through additional video cameras and drones. Apart from this, a police force will also be deployed in plain-clothes, which will keep a watch on the miscreants," he said.

The Commissioner said the department held meetings at various places in the last several days, which is showing favourable results and said, "I am sure that Saturday`s festival will be celebrated in a peaceful manner.

"He appealed to the citizens to celebrate the festival with peace and enthusiasm saying that "A special care should be taken not to hurt anyone`s sentiments so that the festival can be celebrated peacefully.

Meanwhile, Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of the Lord Hanuman by the devotees of Lord Hanuman. This year the festival will be celebrated on Saturday.

Lord Hanuman was a devotee of Lord Rama.

Ram Navmi violence

Several people including police personnel were injured when groups of people pelted stones at each other during a Ram Navami procession on April 10 in Madhya Pradeshs Khargone.

The stone-pelting started at the beginning of the procession leaving around four people injured including a police inspector.
New Delhi: Delhi on Friday (April 15, 2022) continued to witness a spike in daily Covid-19 infections and recorded 366 fresh cases, according to data shared by the city health department.

With this, the national capital's daily positivity rate has increased to 3.95 per cent, the highest since February 3. Delhi's Covid-19 tally now stands at 18,67,572, while the death toll remained unchanged at 26,158.

A total of 685 Covid-19 patients are currently under home isolation, the health bulletin stated.

There are 9,735 beds for Covid-19 patients in Delhi hospitals and 51 (0.52 per cent) of them are occupied, it said.

It is notable that the daily coronavirus infections and the positivity rate in the national capital have seen an upward trend in the last few days. Delhi on Thursday had recorded 325 cases while the positivity rate stood at 2.39 per cent. On Wednesday, 299 Covid-19 cases were reported with a positivity rate of 2.49 per cent.

The number of daily Covid-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28,867 on January 13 this year during the third wave of the pandemic. The capital had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the third wave of the pandemic which was largely driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

About 300 Covid-19 positive samples from Delhi sent for genome sequencing

Amid the threat of a new coronavirus variant, nearly 300 samples taken from people who had tested positive for Covid-19 in Delhi recently have been sent for genome sequencing, official sources said on Friday. The sequencing is to be done essentially to find if any new variant, like XE, has circulated in the city or not, amid a spike in daily cases in the last few days.

The sequencing will take about 7-10 days to process, the sources said.

As flights are operational and people are intermingling, there is always a "chance" that a variant could end up circulating in a city, even from a far off place, where they might have been detected earlier, the sources added.

Around 48% rise in home isolation cases of Covid in last one week in Delhi

Amid an uptick in daily cases of Covid-19 in Delhi and the positivity rate going beyond three per cent, there has been a rise of around 48 per cent in the number of home isolation cases here in the last one week, according to official data.

Official sources said that patients of all age groups and both working professionals and students are getting infected and under home isolation. They, however, did not specify as to which age group was particularly getting affected.

The daily cases have been on the rise in the last few days while the positivity rate here has been registered in excess of one per cent since April 4 when it had stood at 1.34 per cent.

More students test positive for Covid-19 in Delhi

The number of school students testing positive rose on Friday raising concerns among parents with the Delhi government telling school authorities to close specific wings or classrooms wherever needed. Schools in Delhi have a four-day holiday in view of Ambedkar Jayanti, Good Friday followed by the weekend.

Two top private schools confirmed that each of them have received information from parents about their wards testing positive.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said a specific wing or classroom where a Covid-19 case has been detected should be closed temporarily and clarified that the entire school should only be closed in specific cases.

At least five students and staff members of a top private school in Vasant Kunj have tested positive in the last week, triggering concerns among parents about the safety of their wards and the possible closure of schools again.

Reports of infections from schools have triggered concerns weeks after they opened for completely offline classes following a two-year gap due to the pandemic.

The fresh infections in the private schools in the national capital have been reported close on the heels of schools in adjoining Noida and Ghaziabad reporting new cases of the disease.

"We haven't asked them to close schools. Our guidelines say that only a specific wing or classroom where someone was found Covid positive should be temporarily closed," Sisodia said.

"Schools can take a decision to close the entire premises in specific cases where an infected child or staff has been through multiple areas of the school. We have made it decentralised," he said.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) issued a fresh advisory for schools in the national capital on April 13, directing them to close the entire premises or specific wings temporarily if any student or staff tests positive for COVID-19.

The department also said students and staff must wear masks and maintain social distancing.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has been called on April 20 to review the situation in the national capital.

(With agency inputs)

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With an uptick in Covid cases here, district authorities have intensified surveillance and are on alert mode for early detection and containment of people infected with the disease. Some districts have also planned awareness campaigns starting next week.

The daily Covid cases and the positivity rate in the national capital have seen an upward trend in the last few days. Delhi reported 461 new cases and two deaths on Saturday.

The positivity rate in the last five days, between April 10 and April 15, has increased by three times, according to city health department data.

The positivity rate on April 10 was 1.29 per cent with 141 cases, and this rose to 3.95 per cent on Friday with 366 cases.

Surveillance teams are active, on alert mode and are monitoring the situation, a senior official of the South District administration said.

"Our surveillance is on. We are focusing more on testing and contact tracing. Symptomatic people are being tested. Contact tracing and surveillance was never stopped and now we are putting more emphasis on it," the official told PTI.

The official said that the district administration will further enhance containment strategies and ensure strict enforcement of Covid-appropriate behaviour, including wearing of masks, if suggested by the DDMA in its April 20 meeting.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will meet on April 20 to discuss the rise in Covid cases and also decide upon reimposing the penalty on not wearing a face mask.

The health department in its order on April 2 had said that a fine will not be imposed on not wearing a face mask at public places.

Some districts have shown an upward trend in the number of Covid cases in the last couple of days.

Government figures show that the highest number of Covid cases (81) on April 14 was reported in the South District while on April 13, this number was 44.

On April 14, the number of cases in the Southeast District was 72 while on April 13, it was 53.

Lowest number of Covid cases was reported on April 14 in the Northeast, the North and the Central districts with one, six and nine patients respectively.

A southeast district administration official said that all necessary measures are being taken to contain the virus' spread and an awareness campaign will begin in the region from Monday.

He said that the current uptick in Covid cases may also be because many people have stopped using masks at public places after the penalty was lifted.

Our awareness campaigns will be started from Monday onwards. In the campaign we will appeal people to wear masks and follow social distancing. We are keeping a close vigil on the situation," the official said.

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New Delhi: During a Hanuman Jayanti procession in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri area on Saturday (April 16), clashes broke out between two communities, leaving several police personnel injured. Police said there was stone-pelting and some vehicles were also torched in the violence that occurred at around 6 PM. Additional police forces have been rushed to Jahangirpuri and other communally sensitive areas.

Delhi Police PRO Anyesh Roy told PTI that it was a traditional procession taken out on Hanuman Jayanti every year. "'When the procession reached Kushal Cinema, a clash broke out between two communities. Stones were also pelted," Roy said. ''The situation is under control. All senior officers are on the spot. Since it is a sensitive area, additional police forces have been made available," he said.

According to the information so far, around 5-6 police personnel and a couple of civilians have been injured, said an official. Asking people in Jahangirpuri to stay calm, Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police, Law & Order, said, "We request people residing in Jahangirpuri to stay calm, adequate police force is here to control the situation. Two groups went into a scuffle during a procession. We are investigating the matter."

With Ghaziabad and Noida bordering Delhi, the UP police have also taken cognizance of the matter. Prashant Kumar, ADG, Law & Order, UP, said, "In view of the incident in Delhi, we have directed field officers to patrol and deploy sufficient force in sensitive areas and in areas adjoining Delhi. Strict action is to be taken against anti-social elements. We're sharing real-time information with Delhi Police."

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also spoke to the Commissioner of Police and Special Commissioner (law and order) and directed them to take all necessary action following the violence, sources said. The Delhi Police has also apprised the top functionaries of the Union Home Ministry about the situation. The home ministry is keeping a close watch on the situation and gave necessary directions to the Delhi Police, the sources said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged people to maintain peace. "I appeal to everyone to maintain peace as the country can not progress without it. The central government has the responsibility to maintain peace in the national capital; appeal to people to maintain peace." The CM also said that he spoke to the lieutenant governor Anil Baijal.

Spoke to Honble LG. He assured that all steps are being taken to ensure peace and that guilty will not be spared. https://t.co/AMXEatbsub  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 16, 2022

Meanwhile, Union Minister Anurag Thakur took a dig at Kejriwal. "Arvind Kejriwal is the CM of Delhi, but will not take any responsibility. Going to other states and having meetings with officers is an attack on our federal structure. He is not able to run the government in Delhi and puts blame on someone else."

(With Agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Following the poll rout in the five states where the Assembly elections were held recently, interim president of Congress Sonia Gandhi held a meeting on Saturday with the election strategist Prashant Kishor and top Congress leaders. While the meeting had political corridors abuzz with speculations, news agency ANI, citing sources, reported that Kishor will be "joining Congress in the coming days but has not asked for any specific post in the party."

Kishor had previously held parleys with the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the party`s national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. On Saturday, Kishor gave a detailed presentation to its top brass at Sonia Gandhi's residence on the way forward for the 2024 general elections.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said a decision on Kishor's suggestions, including on whether he will join the party, will be known in a week. There had been intense speculation in the past too on the possibility of Kishor joining the Congress including before the recent assembly polls. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other senior party leaders were present at the four-hour meeting at the Congress president's 10, Janpath residence that discussed the party's strategy for the upcoming assembly polls and the next Lok Sabha election.

According to sources, Kishor told the select gathering that he is ready to join the Congress "without any expectations" and does not want anything but his plan should be implemented to help strengthen the party at the grassroots level, reported PTI. Venugopal told reporters after the meeting that a group will be set up to discuss the suggestions. "Prashant Kishor has made a detailed presentation for the 2024 election strategy. It needs some detailed discussion and the Congress president will set up a small group to discuss this entire presentation. That group will submit a report within a week's time for a final decision," Venugopal said.

News agency ANI, again citing sources, said Prashant Kishor in his presentation said that the Congress party should focus on 370 Seats. Congress should fight alone in UP, Bihar, and Odisha. In Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra, Congress should fight in alliance. Rahul Gandhi reportedly agreed to the points of Prashant Kishor.

Prashant Kishor in his presentation said that Congress party should focus on 370 Seats. Congress should fight alone in UP, Bihar & Odisha. In Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra, Congress should fight in alliance. Rahul Gandhi agreed to the points of Prashant Kishor: Sources  ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2022

Congress has been grappling with repeated election defeats in the last two general elections and many state assembly elections. The party is not only facing a series of desertions ever since its electoral graph has taken a downturn in the last few years, but the brewing internal conflict between the old guard and the new generation for leadership roles has also taken its toll.

The party is working out ways and means for its revival and is set to hold a 'Chintan Shivir', most likely in Rajasthan, soon for a brainstorming session to help devise means for strengthening the organisation.

(With Agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday said that Lord Ram was not a God but a mere character created by Tulsidas and Valmiki to convey their thoughts, ANI reported.

His remarks came while addressing a public meeting in Bihar`s Jamui.

"I want to say to the people. I don`t believe in Ram. Ram wasn`t a God. Tulsidas-Valmiki created this character to say what they had to," ANI quoted Manjhi as saying.

Manjhi further said that the two saints created the `kavya` and `mahakavya` with the "character of Ram and the former chief minister reveres to the saints but not Ram.

"They created `kavya` and `mahakavya` with this character.

It states a lot of good things and we revere that. I revere Tulsidas-Valmiki but not Ram," Manjhi said.

Interestingly, Manjhi, the chief of the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. His son Santosh Manjhi is a cabinet minister in the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government.

Reacting to Manjhi`s remarks, RJD state unit chief Jagadanand Singh said: "I can`t understand why Manjhi repeatedly makes statements on Lord Ram. We worship Lord Ram. He is the creator of the universe. Why do some people use his name to create controversy and flare up communal tension in society?

"I firmly believe that someone is asking him (Manjhi) to say such things to target the saffron brigade," Singh said.

Manjhis rather controversial comment came at a time when several states in India are witnessing cases of communal clashes and violence, the most recent being Khargone violence during Ram Navmi celebrations.

Several people including police personnel were injured when groups of people pelted stones at each other during a Ram Navami procession on April 10 in Madhya Pradeshs Khargone.

The stone-pelting started at the beginning of the procession leaving around four people injured including a police inspector.

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Nashik: In a veiled barb at Raj Thackeray who has taken an aggressive stand against loudspeakers on mosques, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday (April 16) termed the MNS chief a "new Hindu Owaisi" and his party a "new Hindutva MIM".

Alleging the BJP's hand behind the demands for removing loudspeakers from mosques and reciting Hanuman Chalisa, Raut claimed that Intelligence inputs suggest that a conspiracy is on to create communal tension in Maharashtra and recommend President's rule dismissing the MVA government.

In an ultimatum to the state government, Raj Thackeray recently said that loudspeakers on mosques should be removed by May 3 or else 'Hanuman Chalisa' will be played in a higher volume outside mosques.

Raising the pitch for Hindutva, Shiv Sena has organised the recitation of 'Hanuman Chalisa' in Dadar in Mumbai this evening on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, while the MNS chief is scheduled to perform a 'maha aarti' in Pune later in the day.

"The demand for removing loudspeakers on mosques and the reciting Hanuman Chalisa are parts of an effort to create a communal hatred to topple the MVA government by BJP in collaboration with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)," Raut alleged.

He alleged that BJP is "frustrated" as its efforts to win over MLAs from MVA parties- Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress- have failed while the people have rejected the bid to create a communal discord.

"This is the reason the BJP is getting this work done by a 'nav-Hindutva AIMIM' and 'nav-Hindu Owaisi'. They have plans to distribute loudspeakers and recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques. They have given a contract for this work. They will recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques, then the real Owaisi (AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi) will come into the picture and everything will culminate into riots.

"Later, they will send a report to the Centre through Raj Bhavan and try to impose President's rule in Maharashtra. We have intelligence and vigilance inputs of such plan and the Home Ministry is looking into it," Raut claimed.

Raut also announced Shiv Sena leader and minister Aaditya Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya, tentatively in the first or second week of May. "Nashik Shiv Sena will organise this programme. The programme will be regarding the concept of 'Ram Rajya' by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray," he said.

The Sena chief spokesperson also said the Sena won the byelection to the Vile Parle constituency in Mumbai in 1987 on the Hindutva slogan given by Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

"Some people are trying to make a corrupt copy of the Shiv Sena supremo. But it is useless. Whom do they teach Hindutva? Those who have taken Hindutva on rent should not teach us Hindutva. Those who boast of reciting the Hanuman Chalisa cannot say even the first two stanzas of it by heart. They cannot even recite the national anthem and Vande Mataram," Raut said without taking names.

He said Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti have been celebrated for years peacefully.

"But this year, there were riots in ten states on Ram Navami (on April 10). Creating riots in poll-bound states and winning them this way is the strategy of BJP now," Raut alleged.

Alleging a "pattern" of triggering communal riots and winning elections, the Sena MP said this will break the country into pieces.

Referring to the FIR registered in Mumbai against BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and his son in the alleged misappropriation of funds collected to save decommissioned aircraft carrier 'INS Vikrant', Raut alleged that some courts are becoming "relief courts".

"In 2022, it came to light that the money collected to save INS Vikrant did not reach where it was supposed to reach. Even the sessions court agreed to the fact that misappropriation of funds had taken place. Whether it was Rs 58 crore or Rs 158 crore, the investigation will reveal. However, the High Court gave relief to Kirit Somaiya."

"The court is a 'relief court' for some people. The HC observed as wrong that the money was collected in 2013 and the case was registered only in 2022," Raut claimed.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to Kirit Somaiya in the INS Vikrant funds case.

Raut also alleged a scam by Yuva Pratishthan, an NGO of Kirit Somaiya and his wife, by submitting fake bills in the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation.

The Sena MP claimed that an attempt was made to change the history of India since 2014- when the BJP came to power.

"It's an attempt to destroy all the good things which had been done in the last 60 years. The rulers of the country are working with a mindset that the history of the nation started only in 2014," he said and referred to the inauguration of the Pradhan Mantri Museum in New Delhi by PM Narendra Modi and the Congress's opposition to it.

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An RSS worker was hacked to death by a gang here on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Srinivasan, 45, was attacked by a group of assailants at his shop in the heart of Palakkad town. The suspects reportedly arrived at the spot on motorbikes. The victim was immediately shifted to a private hospital but could not be saved, they said.

The incident occurred less than 24 hours after a Popular Front of India (PFI) leader was killed in a village near here. Subair, 43, was allegedly hacked to death at Elappully in the district while he was returning home after offering prayers in a mosque on Friday afternoon.

Reacting to the attack, the BJP alleged that the Social Democratic Party of India, the political offshoot of PFI, was behind the killing of Srinivasan.

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New Delhi: Leaders of 13 Opposition political parties on Saturday (April 16) expressed deep concern over the recent incidents of hate speech and communal violence in the country, and urged people to maintain peace and harmony. In a joint statement, the leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and her Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand counterparts MK Stalin and Hemant Soren, also raised concern over the manner in which issues relating to food, dress, faith, festivals and language "are being used" by the ruling establishment to polarise society.

"We are shocked at the silence of the Prime Minister, who has failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and provoke our society. This silence is an eloquent testimony to the fact that such private armed mobs enjoy the luxury of official patronage," they said in the joint statement.

Reiterating their collective resolve to work together to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that "defined and enriched India for centuries", the Opposition leaders said, "We reiterate our commitment to combat and confront the poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness in our society."

"We appeal to all sections of the people to maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation. We call upon all our party units across the country to independently and jointly work for maintaining peace and harmony," they said in the joint appeal.

Incidents of communal violence were reported from some parts of the country on the occasion of Ram Navami on April 10.

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As per reports, stone pelting in Shobha Yatra on Hanuman Jayanti on Saturday in Delhis Jehangir Puri has created tensions in the area. A heavy police force has been deployed in the region.

The miscreants pelted stones and vandalised several vehicles. They also indulged in arson. About half a dozen policemen were injured in the incident.

I appeal to everyone to maintain peace as the country can not progress without it. Central govt has the responsibility to maintain peace in the national capital; appeal to people to maintain peace: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on clash in Jahangirpuri pic.twitter.com/RMhmbnpmmf  ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2022

The police is trying to identify the miscreants. For this, footage of CCTV cameras installed nearby and videos made by people from mobile phones are being investigated. Top police officers are also camping on the spot.

The incident took place near Kushal Cinema. Policemen injured in stone pelting have been admitted to the hospital.

Warning of strict action against rioters, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana said the situation is under control and adequate additional force has been deployed in Jahangirpuri and other sensitive areas.

Senior officers have been asked to remain in the field and closely supervise the law and order situation and undertake patrolling. Citizens are requested not to pay heed to rumours and fake news on social media, he tweeted.

"It was a traditional procession and was being escorted by police personnel. However, a clash between two communities erupted as the procession reached near Kushal cinema hall," a police officer said. (With agency inputs)

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Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Jammu and Kashmir, a Sarpanch was shot dead in an apple orchard belonging to a pandit, of which he used to take care for the last 12 years.

The Sarpanch's killing takes place a week before PM Modi is to address 30,000 Sarpanches, panches and other grass root representatives in the Samba district of Jammu after a week.

Another attack on soft target, suspected terrorists shot dead an independent Sarpanch in the Pattan area of Baramulla district on Friday. This is the third targeted killing in the last 13 days including a CRPF man and a Rajput.

Small village Goshbugh surrounded with apple orchards is seen today in fear and anger. The sarpanch of the village Manzoor Ahmad Bangroo was shot by suspected terrorist around 5.45 pm in an apple orchard near to his house, which he uses to take care from last 12 years as people at his house said. The orchard belongs to Kashmiri Pandit Ashu Pandit who, at the time of migration, left the village and settled in Uri area of Baramulla near LoC.

Besides, he fought the panchayat election and was elected as sarpanch of the village. Abdul Ahad an old villager said.

Apart from family, all surrounding people who know Manzoor said he was a noble person having a dream to make his village prosperous.

Manzoor left behind two sons three daughters, his elder son Masrat Iqbal said, We dont know how it happened we only know that at 3.30pm he left home to get some grass from orchard, when he didnt returned home I went to orchard at 6pm I saw his yellow colour sweater I realised that time that he is killed by someone when I reached close I saw him dead. Adding to that Masrat said, He was caretaker of Panditji orchard from last 12-13 years we often use to help him in maintaining the orchard. He requested LG administration to help the family and give us justice. The Islam dont allow such killings.

Villagers since morning were visiting the Sarpanchs house. People condemn the killing, done in this pious month of Ramazan.

Police said the bullet-ridden body of the Manzoor Ahmad Bangroo of the Goshbugh area of Pattan was lying in an

orchard. He was taken to hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead. a police officer said.

Body was found in an apple orchard around half kilometre away from the Sarpanchs home. Villagers said this orchard belongs to Kashmir pandit and Manzoor was caretaker for the last 12 years, he uses to come daily to this orchard to see how plants are.

The 7th attack in the last 13 days was condemned by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha who extended his condolences to the bereaved family while assuring that the perpetrators will be punished.

J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha tweetted, I strongly condemn the terror attack on Sarpanch, Manzoor Ahmad Bangroo. Perpetrators of this despicable act shall be punished. My deepest condolences to the bereaved family in this hour of grief.

The Sarpanchs killing takes place a week before prime minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address 30,000 Sarpanches, panches, and other grass root representatives in the Samba district of Jammu. PM Modi is to arrive on April 24 in the Union territory.

Shafiq Mir Chairman All J& K panchayat Conference said, One more our sarpanch is martyred we condemn this brutal killing, I warn the people who are doing this will achieve nothing out of such killings. At the same time, I would say government has failed to provide us security nor any developmental program is launched to help the martyred punch sarpanch families. But I would like to assure my members that organisation is standing with them and we should not lose hope.

Militants had previously targeted non-local labours, minority community members and CRPF personnel in the latest attacks.

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Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday (April 16) won the Ballygunge Assembly seat in West Bengal by a margin 20,228 of votes. While the winning candidate Babul Supriyo secured 49.69 per cent of the total votes polles, CPI(M)s Saira Shah Halim clinched the second position with 30.06 per cent votes. The party has won Asansol Lok Sabha seat where Shatrughan Sinha was fielded as its heavyweight candidate.

"I dedicate my win to CM Mamata Banerjee and Ma-Mati-Manush. BJP's position shows the effect of fuel price hike," said Supriyo. He added, "The results are a slap to BJP for their hubris and the way they demean Bengalis," said Supriyo.

Supriyo garnered 51,199 votes against Halim's 30,971 votes. Interestingly, Halim has overtaken BJP's Keya Ghosh who bagged just 13,220 votes, thus lending some credence to the communist party's claim that it was on a revival path. Kamruzzaman Choudhury of Congress pocketed 5,218 votes.

Meanwhile, TMC workers and supporters celebrated the tunes of drumbeats in Asansol as the party leads in the by-poll to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat. TMC's Shatrughan Sinha is leading with 3,75,026 votes while BJP's Agnimitra Paul is trailing with 2,18,601 votes in Asansol. Speaking to ANI, Agnimitra Paul said, "There were some shortcomings from our end because of which we had to face defeat. The public's verdict will be accepted. Few cases of rigging were seen at some places but central forces worked really well. We will work at grassroots levels in the forthcoming days".

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New Delhi: Ace comedienne Bharti Singh and husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa welcomed their first child together on April 3, 2022. The happy parents of a baby boy announced the good news on social media and got congratulatory messages from celeb friends and fans.

Bharti Singh was recently papped in the busy Mumbai studios and asked about the baby. In the viral video, she got emotional and revealed, "Lekin main bahot royi hu aaj. 12 din ka hai baby, but kaam kaam hai."

She came to complete her work commitments and promised to get sweets for the paps on duty next time.

A few days back, Bharti and Haarsh were spotted outside Breach Candy hospital and cradled their newborn while getting papped. They even posed for a photo-op and happily accepted all the greetings of the photographers.

Bharti Singh married her longtime beau Haarsh Limbachiyaa on December 3, 2017, in Goa. The couple had announced that they were expecting their first child in December last year.

Together, the couple has hosted many shows together including- 'Khatra Khatra Khatra', 'Hum Tum Aur Quarantine' and 'India's Best Dancer' among others.

Currently Bharti and Haarsh host two shows together, Hunarbaaz: Desh Ki Shaan and Khatra Khatra Khatra.
New Delhi: The burglary at Hindi cinema actor Sonam Kapoor's Delhi residence did not take place in just a day, rather, the thieves gradually stole precious items over a span of 10-11 months.

"The jewellery and cash were stolen in a span of 10-11 months, as and when the accused nurse got a chance," a Delhi Police official told IANS.

A complaint was lodged two months back, on February 23, regarding theft at the residence of Harish Ahuja at Amrita Shergil Marg in Delhi. Notably, Harish Ahuja is father-in-law of Sonam.

The complainant who had noticed the robbery on February 11, however, reported the incident 12 days later on February 23 after which Delhi Police registered an FIR under section 381 (Theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master) of the Indian Penal Code at the Tughlak Road police station and initiated an investigation into the case.

The case was being jointly investigated by the special staff of New Delhi district and the Crime Branch of Delhi Police.

The news about the theft at the actor`s residence broke on April 9, mounting further pressure on the cops to deliver the result urgently. Four days later, on April 13, the police arrested a couple -- a nurse and her husband -- for the said Rs 2.4 crore burglary.

The accused nurse, identified as Aparna Ruth Wilson (30), was working as a home medical care assistant at Kapoor's residence at Amrita Shergil Marg in Delhi and looking after Sonam's husband Anand Ahuja's mother. The husband of the accused woman, who was also involved in selling the stolen items, was identified as Naresh Kumar Sagar.

During the interrogation of the accused duo several startling revelations came to the fore.

The first one was the robbery did not happen in a day. Since March 2021, the accused woman has been visiting the victim's house as a nurse. It was during this period, she observed that there were jewellery and cash in one almirah, the official said.

One day, as the accused took the victim to the almirah in a wheel-chair, she found that jewellery worth crores and cash in it. She told her husband about it and the duo conspired to steal it. "Naresh asked her to steal jewellery at intervals so that it could not be noticed easily. As per the plan, she used to steal jewellery at night," the police official said.

But as the saying goes from a popular TV series -- "The night is dark and full of terrors" -- it was not easy to even steal at night as the almirah containing the jewellery was not far from the victim.

The accused dealt with the problem with the help of `sedatives`. The accused woman used to give sedatives to the victim at night so that the latter would not wake up and in the meantime she could steal the cash.

After stealing the jewellery, Aparna Ruth Wilson used to handover it to her husband, who further sold it to different jewellers of the city.

Gradually, the life of the accused husband and wife started changing. They paid off their debts, parental medical expenses and also purchased one second hand i-10 car from the stolen money.

Meanwhile, the accused jeweller was also nabbed after the prime accused were arrested. So far, the police have recovered 100 diamond pieces, six gold chains, six diamond bangles, a diamond bracelet, two tops (earrings), one brass coin and one i-10 car.
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recommended an interoperable cardless withdrawal option via Unified Payment Interface (UPI) across ATM networks earlier this month in an effort to combat financial fraud.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India, developed the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI is based on the IMPS infrastructure and allows you to send money between any two bank accounts in real time.

State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda (BoB), and RBL Bank already offer cardless withdrawals, but only to its customers who use the same bank's ATM network. The RBI's proposal is to make the service available at all ATMs to all bank customers.

"In addition to improving transaction simplicity, the elimination of the necessity for a physical card for such transactions will help prevent frauds like card skimming, card cloning, and so on," said Governor Shaktikanta Das in an April 3 statement.

UPI cardless withdrawals

A cardless transaction is sending money from a bank account to anyone in India with a valid mobile phone number, who subsequently withdraws cash from an ATM without using a debit or ATM card. It can be used at any bank's ATM, as well as third-party and white-label ATMs.

Although the RBI is yet to release rules to the NPCI and banks on interoperable cardless withdrawals via the UPI network, there are a few options on the market that might be used to launch the service.

AGS Transact, an ATM vendor, is testing a UPI-based candles withdrawal system that allows customers to scan a QR code on the ATM screen using their bank smartphone. In a second model, which SBI is now using for its YONO app, the client signs into the bank app and enters the amount to be withdrawn; the app then creates a transaction number and a six-digit pin to withdraw the funds.

Debit Cards Future

In a press conference on April 8, the RBI clarified that it will continue to provide credit and debit cards, as well as a variety of other services. They can be used for more than simply cash withdrawals; they can also be used to make payments in a foreign country. As a result, credit and debit cards will continue to be accepted, he said. Debit cards are, therefore, here to stay.
Lahore (Pakistan): Ruckus erupted in Pakistan's Punjab Assembly on Saturday (April 16) as lawmakers from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) manhandled Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari when he arrived to chair the crucial session convened to elect the new chief minister of the province. The lawmakers from the ex-prime minister Imran Khan's party attacked Mazari and pulled his hair for changing his loyalty.

TV footage showed Mazari was slapped, punched and dragged by the PTI members before the security guards managed to rescue him. The PTI lawmakers brought "lotas" to the house and started chanting "lota, lota" (turncoats) as they lashed out at dissident PTI lawmakers who parted ways with the party and decided to support the Opposition. They said they would not allow 24 dissident members of their party to cast the vote in the chief minister's election.

A tough competition is expected between the two candidates - Hamza Shahbaz and Parvez Elahi. Hamza, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is the joint candidate of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other coalition parties, while PML-Q's Elahi is being backed by the PTI. If the rebel PTI members are allowed to cast their vote, Hamza is certain to get elected as the chief minister. As the situation got out of control, the police deployed outside the assembly entered the House.

Elahi and other members protested and termed it a violation of the sanctity of the House. "In Pakistan's history, police have never entered the Punjab Assembly. We will summon the Inspector General Police of Punjab and punish him for a month under the law," he said.

The proceedings have been suspended for some time even as Mazari said he would resume the session and conduct the election for the chief minister at any cost on Saturday. "Those who attacked me want martial law in Pakistan but they will not succeed," Mazari told reporters.

The Lahore High Court on Friday had directed the deputy speaker to conduct the election in a free and fair manner on Saturday. A candidate needs 186 votes in the 371-member House to become the chief minister. In the Punjab Assembly, the PTI has 183 lawmakers, its ally PML-Q has 10. PML-N has 165, the PPP seven, while five are independent and one belongs to Rah-i-Haq.

Responding to the criticism for naming his son as Punjab's chief minister, Prime Minister Shehbaz said, "I don't want to make my son CM. In fact, we had offered this slot to Parvez Elahi but he refused to join hands with us". The PML-N had kept 24 PTI dissident members of the Punjab Assembly in a hotel for two weeks so that they could not be approached by ex-prime minister Imran Khan and his party leaders to woo them back.

Prime Minister Shehbaz has condemned the attack on the Punjab Assembly's deputy speaker and demanded the smooth election of the new chief minister of the province which has been without its chief executive for two weeks.

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Shanghai: Three Chinese astronauts returned to earth on Saturday (April 16, 2022) after 183 days in space, state television reported, completing the country`s longest crewed space mission to date.

The astronauts landed nine hours after they left a key module of China`s first space station.

While in orbit, the Shenzhou-13 mission astronauts took manual control in the Tianhe living quarters module for what state media called a "docking experiment" with the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft.

Following their launch in October, the astronauts - Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and a female crew member Wang Yaping - spent 183 days in space, completing the fifth of 11 missions needed to finish the space station by the end of the year.

Shenzhou-13 was the second of four planned crewed missions to complete construction of the space station, which began last April. Shenzhou-12 returned to Earth in September.

China`s next two missions will be Tianzhou-4, a cargo spacecraft, and the three-person Shenzhou-14 mission, Shao Limin, deputy technology manager of Manned Spaceship System was quoted by state media as saying.

Barred by the United States from participating in the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit, China has spent the past decade developing technologies to build its own space station, the only one in the world other than the ISS.

China, which aims to become a space power by 2030, has successfully launched probes to explore Mars and became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.

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Islamabad: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has accused ousted premier Imran Khan of selling valuable Toshakhana gifts, including diamond jewellery, worth Rs 140 million in Dubai, inflicting a loss to the national exchequer.

"I can confirm that Imran Khan took gifts from Toshakhana and sold them in Dubai for Rs 140 million (USD 7.6 lakh). Valuable gifts include diamond jewellery, bracelets, watches and sets," Shehbaz said.

Shehbaz said that he also got a watch once which he had deposited in the Toshakhana, the official repository for presents received during foreign visits.

"I don't need to hide anything," the newly-elected premier said.

As per the country's law, any gift received from dignitaries of a foreign state must be put in the state depository or the Toshakhana.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government led by Khan had been reluctant to share details about gifts retained from Toshakhana.

An inquiry has been initiated against Khan by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for selling a precious necklace from Toshakhana, inflicting a loss to the national exchequer.

Shehbaz's revelation came in response to a question over a petition seeking the details of the Toshakhana filed in the Islamabad High Court on which then prime minister Khan had commented that the details cannot be revealed as per the Official Secrets Act.

The necklace was sold to a jeweller in Lahore through Zulfi Bukhari, former Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development for Rs 180 million, while only a fraction of that amount was paid to Toshakhana, the report said.

ALSO READ | 'I wasn't dangerous when in power, will be dangerous now': Imran Khan warns his political rivals

In response to the allegations, Bukhari said that there was no truth in reports about the selling of a necklace.

Talking to Geo News, he said that there never had been any talk about the necklace and the allegations were ill-founded and baseless.

Meanwhile, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Khan purchased the watch from the government which was received as a gift from a foreign country.

"I don't understand what is the actual issue of Shehbaz," he said, alleging that Shehbaz is confused as he is unable to comprehend how to level allegations against Khan.

Fawad said that no matter what the price of the watch is "if it is mine I can sell that watch nobody should have a problem with it."

The former minister and close aide of Khan advised Shehbaz to refrain from superficial gossip and focus on national issues.

According to the law, whenever a head of state receives a gift from another state or country, they have to give it to the Toshakhana. If they wish to keep the gift, they have to pay an amount equal to its value which is decided through an auction.

These gifts either remain deposited in the Toshakhana or can be auctioned and the money acquired through it is to be deposited into the national treasury.

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Kyiv: The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following Russia's withdrawal, most of them fatally shot, police said Friday (April 15, 2022), an indication that many people were "simply executed.

The jarring number emerged shortly after Russia's Defense Ministry promised to step up missile attacks on Kyiv in response to Ukraine's alleged assaults on Russian territory. That ominous warning followed the stunning loss of Moscow's flagship in the Black Sea.

Amid its threats, Moscow continued preparations for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine. Fighting also went on in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Governor Oleh Sinehubov.

Around Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of the capital's regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.

Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south of terrorizing civilians and hunting for anyone who served in Ukraine's military or government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said. Russia's problem is that it is not accepted, and never will be accepted, by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy also said he discussed the fate of Mariupol with top military and intelligence officials. He said he couldn't offer details, but we are doing everything we can to save our people.''

More violence could be in store for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.

The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Russia used missiles to destroy a facility for the repair and production of missile systems in Kyiv, Konashenkov said.

Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.

However, Ukrainian officials said forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles.

A flagship' russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday.

Russia's warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring Friday as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.

Such tentative signs of prewar life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes. But a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations.

In Mariupol, the city council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials of people killed by them.

Fighting continued in industrial areas and the port, and Russia for the first time used the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber to attack the city, said Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Mariupol's capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.

Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of the region.

Also Friday, a regional Ukrainian official said seven people were killed and 27 wounded when Russian forces fired on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near Kharkiv.

Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor's office, told the Suspilne news website that authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.

Russia's Defense Ministry said strikes in the Kharkiv region had liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company of up to 30 people and liberated an iron and steel factory in Mariupol. The claims could not be independently verified.

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New Delhi: In retaliation for trade and economic sanctions slapped in support of Ukraine, Russia has expelled 18 European Union (EU) diplomats, the country`s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, reported IANS.

The Ministry had summoned the Head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Markus Ederer in a protest over the EU`s decision to declare 19 Russian diplomats "personae non-gratae" earlier in April, the statement added.

"In response to the hostile actions of the European Union, 18 employees working at the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared `personae non-gratae` and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," Xinhua news agency reported.

Those come after the fresh set of sanctions against Russia targeted President Vladimir Putins daughters and their assets in addition to many of his close aides.

The new sanctions were introduced in response to the brutal Bucha killings in Ukraine, after which Moscow was accused of committing war crimes. However, the nation has vehemently denied hurting civilians.

As far as sanctions against Putins daughters are concerned, his younger daughter Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova is a tech executive whose work supports the Russian government and its defence industry.

On the other hand, his elder daughter Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova leads government-funded programs that have received billions of dollars from the Kremlin for genetics research, and are personally overseen by Putin.

Both the individuals are facing assets freeze and travel bans by the EU.

Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine projected optimism ahead of another scheduled round of talks Wednesday, even as Moscow's forces rained fire on Kyiv and other major cities in a bid to crush the resistance that has frustrated Kremlin hopes for lightning victory.

(With agency inputs)

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Indignant over what it called Ukrainian strikes in Russian territory and following the stunning loss of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow threatened renewed missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities said the bodies of more than 900 civilians were found outside the capital. Most had been shot dead, police said, and likely simply executed.

Russian forces prepared for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine, and fighting also went on in the pummelled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Governor Oleh Sinehubov.

Early Saturday, Kyiv's eastern district of Darnytskie was struck, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting. He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene. He warned residents who have fled the capital not to return for their safety.

In the towns around Kyiv, said Andriy Nebytov, who heads the region's police force, bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.

Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said.

More bodies are being found every day under rubble and in mass graves, he added, with the largest number found in Bucha, more than 350. According to Nebytov, utility workers gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, had been tracking down people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south of terrorising civilians and hunting for anyone who served in Ukraine's military or government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. Russia's problem is that it is not accepted and never will be accepted by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.

Officials think 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, Zelenskyy told CNN in an interview. He said about 10,000 have been injured and it's hard to say how many will survive.

More violence could be in store for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.

The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Russia used missiles to destroy a facility for the repair and production of missile systems in Kyiv, Konashenkov said. The Ukrainian state arms manufacturer, Ukroboronprom, said Russian forces struck one of the missile workshops at the Vizar plant, located near Kyiv's Zhuliany airport.

Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.

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New Delhi: As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues and the attack on Ukrainian cities causes losses, Ukraine's rescue service workers are working day and night to save not only their people but also animals.

One such incident was brought to light by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine advisor Anton Gerashchenko. Taking on to Twitter, Gerashchenko shared a video of rescue workers trying to save a puppy that was stuck under the debris caused by the Russian shelling attack.

"A village on Donbas was shelled by Russia and a puppy was under the debris. Rescuers were able to save him and give him back to the owner (who himself narrowly escaped death from shelling). Rescue services work 24/7 doing the hardest work and saving lives," read the caption. Watch

A village on Donbas was shelled by Russia and a puppy was under the debris. Rescuers were able to save him and give him back to the owner (who himself narrowly escaped death from shelling). Rescue services work 24/7 doing the hardest work and saving lives.#UkraineUnderAttak pic.twitter.com/skbX6I4MDg  Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 13, 2022

The video is making rounds on social media as it has struck the hearts of internet surfers. The video has been seen over 1 million times and people across the world are praising the rescue team for their efforts to save lives in the war-torn country.

One of the users wrote, "That is beautiful - so many emotions in one minute. Rage that Russia shelled a peaceful village, and deep, deep love and respect for the rescuers. The bond between this poor man and his dog will sustain and comfort them both. They are both survivors. Bless them all."

"I've noticed that the Ukrainians are taking great care to also rescue dogs, cats and other animals. It's sweet," wrote another user.

ALSO WATCH: Bizarre! Man kisses most poisonous snake, King Cobra, see what happens next

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Students of Confucius Institute participate in the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed to promote the Chinese language and culture.

The Chinese Language Day celebrations, which were jointly organized by the AAU and the Confucius Institute at the AAU, are said to serve as an important platform for creating awareness of the Chinese language in particular and Chinese culture in general to Ethiopians.

In welcoming participants, Academic Vice President of AAU Emebet Mulugeta said the celebrations would inject much-needed momentum into promoting the Chinese language in Ethiopia and boost the people-to-people ties between the two countries.

"Beyond the celebrations, it has a lot of implications. Learning the Chinese language means learning the Chinese culture, expanding cultural exchanges, expanding business and expanding academic exchanges. It has a very important implication," she said. "While celebrating this day, we also try to see the broader perspective of learning the Chinese language."

A series of cultural activities were held, in which Chinese language students at the Confucius Institute at the AAU demonstrated various elements of the Chinese culture and language, including the calligraphy, paper-cutting, Chinese traditional costumes, and Peking Opera facial masks.

In addition, members of the 23rd Chinese medical team to Ethiopia demonstrated traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture and cupping to a crowd of the AAU community who gathered together inside the premises of the AAU main campus in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Amenuael Alemayehu, dean of the College of Humanities, Language Studies, Journalism and Communications at the AAU, stressed the celebrations would serve to further promote the Chinese language and culture across the East African country.

"The Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University is one of the vibrant institutes we have today. It is the only foreign language institute in our college to attract students every year," he said.

He emphasized that amid the growing demand for Chinese language studies among young Ethiopian students, the Confucius Institute at the AAU in partnership with the AAU will welcome new students for the Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) as the first MA program in the Chinese language for the next academic year.

He said celebrating Chinese Language Day will further promote the Chinese language in Ethiopia.

"I believe this international Chinese Language Day (celebrations) will also help the institute to be more visible; it will increase the awareness of students within and outside the institute. People can learn about the Chinese language and culture from such events," said Alemayehu.

Melaku Mekonene, a third-year Chinese language student of the Confucius Institute at the AAU, said the celebrations showcased the growing popularity of the Chinese language in Ethiopia, Africa's second populous nation.

"Today we have seen the huge significance given to the Chinese language here in Ethiopia. As a Chinese language student, this gives me great pleasure due to the growing future prospects," Mekonene said. "I am certain that with the growing significance given to the Chinese language here, more and more students and the general public will learn the language in the years to come."

Yohanis Elias, another Chinese language student, said such celebrations would serve to further deepen students' awareness of Chinese culture.

"We all are happy to attend this Chinese Language Day celebration events. It also helped us to know more about Chinese culture, such as the Chinese dressing style, costume and traditional Chinese medicine," he said.

Che Zhaoguang, the cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, said the celebrations will have huge significance as language plays a very important role in deepening and enhancing Ethiopia-China ties.

"Chinese is one of the official languages of the United Nations and in recent years more and more people around the world are learning the Chinese language to better understand contemporary China," Che said. "We believe the future cooperation between our two countries in the fields of education, culture, tourism, and economy, among others, will be surely promoted."

The Confucius Institute at the AAU, in collaboration with its partners, commemorated the Chinese Language Day in line with the decision by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 to mark the Chinese Language Day on April 20. The decision envisaged celebrating multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as promoting equal use of all six of the UN's official working languages throughout the organization's structure and activities.

April 20 was chosen as the Chinese Language Day to pay tribute to Cangjie, an imaginary figure in traditional Chinese lore regarded as the inventor of Chinese characters. 

Students wearing Peking Opera masks attend the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Academic Vice President of Addis Ababa University Emebet Mulugeta speaks during the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Students of Confucius Institute participate in the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Members of the 23rd Chinese medical team to Ethiopia demonstrate traditional Chinese medicine during the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Students of Confucius Institute participate in the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
Central airport could get upgrade with more international flights

The check-in area at Dong Hoi Airport in Quang Binh Province. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Tao

Quang Binh Province, home to the world's largest cave Son Doong, can get its airport upgraded if it gets more regular international flights, the Government Office said Friday.

The instruction came following an airport development proposal by the Transport Ministry last December, which said an upgrade of Dong Hoi from domestic to international airport can boost Quang Binhs socioeconomic development, the tourism industry in particular.

Dong Hoi Airport, opened in 2008, is designed to handle Airbus A320 and A321 and other smaller aircraft and a maximum of two flights at a time.

Its only international service now is to Thailands Chiang Mai.

It has been handling more than its designed capacity of 500,000 passengers per year.

Dong Hoi is around 160 km from Phu Bai International Airport and 200 km from Vinh International Airport.

The Ministry of Transport approved a plan in February to build a second terminal to increase the airports capacity to three million passengers. The work is expected to cost VND1.22 trillion ($53.27 million).

Vietnam now has 22 airports in operation, 10 of them international.

Quang Binh, home to more than 350 caves with around 40 open to tourism, hopes to receive two million visitors including 10,000 foreigners this year.
China increasing militarization in the East Sea (South China Sea) reveals its intention to further intimidate other littoral states, experts say.

An aerial view of Subi Reef illegally occupied by China, April 21, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Francis Malasig

China has started sending the J-20, its most advanced fighter aircraft, to patrol the East and South China Seas in routine training sessions, Chinese state-run Global Times reported on Wednesday, citing military experts.

Last month, U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. John Aquilino said China has fully militarized at least three of several artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment as well as fighter jets, AP reported.

Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a U.S. think tank, said militarization matters most because of what it allows China to do in peacetime.

The PLA-Navy now regularly rotates its forces through the Spratlys, the China Coast Guard keeps about a dozen boats on patrol every day at Vanguard Bank, at Second Thomas Shoal, Luconia Shoals, and Scarborough Shoal.

About 300 Chinese militia vessels are at anchor in the Spratly Islands each day of the year. All of that is only possible because the vessels can use the archipelago as their forward operating bases, and the result is steady pressure that is pushing Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines out of the South China Sea.

Poling said militarization has been a steady development by China, and not something with a clear end point.

The Spratly Islands bases were built between 2013 and 2016, most of the military infrastructure was finished by 2018, and the deployments of navy, coast guard, and militia forces were at their current levels by the end of 2018. By early 2020 China was regularly deploying patrol aircraft to the islands, but has not deployed fighter jets.

According to Carlyle Thayer, emeritus professor, University of New South Wales Canberra at the Australian Defense Force Academy, militarization of artificial islands has allowed China to consolidate its control over the South China Sea.

Thayer said China can at present threaten military and civilian aircraft with its HQ-9 system that fly within 125 km of its artificial islands up to an altitude of 27 km. And China can target surface ships up to 400 km.

"This capability should intimidate littoral states. And in times of conflict, China can target enemy ships and aircraft that transit or overfly the South China Sea."

Professor Herman Joseph Kraft, the University of the Philippines, said China's completion of militarization on some islands in the South China Sea makes it more possible for Beijing to increase the capabilities of their coast guard and navy to patrol the area.

It will also enable China to project power to greater distances and longer periods of time within the region.

Kraft predicted that the completion will help China make its presence felt in areas with a larger number of countries in the coming time.

The Philippines and Vietnam have been subjected to harassment and aggressive actions taken by China so far. Malaysia and Brunei have also felt the Chinese presence. Indonesia has faced the same situation on the areas of Natuna Sea.

"We might find that there will be increased Chinese presence in those areas."

Kraft said stakeholders should pay attention to certain areas that might be of strategic value to China.

He feared that China will try to strengthen its hold or may create an artificial island on Scarborough Shoal, which is not going to be acceptable to the Philippines.

Carl Schuster, a visiting professor at Hawaii Pacific University, said that the U.S. has predicted that China will militarize Scarborough Shoal before 2030, expecting the process to start by 2025.

At present, although China has placed no military equipment or garrison on Scarborough Shoal, maps show the radar cover and weapons coverage China has now established south of Scarborough Shoal and what that coverage will be when it places a garrison and equipment on Scarborough Shoal.

Schuster said the full militarization will improve China's ability to monitor and control the air space and waters of the South China Sea. China has strengthened its hold on its territorial claims and its ability to enforce its National Maritime Law across the central and northern portions of the South China Sea. It also signals China's intention to dominate and control those waters and the air space over them.
People swarm Nguyen Hue pedestrian street in downtown HCMC in celebration of New Year's Eve, December 31, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

HCMC is envisioning its metro routes as the axis for several underground developments in its downtown and other top urban areas.

Officials are looking for ideas for underground developments in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area and other downtown areas spanning a total of 930 ha, with malls and parking space featuring prominently in the mix.

Late last year, HCMC issued architectural management guidelines for underground space development in certain areas, including Nguyen Hue Street, Le Loi Avenue and Bach Dang Wharf.

Nguyen Hue Street, spanning 670 m, became Vietnam's first pedestrian street in 2015. The city plans to create an underground space in the area, with the first floor as a mall and the second and third floor as parking spaces.

The first floor, which will also function as a pedestrian street, would connect the Opera House with a park running along the Saigon River. The area will have elevators and escalators near bus stations, and entrances would be located in the Le Loi-Ton That Thiep and the Ngo Duc Ke-Hai Trieu areas.

Next to the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street runs the Le Loi Avenue for around a kilometer from the Opera House to the roundabout in front of the Ben Thanh Market. The area has been barricaded for years for the construction of HCMC's first metro line. There are already three underground stations beneath the avenue for the metro line.

In 2016, the city called for the creation of an underground mall in the area with a total cost of over VND6.8 trillion ($296.9 million), as well as the reconstruction of the B1 floor of the Ben Thanh metro station.

However, the project is yet to be launched due to a lack of capital and investors.

In the Ben Thanh Wharf area, the Me Linh Park was upgraded earlier this year. In accordance with the plan, Ton Duc Thang Street would move underground along with parking spaces along the park, while areas above ground would be reserved for electric vehicles and pedestrians. Various shops and restaurants will also be situated underground.

'A spine'

Ly Khanh Tam Thao, head of the urban infrastructure management division under the Department of Planning and Architecture, said the development of underground spaces in the city would utilize its metro stations as "a spine.

"This is what we are looking for in a design for underground space. The result would help the city plan underground developments until 2040, with vision towards 2050," Thao said.

Architect Ngo Viet Nam Son said HCMCs downtown areas lack public spaces, so the development of underground spaces was crucial. While there could be spaces beneath buildings and skyscrapers, they are too disconnected, so the city needs to figure out how to have connected underground spaces.

"The city needs to utilize underground spaces underneath the entire Nguyen Hue Street, which would help connect metro stations going through Thu Thiem," he said.

"HCMC already has a Saigon River tunnel connecting District 1 and Thu Thiem, but since it lies in the outer edge of downtown areas, there needs to be direct connections to create a corridor for public spaces, satisfying demands for growth," he added.

Hoang Ngoc Lan, who teaches at the HCMC University of Architecture, said the development of underground spaces would address existing demand for public spaces and eased traffic in downtown areas.

However, HCMC needs to plan downtown underground spaces for an entire area, not just at certain locations, in order to have better connectivity, she said.
Ho Son Tung at a police station in Nghe An Province, central Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress

A man from the central province of Ha Tinh is being investigated for allegedly tricking people out of their money via fake repatriation flights to Vietnam during the pandemic.

Ho Son Tung, 30, is being investigated for "obtaining property by fraud", police said Saturday.

Last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic was raging across the globe, many Vietnamese citizens abroad wanted to return to their home country despite limited supply of repatriation flights.

Tuan used a Facebook account, masqueraded as someone who had managed to return to Vietnam on a repatriation flight, and offered to help others.

When people contacted him, Tung used a fake Vietnamese embassy email to request money from people so he could buy them flight tickets.

From March 2021 to April 2022, Tung has tricked 20 people successfully. Investigation revealed that two among the victims were robbed of VND147 million ($6,418).

Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Vietnam has organized around 800 repatriation flights and brought back over 200,000 citizens from over 60 countries and territories. Many people had to buy very expensive tickets and underwent troublesome procedures for a flight home.

Some top Vietnamese diplomatic officials including deputy foreign affairs minister To Anh Dung have been arrested over allegations of taking bribes in organizing these flights.
My sister has ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a condition that affects her ability to focus. She was diagnosed with it in her early teens.

However, my parents never talked about it or tried to seek proper treatment for it. Maybe they did not have the financial resources to do it, or maybe they did not realize how it would affect her.

The problem got worse when she reached high school. The stress of being a better than average high school student and getting into a good university was intense. Preparations for the university entrance examination, stressful for most students and parents, were even more so for my sister and my parents.

Sometimes, I heard my mother and sister get into a shouting match because they could not understand each other. For many adults, my sister was not a well behaved high school student. She defied her parents and did not listen to her teachers in school. From my sister's perspective, nobody understood her or her problems.

Luckily, she found solace and space to express herself in the art of makeup, and pursued it on the side with approval from my parents. She would spend her weekends going to weddings and proms to do make up, often for women much older than her. My parents thought that if she could not get into a reputable university, at least she would have a vocation.

My sister will graduate from university later this year, but the high school experience still troubles her. She recalls her experience as "stressful." Not only was she stressed about her academic work, but also about her inability to explain her mental state to parents and teachers. She could not explain to them what she felt about the various life changes that happened during those years.

There is a lack of mental health infrastructure in Vietnam, particularly for school students. This results in a lack of awareness about many different mental health problems that affect our youth. Vietnamese parents, educators and students do not have sufficient vocabulary to describe and to discuss these issues among themselves to support the youth.

Without proper understanding of different mental health issues among parents and educators, we inadvertently shift the responsibility of explaining troubling socio-psychological issues to those most vulnerable to them.

In the context of a changing society and economy, in order to get a better job, parents often emphasize to their children that they have to get into better schools and perform better academically. This escalating educational pressure is even higher in urban centers. Parents and schools often collectively ignore the students' emotional and mental health. With increasing pressure to be "successful," students need more support within the academic structure to address the anxieties resulting from high expectations and the pressure generated by their families in particular and society in general.

The perils of the dominant paradigm, where it is drummed into everyone including students that they have to get into good schools in order to excel in life, are not well recognized. This is especially so in urban areas where social inequality is worsening.

Students in large cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang face ever mounting pressure to get good grades, to study harder, and to take extra tutoring lessons to get into better schools in order to acquire the coveted social mobility.

Parents, advertently and otherwise, transmit their social mobility notions to their children. They think this is necessary to succeed in a fiercely competitive world. The notion that students can figure their future out on their own is a thing of the past.

Concerted cultivation

Education sociologist Annette Lareau has coined the term "concerted cultivation" to describe how middle class parents and working class parents differ in their parenting styles. In her research, she finds that middle-class parents and education institutions often share similar cultural ways of organizing activities. For example, middle class parents are more involved in coordinating their children's extracurricular activities and cultivating habits such as time management to help their children excel in school. In contrast, working class parents let their children play, and are less involved in their children's homework and extracurricular activities.

As Vietnam becomes a more developed society, more urban families have adopted the concerted cultivation parenting philosophy of being more involved in their children's school activities. They also face more pressure of providing social mobility for their children, who are boxed into established, set ways of excelling in schools such as taking extra private lessons, participating in defined extra-curricular activities such as singing, English speaking contests and so on. They see children participating in these activities as evidence of good, responsible parenting.

One extreme version of concerted cultivation is the idea of "tiger mom," or strict parenting that pushes children to achieve high levels of academic achievements through discipline and fear. This parenting style is popular in Vietnam.

However, one aspect of schooling and parenting that is systematically lacking in Vietnamese culture is attention paid to the students' socio-emotional and mental well-being.

In one conversation I had with an 11th grader at a highly prestigious high school in Hanoi, he told me that he wanted to study psychology in college because his friends often showed signs of melancholy. While he could not explain further what he meant by "melancholy" or "psychology," he understood that there's a problem.

The anecdote is telling. Vietnamese youth are able to discern what is missing in their daily discourse  healthy discussions about mental health  but they are not equipped for it.

Few parents are equipped with lessons in behavioral psychology or child psychology to appropriately deal with teenagers who might be going through significant developmental changes that are exacerbated by academic and social pressures. Educators are not necessarily expert psychologists, either. Few schools have mental counselors to provide professional advice to parents, students and teachers.

The need to have mental health counselors becomes particularly important in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the 2020-2021 academic year, I worked with a team of urban education researchers at City University of New York to investigate what New York City parents think about how schools have dealt with Covid-19. We found that 91 percent of the parents felt there should be increased mental health support for children due to social isolation from Covid. Based on such a finding, the research team recommended to policymakers that "schools need proper funding and resources to meet students' socio-emotional needs. This investment is crucial to ensuring their success and ability to overcome trauma and challenges they have faced and will continue to face in the coming year."

In Vietnam, students and their families have also faced similar trauma and uncertainties when the number of Covid-19 cases surged suddenly. Lockdown measures, remote schooling and the feeling of isolation as well as disorientation from many unusual deaths would have also affected students' mental well-being. Yet this aspect of the pandemic is not much discussed or debated.

During this difficult time of Covid-19, parents, students, educators should be paying more attention to students' mental well-being. They can start with small steps like learning about mental health themselves and finding out how a therapist or counselor could help their children understand what they are going through during this disorienting time. The school system should start to incorporate mental health services and allocate adequate resources for it.

Eventually, this should lead to having a permanent counselor at the school for students to access; or the school can also tap community-based resources to provide needed mental health services for students and staff.

*Nga Than is a Doctoral Candidate in Sociology, City University of New York - The Graduate Center. The opinions expressed are her own.
I would be glad to see Hanoi's future dog squads doing their job. But how will owners of unattended pets be fined anyway?

In accordance with a rabies prevention plan for the 2022-2030 period, Hanoi People's Committee stated there will be dog squads in 579 wards and communes in the city to capture stray pets.

It added that people must declare pet ownership to authorities and guarantee that their pets are kept within their homes. Pets going out must also be leashed and muzzled, and owners will have to pay should their pets be captured, culled or if they hurt others.

I don't have pets but am an animal lover. While I agree with having dog squads, I don't think that the pets are ever in the wrong. If a pet attacks another person, the blame should be squarely placed on its owner.

The park near my house has long been a public toilet for pets in the neighborhood. Every morning and afternoon, people bring their pets here and let them urinate and defecate in public as they please. Not many chose to clean up the mess afterwards.

I tried to reason with them many times, but most decided to turn a blind eye. Some even gave me strange, intimidating looks.

Reports of unleashed, unmuzzled dogs attacking people can be found anywhere, from urban areas to the countryside. I've seen many people walking their dogs without a muzzle, even if some of the dogs seemed aggressive.

"He's a good boy, he won't bite" is the excuse given, even as their dogs are growling at passersby. After all, if someone got bitten, they, not the owners, are the ones who's hurt, and no amount of compensation could make up for the permanent scars on their bodies.

But here's what I don't understand. Many people in Vietnam condemn dog theft, yet they themselves are not responsible pet owners. They never thought about how their decision to let their dogs roam unattended is one of the reasons why dog thieves thrive.

The law says unleashed and unmuzzled dogs result in a fine between VND600,000 and VND800,000 ($35) for their owners. A similar fine is also be applicable for those who don't vaccinate their pets against rabies. But in reality, we don't have enough resources to actually enforce these regulations, so violations occur daily.

I believe there should be mandatory pet registration numbers so authorities could better manage them. We can even have sudden raids to detect families that own pets without licenses, and trace hostile pets back to their owners quickly for penalties.

Raising pets is a personal right, but owners must be responsible for the sake of community safety. Pets have never been the problem; their owners are.
Many foreign tourists have started returning to Vietnam since the country fully reopened on March 15. Here are four expensive travel experiences in the country for the well-heeled.

Night of Love combo package for $27,000

Banyan Tree Lang Co in Phu Loc District in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue has launched a luxury combo package for couples.

For $27,000, you will stay for three days and two nights at a million-dollar villa nestling in a mountainside. There will be Thai-style afternoon tea at the Saffron restaurant, a cocktail party at the Love Night villa followed by dinner.

A dinner party at Banyan Tree Lang Co Resort. Photo courtesy of the resort

The package includes a diamond ring for the lady.

Built on Lang Co Bay, famous for its pristine beaches, majestic mountains and tropical forests, the resort has 72 villas.

From here, guests can visit Hue and its Imperial Citadel and Hoi An, both UNESCO heritage sites.

Last year the resort was named among the 30 best in Asia by British magazine Conde Nast Traveler.

A 7,000-dollar nights stay at 6-star resort

Bay View Villa at Amanoi Resort in the south-central Ninh Thuan Province overlooking Vinh Hy Bay offers stays of up to $7,000 a night, making it the most expensive resort in the country.

Bay View Villa at Amanoi Resort. Photo courtesy of Amanoi Resort

It has five bedrooms, a swimming pool, lots of greenery, and an idyllic ambience. It has a blend of contemporary and traditional Vietnamese architecture, and all rooms offer breathtaking views of Vinh Hy Bay and pristine beaches.

The price includes private transfer from Cam Ranh Airport, free non-alcoholic drinks from the minibar, private electric car, daily afternoon tea, wellness and yoga classes, and water sports.

Situated in the Nui Chua National Park, a UNESCO world biosphere reserve, Amanoi was Vietnam's first six-star resort and has a total of 36 villas.

Guests can also kayak and catamaran, dive to explore coral reefs in Vinh Hy Bay, discover Cham culture, and climb to the top of Chua Mountain at a height of 1,000 meters above sea level.

$3,000 Son Doong expedition tour

Before the Covid pandemic hit the country in early 2020, a four-day expedition to the Son Doong Cave in the central province of Quang Binh cost VND69.8 million ($3,000) with private tour operator Oxalis being the only one licensed to take tourists to Son Doong.

A tourist takes a boat across a river inside Son Doong Cave in Quang Binh Province, 2021. Photo by Ngo Tran Hai An

Only 1,000 people are allowed to visit the world's largest cave each year due to environmental concerns.

Provincial authorities only allow tours to the cave between January and August, and the cave is closed the other months to allow its ecosystem to recover.

On the expedition, tourists can explore the cave together with a specialist, traverse unique underground rainforests, wade through rivers both above and below ground, and scale the 90-meter "Great Wall of Vietnam" at the end of the cave with ropes and ladders.

The tour price also includes airport pick-up, two nights' stay at a hotel, three meals a day, and snacks.

Each tour party has a maximum of only 10 guests but 30 people are needed to serve them - 22 porters who carry their luggage and also food for the four-day trip, five safety assistants, an international guide, a cave expert, two chefs, and a ranger.

All 1,000 slots for 2022 are booked while around 100 people, mostly foreigners, have already booked for 2023.

Flying over Ha Long Bay

In 2019 the Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company launched a tour that allowed tourists to watch UNESCO heritage site Ha Long Bay from the air.

After being suspended for a long time due to Covid, the service is scheduled to resume this month.

A 10-minute tours costs around VND2.4 million (over $100) per person.

A helicopter flies over Ha Long Bay in northern Quang Ninh Province. Photo courtesy of Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company

People taking off from the Tuan Chau helipad can see Thien Cung Cave, Ti Top Island and other magnificent islets.

A 15-minute trip for VND3.6 million takes them over Thien Cung Cave, Trong Mai Islet, Sung Sot Cave, Ti Top Island, Bai Chay Bridge and Rieu Island.

A 30-minute jaunt, the most popular, costs VND7.35 million ($321).

UNESCO world heritage site Ha Long Bay, four hours east of Hanoi by road, is famous for limestone karst mountains rising out of emerald waters and was voted among the worlds seven new natural wonders by Swiss Organization New Open World in 2011.
Minh's cat is on Ly Son Island in the central province of Quang Ngai. Discovering that his cat is very brave and capable of going far, Minh came up with the idea of taking the animal from south to north on motorbike. Earlier this year, Minh and two of his friends began the trans-Viet journey of over 20 days.

Departing from HCMC, the group went to Binh Thuan, Dak Lak, then Dak Nong. However, when returning to Dak Nong in the Central Highlands, one of his two friends fell from his bike and could not continue the journey. Both his friends returned to HCMC.
Entrances leading into Mui Trau Tunnel are in Hoa Vang District's Hoa Bac Commune.

The management board for the Ho Chi Minh Road project, the main investor, handed over a 66 kilometer section of the La Son-Hoa Lien section to the Directorate for Roads in Vietnam for use. For now, there are no toll booths on the highway.
DENVER  SSR Mining Inc. announced publication of its ESG and Sustainability Report that outlines the companys environmental, social and governance practices and summarizes SSRs ESG performance in 2021 at its operations in Nevada, Canada, Turkey and Argentina.

SSR Minings fourth annual Sustainability Report continues to demonstrate our commitment to delivering sustainable value for all our shareholders, said Rod Antal, president and chief executive officer of the company. Safe, responsible and profitable mining activities are the tenets of our business, and we are constantly enhancing and progressing our sustainability practices and strategies as our company evolves.

One of the goals is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and SSR Mining is committed to establishes a plan for net zero greenhouse gas emission targets by 2025 and net zero emissions by 2050.

Our progression towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 remains top-of-mind, and we expect to establish a science-based action plan for achieving this goal in the coming years, Antal said.

Marigold Mine in Nevada is a heap leach operation, so there isnt a mill facility that would produce additional greenhouse gases, but the report estimates emissions of 165,410 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the operations at Valmy in 2021.

The Copler operations in Turkey had the highest emissions at 259,763 metric tons, while Puna in Argentina had 58,711 metric tons of emissions and Seabee in Canada, 19,644 metric tons, according to the report.

The report covers full implementation of environment, safety and health and social standards through compliance with the companys Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability Integrated Management System, SSR Mining said, as well as and continued commitment to transparency and accountability through inaugural public disclosure of Carbon Disclosure Project Climate and Water Security Scores.

SSR Mining also completed third-party closure reviews across all operating sites to ensure a positive post-mining future for global stakeholders, according to the April 14 announcement

The company additionally is developing a water stewardship strategy to reduce its environmental footprint.

Overall, we continue to move forward with our ESG initiatives as we seek to ensure a lasting positive legacy for our company and operations, Antal said.

The reports coverage of Marigold states that the mine provides support to the University of Nevada, Reno by way of production royalties and a $10,000 contribution in 2021. The mine also has provided 29 scholarships, including 14 to women, to dependents of mine employees and students from area communities.

Marigold also provides an annual Women in Mining scholarship through the Colorado School of Mines to support a female student in mining engineering, the report states.

In addition, the report says Marigold continues to maintain certification in cyanide management.

Leading the way for best practice in cyanide management in 2007, our Marigold Mine in Nevada became the worlds first gold mine to be certified under the International Cyanide Management Code, and the mine continues to maintain its certification, the report states.

The code is a voluntary initiative focused on the safe management of cyanide in gold and silver mining, and the production, transportation and use in the recovery of gold and silver. The codes requirements include financial assurance, accident prevention, emergency response, training, public reporting, stakeholder involvement and verification procedures.

Regarding Marigold, the report also states that SSR Mining engages in concurrent reclamation practices and provides bonds for all permitted features, as part of the State of Nevada permitting process.

As of December 31, 2021, Marigold, including the Trenton Canyon and Buffalo Valley properties, had reclamation requirements totaling approximately $42.7 million, the Sustainability Report says.

In the CEOs comments in the report, Antal said that as the COVID-19 pandemic nears a new phase, we remain committed to the communities and countries we operate in, including our focus on local hiring and procurement.

The report is available on the SSR Mining website.

In another matter, SSR Mining reported on April 14 that it has completed the plan of arrangement to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Taiga Gold Corp., which gives SSR Mining 100% interest in the Fisher property near the Seabee Mine in Saskatchewan.

Each Taiga Gold shareholder will receive cash consideration for each share, and the aggregate cost to SSR Mining is roughly $23.78 million in U.S. dollars.

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LUSAKA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Zambia has started the mass export of avocados to Europe with the first consignment of over 37 tons, a senior government official said Friday.

The commencement of export came after the southern African country met the phytosanitary requirements to export the fruit into Europe, said Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Green Mbozi.

The move marks the start of huge market opportunities for Zambia's avocado growers, Mbozi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.

The agricultural ministry is in the process of finalizing discussions with South African authorities to start exporting avocados to that country, said Kenneth Msiska, director of the Plant Quarantine and Phytosanitary Service. 
Vietnam always treasures and wishes to enhance its comprehensive strategic partnership with India, both bilaterally and multilaterally, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said on April 15.



The Party chief made the affirmation during his phone talks with Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (Indian People's Party).



Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (Photo: VNA)



Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his support for Indias role and contributions in the region and the world, and noted that the time-honoured friendship between Vietnam and India, their closeness in culture and history, and their common interests in many international matters, have created a foundation for the bilateral cooperation.



The leader also informed the Indian PM about Vietnams political-economic situation, socio-economic development targets and foreign policy set at the 13th National Party Congress.



PM Modi congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in national development as well as its increasing role and position in the international arena, stating that Vietnam is an important pillar in Indias foreign policy, especially its Act East Policy.



He briefed the Vietnamese Party leader on the situation in India, including economic recovery and supply chain building to meet domestic demand and join the global supply chain.



The two leaders noted with pleasure the strong and effective developments of the Vietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership and highlighted cooperation and mutual support in the COVID-19 fight.



They agreed to step up political trust and high-level meetings and collaboration through the Party, Government and National Assembly channels and people-to-people exchanges.



The two sides will also boost relations between the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and political parties in India, including the BJP, and assign competent agencies to further coordinate in the implementation of programmes and measures to strengthen bilateral ties in major spheres.



The strengths and potential for economic, trade and investment cooperation of each side should be fully tapped to facilitate their post-pandemic recovery, the leaders said, stressing the need to foster collaboration in national defence and security, tourism and culture, as well as coordination at regional and international multilateral forums.



They exchanged their stance on regional and international issues of shared concern.



For the East Sea, both emphasised the necessity of maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, development and observance of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), and respecting sovereignty and sovereign right of countries, and the freedom of navigation and aviation.



Regarding the situation in Ukraine, they agreed on the importance of observing international law, and not using or threatening to use force, and shared their wish that relevant sides will step up dialogues and negotiations to end the war and restore peace on the basis of respecting the legitimate rights of each other and in accordance with international law, while ensuring safety for civilians and addressing humanitarian issues.



The Vietnamese Party leader used the occasion to invite PM Modi to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time. The Indian PM accepted the invitation with pleasure./.




Photo for illustration (Source: laodong.vn)

The cost of living for a family of four in the country is estimated at be about US$1,693 each month, while a single persons estimated costs for a month are roughly US$639.

The cost of living level has put Vietnam in 138th position among the 197 most expensive countries in the world.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore has the highest cost of living with a family of four estimated to have monthly costs reaching approximately US$4,967, followed by Brunei, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

However, some countries which have lower cost of living than Vietnam, are Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Furthermore, the average monthly Vietnamese net salary after tax is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months.

Meanwhile, Singapores and Bruneis average monthly net salary after tax is sufficient to cover living expenses for 1.8 months, the highest in the region, followed by Malaysia at 1.4 months and Thailand at 0.8 months.

Laos and Cambodia have the lowest average monthly net salary after tax to cover living expenses for 0.4 months.

LivingCost ranks countries and cities worldwide on many aspects of life, including cost of living, quality of life, traffic, and housing.

Hanoi among most favoured destinations in Southeast Asia

Hanoi is one of the most popular travel destinations in Southeast Asia, a recent article on German travel website Travelbook.de said, highlighting six attractions tourists should explore when visiting Vietnams capital.

Hoan Kiem Lake (Photo: VNA)

At the top of the list is Van Mieu (the Temple of Literature), which was an educational centre for gifted young people from 1076 and is considered the countrys first university. Many visitors from Europe describe the special harmony that can be felt in the almost thousand-year-old site as a profound experience.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and One Pillar Pagoda are also attractive destinations worth visiting; the Vietnam News Agency quoted the information of the website.

Taking a cyclo through the Old Quarter is a must-do in Hanoi, the article said, and gives a good impression of life in the city. And taking in a performance of water puppetry is also highly recommended.

Travelbook also suggested that visitors try pho (beef noodle soup) at least once while in Hanoi if they havent already done so elsewhere in Vietnam.

Tuna export maintains high growth in Q1

Tuna export has maintained a high growth rate in the first months of 2022 despite strong fluctuations in the world market over the past more than one year, partly thanks to free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed.

Customs statistics showed tuna export value leaped 108 percent year-on-year in January to 88 million USD. The rate slowed down in February but still at a high 57 percent and a value of 67 million USD, almost double the figure in February 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic had not started.

Photo for illustration (Source: vasep.com.vn)

The growth in March remained stable, pushing the export earnings for the first quarter to over 230 million USD, up 53 percent on a yearly basis, said the Vietnam News Agency.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producer (VASEP) the good growth of tuna export to the industrys success in utilizing tax advantages in European and Asia-Pacific markets created by free trade agreements to which Vietnam is a member, such as the Vietnam-EU FTA (EVFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

This can be seen in the strong increases in exports to EU and CPTPP markets, such as Belgium (163 percent), the Netherlands (114 percent), Chile (99 percent) and Canada (52 percent. The Netherlands has risen from the fourth place to the top position among European importers of Vietnamese tuna.

The growing trend is expected to continue for tuna export to Europe thanks to strong economic recovery that stimulates demand. Besides, tax preferential treatments under the EVFTA also create an impetus for the export.

Besides foreign markets, tuna producers are also looking to tap into the domestic market, where demand for tuna products is rising. Domestic sales will help the tuna sector reduce its dependence on foreign markets, thus better adapting to socio-economic fluctuations.

Vietnam begins to issue vaccine passports on April 15

The Health Ministry begins to issue vaccine passports on April 15 in line with schedule.

Vietnams vaccine passport follows standards issued by WHO and the EU which are being applied by 62 nations, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Photo for illustration (Source: MoH)

The passport will be available on PC Covid-19 or Digital Health (So suc khoe dien tu) apps. If people dont have the apps, they can get their passports by accessing the health ministry's portal and filling in necessary information. They will then receive the passports by email.

The passport template was revealed by the Health Ministry in December last year, which has 11 fields of information: name, date of birth, nationality, targeted disease, doses of vaccines received, date of vaccination, lot number of the vaccine batch, type of vaccine, vaccine product received, the vaccine manufacturer, and a code for the certification.

The name and date of birth will be integrated with other personal identification documents (passports or citizen identification cards).

The information is encoded into a QR code, which will expire after 12 months. Following their expiry, people will be notified and a new QR code will be created instead.

So far Vietnam has reached mutual recognition of vaccine passport with 19 countries, namely Japan, the US, the UK, Australia, India, Belarus, Cambodia, the Philippines, Palestine, Maldives, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Turkey, Singapore, Saint Lucia, the Republic of Korea, Iran and Malaysia.

As of April 14, Vietnam had administered nearly 209 million vaccine doses, with nearly 100 percent of people over 18 having received full two shots and over 51 percent having received a booster shot. In the group age from 12 to under 18, 99.9 percent have got one shot and 95.3 percent full two shots.

Vaccination for children from 5 to under 12 started on April 14, and the children will also be granted vaccine passports like people in other age groups.

Vietnams rice export turnover up 10.5 percent in Q1

Vietnam exported 1.14 million tonnes of rice worth 715 million USD in the first quarter of 2022, up 24 percent in volume and 10.5 percent in value year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

According to the Vietnam News Agency, the traditional markets of the Vietnamese food crop such as the Philippines, Malaysia and China still recorded stable growth in the period.

Photo for illustration (Source: baodautu.vn)

According to the ministry, the food demand in the world is forecast to continue increasing, with many signals showing that businesses can make good use of opportunities from the markets as well as free trade agreements (FTA) to help boost Vietnam's export.

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) reported that the export price of Vietnamese rice on April 13 was the top among the large major rice exporting countries.

In the last quarter, Vietnamese businesses mainly delivered rice to the Philippines under contracts signed last year, but many signs show that the demand is positive.

Since the European Union  Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect, the export price of Vietnamese rice to the EU has increased by 10 - 20 USD/tonne. According to the EU statistical office Eurostat, among the supplies for the bloc, rice from Vietnam saw the highest price with an increase of more than 20 percent.

Vietnamese rice exporters are advised to pay attention to improving the quality of rice in order to maintain a competitive advantage in thi EU market.

Rice market analyst Nguyen Dinh Bich said that the price of rice increased due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine tension. In the world market, prices of agricultural products such as corn, wheat, and soybean have also increased sharply.

The VFA forecast that the rice export in the second quarter will be more stable as importing countries are stepping up their purchases, and more countries are interested in food stockpiling due to political tensions in a number countries./.
At the reception (Photo: HNMO)

During the meeting, Cuban Ambassador Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillen said that since his assignment in July 2021, he has had meetings with Vietnamese Party and State leaders, thereby realizing the need to take more responsibility in promoting the special friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba, and making an effort to disseminate the precious sentiments of more than 60 years laid by President Ho Chi Minh and the leader Fidel Castro.

The Ambassador appreciated the solidarity and support of the Party, State and people of Vietnam for Cuba during the complicated COVID-19 pandemic, especially Hanois support of 2,000 tons of rice with the desire to partly share the current difficulties of Cuba.

Secretary of the City Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung emphasized that Vietnam attaches great importance to the close and trusting friendship with Cuba, which was founded by President Ho Chi Minh and leader Fidel Castro, and continued by generations of leaders. The people of the two countries have constantly nurtured and supported them for more than 60 years.

The year 2020 marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, a new historical milestone in the relationship between the two Parties, the two States and the people of Vietnam - Cuba. State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's official visit to Cuba in September 2021 demonstrated the spirit of Vietnam that truly values and is determined to further deepen the tradition of brotherly and comprehensive cooperation and the mutual trust of the Party, State and people of the two countries, as well as reaffirming Vietnam's solidarity and consistent support for Cuba's just revolutionary cause.

Over the past time, despite many difficulties, the Party, State and people of Cuba have always closely cooperated and promoted solidarity, supporting the Vietnamese Party, State and people in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to consolidating and developing the special friendship between the two Parties and two countries.

Reviewing the development of Hanoi in recent years, Secretary Dung said that Hanoi and the whole country have transitioned to a state of safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic, gradually restoring production, business and economic development, focusing on solving difficulties for businesses.

In the coming time, Hanoi always wishes to promote friendship and cooperation with Havana and Cuban localities in the spirit of promoting and deepening the results of cooperation achieved and expanding new areas of cooperation such as education, training, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, culture, tourism, agriculture, textiles, leather and footwear, and strengthening external activities and people-to-people exchanges.

Wishing Ambassador Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillen a successful working term, Secretary Dung believed that the Ambassador will be an important bridge in promoting relations between Vietnam and Cuba, as well as between the two capitals of Hanoi and La Havana./.
Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei hold phone talks on April 15. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)



The two ministers said that Vietnam and Belarus have a good traditional friendship. They appreciated the cooperation of the two countries in the COVID-19 prevention and combat with specific support activities over the past time and agreed that both nations will jointly carry out practical activities to mark the 30th anniversary of their relations.



The ministers also exchanged views on international and regional issues.



Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed Vietnam's consistent stance of settling international disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respecting the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law as well as independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of nations.



They called on the parties to ensure security and safety for civilians and protect essential infrastructure, support humanitarian assistance activities of the UN and international partners to people affected by the conflict.



Vietnam is willing to contribute to humanitarian relief activities, diplomatic processes, dialogues as well as reconstruction and recovery process in Ukraine, he said./.
Vietnamese and Australian representatives press the button to announce the second phase of the project. (Photo: PANO)

Over the past four years, Aus4Skills has promoted linking logistics businesses with vocational education in Vietnam; and helped ensure that the skills of graduates meet the requirements of employers in the logistics industry. Since 2017, more than 5,300 students from several vocational institutions have benefited from the Aus4Skills program through improved teaching. Their admission rates to logistics-related courses have increased eightfold, and their graduates are highly sought after by employers because they can work immediately.

The project, worth approximately VND246 billion, started in 2021 and will successfully expand the above-mentioned model of cohesion for more than 4 years (2021-2025). It is designed to help Vietnam upskill its workforce, an essential element for Vietnam to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income country by 2045. This support activity focuses on logistics, an industry prioritized for development by Vietnam. By 2025, this industry is expected to contribute from 8% - 10% of the total national income. This is also an industry in which Australia has a lot of experience.

The activities of the project will create professional development opportunities for teachers, managers, and leaders of vocational education and training to build a framework to ensure the quality of training and programs in accordance with the needs of businesses, with the support and close connection of the businesses. In addition, the project will also continue to create opportunities for women and people with disabilities to access vocational education and jobs in the logistics industry, because this industry is considered a male-dominated profession, although women have sufficient skills and capacities.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Le Tan Dung, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that in Vietnam, the logistics industry is considered an important service industry of the national economy because it serves connection and economic development. A skilled workforce will be key to the growth of the logistics industry.

Ms. Robyn Mudie, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, shared that Australia remains committed to supporting Vietnam in its next stage of development, including strengthening the skills of its workforce. A skilled workforce will help ensure that Vietnam's industries remain competitive./.
A COVID-19 vaccination site in Putrajaya, Malaysia. (Photo: VNA/AFP)



The planning of a second booster shot is one of such efforts, especially as the Hari Raya Festival - Islam's biggest festival  approaches, he said.



The ProtectHealths CEO advises high-risk individuals to protect themselves against the coronavirus by obtaining their second booster dose.



Malaysias Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced on April 14 that those above 60 with comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic lung disease, chronic renal disease, underlying dialysis or chronic liver disease; as well as individuals at home care centres for a long-term who are more susceptible to severe COVID-19 infection can now obtain a second booster dose after four to six months obtaining the first booster shot.



The vaccine that will be used for the second booster dose is the Pfizer-BioNTech (mRNA Comirnaty).



Anas said that the elderly who are healthy and above 60 years old without comorbidities could only opt for the second booster dose on the advice of a medical professional.



Adolescents aged 12 years old who are moderately or severely immunocompromised such as cancer patients, long-term haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis may get their booster dose at least 28 days after completing their second basic jab, he said.



Malaysia recorded 10,413 new COVID-19 cases on April 14, raising the total caseload in the country to 4,363,024.



According to the Ministry of Health of Malaysia, as of April 14, 84.5 percent of the country's population have been vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with 79.9 percent receiving two basic doses and 48.9 percent obtaining the first booster shot./.


Ukraine's international reserves currently stand at $27.4 billion, representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said at a meeting with the European Business Association (EBA) and the American Chamber of Commerce on April 15.

"Ukraine's foreign exchange reserves currently amount to $27.4 billion thanks to the support of international partners  the IMF, the EU (which provided the first tranche of EUR 600 million), the EBRD, etc. The total amount of aid received from international partners is $3.8 billion," the EBA said in a press release following the meeting.

Earlier, the NBU reported that Ukraine's international reserves as of April 1, 2022 amounted to $28.1 billion, which is 2% more than at the beginning of March ($27.5 billion).

Representatives of the National Bank at the meeting also said that in general, since the beginning of the war, the volume of net sales of foreign currency by the NBU amounted to $2 billion, and recently there has been a tendency for currency supply to prevail over demand for it.

As one of the meeting participants told Interfax-Ukraine, Deputy Head of the National Bank Yuriy Heletii said that the supply of foreign currency in April began to exceed the demand for it in the noncash market from legal entities. According to him, the growth was caused by the gradual resumption of the work of enterprises of the mining and metallurgical complex, companies from the IT services sector.

Representatives of the National Bank also said that they do not yet see the need to introduce a mandatory sale of foreign currency.

Speaking about possible future steps to remove currency restrictions, the regulator admitted the possibility of certain mitigations in areas related to trade finance: settlements on export-import guarantees, letters of credit, while the return of other foreign loans will remain prohibited.
The Italian Embassy in Kyiv will resume its work on Monday, Italian Ambassador Francesco Zazo returned to the capital on Friday, according to Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.

"Ambassador Zazo has just arrived in Kyiv and reopened the embassy, which will be fully operational from Monday. This is a symbol of Italy, which wastes no time, never stops believing in diplomacy and insists on peace. Heartfelt thanks on behalf of the Italian government!" the minister said on Twitter on Friday.

As reported, the embassy moved to Lviv on March 10.
Since the beginning of the full-fledged Russian invasion of Ukraine, 200 children have been killed and 360 wounded, according to the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office (PGO).

"Since February 24, 2022, some 560 children have suffered in Ukraine as a result of full-scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation. According to official data from juvenile prosecutors, 200 children were killed and more than 360 injured. Children suffered the most in Donetsk region - 117, Kyiv region - 105, Kharkiv region - 88, Chernihiv region - 54, Kherson region - 41, Mykolaiv region - 40, Luhansk region - 36, Zaporizhia region - 23, the capital - 16, Sumy region - 16, and Zhytomyr region - 15," a message published on the PGOs Telegram channel on Saturday reads.
CANBERRA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-13 mission has been a success, said an Australian scholar in astrophysics.

Dr. Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University (ANU), told Xinhua that the task was "important to move forward with a long-term space station and full operation."

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on Saturday. Tucker noted that the Shenzhou-13 mission had the big task of getting the Tianhe module and the Tiangong Space Station ready, with spacewalks and even video lessons to school kids on Earth.

The astronauts were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship and entered Tianhe on Oct. 16, 2021. They had lived and worked in the space station complex for 183 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts on a single mission, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

They have completed multiple tasks over the past few months, including two extravehicular activities, two live science lectures, and a number of sci-tech experiments and application projects. They also used manual teleoperation equipment for the first time, operating the cargo craft and the space station for rendezvous and docking.

"It was great that it went relatively smooth and definitely a success," said Tucker.

"Six months has now become the normal length for a mission on the International Space Station and so this mission is on par with the Russians and Americans," he added.

According to him, over the next few missions, finalizing the full operation of Tiangong is critical. This will allow for years of science and operation."

In a previous interview, Tucker has said that as the International Space Station started to show its age, it would be important that Tiangong is operating and can perform science into the future.

Talking about his expectation for China's development in aerospace, he said it was the Moon.

"CMSA is well on the way to those goals, and this mission has shown they are capable of long-term space flight, which makes Earth's future goals and plans for the Moon and beyond exciting," Tucker said. 
The town of Severodonetsk in Luhansk region has been destroyed by almost 70% as a result of shelling by the Russian occupiers, head of Severodonetsk Town Military and Civil Administration Oleksandr Striuk said.

"Currently, the city is almost 70 percent destroyed. New neighborhoods will require complete reconstruction because they are uninhabitable," he said on the air of the national #UArazom telethon.

According to him, so far it is impossible to count exactly how many houses were destroyed, because "the city is so dense under fire that the only thing that is possible is to distribute some humanitarian aid, and the State Emergency Service - to take people out for evacuation". At the same time, the head of the State Administration of Ukraine said that at the moment there are still about 20,000 people in Severodonetsk out of the estimated 135,000 inhabitants of the city as a whole.

Striuk also noted that shelling occurs chaotically and almost all districts of Severodonetsk are hit. "Residential buildings, social facilities and critical infrastructure are also being razed to the ground. Unfortunately, yes, the city is being destroyed," he explained.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia has lost Ukraine forever and has lost its chance to restore ties with any region of the country.

"In the occupied districts of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, the Russian military continue to terrorize civilian residents of our country. They are looking for anyone who has ever been associated with the Ukrainian army or government agencies, "Zelensky said in his video address on Friday night.

"The occupiers think that this will somehow make it easier for them to control the territory. But they are wrong. They deceive themselves. The problem of the occupiers is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russia's problem is that the entire Ukrainian people does not accept it and will never accept it again," he also said.

"Russia lost Ukraine forever. Actually, it lost the whole world. It will not be accepted anywhere anymore," Zelensky said.

"And the cruelty with which Russian troops are trying to conquer the Azov, Donbas, Kharkiv regions, only takes away even the slightest chance of these territories and these people to have any ties with this state at least sometime in the future. Maybe somewhere in Russia cruelty is respected. But in Ukraine cruelty is despised. And punished. And it is obligatory, " the president said.
AFU chief of staff discusses security in Ukraine with US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny discussed with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, the security of Ukraine, as well as the difficult situation in the eastern regions of the country.

"I have conducted a telephone conversation with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley. We have discussed the difficult security situation, particularly conducting heavy battles on the Kharkiv-Izium edge, the deterring of the Russian attack in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the critical situation around Mariupol, and rocket shelling all over Ukraine, " Zaluzhny said on Facebook Saturday night.

What is more, he "reiterated the urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in armaments and ammunition to strengthen our defense capabilities."

Also, Zaluzhny "thanked General Milley for his understanding and expressed my hope that with the partners assistance, we [Ukraine] will be able to protect ourselves and the entire civilized world from Russian aggression."
German Federal Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissing states that the flow of refugees from Ukraine has significantly decreased and stressed that the German state does not intend to impose any restrictions on the reception of Ukrainian refugees.

"The number of refugees traveling to Germany by train has dropped considerably from its peak at the beginning of the war, from about 8,200 to the present about 2,500 people a day. However, we are maintaining logistical and transport structures because we cannot predict the course of the war and could face an increase in the number of refugees at any moment. We must expect further escalation and be prepared. Those in need in Ukraine should be able to find asylum in Germany," Wissing told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

When asked if there was an upper limit to the admission of refugees from Ukraine, the minister replied: "This question does not arise. Germany cannot and will not reject refugees from Ukraine.

He also noted that Germany is working to accept Ukrainian refugees previously housed in EU neighboring countries, and is also working to ensure that other EU countries are involved, recalling that a number of cities in Poland have reached the capacity limit for accommodating Ukrainians.

"We quickly became convinced that people traveling from Ukraine could be transported from Poland to Germany. There are distribution centers in Hanover, Cottbus and Berlin.... If there is a threat of overload in neighboring Ukrainian countries, we should campaign again for their distribution throughout the EU. I am in constant contact with my European colleagues," Wissing said.

When asked about his attitude toward the energy embargo against Russia, the minister noted that Germany "very quickly launched a comprehensive package of sanctions with its European partner countries and the United States, but the impact on our society must also be considered when deciding on sanctions." "Nothing would be more helpful to Mr. Putin than for us to take actions that would lead to a quarrel and ultimately divide our society," he stressed.

"Germany is very aware of its role and acts responsibly. We avoid acting alone and act in close coordination with our European partners," Wissing concluded.
About 700 Ukrainian servicemen are in Russian captivity, about 700 Russian servicemen are also in Ukrainian captivity, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereschuk has said.

"Regarding the military, we have, in principle, approximate parity: we have more than 700 of their prisoners, and they have approximately the same number," Vereschuk said during the national telethon on Saturday morning.

At the same time, the situation, according to her, is complicated by the fact that the Russian military is also taking hostages civilians in the occupied territories.

"Unfortunately, there are a lot of our civilians [in captivity]. They seized more than 1,000 people and, unfortunately, about 500 of them are women. And we, obviously, will repeat again and again... we will not exchanging soldiers for civilians, it is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. We will not violate international humanitarian law, and therefore we demand the release of civilians without any conditions and transfer to the Ukrainian side," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

When asked if the Russians comply with the Geneva Convention in relation to Ukrainian prisoners of war, Vereschuk said: "Of course not, there's not even anything to talk about. It's not even about the Geneva Convention  you just have to survive there."

At the same time, she expressed confidence that the prisoners would be released, the Ukrainian side is making every effort for this. "We submit lists all the time. Another thing is that the enemy side does not agree on everyone, but gives only partially and only those whom they consider it necessary to give. This is a constant, permanent struggle for people, but we will not abandon them... We need to wait a bit. You know, what kind of enemy we are dealing with," Vereschuk said.
German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann notes that under international law, the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine would not mean entering a war against Russia, European Pravda reported on Saturday, citing Suddeutsche Zeitung.

According to him, Ukraine is waging an authorized war against Russia. "If they exercise their legitimate right to self-defense, supporting them by supplying weapons cannot lead to becoming a party to the war," Buschmann said.

At the same time, the minister noted that this is not only his personal point of view, but also that of the German federal government.

Regarding U.S. President Joseph Biden's accusation of genocide against Ukrainians, the minister said: "There is no doubt that heinous and horrible crimes are being committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine." For genocide to be legally proven, he said, there must be an intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, racial, religious or ethnic group as such, and he could not yet say whether there was such evidence.

"But I think President Biden wanted to send a clear political message, not a legal solution in a technical sense," Buschmann said.
One person died and several were injured in a missle attack on the Darnytsky district of Kyiv on Saturday morning, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.

"There were explosions in the Darnytsky district. One dead, several people are now hospitalized, doctors are fighting for their lives," Klitschko said during the telethon on Saturday.

He also said that he could not forbid residents of Kyiv, who had left their homes since the beginning of the war, to return, but recommended that this should not be done for the time being. "The city of Kyiv was and remains the target of the aggressor, and we do not rule out that further shelling of the Ukrainian capital will continue," the mayor said.

He also said that the green zones surrounding Kyiv, especially from the north, are mined by the occupiers, there are "a lot of unexploded missiles, shells, and detonations causing deaths of people. There are already such cases And therefore I want to emphasize again: please... visiting green areas and parks located on the border of the city of Kyiv is prohibited This is dangerous," Klitschko added.
Four cruise missiles fired at Lviv region from Russian aircraft taking off from an airfield in Belarus were destroyed on Saturday morning, according to the Facebook page of the Air Command West of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

"In the morning, April 16, Su-35 aircraft of the Russian invaders carried out missile strikes on Lviv region. Anti-aircraft missile forces of the West Air Command destroyed four cruise missiles. The invaders' fighters took off from the Baranovichi airfield. ''Thank you'' to Belarus for assistance in delivering deadly gifts from Russians," the Air Command West said.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces the resumption of work of the Italian Embassy in Ukraine.

"The Italian tricolore is back to Kyiv where Amb. Zazo and his team reopened the Italian Embassy," the ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.

"Italy stands by Ukrainian institutions and reaffirms the commitment to assist Italian nationals, promote dialogue and support solutions towards peace and the end of hostilities," the ministry said.
The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has extended the cancellation of all flights to and from Ukraine for another month  until July 2022 and has sharply reduced the number of destinations, the relevant information is contained in the airline's booking system.

According to it, instead of 53 routes from Kyiv, 12 remained, and instead of 33 from Lviv  six.

In addition, the frequency of flights on the routes left in the booking system has also been reduced. In particular, flights are planned from Kyiv in July twice a week to Milan, Rome, Larnaca, London, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Gdansk, three times to Katowice and Budapest, four times a week to Krakow and five to Vilnius. From the end of October, a flight to Abu Dhabi is scheduled twice a week.

Flights from Lviv have been retained twice a week to Milan, Rome, London, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Gdansk.

As reported, initially with the start of the full-scale war by Russia against Ukraine on February 24, Wizz Air canceled flights until March 26 inclusive, and early March extended the cancellation until June.

Ticket holders before this date received an offer from the company to exchange them for flights with a later date, return the money or put them on an annual deposit for the purchase of tickets in the future with a 20% surcharge.
Investigators of the SBU in Kharkiv region, under the procedural leadership of the regional prosecutor's office, have launched a pretrial investigation of a missile attack inflicted by the Russian Armed Forces on Kharkiv on Saturday, as a result of which civilians were killed and wounded.

"According to the investigation, on April 16, 2022, at about 11:45, Russian servicemen, using a Kalibr long-range cruise missile, fired at Slobidsky and Osnovyansky districts of Kharkiv. As a result of the shelling, two civilians were killed, some 18 more were wounded. Houses, cars, a market and shops were destroyed," the press service of Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office said.

Criminal proceedings were opened under part 2 of Article 438 (violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
A peace treaty with Russia could consist of two separate documents, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes.

"A peace treaty with Russia may consist of two documents. One of them should deal with security guarantees for Ukraine, the other directly with its relations with Russia," he said in an interview with Ukrainian online media on Saturday, according to the Ukrainian Truth publication.

"I think it could be two different documents. Security guarantees from those who are ready for these security guarantees. And a separate document with Russia," Zelensky said.

"Moscow would like to have one treaty that would contain the solution of all issues. However, everyone does not quite see themselves at the table with Russia. For them, security guarantees for Ukraine are one issue, while agreements with Russia are another issue. Russia wants everything to be in one document, but people say: sorry, they saw what happened in Bucha, circumstances are changing," the president said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and Turkey demonstrate their readiness to become guarantors of Ukraine's security, but there is still no final answer from anyone

"Today, those who demonstrate that they are ready, we do not have any signatories yet, but there is a demonstration, from [Boris] Johnson, from Great Britain, from the United States, from Italy, from Turkey. I think it will be separate from the European Union," he said in an interview with the Ukrainian online media on Saturday.

"I spoke separately with Ursula [President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen], separately with Charles Michel [Head of the European Council Charles Michel], France, Germany. We will do the first circle of conversation in this format for five (Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Poland). Then other countries will join," Zelensky said.

According to the publication, Zelensky believes that Ukraine will not have a problem with weapons or sanctions against the aggressor country, but there will be issues with the military component.
Russian troops thwarted the evacuation from Lysychansk, Luhansk region, by opening fire during the "ceasefire," Head of Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Haidai has said.

"During the 'ceasefire,' the Russian army opened fire on the center of Lysychansk. Surely, the locals decided to stay in the basements at that time. The evacuation was actually thwarted because only one person was able to be taken out," Haidai said on his Telegram channel on Saturday.

At the same time, some 42 residents of Severodonetsk, some 11 people from Rubizhne and 14 from Kreminna, were evacuated. Six more people were taken out of Popasna.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called on the leaders of the partner states to provide more powerful support for Ukraine, as well as to introduce the "severe consequences" promised by world leaders for Russia for its actions.

"Both my brother Volodymyr and I continue to communicate with foreign media. There are a lot of requests. And we give several interviews and live broadcasts every day. We use every opportunity to convey to the world the truth about what is happening today in Ukraine, how Russia is destroying our state and killing peaceful Ukrainians. We are attracting the necessary help and support," the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said on CNN, the video of which was published on his Facebook page.

Klitschko reminded world leaders of their promises regarding Russia's responsibility for its actions in Ukraine.

"The war with Russia is a battle between good and evil. How long will the world watch? On the eve of a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, world leaders promised 'severe consequences' for Russia's actions. After the genocide that the Russian orcs perpetrated in Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Borodianka and which they continue in the temporarily occupied territories, after the literal destruction of many Ukrainian cities and towns, 'serious consequences' should already come," Klitschko said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Ukraine should decide how it wants to see the occupied territories.

"I have a lot of questions about Donbas. The question is what we want from this, what the people want. There are people who hate us, and there are people, citizens of Ukraine, who want us to be there," he said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists on Saturday.

"For eight years, Russia does not consider it ours, does not consider Crimea ours. We have different positions on the occupied territories. And to find a model that will not give an answer on what to do today, but will give when the hostilities and the war are over, then it will be possible to think about diplomacy," he said.

According to Zelensky, "they [Russia] want to resolve the issue through diplomacy while the war is going on. It is complicated. They want to take our territory, occupy more so that there is pressure. Then it is not about diplomacy."
Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defence Project , Open Policy Foundation

Informational Defence of Ukraine provides a daily review of the military-political situation in Ukraine as of April 15th, based on an analysis of open sources.

1. The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions and continue counterattacks.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, russia continues to launch missile strikes on the civil and industrial infrastructure of Ukraine and is trying to launch attacks in some areas.

Air strikes on Mariupol continue. The partial blockade of Kharkiv continues. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy tried to storm Marinka, but was unsuccessful.

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 15.04 were approximately: combatants - about 20,000 people, tanks - 756 units, armoured combat vehicles - 1976 units, artillery systems - 366 units, MLRS - 122 units, air defence - 66 units, aircraft - 163 units, helicopters - 144 units, vehicles - 1443 units, ships / boats - 8 units, fuel tanks - 76, UAVs operational and tactical level - 135, special equipment - 25, TBM / BRBM (tactical ballistic missile / battlefield range ballistic missile) launchers - 4.

The commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, Major Serhii Volyna, calls on the authorities to unblock Mariupol as soon as possible, either militarily or politically.

russia has officially acknowledged that the cruiser "Moscow" sank after a long fire on board while being towed to Sevastopol. This was reported by the russian state media RIA Novosti with reference to the Ministry of Defence of the russian federation.

2. Information summaries and assessments of foreign and Ukrainian intelligence.

The US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns warns against taking tactical nuclear weapons lightly (source - CNN).

Burns added that Putin was losing supporters in his circle, and that he was becoming increasingly suspicious and tightening his grip on power.

According to the Pentagon, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities are threatened by rocket fire from russia. The Pentagon spokesman stressed that even when russia began to withdraw its troops from the Ukrainian capital, from Chernihiv, from northern Ukraine, the United States did not believe that Kyiv had escaped danger, especially from the air.

According to sources in Ukrainian intelligence, russia may try to attack large Ukrainian cities from the air amid the failure of its "special operation" to seize Ukraine. The biggest threat of missile attacks is a period until April 18th.

The Defence Ministry of russia has said that it plans to launch missile strikes "on targets" in Kyiv.

According to UK intelligence on Twitter, the cruiser "Moscow", which sank after being hit by Ukrainian missiles, played a key role as both the command ship and as the air defence unit for the russian occupiers.

On March 24th, after the invasion of Ukraine, two key naval facilities were destroyed, the first of which was the russian landing ship "Saratov". Both events are likely to force russia to reconsider its maritime position in the Black Sea.

4. The russian occupiers are violating international humanitarian law and committing mass genocide of Ukrainians.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is convinced that the chances of holding peace negotiations with russia after the horrific crimes of the russian occupiers in Mariupol and the settlements of Kyiv region are decreasing.

Police have already found more than 900 bodies of civilians in the settlements of the Kyiv region which were liberated from the russian occupiers, most of them with gunshot wounds. Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk said that the bodies of almost 85% of the dead have bullet holes.

On Thursday U.S. Senators Steve Danes and Victoria Sparts visited Kyiv and its suburbs, which have been occupied by russian troops, becoming the first U.S. officials to arrive since the start of the war.

The senators also visited Bucha and observed the exhumation of the mass grave. Steve Danes called what he saw as indisputable evidence of war crimes.

The russian aggressors kill Ukrainian children. More than 553 children were injured in Ukraine as a result of the armed aggression of the russian federation, with 198 children killed and more than 355 wounded.

According to the data received by juvenile prosecutors, the most affected children were in the Donetsk - 117, Kyiv - 105, Kharkiv - 81, Chernihiv - 54, Mykolaiiv - 40, Kherson - 38, Luhansk - 36, Zaporizhzhia  23, Sumy - 16, Zhytomyr  15 regions and in Kyiv City  16.

During the recording of crimes committed in Trostianets, the Sumy region, it was established that a 14-year-old boy died because of shelling by the russian military on March 21st.

On April 14th, due to shelling in Oleksandrivka in the Kharkiv region, two children aged 9 and 11 were injured.

The russian invaders are launching missile and bomb strikes on civilians, towns and villages. Regional leaders report explosions in the Kyiv and Kherson regions, and shelling in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions.

Today, the russian occupiers have shelled one of the residential areas of Kharkiv, killing 7 people, including a 7-month-old child, and injured 34.

Twenty-four russian troops fired on houses and infrastructure in the Luhansk region on April 14th, killing two and wounding two others. On April 15th, shelling has continued, there are victims from the shelling.

On April 14th, 3 more civilians were killed and seven were injured in russian shelling and air strikes in the Donetsk region.

As a result of attacks on Mykolaiiv, 5 people were lost and 15 were wounded. One of those who were killed raised an unexploded ordnance from the ground.

Seven people were killed in a russian military shelling of civilian buses near the village of Borova in the Izium district on April 14th, and another 27 civilians were injured.

More than 76,700 information requests about the destruction and damage of Ukrainian property were received through the Diia. The total area of losses is more than 5.3 million square meters.

The russian occupiers destroyed 95% of buildings in Mariupol, and many residents were deported to russia.

russian invaders destroyed 77% of the territory of the village of Horenka in the Kyiv region. A map of the UN Satellite Center evidences this.

5. The evacuation of civilians continues under the attacks from the russian aggressors.

On Friday, April 15th, 9 humanitarian corridors in the South and East of Ukraine were confirmed.

It will be possible to travel from Mariupol, Berdiansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar to Zaporizhzhia by own transport. Due to weather conditions, evacuation buses are not yet able to travel on the route between Zaporizhzhia and Vasylivka as the road is presently impassable.

Also, due to the cessation of shelling by the occupying forces, evacuation routes have operated today in the Luhansk region: from Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, the village of Hirske, Rubizhne to Bakhmut.

On April 15th, 2,494 people (including 363 people from Mariupol and 2,131 people from Polohy, Vasylivka, Berdiansk and Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region) travelled to Zaporizhzhia via humanitarian corridors from Mariupol and Berdiansk.

Also, despite constant shelling, 370 people were evacuated from Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kreminna, Popasna and the village of Hirske in the Luhansk region.

2,864 people were evacuated from the fighting zone on April 15th.

6. Political and socio-economic situation in Ukraine, losses due to the russian aggression.

Society demonstrates solidarity, patriotism, and faith in victory. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has banned symbols used by the russian armed forces in the war against Ukraine.

russia is recognised as a terrorist state, one of the goals of its political regime is the genocide of the Ukrainian people, physical destruction, mass murder of Ukrainian citizens, international crimes against civilians, use of prohibited methods of war, destruction of civilian objects and critical infrastructure, artificial creation of a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine or its separate regions.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on Friday, more than five million people have left Ukraine since the russian invasion began on February 24th.

Ukraine's economy is suffering from war, the largest Ukrainian companies are sustaining losses due to the russian aggression. A president of Enerhoatom Petro Kotin said that the direct and indirect losses of the company because of russia's full-scale war reached 35 billion UAH.

Two giants of the machine-building industry will move to the Lviv region. It is an enterprise engaged in wind turbines and electricity supply, as well being engaged in fire, specialised and agricultural machinery.

The Ukrainian economy, despite the negative effects of hostilities, is showing signs of recovery. The National Bank has allowed banks to sell cash in foreign currency to the public since April 14th. This was reported by the press service of the National Bank of Ukraine.

The regulator notes that the resumption of cash sales by banks will help reduce the functioning of illegal exchangers and, consequently, reduce risks for citizens.

More than 80% of Ukrainian window factories have resumed production, up to 10% of production facilities are located in the territories occupied by russian troops, and a number of others are in the zone of active hostilities.

The bus operator FlixBus is resuming routes to Kyiv and a number of other Ukrainian cities, flights to which were suspended with the start of the war. In particular, these are given as Zhytomyr, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Uman, Khmelnytskyi, and Ternopil.

The number of apartment seekers for rent in Kyiv is 40% of the pre-war figure. This is reported on the page of the apartment rental application Bird.

Deputies of the Kyiv City Council supported the decision to exempt tenants of communal property from rent.

Ukraine is rebuilding infrastructure in the occupied territories. Ukrposhta reported that as of April 15th, there are almost 6,000 branches across the country, the leader in the number of open branches is the Kyiv region (465 branches).

On April 16th, Ukrzaliznytsia will restore the railway connection with the unblocked Chernihiv and a number of settlements in the region.

By the end of May, Ukrenergo plans to restore the entire electricity infrastructure in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Since the occupiers left these regions, 60% of the infrastructure has been repaired and put into operation.

7. International support and assistance to Ukraine.

Military assistance to Ukraine. According to a senior US Defense Department official, the first flight with new aid to Ukraine from the United States worth $800 million should arrive in the region in the next 24 hours.

The administration of US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a new aid package, which included 11 Mi-17 helicopters originally intended for Afghanistan, 18,155-mm Howitzer guns and another 300 Switchblade drones, as well as radar systems capable of tracking approaching fire and accurately defining targets.

This package differs from previous aid in that it includes more sophisticated and more powerful weapons than previous deliveries.

russia sent an official diplomatic note to the United States this week warning that US and NATO supplies of "most sensitive" weapons systems to Ukraine "add fuel to the fire" of the conflict and could lead to "unpredictable consequences."

The total amount of US military assistance provided to Ukraine after the February 24th invasion was $3.2 billion.

Financial assistance to Ukraine. The International Monetary Fund has increased emergency funding for aid to Ukraine to $1.4 billion. The United States has launched a special account for further funding and, together with international partners, is preparing for a large-scale reconstruction effort.

Humanitarian aid to Ukraine. France will hand over 24 fire engines and ambulances to Ukraine, as well as 50 tons of rescue equipment, which will be the second such batch of aid in a month.

8. Provocations and fakes of russian aggressors.

According to the Security Service of Ukraine, the russian federation shelled the village of Klimovo in the Bryansk region, although it blamed Ukraine for this.

This is confirmed by recent interceptions of telephone conversations of the occupiers, which are at the disposal of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). "This is our heroes job," explains the russian aggressor, who is now in the Donetsk region, to his wife, and received this information from his commander. To the woman's question "why you need to do that?" he answers: "That's right. That's what they do to provoke the Ukrainians. And that's why they hit."

The FSB reported that on April 14th, a border checkpoint in the Bryansk region was shelled by Ukraine, as a result of which two cars were damaged and no one was injured. By noon, the testimony had changed - it turned out that "two houses" in the village of Klimovo had been shelled. The russians said seven people were injured, including a "pregnant woman and a child".

The Centre for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine explained that russia's special services have begun implementing a plan to carry out terrorist attacks on its territory to fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria.

russian troops fired artillery at the town of Vasylivka in the Zaporizhzhia region, damaged several houses in the city centre and the private sector, a shop and depot at the Tavriysk railway station, killed one and wounded five people.

Also, according to the available information, representatives of the russian armed forces plan to send the media of the occupying forces to the territory of Vasylivka on April 15th to create propaganda materials for russian federal television, which should discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Denys Monastyrskyi, said that the russian occupiers, while fleeing from Chernobyl, robbed the police station where there were radioactive items.

9. Political and socio-economic situation in russia, the impact of international sanctions on it.

New sanctions and restrictions against russia. The United Kingdom has added to the sanctions list two business partners of oligarch Roman Abramovich - Eugene Tenenbaum and David Davidovich: the government has frozen their assets worth up to 10 billion pounds.

The European Union is preparing a gradual oil embargo against russia, which may be approved after the second round of the French presidential election on April 24th.

The threat of russia's default on its foreign obligations. If russia does not pay its foreign debts in the appropriate currency by May 4th, it will mean default of the issuer. This was reported by the international credit agency Moody's.

russia's payment for two bonds maturing in 2022 and 2042 in rubles instead of dollars is a change in the terms of payment for the initial bond contracts and can therefore be considered a default. In russia, there is time until May 4th, i.e. until the end of the grace period to meet the terms of the agreements.

The negative impact of sanctions on the russian economy. From January 1st to April 15th, 2022, Gazprom's gas exports to foreign countries amounted to 44.6 billion cubic meters, which is 26.4% less than in the same period of 2021.

The russians withdrew $9.8 billion from foreign currency accounts in March, the outflow continued for the second month in a row and could be more powerful than in February.

Due to EU sanctions, russia has lost the opportunity to supply forest products for about $6 billion a year, and the reorientation to China will not cover the loss.

Services of russian private clinics may rise by up to 20% due to a shortage of imported equipment and consumables - prices for some consumables have increased by 300%.

The American company FMC - the fifth largest agricultural company in the world - is closing its operations and business in russia.
In a phone call with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday, Jordanian King Abdullah II expressed his countrys solidarity with Egypt in face of terrorism.
Hanafy El-Gebaly  speaker of Egypts House of Representatives  announced in a plenary session on Sunday that the government referred three new bills to the House that tackle money laundering activities, new budgetary allocations, and Haj (pilgrimage) visas.
Russian forces pushed forward Monday in their assault on Ukraine, seeking to capture the crucial southern port city of Mariupol as Moscow prepared to celebrate its national Victory Day holiday.
The deal is worth 750,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($2.5 million) and will encompass technical, economic and environmental feasibility studies for the construction of a 570 km railway system linking Egypt and Sudan, according to the ministry.

Al-Mashat signed the agreement as a part of the activities of the joint annual meetings of Arab Financial Institutions that are currently being held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The KFAED is a Kuwaiti public institution that relies entirely on its own resources for the provision of loans and other kinds of development assistance, according to the fund's website.

The KFAED has contributed $3.6 billion to the funding of 54 development projects in Egypt since 1980, in addition to 14 technical grants equal to $48.6 million.

The Egyptian Ministry of Transportation announced in February that the preliminary studies of Egypt-Sudan railway lines have been completed.

The new railway line between the two countries was first proposed in 2010 and was revived in 2018 as a platform for the export of Egyptian products to Sudan, Central Africa and the rest of the African continent.

Following the visit, a high-level transport coordination committee between Egypt and Sudan was formed to follow up on the building of the railway.

Egypt and Sudan established a joint railway committee in 2008 to promote railway connections between the two countries.
A Russian court on Friday ordered the pre-trial detention of a Siberian news editor for alleging that 11 riot police members had refused to join Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, authorities have stepped up measures to silence critics of the military operation in Russia's pro-Western neighbour.

The Investigative Committee, which probes major cases, said the chief editor of a news website in Siberia's Khakassia region had been placed in pre-trial detention for spreading "deliberately false information".

If convicted, the journalist faces up to 10 years in prison, investigators said.

Earlier this week investigators raided his apartment and seized $15,000 and over 1,200 euros in cash, the Investigative Committee said.

The Khakassia branch of the Investigative Committee did not release the name of the journalist but he is understood to be Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of "Novyi Fokus" (New Focus), a news website in Khakassia.

In early April, Afanasyev, citing sources, reported that 11 members of Russia's OMON riot police faced pressure from authorities after refusing to go to Ukraine.

Afanasyev's report was widely cited on social media, and on Friday Russia's media regulator blocked the Russian-language website of the independent news outlet The Moscow Times after it cited the report in an article.

Afanasyev, 45, previously said he was not planning to leave Russia.

"I am not going to flee the country, I am stubborn and want to put up a fight," he told AFP in early April.

Afanasyev is an award-winning editor known for covering sensitive issues in Khakassia. He has for years been embroiled in multiple libel lawsuits over his independent reporting.

Russian authorities have imposed prison terms of up to 15 years for spreading information about the Russian military deemed false by the government.

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Moscow said Friday that 18 members of the EU mission in Russia had been declared "persona non grata" and must leave the country.

"Eighteen employees of the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared 'persona non grata' and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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Egypts lower house of Parliament  the House of Representatives  will reconvene on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to discuss a new agenda packed with financial and budgetary issues.

On Sunday, the House will discuss reports on six foreign agreements, the most important of which is one between Egypt and African Sahel and sub-Saharan countries on fighting terrorism.

A report by the Houses Defence and National Security Committee said the agreement is related to setting up the headquarters of the anti-terrorism coordination centre between Egypt and partner countries.

The report also said the agreement will help exchange information and coordinate military cooperation between Egypt and its African allies with the objective of stemming the spread of terrorist movements in the region.

The other agreements include a 15 million loan offered by the Federal Republic of Germany to rehabilitate a number of Egyptian hydroelectric power generation stations, a 250 million loan offered by the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction for building an underground metro network in Alexandria, and a a US grant that will be provided to stimulate the flow of investment and trade into Egypt.

The Houses agenda also includes an additional two foreign agreements, the first of which aims to raise the capital of the African Development Bank and Egypts contribution to this capital. The second is an agreement between Egypt and France aiming to set up a technical cooperation project on implementing Egypts new comprehensive health insurance system.

The Houses agenda on Sunday will also encompass discussing a law on establishing the National Centre for Airfield Management.

A report by the Houses Transportation Committee said the government-drafted law aims to improve the countrys air transportation services, improve air safety, and achieve the optimal use of Egypts air field to achieve the national objectives of development and protect national security at the same time.

Furthermore, on Monday and Tuesday, the House will discuss the balance sheet of the countrys FY2020/21 budget. The discussion will also entail the balance sheets of the Ministries of Finance and Justice, along with the balance sheets of 53 national economic organisations and the National Organisation for Military Production.

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Egypt has recorded an average daily number of coronavirus cases of 124 over the past week, down from 400 infections in the previous week, hitting its lowest level daily count since August 2021.

The country also reported an average of six deaths per day over the past week, down from seven in the previous week, according to the Ministry of Healths weekly update on the pandemic on Saturday.

The number of people fully vaccinated against coronavirus hit more than 33.5 million, according to the ministry, with over 44.5 million people having received their first vaccine shot. Also, booster shots have been administered to more than 2.3 million people.

Furthermore, the total number of recoveries since the outbreak began in February 2020 increased this week to 444,002 after a daily average of 260 people were discharged from hospitals nationwide over the past seven days, the ministry added.

The ministry continued to urge residents to register on its website to receive the vaccine. The ministry also continues to receive inquiries regarding the coronavirus via the 105 and 15335 hotlines as well as WhatsApp on +201553105105.

Those who think they may have contracted the disease can also download the Android or iPhone versions of the Sehat Misr app for guidance regarding which hospitals to head to.

Egypt has successfully vaccinated over 53 percent of targeted groups, Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said on Tuesday, referring to those above the age of 12.

The ministry has previously said that for life in Egypt to return to the way it was pre-pandemic, 70 percent of this group must be vaccinated  a goal that the country seeks to achieve by mid-2022.

Egypt has continued to record a drop in coronavirus infections, deaths, and COVID-induced hospitalisations over the past weeks amid a global decline in coronavirus cases.

The decline has led the country to reduce the number of isolation hospitals nationwide, said Acting Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar earlier in April.

The ministry has announced that only four hospitals are now designated for full isolation  El-Agouza Hospital in Giza, Qaha Hospital in Qalioubiya, El-Odaisat Hospital in Luxor, and El-Nagila Hospital in Matrouh.

The ministry also announced reducing the number of partial isolation hospitals to 16 facilities nationwide.

Egypt has also eased many of the coronavirus restrictions during the holy month of Ramadan, which started earlier April. This includes lifting a two-year suspension on the traditional Ramadan charity banquets and allowing mosques to conduct afternoon prayer sermons (El-Asr) and mass Ramadan night prayers (Taraweeh) during the holy month.

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Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayyeb congratulated Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II and the Christian people in Egypt on Easter Sunday, which Coptic Orthodox Christians celebrate this year on 24 April.

In a phone call with Pope Tawadros II, El-Tayyeb affirmed Al-Azhars appreciation of the bonds between the Muslim and Christian people in Egypt, saying that these bonds stem from the right understanding of religion, Al-Azhar said in a statement on Saturday.

The relations between Muslims and Christians are a true embodiment of unity and brotherhood, the statement cited El-Tayyeb as saying, adding that this brotherhood will always remain a solid bond that strengthens the nation in the face of difficulties and challenges.

The grand imam added that he is not congratulating the pope and Christians out of courtesy or formality, but rather out of an understanding of the instructions of Islam.

During the phone call, Pope Tawadros also hailed the relations binding the leaders and people of the church with the scholars of Al-Azhar, saying that these relations are a reflection of cooperation and ties between the two ancient institutions in all fields.

The pope also expressed his happiness over El-Tayyebs phone call as a renewal of the permanent bonds of friendship and love uniting Muslims and Christians into the strong national fabric of Egypt, the statement added.

Coptic Orthodox Christians  who comprise a substantial majority of Christians in Egypt  will also celebrate Good Friday and Holy Saturday on 22-23 April. On Holy Saturday, Copts usually go to church before gathering at night to celebrate and break their 55-day fast.

The Christian religious week was disrupted over the past two years due to the pandemic, as attendance of masses was limited to Church officials in order to stem the spread of the virus in the country.

This year, the Christian religious week coincides with the Muslims holy month of Ramadan and falls only a week before Eid Al-Fitr holidays, during which Muslims end their month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting.

On Wednesday, Egypts National Authority for Social Insurance said pensions for public sector workers for May will be disbursed on 22 April, pushed up from early May, so pensioners can be paid ahead of the holidays of Eid El-Fitr and Easter.

Relations between Muslim and Christian people in Egypt have been always characterised by tolerance and peaceful coexistence with Al-Azhar and the church working to strengthen and perpetuate these warm relations against attempts at destabilisation.

In November, El-Tayyeb and Pope Tawadros II, who traditionally congratulate each other on religious feasts, marked the 10th anniversary of the Egyptian Family House established in 2011 to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to working together under a longstanding bilateral alliance on Saturday at a time of heightened global tensions including threats from China and North Korea.

In a meeting over breakfast, the delegation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, agreed with Kishida on the importance of maintaining a ``free and open Indo-Pacific region,'' according to the Foreign Ministry.

The six lawmakers' visit follows their earlier stop in Taiwan, where they made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy, while issuing a warning to China. They met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

China carried out military drills near Taiwan in protest of the delegation's visit. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China was prepared ``to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.''

Japan has long been nervous about China's possible invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory to be united by force if necessary. China and Taiwan split after a civil war in 1949.

Concerns in Tokyo, especially among conservative politicians seeking a more assertive role for their military, have heightened since the war in Ukraine. The question is sensitive because Japan's pacifist constitution, adopted after its defeat in World War II, bans the use of force in international disputes. Japan keeps its overseas military operations to peacekeeping and humanitarian relief.

Officially, Japan does not recognize Taiwan but they maintain friendly relations. China opposes any official official exchanges between Taiwan and other foreign governments.

The issue of whether the U.S. would intervene in the case of China's attack on Taiwan remains open. Analysts say Japan's role in such a hypothetical situation is even more unclear because Japan is host to a huge U.S. military presence under the alliance.

Kishida told the representatives from Congress that the bilateral alliance superseded political party divisions, and sought their understanding on Japan's role in working toward peace and prosperity in the region. Tokyo also asked for U.S. support for ongoing efforts by Japan to bring home Japanese who were abducted by North Korea decades ago, the ministry said. North Korea returned some of the abducted people in 2004.

The U.S. delegation also includes Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas.

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Indignant over what it called Ukrainian strikes in Russian territory and following the stunning loss of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow threatened renewed missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities said the bodies of more than 900 civilians were found outside the capital. Most had been shot dead, police said, and likely simply executed.

Russian forces prepared for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine, and fighting also went on in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Gov. Oleh Sinehubov.

Early Saturday, Kyiv's eastern district of Darnytskie was struck, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting. He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene. He warned residents who have fled the capital not to return for their safety.

In the towns around Kyiv, said Andriy Nebytov, who heads the region's police force, bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.

``Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,'' Nebytov said.

More bodies are being found every day under rubble and in mass graves, he added, with the largest number found in Bucha, more than 350. According to Nebytov, utility workers gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, had been ``tracking down'' people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south of terrorizing civilians and hunting for anyone who served in Ukraine's military or government.

``The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves,'' Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. ``Russia's problem is that it is not accepted _ and never will be accepted _ by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.''

Officials think 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, Zelenskyy told CNN in an interview. He said about 10,000 have been injured and it's ``hard to say how many will survive.''

More violence could be in store for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.

``The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory,'' Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Russia used missiles to destroy a facility for the repair and production of missile systems in Kyiv, Konashenkov said. The Ukrainian state arms manufacturer, Ukroboronprom, said Russian forces struck one of the missile workshops at the Vizar plant, located near Kyiv's Zhuliany airport.

Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.

However, Ukrainian officials said forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. A senior U.S. defense official backed up the claim, saying the U.S. now believes the Moskva was hit by at least one Neptune anti-ship missile, and probably two. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment.

The Moskva, named for the Russian capital, sank while being towed to port Thursday after taking heavy damage. Moscow did not acknowledge any attack, saying only that a fire had detonated ammunition on board. The loss of the ship represents an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.

The sinking reduces Russia's firepower in the Black Sea and seemed to symbolize Moscow's fortunes in an eight-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the Russian retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.

``A `flagship' russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war,'' Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday.

Russia's warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring Friday as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.

Such tentative signs of prewar life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes. But a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations.

In Mariupol, the city council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials ``of people killed by them.''

``Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,'' the council said on the Telegram messaging app.

Fighting continued in industrial areas and the port, and Russia for the first time used the Tu-22?3 long-range bomber to attack the city, said Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Mariupol has been blockaded by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion, and dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against a siege that has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians.

The mayor said this week that the city's death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence in Mariupol of atrocities like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv.

Mariupol's capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.

It's not certain when Russia will launch a full-scale campaign.

Also Friday, a Russian rocket hit an airport at night in the central city of Oleksandriia, Mayor Serhiy Kuzmenko said via Facebook. He made no mention of casualties.

And a regional Ukrainian official said seven people were killed and 27 wounded when Russian forces fired on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near Kharkiv. The claim could not be independently verified.

Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor's office, told the Suspilne news website that authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected ``violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.''

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Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations said Saturday as another 40,000 fled the country in 24 hours.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 4,836,445 million Ukrainians had left the country since the Russian invasion on February 24 -- a number up 40,200 on Friday's total.

The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) says nearly 215,000 third-country nationals -- largely students and migrant workers -- have also escaped to neighbouring countries, meaning more than five million people in all have fled Ukraine since the war began.

It is one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises ever.

"People's greatest wish is to go back home. But for so many, there is no home to return to since it's been destroyed or damaged, or is located in an area that is not safe," said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR's representative in Ukraine.

"Housing is one of the areas of greatest concern. Although hundreds of thousands of people are now staying in temporary reception centres or with hosting families who have generously opened their homes... longer term solutions need to be found."

Nearly 2.75 million Ukrainian refugees -- nearly six in 10 -- have fled to Poland. More than 730,000 reached Romania.

UNHCR figures show nearly 645,000 Ukrainians fled in February, with nearly 3.4 million doing so in March and more than 800,000 leaving so far this month.

Women and children account for 90 percent of those who escaped, with men aged 18 to 60 eligible for military call-up and unable to leave.

Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those still inside the country.

Beyond the refugees, the IOM estimates 7.1 million people have left their homes but are still in Ukraine.

Before the invasion, Ukraine had a population of 37 million in the regions under government control, excluding Russia-annexed Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist-controlled regions in the east.

Here is a breakdown of how many Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries, according to UNHCR:

- Poland -

Nearly six out of 10 Ukrainian refugees -- 2,744,778 so far -- have crossed into Poland.

Many people who go to Ukraine's immediate western neighbours travel on to other states in Europe's Schengen open-borders zone.

Magdalena Tosheva, the IOM's site manager at the Medyka crossing in southeastern Poland, said that despite a decrease in arrivals, refugees still needed access to information, transport, accommodation, work and education.

"People were arriving stressed, tired and cold from the other side of the border," she said.

"Vulnerable people are mainly women with very small children with no solutions, no relatives here, no protective environment."

- Romania -

A total of 732,473 Ukrainians entered the EU member state, including a large number who crossed over from Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine.

The vast majority are thought to have gone on to other countries.

- Russia -

Another 484,725 refugees have sought shelter in Russia.

In addition, 105,000 people crossed into Russia from the separatist-held pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine between February 18 and 23.

- Hungary -

A total of 454,098 Ukrainians have entered Hungary.

- Moldova -

The Moldovan border is the closest to the major port city of Odessa. A total of 421,130 Ukrainians have crossed into the non-EU state, one of the poorest in Europe.

Most of those who have entered the former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people have moved on but an estimated 100,000 remain, including 50,000 children -- of whom only 1,800 are enrolled in schools.

- Slovakia -

A total of 332,707 people crossed Ukraine's shortest border into Slovakia.

- Belarus -

Another 22,827 refugees have made it north to Russia's close ally Belarus.

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President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with a delegation from the US Congress headed by Senator Richard Shelby on Saturday morning in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, where they discussed regional stability in light of the turbulence in the Middle East.

The president said that Egypt is keen on strengthening its relations with the US in light of the turbulent region reality and the escalating challenges it creates, referring to the latest developments in Palestine, Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady said in a statement.

Both sides discussed the Palestinian cause, with Sisi affirming Egypts firm position in this regard to reach a just and comprehensive solution that guarantees the rights of the Palestinian people that is in line with international laws, the statement said.

On Friday, Egypt condemned Israeli forces latest storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque after the Friday prayers and the violence that ensued against Palestinian worshipers, in which more than 160 Palestinians were injured.

The president has been calling for dialogue that would open up prospects for coexistence, calling for cooperation between the entire region on this particular issue.

In this regard, Egypt wants to constantly communicate with the leaders of Congress, El-Sisi said, stressing the importance of coordination and consultation between the US and Egypt on several different issues as well.

From their side, the US delegation praised Egypts efforts in support of the peace process, affirming the importance of US-Egyptian relations, noting that the country is a pillar of security and stability in the Middle East and the Arab world as well as a pivotal partner for the US in the region.

Furthermore, they praised Egypts role in achieving stability and security after its success in combating terrorism and extremist ideology and establishing the noble concepts and values of freedom of belief, in addition to the great efforts made inside Egypt to achieve comprehensive development.

The meeting also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations in a number of fields, especially at the political, military, and economic levels. They also highlighted the current developments on the regional and international arenas.

The two countries just commemorated the centennial of their diplomatic relations, which were established in 1922, agreeing to continue consultation and coordination in different areas of bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest.

Last week, Shoukry visited Washington to kick off meetings with US officials, businessmen, and think tank members, including Senior Adviser to the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate David Thorne and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The meetings discussed the latest developments internationally and regionally, with the participants agreeing to continue to work and coordinate to face challenges in the region as well as to limit the negative impacts of current crises, whether regionally or internationally.

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Somalia inaugurated 290 new lawmakers, bringing the country a step closer to completing a prolonged electoral process marred by alleged corruption and irregularities.

The ceremony was held in the capital's heavily fortified Halane military camp, protected by sandbagged fences and high concrete walls. Somali police and African Union troops were deployed to the surrounding areas, putting Mogadishu under lockdown.

Dozens more legislators are yet to be selected and sworn in.

Later the lawmakers will elect speakers and deputies for both parliamentary chambers before they sit to choose a new president.

``We are observing a new set of parliamentarians taking over from others. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate parliamentarians who have been sworn in today. This is a huge responsibility assigned on you by your constituents, and it is a vote of confidence,'' said Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.

The swearing-in took place as the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Somalia warned that ``the country is facing a very real risk of famine.''

Adam Abdelmoula said in a video briefing for U.N. reporters in New York that severe drought has compounded humanitarian needs, and 6 million people ``need food assistance immediately.''

The U.N. asked for $1.5 billion to meet humanitarian needs in Somalia in 2022, but he said that ``we have received just 4.4%.''

Hussein Sheikh Ali of the Mogadishu-based research group Hiraal Institute said the inauguration of lawmakers ``marks a great relief day for all Somalis and (the) international community who invested in Somalia to move forward.''

Only in the past few years has Somalia begun to find its footing after three decades of chaos from warlords to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group and the emergence of Islamic State-linked extremist groups.

Somalia's parliamentary and presidential polls were delayed for more than a year amid political turmoil after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's mandate expired in February 2021 without a successor in place. Lower house elections that were to be completed on March 15 are still not complete.

The delay raised political tensions and the threat of violence in a country prone to attacks by Islamic extremists who oppose the federal government.

Al-Shabaab claimed to have thrown mortar shells targeting the area where the lawmakers were being sworn in on Thursday. Authorities didn't say if anyone was hurt.

Abdelmoula, the U.N. humanitarian and resident coordinator, stressed the importance of tackling the drought and famine threat, and urged donors to respond quickly.

He said he visited a camp for internally displaced people in Dolo in southwestern Somalia near the border with Ethiopia on Wednesday with other U.N. officials and ``we were taken aback and also shocked by the conditions we have found many people in.''

At a nearby clinic, he said, ``we saw malnourished children with their equally malnourished mothers'' as well as 400 newly arrived displaced people seeking food, water and shelter.

``Any dollar spent right now will help save more lives now,'' Abdelmoula said.

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Before the current perpetrators of war crimes are held accountable, the prosecution of previous ones is a must, writes Azza Radwan Sedky

T

he images of bodies strewn on the streets and of the mass graves of civilians bound hand and foot and then shot in Bucha near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv have led the world to accuse Russian forces in Ukraine of crimes against humanity and Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes.

The international fury over these killings is understandable since these atrocities are unconscionable. Leaders around the world have voiced their condemnation.

Us President Joe Biden has called for Putin to be tried for war crimes, saying that this guy is brutal, and whats happening in Bucha is outrageous. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that Russias despicable attacks on civilians are more evidence of war crimes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine constitutes genocide and that the Russian forces there are engaged in terrorism.

The Geneva Conventions provide guidelines that must be adhered to during wartime, and some of them are highlighted below. Under the conventions, forces engaged in combat must not deliberately attack civilians, use torture, or take hostages. They must not use chemical or biological weapons.

They must also respect the lives, dignity, personal rights, and convictions of those detained. Persons not taking a direct part in the hostilities, or incapable of performing their combat duties during war, are considered to be hors de combat and are entitled to their lives being respected.

But before we go further, we should define the term whataboutery. This conjoins what and about and compares previous events to current ones in the hope of putting the latter into perspective. The term was coined during the late 1970s when the former Soviet Union, criticised over alleged human rights abuses, referred to alleged abuses committed by the West. What about? emerged.

This article is going to do just that: launch a whataboutery. In all fairness, if previous perpetrators of war crimes and other abuses are not held accountable for the wrongdoings they have committed, how can such charges be applied to current offenders? How can they be held accountable?

The Geneva Conventions will back the whataboutery here, focusing on only a few of the crimes committed during the Gulf War in February 1991 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Respect for the lives of those not partaking in hostilities says the Conventions. In February 1991, Iraqi soldiers retreating from Kuwait and heading home to Iraq during the Gulf War were ambushed by coalition forces led by the US on what came to be known as the Highway of Death, a six-lane highway between Kuwait City and the border of Iraq.

This resulted in the across-the-board destruction of thousands of vehicles and the deaths of their occupants. The exact number of vehicles destroyed remains unknown, but it is estimated to be around 2,000. The exact number of the occupants of the vehicles is also unknown, but a guess would be at least the number of the vehicles.

For ten hours, coalition forces went after the fleeing Iraqi soldiers. The scene the next day was that of an inferno, with thousands of mangled and burnt-out vehicles and quashed and charred bodies strewn across the highway.

The coalition forces were aware that the retreating soldiers were sitting ducks and that they had no intention or ability to fight back. They were not partaking in any hostilities, and yet their lives were not respected. The coalition forces should be held accountable for their deaths.

Do not deliberately attack civilians says the Conventions. The US military launched what it called a shock and awe attack on Iraq in March 2003, killing 7,186 Iraqi civilians in two months, according to journalist Daniel Kenis of LiveStories.

If Putin is to be charged with war crimes, then former US president George W Bush and former British prime minister Tony Blair should also be charged with war crimes over the thousands of deaths that took place during the invasion of Iraq.

A CNN article from 2013 by UK lawyer Michael Mansfield entitled Why Bush and Blair should be charged with war crimes over the Iraq invasion sets out the reasons why Bush and Blair should be tried for war crimes under international law.

According to Mansfield, the aim behind the invasion of Iraq was to remove former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein from power, but regime change, however desirable, is not permitted by the UN Charter. Article 2 of this states that all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. To circumvent this, Bush and his allies fabricated the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Invasion by itself cannot be prosecuted; however, any war crimes that follow can be. This means that to launch an attack with the knowledge that its effect is likely to cause incidental death or injury to civilians or the natural environment will render the perpetrator liable to prosecution, according to Article 8 of the UN Charter.

The use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium in Iraq by coalition forces [euphemistically called collateral damage] against vulnerable civilians falls within this definition, Mansfield says. But will Bush or Blair ever be charged for the crimes committed in Iraq? If charging Putin is approved worldwide, then why isnt it acceptable to charge Bush and Blair?

Do not torture says the Conventions. The crimes committed in Iraq did not stop with the invasion of the country and the thousands of lives lost. Enhanced interrogation techniques, ie torture, were utilised in full in Iraq.

The scandal at the Abu Ghraib Prison is proof of how far the brutality and abuse went. Photographs published in 2004 of what took place in Abu Ghraib were shameful and inhuman, showing naked prisoners heaped into a pyramid, prisoners held down with straps as though they were on leashes, dogs lunging at prisoners, and, perhaps the most repulsive of all, of a hooded man, Ali Al-Qaisi, standing on a box and holding electrical wires.

Another prisoner, Manadel Al-Jamadi, died while being tortured. One photograph showed his corpse in a plastic bag.

Those who committed the atrocities at the Abu Ghraib Prison were tried and convicted in the US but never in an international court. In fact, the idea of having the Abu Ghraib offenders charged in an international court never crossed anyones mind. Today, due to the atrocities that have occurred in Bucha the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has said that he will open an investigation into potential war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Mansfield ends his article by saying that without accountability for Western states, how can we expect the rest of world to respect these principles? Without having previous perpetrators account for their war crimes, we should not expect current ones to be held to account for theirs.

The writer is the author of Cairo Rewind on the First Two Years of Egypts Revolution, 2011-2013.



*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 April, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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China is against any official exchanges between Taiwan's government and other foreign governments because it claims Taiwan is part of its national territory and not an independent country. China and Taiwan split after a civil war in 1949.

The military drills conducted by the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command in areas opposite Taiwan were "a countermeasure to the recent negative actions of the U.S., including the visit of a delegation of lawmakers to Taiwan," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. China would "continue to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhao added.

The six lawmakers met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday morning and were also scheduled to meet with the island's defense minister.

China said its military staged exercises Friday to reinforce its threat to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, as U.S. lawmakers visiting Taiwan made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy while issuing a warning to China.

The Eastern Theater Command described the exercises in a statement as "a necessary action based on the present security situation in the Taiwan Strait and the need to safeguard national sovereignty." "Taiwan is a sacred and inalienable part of Chinese territory. There is no room for any foreign interference on the Taiwan issue," the statement said.

As part of the delegation of visiting U.S. lawmakers, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey gave a speech Friday praising Taiwan's democracy and its global status as a manufacturer of semi-conductor chips used in everything from cars to smartphones, and warned of consequences if that status were jeopardized.

"It is a country of global significance, of global consequence, of global impact, and therefore it should be understood the security of Taiwan has a global impact for those who would wish it ill," said Menendez, the head of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, in a speech at Taiwan's Presidential Office. He emphasized that "we seek no conflict with China as I believe Taiwan seeks no conflict with China."

The delegation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, also includes Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Sen. Robert Portman of Ohio, Sen. Benjamin Sasse of Nebraska and Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas.

Tsai said she welcomed their visit and hoped it would help to further deepen US-Taiwan cooperation. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine has proven that democracies must bolster their alliances and collectively we can defend ourselves from the threats posed by authoritarian nations that seek to disrupt regional peace," said Tsai.

The U.S. is the democratic island's biggest unofficial ally and has stepped up weapons sales to Taiwan in past years. By law, the U.S. is bound to help Taiwan with arms that are defensive in nature. However, the question of whether the U.S. would intervene in the case of a military invasion by China remains open.
The head of the UN World Food Program said people are being "starved to death" in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, and he predicted the country's humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen as Russia intensifies its assault in the coming weeks.

WFP executive director David Beasley also warned in an interview Thursday with the Associated Press in Kyiv that Russia's invasion of grain-exporting Ukraine risks destabilizing nations far from its shores and could trigger waves of migrants seeking better lives elsewhere.

The war that began Feb. 24 was "devastating the people in Ukraine," he said, lamenting the lack of access faced by the WFP and other aid organizations in trying to reach those in need amid the conflict. "I don't see any of that easing up. I just don't see it happening right now," he said.

The fluid nature of the conflict, which has seen fighting shift away from areas around the capital and toward eastern Ukraine, has made it especially difficult to reach hungry Ukrainians.

The WFP is trying to put food supplies now in areas that could be caught up in the fighting, but Beasley acknowledged that there are "a lot of complexities" as the situation rapidly evolves.

A lack of access is part of the problem, he said, but so is a shortage of manpower and fuel as resources are diverted to the war effort. "It's not just going to be the next few days  but the next few weeks and few months could even get more complicated than it is now," he said. "In fact, it's getting worse and worse, concentrated in certain areas, and the front lines are going to be moving."
KYODO NEWS - Apr 16, 2022 - 23:12 | All, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Saturday the government is considering creating a more loosely defined refugee category to accept people fleeing conflicts in light of the humanitarian crisis stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine.

"The Justice Ministry is considering a system for accepting people as refugee equivalents from a humanitarian standpoint even if they do not fall under" the 1951 refugee convention, Kishida said at a meeting in Niigata.

The prime minister stressed the envisioned system would not discriminate against certain countries, adding that Japan will strive to do its work in accordance with the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

Under the U.N. convention, a refugee is a person who cannot return to their country or is unwilling to do so because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

People fleeing conflicts have long found a narrow path to attaining refugee status in Japan, with the government traditionally recognizing only around 1 percent of refugee applications, drawing criticism from human rights organizations.

Japan has accepted more than 500 evacuees fleeing the war in Ukraine since it began in late February.

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KYODO NEWS - Apr 16, 2022 - 19:07 | All, Japan

The Japanese government is seriously considering high-level dialogue with incoming South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, with the conservative president-elect seen as willing to improve soured bilateral ties, a government source said Saturday.

High-level dialogue has not been held between the two countries for a while as the current administration of liberal President Moon Jae In has clashed with Japan over issues stemming from Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government hopes to strengthen cooperation with South Korea under the incoming president and forge closer coordination with the United States and South Korea over North Korea's nuclear and missile issues, the source said.

The immediate focus is on who should be sent to Yoon's inaugural ceremony on May 10. Seoul is said to be expecting a senior official of the Kishida government to attend the event.

Tokyo is expected to start arranging its representative soon while closely watching Yoon's posture toward Japan.

Since being elected in a close presidential contest in March, Yoon has called for a future-oriented approach to bilateral ties and said as much during a meeting with Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Aiboshi on March 28.

"South Korea and Japan are partners that share many tasks to tackle, such as security and economic prosperity and, therefore, to overcome the current thorny relationships, it is needed to form a future-oriented partnership based on correct perspective toward history," Yoon told the ambassador, according to his spokeswoman.

Japanese officials seem willing to engage with the incoming Yoon administration.

"Unlike the Moon administration, we can welcome the next administration," a senior Foreign Ministry official said. "We want to make contact at the right timing."

A high-level government official said, "What is clear is that both sides are willing to improve ties."

At a press conference on Friday, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi echoed a similar sentiment, saying, "We will communicate with the new administration at an appropriate timing and level."

Arrangements are under way for U.S. President Joe Biden to visit South Korea before visiting Japan in late May, according to a diplomatic source.

If Biden comes to Japan after meeting with Yoon, the U.S. president may raise Japan-South Korea issues in his talks with Kishida. If so, Kishida may convey to Biden Tokyo's intention to work to improve ties with Seoul.

Regarding who may be dispatched to Seoul for Yoon's presidential inauguration, Hayashi told reporters Friday that no one has been selected definitively.

In 2008, then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda attended President Lee Myung Bak's inaugural ceremony, while in 2013, former Prime Minister Taro Aso, who was then doubling as deputy prime minister and finance minister, took part in President Park Geun Hye's ceremony.

Relations between Japan and South Korea remain soured over historical disputes, including compensation for women coerced into working in military brothels and former wartime laborers.

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Japan's Kishida hopes to improve ties with South Korea under Yoon
KYODO NEWS - Apr 16, 2022 - 19:29 | Feature, All, Japan

A Japanese firm has donated 1,000 pocket interpreter devices to the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan to ease the language difficulties many evacuees face starting new lives in the country.

The initiative to provide the Pocketalk handhelds came from Tokyo-based Pocketalk Corp. "Our mission is to eliminate language barriers. I hope they can help evacuees," its president, Noriyuki Matsuda, said.

Pocketalk is a small, smartphone-like handheld that offers easy translation functionality. Users simply push a button while speaking, and the device translates what they have said into a chosen target language and displays it on the screen. It can also play a recording of the phrase.

The device is compatible with 70 languages, including Ukrainian, and can also process 12 other languages for which it lacks voice output functionality. Total units shipped worldwide have topped 900,000 since Pocketalk's release in 2017.

During his 2019 visit to Japan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a lunch meeting hosted by the Japan Association of New Economy, in which Matsuda participated as one of its directors. With that connection, Matsuda thought about what he could do to help soon after the invasion began.

On March 14, he donated 1,000 of the interpreting devices to the Embassy of Ukraine in Tokyo. An embassy official said they are distributing one to each evacuee family, with around 100 already given out directly or by mail.

"Most of the evacuees don't understand Japanese. They were thankful," the official said.

"We've always worked to ensure the product can be used with as many languages as possible. It's good it can support Ukrainian, too," said Matsuda. The firm has also distributed more than 300 Pocketalk devices to evacuees in a Polish town near the Ukrainian border.

According to the company, instances of users choosing to translate from Ukrainian to other languages were up five times in late March than in mid-January before the invasion, with usage by evacuees a likely factor.

Currently, Japan has over 500 evacuees from Ukraine, and their numbers could increase.

Regarding how he hopes the products might be used, Matsuda said, "I'm sure they'll have many chances to help in tasks like administrative processes at local government offices or opening a bank account. I hope they might help them get to know Japanese people, too, and, in some small way, ease the loneliness of being separated from their homeland."

Related coverage:

Support information sent to Ukrainian evacuees in Japan

Japan plans to send SDF plane for Ukraine refugee aid this month

Ukraine evacuees to get up to $19 a day as living allowance in Japan
KYODO NEWS - Apr 16, 2022 - 22:53 | Feature, All, Japan

A roughly 3.5-meter-long whale that washed up on the shore of Amami-Oshima Island in southwestern Japan died Saturday despite rescue efforts by residents.

Around 10 people, including members of a local whale and dolphin association and a volunteer fire company, attempted to save the whale beached in Tatsugo near the island's northern tip. However, rough seas thwarted their efforts, and the whale died a few hours later.

According to the association, it appeared to be a short-finned pilot whale known to live in the open waters off the island in Kagoshima Prefecture. This latest case is the second involving the species since 2018.

During the rescue effort, the whale gave birth to a calf measuring about 1.5 meters long but was already dead when it was discovered.

The incident marks the third beaching of a whale or dolphin on the island this year. The association will dissect the animal to determine the cause of death and plans to preserve it as a skeletal specimen.

Some 50 people, including locals, looked on as rescuers worked to save the whale. Kengo Arata, a 42-year-old resident, said the whale was "in such a weak state that it couldn't swim on its own."
Moldovan President Maia Sandu (R) talks with Chinese Ambassador to Moldova Yan Wenbin in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, Jan. 26, 2022. The president on Wednesday received the Letters of Credence from the new Chinese Ambassador to Moldova. (Xinhua)

BUCHAREST, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Moldova looks forward to intensifying exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields to jointly promote bilateral relations to a new level, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, on Wednesday.

The head of state made the remarks when receiving the Letters of Credence from the new Chinese Ambassador to Moldova Yan Wenbin, who arrived in Chisinau on Dec. 26, 2021.

Sandu also thanked China for the long-term assistance for the economic and social development of Moldova.

The solar power plant project at the east center district of Criuleni, financed by the Chinese government, has been successfully completed recently, bringing tangible benefits to local residents, she added.

Yan said that in the 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, bilateral relations have maintained steady development, while mutual political trust has been continuously strengthened, and practical cooperation has been further deepened.

The two sides understand and support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, said the Chinese ambassador.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China and Moldova have stood together and helped each other, demonstrating the deep friendship between the two peoples, Yan said, stressing that the country is willing to work with Moldova to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and to further strengthen the traditional friendship between the two countries. 
Edric Chu (L), CEO of Huawei Angola, and Maria Rosario Braganca, the head of Angola's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, attend the launching ceremony of the "Angola National ICT Star" program in Luanda, Angola, March 21, 2022. Huawei and Angola's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation launched the "Angola National ICT Star" program on Monday, during the National Ecological Forum of Talents. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) training program mainly targets undergraduate, master's and doctoral students with excellent academic performance. (Photo by Engracia Matias/Xinhua)

LUANDA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Huawei and Angola's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESCTI) launched the "Angola National ICT Star" program on Monday, during the National Ecological Forum of Talents.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) training program mainly targets undergraduate, master's and doctoral students with excellent academic performance.

Scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to study and research in the field of ICT.

During the event, Edric Chu, CEO of Huawei Angola, expressed that the program aims to guarantee and accelerate the digital development of Angola, training the technicians that the country lacks.

"We hope that through joint efforts with industry partners, we can invest in and develop education and expand an ever-widening path of inclusive development, and thus fill the gap that exists as much as possible," he said.

The head of MESCTI, Maria Rosario Braganca, also recognized the urgency of accelerating the training of young people in new technologies.

"I emphasize the importance of qualifying technical and senior staff in the field of ICTs, being aware that it is essential to invest in the sustainable development of technical and personal skills of our young people, to ensure our technological future, in a global context where they will only survive societies capable of accompanying the digital transformation," she said.

Huawei has cooperated with 16 Angolan universities, to which it provided teacher training programs and online courses. It built a laboratory and trained 1,000 students, certifying 600 talents. 
Similar to the town of Ain Issa, the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries began digging trenches along the lines of contact with the forces of the Damascus government in the town of Tadef of the occupied city of Al-Bab.

According to sources from the region, the people of the town of Tadef demonstrated against the Turkish occupation, rejecting the practices of the Turkish occupation in digging trenches in their villages, in order to separate them later from the rest of the Syrian regions.

Hundreds of townspeople gathered in front of the so-called Military Police station, where the Turkish occupation is based, and chanted slogans denouncing the Turkish occupation's practices in separating the Syrian regions from each other.

The town of Tadef is located in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, 38 km from the city center and 4 km from the center of Al-Bab city. The Syrian government forces control parts of it, while Turkey and its mercenaries occupy part of it.

According to sources, the trench, which the Turkish occupation began digging, extends from the villages of the city of Manbij through the villages of the city of al-Bab on the lines of contact with the forces of the Damascus government, all the way to the villages of al-Shahba canton.

According to sources, the Turkish occupation has begun digging trenches in the occupied village of Hazwan, which is adjacent to the village of Al-Nirabiya in Al-Shahba canton, and the excavation process is scheduled to continue until the occupied city of Azaz, on the Azaz-Afrin road.

In the past months, sources confirmed the start of construction of a concrete wall by the Turkish occupation that extends from the center of the city of Azaz to the villages of the occupied canton of Afrin, with the aim of separating the occupied villages of Azaz and Afrin from the rest of the Syrian regions.

During the past two years, the Al-Bab areas witnessed widespread popular uprisings as a result of the policies of the Turkish occupation authorities in the region and their intentions to separate the northeastern region of the city of Aleppo from the rest of the Syrian regions. It is, because of its strategic location, to extend its control over the rest of the regions.

The town of Ain Issa also witnessed new Turkish movements in the area and the digging of trenches along the lines of contact, reaching the villages of Zarkan district in Tal Tamr district in north and east Syria.

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ANHA
Photo taken on March 31, 2022 shows Chinese Ambassador to The Netherlands Tan Jian addressing the opening ceremony of an artistic exhibition featuring "Dream of the Red Chamber" at the China Cultural Center in The Hague, the Netherlands.

An artistic exhibition featuring "Dream of the Red Chamber," an epic masterpiece in Chinese literature, was launched here Thursday at the China Cultural Center in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The exhibition, entitled "An Artistic Dream of the Red Chamber," brought together Chinese and foreign translations of the Chinese classic novel as well as related calligraphy, painting and audio-visual works. (Xinhua/Wang Xiangjiang)

THE HAGUE, April 1 (Xinhua) -- An artistic exhibition featuring "Dream of the Red Chamber," an epic masterpiece in Chinese literature, was launched here Thursday at the China Cultural Center in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The exhibition, entitled "An Artistic Dream of the Red Chamber," brought together Chinese and foreign translations of the Chinese classic novel as well as related calligraphy, painting and audio-visual works.

Co-hosted by the China Cultural Center in The Hague and the Art Exhibitions China, the exhibition is divided into three main sections, namely "The Literature of the Red Chamber," "The Art-works of the Red Chamber," and "The Limelight of the Red Chamber."

Chinese Ambassador to The Netherlands Tan Jian and Chairman of The Netherlands China Association Henk Kool were among the guests attending the event.

Strolling along a winding corridor in the exhibition hall, the audience can browse Chinese, English, French, Dutch and other language versions of "Dream of the Red Chamber," appreciate exquisite paintings or watch video clips adapted from original movies and TV series.

Among the many exhibits is the first full Dutch version of the novel, which was completed by three Dutch sinologists and translators following 13 years of arduous work.

Published in November 2021, the 2,160-page, four-volume book includes all 120 chapters of the original Chinese epic novel. It has seen a long-lasting partnership between Silvia Marijnissen, Mark Leenhouts and Anne Sytske Keijser.

Keijser, who traveled from Leiden to attend the opening ceremony, told Xinhua that like the other two translators, she devoted herself to the translation work out of her love for "Dream of the Red Chamber."

She recalled that she came into contact with the Chinese language by chance during college years. Deeply attracted by the rich and colorful Chinese history and culture, Keijser has since then immersed herself into the study, research and dissemination of the Chinese language and culture.

The exhibition will last until June 24, during which several themed workshops featuring poetry appreciation and delicacies will be held. 

Photo taken on March 31, 2022 shows Anne Sytske Keijser (R) and Mark Leenhouts, both of whom are translators of the first full Dutch version of the Chinese novel "Dream of the Red Chamber," looking at a painting during an artistic exhibition at the China Cultural Center in The Hague, the Netherlands.

An artistic exhibition featuring "Dream of the Red Chamber," an epic masterpiece in Chinese literature, was launched here Thursday at the China Cultural Center in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The exhibition, entitled "An Artistic Dream of the Red Chamber," brought together Chinese and foreign translations of the Chinese classic novel as well as related calligraphy, painting and audio-visual works. (Xinhua/Wang Xiangjiang)
UNITED NATIONS, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for the practice of true multilateralism in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and in post-pandemic recovery.

During the pandemic in the past two years, over 6 million people have lost their lives. The lesson is profound and deserves serious reflection, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

"Nothing is more valuable in this world than human lives. A people-centered approach is the most important tenet that guides all our decisions," he told a Security Council meeting on COVID-19 and vaccines.

"At the global level, cooperation in solidarity is the most powerful weapon to defeat the pandemic, and is as effective in tackling other global challenges. Under these unprecedented circumstances, we must work together to build back better with a conviction stronger than ever that we are in a global community with a shared future," he said.

The world is still confronted with multiple challenges. A scant few countries are still holding on to their Cold War mentality, drawing lines of distinction based on ideology, provoking renewed bloc confrontation, imposing unilateral sanctions without scruple, weaponizing economic interdependence, and forcing countries to choose sides, he noted.

"This is plunging the international community into division and pushing the world into the quicksand of grave risks and uncertainties. These irresponsible actions are harmful to others as they are to those countries themselves, and must be categorically rejected," Zhang said.

The need for true multilateralism is even greater in today's world. In the post-pandemic period, all countries should strengthen their solidarity under the banner of the United Nations, respect one another, trust others and be trustworthy, show goodwill, cooperate for mutual benefit, and work together for a better future, he said. 
Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, presides over the 60th biweekly consultation session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisory body convened a biweekly consultation session on Friday at which attendees contributed their suggestions on developing affordable child care.

Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, called for building a system of inclusive child-care services that is suitable for China's national conditions, development stage and Chinese culture.

Ten political advisors and special representatives spoke at the session, and close to 90 political advisors voiced their opinions via a mobile platform.

Recognizing the importance of child-care services in encouraging people to have children and alleviating the burden that child rearing places on families, attendees suggested scaling up government spending in the sector and including the services into the public services system.

Highlighting the fundamental role of families in child care, they called for increasing the supply of affordable child-care services with measures such as encouraging businesses, public institutions and residential communities to build child-care centers.

A service system for child care should cover both the urban and rural areas, attendees said, noting that special attention should be given to left-behind children and those living in difficulty in rural areas. 
BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- In his 1863 Gettysburg Address, the then U.S. President Abraham Lincoln expressed the hope that the government "of the people, by the people, for the people" shall not perish from the earth. However, the heroic figure in American history may not have expected that the United States today has fallen far short of his expectations.

"We lied, we cheated, we stole... It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment." This "famous saying" by the former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is perfect for describing American politicians who have been backpedaling and reneging on their promises.

The American-style democracy now has descended into a game of transferring interests and political donations almost seen as "legitimate bribery." Political polarization is becoming the U.S.'s new label, and "vetocracy" makes the country run into trouble. A Pew Research Center survey found that just 20 percent of Americans say they trust the federal government just about always, or most of the time, a sign of public disappointment.

DETERIORATING HUMAN RIGHTS

Domestically, the United States is witnessing a deteriorating human rights record. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the pandemic response in the country has been taken as a chip by the Republican and Democratic parties to attack each other, leaving people's health and lives unattended. As a result, the United States, as the country with the most developed medical system, has reported more than 80 million confirmed cases and a death toll of 986,019 as of Tuesday, said the U.S. Johns Hopkins University, ranking first globally.

Notorious for its double standard regarding human rights, the United States, on the one hand, often accuses other countries of arbitrary detention and forced labor on no solid ground. On the other hand, they never mention the abuses of prisoners in their own country. The "black sites" worldwide, including the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, have arbitrarily detained and tortured people without trials.

The wanton pressure upon other countries and interference in other countries' internal affairs by the United States have led to massive human rights disasters. Statistics show over the past nearly 20 years, the so-called anti-terror wars waged by the U.S. have cost more than 929,000 lives. The persisting warfare and turbulence in Afghanistan have made one-third of its population refugees, and 3.5 million Afghans have become displaced because of conflicts.

MOCKABLE DOUBLE STANDARD

Some U.S. politicians have constantly lowered their "bottom line of morality," as demonstrated by the U.S. decision to "make up for" victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and its inflaming Russia-Ukraine conflict for its military-industrial complex to reap from the warfare, among others.

Regarding the rules-based order, the United States has abided by it when its interests can be served and discarded it when they are not.

While claiming "the basic tenet that big countries cannot bully small countries" has been violated in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the United States seems to have forgotten what it has done. It waged attacks on Iraq without a mandate from the UN Security Council in 2003, resulting in casualties of several hundred thousand and more than a million displaced. The United States has wantonly imposed unilateral sanctions on Cuba over the years, despite UN resolutions calling for ending such economic blocks.

The world has seen all these illegal and cruel acts, and the United States attempts to whitewash them under the pretext of "maintaining the rules-based international order." What the U.S. politicians have done displays hypocrisy and double standards, making the country the biggest destabilizing element to world peace and stability. It is also the biggest threat to international order and the global rule of law.

HYPOCRISY, NOT DEMOCRACY

While U.S. politicians have been stuck in a quagmire of false democracy at home, they are still pointing fingers at other countries' political systems, exercising hegemony and bullying in the name of democracy. It has pushed for the neo-Monroe Doctrine in Latin America under the pretext of "promoting democracy," incited "color revolution" in Eurasia, and remotely controlled the "Arab Spring" in West Asia and North Africa.

In addition, under the "inspiration" of "the glory of the American experiment," the United States has arbitrarily set traps for or intimidated and coerced other countries, such as funding the White Helmets to fabricate evidence of Syria's chemical weapons.

The American politicians' dishonesty is rooted in their contempt for justice and disregard for faith to achieve short-term political goals by stealing concepts and confusing people. If the United States continues this way, it will only make itself an outcast by the international community and history. 
Photo taken on April 12, 2022 shows an exhibition displaying women-made handicrafts in Kabul, Afghanistan.(Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

KABUL, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Putting on display numerous hand-made purses, bags, shoes and embroidered women's clothing, Ferishta Hashimi, 40, wants to find more customers and boost her business.

"Organizing handicrafts exhibition and showcasing our products would be a great help," she said.

"Our products mostly are made of leather," Hashimi said. Her business has declined over the past months, and sometimes she just stayed at home, idling.

This is the first exhibition displaying women-made handicrafts held in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul after the Taliban takeover of the Central Asian country last August.

Like many economic activities in Afghanistan, Hashimi's business has felt the impact of the U.S. sanctions against Afghanistan by Washington freezing the assets belonging to the Afghan central bank. Now the handicrafts show raises hope that she could find new overseas markets.

"It is hopeful that I can sell my products to foreign countries in the future," said Hashimi.

With the support from the Ministry of Information and Culture of the Taliban-led caretaker government, the exhibition recently opened at the National Gallery. Of the 81 stalls set up in total, 40 are owned by women.

"I appreciate holding such exhibitions to support women and their economic activities," said another woman at the show who prefered to be anonymous.

"Women are part of the Afghan society, and they deserve support and should be encouraged to get education, to work and to contribute in rebuilding our war-torn country and stabilizing its fragile economy," she told Xinhua.

Although in today's Afghanistan women are still active in such sectors as health, business and education, girl students from seventh to 12th grades cannot attend school.

Chief spokesperson for the Taliban administration, Zabihullah Mujahid, has visited the exhibition and praised the women stall owners.

"Our sisters deserve appreciation and support, they should be encouraged and I am calling on our countrymen to buy the handicrafts and products made by our sisters," he said.

Ali Kohistani, a bookseller said he is very happy to see the handicrafts show held and will welcome more events of this kind. "Organizing such exhibitions raise hopes among people for the future and drive you to work," he said. 

Photo taken on April 12, 2022 shows an exhibition displaying women-made handicrafts in Kabul, Afghanistan.(Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

Photo taken on April 12, 2022 shows an exhibition displaying women-made handicrafts in Kabul, Afghanistan.(Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
* Three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship have completed their six-month space station mission and returned to Earth safely on Saturday.

* The mission marks that China has completed the verification of key technologies of its space station, and also sets a record for Chinese astronauts' duration in orbit.

* This year, China will complete the in-orbit construction of its space station.

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship lands successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, April 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship have completed their six-month space station mission and returned to Earth safely on Saturday.

The mission marks that China has completed the verification of key technologies of its space station, and also sets a record for Chinese astronauts' duration in orbit, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Shenzhou-13's return capsule, carrying astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 9:56 a.m. (Beijing Time).

The Shenzhou-13 manned mission was a complete success, the CMSA announced.

Astronaut Zhai Zhigang is out of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 spaceship at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

The trio were carried out one by one by ground workers and placed onto chairs in front of the capsule. They looked relaxed and waved to the ground crew.

"Welcome back home," people cheered for the trio and raised their cameras to capture the historic moment.

"It is the power and strength of our country that built the high-flying space station. I am proud of my great motherland," Zhai, the mission commander, told the state broadcaster CCTV in a live program.

Astronaut Wang Yaping is out of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 spaceship at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

Wang, first female to China's space station, said she is very happy to return to the motherland and wants to tell her 5-year-old daughter that "her stars-picking mom is back."

Ye, a newcomer to space, said that he has realized his dream of flying into space.

The return capsule separated from the spaceship's orbiting capsule at 9:06 a.m. under the command of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center. The braking engine of the return capsule was ignited at 9:30 a.m., followed by the separation of the return capsule from the propelling capsule.

After the return capsule landed successfully, the ground search team arrived at the landing site. The medical personnel confirmed that the astronauts were in good health.

Astronaut Ye Guangfu is out of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 spaceship at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

From separating from the space station core module to return to Earth, the journey took only over nine hours, the first time for a Chinese manned spacecraft to use the "rapid return mode." It shortened the flight mainly by reducing traveling circles around the orbit, according to the CMSA.

The Shenzhou-13 spaceship was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Oct. 16, 2021, and later docked with the space station core module Tianhe.

During their stay in Tianhe, the crew conducted a number of scientific and technological experiments, including manual remote operation and module transfer supported by the robotic arm.

They performed extravehicular activities (EVAs) twice during the mission, in November and December respectively.

The first EVAs, performed by Zhai and Wang, took approximately 6.5 hours. Wang's EVAs made her the country's first female astronaut to leave footprints in outer space.

Zhai and Ye carried out EVAs for the second time, completed tasks such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport in about six hours of EVAs.

The EVAs further tested the function and performance of the core module airlock cabin, extravehicular suit and mechanical arm, and assessed the technologies related to EVAs, the coordination of astronauts inside and outside the space station, and the coordination between space and Earth.

Students attend a livestreamed popular-science lecture given by Chinese astronauts from China's space station Tiangong, at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, capital of China, March 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

The crew members delivered two live classes from the space station, on Dec. 9 and March 23, respectively.

In the classes, they conducted various scientific experiments, such as the crystallization of supersaturated solution, a liquid bridge demonstration, water-oil separation and throwing objects under the zero-gravity condition, amazing numerous students on the ground.

In the second class, the trio expressed their expectations for the students on Earth. "We hope you will continue to gain scientific knowledge and explore the mysteries of science. The future space station is waiting for you guys," Wang said.

The six-month mission also saw Shenzhou-13 crew members celebrate traditional Chinese festivals in space. The trio became the first Chinese to spend the nation's most important festival -- the Chinese Lunar New Year -- in outer space.

They extended their Spring Festival greetings in a video released by the CMSA on New Year's Eve. They wished the motherland and all Chinese people prosperity.

Astronaut Wang Yaping receives flowers from her daughter on her arrival in Beijing, capital of China, April 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Tian Dingyu)

With five launches, including two crewed missions, China completed the technology verification phase of its space station program.

This year, China will complete the in-orbit construction of its space station. It has planned six launch missions, including the launching of two lab modules Mengtian and Wentian, two cargo crafts Tianzhou-4 and Tianzhou-5, and two crewed missions Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15.

(Video reporters: Li Guoli, Ma Yuanchi, Zhao Shitong, Li Zhenyu, Zou Jianpu, Da Rihan, Yang Zhigang, Tian Dingyu, Yu Jia; video editors: Yang Zhixiang, Wang Houyuan, Yin Le, Wei Yin, Peng Ying)
Russia expelled 18 European Union (EU) diplomats on Friday in a retaliatory move, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry had summoned head of the EU Delegation to Russia Markus Ederer in a protest over the EU's decision to declare 19 Russian diplomats "personae non gratae" earlier this month, the statement said.

"In response to the hostile actions of the European Union, 18 employees working at the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared 'personae non gratae' and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," the ministry said.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that 13 top officials of Britain, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have been barred from entering Russia.

"This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy," the ministry said in a statement.

British Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace are also blacklisted among others.

The ministry said the entry ban will be expanded in the near future to more British politicians and parliamentarians who pursue an anti-Russian policy. 
Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects the Xiong'an New Area in north China's Hebei Province, April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

XIONG'AN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng has stressed high standards and quality in building the Xiong'an New Area, which is expected to help relieve Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the country's capital.

Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while inspecting the area in north China's Hebei Province on Friday.

"In the past five years, the planning and construction of the Xiong'an New Area has achieved major progress in the initial stage under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and with the concerted efforts of relevant parties," Han said.

He urged new progress in building the area, and underscored adherence to the target of relieving Beijing of functions that are not essential to its role as the capital when building the city and making plans for bringing in projects.

Efforts should be made to prioritize ecological conservation and boost green development in building the area, Han said.

China announced its plan to establish the Xiong'an New Area on April 1, 2017 to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. 

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects the Xiong'an New Area in north China's Hebei Province, April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
Students of Confucius Institute participate in the UN Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

UN Chinese Language Day celebrations would inject much-needed momentum into promoting the Chinese language in Ethiopia and boost the people-to-people ties between the two countries, said Emebet Mulugeta, the academic vice president of Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.



ADDIS ABABA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed to promote the Chinese language and culture.

The Chinese Language Day celebrations, which were jointly organized by the AAU and the Confucius Institute at the AAU, are said to serve as an important platform for creating awareness of the Chinese language in particular and Chinese culture in general to Ethiopians.

In welcoming participants, Academic Vice President of AAU Emebet Mulugeta said the celebrations would inject much-needed momentum into promoting the Chinese language in Ethiopia and boost the people-to-people ties between the two countries.

Academic Vice President of Addis Ababa University Emebet Mulugeta speaks during the UN Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

"Beyond the celebrations, it has a lot of implications. Learning the Chinese language means learning the Chinese culture, expanding cultural exchanges, expanding business and expanding academic exchanges. It has a very important implication," she said. "While celebrating this day, we also try to see the broader perspective of learning the Chinese language."

A series of cultural activities were held, in which Chinese language students at the Confucius Institute at the AAU demonstrated various elements of the Chinese culture and language, including the calligraphy, paper-cutting, Chinese traditional costumes, and Peking Opera facial masks.

Students wearing Peking Opera masks attend the UN Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

In addition, members of the 23rd Chinese medical team to Ethiopia demonstrated traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture and cupping to a crowd of the AAU community who gathered together inside the premises of the AAU main campus in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Members of the 23rd Chinese medical team to Ethiopia demonstrate traditional Chinese medicine during the UN Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Amenuael Alemayehu, dean of the College of Humanities, Language Studies, Journalism and Communications at the AAU, stressed the celebrations would serve to further promote the Chinese language and culture across the East African country.

"The Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University is one of the vibrant institutes we have today. It is the only foreign language institute in our college to attract students every year," he said.

He emphasized that amid the growing demand for Chinese language studies among young Ethiopian students, the Confucius Institute at the AAU in partnership with the AAU will welcome new students for the Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) as the first MA program in the Chinese language for the next academic year.

He said celebrating Chinese Language Day will further promote the Chinese language in Ethiopia.

"I believe this international Chinese Language Day (celebrations) will also help the institute to be more visible; it will increase the awareness of students within and outside the institute. People can learn about the Chinese language and culture from such events," said Alemayehu.

Melaku Mekonene, a third-year Chinese language student of the Confucius Institute at the AAU, said the celebrations showcased the growing popularity of the Chinese language in Ethiopia, Africa's second populous nation.

"Today we have seen the huge significance given to the Chinese language here in Ethiopia. As a Chinese language student, this gives me great pleasure due to the growing future prospects," Mekonene said. "I am certain that with the growing significance given to the Chinese language here, more and more students and the general public will learn the language in the years to come."

Yohanis Elias, another Chinese language student, said such celebrations would serve to further deepen students' awareness of Chinese culture.

"We all are happy to attend this Chinese Language Day celebration events. It also helped us to know more about Chinese culture, such as the Chinese dressing style, costume and traditional Chinese medicine," he said.

Students of Confucius Institute participate in the UN Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Che Zhaoguang, the cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, said the celebrations will have huge significance as language plays a very important role in deepening and enhancing Ethiopia-China ties.

"Chinese is one of the official languages of the United Nations and in recent years more and more people around the world are learning the Chinese language to better understand contemporary China," Che said. "We believe the future cooperation between our two countries in the fields of education, culture, tourism, and economy, among others, will be surely promoted."

The Confucius Institute at the AAU, in collaboration with its partners, commemorated the Chinese Language Day in line with the decision by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 to mark the Chinese Language Day on April 20. The decision envisaged celebrating multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as promoting equal use of all six of the UN's official working languages throughout the organization's structure and activities.

April 20 was chosen as the Chinese Language Day to pay tribute to Cangjie, an imaginary figure in traditional Chinese lore regarded as the inventor of Chinese characters. 
RTHK: Thai rebels take responsibility for Ramadan bombings

Thai rebels sidelined from peace talks claimed responsibility on Saturday for deadly bombings in the country's Muslim-majority deep south that broke a Ramadan holiday truce agreed between the main rebel group and the government.

The two explosions on Friday, which killed a civilian and injured three policemen, were carried out by "G5", a militant faction of the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo), the organisations president, Kasturi Mahkota, said.

More than 7,300 people have been killed since 2004 in fighting between the government and shadowy groups seeking independence for the Malay-Muslim provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and parts of Songkhla. The area was part of the Pattani sultanate that Thailand annexed in a 1909 treaty with Britain.

Mahkota said by telephone the blasts in Pattani province represent "business as usual" for Pulo, left out of talks between the government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN). Those parties agreed two weeks ago to stop violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends on May 14.

A spokesman for the governments security forces in the south, Colonel Kiatisak Neewong, said without naming Pulo that a group not included in the peace talks was likely responsible for the bombings.

The Thai team at the peace talks and the BRN both declined to comment.

"The talks are not inclusive enough and it is going too fast," said Kasturi, whose group objects to any agreement that would exclude the possibility of independence from Buddhist-majority Thailand.

The talks seek a political solution to the decades-long conflict under the framework of the Thai constitution. They have been frequently disrupted since being initiated in 2013. The latest round started in 2019. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-04-16. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
CHENGDU, April 16 (Xinhua) -- A freight train loaded with Dell-branded computer parts departed from Chengdu International Railway Port Friday in the southwestern province of Sichuan, headed for Vietnam.

This is the first direct train from a western Chinese city to Vietnam. The whole journey is about 1,841 km, of which about 130 km is outside China. The train will cross China's border via Pingxiang in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China, and is expected to arrive at the destination station in Vietnam seven days later.

Since the beginning of this year, to meet demand from manufacturing enterprises, international freight trains from Chengdu shipping goods to Vietnam have shifted from rail-sea combined transportation to solely railway transportation. The journey requires a track-gauge change on the China-Vietnam border.

"After the launch of the freight train service, the transport time from Chengdu to Vietnam was shortened by two to three days, while avoiding maritime transportation risks, reducing the cost borne by enterprises, and providing support for expanding the Southeast Asian market," said sources with Dell. 
TAIPEI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Taiwan region has recorded 1,351 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,199 locally transmitted cases and 152 imported ones, said the island's disease monitoring agency on Saturday.

As of Friday, the region had reported a total of 7,752 local infections this year, the agency noted, adding that about 84 percent of Taiwan's population had received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 79 percent got two shots.

To date, Taiwan has reported 33,205 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 23,551 were local infections. 
Students wash their hands at the Khlaing Primary School in Bavel district of Battambang province, Cambodia, April 7, 2022. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

The Amity Foundation, a Chinese voluntary organization, has since 2019 provided scholarships to students and helped build basic infrastructure such as toilets and handwashing facilities at some Cambodian primary schools.

BATTAMBANG, Cambodia, April 16 (Xinhua) -- A shortage of school materials and appropriate toilets and sanitary facilities used to be the key challenges for some primary schools here in the far-flung area of Bavel district, roughly 90 km west of the provincial town.

But the issues have been gradually addressed since 2019 after the Amity Foundation, a Chinese voluntary organization, has provided scholarships to students and helped build basic infrastructure such as toilets and handwashing facilities at those schools through Cambodian non-government organization Life With Dignity (LWD).

LWD's area program coordinator Chan Vanna said the Amity Foundation has provided scholarships to 310 poor students and some budget for the construction of toilets, handwashing facilities, and water systems at three schools in northwest Battambang province's Bavel district.

"The scholarships include learning materials, anti-COVID-19 hygiene kits, and some cash for those poor students," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The Amity Foundation has helped improve educational standards in rural areas, and has changed the future of rural children in Cambodia, Vanna said.

"I hope that in the future, the Amity Foundation will continue supporting Life With Dignity in the education sector at poor schools in other rural areas," he said.

Aerial photo taken on April 7, 2022 shows the Khlaing Primary School in Bavel district of Battambang province, Cambodia. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

Khong Theang, principal of the Khlaing Primary School, said like other rural schools, his school faced many difficulties such as a lack of electricity, teaching staff and school materials that caused the school's academic standards to fall behind the national average.

"But since 2019, the learning and living environment of the students and teachers has gradually been improved after the Amity Foundation, in cooperation with the Life with Dignity, has subsequently supported our school through providing school materials and financial resources as well as anti-COVID-19 hygiene kits," he told Xinhua.

"The Chinese charity has brought them new hope and I believe that when these children grow up, they will become valuable human resources for their families and the country and will be the messengers of Cambodia-China friendship," Theang said.

Students stand up in class at the Khlaing Primary School in Bavel district of Battambang province, Cambodia, April 7, 2022. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

Phon Phiruon, principal of the Prey Thom Primary School, said previously, students were difficult to find places for pissing or defecating because of the shortage of toilets, so sometimes, they had to ask school neighbors for using their toilets.

"After receiving assistance from the Chinese organization, students are now convenient, they do not need to vie for toilets during the break ... and they no longer need to ask school neighbors for using their toilets," she said.

"And for the handwashing facilities, they're good, there are bars of soap and water for washing hands, so students can maintain good hygiene every day."

Tuon Kanhchaneath, a sixth-grade student at the Prey Thom Primary School, said in the past, she did not have adequate learning materials because of poverty, but with the support from the Chinese charity, now, she has sufficient school materials.

"I'm very excited to receive these learning materials, toilets, sanitary facilities and water tanks from the Amity Foundation, and this donation is very valuable and has brought us smiles and new hope," the 11-year-old schoolgirl said.

Sou Lyhong, another sixth-grade student at the Prey Thom Primary School, said the donation truly shows the kindness of the Chinese people towards rural Cambodian children and that he will remember this kindness in mind forever.

"I promise to study hard to fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor so that I will be able to help others and I will also be an ambassador of Cambodia-China friendship when I grow up," the 11-year-old schoolboy said.
MANILA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- A car negotiating a sharp curve plunged off a northern Philippine mountain road into a 100-meter ravine Saturday morning, killing four people, police said.

The police said the victims were all family members -- a couple and their children aged 27 and 12. The family was reportedly heading back to their home from another town when their car fell off the road into a river in Tabuk city in Kalinga province.

Initial investigation showed that the father was driving the car. 
The energy and food prices in Senegal have continued to rise amid a series of global crises, pushing basics out of reach for many during Ramadan.

In Senegalese capital Dakar, many people complained that prices had risen too much, especially during Ramadan, when food consumption increased.

The Senegalese President Macky Sall has called for a general mobilization to further increase agricultural, livestock and fishing products to deal with risk of food shortages and soaring prices.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Sales of Chinese car brands jumped 81.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of the year (Q1), continuing to gain a larger share in the domestic market, industry data showed.

More than 2.1 million Chinese-brand passenger cars were sold across the country in the period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The market share of these brands accounted for 41.5 percent in the Chinese market during the period, up 1.4 percentage points from one year earlier.

In March alone, sales of Chinese brand passenger vehicles surged 71.4 percent year on year to 745,000 units, accounting for 39.8 percent of the domestic market. 
UNITED NATIONS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday voiced grave concern over the deteriorating security situation in Jerusalem and called for efforts to de-escalate the tension, said his spokesman.

Palestinians clashed with Israeli police forces on Friday at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, leaving more than 100 people wounded.

The secretary-general called on leaders on all sides to help calm the situation. Provocations on the holy site, sacred to both Jews and Muslims, must stop to prevent further escalation, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement.

Guterres reiterated his call for the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem to be upheld and respected, said the statement.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland is in close contact with key regional partners and the parties to calm the situation. Guterres reiterated his commitment to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements, said the statement.

The tension between Israel and the Palestinians has flared up in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past three weeks as the Jewish festival of Passover overlaps with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 
In this combo photo, astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu (from L to R) are out of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 spaceship at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 16, 2022. (Xinhua)

China's Shenzhou-13 mission "spent a national-record six months in orbit," with Wang Yaping becoming "the first Chinese woman ever to conduct a spacewalk," U.S. space and astronomy news website Space.com reported.

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The success of the Shenzhou-13 mission represents a major victory of China's plan to explore space, experts from different countries have said, calling for closer international cooperation on science and technology.

Three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship have completed their six-month space station mission and returned to Earth safely on Saturday.

The mission marks that China has completed the verification of key technologies of its space station, and also sets a record for Chinese astronauts' duration in orbit, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

China's Shenzhou-13 mission "spent a national-record six months in orbit," with Wang Yaping becoming "the first Chinese woman ever to conduct a spacewalk," U.S. space and astronomy news website Space.com reported.

The astronauts, or taikonauts, performed two spacewalks, conducted more than 20 different science experiments and delivered two live educational lectures in space, the report said.

Students watch a livestreamed popular-science lecture given by Chinese astronauts from China's space station Tiangong, at No. 70 middle school in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Calling the success of the astronauts a major win for China's space exploration program, Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, pointed out that as a major developing country, China's stride in space science is an inspiration to the larger global south.

By building its own space station, China will expand its scientific reach, Adhere said, adding that China's space exploration program is also open to other developing countries.

For example, Beijing is working with African countries across a range of space exploration themes, the scholar noted. "Such exchange programs have significantly boosted capacity for space development programs on the continent."

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship lands successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, April 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan)

Lameck Odada, an economist at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, noted that China's achievements in space station construction and space exploration are extraordinary, and contribute to human efforts in space exploration.

Odada expressed the expectation that China would share its breakthroughs in scientific research and technology and continue to strengthen cooperation with other countries.

Saying the mission is "definitely a success," Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University, told Xinhua that it is "important to move forward with a long-term space station and full operation."

This mission has shown that China's astronauts "are capable of long-term space flight, which makes Earth's future goals and plans for the Moon and beyond exciting," Tucker said. 
Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an (R) checks the growth of rice seedlings at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an checks the growth of rice seedlings at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an answers a phone call from farmers as he checks the growth of rice seedlings at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an walks at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an checks rice seeds at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an checks rice seedlings at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an checks the growth of rice seedlings at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Rice breeding expert Yu Fu'an checks the growth of rice seedlings at a rice breeding base in Tianjin, north China, April 15, 2022.

Yu Fu'an, 56, has been devoted in research on rice breeding for more than 30 years. Yu's team has successfully cultivated many new rice varieties and was awarded the grand prize in Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award recently. (Xinhua/Li Ran)




BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The China Society for Human Rights Studies on Friday released a report, exposing growing anti-Asian racism in the United States.

The United States still takes pride in recognizing itself as a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant country, the report says, noting that Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are subject to discrimination and violations in various forms and cannot fully enjoy their human rights.

The report consists of three parts: Asian Americans facing rise in racist attacks amid the coronavirus pandemic; racism against Asian Americans not unique to the coronavirus pandemic; and reasons behind the rising anti-Asian sentiment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The report attributes the rising anti-Asian sentiment to some U.S. politicians' racist coronavirus attacks on China; the effects of white supremacy; "the model minority" label shackling Asian Americans; the antagonism between Asian Americans and other U.S. ethnic minorities; and some U.S. politicians' actions that seriously undermine China-U.S. relations.

It can be inferred that in the post-pandemic era, even if the anti-Asian racism may subside, the racial attacks against Chinese Americans will continue to rise under the influence of anti-China political manipulation by U.S. politicians, the report says, calling for sustained attention of the international community to the issue.





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The return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship lands successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, April 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan)

"The China Manned Space Agency is well on the way to those goals, and this mission has shown they are capable of long-term space flight, which makes Earth's future goals and plans for the Moon and beyond exciting," an Australian scholar said.

CANBERRA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-13 mission has been a success, said an Australian scholar in astrophysics.

Dr. Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University (ANU), told Xinhua that the task was "important to move forward with a long-term space station and full operation."

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on Saturday. Tucker noted that the Shenzhou-13 mission had the big task of getting the Tianhe module and the Tiangong Space Station ready, with spacewalks and even video lessons to school kids on Earth.

The astronauts were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship and entered Tianhe on Oct. 16, 2021. They had lived and worked in the space station complex for 183 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts on a single mission, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Students attend a livestreamed popular-science lecture given by Chinese astronauts from China's space station Tiangong, at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, capital of China, March 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

They have completed multiple tasks over the past few months, including two extravehicular activities, two live science lectures, and a number of sci-tech experiments and application projects. They also used manual teleoperation equipment for the first time, operating the cargo craft and the space station for rendezvous and docking.

"It was great that it went relatively smooth and definitely a success," said Tucker.

"Six months has now become the normal length for a mission on the International Space Station and so this mission is on par with the Russians and Americans," he added.

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan. 8, 2022 shows the Shenzhou-13 astronauts in China's space station core module conducting the manual rendezvous and docking experiment with the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

According to him, over the next few missions, finalizing the full operation of Tiangong is critical. This will allow for years of science and operation."

In a previous interview, Tucker has said that as the International Space Station started to show its age, it would be important that Tiangong is operating and can perform science into the future.

Talking about his expectation for China's development in aerospace, he said it was the Moon.

"CMSA is well on the way to those goals, and this mission has shown they are capable of long-term space flight, which makes Earth's future goals and plans for the Moon and beyond exciting," Tucker said.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta (R) and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel attend a partnership signing ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 14, 2022. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)

Local reactions to a Rwanda-Britain deal to move asylum-seekers attempting to enter the United Kingdom to Rwanda for resettlement were mostly positive, with some expressing reservations.



KIGALI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Local reactions to a Rwanda-Britain deal to move asylum-seekers attempting to enter the United Kingdom to Rwanda for resettlement were mostly positive, with some expressing reservations.

The agreement was signed by British Home Secretary Priti Patel and Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Thursday.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta (R) shakes hands with UK Home Secretary Priti Patel at a partnership signing ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 14, 2022. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)

"I believe welcoming asylum-seekers from the UK will change some people's views and negative comments about Rwanda's human rights record," Ismael Buchanan, senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science at the University of Rwanda, told Xinhua.

"The choice of sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda has logic in it," he said. "First of all, look at how far Rwanda has managed to welcome and integrate migrants from different parts of the world, including from Libya, Eritrea, and Burundi."

"This demonstrates Rwanda's hospitality," Buchanan said.

Rwanda hosts nearly 130,000 refugees from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, as well as Afghanistan, and migrants evacuated from Libya.

"Rwanda has committed herself to protecting vulnerable people around the world and to offering safe haven to those in need. This is what Rwanda is all about," Buchanan said.

Noel Barakamfitiye, a businesswoman in Kigali, said the resettlement program would "somehow" meet the needs of the at-risk people trying to settle in the UK.

"I welcome Rwanda's efforts for those whose lives are in danger to be evacuated. Saving lives should be a priority," she told Xinhua.

The United Nations refugee agency said Thursday that it remains "firmly opposed to arrangements that seek to transfer refugees and asylum-seekers to third countries in the absence of sufficient safeguards and standards."

Buchanan, however, said the refugees in Rwanda "enjoy a conducive environment and their rights are protected under various international laws."

Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, a researcher on politics and public affairs, described the uproar about the relocation plan as a "storm in a teacup."

"I think that Rwanda is capable of hosting the asylum-seekers from the UK," he said. "It is not like the asylum-seekers will be brought and locked up in jail; they will be hosted for as long as they wish to stay; those who don't want to stay will be free to leave."

Golooba-Mutebi underlined that those who criticize the relocation on the basis of Rwanda's human rights record are doing so "out of ignorance of what they are talking about."

"Why did no one make noise when Afghan refugees were brought to Rwanda or those from Libya? Several evacuees of various nationalities from Libya have been resettled to third countries; others are still in Rwanda," he said. "Can they produce a single refugee whose rights have been violated?"

The opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda said while it supports welcoming refugees who have chosen Rwanda as their first destination, it does not support receiving those who had chosen to go to the UK or other European countries.

"We think that rich countries including the UK should not shift their international obligation to receive refugees and transfer them to third countries, just because they have the money to influence and enforce their will," the party said in a statement, adding that the move is not sustainable.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Biruta described the deal as a truly unique approach to addressing the global migration crisis by tackling root causes.

Rwanda and Britain have not mentioned how many asylum-seekers will be resettled, but under the five-year program, migrants from the UK will be integrated into communities across Rwanda, where they will be entitled to full protection under Rwandan law, equal access to employment, and enrolment in healthcare and social care services.

UK Home Secretary Patel said the relocation applies to illegal entrants to the UK who are exploited by criminal gangs to help them into Europe through desperate journeys.

The British government said the plan is aimed to end illegal people smuggling across the English Channel.

Britain is offering an upfront investment of 120 million pounds (about 156.9 million U.S. dollars) to facilitate the implementation of the agreement, Patel said.

The funding will be injected into opportunities for the development of migrants and Rwandans in areas of secondary qualifications, vocational and skills training, language lessons, and higher education, according to a joint statement.

Media reports said more than 28,000 migrants and refugees reached Britain from mainland Europe on boats last year. 




In a special chorus performance to celebrate the 100-day of the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan National Theatre's Children's Choir, consisting of 80 Nicaraguan pupils, sang "Sparkling Red Star" and "Ode to the Motherland" in Chinese.

Since China resumed diplomatic relations with Nicaragua last December, bilateral relations have developed rapidly, with pragmatic cooperation constantly expanding.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service 


ADEN, Yemen, April 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 10 members of al-Qaida's branch in Yemen escaped from a prison in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadhramout, a government official told Xinhua on Friday.

"The prison break occurred late Thursday night when a number of prisoners attacked wardens in a prison in Seiyun city," the local official said on condition of anonymity.

The 10 al-Qaida members who managed to break prison have been charged with launching terror operations in Yemen, he added.

The pro-government forces are carrying out a huge manhunt for the fugitives, the official told Xinhua.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula militant group has claimed responsibility for many high-profile attacks against newly-recruited security troops, in an attempt to exploit years of conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence in the war-ravaged country. 
BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China's express logistics sector slowed down last month, data from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed.

The index tracking courier logistics stood at 98.3 percent in March, down 2.1 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the federation.

It attributed the slowdown to the shrinking market demand and rises in operating costs during the period, and the disruptions to transportation and employment due to COVID-19.

Specifically, the sub-index for business courier logistics dropped 1.3 percentage points from the previous month, while cross-border courier logistics slipped 1.2 percentage points.

China's manufacturing activity also became less brisk in March, with the sub-index tracking manufacturing business express logistics standing at 96.5 percent, down 5.4 percentage points month on month, the data showed.

Based on the statistics of business courier services, the express logistics index reflects the development of the country's industrial activities and express logistics sector. 
Aerial photo taken on April 13, 2022 shows staff members examining a Buddha statue at the Fengxian Temple of Longmen Grottoes during a restoration project in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province. A restoration project is now underway at the Fengxian Temple, the largest cave of Longmen Grottoes.

Water seepage and perilous rock bases are the two factors that threaten the existence of cultural relics in the grottoes. New technologies have been adopted in the restoration, such as ground penetrating radar detection and protective nets design.

This has been the first large-scale restoration project of the temple since 1970s. The restoration started in December 2021 and has so far completed about 70 percent. The whole project is expected to finish in June this year. (Xinhua/Li An)

Aerial photo taken on April 14, 2022 shows the restoration site of the Fengxian Temple of Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province. A restoration project is now underway at the Fengxian Temple, the largest cave of Longmen Grottoes.

Water seepage and perilous rock bases are the two factors that threaten the existence of cultural relics in the grottoes. New technologies have been adopted in the restoration, such as ground penetrating radar detection and protective nets design.

This has been the first large-scale restoration project of the temple since 1970s. The restoration started in December 2021 and has so far completed about 70 percent. The whole project is expected to finish in June this year. (Xinhua/Li An)

Aerial photo taken on April 14, 2022 shows the restoration site of the Fengxian Temple of Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province. A restoration project is now underway at the Fengxian Temple, the largest cave of Longmen Grottoes.

Water seepage and perilous rock bases are the two factors that threaten the existence of cultural relics in the grottoes. New technologies have been adopted in the restoration, such as ground penetrating radar detection and protective nets design.

This has been the first large-scale restoration project of the temple since 1970s. The restoration started in December 2021 and has so far completed about 70 percent. The whole project is expected to finish in June this year. (Xinhua/Li An)

A staff member surveys a Buddha statue at the Fengxian Temple of Longmen Grottoes during a restoration project in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, April 14, 2022. A restoration project is now underway at the Fengxian Temple, the largest cave of Longmen Grottoes.

Water seepage and perilous rock bases are the two factors that threaten the existence of cultural relics in the grottoes. New technologies have been adopted in the restoration, such as ground penetrating radar detection and protective nets design.

This has been the first large-scale restoration project of the temple since 1970s. The restoration started in December 2021 and has so far completed about 70 percent. The whole project is expected to finish in June this year. (Xinhua/Li An)

Staff members examine a Buddha statue at the Fengxian Temple of Longmen Grottoes during a restoration project in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, April 14, 2022. A restoration project is now underway at the Fengxian Temple, the largest cave of Longmen Grottoes.

Water seepage and perilous rock bases are the two factors that threaten the existence of cultural relics in the grottoes. New technologies have been adopted in the restoration, such as ground penetrating radar detection and protective nets design.

This has been the first large-scale restoration project of the temple since 1970s. The restoration started in December 2021 and has so far completed about 70 percent. The whole project is expected to finish in June this year. (Xinhua/Li An)

A staff member surveys a Buddha statue at the Fengxian Temple of Longmen Grottoes during a restoration project in Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, April 14, 2022. A restoration project is now underway at the Fengxian Temple, the largest cave of Longmen Grottoes.

Water seepage and perilous rock bases are the two factors that threaten the existence of cultural relics in the grottoes. New technologies have been adopted in the restoration, such as ground penetrating radar detection and protective nets design.

This has been the first large-scale restoration project of the temple since 1970s. The restoration started in December 2021 and has so far completed about 70 percent. The whole project is expected to finish in June this year. (Xinhua/Li An)
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard rescue residents from the flood in a town in Capiz Province, the Philippines, on April 12, 2022. (Philippine Coast Guard/Handout via Xinhua)

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that 164 died in the central Philippines and three in the southern Philippines, and added that there are 110 more missing in the central Philippines.

MANILA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the landslides and flooding spawned by tropical storm Megi has risen to 167, with 110 still missing, the government said on Saturday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that 164 died in the central Philippines and three in the southern Philippines. The agency, which culls reports from the provinces affected by disasters, added that there are 110 more missing in the central Philippines.

Megi dumped rains in the central and southern Philippine regions before and after it hit land on April 10, inundating many areas and setting off landslides in several villages in Baybay City and Abuyog town in Leyte province.

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard rescue residents from the flood in a town in Capiz Province, the Philippines, on April 12, 2022. (Philippine Coast Guard/Handout via Xinhua)

On Friday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visited the devastated province and handed relief goods to the survivors. He conducted an aerial inspection of the villages buried by mudslides.

The central Philippines is in the typhoon alley and usually the gateway of typhoons to the country. Landslides and flash floods are common across the Philippines during the rainy season, especially when typhoons hit.

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, mainly due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire and Pacific typhoon belt. On average, this archipelagic country experiences 20 typhoons every year, some of which are intense and destructive. Megi is the first storm to batter the Southeast Asian country this year.
Did you know, two years ago, China released a master plan to transform Hainan into a globally influential free trade port by the middle of the century? As President Xi Jinping visited the island province this week, we explore what's been achieved so far.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service








File photo shows the exhibition booth of New Zealand at the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China. (New Zealand Trade and Enterprise/Handout via Xinhua)

The upgrade protocols not only further demonstrate the vitality, resilience and potential of bilateral trade cooperation, but also showcase the two countries' common commitment to working together in support of multilateralism and free trade.

WELLINGTON, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Loaded with over 5,000 tons of fresh SunGold Kiwifruit, the container ship Star Spirit for Zespri arrived at Damaiyu Port in Zhejiang province, east China early this week.

Damaiyu Port will become a new entry for Zespri export to China. "This is the first of over 20 planned charter vessels to China this season," said Zespri Director of External Relations Michael Fox.

New Zealand's Fiordland Lobster company is preparing the promotions for the upcoming China's National Day Golden Week in October as they know the valued lobster consumers are mainly from some specific Chinese cities.

"We're optimistic that it (the lobster consumption) will be again this year," said General Manager of Fiordland Lobster Andrew Harvey.

A Kiwi lobster. (Photo provided by Fiodland Lobster Company)

The Upgraded Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and New Zealand came into force on April 7, 2022.

It is the consensus for officials and business people from both sides that FTA upgraded provisions brings facilitation and benefits to trade, especially in terms of time and costs for New Zealand exporters in specific areas.

Tony Browne, former New Zealand ambassador to China praised FTA and the upgraded provisions as one of the highlights of bilateral relationship.

"This upgrade is much more than tariff or quantity of trade. It is about facilitation. It is so crucial to exporters from both sides when making the passage of goods through borders much smoother," Tony told Xinhua.

By quoting the bilateral FTA "an edge-leading and deliverable one", Huang Yuefeng, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy to New Zealand said the upgrade protocol further boosts the bilateral trade and better support cooperation on emerging trade and economic issues important to both sides.

"Despite severe challenges posed by COVID-19, business communities of our two countries worked together to overcome difficulties, which fully showcases the solid foundation and strong resilience of bilateral economic and trade cooperation," Huang said, adding China has become one of the most importantly strategic markets for many New Zealand companies.

Zespri revealed that around 25 percent of the value of kiwifruit is shipped to the Chinese mainland every year.

"For Zespri, our fruit is kept under safe cool chain conditions throughout the Customs clearance process and the existing process is very strong, helping ensure our kiwifruit gets to consumers in premium condition," Michael Fox said.

People wearing face masks are seen in a supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand, Aug. 19, 2021. (Photo by Zhao Gang/Xinhua)

To Fonterra, New Zealand's dairy giant, figures released show that Fonterra Greater China created more than 600 jobs in China, and the revenue from Greater China Fonterra accounts for over one third of Fonterra's global revenue for the 2021 Financial Year.

"Fonterra welcomes the entry into force of the upgrade to the New Zealand-China FTA," Justine Arroll, Fonterra general manager of Trade Strategy & Stakeholder Affairs commented, adding that the remaining safeguards for skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder and concentrated cream to be completely removed on Jan. 1, 2024, at which point all New Zealand dairy will enter China duty and safeguard free.

Meat products are seen on shelves at a supermarket in Wellington, New Zealand on April 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

China serves as the largest export market for New Zealand's dairy, meat and woods products. China is also the largest source of trade surplus for New Zealand. Huang pointed out the upgrade protocols not only further demonstrate the vitality, resilience and potential of bilateral trade cooperation, but also showcase the two countries' common commitment to working together in support of multilateralism and free trade.

From Tony Browne, the trade tie between the two countries remains crucial in the post-COVID era. "The fact that China is still New Zealand largest trading partner isn't going to change anytime soon. I look forward to seeing more regular contacts between the peoples of the two countries in the post COVID time."
MOSCOW, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia expelled 18 European Union (EU) diplomats on Friday in a retaliatory move, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry had summoned head of the EU Delegation to Russia Markus Ederer in a protest over the EU's decision to declare 19 Russian diplomats "personae non gratae" earlier this month, the statement said.

"In response to the hostile actions of the European Union, 18 employees working at the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared 'personae non gratae' and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," the ministry said. 
BEIRUT, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's security forces on Saturday thwarted an attempt to smuggle 20 Syrian refugees out of Lebanon by sea, the National News Agency reported.

The 20 refugees were arrested on a boat in the Lebanese territorial waters off the coast of Arida, a village in northern Lebanon, according to security forces.

The Syrian nationals, who were trying to flee Lebanon illegally, were detained and handed over to authorities for investigation and other legal procedures, said the report.

Syrian refugees in Lebanon have attempted to escape the crisis-ridden country over the past several months, seeking to enter Europe. 
HONG KONG, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong on Friday launched a string of activities to promote national security education to raise the awareness of the Hong Kong people of safeguarding national security.

April 15 marks the second National Security Education Day in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) after the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong. In view of the local COVID-19 situation, the publicity and promotion activities were conducted mainly through online platforms.

Chief Executive of the HKSAR Carrie Lam told a press conference that the HKSAR government attaches great importance to promoting national security education and will mobilize the entire society to participate in related activities.

Lam stressed that it is everyone's responsibility to safeguard national security and the HKSAR government will strive to enhance Hong Kong people's awareness of national security and law-abidingness.

In support of the National Security Education Day this year, the Civil Service College (CSC) of the HKSAR launched a series of on-line learning resources on the theme of national security to enhance civil servants' understanding of the important subjects of national security and the national security law in Hong Kong.

Patrick Nip, secretary for the Civil Service of the HKSAR government, said that as civil servants are the backbone of the HKSAR government, it is incumbent upon them to acquire an accurate understanding of the national security law in Hong Kong, enhance awareness of safeguarding national security and act in full accordance with the HKSAR government in discharging their duty to safeguard national security.

Under the theme of "Uphold National Security, Safeguard Our Home", the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR released a five-minute special program on the National Security Education Day.

The committee hopes to create a positive atmosphere of national security, enhance the capacity to fend off national security risks, deepen public understanding of the Constitution, the HKSAR Basic Law and the national security law in Hong Kong.

April 15 marks China's seventh National Security Education Day. 
ULAN BATOR, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The regional final of the 15th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for secondary school students in Mongolia was held here Saturday.

This year's competition was organized with the theme "Fly High with Chinese."

During the final round of the competition, a total of 15 finalists from schools across the country showcased their skills of Chinese language and culture through speeches, quiz and cultural performances.

Enkhee Narangerel, a 10th-grade pupil from a secondary school of the northern Mongolian province of Darkhan-Uul, won the contest. 
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a press conference following his landslide victory in the April 3 general elections in Budapest, Hungary, April 6, 2022. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

After all the ballots were counted, including vote by mail, Fidesz-KDNP received 54.13 percent of the votes, the opposition alliance 34.44 percent, while Mi Hazank got 5.88 percent, just slipping over the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter the Parliament.



BUDAPEST, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The final results of Hungary's parliamentary elections were published Saturday by Hungary's National Election Office(NVI), confirming the landslide victory of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition.

The Fidesz-KDNP coalition will take 135 of the 199 seats in Hungary's parliament, NVI informed on Saturday, after counting the last votes cast in the Parliamentary elections held on April 3.

The opposition alliance, consisting of the Democratic Coalition, Jobbik, LMP, Momentum Movement, Hungarian Socialist Party and Dialogue for Hungary, received 57 seats, one more than immediately after the initial count.

The opposition parties, spanning a wide political spectrum, have decided to unite with the aim of having more chances at unseating the government of Prime Minister Orban, who secured his fifth, and fourth consecutive election triumph two weeks ago.

Staff members count ballots at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, on April 3, 2022. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

The far-right Mi Hazank Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement) got six seats, one fewer than the count right after the Sunday vote showed.

The representative of the National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary secured a single seat in parliament.

NVI's final count determines how many seats each party is going to get, but the parties have a few weeks to decide who will get the seats, as some candidates appeared on the list for symbolic reasons only.

Parties will have to find replacements for these candidates before May 2, when the newly elected Parliament will hold its first session.

Voters fill in their ballots at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, on April 3, 2022. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

After all the ballots were counted, including vote by mail, Fidesz-KDNP received 54.13 percent of the votes, the opposition alliance 34.44 percent, while Mi Hazank got 5.88 percent, just slipping over the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter the Parliament.

The final turnout, including the votes by mail, came at 69.59 percent. 
BAGHDAD, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers were killed and two wounded Saturday while defusing a bomb in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala.

"Two soldiers of the engineering corps in the Iraqi army were killed and two others wounded while dismantling an explosive device planted on the outskirts of the town of Qara-Tappa, some 175 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad," the town's Mayor Wasfi al-Tamimi told Xinhua.

Over the past few months, Iraqi security forces have carried out deadly attacks against the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants to crackdown on their intensified activities.

The security situation in Iraq has improved after Iraqi forces defeated the IS in 2017. Yet IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. 
People are seen on a bus at a bus station in Gaborone, Botswana, on Dec. 23, 2021. Many people in Gaborone chose to travel to their hometowns to spend holidays on Thursday, despite the fact that the country has seen an increase in the number of people infected with COVID-19. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)

People are seen at a bus station in Gaborone, Botswana, on Dec. 23, 2021. Many people in Gaborone chose to travel to their hometowns to spend holidays on Thursday, despite the fact that the country has seen an increase in the number of people infected with COVID-19. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)

People line up to get on a bus at a bus station in Gaborone, Botswana, on Dec. 23, 2021. Many people in Gaborone chose to travel to their hometowns to spend holidays on Thursday, despite the fact that the country has seen an increase in the number of people infected with COVID-19. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)
DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's Zanzibar on Friday received 200,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China.

The vaccines were handed over to the Representative of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government, Minister for Education and Vocational Training Simai Mohammed Said, by the Chinese Consul General in Zanzibar Zhang Zhisheng at the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport.

Said thanked China for the support, saying it will help to vaccinate people in the Zanzibar archipelago.

The minister urged Zanzibaris to vaccinate against the pandemic, saying the vaccines were safe after they were approved by the World Health Organization.

Zhang reaffirmed China's keenness to always stand with Zanzibaris in the fight against COVID-19.

"We will keep sharing experiences and providing assistance as per our capacity," said the Chinese diplomat.

On July 31, 2021, Tanzania's Zanzibar received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses and syringes donated by China. 
DAR ES SALAAM, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian immigration authorities on Tuesday announced a week-long country-wide crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The commissioner general for the Tanzania Immigration Services Department, Anna Makakala, told a press conference in Morogoro region that the force will leave no stone unturned in detecting the aliens.

Makakala warned Tanzanians against involvement in human trafficking, saying culprits will face the full force of the law.

"Tanzanian human traffickers are hugely contributing to the rising number of illegal immigrants that enter into the country without valid travel documents," said Makakala shortly after she had inaugurated a workshop for the Tanzania Immigration Services Department.

She said the immigration authorities have secured a permit to employ 820 new immigration officials that will play a major part in cracking down on illegal immigrants in the future. 
DAR ES SALAAM, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Saturday joined fellow citizens in commemorating 100 years of the birth of founding leader Julius Nyerere.

Speaking in a debate to mark the occasion, President Hassan urged Tanzanians to continue honoring what Nyerere stood for during his lifetime.

"In order to honor him, we should continue nurturing peace, unity and solidarity that the founding leader stood for," she told her audience at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Kibaha district in Coast region.

President Hassan also urged Tanzanians to continue nurturing Nyerere's philosophy which entailed self-dependence.

"We have to work hard in using our resources in order to become economically independent," said the head of state.

On February 3, the government of Tanzania launched a program dedicated to marking 100 years of Nyerere.

The program called "Mwalimu Nyerere@100" is being coordinated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and will climax on April 13, the birthday of Nyerere, in his native village of Butiama in Mara region.

The program is aimed at identifying new strategies to commemorate the work, life and philosophies of Julius Nyerere in the next ten years.

Nyerere, who ruled Tanzania from 1964 to 1985, was one of Africa's leading independence heroes.

He was born on April 13, 1922, in Butiama on the eastern shores of Lake Victoria in northwest Tanzania. 
ALGIERS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Algeria on Friday strongly condemned Israeli forces' operations at the Al-Aqsa mosque, calling for a comprehensive and just solution to the issue.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement the operations are "flagrant violations of all relevant international resolutions and conventions."

The ministry stressed that Muslims should be allowed to worship at the Al-Aqsa mosque and granted full protection.

It called on the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to put an end to these operations and provide protection for the Palestinian people.

The Al-Aqsa mosque compound is a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, the latter of whom call it the Temple Mount.

At least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a tweet. 
COLOMBO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Over 359,000 tourists have visited Maldives by March 17 this year, compared to 241,407 arrivals in the same period in 2021, statistics released by the Maldivian Ministry of Tourism over the weekend has shown.

The statistics show that the average daily arrivals are 4,790 and tourists are staying for an average of eight days.

Maldives aims to welcome 1.6 million tourists this year and the number is 1.3 million for 2021.

Local media reported that a decline in arrivals from Russia and Ukraine would have an impact in the tourist numbers, as as direct flights to the Maldives from both countries have halted. 
An employee works at the main depot of a metro line in Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 10, 2022. (Xinhua)

by Liu Chuntao and Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's metro will begin commercial operations on Dec. 16, easing gridlock in capital city Dhaka. Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTC), a Bangladeshi state-owned enterprise is behind the 20.1-km metro, with work being carried out by Thai and Chinese, Japanese and Thai companies.

VICTORY DAY

A Joint Venture (JV) between China's Sinohydro, a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation Limited, and Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Public Company Limited, a Thai company, has been building the main depot for MRT Line-6 in Dhaka since 2017 at a cost of about 180 million U.S. dollars.

Dai Jun, acting in-charge of Sinohydro under the Joint Venture, told Xinhua recently that work on the depot is more than 95 percent complete. "We know that DMTC wants the line to open on Victory Day (Dec. 16) this year," he said. "We will hand it over to the DMTC as soon as possible."

"We're pleased and honored to participate in such a milestone project in Bangladesh," he said. "We want to build a sustainable relationship through our performance and to participate in more projects like this in Bangladesh."

TAMING THE DESERT

Dai's Bangladeshi colleague Rabiul Hasan Chowdhury has been deputy safety manager of the ITD-Sinohydro JV since 2018. He spoke of the north of Dhaka before the metro work began.

"This place was like a desert. Together with the Chinese, we've worked day and night to get where we are today," he said. "We have built the depot without any major incidents."

Civil engineer Nazmul Islam has been working on the metro for five years. He is very pleased with the state of construction. "The steel structure, roof and everything you see is made to the highest quality."

Traffic congestion in Dhaka will be greatly reduced when the metro begins operations, he said, "We will be able to travel from one place to another in a very short time. Dhaka residents are excited."

MORE TO COME

Bangladesh borrowed funds from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance the metro rail project in stages. The metro will eventually cover large parts of the city. The first train made a trial run in August on a section of the line with 16 elevated stations.

Bangladeshi Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said trains will begin running on the first phase later this year when two more China-backed infrastructure projects -- the Padma Bridge and Karnaphuli River Tunnel -- will also be inaugurated.

Once the metro line is running normally, six-car trains will operate a four-minute service carrying 60,000 passengers each hour. 

Photo taken on March 10, 2022 shows the main depot of a metro line in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Xinhua)

An employee works at the main depot of a metro line in Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 10, 2022. (Xinhua)

An employee works at the main depot of a metro line in Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 10, 2022. (Xinhua)

Photo taken on March 10, 2022 shows metro rail lines in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Xinhua)
NEW DELHI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- All five members of a family, including a couple and their three children, were found dead at a village in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the local police said on Saturday.

The alleged murders took place at Khagalpur village in the state's Prayagraj district on Friday night, said the police.

According to the police, prima facie it appeared that the head of the family first killed his family members before ending his own life.

"The body of the house owner, Rahul, was found hanging from the ceiling with a saree and it had no injury marks. Three chairs were stacked where his body was found, indicating that he committed suicide," said the local cop, adding that the bodies of Rahul's wife and three daughters bore injury marks inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon, which suggest "murder".

Several police teams have been formed to probe the case, and the bodies have been sent for a post-mortem examination, said the local police. 
TIRANA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- On Jan. 1, 2022, Albania had a population of 2,793,592 people, a decline of 1.3 percent year-on-year (YoY), the country's Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) reported on Friday.

On the same date, the median age of the country's population was 38.2 years (37.6 years on Jan. 1, 2021).

The gender ratio decreased from 99.3 males to 98.6 males for 100 females.

In 2021, 27,284 babies were born in Albania, a decrease of 2.8 percent compared to the previous year, the report said.

Last year, the country registered 30,580 deaths, 10.8 percent more than in 2020.

According to INSTAT, the number of immigrants and emigrants was 9,195 and 42,048, respectively, in 2021.

Around 32.9 percent of the country's total population lived in and around the capital (Tirana district), followed by the Durres and Fier districts (10.4 percent and 10 percent, respectively).

Local media reported on Friday that the population decline in 2021 was driven by the aging of the population, the high emigration rates and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
KIEV, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared that about 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in the conflict with Russia.

In an interview with CNN on Friday, Zelensky said that some 10,000 Ukrainian servicemen have been injured in the hostilities, with many of them receiving critical wounds.

On March 12, Zelensky said that at least 1,300 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the conflict with Russia. 
KIEV, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Kiev City administration on Saturday asked residents to delay their return to the capital city over security and humanitarian issues.

Russian forces have renewed bombardment of Kiev, the city administration said in a statement on Telegram, urging people not to ignore the air raid sirens.

Besides, the traffic jams caused by the increased number of people, who return to Kiev, disrupt the deliveries of humanitarian aid and the work of emergency and communal services, the statement said.

Earlier in the day, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one person was killed and several people were injured in a rocket strike on the city.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday that Russia will expand the scale of its missile strikes on Kiev in response to any Ukrainian forces' attacks or sabotage on Russian territory. In an interview with CNN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in the conflict with Russia. 
New Delhi: Dumbbells are usually seen in the gym. But, since the trend of home workouts increased due to Corona, many people have been buying gym equipment to exercise at home. However, in the past, Brazilian doctors removed the dumbbell used in the gym from a place they had never even thought of. Doctors pulled out a dumbbell of two kilograms from the rectum of a person here.

This was revealed in the news published in the International Journal of Surgery case reports. A man living in Manaus, Brazil, was hospitalized after severe abdominal pain. When the doctors decided to do her X-ray, she did a lot of drama. This guy wasn't ready for an x-ray. However, when the doctors saw the report, they were stunned. The report showed that a dumbbell of two kilograms was embedded in the man's rectum.

Ana Elisa de Landa Air, who reported the news in the International Journal of Surgery case reports, said that at first, they thought it would be taken out with the help of tweezers, but the dumbbell was so heavy that it could not be done. After that, they had to adopt a very cruel method. The doctors pulled out this dumbbell from the man's rectum through his hand. But then the doctors gave a warning. Doctors said that such things can have a very bad effect on getting into the body and it can cause internal injury.

The woman gave birth to 3 children at once, people were surprised to see the photo

People calling this boy an incarnation of Lord Hanuman, reason is his 70 cm long tail

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TEHRAN: The Iranian Foreign Ministry has harshly criticised Israeli forces' activities at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound during Ramadan, which left over 100 Palestinians injured.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said the episode, is a sign of "the liveliness and grandeur of the heroic and daring struggle by Palestinian people and Israelis' desperation," according to the Ministry's website.

The remarks were made by Amir Abdollahian during a phone discussion with Ismail Haniyeh, the politburo chairman of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), as per reports.

The Iranian top diplomat also emphasised the need of Israel's "hostile acts against Palestinians" being stopped. According to the website of Iran's Foreign Ministry, spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stated the Israeli forces' conduct "violated international law and human rights."

More than 100 Palestinians have been injured in the fighting thus far, said Palestinian health officials, while three Israeli police officers have been mildly injured, as per Israeli police.

Thousands of worshippers have gathered at the compound's entrance since the early hours of Friday, a place sacred to both Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Over the past three weeks, tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have risen in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as the Jewish holiday of Passover coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip lasted 11 days in 2021 after confrontations in Jerusalem.

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New Delhi: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, met on Friday to address the current Ukraine issue and the situation in the South China Sea.

Modi spoke with Trong over the phone and discussed a wide range of topics. The two leaders congratulated each other on the 50th anniversary of India and Vietnam's diplomatic relations, which is being commemorated this year. The two leaders were pleased with the swift pace of broad cooperation under the India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was launched during Modi's 2016 visit to Vietnam.

PM Modi emphasised Vietnam's importance as a pillar of India's Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific Vision, and expressed his desire to expand the breadth of bilateral cooperation while also working to forward existing initiatives quickly. Modi also demanded that India's pharmaceutical and agricultural products have easier access to the Vietnamese market. He alsoi expressed satisfaction over India's involvement in the restoration of Cham structures in Vietnam, citing the two nations' historical and civilisational links.

The two leaders also agreed to strengthen the bilateral defence ties. They also discussed regional and global topics of mutual importance, such as the current Ukraine conflict and the situation in the South China Sea.

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Today is Hanuman Janmotsav and in the meantime, a boy has come into the limelight rapidly. Actually, the reason for this boy coming into the limelight is his tail. Yes, you may not be sure, but it's true. The case has come to light from Nepal. A boy living here has become a topic of discussion. Yes, and the reason for this is that there is a tail on this boy's waist. After this, a local priest described him as an incarnation of Lord Hanuman. On the other hand, the media report revealed that the boy's name is Deshant Adhikari and he is about sixteen years old.

Yes, and a few days ago, the hair started growing in the lower back of this boy and as soon as he saw it, its length became about 70 centimetres. At the same time, now by making the braid of those hairs, it has been given the form of a tail, which is being seen to be connected to God. Now at this time some people are considering the boy as an incarnation of Hanumanji and have started worshipping him. It is being told that Deshant's parents took him to several hospitals in Nepal and India for treatment, but no one could stop his tail from growing. However, later Deshant was taken to a priest by his parents and they described Deshant as an incarnation of Lord Hanuman.

After all this, there was a wave of joy among Deshant and his parents over the tail and as soon as people came to know about the incident, people started coming to see him. According to the report that emerged, this tail, which came out of the lowest bone of the spine i.e. the coccyx, was seen by Deshant's parents about 5 days after he was born.

The boy's parents said they were in touch with some doctors. However, at the moment, he has refused to cut the tail. In this case, Deshant says that earlier he was ashamed to show his tail, but now he is not ashamed at all. On the other hand, the priest believes that this boy can have supernatural power.

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Two-faced and six-legged calf born in this village, people were surprised to see
RAMALLAH: According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, dozens of Palestinian demonstrators were injured amid clashes with Israeli soldiers in different West Bank towns and villages.

Five people were killed by live ammunition, four by rubber bullets, and others were injured by tear gas, as per reports, quoting the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Eyewitnesses said, dozens of anti-settlement activists burnt tyres and flung stones at Israeli soldiers stationed on the edges of the settlements.

Meanwhile, Murad Ishteiwi, the Palestinian coordinator of the popular resistance in Qalqilya, said that Israeli soldiers "brutally subdued the protestors by live ammunition and teargas" during clashes in the Kafr Qaddum village. The incidents have elicited no response from Israeli officials.

Several West Bank towns and villages were rocked by violence hours after 153 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Friday morning. Tensions between Israel and Palestinians have risen throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem in recent weeks, primarily during Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month.

In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry alleged that Israeli soldiers have killed 42 Palestinians in the West Bank since January, including women and children. Meanwhile, since March 22, 14 Israelis have been slain in a spate of shooting incidents in Israel.

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New Delhi: In the Punjabi Bagh area of the country's capital Delhi, four accused have carried out the gang-rape with a woman searching for her child. The incident was reported to the police after the woman regained consciousness on Friday morning. However, the Punjabi Bagh police station has arrested three accused within four hours of receiving the complaint by registering a case under other sections including gangrape in the case. One accused is still absconding.

Police said that the arrested accused have been identified as Naveen Singh (28), Bishwa Mohan Acharya (26) and Akshay Taneja (30). All of them used to work as waiters in a nearby restaurant. The 36-year-old victim is originally from Nepal. She lives in Punjabi Bagh with her husband and children. On Thursday night, the 17-year-old minor daughter of the woman had left the house without informing anything. When the woman left the house to find him, four youths were standing outside a restaurant.

The four accused took the woman to a house in Madipur on the pretext of finding the minor, where the accused gave her a cold drink, after which she fainted. After this all four of them gang-raped the woman. Police said that when she regained consciousness in the morning, she came to know about the gang rape of her. After this, he informed the police about the incident by making a PCR call on Thursday morning.

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Ethiopia: According to the United Nations World Food Programme (UNFP), an additional aid convoy has entered Ethiopia's conflict-torn northernmost Tigray region, with the goal of reaching 43,000 people with emergency food and nutritionally fortified food for 24,000 vulnerable mothers and children.

The UN agency said a convoy of 50 trucks arrived in Mekelle, Tigray's capital, with essential humanitarian supplies including 1,000 metric tonnes of wheat and pulses, 700 metric tonnes of health, nutrition, and wash items, and 1,15,000 litres of fuel. The food and nutrition items will be distributed this week in northwestern Tigray, as per reports. "We are ready and have the clearance to send in additional convoys," UNFP said on Friday. "We are engaging with regional authorities to ensure the next humanitarian convoy may depart safely as soon as feasible."

The relief convoy in Tigray arrived weeks after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) tentatively agreed to a cease-fire and unrestricted distribution of humanitarian aid into the province.

A 20-truck relief convoy entered Mekelle through the neighbouring Afar region earlier this month, marking a significant milestone because it was the first road delivery into the regional capital since mid-December and the first humanitarian petroleum supplies delivery through the corridor in eight months.

The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, supported by international forces, have been fighting for nearly 18 months, claiming tens of thousands of lives and leaving millions in desperate need of humanitarian aid. In May 2021, Ethiopia's parliament declared the TPLF a terrorist group.

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irstrip in Oleksandriia, Ukraine was hit by Russian missiles
Day 52 of Putin's war. Russians strike Kyiv, Lviv, prepare to close Mariupol to vet men for conscription 16 April, 18:39 A building in Kharkiv was destroyed by the Russian airstrike on April 16 (Photo:REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis)

Saturday, April 16, is the 52nd day of Ukraine's defense against full-scale Russian invasion.

UPDATE (1841): Ukraine has been conducting negotiations with the Russians to save the Ukrainian servicemen trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a statement.

But the Russians keep insisting the Ukrainians must surrender, Zelensky said. "It is a very hard situation. Our servicemen are trapped, and our wounded are trapped. They have no food and water left, but they keep fighting," Zelensky said.

 

UPDATE (1803): Russia's FSB Security Service has abducted one of Russia's top proxy commanders in the Donbas, Eduard Basurin, Ukraine's Defense Ministry Intelligence Directorate has said in a statement.

Basurin, who earlier openly said that Russians should use chemical weapons in Mariupol, has been taken to an unknown location.

The repression of Russian military commanders for "the failing military operation in Ukraine" continue, Ukrainian intelligence reported.



UPDATE (1726): Russian invading forces have disrupted evacuations from Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai has reported.

The occupiers started shelling Lysychansk city center during an arranged ceasefire, the governor said. He said people who were ready to be evacuated had to stay in basements and shelters. "We've managed to evacuate only one person," Haidai wrote.

Haidai said the Russian invaders might soon strike a railway station in Lozova and call it "another Ukrainian attack aimed at discrediting the Russian army." Despite threats, Ukraine keeps evacuating people from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

"The Russians will launch a full-scale attack on the Donbas as soon as the (spring) rains end," Haidai said.

UPDATE (1456): Ukraine has received $924 million in donations from different businesses and people living in various parts of the world, Andriy Yermak, the head of the President's Office, has said in a statement.

Some 47% of the sum came from the United Kingdom, 18% was sent by citizens of the Netherlands, 11%b came from the Czech Republic, and 8% from the United States.

UPDATE (1445): One person was killed and several were wounded in a Russian missile strike on the Darnitsky district of Kyiv in the morning of April 16, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a security guard was killed in another Russian attack in Poltava Oblast, local authorities reported on April 16. A Russian missile struck a farm near a small village.





UPDATE (1436): Russia is holding 700 Ukrainian servicemen and more than 1,000 civilians captive, Ukrainian Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk reported. According to her, 500 of the civilians currently illegally imprisoned by Russian occupying forces are women.

Ukraine has the same number of Russian POWs - also about 700 soldiers.

Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities reported numerous cases of abduction of civilians in the occupied territories. Russians were searching for relatives and families of Ukrainian servicemen and police officers.

UPDATE (1253): Russian invading forces are planning to close off Mariupol for the exit and entry on April 18, Mariupol mayoral advisor Petro Andriushchenko has said in a Telegram statement.

According to Andriushchenko's sources in the besieged city, the occupiers are planning to vet men for conscription. The men are to be taken to the Novoazovsk filtration camp. Those, suitable for army service, will be conscripted into the Russian armed forces. Others will be used to clean the rubble in Mariupol.

The occupiers do not fully control the destroyed city. Ukrainian forces are still fighting in the Azov Steel factory and port districts.

UPDATE (1207): Professional firefighters and rescuers from the United States, Australia, Germany, and Poland have arrived in Ukraine to help their colleagues working in the recently liberated regions of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine has reported.

As of today, they started working in Borodyanka, a partially destroyed town in Kyiv Oblast that was liberated from Russian occupation at the beginning of April.

UPDATE (1034): Russian Su-35 jet fighters launched missiles at Lviv Oblast in the morning, Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskiy has said in a statement.

Fortunately, Ukraine's air defense systems shot down all four of the air-launched cruise missiles over Lviv Oblast, he said.

The Russian jets flew into Ukraine from Baranovychi air field in Belarus, Kozytskiy said.

Morning Digest

President Volodymyr Zelensky has told CNN that Ukraine has lost up to 3,000 soldiers since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia's military losses have risen to 20,000 soldiers killed in action since Feb. 24, according to the Ukrainian army's reckoning.

Mariupol is no longer a city, but a territory soaked with blood, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in an interview. Despite that, the battle for Mariupol is still going on. The Azov Regiment and the marines remaining in the besieged city have been calling the Ukrainian government to save Mariupol. President Zelensky says he has had an emergency meeting with military generals on the Mariupol situation, revealing no details.

Ukrainian defenders are continuing to fight in the east and south of Ukraine. The Russians have occupied the towns of Skadovsk and Oleshky in Kherson Oblast. Occupying forces continue their repression of Ukrainians.

In the morning the Russians carried out a missile strike on Kyiv's Darnitsky district, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said in a Telegram post.

"Rescuers and medics are working at a scene. Information about the number of casualties is still being clarified," Klitschko said. He once again urged Kyivans not to return to the capital yet, and asked those who are already in Kyiv not to ignore air raid warnings, which have become more frequent.

This is the second Russian missile strike on Kyiv Oblast in two days. On April 15 the Russians bombed a military factory in Vyshneve, where Ukraine was producing Neptune missiles. These were the missiles Ukraine says it used to strike the Russian flagship cruiser the Moskva, which caught fire and was then reported to have sunk on April 14.

Overnight Ukrainian air defense systems shot down Russian missiles over Lviv Oblast. Invading forces shelled a village in Poltava Oblast, killing one person. Another attack happened in Kirovohrad Oblast.

As of April 16, the Russians had killed 200 children in Ukraine, the Ukrainian government has reported. Overall more than 2,000 civilians have been killed since Feb. 24, the UN has reported.

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The term intrapreneurship may be a new term to a lot of people in Nepal, but it is in fact a popular and old term.

Though the term was coined by management consultant Gifford Pinchot in the 1980s, the Nepali scene only was made familiar with the term in the last decade. It is generally compared with the term entrepreneurship, but there is one major difference. An entrepreneur sets up his/her own business with innovative ideas and creativity while intrapreneurs work for a company or organisation using innovative ideas to follow the goal of the company.

Intrapreneurs are also a type of employee but different in the sense that they are assigned to complete a certain task creatively, effectively, and efficiently. In any Nepali organisation, there are people who are given authority and support to create something new without having to be concerned about whether or not the new venture will actually become a source of revenue for the organisation.

So, here are some qualities. When you attain them, you will be considered an intrapreneur:

1. They are courageous

Photo: Pixabay/ mohamed hassan

As they have a passion for what they do, here comes the next part. It is that they are set to act on it no matter the consequences. They are courageous enough to do so. They are not afraid to make decisions and act on them immediately. They are aware that they may lose their job if they fail. Still, they dare to go after pursuing their goals. Also, they are not afraid of failing or being criticised by other people. They are aware that they will be tested and criticised in their journey. So, they will face all the obstacles and keep moving forward. Overall, they are courageous employees.

2. They are passionate about their work

Intrapreneurs have a passion for what they do or what they are assigned to do by the organisation. They believe any work can be done easily and efficiently if you have a passion for the work. They are driven and determined. They have the mentality to achieve the goal once they set it. They have a purpose firsthand and are passionate enough to go after it. Thus, intrapreneurs are goal-oriented, passionate, and driven to achieve greater things.

3. They challenge the process and system

Photo: Pixabay/ mohamed hassan

Intrapreneurs do not step back down even when people question their ideas and credibility. They know that not everyone has a vision like them and neither do the people believe in their ideas and vision. They move on with it and do not take the negative criticism too seriously. They see the vision early on. Furthermore, they challenge the process and system, still being diplomatic. They know the value of connection and network. So, they work to disrupt the market and industry but build a good connection with people.

4. They focus on creativity and innovation

To make the most of their company or organisation, they require people who outsmart in ideas and innovation. So, intrapreneurs are the people used by companies/organisations that are in great need of new and innovative ideas. Their creative thinking helps them sort out any kinds of problems or shortcomings of the organisation. Intrapreneurs are creative and innovative. Their work or way of doing things reflects their creativity and they bring unexplored innovations to outsmart the organisation.

5. They are multitalented

Photo: Pixabay/ geralt

They are also among the multitalented people with a sweet combination of both knowledge and skill. They acquire the necessary soft skills along with the desired industry skills. They are professionals in their field and they keep on sharpening their skills. In the present era, presentation and communication are the key skills. All the aspiring intrapreneurs are aware of this fact and there are rarely the ones with low communication skills. Hence, intrapreneurs have fine knowledge of both their industry as well as soft skills important in the present context.

6. They are confident

Intrapreneurs are confident about their work and also have strong and confident personalities so that they effectively complete any sorts of tasks assigned to them. They make decisions with confidence. They have the confidence to start and complete tasks with the delivery of the desired results. Therefore, they execute ideas effectively and efficiently. Even in situations where they fail, they do not give up and look out for other possibilities. They are confident that the goals they set will be achieved. They focus on the present, without regretting the past and overthinking the future.

7. They search for opportunities

Photo: Pixabay/ qimono

They have a keen eye for business opportunities around them. If not, they create one. They look for opportunities and implement them in their work. Furthermore, the companies also try to create a similar environment where they can explore new ideas for them. When the usual employees ask for more resources, the intrapreneurs make the most even from limited resources. Or they find possible resources for a task with their creative and researchful brain easily. This is also the reason that makes them a rare breed and worth assigning for completing a task.

8. They have the quality of adaptability

Intrapreneurs are aware of the change. They know that change is essential and are quickly adaptive to the changing environment. They actively and efficiently respond to the changing environment. They know that the industry is changing constantly and it is essential to grow along with the change. So, they are updated about the new industry skills as well. Along with keeping up with the protocols of the company, they change with the desire of the industry.
Home  Just In  Hong Sung Taek: All the way from South Korea to break the Lhotse south face impasse in Nepal

Climbing the Lhotse south face has been in South Korean climber Hong Sung Taeks mind for over two decades. What started as a dream in 1999 has now turned into an obsession as he is back in Kathmandu this mountaineering season, preparing to make his seventh attempt at climbing the south face of Lhotse which has not been climbed since 1990.

The wall on this mountain has tested me both mentally and physically. But, I know that I can do this and I believe the team Ive assembled will be able to do something thats not been done in 30 years, says Hong.

The tough task

Hong Sung Taek during his previous attempt of Lhotse South Face. Photo: Hong Sung Taek

Hong knows it is not going to be easy. He is aware of how brutal the 3,200-metre vertical wall of the Lhotse south face is. The wall, which has an average slope of 75 degrees, has only been successfully climbed once by Russians Serguey Bershov and Vladimir Karataev in 1990. Prior to that, legends like Jerzy Kukuczka and Reinhold Messner have tried and failed to reach the summit. Kukuczka lost his life on the mountain.

But, despite the risk at hand, Hong seems more determined than ever. To him, doing this route will be nothing short of remarkable. Taking all other attempts in mind, he seems positive.    2022 He has assembled a team of strong climbers from Korea, Spain and France as he aims to recreate history.

His first attempt on the mountain was in 1999. Having climbed Shishapangma and Everest, he set his sights on Lhotse. But, he did not want to do the normal route.

I was young and wanted to prove a point to myself. But, due to lack of experience and know-how about the mountain, I was only able to get to around 7,000 metres, says Hong.

A lack of human resources also played a part in 1999. But he did not give up his dream and came back in 2007. That year, he reached the Lhotse Shar with a team of strong Korean team led by Um Hong Gil.

The project was different then, he says.

Confidence vs competence

Hong Sung Taek with his team. Photo: Seven Summit Treks.

By 2013, the Lhotse south face had become his obsession. He was really confident as he had reached all the Three Poles. He climbed Everest in 1995 from the Tibetan side while he skied to the South Pole in 1994 and walked to the North Pole in 2005. Hong also crossed the Bering Strait and Greenland for the first time. He was on a roll, but the Lhotse south face still eluded him.

He came back in 2013 and failed.    888 He returned in 2014 but failed again. He faced the same fate in 2015.

It is discouraging. The weather is completely different on this side of the mountain and its frustrating, says Hong.

After a hiatus of a few years, he returned in 2019. He was certain that after all these years of not reaching the summit, he had a chance to make a win over the Lhotse south face. He was less than 300 metres from reaching the summit, but harsh winds stopped his summit bid.

It was hard. I was sobbing and praying in the white moonlight of the Lhotse south face to go to the top. The weather didnt want me to climb, he told Explorer Web.

During that summit bid, he battled avalanches and the sheer verticality of the 3,300m wall and managed to reach 8,200m. All he needed was 72 hours of decent weather, but it was like the mountain did not want him to climb. The winds got stronger and the snow was continuous.

I knew I had to go back down and come back again, he says.  

Hoping against hopes

He was disappointed but the stubborn man he is, he is back. Fitter than ever, he has assembled a team of eighth climbers who will help him during the Lhotse south face journey. Joining him are Nakjong Seong, Jae Chul Kim and Jorge Egoxheraga Rodriguez who have been with him on the mountain previously. Apart from them, his team also has Frech alpinist Vadim Primin Druelle and Koreans Myung Suk Koh, Byoung Tae and Jupil Park.

The team is strong and determined. Everyone is driving, he says.

Rodriguez who joined him in 2015 and 2017 says he is looking forward to going back to the Lhotse south face.

What makes it a tough climb is this side of the mountain is very technical. It pushes you to the limit because you have to climb from the first step. The weather on this side is very unpredictable too and since there arent many platforms to pitch tents, we have to work extra hard here, says Rodriguez, who has climbed all 14 eight thousand-metre peaks in the world.

Rodriguez says that even though they have been on the mountain, they still cannot prepare for the Lhotse south face as the condition on the mountain changes every year. And to successfully climb the mountain, they need everything to work in their favour.

We need all factors, the weather, snow conditions and wind to help us, he says.

Druelle, however, is excited about the Lhotse south face climb. He knows there are risks in climbing such a tough wall, but he knows that with teamwork, it is possible.

I am scared. I think its better to be scared because it keeps you on your toes. That said, I believe we can do it, says Druelle.

This is the confidence Hong needs. He believes that the team has advanced climbing techniques that will come in handy during the climb.

The Lhotse south face is another great Himalayan adventure that has eluded many mountaineers and with help of my team and Nepali support staff, I hope I can achieve it, says Hong.
GUANGZHOU, China, April 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) is introducing a debut campaign with 150 online events for companies to showcase their products on its platform, in which the Fair kicked off. The debut events will provide buyers around the world with innovative achievements in advanced technology, intelligent manufacturing, better lifestyle, low-carbon environmental protection and trade services.

The 131st Canton Fair to host 150 online debut events

"We have decided to present these showcases at the Canton Fair from more than 600 registered companies based on company qualification and product distinguishing features," said Alan Liu, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Canton Fair, "Final presentation includes award-winning manufacturing champions, as well as products that are specialized in technology and innovation."

The campaign is hosted by the China Foreign Trade Centre and forms a partnership between Canton Fair and leading industrial companies. It empowers companies to take an innovative path to foster new competitiveness and development in the domestic and international trade markets through digital approaches. Featured companies, such as Zongteng Group, the first service company in its industry that has a total area of overseas warehouses exceeding 1.2 million square meters, the renowned Cosco Shipping Company (Guangzhou) and so on, will show how the trade ecosystem and global trade efficiency can be further promoted through the "dual circulation".

Intelligent manufacturing meets advanced technology

The campaign will present the new technology while in the meantime introducing the innovation in the traditional manufacturing.

The power and beauty of science and technology will be presented by more than 30 industry-leading companies, which will unveil innovative technologies and products, showing multiple scenarios that have integrated advanced technologies with lifestyle and daily production.

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Participating companies not only include industrial giants such as Haier, Changhong, and Unilumin which ranks first worldwide in LED display shipments for six consecutive years, but also leading companies in many sub-sectors such as high-pressure cleaners, plant protection machinery and lifting hoists.

In addition, more than 20 companies in household appliances, machinery manufacturing, hardware tools and medical equipment, such as Foton, Haojiang, Timevary and Deli, will promote industry transformation and facilitate high-quality development through their innovation in manufacturing which integrates traditional production with smart technologies.

Upgraded lifestyle empowers green concept

The campaign also gathers more than 90 leading companies which develop their new products to help improve the quality of daily life with continuous effort in sustainable development.

Among them are more than 70 well-known brands from sectors such as household appliances, lighting products, kitchen utensils, cultural tourism and leisure, kids products, home textiles and pet food to introduce their new products and new designs that can create a better life experience, in addition to 20 companies in energy, industrial manufacturing, textile fabrics and kids products to bring their latest concept through green and sustainable products.

Some signature products will be launched by Midea, Ecovacs, Loctek, an ergonomic solution provider, Longi and Canadian Solar.

Please register https://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en-US/register/index#/foreign-email for more business opportunities.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-131st-canton-fair-to-host-150-online-debut-events-301526796.html

SOURCE Canton Fair
A 20-year-old man has been arrested for robbing and assaulting two Sikh men on a street in Queens, the New York Police Department told CBS News. The attack came just a week after a 70-year-old Sikh man was injured in a separate incident in the same neighborhood, according to the Sikh Coalition.

"Sikhs are no strangers to hate violence, but the recent string of repeated attacks in the same location is especially disheartening and reprehensible," Nikki Singh, senior manager of policy and advocacy for the Sikh Coalition, said in a statement Wednesday. "We continue to stand with all the communities who continue to experience this kind of trauma."

At around 7 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a report of an assault in Queens, New York. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found two men, identified by the NYPD as a 76-year-old and a 64-year-old, suffering minor injuries.

According to a preliminary investigation, two men approached and beat the two victims with their fists and a wooden stick. The men then stripped both victims of their religious headwear and took their money.

The victims were transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and are in stable condition, the NYPD said.

Hezekiah Coleman, 20, was arrested and charged with two counts of robbery classified as a hate crime, one count of robbery, one count of assault classified as a hate crime, and one count of aggravated harassment, the NYPD said. The other suspect has not been arrested.

The Sikh Coalition said it has been in contact with the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, and that officials are still searching for the other suspect.

The attack comes a little more than a week after Nirmal Singh, a 70-year-old Sikh man visiting from Canada, was punched in the face while walking early in the morning to the Sikh Cultural Society in Queens, CBS New York reported. On Thursday, NYPD commissioner Keechant Sewell announced a 19-year-old from Brooklyn had been arrested and charged with robbery, aggravated harassment and assault as a hate crime in connection with that incident.

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It is unclear if the two incidents, which happened in the same neighborhood, are connected.

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Bruce Means on hike from Double Drop Falls Camp to Sloth Camp in Guyana. As he turns 80, Bruce Means continues to search for new species in a biodiversity hotspot he has been exploring for more than 30 years. He's set to speak April 27, 2022 on Lost World Found.

Local subscribers to National Geographic Magazine found quite a surprise in their newly arrived April issue  a 36-page spread detailing the latest adventures of Tallahassees own Bruce Means.

A venerable, highly acclaimed fixture in the landscape of North Floridas natural wonders for decades, Means is the central focus of Islands in the Sky, the magazines April cover story. The article describes a National Geographic-funded expedition into the wilds of the Guiana Highlands, a vast, rain-forested and mountainous region that links Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana.

Boana Roraima treefrog, on Bruce Means' expedition into the wilds of the Guiana Highlands, a vast, rain-forested and mountainous region that links Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana.

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The month-long expedition in February 2021 was Means 33rd foray into the region since he first set foot on the South American continent in 1987. Astounded by what he saw on that trip 45 years ago, Means vowed to return as often as he could to study the biology and evolutionary history of what naturalists the world over describe as possibly the richest and least undisturbed natural treasure on the planet.

Documentary airs on Earth Day

On April 22  fittingly international Earth Day  National Geographics Explorer television series will carry an hour-long documentary of Means latest South American venture, "Explorer: The Last Tepui."

Episode 10: First ascent of a sky island

The show will be streamed by the Disney Plus channel, the magazines television partner. The documentary also features the legendary mountain climber Alex Honnold, a key member of the expedition team.

Bruce Means wading in the water on scientific mission at elevational transect of the Upper Paikwa River Basin near Guyanas northwestern frontier with Brazil and Venezuela to look for new species of amphibians and reptiles in one of the worlds richest and least explored hotspots of biodiversity.

That Means was eager to be the lead biologist on the mission knowing full well hed turn 80 on the trip is hardly surprising to any of his friends or family members. Now 81, the six-foot-four biologist with the gait of an Alaskan lumberjack has a long history of punishing both students and fellow naturalists in the field.

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Keeping up with him on day-long slogs through acres of alligator-infested mud flats, mirey sloughs and log-choked streams was no small measure of pride for the hundreds who signed up for the highly popular, coastal plains ecology courses he taught at FSU for nearly 25 years.

Tallahassee naturalist Bruce Means on the tepui trail at the spectacular Double Drop falls. The documentary on the expedition will air on the Disney Plus Channel on April 22.

Seventh expedition to land of tepuis

The National Geographic teams central interest in putting together last years expedition was to put one of its favorite scientists back on a research trail that few biologists know as well as Means does.

It would be the seventh time the National Geographic Society had funded an expedition into the region with Means at the helm of its biological research mission into the mysterious land of tepuis.

The word tepui (teh-POO-ee) literally means house of the gods in the language of the local Pemon people of Venezuela. The Guiana Highlands is dotted with tepuis, about 60 in all. Like the well-known mesas of the American Southwest, tepuis are flat-topped mountains carved by eons of erosion.

Huge tarantula found on the trail during Bruce Means' expedition into the wilds of the Guiana Highlands, a vast, rain-forested and mountainous region that links Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana.

But unlike mesas, tepuis vault to staggering heights from the floors of rainforests, giving rise to some of the most spectacular scenic backdrops in all of nature. Because of their remoteness and isolation, scientists regard them as ecological islands where evolutionary forces have remained active and undisturbed for millions of years. For scientists, tepuis essentially represent evolution in a bottle.

Tepuis are like the Galapagos Islands, Bruce once told a colleague. But so much older and more difficult to study.

Hoogmoed's tree frog, Boana roraima.

Following the evolution of a frog

Means earned his doctorate in biological science at FSU and soon became a specialist in herpetology, the study of reptiles and amphibians. Over his career he has discovered numerous animals completely new to science, including a giant earthworm in Arkansas and a snake in the Apalachicola National Forest.

But in tepui-country he holds the worlds record for finding and naming frogs, toads, lizards and snakes that no one knew existed. To date, the number of new species credited to his research in the region stands at seven confirmed and 10 others pending certification.

Rocket frog (Pristimantis sp.) seen on the expedition. Bruce Means will give a talk about the experience to the Tallahassee Scientific Society and the public on April 27.

Means uncanny ability to find organisms no one has ever seen before is why National Geographic loves to have the Tallahassee-based biologist on so many of its South American adventures.

The primary goal of this latest venture was to find some key relatives of a particular group of frogs that Means and other biologists have been studying for years.

Means convinced the National Geographic team that if this single frogs evolutionary tree could be pieced together, it might reveal a trove of information about how life evolved not only in tepui-land but possibly even evolved at all.

And he argued that one of the best places to start looking for the animal would be a massive, 7,600-foot-tall tepui named Weiassipu (why-ASS-eh-poo) lying on the border of Guyana and Venezuela, a place he knew well from previous expeditions.

Bruce Means at Sloth Camp - Guyana on expedition to Upper Paikwa River Basin near Guyanas northwestern frontier with Brazil and Venezuela to look for new species of amphibians and reptiles in one of the worlds richest and least explored hotspots of biodiversity.

Muddy, treacherous terrain

But as any researcher knows, almost nothing in field biologyregardless of where the field isis simple or easy. Organizers of the expedition knew from the start that what they were planning to do might be the challenge of their explorer lives.

For starters, the plan called for a 34-mile hike from the nearest base camp they could find in Guayana to the foot of Weiassipu. That included hacking at least 10 miles of fresh trail through the forest by hand.

And if the idea of taking a 79-year-old scientist into the heart of some of the most rugged terrain on earth for a month-long trek through miles of muddy, rock-strewn jungle wasnt daunting enough, planners had other problems to sort out. If their star scientist slipped and fell anywhere along the way and snapped a bone or got gashed, there would be no way of quickly getting him to a hospital and he could very well die.

Bruce Means doing his research at Double Drop Falls Camp - Guyana. The goal of this scientific mission was an elevational transect of the Upper Paikwa River Basin near Guyana's northwestern frontier with Brazil and Venezuela to look for new species of amphibians and reptiles.

Means will talk on 'Lost World Found'

As quixotic as the plan might have seemed from the get-go, the team never lost sight of its goal, and paramount in that was to see to the safety and well-being of Dr. Donald Bruce Means. The result was a visually and emotionally compelling nature documentary that only a team from National Geographic can pull off.

On Wednesday, April 27, Means will present Lost World Found, a talk about his latest adventures in Guyana, as part of the Tallahassee Scientific Societys Horizons series.

Video clips from the National Geographic documentary The Last Tepui will be featured. This ticketed event will be held in the IMAX theater in Kleman Plaza and starts at 7 p.m. For more information visit the TSS website at tallysci.org.

Frank Stephenson is a freelance writer living in Carrabelle, Florida. Email him at fh1stephenson@gmail.com.

If you go

What: Tallahassee Scientific Society talk with Bruce Means on "Lost World Found"

When: 7 p.m. April 27

Where: IMAX theater in Kleman Plaza

Tickets: $8-$15; visit the TSS website at tallysci.org.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Documentary tracks Bruce Means' expedition from Tallahassee to 'Tepui'
An Armstrong police officer charged with dozens of crimes is joining the former mayor, police chief and three clerks of the small city facing criminal charges.

Benjamin Scheevel was charged April 7 with 84 felony and misdemeanor offenses, including numerous charges for misconduct in office, unauthorized access to police records, tax evasion, perjury and stalking, as well as theft and assault. The alleged offenses were committed from 2016 to 2020, a period in which Scheevel worked for both the Armstrong and Estherville police departments.

Another Estherville officer, Tyler VanRoekel, was charged with a dozen offenses at the same time, primarily for misconduct in office and "unauthorized dissemination of intelligence history data."

Officials in Armstrong, population 875 in 2020, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Estherville police chief Brent Shatto confirmed in a statement that Scheevel worked for Estherville from 2016 to 2019, and that VanRoekel is currently employed. VanRoekel was placed on leave after he was charged, Shatto said.

It's not clear if Scheevel is currently employed by the Armstrong department, or when his tenure began. He was charged with evading taxes on wages paid by Armstrong in 2019 and 2020. Another count of the indictment alleges misuse of a stun gun issued to him by Armstrong in 2016. An attorney listed for Scheevel did not respond to a request for comment.

Documents show Scheevel is charged with stalking against two women, and the court has approved protective orders barring Scheevel from contact with four women, including one of those he allegedly stalked.

The majority of the charges against Scheevel stem from unauthorized use of law enforcement systems to look up information about those women and others. Scheevel allegedly accessed or shared under false pretenses information about at least 26 people, including himself, his wife and VanRoekel.

At least 14 of the additional individuals whose records he accessed appear to be women, including the two he is accused of stalking.

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Scheevel also is charged with obstruction for allegedly trying between 2019 and 2022 to obstruct the prosecution of VanRoekel, who is charged in turn with sharing unauthorized information with Scheevel.

The cases are being prosecuted by the Iowa Attorney General's Office, which declined to comment.

For subscribers: Arrests of Armstrong leaders cap years of accusations, finger-pointing and investigations in small Iowa town

The new charges come more than a year after state officials charged five current and former Armstrong officials with a range of misconduct including cashing checks to which they were not entitled, vacations at city expense, falsified records and illegally barring a former clerk (who was also charged) from city hall.

Police chief Craig Merrill also was charged with accepting cash to shoot the former clerk's boyfriend with a city Taser at a party. According to the new charges against Scheevel, the Taser used in the incident was issued to him.

Cases remain pending against Merrill, former mayor Greg Buum, and former city clerk Connie Thackery. Two other former city clerks, Tracie Lang and Mary Staton, have pleaded guilty but have not been sentenced, according to online court records.

Court and city records show state officials have spent years investigating Armstrong officials, including one 2017 report by then-state Auditor Mary Mosiman finding that the city's finances were so mismanaged that her auditors couldn't tell whether most of the spending was appropriate or legal.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa police officer charged with 84 crimes, including stalking, theft
Typically, students learn about civics through a textbook, where they find out how the House and Senate function and how bills are passed.

But for Spotsylvania County student Addie Hunt, 13, the lessons didnt truly sink in until she became a Senate page. The program, which had a 36-person class this session, allows students to live in Richmond, work at the Capitol and shadow lawmakers during the General Assemblys regular session.

It was an amazing experience, said Addie, a seventh grader at Ni River Middle School. I really enjoyed getting to be in the Capitol and seeing how the Senate worked. I thought it was really interesting.

Pages are assigned to three different branches at various points during the 60-day program. The Responsible Young Professional, one of the branches, is tasked with various job assignments that are geared toward a team approach. For example, Senate pages were responsible for running errands for the senators while they were on the floor. Addie said they were also able to listen in on debates and witness the voting process.

The Evoking Leader portion is geared toward growing leadership and decision-making skills through an afternoon class where pages learned about skills such as money management and current events.

The Civic-Minded Young Adult takes on a community service project that combines the skills pages learned during the program. This year, the pages held a yard sale to raise money for FeedMore, a Central Virginia food bank.

The program is rigorous, Addie said. Pages are expected to be up and ready to take on their tasks. Those who are unable to meet these requirements are dismissed from the program. For Addie, a typical day comprised long hours on the Senate floor.

We had to be lined up in the hallway by 7:20 a.m., Addie said, There was a Senate page room in the bottom of the building where the senators have their offices and so we would go there every morning and wed leave our stuff there. Every afternoon, we had a professional development class.

Pages must finish their school assignments on time. At the end of the day, a two-hour study hall period is given so the students can complete their schoolwork.

I just had to sort of be smart about how I spent my time, Addie said. There were some nights when I had to do work in my room after study hall. But for the most part, I was able to get it done.

The program may seem daunting, but Addie described moments where the pages were able to relax and have fun.

There was one time one of the senators took the lieutenant governors gavel off her desk and hid it in a different senators desk, said Hunt. He replaced it with a little rubber mallet, and she tried to use it and it didnt make any sound. I dont think anyone ever found out who took it except for the pages, because we were the only ones who were there when he took it, and we saw him take it.

The application window for the class of 2023 pages will open this summer. Virginia students who will be 13 or 14 on Jan. 11 may apply.

Nancy Hunt, Addies mother, is thrilled her daughter got to participate in the program.

Were just tremendously grateful for the opportunity (and) for the people who helped her and who even brought it to our attention, Hunt said. The opportunities that she had on the floor to really understand how the Senate works; its a well-rounded, like, holistic program that was very thoughtfully designed by the leadership in the Senate.

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I HAVE ASKED this question over and over for the past six months and no one has been able to provide an answer.

Where are Americas workers?

When 2020 began, the United States unemployment rate was about 3.6 percent. That figure was hailed a significant milestone, the mark of a sound and growing economy. But no one, not even the talking heads on the financial TV channels, called it a tight labor market.

Fast forward two years to a national chain restaurant in an average size small town. After church, a group of eight friends and family prepare to celebrate a birthday with lunch. They are told that the wait will be at least an hour.

An hour? You have tables sitting empty. Over there is a section that would accommodate twice as many people as we have in our party.

The reply is quick and simple.

We have only two servers and were short kitchen help. We just cant handle a party of eight right now.

Where did all the workers go? Did they disappear off the face of the Earth? Were they abducted by aliens?

Before the COVID pandemic struck, there were plenty of workers. It seemed like everybody who wanted a job was able to find a job, and the country was running smoothly. There were no abnormally long waits at restaurants, and businesses and factories were functioning at full speed.

Now, restaurants cant find enough workers to handle lunch in a half-full dining room, and factories are giving $2,000 signing bonuses and boosting salaries to entice new recruits. Where did the workers go?

Yes, some retired when the factories closed because of COVID, but not enough to send the labor force into a tailspin. Besides, I dont ever remember being served at a restaurant by a wait force of 65-year-old men.

At restaurants, it is the young people who apparently have not come back to work, not the older people. They are still out there driving and buying $4-a-gallon gas and playing on $1,000 cellphones, but they are not working. How are they making it?

The old guys down at the barbershop would probably tell you that these younger workers are still living off unemployment checks and COVID payments.

Sorry, but that just aint so. For a while that may have been the case, but the unemployment bonanza ended last September, and stimulus checks disappeared two months before that.

The post-COVID labor situation defies the laws of American economics. While businesses are begging for workers they cant find, people are out there paying more than the asking price for houses and buying new cars as fast as manufacturers can get the scarce parts to build them.

Despite high gas prices, Americans are clogging the highways. And every time I look at Facebook, I find that some friend is taking a vacation on some tropical island. I have no idea where it is coming from, but people have money and they are spending it in a robust economy.

Meanwhile, eight friends wait for more than an hour to be seated in a half-full (major chain) restaurant, and a factory along the highway replaces its billboard with an offer of an even higher hiring bonus. No takers.

Where did the workers go?

I havent seen any government statistics on this, but Id bet that many of the workers who have vanished were working mothers before COVID. Many have concluded that the only reason they had been working was to pay child care. If thats the case, why not just stay home and raise my children myself, as was the case for thousands of generations.

But the loss of some working moms doesnt account for the intense labor shortage that businesses are facing today. Again I ask, where did all the workers go?

It is a mystery that no one has been able to explain. Many businesses closed because of the pandemic so that should have freed up more workers for other jobs. Apparently, it didnt. Apparently, a big portion of Americas workforce just vanished.

Maybe they are out there somewhere in the Twilight Zone. Where is Rod Serling when we need him?

And if Rod cant find the workers, maybe he could wait tables after church on Sunday. Any help would be appreciated.
Lewis -Clark Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, had their annual awards tea at the Louis E. May Museum on April 5.

Before the awards ceremony, Judy Ekeler, Lewis-Clark member, explained that DAR is a service organization founded in 1890 with the mission of promoting historic preservation, education and patriotism.

Members are women 18 years or older who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. DAR has a membership of 190,000 members in more than 3,000 chapters in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and 11 foreign countries.

Each state has a state organization which oversees the work of the local chapters. The Nebraska State Society was formed in 1903 and the Fremont Lewis-Clark Chapter, one of the four original Nebraska chapters, was founded in 1903.

Most of the work of DAR is done through the local chapters, working with approximately 50 national committees, all reflecting the goals of historic preservation, patriotism and education.

Some committees offer local chapters the opportunities to honor outstanding individuals from local communities with special awards. Several of those awards were given at the tea.

The DAR Good Citizen Award is intended to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship and is open to senior class students in public or private schools. This award has been given by the National Society since 1934.

The recipients of the Good Citizen Award were Brady Davis of Archbishop Bergan Catholic High School and Mallory Schleicher of Fremont High School.

The DAR Community Service Award recognizes worthy local people for outstanding achievements in voluntary educational, humanitarian, patriotic, historical or citizenship endeavors.

This years recipient was Sue Reyzlik.

Reyzlik has a long history of service to the Fremont community. She was one of the founders of Fremont Days in 2013, and continues to serve as a tour guide during Fremont Days and is instituting a new storytelling event to be included in this years festival.

There were two awards given for Excellence in Historic Preservation.

The first was given to Carol Verbeek of Scribner for her work in securing Gold Star Mothers markers for the graves of women who lost sons or daughters in service to the United States Armed Forces.

Markers have been placed in Dodge County for Gold Star Mothers from World War I and work continues to locate and mark graves of Gold Star Mothers from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Verbeeks work was done in cooperation with the American Legion Auxiliary chapter in Scribner.

The second Excellence in Historic Preservation Award was given to Jane and Bill Dugan, Milicek Monument Company, Dugan Services, Inc. and Tom Vogt, for providing a black granite marker with the Gold Star Mothers insignia, which will be placed in the Fremont Veterans Park this summer.

Four years ago, they also provided a grave marker for the daughter of a Revolutionary War soldier, who is buried in a small rural cemetery in Butler County.

The last award given at the tea was the Women in American History Award which enables a chapter to select a notable woman from their state or community to honor for their role in American History.

This years recipient is Marilyn Hoegemeyer of Omaha.

Her collection of essays titled, Listening to the Corn Grow, describes her growing up years on a Nebraska farm, detailing work expected from each family member to make the farm run efficiently, education in a one-room school, and experiences, happy and sad, that made farm life in the 1940s and 50s memorable. Of particular interest are her stories of working beside her father, a pioneer in the development of Hybrid seed corn. Her book is a history lesson for all who are interested in rural life in mid-century Midwest.

Following the award presentations a tea, served by the Lewis-Clark Chapter members, took place at the May Museum, for the recipients, their families, school personnel and friends who attended.

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Access to safe and reliable drinking water is extremely important to human health. Fortunately, residents of Nebraska benefit from having plentiful surface water and large stores of groundwater that are replenished from precipitation. However, these sources of water are also easily contaminated and can become unsafe.

To better understand the status of water quality throughout the state, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln launched a citizen science project beginning in 2018 to measure contamination in groundwater, rivers, and streams in agricultural areas. The project is led by Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and relies on participation from homeowners, landowners, and other interested parties across the state.

We have great water testing programs through local NRDs (Natural Resource Districts) and the NDEE (Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy), Bartelt-Hunt said, but they cant really test all the water all the time. This is where citizen scientists can step in.

Citizen science is not a new practice. Many notable scientific discoveries have been made by individuals who had little or no formal training in the sciences. Benjamin Franklin, who only attended school until he was 10 years old, is a noteworthy example of a citizen scientist who contributed greatly to the understanding of electricity. Today, citizen science projects, like the water quality project organized by Bartelt-Hunt, allow everyone to participate in advancing scientific understanding.

To participate in the project, those interested can visit the Water Quality and Citizen Scientist website, where they can request sampling kits. The kits will be sent at no charge to participants, and consist of test strips for nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate common nutrients found in agricultural fertilizers. Evidence of these nutrients in water suggest that they may be washing out of fields and into surface water or leaching through the soil and into the groundwater, where they can affect human and animal health.

Participants are asked to conduct their tests between the time periods of May 1-31 and again between September 1-30. This helps standardize the results and provides an opportunity to monitor how changes in precipitation between spring and fall affect nutrients found in water.

Performing the tests takes a matter of minutes, and results are recorded on a sheet included in the kit and mailed back to the university or entered directly on an online form. Bartelt-Hunts team then enters the results in an anonymized database that is accessible to the public.

While this is a great opportunity for landowners and homeowners to gain a better understanding of their water, this is also an opportunity to engage classrooms in citizen science, Students can test surface water near their homes or maybe take [the test kits] home if they have a private well, said Bartelt-Hunt. Lessons can be built around understanding different types of water, sources of pollution, water sampling methods, and data analysis.

Kathleen Cue is an ISA & TRAQ Certified Arborist and a Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator for Dodge County. She can be reached at: 1206 West 23rd Street, Fremont, NE 68025-2504; (402) 727-2775; or kcue2@unl.edu.

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The death of a pet is, for many, a terribly painful experience.

No one knows that better than Rachel (Rae) Tuff, who runs Paws on the Bridge, a mortuary that helps ease the pain of losing a four-legged family member.

We provide an alternative to the traditional disposal of deceased pets, Tuff said. No freezing, just refrigeration prior to a private cremation.

When Tuff was faced with the death of her beloved dog, Madysen, she had visited several clinics to find out how deceased pets were disposed of.

I was not OK with what those places were doing, Tuff said. Some of the stories Ive heard are horrifying. I wanted something better for my precious girl.

Tuffs mother, Theresa Macrander, was the first to mention the idea of a pet mortuary.

I had done a lot of work for the humane society, Macrander said, and realized we needed a better way for people to say goodbye to their pets.

Paws on the Bridge is located in the First Street Mall, 412 E. First St., in Fremont.

The storefront window of the mortuary displays the letters PTR (Prepare, Tribute, and Remember) along with three special symbols.

We are three generations of animal activists, Macrander said. The letter P stands for my mother, Phyllis Barcus. The angel wings represent her presence in heaven.

The letter T stands for Theresa.

The heart is my symbol because Im supposed to have a big heart, Macrander added with a chuckle. And the R stands for Rachel. I gave her the symbol of a crown because shes my pretty princess.

Tuff began her journey as an animal lover when her grandmother asked her to help take care of toy poodles Sassy and Boo.

I didnt like them, Macrander said, laughing. They were ankle biters and yappers.

Prior to Barcuss death, she had requested that her dogs not be separated.

We had Rain Shadow Grooming take care of them until we got through Grandmas funeral, Tuff said.

Due to a misunderstanding with other family members, however, there were plans to separate the dogs.

I couldnt let that happen, Macrander said. I believe in keeping your promise to the deceased.

Boo died of a heart attack in 2019, and Sassy passed away two years later.

Sassy was basically old and tired, said Tuff, who at that time was working for Paws to Angels.

Because her mother was finding it difficult to accept Sassys condition, Tuff was faced with the task of convincing her to have the beloved poodle euthanized.

We werent killing her, Tuff said, We were setting her free.

Knowing how difficult it was for her mother to accept Sassys death, Tuff took special care in preparing a funeral to help ease the pain.

We took a photo of Sassy just prior to her death, and then took another one of her after she died, said Tuff. Shes wearing a little tiara and a T-shirt that says The Party Has Arrived.

Tuff wanted her mother comforted with the thought that Sassy and Phyllis were at last reunited.

Sassy actually looked younger in the photo we took after her death, Tuff said.

Knowing she could do this for her mom inspired Tuff to provide this service to other grieving pet owners.

I told her she had to do this, said Macrander, who works as a veterinary technician and a nurse, because other people need it.

When it came time to look for rental property, Tuff called upon her friend Sam Heineman.

He looked around for about six months and finally found a place for me, she said. He didnt think Id like it, but I still wanted to have a look. When we walked in, the stench just about knocked us over.

The rental space at 412 E. First St., was formerly occupied by a bikers club that also ran a tattoo parlor.

Those guys left a bunch of food in a trash container that sat in the kitchen and rotted. We walked around with our shirts up over our noses!

Despite the mess left behind, Tuff saw potential.

Glen Ellis came over right away and saw what we had to work with. He said to me, Well, if anybody can turn this place around, its you and your crew, she said.

Tuffs crew started the transformation on Jan. 1.

After two-and-a-half months of scrubbing, painting, and furnishing, the former bikers bar is an inviting place where grieving pet owners can come in and receive comfort and compassion as they lay their furry friend to rest.

We wanted to open on March 19, said Tuff, because thats the date that my dad took his own life 19 years ago. I was 19 years old.

The issue of suicide and hearing a priest inform Tuff that theres no place in heaven for those who kill themselves resulted in a crisis of faith for the young woman.

I was done with religion at that point, Tuff said.

The pain of losing her father was still fresh when she was forced to deal with another loss.

Her beloved Boxer, Madysen, died last year from an auto-immune disorder.

One morning she jumped up on me and just stared at me. There was jaundice in her eyes, she said. We spent four weeks in Iowa at three hospitals; $26,000 later, we got her back home and thought she was on her way to recovery on a good regimen of medicine. But she developed a blood clot in one of her lungs and started gasping. She had to be euthanized. Losing her was the hardest thing Ive ever been through.

On opening day, Brad Yerger led a memorial prayer in honor of Tuffs father as well as a new-business blessing.

His prayer was so touching, Tuff said, it actually got me started on a new faith journey. Ive been attending church with Brad and Gloria ever since.

In addition to providing several furnishings for Paws on the Bridge, Glen and Nancy Ellis were the pet mortuarys first customers after their two cats died within three weeks of each other.

Since then weve had a couple people stop in to buy urns, Tuff said. Were hoping that, as word spreads, more people will call upon us when a pet dies.

All revenue generated by Paws on the Bridge goes directly to support Grants Wishes Pet Rescue.

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The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today a new Rasmussen survey reinforces what they have been saying for years: More gun control laws are not the answer to preventing shootings like Tuesday's New York subway attack.

According to Rasmussen, 51 percent of likely voters doubt the effectiveness of stricter gun control laws, adding that "Majorities of every political category  67% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats and 59% of unaffiliated voters  say it's not possible to completely prevent mass shootings."

"It is significant that Rasmussen pollsters also learned that 59 percent think it's not possible to prevent the kinds of shooting incidents like what happened in Brooklyn," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "This is why we have always supported expanded concealed carry by law-abiding private citizens. If history has taught us anything, it's that violent crime does not happen on a prearranged schedule, and criminals or madmen do not call ahead to warn their victims."

Federal authorities have charged the suspect with one count of committing a terrorist or other violent attack against a mass transportation system. Prosecutors asked that he be permanently detained while awaiting trial. More charges are expected.

Rasmussen revealed that Democrats (65%) are far more likely than Republicans (23%) or Independents (38%) to believe the U.S. needs stricter gun laws. Likewise, Democrats (61%) think stricter gun laws would help prevent mass shootings, while only 18 percent of Republicans and 32 percent of Independents share that view.

"Clearly," Gottlieb observed, "the majority of Americans don't think adding restrictions on the rights of honest citizens is going to make a difference to people who are determined to commit mayhem. That has never been the case, and never will be, regardless what kind of extremist solutions are proposed by the gun prohibition crowd."

"What happened in that Brooklyn subway was unconscionable," he added, "and if the suspect is found guilty, he should face the harshest punishment. But as the Rasmussen survey shows, most Americans don't think it should result in stricter gun control laws that penalize honest gun owners for a crime they clearly did not commit."
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated  and refuted by witnesses  throughout 52 days of war.

The toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine. An infant and at least eight other people died, officials said.

In the towns and villages just outside Kyiv, authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago. Smoke rose from the capital again early Saturday as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike that killed one person and wounded several.

The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

It was not immediately clear from the ground what was hit in the strike on Kyiv's Darnytskyi district. The sprawling area on the southeastern edge of the capital contains a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shopping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas and railyards.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said an armored vehicle plant was targeted. He didnt specify where the factory was located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

He said the plant was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with air-launched high-precision long-range weapons. As the U.S. and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraines defenses ahead of whats expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area since the Russian military vowed this week to step up missile strikes on the capital. Another hit a missile plant Friday.

The Russian missiles hit the city just as residents were emerging for walks, foreign embassies planned to reopen and other tentative signs of the city's prewar life started resurfacing, following the failure of Russian troops to capture Kyiv and their withdrawal.

Kyiv was one of many targets Saturday. The Ukrainian presidents office reported missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours in eight regions across the country.

The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, which has been only sporadically touched by the wars violence, reported airstrikes on the region by Russian Su-35 aircraft that took off from neighboring Belarus.

In apparent preparations for its assault on the east, the Russian military has intensified shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in recent days. Friday's attack killed civilians and wounded more than 50 people, the Ukrainian presidents office reported.

On Saturday an explosion believed to be caused by a missile sent emergency workers scrambling near an outdoor market in Kharkiv, according to AP journalists at the scene. One person was killed, and at least 18 people were wounded, according to rescue workers.

All the windows, all the furniture, all destroyed. And the door, too," recounted stunned resident Valentina Ulianova.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Saturday's toll was three dead and 34 wounded.

Nate Mook, a member of the World Central Kitchen NGO run by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said in a tweet that four workers in Kharkiv were wounded by a strike. Jose Andres tweeted that staff members were unnerved but safe.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met with Vladimir Putin this past week in Moscow  the first European leader to do so since the invasion began Feb. 24  said the Russian president is in his own war logic on Ukraine.

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Nehammer said he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war and we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Nehammer said he confronted Putin with what he saw during a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where more than 350 bodies have been found along with evidence of killings and torture under Russian occupation, and it was not a friendly conversation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists that the continuing siege of the port city of Mariupol, which has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians, could scuttle attempts to negotiate an end to the war.

The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol  what they are doing now  can put an end to any format of negotiations, he said.

Later, in his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs more support from the West to have a chance at saving Mariupol.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said, or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

Zelenskyy said the situation in Mariupol remains inhuman and Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had been driven out of most of the city and remained only in the huge Azovstal steel mill.

Capturing Mariupol would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraines eastern industrial heartland.

Zelenskyy estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war, and about 10,000 have been wounded. The office of Ukraines prosecutor general said Saturday that at least 200 children have been killed, and more than 360 wounded.

Russian forces also have taken captive some 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday. Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops as prisoners and intends to arrange a swap but is demanding the release of civilians without any conditions, she said.

Russia's warning of stepped-up attacks on Kyiv came after it accused Ukraine on Thursday of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed hitting targets in Russia.

Russian Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov, whose troops have been among those besieging Mariupol, was buried Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, Gov. Alexander Beglov said. Ukraine has said several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed in the war.

In the Vatican, Pope Francis on Saturday invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily at St. Peters Basilica that was attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three members of Ukraine's parliament. Francis did not refer directly to Russias invasion but has called, apparently in vain, for an Easter truce to reach a negotiated peace.

Chernov reported from Kharkiv. Yesica Fisch in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Robert Burns in Washington 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 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Witnesses say dozens of people, including women and children, have been killed in eastern Afghanistan by Pakistani air strikes.

The bombings took place overnight on April 16 in border areas in Khost Province, according to tribal elders and eyewitnesses.

Witnesses told Radio Mashaal that more than 30 civilians had died in the air strikes. The dpa news agency, quoting a local Taliban official, said at least 40 civilians had been killed.

Rasool Jan, a tribal elder in the Khost area, told Radio Mashaal that he was sitting at a dinner gathering when bombs fell on the residence and two other houses. All of the people killed or injured in the attacks were civilians, he added.

Tala Khan, a resident of Dakhel in North Waziristan, told Radio Mashaal that he was injured in the incident and that 30 members of his family were killed or wounded. He also said those killed were not militants but were all civilians.

In a statement on April 16, the Taliban Foreign Ministry said that Amir Khan Mutaqqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban, has summoned the Pakistani ambassador and expressed his strong protest against the attacks."

Pakistani officials did not immediately respond to Radio Mashaals request for comment.

Tensions have risen in recent months along the two countries long border. Islamabad has alleged that extremist groups -- including the outlawed Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP) -- have been carrying out attacks inside Pakistan from Afghan territory.

Also known as the Pakistani Taliban, the TTP has increased its attacks in the northwest, targeting security forces over the past few months.

The Taliban, which took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, has denied it harbors Pakistani extremist groups.

On April 11, the TTP claimed responsibility for an attack that killed five police officers and wounded four others in a Pakistani area on the border with Afghanistan that was once the headquarters of the group.

On April 14, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire in the countrys restive North Waziristan tribal region.

A senior military official told Radio Mashaal that militants ambushed a military vehicle in the Dattakhel area.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area is believed to be a stronghold of the Hafiz Gul Bahadar group of the TPP.
ISLAMABAD -- Former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has been elected speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly as a new ruling coalition took control of the lower house of parliament after Imran Khan and his government was ousted in a no-confidence vote a week ago.

Ashraf, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was the sole candidate for the position when parliament met on April 16.

Five days earlier, parliament elected opposition lawmaker Shehbaz Sharif as the country's new prime minister.

Sharif, 70, is the head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the younger brother of former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption.

Khan, who was in power for just over three years, was ousted in a no-confidence vote that was held until the early hours of April 10 after a united opposition brought a motion against him following weeks of political crisis.

Opposition parties were able to secure 174 votes in the 342-member house for the no-confidence motion, giving them the majority they needed and paving the way for Sharif to take power.

Khan earlier had tried to prevent the vote by dissolving parliament and calling early elections, but a Supreme Court ruling ordered the no-confidence vote to go ahead.

Parliamentary elections must be held by October 2023.
The mighty Colorado River just got a blow to its reputation: The nations sixth longest waterway, which winds through seven Southwest states and provides drinking water for 40 million people, is the most endangered river in the country.
Press Release

April 16, 2022 Drilon 'congratulates' trolls

Drilon says veto of SIM Card Registration Bill a win for trolls, a big blow to fight vs trolls and fake news Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon "congratulated" troll farm operators, online bullies and fake news spreaders, who hide behind the anonymity in the social media in spreading lies and discord, for the President's veto of the bill seeking to mandate the registration of all SIM cards and social media accounts that would have unmasked them. "By vetoing this bill, the President lets trolls thrive, spread lies and hate, and fuel discord and division," Drilon said in a statement Saturday. "Political trolling as we've seen these days is a thriving business. This veto is a big win for troll farms," he added. "This veto is meant to protect trolls. Is it a parting gift? Magpapatuloy ang industriya ng trolling," said Drilon as he expressed extreme disappointment. "To say that I am disappointed by the President's veto is an understatement. I authored this particular provision of the measure in order to address the anonymity in the internet and the social media that allowed an environment for troll accounts and fake news," Drilon said. Drilon lamented that the veto is a big blow to the growing fight against trolls and fake news, explaining that as long as the anonymity in the social media exists, political trolling, troll armies and fake news will continue to succeed in sowing discord and division among the Filipino people. He cited as an example of the works of trolls the attack against Vice president Leni Robredo's eldest daughter Aika who is the latest victim of disinformation and harassment by online trolls and troll armies. "She is only one of the thousands of victims of trolls and fake news. Some of them are children who may bear the scars of bullying and trolling for life. The bill could have helped in preventing trolls and fake news," Drilon said. Drilon said the concerns that the measure could affect individual privacy and free speech cited in the veto message are unfounded. Drilon said that Section 9 of the bill provides for the confidentiality clause which mandates that "any information obtained in the registration process described under this Act cannot be disclosed to any person." The disclosure may only be done in compliance with any law obligating the PTE or social media provider to disclose such information in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act. No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012; in compliance with a court order, legal process, or other government regulatory, or enforceable administrative request for information; in compliance with Section 10 of the bill; or with the written consent of the subscriber, he explained. "There were enough safeguards. Unfortunately, the veto is nothing but to protect troll operators and troll armies, some of them are in Malacanang," Drilon said, citing the thousands of contractual employees at the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) suspected of running troll accounts. The Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the PCOO for hiring too many alleged consultants. Drilon also disputed claims that the provision that he introduced in the proposed SIM Card Registration Act was an out of topic provision. "It's not a last-minute insertion. We studied it and introduced it in the Senate plenary as part of our humble contribution in the fight against trolls, fake news and other internet-related criminal activities. Twenty-two senators voted in favor of the measure on third reading last December. The House of Representatives adopted our version with little modification," Drilon said. Drilon explained that the title of the bill clearly set out the overarching objective of the measure which is to eradicate mobile phone, internet or electronic communication-aided criminal activities including terrorism, text scams, bank fraud anonymous online defamation, trolling, and fake news, among others.
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Because there is no visa involved, yes, part time programs are comprised of domestic applicants chiefly those from the surrounding commutable areas. This is what you will find with all part time programs. Because you can work at your own pace its unlikely the network factor will be be there very much. I dont remember if you move through the core courses as a cohort at NYU part time. But that would be what I would look for. This is the case at Haas EWMBA. The best you can hope for are some good friends you can lean on throughout your career to masterminds with you post MBA - I dont see many other PT Sternies relocating to Rotterdam or wherever in 2 or 3 years. But what I encourage you to contact is that parent club NYU grads of Netherlands or Amsterdam or whatever applies to your case. The value of the network could be measured that way, as assessed by club President of NYU alums of your city maybe country.To answer my own question looks like they are starting the cohort system this year https://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admi ... leadership so thats good for increasing bonds. Happy to see that because often those at Stern have their own life going in NYC and relationships are a bit weaker._________________
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Email special events to news@registerbee.com. The deadline is noon Wednesday.

EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE & WORSHIP SERVICE

Ringgold Baptist Church, 4620 Ringgold Church Road, will hold an Easter sunrise service on the front lawn of the church followed by a covered dish breakfast at 6:45 a.m. Sunday. Easter worship service will be held at 10:30 a.m.

EASTER SERVICES

Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1172 Franklin Turnpike, will hold Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. Masks requested if not immunized. Social distancing, except for family members, will be observed. Easter breakfast at 9 a.m., followed by "Sonrise" worship service at 11 a.m. on April 17.

PASTORAL ANNIVERSARY

Tarpley Chapel Baptist Church, 15156 Mount Cross Road, Dry Fork, will celebrate the 26th pastoral anniversary honoring pastor Robert Divens Jr. and lady Arleen Divens during the 11 a.m. April 24 worship service. Guest preacher will be pastor Donald Smith accompanied by the Saint Matthews Baptist Church of Danville. Guest Psalmist will be Whitney Baize Miller of Eden, North Carolina.

INFORMAL CHURCH SERVICE

Trinity United Methodist Church, 409 Arnett Blvd., will hold an informal church service from 10:30 to 11 a.m. April 30.

FOOD AND CLOTHING MINISTRY

Union Hall Baptist Church Food and Clothing Ministry, 6861 Strawberry Road, will be open from 9 a.m. to noon May 7 with food and clothing of all types. For more information, call 434-724-4354 or 434-250-8964. Leroy Thomas is Pastor.

SERVICE CHANGE

Bennett Memorial Missionary Baptist Church will not hold parking lot services until further notice. Services can be heard by via conference call at 10 a.m. on Sundays and 6 p.m. on Wednesdays. Phone number is 1-774-220-4000, ID number 608-2009.

IN PERSON/ONLINE SERVICES

Ascension Lutheran Church, 314 West Main St., worships Sundays at 11 a.m. in the sanctuary and Live on Facebook, www.facebook/ascensionlutherandanville.

Mount Vernon United Methodist Church now offers in-person services at 10 a.m. each Sunday as well as online worship services every Sunday at mtvernonumc.org or www.facebook.com/MountVernonUMC. These will be held until further notice.

IN-PERSON SERVICES

Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, 406 Gay St., will reopen on Easter Sunday, April 17 at 10 a.m. for their hour of power. They will be open on the first and third Sundays for services.

North New Hope Baptist Church, 123 Old Piney Forest Road, has resumed in church worship services at 11 a.m. and Sunday school at 9:30 p.m.

Mount Sinai Glorious Church of God, 716 Jefferson St., will hold services in the sanctuary with Sunday school at 10 a.m. and morning worship at 10:30 a.m. Participants are asked to wear a mask and to practice social distancing. The service also will be streamed on Facebook.

Mount Freeman Baptist Church, 2100 Laniers Mill Road, will resume in-person service at 11 a.m. Sunday. There will be no Sunday school.

ONLINE WORSHIP SERVICES

Sacred Heart Catholic Church will livestream worship service at 9 a.m. Sundays in English and noon in Spanish at www.facebook.com/sheartchurch.

DRIVE-IN SERVICES

Staunton River Baptist Church, Long Island, will hold drive-in services at 10 a.m. each Sunday.

ONGOING SERVICES

Sacred Heart Catholic Church celebrates Mass every weekend with a vigil Mass at 5 p.m. Saturday and at 9 p.m. Sunday in English and noon in Spanish.

Watson Level Missionary Baptist Church holds Sunday worship services each week at 11 a.m. Because of COVID-19, a face mask is required for all attendees and social distancing is mandatory.

Calvary Church of the Nazarene, 2450 Franklin Turnpike, from 6 to 7 p.m. every Sunday, will hold Ladies Need Encouragement, an hour of worship and prayer. Participants are asked to bring a Bible and practice social distancing. The event is for ages 10 and up with adult supervision. For more information, call 540-907-8836.

Mount Zion Temple, now located at 503 Hughes St., presents The Word Homelitic Institute at 10 a.m. every Sunday. Transportation is provided by calling Bishop David K. Fuller at 434-429-8960.
May 1 will be the last day Sovah Health-Martinsville will have a labor and delivery unit.

Dr. Makunda Abdul-Mbacke, of Piedmont Preferred Womens Healthcare in Ridgeway, met Monday with Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th-District, to address the matter of declining medical care offered to women in rural areas.

The timing of the long-planned meeting was coincidental: Just before the pair met in the waiting room of her practice, the hospital announced the labor and delivery unit would be closing effective May 2.

The notice sent Monday by the hospital to Sovah Health employees, physicians and volunteers states, We are working closely with impacted employees in our OB unit to assist them during this transition and it is our hope that all staff will apply and be placed in open positions at our Martinsville or Danville campuses.

Sovah Health-Martinsville CEO Spencer Thomas told the Martinsville Bulletin effective May 2, the hospital will temporarily pause OB delivery services at the Martinsville facility. Instead, they will facilitate all deliveries at the Danville hospital.

Sovah Health continuously evaluates the services we provide across our health system to ensure we are operating as effectively as possible and that the care we provide is reflective of what our community needs, Thomas wrote in a statement. As part of this effort, we assessed our obstetrics (OB) care model and found that the demographics and needs of our community have changed and deliveries have declined by 60% at our Martinsville campus since 2015. Therefore, we are implementing temporary changes while we work to create a new delivery model for OB care between Sovahs two hospital campuses.

While asking the hospital about labor and delivery unit, the Bulletin also asked about reports in reduced staffing in the radiology department.

Importantly, we are not closing our radiology services in Martinsville, Thomas responded through the statement. We transitioned our radiology service provider to Raleigh Radiology effective April 1, 2022. Patients can expect the same quality radiology services that are available today.

Mbacke said when she came to the area there was about a 60-to-40 ratio of Medicaid to private insurance providers being used by patients. Now, the ratio is 90-to-10 with pregnant patients and still around 60-to-40 for patients who are not pregnant.

Virginia Medicaid has not raised the rates it pays for pregnancy care in 10 years, she said.

Potential growth in Martinsville largely revolves around the older generation, so even though houses are being sold and revitalization efforts are going on, there has been a big decrease in need for pregnancy care, she said.

Downward spiral

It had been on a downward spiral for a long time. For a hospital to have a healthy labor and delivery [unit], they need to be delivering at least 500 babies a year, Mbacke said. This keeps up competencies and allows the hospital to be prepared for emergencies.

The hospital has said theyve tried to recruit doctors, but havent been able to, Mbacke said, and it has been hiring temporary doctors instead, which is very expensive. For 30 days last month they paid a temporary doctor, but they only had two deliveries.

Since January 1, 2022 we have had a team of locums tenens physicians providing coverage for our Martinsville campus, Thomas wrote. This is common practice for hospitals across the country to fill gaps during physician absences and to ensure that coverage is still available for patients who need specific types of care.

When Mbacke began working in the area in 2007, there were 10 other OB/GYN (obstetrics or gynecology) doctors who, she said, were all busy and successful, and the Martinsville hospital was actively recruiting more doctors.

Mbacke left Sovah Health-Martinsville last year and has been delivering her patients babies in Eden, North Carolina, she said. This is the last week she will accept new pregnant patients. She decided to stop delivering babies for a number of reasons.

I will still do annual exams, STD screening, birth control and primary care and helping with menopause, Mbacke wrote Wednesday by email. We will have a special focus on cancer screening and prevention. I will still do ultrasounds and will be here to help with confirming and diagnosing newly pregnant patients, but after the confirmation they will need care elsewhere.

Now, Martinsville has one remaining practicing OB/GYN who is delivering babies in Danville, she said.

Pregnant patients who need delivery services can travel to Eden, North Carolina, or to Roanoke, Mbacke said. But, this would cause Virginia Medicaid money to be used out of state.

Theres a lot of patients who are not able to find a doctor unless theyre going to be willing to drive up to the clinic in Roanoke, Mbacke said. Theyre still going to show up at the hospital in Martinsville.

Other issues

Mbacke and Griffith were talking in the waiting room of her practice. During their conversation, as the congressman listened, his district assistant, Joshua Hess, sat taking notes.

On the topic of child mortality rates, Griffth said, hospitals that are not prepared to do delivery  or if they claim to be prepared and they arent  the evidence was pretty clear in our hearing anecdotally that thats a big part of the problem.

Mbacke said she doesnt know if opening back up the labor and delivery unit would solve any of these issues.

If you dont have enough units, you cant put the personnel and the machinery in to make sure that youre reducing the possibility of these situations, said Griffith.

While she does not have all the answers, Mbacke said, I am saying that it is something we have to really look at because we cant force them to open it back up.

Mbacke brought up midwifery and doula services as possibilities to fill the need for pregnancy care.

Griffith said mobile medical units have been installed in Stuart about two months ago. They helped cover the gap after Pioneer Hospital in Patrick County closed in 2017. Mbacke asked for more information to see if those could be used in a similar way in Martinsville.

At the end of their conversation, Griffith added, I dont know that we can solve anything, but if you see a problem or if you see a solution, please give us a call.
The pandemics present state  at least on the local level  matches the transition into the spring season: a sense of renewal brought about with fresh, new flowers mixed with a dash of rocky turbulence when a severe storm approaches.

At Sovah Health, there were zero patients with COVID-19 at its Danville and Martinsville campuses on Friday, marking perhaps the first time in the more than two-year pandemic no one was being treated for the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

The local health department is moving from responding to the virus to caring for the overall health of residents, Dr. Scott Spillmann, director of the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District, said.

For a while now, we have been working to treat and prevent COVID-19, but now we are hoping to move beyond that to caring for the whole health of our community, Brookie Crawford, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Health, told the Register & Bee via email on Friday. We encourage everyone to take advantage of the variety of services and screenings our local health departments offer.

However, with seasonal change comes a threat of rough weather to mar an otherwise sunny afternoon. In the health world, that translates into a threat of rising caseloads in the coming months, Fridays University of Virginias Biocomplexity Institute reported.

Even with a projected rise in Virginia COVID-19 infections that could rival last summers delta wave, hospitalizations arent expected to grow to those same levels.

The reason, UVa researchers said, is because the delta variant packed a potent punch causing more severe illnesses. Locally, it meant younger and otherwise healthy residents filled hospital beds with the virus.

A tweaked version of omicron  BA.2 as it is dubbed  now accounts for about 85% of new COVID-19 cases in Virginia. While this particular variant is extremely transmissible  even more so than the original omicron version that produced records infections in January  it doesnt cause as severe of outcomes when compared to the delta variant, UVa researchers said.

Vaccinations

The risk of contracting COVID-19 has decreased, but it isnt completely gone, Dr. Sheranda Gunn-Nolan, market chief medical officer for Sovah Health, told the Register & Bee via email Friday. Unvaccinated individuals and those at high risk for illness should still use caution when participating in group activities or gathering in large crowds.

Yet with only slightly more than half of the residents in Danville and Pittsylvania County considered fully vaccinated, daily injections are at a near standstill when compared with other times in the pandemic.

Only about 1-in-4 local residents have received a booster dose of COVID-19. Fridays UVa report sites a recent study suggesting that boosted individuals not only recovered from COVID-19 faster than those who with just two vaccine doses, but they also had about one-fifth of the live viral load in their nose and throats while sick.

A lower viral load means theres less chance for spreading the illness.

Vaccination still continues to be our best defense against COVID and its variants now and moving forward, Crawford wrote.

The shots of protection are readily available, Gunn-Nolan said, also noting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved a second booster dose for people 50 and older at least four months after receiving their first booster.

Vaccine appointments can be found at vaccines.gov.

Next wave

Over the last two years, UVa models have tried to chart the course of the pandemic based on available data.

For the first time in months, a new surge by mid-May appeared in models released Friday. All three scenarios show daily infections eclipsing the height of the delta wave last summer.

But the report also notes the models could be over-estimating the growth because of data adjustments recently. Those adjustments appeared locally over the last two weeks when cases were removed from Danville. UVa acknowledges this happens when infections were allotted to a city instead of a nearby county.

This has been a common issue in the pandemic. For example, a resident may have a ZIP code of Danville but actually reside in Pittsylvania County. A lab may have assigned the COVID-19 infection to Danville until a data quality team eventually found the issue and reassigned it.

The data juggle adds confusion to the daily case count making it nearly impossible to ascertain how many new infections are appear daily. Another problem comes from at-home test kits. With more people using this testing method, a positive COVID-19 result doesnt reach the official record books, meaning the health department figures undercount the infections.

Besides the UVa models, other evidence is hinting at another surge in cases throughout Virginia. For example, wastewater surveillance is detecting early signs of COVID-19 increasing, the UVa report noted.

While we all enjoy the current calm, we must note that early warning systems are picking up the first signs of potential trouble on the horizon, researchers wrote in Fridays report. For the first time in weeks, other states, most notably New York, are showing slow growth trajectories.

Other data  including the reproduction number  implies daily case rates have bottomed out throughout the state and are now rebounding.

Though these data are far from definitive, we may be seeing the first signs of real sustained growth, researchers wrote in the report.

Deaths

COVID-19 continues to claim lives in the Dan River Region. Over the last two weeks, six new fatalities in Danville and Pittsylvania County were added to the official record logs.

Those deaths likely happened at least a few weeks ago because of the strict process the health department uses to verify someone died from COVID-19. First, officials wait for the death certificate to arrive. Even with that document, sometimes department workers reach out to a health care facility or family member for more details.

So far, 476 residents of Danville and Pittsylvania County have died from COVID-19. On Friday, the state crossed the 20,000 death-toll threshold.

Current suggestions

Danville and Pittsylvania County join the vast majority of the nation  95%  in the low community level for COVID-19, as defined by the CDC using a formula based on hospitalizations to determine the local threat.

This means the federal agency does not recommend residents wear face masks unless its a practice that they desire or if they have symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test.

We encourage everyone to evaluate each situation when deciding whether or not to take precautions, Crawford explained to the Register & Bee.

Over at Sovah Health, masks  and other COVID-19 protocols  are still required for everyone in one of its facilities.

It is important to remember that these protocols are effective in preventing the spread of the virus, Gunn-Nolan said.

Beyond COVID-19, Crawford believes this is a good time to evaluate individual health concerns, especially things that may have been sidetracked because of the pandemic.

Now is a great time to evaluate your mental health, to catch up on preventative health screening, and to check in with their doctor about any lingering health issues, she said.

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Question: What is the story behind the Easter lily?

- R.B.

Answer: Lilies are mentioned several times in the Bible, including Jesus reference in Matthew 6:28: Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. Some religious traditions say that white lilies sprang up from drops of Jesus sweat during his crucifixion or that lilies were found in Marys tomb three days after her death. Church paintings of Mary and the baby Jesus often featured lilies as symbols of purity.

Easter lilies gained widespread popularity (and, presumably, their name) because they bloom around Easter time.

Q: How did the Easter Bunny get the name Peter Cottontail? I mean, I know why a rabbit would be referred to as having a cotton tail, but how did that specific name come about?

- B.B.

A: The name actually derives from a 1914 childrens book, The Adventures of Peter Cottontail by childrens story author Thornton Burgess. The characters actual name was Peter Rabbit, and he originated with writer Beatrix Potter, who named the character after her childhood pet rabbit Peter Piper.

Burgess tried briefly to call his rabbit Peter Cottontail, according to a 1944 article in Life magazine. But he went back to Peter Rabbit for, as Peter himself said, Theres nothing like the old name after all.

He continued to write about the character as Peter Rabbit, but the temporary nickname took off separately, perhaps helped along in 1949 by a popular Easter song, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, written by Jack Rollins and Steven Nelson, the same duo who later wrote Frosty the Snowman.

Q: Where did the tradition of the Easter Bunny come from?

- J.H.

Answer: In his book Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, author Charles Panati traces the origins to pre-Christian customs celebrating the goddess Eastre, who was worshiped by Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the hare.

Eastre was the goddess of springtime, and rabbits were often associated with fertility. Second-century Christian missionaries learned of the celebrations in honor of her when they were trying to convert the Teutonic tribes north of Rome.

Whenever possible, the missionaries did not interfere too strongly with entrenched customs, according to Panati. Rather, quietly  and often ingeniously  they attempted to transform pagan practices into ceremonies that harmonized with Christian doctrine.

If converts took part in a Christian ceremony on a day when no other people were celebrating, they could become targets for persecution. But if a Christian rite took place on the same day as a similar custom, it was less obvious.

Also, having similar customs would make it easier to convince people to adopt new ways, and, perhaps, convert to Christianity.

Over time, more and more people converted to Christianity. The rabbits came along for the ride, and the Easter Bunny eventually became the egg-delivering scamp we know today, eggs also being a traditional symbol of fertility and the renewal of life.

 Melissa Hall Winston-Salem Journal

Email your questions to mike.kernels@greensboro.com. Include Ask a Reporter in the subject field.

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GREENSBORO  Newly reported COVID-19 cases are on the rise across North Carolina, including some colleges and universities in the Triad.

State health officials announced 4,741 new cases for the week ending April 9, compared to 3,074 cases the previous week, in data released Wednesday by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Some local universities are also seeing an uptick in cases.

On Wednesday, Wake Forest announced a temporary indoor mask requirement for the School of Law that became effective Thursday in response to a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in the school. The university said online that its decision to reinstate masking in response to data particular to a location on campus marks a new phase in its pandemic response.

As I have said many times this year, we know how to do this, President Susan R. Wente said in a statement posted on the universitys website. Masking is one of the tools in our toolkit in responding to what we see in our case data. We can use it or other mitigation strategies, as warranted by our public health conditions.

Among student cases at Wake Forest, 12 have tested positive this week compared to nine students testing positive the week of March 28.

N.C. A&T had 36 students test positive on Tuesday compared to only two testing positive April 7, according to A&Ts COVID-19 dashboard.

Dr. Robert Doolittle, medical director of A&Ts student health center, said positive cases on campus had increased slowly since April 1  until this week.

There has been a 4-fold increase in positive cases, almost all with symptoms, Doolittle said in an email, noting those with positive results represent less than 1% of the universitys students, faculty and staff.

He said the increase in positive cases may mirror trends seen in more than half the nation as the Omicron BA.2 variant is spreading rapidly, though without an increase in hospitalization rates thus far.

A&T students who test positive are isolating in the universitys isolation facility on campus or are going home, he said.

The symptoms are flu-like and mild in most cases and include both respiratory and gastrointestinal complaints, Doolittle said. The need for more than over-the-counter medication has been rare.

A&T requires a negative rapid antigen test after the fifth day of illness to end isolation before the customary 10th day. During the last surge of cases in January 2022, we found 22% of our students to still be positive on the fifth day and further isolation was needed, Doolittle said.

A&T is also conducting wastewater testing for surveillance and has started extra testing in dorms that are identified as having an increase in positivity, Doolittle said. If cases continue to increase, he said the school will look at how to reduce airborne transmission.

UNCG reported on its website that 24 students tested positive this week, compared to 12 students testing positive the week of March 28.

UNC-Chapel Hill said in a message on its website that it ended its practice of updating campus testing data on April 4, 2022, in alignment with lower rates of campus testing and increased reliance on the dashboards presented on this site. The website provided links to five other dashboards, none of which was campus-specific.

In addition to new cases, state health officials also reported a rise in virus particles in wastewater  including from Greensboro. The data is among the new metrics being used by DHHS to track and report on levels of COVID-19 across the state. The particles can indicate how quickly the virus is spreading even when people dont get tested.

Statewide, some metrics declined or remained steady.

This weeks DHHS report showed the percentage of emergency room visits for COVID-19 symptoms stayed at 2% for the week ending April 9, the same as the previous week.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in North Carolina decreased from 274 for the week ending April 2 to 242 for the week ending April 9, according to the latest state data.

In Guilford County, public health officials said 27 COVID-19 patients were being treated in local hospitals Thursday compared to seven on April 5.

At least 52% of North Carolina residents have had at least one booster shot or additional dose of vaccine, the DHHS report showed. At least 76% of adults in North Carolina have had at least one dose of vaccine, and 38% of children ages 5 through 17 have had at least one dose.

Guilford Countys COVID-19 community level spread remains low, according to metrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
RALEIGH  A highly contagious and deadly strain of avian influenza has been identified in North Carolina and around the country, impacting personal and commercial flocks of poultry  and causing concerns about the presence of wild birds in backyards.

The News & Observer previously reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has so far determined that every case in the United States has come directly from wild birds. Wild birds spread the virus to other poultry through the shedding of saliva, nasal secretions and feces, or by touching a surface that has been contaminated by the bird, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

In response to the spread of the deadly disease, agriculture officials at the state and federal level are urging people with poultry  both small-scale, backyard flocks and large, commercial ones  to take precautions and protect their birds against the virus, including by removing bird feeders from the vicinity of poultry flocks to avoid attracting wild birds.

But if you dont keep poultry at your home, is it still safe to put out bird feeders and attract wild birds?

Could allowing wild birds to congregate at a feeder near your home spread the virus among their populations? After reading The N&Os previous avian flu coverage, those are questions posed to us by a reader.

To get an answer to those questions, we consulted Matthew Koci, a virologist and immunologist at N.C. State Universitys Prestage Department of Poultry Science.

The answer is complicated, and depends on a variety of factors  but heres what you should know.

How does avian flu spread?

To understand Kocis answers to the questions, its helpful to think about how the avian flu actually spreads, and whether those methods of spread could occur at a bird feeder.

The USDA has determined that every case of HPAI identified thus far has come directly from wild birds. Wild birds can spread the disease among themselves, or they can spread it to domestic or commercial flocks of poultry, such as chickens and turkeys.

The CDC says wild birds spread the disease by:

Shedding the virus in their saliva, nasal secretions and feces.

Contaminating surfaces with the shed virus.

When other, non-infected birds come into contact with the shed virus directly or indirectly, they can then become infected.

How would avian flu spread at a bird feeder?

Thinking about how the virus spreads, then, Koci said it is possible for a bird feeder to serve as a point of spread among wild birds.

He said the spread could happen through:

An infected wild bird making direct contact with a non-infected bird at the feeder.

Infected wild birds leaving behind poop or other secretions in the area of the bird feeder, which a non-infected wild bird could make contact with.

An infected wild bird putting seeds in its mouth, then dropping them, and a non-infected bird eating after them.

But, Koci said, wild birds are less susceptible to the virus than gallinaceous birds, like chickens.

Chickens and other domestic birds face terrible death if they come into contact with the virus, The N&O previously reported  which is why removing bird feeders from the vicinity of backyard and commercial poultry flocks has been a bigger topic of conversation and concern.

Should you take down bird feeders to prevent the spread of avian flu?

So, taking all of that into account, should you take your bird feeder down to prevent wild birds from congregating?

Thats where things get messy, Koci said  and it depends on whether or not you keep domestic birds at or near your home.

One thing is clear: If you have pet birds or backyard chickens, or live near someone who does, Koci says the answer is a clear and resounding yes, and you should remove bird feeders from your home for the time being, until the avian flu is less of a concern.

Where things become less clear, and where there is less agreement among experts, is whether you should remove bird feeders if you dont keep domestic birds.

In general, the USDA is recommending the removal of bird feeders only if you keep domestic birds. Extension professionals at N.C. State have also recommended that.

But extension professionals at Cornell University recommended everyone take down their bird feeders until the threat of the disease has passed, even if you dont keep domestic birds.

Koci said the decision of whether to keep your bird feeder up to feed wild birds  and remember, this is only if you dont keep domestic birds  comes down to more a personal choice of how much risk youre willing to tolerate.

Koci recommended thinking about the following criteria when deciding whether to take down your bird feeder:

Do you know what species of wild birds tend to feed at your feeder? Waterfowl are most resistant to avian flu, Koci said, but other species fall somewhere in between, and we dont really know which are which. If youre concerned about spreading the virus among wild birds, and youre not sure which species congregate at your feeder, or you think the species could be at risk for the disease, you might take the safer route and take down your feeder.

Do you live in an area with an endangered species of bird? It might be safer to take down your feeder so you can help protect the species and mitigate the possibility of an endangered bird catching the disease.

Does your area have a large population of waterfowl that no longer migrate? Think about Canada geese that have turned into Carolina geese, Koci said  if the population becomes infected with the virus, it could keep the avian flu here permanently. In that case, I might consider taking my feeder down for a while, Koci said.

If you think about those questions and dont think theres a big risk for spreading the virus through your feeder based on where you are and the birds that visit your feeder, its probably fine to leave your feeder up, Koci said, but you should stay on the lookout for dead and infected birds in your area and know how to report possible cases of the virus.

Warning signs of avian flu

If you decide to keep your feeder up, be on the lookout for these warning signs of the virus in birds, provided by the N.C. Department of Agriculture:

Reduced energy, decreased appetite and/or decreased activity.

Lower egg production and/or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs.

Swelling of the head, eyelids, comb and wattles.

Purple discoloration of the wattles, comb and legs.

Difficulty breathing, runny nares (nose) and/or sneezing.

Twisting of the head and neck, stumbling, falling down, tremors and/or circling.

Greenish diarrhea.

How to report suspected cases of avian flu in NC

If you notice birds in your are exhibiting the above warning signs, you should report it right away.

To report suspected cases of avian flu in North Carolina, follow these options:

Contact your local veterinarian.

Contact the N.C. State Veterinary Office (919-707-3250).

Contact your local branch of the N.C. Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System.

Contact the USDA (866-536-7593).
Central Illinois congregations are preparing for their third Easter since the start of the pandemic  and the first since widespread vaccine availability and the end of state mask requirements.

Many area religious leaders say their congregations have largely returned to regular services, though virtual options are offered by most. But Easter, the day that Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, has always been among the occasions that draw larger crowds, with more congregants bringing guests and casual churchgoers making a point to attend.

This year, packed pews may be an especially welcome sight.

Having to shut down (in 2020) was kind of a soul search for the church in general. Just to ask the question, what is church? said the Rev. Paul Stroup of Clinton Presbyterian Church. When somethings taken away, you realize how much it meant to you, and its just gone in the blink of an eye.

Stroup, who said his church has mostly reached pre-pandemic attendance but still has regular online attendees, said congregants had grieved the loss of time to sing and be together. I think it means that much more to people, like a reinvigorated meaning  where people might not take for granted as much as they did before.

Made for community

Nationally, churches and other houses of worship are increasingly holding services the way they did before the pandemic, according to a Pew Research Center survey released last month. But in-person attendance appears to have plateaued: The same survey found that while Americans returned steadily to services between July 2020 and September 2021, growth slowed over the past six months.

In the survey conducted March 7-13, 27% of U.S. adults reported having attended religious services in person during the previous month  compared to 26% in September.

Last month, 30% said they had streamed religious services online or watched them on TV  up slightly from 28% in September.

People are coming back to First Christian Church of Clinton, said Rev. Mike Cahill, although the church does have some members who take advantage of its livestreamed services.

Some have been gone for a while and they got out of a habit, routine, or rhythm of coming, he said. "Here we are two years removed from the first shutdown and people are, I think, opening up and are now coming back. Its hard for me to say that things have plateaued, but were still kind of waiting and seeing some of our people that weve not seen come back.

His congregation was among those that gathered members for a community Good Friday service organized by the Clinton Area Ministerial Association.

The core of Christianity is the resurrection, Cahill said. If there is no resurrection for the Christian there is no gospel, there is no good news, there is no hope and there is a heightened sense of community, purpose and hopefulness that comes along with Easter.

A number of Central Illinois pastors said they were aware of parishioners who continued to attend online for health reasons, or because they traveled or moved away from the area.

I think people are still hesitant about returning to normal worship, said the Rev. Wayne Dunning of Faith Fellowship Christian Church in Decatur. But, he said, I believe people still have a desire to belong to something bigger and something better than themselves alone. I still believe the church is the only solution to this hope  and that people will return to assembling themselves at their respective houses of worship.

More than 700 people are attending in person each week at Lincoln Christian Church in Lincoln, said the Rev. Ron Otto of Lincoln Christian Church. Still others are watching online from Ohio, Michigan, Florida or their homes in the region.

But being together in person offers special benefits, Otto said.

I believe God made us for community, he said. ... Thats why theres so many commandments in scripture about how to teach other people, because God wanted us to be interactive. He calls us the light and the salt of the earth, and all that has to come in contact with other people in order for us to have a positive influence in this world.

The Rev. Terry Evans, lead pastor for the Prairieview Parrish, said it has fully reopened all three sanctuaries at United Methodist churches in Elwin, Macon and near Boody, and Zoom services are also offered.

Evans said each of the churches would offer special music and activities on Sunday, and the Elwin location would offer an additional 7 a.m. sunrise service with breakfast to follow.

I feel that our world is truly hungry for the word of God and a connection with the Risen Savior, Evans said. These past few years many have felt isolated or disconnected from their faith, and Easter is an amazing opportunity to reconnect and be rejuvenated.

Catholic churches in the Diocese of Springfield have largely returned to pre-pandemic attendance, said Andrew Hansen, spokesman for the diocese. The diocese does a census each October to find out how many people are attending Mass. In October 2020, 22,193 attended services on an average weekend and in October 2021, that number had risen to 33,531.

"We are expecting full churches this Easter," Hansen said.

The world shifted

First Christian Church in Decatur had already been doing live streaming of church services before COVID-19 shut everything down, said the Rev. Wayne Kent, senior pastor. A significant portion of the congregation attends virtually but the numbers of in-person worshipers goes up every week.

The world shifted with the introduction of the iPhone and churches have to keep planning for (that), he said. We interact differently than we used to. COVID exacerbated the shift. COVID didn't cause us to go online, but it made us focus more intently on what we do online.

Before COVID, Kent said, those who attended virtual services often did so passively, simply watching services, but now the church works harder to engage those worshipers, with an online chat host, several cameras to provide various angles on the service, and in planning services, the staff is thinking not just in terms of what's happening in the auditorium, but what does it look like online? And attendance, counting both online and in-person worshipers, has risen, even if they count each computer that is logged in as only one person. What they've found is that most of the time, each online log-in represents more than one person.

Another change brought about by online engagement is that the church's web page is much more interactive and useful than the old Yellow Pages ad, which was static and had to be created months in advance of publication. The web page can be updated constantly.

Attending in person, however, Kent said, may be more a generational preference. Young people who have grown up with technology are just as comfortable interacting over the internet as in person, while older people prefer to be in person. For him personally, he wants to see people's faces, bump elbows or shake hands, and is grateful that First Christian has been back to normal since Christmas.

We're certainly in a better space than the first (pandemic) Easter in 2020, he said. That was very hard. I was absolutely miserable.

Church in the 21st century will look and feel very different, said the Rev. Braden Parks of Christ United Methodist Church in Decatur. He noted the many opportunities that people have to attend services online as well as in person.

But there are many reasons to come in person, he said. Historically, Easter is also a time when people are baptized and the church welcomes new followers.

The community is special, or should be, in general, whether on Easter Sunday or any Sunday of the year, he said.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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Hong Kong: HK can handle COVID-19 rebound

Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan today said the Government will be able to handle any possible rebound in COVID-19 cases following the Easter holidays and the easing of social distancing rules.

Meeting the media after attending a radio programme this morning, Prof Chan noted the Government has been monitoring the overall epidemic status in the city.

We are concerned about the situation during the Easter holidays that people are going out and the people flow is increasing. Therefore, should there be a rebound, we are monitoring it very closely.

We need to monitor a basket of factors, including the overall epidemic trend on the number of confirmed cases, sewage studies and some of the indicators such as the R0 indicator as well as the point prevalence indicator done by the University of Hong Kong.

She also pointed out that with the help of the Central People's Government, Hong Kong has managed to expand its anti-epidemic capacity in a short period of time in terms of designated hospitals and community isolation facilities.

We are confident that if there is a rebound, we are able to cope with the situation.

The health chief also reiterated the importance of getting a COVID-19 jab and maintaining good hygiene practices.

Vaccination is still a very important intervention in order to prevent and protect people from becoming severe cases and prevent deaths.

There are still transmission chains in the community. Therefore, I strongly appeal to the public not to go to crowded places. They should also maintain their own personal and environmental hygiene so that the whole community is working together to fight this pandemic.

This story has been published on: 2022-04-16. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. Near record high temperatures. High 97F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 76F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph.
Perry PD searches for man on the run

PERRY, Ga.  The search began Thursday night for a man who fled after a vehicle pursuit ended in Perry.



Perry PD collaborated with law enforcement from Dooly County, Turner County, Crisp County and Houston County. Perry PDs and Georgia Department of Corrections K9 units and Georgia State Patrols aviation unit also aided in the manhunt.

According to the Perry Police Department, around 6 p.m., Perry PD was alerted to a vehicle chase that began south of Dooly County.

The vehicle involved was described as a white Dodge Charger.

Interstate 75s northbound ramp at Exit 134 was closed last night due to heavy police presence in the area. Perry PD received a request to close Exit 134 to prevent the suspect from going into town.

The suspects vehicle broke down on the exit ramp, then the suspect fled into a nearby wooded area east of I-75.

Law enforcement set up a perimeter in the area and later recovered a Glock .40 caliber weapon and some of the suspects clothes at the scene.

Around 8 p.m., the search expanded to an area south of the Fairgrounds between Elko Road and I-75  and around 11 p.m., law enforcement lost track of the suspect.

Shortly after, Perry PD received a report of a suspicious person at Striplings General Store in Perry.

Perry PD then located a female believed to have been traveling with the suspect on Ag Village Road. She was identified as Dayontice Jolesia Blackmon of Fairburn, Georgia. She has been arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license, giving false information and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. She was booked at the Houston County Detention Center.

The suspect is still at large. He has been identified as 31-year-old Martrey Derezo Williams. Williams is described as a Black male, about six feet tall and weighing around 200 pounds. The suspect has charges pending out of Clayton and Turner counties.

Captain Alan Everidge with Perry PD urges anyone in the area to stay alert, and if they believe they see the suspect to call 911. Perry PD believes the Williams is not an immediate threat to the public; however, they do not advise to engage the suspect directly, as he was believed to be armed and dangerous.

"If someone sees something that looks suspicious, dont hesitate; call 911, Everidge said. "Well respond, the Sheriffs Office will know where its at and let us investigate and take him into custody.

According to a police alert update, the search ended around midnight. But as of publication, Perry PD is still patrolling the area. For updates on this case, Perry PD urges the public to text "Hello to 888-49-PERRY (73779).
Faith is the certainty of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. That is the wisdom of the author of Hebrews, directed at first-century believers and at us. He was arguing that we are called to trust and obey given the fact that we are following someone we cant experience now through our five senses. The same thing was true for the disciples on Easter weekend.

Jesus explained over and over that he had come to show them how to live, then die for their sins, just as the Scriptures foretold. But after three years of living with him, just a day after his Crucifixion, the disciples appear to have decided that Jesus was an amazing guy but things had not worked out. He had turned out not to be Israels political liberator. Not only did he not take over, he was shamed and tortured to death.

So much for faith. Jesus left the disciples and it appears everything he said left them, too. They were filled with despair when the women came to tell them Jesuss body was no longer in the tomb. The disciples refused to believe them and dismissed what they said as nonsense. When Jesus appeared later to two disciples, they had no clue who he was. Jesus was rightly annoyed that they did not understand what had happened and lamented their foolishness.

If on this Easter weekend you are wrestling with living out the Christian faith, get in line. The faith exhortation in Hebrews needed to be preached to the disciples, too. Faith is embracing as true something that we cannot verify now using our senses. A day after their time of despair, Thomas would stick his hand in Jesuss side. After Jesuss resurrection, the other disciples were overjoyed and awestruck when they saw him, heard him, smelled him and touched him.

We have not had this experience yet. That yet is mighty. Its understandable for us to wrestle just as they did. However, we should also embrace the revolution produced by his reappearance after the Resurrection. The disciples turned the world upside down, devoted their lives to the building up of Christs kingdom and most were martyred. Peter, the unstable guy who thrice denied knowing Jesus, asked that he be crucified upside down at the end of his life so as not to be seen as his equal. Could there be a more radical change in a mans life from cowardice to sacrifice?

It would take far more faith than I will ever have to see all this as clever fiction. As CS Lewis said, the Gospel is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have. The author in Hebrews is saying that it is OK to question now as long as you accept that the essence of being faithful is following someone you cant experience yet with your senses.

The Gospel proclaims that one day we will not only live forever with Christ, but somehow, we will be like him. Paul says we will know as we are known. Our current limited perception will seem like trying to experience life from within a cloud compared to the way we will know then. See the effects that experiencing the risen Jesus had on the despairing disciples? Imagine what knowing him in all his glory and being like him will do to us. Sunday is coming friends.

Dr. Chris Simmons is a member of the pastoral care team at Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory.
Central Illinois congregations are preparing for their third Easter since the start of the pandemic  and the first since widespread vaccine availability and the end of state mask requirements.

Many area religious leaders say their congregations have largely returned to regular services, though virtual options are offered by most. But Easter, the day that Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, has always been among the occasions that draw larger crowds, with more congregants bringing guests and casual churchgoers making a point to attend.

This year, packed pews may be an especially welcome sight.

I feel that the sense of connection and community is far greater when we are able to physically be together, said the Rev. Matthew Froeschle of First Presbyterian Church in Mattoon. ... The pandemic has taught us not to take for granted the blessing of community and connection.

Made for community

Nationally, churches and other houses of worship are increasingly holding services the way they did before the pandemic, according to a Pew Research Center survey released last month. But in-person attendance appears to have plateaued: The same survey found that while Americans returned steadily to services between July 2020 and September 2021, growth slowed over the past six months.

In the survey conducted March 7-13, 27% of U.S. adults reported having attended religious services in person during the previous month  compared to 26% in September.

Last month, 30% said they had streamed religious services online or watched them on TV  up slightly from 28% in September.

COVID definitely affected church attendance for a long period of time, said the Rev. Mike Southards of Christ First Church in Charleston, but the congregation has begun to see an increase in the number of familiar faces, as well as some new members.

There are always some people who are unable to attend worship services for any number of reasons, he said, but we also sense a strong desire among people to return to normal and engage in corporate worship in person, connect with each other through face to face conversation and derive the strength that comes from worshiping together.

Froeschle said his church had seen a slight increase in attendance this month and expected more people on Easter, but no massive increases in the near future.

A number of Central Illinois pastors said they were aware of parishioners who continued to attend online for health reasons, or because they traveled or moved away from the area.

I think people are still hesitant about returning to normal worship, said the Rev. Wayne Dunning of Faith Fellowship Christian Church in Decatur. But, he said, I believe people still have a desire to belong to something bigger and something better than themselves alone. I still believe the church is the only solution to this hope  and that people will return to assembling themselves at their respective houses of worship.

More than 700 people are attending in person each week at Lincoln Christian Church in Lincoln, said the Rev. Ron Otto of Lincoln Christian Church. Still others are watching online from Ohio, Michigan, Florida or their homes in the region.

But being together in person offers special benefits, Otto said.

I believe God made us for community, he said. ... Thats why theres so many commandments in scripture about how to teach other people, because God wanted us to be interactive. He calls us the light and the salt of the earth, and all that has to come in contact with other people in order for us to have a positive influence in this world.

The Rev. Terry Evans, lead pastor for the Prairieview Parrish in southern Macon County, said it has fully reopened all three sanctuaries at United Methodist churches in Elwin, Macon and near Boody, and Zoom services are also offered.

Evans said each of the churches would offer special music and activities on Sunday, and the Elwin location would offer an additional 7 a.m. sunrise service with breakfast to follow.

I feel that our world is truly hungry for the word of God and a connection with the Risen Savior, Evans said. These past few years many have felt isolated or disconnected from their faith, and Easter is an amazing opportunity to reconnect and be rejuvenated.

The world shifted

First Christian Church in Decatur had already been doing live streaming of church services before COVID-19 shut everything down, said the Rev. Wayne Kent, senior pastor. A significant portion of the congregation attends virtually but the numbers of in-person worshipers goes up every week.

The world shifted with the introduction of the iPhone and churches have to keep planning for (that), he said. We interact differently than we used to. COVID exacerbated the shift. COVID didn't cause us to go online, but it made us focus more intently on what we do online.

Before COVID, Kent said, those who attended virtual services often did so passively, simply watching services, but now the church works harder to engage those worshipers. Attendance, counting both online and in-person worshipers, has risen, even if they count each computer that is logged in as only one person. What they've found is that most of the time, each online log-in represents more than one person.

Attending in person, Kent said, may be more a generational preference. Young people who have grown up with technology are just as comfortable interacting over the internet as in person, while older people prefer to be in person. For him personally, he wants to see people's faces, bump elbows or shake hands, and is grateful that First Christian has been back to normal since Christmas.

Southards, of Christ First Church, said he anticipated that many of those who have chosen to participate in services virtually will join in person this Sunday.

Every worship service is special, he said, but Easter holds particular significance.

The resurrection of Christ is God's promise to us that all who are in Christ will one day have perfect bodies and live in a perfect world, he said. It doesn't get better than that.

Contact Rob Stroud at 217-238-6861.

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MATTOON  Siblings Zander, 8, and Hazel, 3, Penn were among the many children who sprung forth from the starting line to search for Easter eggs Saturday morning at Broadway Christian Church.

The brother and sister duo, who attend Broadway Christian, shared an Easter basket as they joined the crowd of fellow parishioners and other youths from the community for The Great Egg Hunt on the front lawn of this church along South Ninth Street.

Their mother, Maria Penn of Mattoon, said they have made taking part in Broadway Christian's annual Easter egg hunt a family tradition for several years now. She noted that their youngest sibling, Jamie, 11 months, was along for the ride in a stroller for his first egg hunt Saturday morning.

"We love the events the church has, especially the Easter egg hunt where we get to celebrate Jesus and have fun," Penn said.

While waiting for the egg hunts to start, several families lined up to have their photos taken alongside the Easter bunny inside the church's lobby and to get refreshments from the Coffee Cove coffee bar there.

Community member Gabe Reed, 6, proudly held his baby sister, Leona, 3 months, during his photo session. Gabe visits Broadway Christian for its egg hunt ever year with his family and said he wanted to include Leona in this year's photo because of "just how cute she is."

Other families used provided chalk to create colorful artwork on the church's parking lot. These families included Broadway Christian parishioners Julie and Matthew Fisher with their children Margaret, 6; Josephine, 4; and James, 2.

"I think it's awesome," Julie Fisher said of The Great Egg Hunt. "Anytime you can get the community together, it's a good thing."

John Mueth, associate minister at Broadway Christian, said most of the families who turn out for the egg hunt are from the community at large and are not parishioners there. He said many of these visitors have made the hunt an annual part of their Easter festivities.

Broadway Christian is on a street traveled by many local families, with the church situated across the street from Mattoon Middle School and a few blocks north of Williams Elementary School.

Donna Flight, early childhood director at Broadway Christian, said the egg hunt has been a yearly event for more than a decade and has become a team effort for the parishioners. She said individual families from the congregation take home bags of 50 Easter eggs, fill them with candy and then bring them back for the hunt. This year's total was approximately 3,500 eggs.

"We enjoy seeing the kids come out and have fun," Flight said, adding that she especially enjoys seeing infants attend their first Easter egg hunt. "Their eyes light up. They are just excited to get the eggs. They don't even know anything is inside."

Contact Rob Stroud at 217-238-6861.

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CHARLETON  Eastern Illinois University will host a community blood drive, sponsored by Alpha Epsilon Delta and Eta Sigma Gamma, from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at 1720 7th St, inside the Donor Bus between Doudna and the Union.

To donate, contact Sam Laingen at 217-581-5000 or visit www.bloodcenter.org and use code 70305 to locate the drive or contact ImpactLife Urbana at 800-747-5401.

Masks and appointments are required.

Potential donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 with parental permission form available through www.bloodcenter.org) and weigh more than 110 pounds. A photo ID is required. Donors who last gave blood on or before March 1 are eligible to give at this drive.

ImpactLife is the exclusive provider of blood and blood components to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.

All donors will receive a voucher for a gift card and a free game of bowling at the EIU Student Union.

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CHICAGO  Because it is the first year since marijuana legalization without COVID-19 restrictions, upcoming April 20 events will mark the biggest cannabis celebrations yet in Illinois.

With 420, an informal holiday and catch phrase for cannabis, falling on a Wednesday this year, celebrations will extend from this weekend to next, much like St. Patricks Day parades in Chicago.

The festivities come even as Cook County courts continue to prevent the opening of 185 new retail businesses, primarily owned by Black and brown investors, while litigation continues over the licensing process.

Weve still got a long way to go, said Douglas Kelly, executive director of the Cannabis Equity Coalition Illinois. He called for new licenses to be released while the courts grind through the litigation.

Still, in recognition of legalization and 420, the coalition will celebrate the night of April 22, with a party at a location to be disclosed only to ticket holders for the event, featuring music, raffles and an auction.

The biggest bash looks to be the Waldos Forever Fest held outside Dispensary 33 in Andersonville, which will shut down Clark Street from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 23.

The festival will feature musical acts, drag performers, local vendors, cultivators from around the state and food trucks on Argyle Street.

A series of related events will take place throughout the city, including Trivia for Stoners at Redline VR, movie night at the Davis Theater, and a run of cannabis-related comedy shorts at Annoyance Theater called Spliff, Laugh, Love.

The last previous in-person Waldos Forever Fest was in 2019. The fest is named after a group of California friends known as Waldos who, according to legend, coined 420 as a code for getting high because they would meet to smoke at 4:20 p.m. This event will be much bigger, said Abigail Watkins, Dispensary 33s marketing director.

Under state law, using cannabis is prohibited in any public place, so the gathering is not a smoke fest  but, ironically, drinking is allowed at such events, and Lagunitas Waldos Triple IPA will be sold. The event is for those 21 and older, and is free, with a suggested donation to the Cannabis Equity Coalition Illinois.

Its been a long time coming for the cannabis community to have a celebration like this in person, Watkins said.

Groups like Parents Opposed to Pot Illinois continue to oppose the hype and commercialization of marijuana, warning of downsides like addiction and driving while intoxicated. But legal weed is gaining unprecedented popularity in the state, with sales nearing $1.8 billion last year, and continuing to climb.

One sign of that success is a new mural painted in Wrigleyville for 420. The art work was painted near Wrigley Field by local artist Olusola Shala Akintunde, and depicts a woman lounging on a boat, enjoying the lakefront and a joint. It includes a QR code with interactive augmented reality, commissioned by the cannabis shopping website Leafly.

Illinois has an extremely low ratio of cannabis stores per population, with 12 stores per million people, a fraction of those in other states, making more dispensaries critical to the growth of the industry, Leafly CEO Yoko Myashita said.

The RISE dispensary in Mundelein has opened its own consumption site, by appointment only, meant for smoking or vaping purchases on site. Edibles arent allowed, because of their unpredictable effects, and each group is asked to have a designated driver who wont partake for at least a half-hour before leaving, Village Administrator Eric Guenther said.

While dispensaries will offer a variety of special deals for 420, most of the celebrations will be held at other sites, so attendees may bring their own if they choose, but they wont have legal permission to consume on site.

Hideout Chicago will host Mr. and Mrs. Weedsday Night on Wednesday, featuring comedy, music, puppets and chaos, all for $10, with proof of COVID vaccination and masks required.

More celebrations are scattered throughout the city and suburbs, many at private locations disclosed only to attendees, including the Freedom Festival in Bensenville, billed as a private, smoke-friendly event.

Preceding 420, a Puff & Poetry event was scheduled for Saturday night above Mary Jane Cafe, at 7112 S. Yates Blvd. in Chicago Organizer Felicia Silverman, known as 3yem Genesis, said the goal is to combine poetry with a cannabis-friendly space.

Its a nonjudgment zone for people to smoke and enjoy poetry, she said. They can come as they are and relax in a safe environment.

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CHICAGO  A fire roared through a prominent church on Chicago's South Side hours after it held Good Friday services, sending its roof caving in and likely leaving it a total loss.

The multiple-alarm fire blaze at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church began after 2 p.m., an hour after services ended, and wasn't brought under control for 90 minutes.

"This church is an anchor in this community," the pastor, Rev. Gerald Dew, told reporters at the scene. "If we've got to lose something, losing it on Good Friday is the best time to lose it because, after Good Friday comes Resurrection Sunday."

The fire appeared to begin in the upper rear of the church, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. No one appeared to be inside at the time.

Around 150 firefighters and 50 engines, trucks and ambulances went to the scene, Langford said. The only reported injury was a firefighter who slipped on the street and injured his ankle, he said. He was taken away in an ambulance.

The South Side church is well-known for its political clout and community involvement, investing in several housing projects starting in the 1960s. The church provides more than 1,500 units of affordable housing for seniors, the physically handicapped and for families, Dew said.

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The Illinois Senate adjourned its session April 9 just after 3 oclock in the morning. The House adjourned about three hours later, as the sun was coming up.

This wasnt the first time that the chambers worked into the wee smalls to finish their work, including a budget, and it probably wont be the last, but its getting to be a bit much.

Senate President Don Harmon told me afterward that, in the future, he would like to avoid adjourning session that late.

Harmon claimed that because of the remarkably collaborative and cordial working relationship among Democrats in the Statehouse, the willingness to accommodate each other and to try to make late adjustments to deal with ideas that came from this part of one caucus or that part of another caucus, all led to a very long night.

In the old days, Harmon said, a prior Speaker might have said Noon on Thursday and we're done. This time, we were trying to work and adjust and adapt and add and subtract things at the request of the caucuses. And it did lead to a schedule challenge at the end.

I can understand that explanation, but it was still severe for a whole lot of folks. Start earlier.

OK, lets talk about that state budget. Im going to throw some numbers at you, but Ill try to make this as simple as I possibly can.

If you want an idea of how crazy this fiscal year has been, just check the projected revenues when the Fiscal Year 2022 budget was enacted last year and compare them to where they are now.

Last spring, budget-makers settled on a $44.4 billion total revenue projection for FY22. As of last week, that number had risen to a whopping $49.2 billion  an increase of more than $4.8 billion, or almost 11%.

The unanticipated new money didnt come directly from the federal government. But it was no doubt a result of the federal economic stimulus programs.

The only debt paydown appropriation in the original FY22 plan last year was $928 million to repay interfund borrowing, and no tax breaks were included.

But now, because of that new revenue, additional debt payoffs, a larger rainy day fund and mostly one-time tax breaks will total $5.3 billion this fiscal year, a $4.4 billion increase above the originally enacted spending plan (not including the payoff of federal COVID-related loans).

The end of year surplus had been projected to be $1 billion, but that money was rolled into the overall spending plan by the new supplemental FY22 appropriation, and the state will now end this fiscal year in June with just $68 million cash, but with $1 billion in its heretofore empty rainy day fund instead of the $600 million initially proposed.

The new fiscal year, which begins July 1, will see its projected revenues drop by $2.6 billion, or about 5.4% from the latest estimate for this fiscal year. But thats still a 5% ($2.175 billion) increase over the FY22 estimate the budget-makers relied on last year.

Debt paydown and tax relief will fall from a high of $6.37 billion (including about $1 billion to pay off federal CVOID-related loans) this fiscal year to just $640 million next fiscal year, a difference of $5.73 billion.

Non-discretionary spending will fall by $51 million net, but most of those spending top-lines will see increases. That can happen because, as noted above, the states remaining $1 billion in COVID-related debt will be paid off by the end of this fiscal year. Pension payments and transfers-out will each rise by about $300 million, and group health insurance payments will increase by about $400 million.

Discretionary spending - apart from debt payoffs and tax relief  will increase by about $2.6 billion ($22.289 billion this fiscal year compared to $24.867 billion next fiscal year). The increases include P-12 education ($550 million), higher education ($240 million), human services ($1.2 billion), public safety ($300 million) and general services ($225 million).

The end of the coming fiscal year may be tight on paper. General Fund revenues are projected to be just $2 million higher than total spending next year. Yes, the state will have $1 billion in its rainy day fund just in case, and the states bill payment cycle can easily be expanded well beyond its current two weeks. But a worse than expected economic downturn could still cause some fiscal pain, although not nearly as much as in the days when the state had no cushion at all (or even no budget).

Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

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Shredding events planned

Mount Tabor United Methodist Church, 3543 Robinhood Road, Winston-Salem, will have a shredding event from 9 a.m. to noon April 23. They will accept monetary donations to benefit food programs serving children in Forsyth County and other missions of the United Methodist Women. Make checks payable to Mt. Tabor UMC-Circle 5. For more information, call the church 336-765-5561 or go to www.mttaborumc.org.

New Philadelphia Moravian Church, 4440 Country Club Road, Winston-Salem, will have a document shred from 9 a.m. to noon April 23. The cost is $5 per box. Enter from Kilpatrick Street. They will unload. You do not have to get out of your vehicle. The shredding is sponsored by the Advent Class. Proceeds will benefit outreach ministries of the Moravian Church. For more information, call 336-972-0494 or visit www.newphilly.org.

New Hope United Methodist Church, 5125 Shattalon Drive, Winston-Salem, will have a community shred day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 23. Documents will be shredded on site. Donations of $5 per bag are requested. Proceeds will benefit youth and local missions.

AARP Triad Region, Forsyth AARP chapter 1797 and the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds will have a free shredding event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 26 at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds. There is a four box maximum per person.

Fries Memorial Moravian Church, 251 N. Hawthorne Road, Winston-Salem, will have a community shred day from 9 a.m. to noon April 30. Shamrock Shredding will be shredding documents on-site in the church parking lot. Donations of $5 per file box or bag are requested. Paper only, no plastic or non-paper trash will be accepted. Proceeds will benefit Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic through the Moravian Board of World Missions.

Hopewell Moravian Church will have two shredding events at the Griffith Volunteer Fire Department, 5190 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem. The first will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 30. The second will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 25. A $5 per bag or box donation is suggested.

Trinity Moravian Church, 220 E. Sprague St., Winston-Salem, will hold a shredding event from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 15th. A $5 per box or a donation is appreciated.

If your group is planning a shredding event and you want to be included on the list, you can email the information to asksam@wsjournal.com or mail it to Ask SAM, 418 N. Marshall St., #100, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

Free mulch available

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utilities annual free leaf mulch pickup is under way.

The mulch will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 23, 30, and May 7 at the Forum 52 Yard Waste Facility, 180 Northstar Drive in the Forum 52 Business Park off Forum Parkway in Rural Hall.

All loads must be fully covered before leaving the site. If you do not bring a tarp or cover, your vehicle will not be loaded, said the division.

The mulch is only for homeowners in cars and pickup trucks with or without trailers. Large vehicles over one ton will not be allowed to receive mulch under any circumstances. All loads must be fully covered before leaving the site.

Email: AskSAM@wsjournal.com Write: Ask SAM, 418 N. Marshall St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101

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A Forsyth County judge denied Rural Hall town officials attempts to disqualify the attorney for its former town manager, Megan Garner, and dismissed the towns claim that Garner breached her fiduciary duty by trying to negotiate a nearly $150,000 severance package that the town said she never should have gotten and that Garner never actually received.

The town sued Garner late last year over the severance package, also known as a settlement agreement, and alleged in an amended complaint that Garner violated town ethical codes by having a sexual relationship with former fire chief Andy Marshall, who reported to Garner. Garner then filed a countersuit to the town, alleging that she was unfairly targeted as a woman with a smear campaign orchestrated by some town officials and that she negotiated the settlement agreement to get out of what she said was a hostile working environment.

The latest developments come out of a hearing Wednesday morning in Forsyth Superior Court. But the legal drama started months ago when Garner and the three council members  John McDermon, Ricky Plunkett and Jesse Stigall  who voted for her settlement agreement abruptly resigned after an Oct. 21, 2021, meeting, along with town attorney D. Barrett Burge. The day after the meeting, Garner accepted a job as city manager for Graham in Alamance County, where she continues to work.

Judge R. Greg Horne issued the written orders on Thursday. Garner, who is at the center of the ongoing legal drama surrounding the small town of about 3,500 residents in northern Forsyth County, did not appear in court on Wednesday, but she was represented by her attorneys, June Allison and Valerie Bateman.

The first issue that Horne considered Wednesday was a motion that Randy James, the towns interim attorney, filed in February seeking to disqualify Bateman from representing Garner in the lawsuit. James alleged that Bateman had a conflict of interest because her husbands firm, Sanford Holshouser, was hired for $55,000 by the town to do legal services. The town made an initial payment of $15,000, but James said the legal services performed by the law firm had little value. James argued that Robert Jessup, Batemans husband, referred Bateman to Garner and that Garner helped draft a letter to the town about an alleged smear campaign and helped Garner negotiate the settlement agreement. James alleged part of the $55,000 proposal that Sanford Holshouser presented to the town would have gone to Batemans legal services for Garner.

James alleged that he didnt know that Bateman and Jessup were married until January of this year.

James argued that he would have to depose Bateman and call her as a witness in a potential trial because Bateman helped draft the settlement agreement, the legality of which is at issue in the lawsuit. He said she would be a necessary witness.

Allison said many people, including the town attorney, were involved in the negotiation. James described Burge, the town attorney at the time, as more of a communicator and minimized his involvement.

Horne concluded that Bateman was not a necessary witness, and that there were plenty of other people involved who could provide the same information that James is seeking from Bateman.

The second issue that Horne dealt with was the claim the town made in its lawsuit that Garner violated her fiduciary duty to the town by illegally obtaining the settlement agreement. The lawsuit alleges that Garner should never have gotten the settlement agreement based on her contract with the town. For one, she was supposed to submit a 90-day notice of resignation, James has argued. Second, she cannot get severance from the town if she takes another position. And third, James argued, the town had grounds to fire her because she violated the towns code of ethics by having an alleged affair with Marshall.

Shes the CEO of Rural Hall, James said in court Wednesday. The oath (she took) says she is going to act in the best interests of the town.

The town also said Garner never got a pre-audit certification or submitted a budget amendment, which were both required. Garner, however, never received the money from the settlement agreement. The money couldnt be transferred because the amount exceeded the towns transactional limits.

Allison argued Wednesday that Garner certainly has a fiduciary duty to the town, but not when it comes to her own employment. When she was negotiating the settlement agreement, she was an employee of the town and acting in her best interests as an employee.

In her countersuit, Garner denied allegations that she was having an affair with Marshall and that certain town employees, including the current town manager Misty Meadows, were spreading confidential and false allegations against her. Garner also alleges sex-based discrimination and a hostile working environment.

Horne sided with Garner, dismissing the towns claim for breach of fiduciary duty.

James said in an email Thursday that he respectfully disagrees with Hornes ruling on breach of fiduciary duty. He said that the dismissal of his motion to disqualify Bateman was without prejudice, meaning he can re-file.

Bateman also filed a voluntary dismissal on several claims in Garners countersuit, including defamation and infliction of emotional distress. Bateman said part of the reason she filed those voluntary dismissals is because this is purely a contractual dispute and has nothing to do with allegations about Garners personal life.

Separately, Allison and Bateman filed a motion to strike and a motion for a protective order. The purpose, according to court documents, is to keep the town from making continued allegations about Garners personal life and from seeking information, through subpoenas, depositions and discovery, about her personal information, which they called salacious.

Those motions are still pending.

Separately, Stacy Marshall, ex-wife of Andy Marshall, who was fired in part over the allegations of an alleged affair with Garner, has filed an alienation of affection lawsuit, blaming Garner for ruining her marriage. That lawsuit is pending.

A trial date has not been set on the towns lawsuit against Garner.

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The U.S. National Park Service describes historic preservation as a conversation with our past about our future.

But there are elements of the future  and even our present  that the past never could have imagined.

Consider climate change.

Rising oceans, wildfires and severe storms fueled by a warming planet are among the growing threats to historic sites and structures.

But strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions also can collide head-on with efforts aimed at maintaining the historical authenticity of landmark structures. Preservation means presenting buildings in the future the way they looked in the past  before the advent of rooftop solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and other clean energy amenities.

That can present a particular challenge to homeowners looking to significantly reduce their carbon footprints in areas protected by historical designations.

Two Triad historic homeowners with a lot in common described very different experiences when they decided to do just that.

Thought it was cool

Matt Giegengack, an ophthalmologist and associate professor at Wake Forest University Medical School, decided in 2019 that adding rooftop solar panels to his home in Winston-Salems historic West End area was the next logical step in his familys shift to sustainability.

Giegengack; his wife, Claire Calvin (owner of The Porch Kitchen & Cantina and Alma Mexicana); and three children already raised chickens, grew vegetables and composted in the back yard of their Queen Ann cottage-style home built in 1901.

Giegengack also had bought a Tesla electric vehicle and had a charger installed on the right-front corner of the multicolored North Spring Street house he and Calvin have owned since 2007.

Representatives from Raleigh-based NC Solar Now told Giegengack they could help him secure a loan to cover the purchase and installation of rooftop panels with no down payment, and that the money he saved on his monthly electric bills would more than offset his loan payments.

Thats because when rooftop solar panels generate more power than what is needed for the home, the excess is sent to the grid and Duke Energy credits the owner for the difference.

Giegengack insisted his inspiration was purely altruistic, however.

I decided to do it because I thought it was cool and it was so easy and it was a good thing to do, Giegengack explained. I didnt do it because I needed the extra money every month. I mean, I like that, but that wasnt the motivation.

In Greensboro, retired Guilford College music professor Tim Lindeman also had considered adding rooftop panels to his 19th century home in the historic College Hill area but initially decided against it because of the cost.

However, the more he and his wife, Nancy Walker, learned about the threats posed by climate change, the more they wanted to be part of the solution, not a contributor to the problem.

We will lose money on the deal because well die before we recoup what we spent on the panels, Lindeman admitted. But we wanted to reduce our carbon footprint, and this was the best way to do it.

Lindeman talked with three companies before settling on Wake Forest-based 8MSolar to handle the installation on the house theyve lived in for three decades.

A long process

At Giegengacks home, NC Solar Now designed a rooftop system and was prepared to move forward with installation in 2019  until the company discovered the house was in a designated historic area.

In North Carolina, state law empowers local governments to appoint commissions that recommend the designation of historic districts and landmarks, then enforce standards within those areas.

Typically, any exterior changes that will affect the appearance of buildings that are designated as contributing structures within an historic district must be approved by a local historic landmarks commission.

When NC Solar Now realized it was dealing with a historic home, Erin Hawks, the companys senior program manager, stepped in.

She submitted an application on Giegengacks behalf for a certificate of appropriateness to the Forsyth County Historic Landmarks Commission to allow for the installation of the rooftop panels.

That was the beginning of a long process, Hawks said.

Of the more than 500 structures included in the West End historic district, Giegengacks home was set to be the first with solar panels. That meant rooftop solar was a new concept for the commissioners, who expressed concerns that the panels would compromise the homes historic integrity.

They basically said, Were just not sure thats going to work because we can see it and everyone can see it. Its a historic district, and no else has anything like that right now, Hawks recalled. They were just very thorough.

Proper placement of panels is crucial to get the most exposure to the sun possible. That typically means installing them on rooftop surfaces with a southern exposure, but those preferences also limit flexibility in how arrays are laid out.

Hawks followed up with detailed illustrations showing exactly how the panels would look from in front of the house, and submitted two revised applications before the certificate of appropriateness was finally approved.

The third time, they finally understood it was going to be minimally visible, if at all, she said.

But the original plan for 29 panels was cut to 15, Giegengack said.

In Greensboro, Lindeman experienced no pushback at all, mainly because the panels were on the rear part of the house and not visible to passersby.

We actually got the certificate of appropriateness after the panels were installed, he said.

Lindeman is one of several historic homeowners in Greensboro who have added rooftop panels, said Mike Cowhig with the citys planning department.

Usually (the panels) are flush mounted and located where not easily visible from the street, he added.

Lindeman said hes unsure of how much hell save on his power bill because the panels have only been operational for a few months.

Giegengacks overall savings since his panels went online in May 2020 have been more than $1,000, said Hawks.

Sustainability built in

In 2020, the Forsyth County Historical Resources Commission revised design review standards for Winston-Salems West End area to allow for the use of green materials and technologies in certain situations, said Heather Bratland, the countys historic resource officer.

For example, we anticipated how we could accommodate and review things like electric car chargers, she explained. We also spent a lot of time discussing how to review and consider substitute materials when replacement of original building fabric is required  including looking at environmentally friendly building fabrics. We did our best to make the review process in both circumstances easier.

But Bratland and other experts also caution that alternatives aimed at environmental sustainability are often ineffective in historic buildings.

When we attempt to impose modern standards for building efficiency onto traditional forms of construction, we sometimes create new problems which, all good intentions aside, hamper building longevity and performance, putting us farther from our goal of environmental friendliness than we were to begin with, said Brett Sturm, a restoration specialist at the N.C. Historic Preservation Office.

Thats because some of the methods and materials used to make modern buildings more resilient are incompatible with materials and construction in historic structures, he explained.

In other words, they put old building materials like old-growth lumber, plaster or hand-pressed brick in difficult situations ... where they cant dry as they need to, for example, or expand and contract as they would, naturally, with changes in humidity or temperature, Strum said.

But even without enhancements to make them more energy-efficient, simply preserving historic structures can be good for the environment.

Theres a saying in our profession that the greenest building is the one thats already built, Strum noted. When the service life of an old building is extended  for example, by maintenance, rehabilitation, or adaptive reuse  the need for a new building is negated.

Preservation, he added, also keeps materials already paid for in carbon terms out of landfills.

Zero effort

Because rooftop solar panels are a modern technological addition, visibility will almost always be the deciding factor in whether they are permitted in historic areas, Strum and other experts noted.

What wasnt there then shouldnt be in the picture now.

With ours, you really have to be looking for them to see them, Giegengack noted.

Keeping the panels out of sight helps maintain the historical integrity of his home, and Giegengack said he appreciates that.

But if they were more visible, I bet more people in West End would install them, he added. I dont think it occurs to everybody that solar is a possibility, and then the idea of going to the historic association is daunting.

For Giegengack, hiring a solar company with experience in dealing with historic commissions took the stress out of what could have been a frustrating experience.

It was zero effort on my part except for occasionally signing papers, which is cool, he said.

John Deem covers climate change and the environment in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina. His work is funded by a grant from the 1Earth Fund and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. 336-727-7204

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DAKOTA CITY -- Tyson Foods said Tuesday it plans to spend over $1 million to expand a program that helps immigrants become U.S. citizens.

The Tyson Immigration Partnership, or TIP, which helps provide legal services to workers to apply for citizenship, has been supported for the last year at seven Tyson sites, including its beef plant in Dakota City, its pork plant in Madison, and its pork and turkey plants in Storm Lake, Iowa. With a workforce of around 4,500, the Dakota City plant is by far the largest employer in metro Sioux City.

At the Sioux City-area locations, Tyson partners with Immigrant Connection, a nonprofit group that helps provide immigrants with legal services, such as employment authorization renewals and petitions for citizenship. A similar nonprofit, Arkansas Immigrant Defense, assists workers in Tyson's home state of Arkansas.

In the last year alone, the partnership has helped over 500 Tyson workers. The company reimburses team members for citizenship application fees, which can cost as much as $725 per individual.

The investment announced Tuesday will expand the program to over 40 company locations in 14 states. Immigrant Connection is hosting monthly informational meetings for Tyson workers at 27 locations and Arkansas Immigrant Defense is visiting 13 locations in Arkansas.

We care about our team members and want to help them achieve their goals, including those who have dreams of becoming U.S. citizens and having greater access to opportunities our country has to offer, Tyson executive vice president and chief sustainability officer John R. Tyson said in a statement.

Were working hard to help team members who want and need assistance with their lawful immigration status or the complex and expensive process of becoming a citizen. We want to be the most sought-after place to work, and this is one way we hope to do that.

In the U.S., the company's employees come from over 160 countries and collectively speak over 50 languages.

Starting the process to become a citizen was intimidating and scary, but I wanted stability for me and my family. Without the people involved in the programs, I would not have the confidence to pursue citizenship, Jose Avjix, a Tyson worker in Green Forest, Arkansas, said in a company news release. Tyson is a place that keeps you growing and I really appreciate the professional and personal growth the company offers.

In the news release, Tyson said it has "historically attracted immigrants because it provides good-paying entry level jobs with benefits."

With average hourly pay of over $18, plus the value of medical, dental and vision insurance, vacation and other benefits, the average total compensation for hourly workers has increased to over $24 an hour, or an annual value of more than $50,000, the company said.

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Zach Hammack K-12 education reporter Zach Hammack, a 2018 UNL graduate, has always called Lincoln home. He previously worked as a copy editor at the Journal Star and was a reporting intern in 2017. Now, he covers students, teachers and schools as the newspapers K-12 reporter. Follow Zach Hammack 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. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Last month, I wrote about a Crete student whose essay on mental health was published in "Dear Freedom Writers," the newly released sequel to the original "Freedom Writers Diary."

The student learned about the so-called Freedom Writers  a group of California high school students who published an anthology of coming-of-age diary entries in 1999  in Paul Smith's freshman English class at Crete High School.

Smith, one of the hundreds of Freedom Writer teachers across the country, has taught a unit on the book for years, first at Lincoln Southeast High School and now to high school students at Crete.

But following a recent complaint, the book could soon be pulled from shelves.

Lester Ralston took issue with the book during a Crete school board meeting March 14, citing obscene passages and the book's explicit language.

"The Freedom Writers Diary" is co-authored by 150 students  once labeled "at-risk" and "unteachable" in Long Beach, California  who transform their lives through writing. Erin Gruwell, the teacher behind it, created a national movement surrounding the book, which was later made into a movie starring Hilary Swank as Gruwell.

Many of the book's passages deal with serious subjects, such as mental health, substance abuse and violence.

Ralston learned about the book from a friend before he was even aware of the sequel, and decided to read it for himself. He took issue with a number of entries in the book, which are published anonymously.

In one passage, for example, students are asked to assign themselves the grade they think they deserve. After one student writes "F," Gruwell takes the student out into the hallway.

"Do you know what this means?" Gruwell asks the student. "F*** YOU! That's what this is. It's a f*** you, and a f*** me, and a f*** everyone who's ever cared about you!"

In another entry, male students show a group of girls their genitals as part of a hazing ritual.

"We've got enough junk going on in society that we don't need to promote perversion and other things that aren't wholesome and healthy," Ralston, who doesn't have children in Crete schools, said in a telephone interview.

He filed a formal complaint with the district, which then convened a committee to study the book before offering a recommendation to the school board, according to Smith. The committee  comprised of teachers, patrons and a professor of education at Doane University  is set to meet later this month, Smith added.

"The book 'Freedom Writers Diary' presents scenarios that are evil," Ralston wrote in his complaint, dated March 30. "It is presented without comment as to its being bad or good. It only confuses students in trying to sort it out and applying it to their lives."

The book is a collection of "success stories" that shows teens overcoming challenges in their lives, Smith argued. Today's students aren't naive, Smith added, especially in this age of TikTok and social media.

"That would be keeping our heads in the sand," he said.

Smith said parents can request that their children read an alternate book, and students have a lot of leeway in choosing what entries they read for the class. At the end of the unit, the Crete students in his class then write their own Freedom Writer essay.

There are also extensive curriculum guides for Freedom Writers teachers that show how the unit fulfills English language arts standards, Smith said.

The Crete English teacher found out about the Freedom Writers  named after the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Era  through a mutual friend of his and Gruwell's. When he was at Southeast, he helped pen "Teaching Hope," a book from the perspective of Freedom Writer teachers.

Calls for books to be removed from school shelves have increased nationwide. At a February meeting of the State Board of Education, board member Kirk Penner read aloud passages from several that depict sex acts, saying schools are "hyper-sexualizing" children.

Smith sees the latest challenge as an extension of the current climate.

"It's disappointing, but it's the times we're living in."

Younger Joel returning to Nebraska

Derrick Joel, son of Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel, is coming back to the Cornhusker State.

The younger Joel, who last summer accepted a job as superintendent in Fort Dodge, Iowa, will take over for Brian Maschmann as assistant superintendent at Norris.

Maschmann was promoted to superintendent at Norris earlier this year after John Schwartz was named to lead Millard Public Schools.

Before going to Fort Dodge, Joel was superintendent at Raymond Central for four years.

Under a one-year contract, the younger Joel will be paid $150,000 at Norris and will start July 1. The assistant superintendent oversees a number of areas, including the budget, operations and human resources.

Joel and his wife, who have three children, were looking to come back to Nebraska, which felt "more like home for us."

"(Norris) is a great school district and we look forward to not just being a part of the district, but a part of the community," he said.

Quick hits

* Scott Middle School's annual Make-A-Difference Fair, in which sixth graders research a social issue and choose a nonprofit organization to support, is back in-person this year.

You can check it out  and donate to the causes  Thursday from 4:30-6 p.m. in the school's gym. (I received a couple of very enthusiastic invitations  real paper-and-ink letters, mind you  from students.)

* The Community and Youth Collaborative, an afterschool club at Lincoln High School that empowers youth activists through education and community-action projects, will host its first Youth Intertribal Spiritual Walk next weekend.

The walk will take place April 23  Earth Day  from 9:30 a.m. to noon along the Billy Wolff Trail from Lincoln High to the Lincoln Indian Center. The event will start at 9 a.m. with a traditional Native ceremony at Lincoln High.

Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @zach_hammack

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Charles Herbster received blunt condemnation from many Nebraska political leaders last week after reports that he allegedly groped multiple women, something the candidate vehemently denies.

But with Herbster showing no signs of leaving the governors race and the state GOP saying it will stay out of the primary, it appears voters will ultimately determine the gravity of the claims.

The Nebraska Examiner reported allegations from eight women who said Herbster, a Republican megadonor and CEO of Conklin Co. and other businesses, touched them inappropriately. Among the accusers: State Sen. Julie Slama, who has confirmed the Examiners reporting that Herbster reached up her skirt without her consent and touched her inappropriately at a political event in 2019.

The Examiner did not name the other seven accusers and the Omaha World-Herald did not independently corroborate those accounts.

Herbster has denied the allegations, threatened legal action, and called the story a dirty political trick being carried out by one of his chief competitors in the race, Jim Pillen, and Pillens most notable backer, Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The campaign did not release any additional information Friday, but Herbster took to social media and, for at least the second time, drew parallels between his situation and that of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and former President Donald Trump.

Condemnation of Herbster came quickly from many powerful figures across Nebraskas political spectrum, including from his competitors in the governors race, every female state legislator, former Gov. Kay Orr, Ricketts and Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert. Like Ricketts, Slama and Orr have endorsed Pillen, while Stothert has endorsed state Sen. Brett Lindstrom.

Nebraska GOP Chairman Dan Welch called the allegations serious in a statement Friday.

Without casting judgment in this matter, the NEGOP condemns all forms of sexual assault and believes any allegation must be investigated appropriately, Welch said. Per the NEGOP Constitution, the party remains neutral in the governors primary. Republican voters will examine these allegations as they weigh all the candidates in the race as the May 10th primary approaches.

But the party is poised to support Herbster, if he does win.

The NEGOP will support our nominees for the general election, Welch said.

Herbster, a Falls City businessman, and Pillen, a Columbus hog producer, were seen as early front-runners for the GOP nomination, each touting big war chests and prominent endorsements. Trump is Herbsters most prominent endorser. That support has largely defined Herbsters campaign since he received it.

But perception of the primary has gradually shifted among some observers and insiders, who now see a three-way race between Herbster, Pillen and Lindstrom. Polling from two campaigns in mid-March showed Herbster with a lead over Pillen, whose lead over Lindstrom appeared to be narrowing  the percentage of undecided voters and the margin of error in those polls suggested an open race.

Scandal is never a good thing for a candidate, but its particularly damaging when its late-breaking, like this one, said Dona-Gene Barton, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor who has researched the lifespan of political scandals. The effects of scandals tend to fade pretty rapidly, she said, but it still takes time.

Counties were able to start mailing early voting ballots for Nebraskas primary earlier this month. In-person early voting started Monday, and election day is May 10.

Some voters have already mailed in their ballots. As of Friday, the Douglas County Election Commission had accepted 15,170 completed ballots, according to spokesperson Valerie Stoj. That's out of a total of 357,561 voters who were registered in the county.

No political scientist or observer who spoke to the World-Herald on Friday said its a sure thing that the allegations reported last week will take Herbster out of the running, but many left that door open.

We got our October surprise, political consultant and lobbyist Perre Neilan said. This widens the path for Lindstrom and Pillen.

The allegations against Herbster are serious, said Paul Landow, retired political science professor and former executive director of the state Democratic Party.

This is a very big, serious deal, he said. And its gonna be difficult for him to overcome it.

It doesnt take a lot of voters to change what appears to be a close race, said John Hibbing, a UNL political science professor.

Barton said in general elections, where people have stronger attachments based on partisanship, they may be more likely to discount the information  though, in a primary, voters may have already formed attachments to the candidates.

Certain voters could treat the allegations differently.

Im sure that people who are strong Trump supporters, especially given Trumps history with regard to women, will not be turned off by this, Hibbing said. But its not at all clear that (Herbster) can win the primary with just those individuals.

Political consultant Chris Peterson said in a text message that he doesnt think it will change Herbster voters minds, and it could even harden their support.

There are still tens of thousands of persuadable voters up for grabs  enough to decide the election, he said. If those voters havent sided with Herbster before now, after hes spent almost $10 million, the sexual assault allegations probably solidify their view of him. This doesnt mean Herbster cant still win, but, unless he effectively portrays himself as the victim, his path may have narrowed.

That has to make Pillen and Lindstrom feel better about their positions, Hibbing said, and maybe even the leading Democrat, state Sen. Carol Blood.

Especially if the Republicans should go ahead and nominate Herbster, he said. I think that would open up opportunities for the Democrats, which rarely happens in a statewide race in Nebraska.

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The past three years of Jennifer Robinson's life have been among the most stressful she's experienced, but the 30-year-old Lincoln woman has had no choice but to remain calm.

Crying, coughing and straining are among the triggers that her son must avoid, so Jennifer has tried to serve as a soothing presence for Nathaniel since he was diagnosed with a rare condition.

Moyamoya disease is a vascular disorder that can go from undetectable to life-altering in a matter of days, as it did for then-2-year-old Nathaniel in 2019.

The family moved to Beatrice from Lincoln on Feb. 17 of that year, and had been in town for less than six hours before making its first trip to the emergency room. A doctor diagnosed Nathaniel with the flu.

But the next morning, Nathaniel couldn't walk. So Jennifer rushed her son back to the hospital in Beatrice before he was taken by helicopter to Omaha. Jennifer, and her husband, Dalton, made the trip by car.

"We were about 45 minutes behind him," Jennifer said. "And the very first thing the doctor said is, 'You need to sit down. This is very serious.'"

Nathaniel had suffered a massive stroke that permanently damaged the left side of his brain. The sudden episode was brought on by moyamoya.

Nathanial spent 45 days at Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha and another month and a half at a rehabilitation facility before he could undergo extracranial bypass surgery, which restores blood flow to the brain  surgery Jennifer was, at first, opposed to.

"We had to do a family vote, because I was against the surgery after doing research, because it's not always 100% effective," she said.

Dalton, though, was adamant that their son get the surgery, and Nathaniel underwent the procedure June 18, 2019.

"And he's been thriving ever since," Jennifer said.

The effects of Nathaniel's initial stroke are lifelong. His movement is forever limited by the attack on the left side of his brain. At 6 years old, he's not yet been to school, and he likely never will attend in a normal setting, Jennifer said. The stress of a classroom could trigger another episode.

But Nathaniel is alive and doing relatively well. And the surgery has so far helped prevent further strokes or seizures.

Now, the success of that surgery is being tested again.

In June 2021, Dalton, an employee at Toppers Pizza in Lincoln, suffered a small stroke, and immediately the family suspected moyamoya.

Experts say if you have a family member with the disease, your risk of having the condition is 30 to 40 times higher.

"(Dalton's) was way more than advanced than our son's," Jennifer said this week. "The chances of making it that far, that advanced, is very rare."

Dalton underwent brain surgery Wednesday, less than a year after his diagnosis at age 27 and three years since his son's major stroke ushered the unpredictable realities of moyamoya into the Robinsons' lives.

In the hours after the procedure, Jennifer said Dalton's condition had already improved.

But the reality of the family's situation  an overstretched mother and an incapacitated father  hung over Jennifer on Friday, even as she savored the success of Dalton's surgery.

"There's still risk that it won't work," she said Friday, echoing the concerns she first had in 2019 as the family weighed the cost and potential reward of Nathaniel's surgery. "It's not always 100% effective. It's all up to his brain."

This time around, Jennifer does not have Dalton to lean on.

In his stead, she's turned to her mother, family members and Dalton's employer, Toppers, where management all the way up to the company's CEO have offered financial assistance and shared a GoFundMe page.

The company first stepped in amid Nathaniel's battle with moyamoya in 2019, providing the Robinsons with meals and, at times housing, as their youngest son was treated in Omaha, said Jon Crowe, the franchisee who operates three Toppers locations in Nebraska.

Crowe, who initially only knew the Robinsons through Jennifer's mother, a Toppers employee, grew closer with the family then. In 2020, Dalton took a job with Toppers in Lincoln.

When he was diagnosed with moyamoya the next year, and as surgery loomed, the company looked for ways to help again, Crowe said.

"But I was fearful that it just wasn't gonna quite be enough," he said.

So Crowe flagged the company's CEO, Scott Gittrich, and asked for permission to share Dalton's GoFundMe page to franchisees and employees company-wide, Crowe said.

Gittrich and his wife, Robin, donated $2,500 to the account, which had amassed $5,400 by Friday afternoon. Much of the funding has come from Toppers branches across the region.

For the Robinsons, the company's generosity has served as a reason to celebrate amid an otherwise uncertain time.

Jennifer will take any chance she can get to rejoice. She has to.

"I find reasons to celebrate," she said, "because I always have that fear that this could be my last day with my husband or my son."

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley

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We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget they are someone today. - Stacia Tauscher

That quote has become a source of inspiration for Kelly Lauer, whose nonprofit foundation has helped nearly 2,500 school children in Lincoln feel good about looking good.

Something as simple as a change of clothing can change a childs outlook on life.

It all started in 2018, when Lauer and her husband, Dr. Dave Lauer, formed the White Cane Foundation. Their goal: to make sure elementary school students have the basic items they need to succeed, such as new school clothing, coats, shoes and personal-hygiene items. Each gift package was valued at about $50.

What has transpired since then has been pretty special.

More schools, bigger bundles

Committed to lending a helping hand, the Lauers initially targeted Belmont Elementary School, 1234 Judson St. The couple set a long-term goal of broadening their reach to include additional Title I schools, which serve high percentages of children from low-income families. Working with Community Learning Center (CLC) liaisons to reach children with the greatest needs, the co-founders and other volunteers set up a weekly delivery schedule.

It wasnt long before some emotional thank-you notes rolled in from parents who were deeply moved by the foundations generosity. To-wit:

Thank you for your commitment to change this world, one parent wrote.

I wont have to wear my older brothers shoes now because I have my own pair, a youngster added.

Yet another said: You have no idea how much you actually help us learn instead of being focused on our appearance.

Attempting to create opportunities for the underprivileged, the Lauers and their loyal donor base knew they were making a difference. The momentum led to expansion.

Lakeview Elementary School was added in the programs second year. Norwood Park and Clinton elementary schools were added last fall; Prescott School was added this spring. The lives of about 750 children will be enriched during the current school year.

The addition of Prescott had added significance for White Cane Foundation Executive Director Kelly Lauer, now 64, who hadnt visited the school at 1930 S. 20th St. since her elementary school days.

WCFs plans call for two more schools to come on board next fall -- Everett Elementary and a school yet to be named. The foundations long-range plan is to reach all 18 Title I elementary schools in Lincoln.

As the list of schools has grown, so has the size of each Bundle of Joy package. Each child now receives two outfits, allowing a child to wear clean clothes while his or her other outfit is being washed.

Pandemics impact

Obviously, the pandemic put a crimp in the delivery of our mission as we were, for periods, unable to be in the schools as volunteers, said Dr. Lauer, owner of Havelock Chiropractic Center and president of the White Cane Foundation board.

Fortunately, by having our liaisons in the schools, we could drop off our Bundles of Joy with them and, in turn, they would fit the students and allow us to continue to make sure the students in need were served, he said.

Nebraska Book Company, 4700 S. 19th St., and Cornhusker Banks main location at 11th and Cornhusker Highway have partnered with White Cane Foundation by creating space where White Cane Foundation inventory may be stored.

Supporting cast

The White Cane Foundation has more than 300 names in its donor base and is supported by a board, whose members are:

Kara Bunde-Dunn, board secretary, VP sales, Slingshot; Doreen Friehauf, board treasurer, CPA, Friehauf CPA; Stacy Guttschenritter, vice president of retirement plan services, Union Bank & Trust; Quentin Brown, executive director, Educare Lincoln; Deb Gokie, senior director of corporate partnerships, Arthritis Foundation; Gary Kebbel, professor emeritus, UNL School of Journalism; Crystal Wichita, COO, Cornhusker Bank; Katie Rhone, SPHR: VP of HERO development, KARE; Jenny Schroeder, VP of customer success, Prism RBS; Paige Gade, attorney, Koley Jessen PC; Kim Rosenthal, principal, Belmont Elementary School; and Ronesha Love, one-stop operator, American Job Center.

White Cane Foundation has added a staff member, Samantha Jacobi, whose title is volunteer and inventory coordinator. Social media manager is Zach Scamehorn, graduating UNL marketing major, who has accepted a position with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Give to Lincoln soon

Want to join the White Cane Foundation movement and help underprivileged kids? The approaching Give To Lincoln Day on May 26 is a great opportunity to stretch your donated dollars. To donate, check out www.thewhitecanefoundation.org or email hello@thewhitecanefoundation.org.

GTLD donations, helped by a match from the Lincoln Community Foundation, brought in about $35,000 for the White Cane Foundation last year.

The WCF also was recently selected to receive funds from the quarterly gathering of the Lincoln chapter of 100s of Women Who Care on March 24. Kelly Lauer said the amount of that donation has yet to be determined.

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RACINE  A violent sex offender from Racine County, Hung N. Tran, 52, has been released from all supervision and is being allowed to live out of state.

This move comes as Racine County is finding it increasingly difficult to find homes for offenders who have served their criminal sentence  both in part due to community resistance to having offenders placed in certain neighborhoods, and because there are a limited number of landlords willing to house sex offenders.

Those compounding factors are not directly related to Tran being released from his commitment under Chapter 980, which refers to the state laws pertaining to the commitment of sexually violent people.

When people in Chapter 980 are released from the custody of the State of Wisconsin, they are required to be released to the county where the crime occurred, and that county is required to secure housing for them.

Last year, Tran was one of two men nearly released to live in a residential Caledonia neighborhood. But that placement decision was reversed after community members objected, in part due to the potential home for the two men being only a couple hundred feet from the perimeter of the popular family destination Jellystone Park Camp-Resort along Highway 38 near the Milwaukee County border.

State law prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,500 feet of places where children congregate, such as schools and parks. Jellystone is not a public park, as it is a private business that has offerings including a campground with a waterpark, swimming pond, mini-golf and other family-friendly attractions.

A home ended up being found for the other offender; Daniel R. Williams now lives in the Town of Burlington. No home was found for Tran.

The county has given up altogether on finding Tran appropriate housing: He is being released from his Chapter 980 commitment. While he must remain on the Sex Offender Registry, he can now live almost anywhere he wants and there is no official entity required to supervise him.

After a daylong hearing on April 1 that included insight from experts on sex offenders, Racine County Circuit Court Judge Wynne Laufenberg determined Tran was below the threshold for the likelihood of reoffending after a daylong hearing that included insight from experts on sex offenders.

The rate of recidivism is approximately 27% in this particular category of sex offenders, according to testimony.

Laufenbergs order for his release was stayed for 10 days to accommodate community notifications.

Since Tran has been released from his Chapter 980 commitment, he may live where he wants but still must comply with local restrictions concerning where sex offenders may not live, which usually involves areas near schools, parks and other places where children gather if the persons criminal history includes crimes against children.

According to the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry, Tran now lives in Eugene, Oregon.

Diagnosis, timeline

According to testimony, Tran has been diagnosed with pedophilic disorder.

His victims were exclusively male children, which places Tran in a category that poses a higher risk for re-offense than other categories of sex offenders.

However, according to testimony, older sex offenders are less likely to re-offend.

Pedophilic disorder is not considered a condition that people recover from; though, there is a course of treatment, which Tran was in for more than six years before his release.

Tran has been incarcerated for most of his adult life:

He was adjudicated for first-degree sexual assault when he was 14 years old and still in the juvenile system.

In 1992, Tran was convicted in adult court of first-degree child sexual assault.

In 2004, as he was approaching the end of his prison term, the state petitioned to commit him under the Chapter 980 statutes as a sexually violent person.

In May 2007, a jury found he met the criteria for commitment, and he was transferred to Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in the central-Wisconsin City of Mauston.

In 2012, Tran petitioned for discharge, which a jury denied.

In 2015, he began a treatment program for sex offenders.

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has taken to blocking critics, including conservatives, on his official campaign Facebook page, a move that his office says is legal, citing guidance from the Legislatures attorneys.

In 2019, a federal judge ruled against Vos and other Republicans in a lawsuit after they blocked a progressive group, One Wisconsin Now, from their official Twitter pages. In short: It is illegal for public officials on their public accounts to limit discourse by blocking others.

Vos office contends that it is legal to block members of the public from an official campaigns social media pages, as an elected officials office and his/her campaign are separate entities.

It isnt easy to tell the difference between the two Facebook pages. The Facebook page for Vos office is called Wisconsin State Representative Robin Vos while his campaign page is called Representative Robin Vos.

The advent of social media has ushered in a range of questions about what qualifies as a public space where speech can rarely be constrained, and what is a private forum where it can more readily be limited.

Does the First Amendment prevent public officials from blocking members of the public from their private social media? The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin addresses this question in an online Q&A. Short answer: No.

People dont lose their free speech rights just by virtue of gaining public office. If public officials are using social media as private persons, the First Amendment protects their right to limit their audience and curate the messages on the page, just like any other private person. Re-election campaign accounts may be either personal or for government business, depending on how the official uses them.

On that same page, the ACLU responds to the question: Does the First Amendment prevent government officials from blocking members of the public on social media?

To that question, the ACLU responded: Short answer: Sometimes. If social media is used by a public official to conduct government business, blocking members of the public from seeing the site or from posting comments may violate the First Amendment. Blocking people from a site used for government business because of the views they hold or express is particularly likely to violate the First Amendment. But the mere fact that a government official is using a social media site does not mean it is being used for government business or that the First Amendment applies.

Angela Joyce, spokeswoman for Vos' state office, said because of her position she cannot comment for or about Vos' campaign social media.

Two Burlington residents who live in Vos district, Matthew Snorek and Adrianne Melby, told The Journal Times they have recently been blocked from the Representative Robin Vos page.

Melby is the wife of Aaron Melby, who ran unsuccessfully for Burlington Area School Board earlier this month, despite having the endorsement of the Racine County Republican Party. Snorek ran unsuccessfully for Town of Burlington chairman last year.

Both of them criticized Vos in comments on posts on the campaign page.

Adrianne Melby had told Vos You did nothing in a Facebook comment regarding her effort to ban mask mandates in schools and said Where were you? as her husband and another GOP-backed candidate, Ryan Mueller, sought seats on the BASD board; she was blocked soon after.

Snorek, in a comment on Vos campaign page, had expressed support for Adam Steen, who is challenging Vos in an Aug. 9 Republican primary to represent Assembly District 63.

After those comments were posted, Melby and Snorek were blocked from viewing and commenting on the page Representative Robin Vos. Both told a reporter they cannot see the page from their own accounts.

Another example Another episode in the discourse around elected officials' ability to block social media comments aired this past year. After the Green Bay Press Gazette reported that state Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Gibson, had previously been referred for charges for child abuse (although charges were never formally filed), Sortwell for months closed his official Facebook posts to comments.

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RACINE Local environmental activists gathered Friday at Zoo Beach to celebrate earth, wind and water.

March Forth to Earth Day is a collective of more than 65 groups and almost 300 individual endorsers working across Wisconsin. The collective has scheduled eight weekly events on Fridays leading up to April 22, Earth Day.

A traditional water blessing ceremony, conducted by local Indigenous women Amy Maack and Jamie Slater-Spangler, took place at the beach. The ritual is said to honor the gift of water, as many cultures consider it a spiritual, nurturing force in addition to a life-giving resource.

After the ceremony, several people spoke about the importance of water, especially that of Lake Michigan. Speakers included the Rev. Darrin Utley from the First Presbyterian Church of Racine, newly elected Racine County Board supervisor Tom Rutkowski and Jamillah Jallow, a 16-year old sophomore at Walden III High School, a part of the

and a newly-appointed intern to the

program.To end the festivities, the attendees of the event celebrated the gift of wind with a round of kite flying.

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MADISON  Gov. Tony Evers signed 15 bills into law on Friday, while also vetoing 28 more, including GOP-authored legislation that Republicans say are geared toward addressing Wisconsins ongoing workforce shortage by restricting access to state unemployment benefits and forcing more people back into the labor pool.

The Democratic governor also vetoed a bill aimed at breaking up Milwaukees school district, which is the states largest, into up to eight smaller districts.

Evers, who has pushed for increased spending on training and recruitment, as well as efforts to reduce employment barriers some individuals face, was expected to veto the Republican bills.

Among bills vetoed, AB 937, would have tied the number of weekly unemployment benefits an individual could receive to the states overall unemployment rate. Currently, an individual can receive up to $370 in weekly state unemployment benefits for 26 weeks. Under the bill, the maximum number of weeks a claimant could receive benefits would be based on the states unemployment rate.

Claimants would have received 26 weeks of benefits if the state unemployment rate were greater than 9%, while the number of weekly benefits would be reduced to as few as 14 weeks if the rate were at 3.5% or lower.

I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to adding more barriers for individuals applying for and receiving economic assistance through programs largely designed to provide support when individuals and families are experiencing economic hardship, Evers wrote in a veto message for the bill.

Other bills vetoed by Evers include:

AB 934, which would require the state Department of Health Services to determine a persons Medicaid eligibility every six months.

AB 935, which would require DHS to enforce a federal work requirement, including drug screenings, for able-bodied adults without dependents in order to take part in the states FoodShare program, which helps people with limited money buy food.

AB 936, which would remove an individuals Medicaid eligibility if they knowingly fail to accept an offer for legal, paid employment or an increase in paid hours.

AB 939, which would require DWD to consider reports of an individual declining a job offer or failing to attend a scheduled interview when determining a claimants eligibility for benefits.

Another bill vetoed by Evers would have split the Milwaukee Public Schools System by July 1, 2024 and replace it with smaller districts, a move Republicans have said would increase accountability and lead to better performance in the smaller districts  and bolster low reading and math scores for Milwaukee public school students.

This bill represents yet another attempt by this Legislature to politicize our schools and an unprecedented intrusion on local control in our public school districts, Evers wrote in a veto message.

Chris Reader, executive vice president of the conservative group IRG Action, said Evers veto means the future for children in Wisconsin is less bright today.

Instead of standing with kids and families, he stood with the failed status quo and the education establishment, Reader said in a statement. Now Wisconsin families will not have additional options on where their children go to school, students will not have access to new exceptional courses and materials, and the status quo will continue to perpetuate the failing Milwaukee Public School District. Its a sad day for Wisconsin.

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday adopted Republican-drawn state legislative boundaries for the next 10-year political maps, reversing its previous decision after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Democratic governors proposal.

The state Supreme Court issued a 4-3 decision, with Justice Brian Hagedorn joining fellow conservatives on the court, in favor of maps drawn by legislative Republicans, which the majority determined to be race neutral because they did not consider race in drawing them.

Evers maps had factored in race to increase the number of Black majority Assembly districts from six to seven. The Republican-drawn maps chosen Friday reduce the number of Black majority districts to five.

Hagedorn, who was expected to be the deciding vote in the ruling, had previously sided with the courts three liberal justices in favor of Evers maps.

Evers called the ruling an outrageous decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

This is an unconscionable miscarriage of justice for which the people of this state will see no reprieve for another decade, Evers said.

In Fridays ruling, Hagedorn wrote that the court could have chosen to draw new boundaries itself, but added that time and our institutional limitations make that unrealistic at this juncture.

Friday was the first day candidates can begin circulating nomination papers to get on the August primary ballot.

The remaining option is to choose one of the proposed maps we received as the baseline, Hagedorn wrote. Only one proposal was represented as race-neutral in its construction: the maps submitted by the Legislature.

The nations highest court rejected the Democratic governors legislative maps last month, kicking the matter back to the state court. The federal court ruled March 23 that the state Supreme Court did not properly determine whether Evers maps, which create a new, seventh Black majority Assembly district in Milwaukee, complied with the federal Voting Rights Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court order stipulated that the states high court was free to take additional evidence if it prefers to reconsider Evers maps, but any new analysis, however, must comply with our equal protection jurisprudence.

Conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler said the court found insufficient evidence to justify drawing state legislative districts on the basis of race.

The maps proposed by the Wisconsin Legislature are race neutral. The Legislatures maps comply with the Equal Protection Clause, along with all other applicable federal and state legal requirements, Ziegler wrote. Further, the Legislatures maps exhibit minimal changes to the existing maps, in accordance with the least change approach we adopted.

Joining in the majority were justices Hagedorn, Patience Roggensack and Rebecca Grassl Bradley, who wrote a concurring opinion in which she compared Evers originally proposed maps to a Star Wars plot point that involves children being murdered.

Liberal justices Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky dissented.

Karofsky wrote that the case has been nothing short of an odyssey  a long wandering marked by many changes in fortune.

Like all odysseys, the travelers (this court) have had to make several navigational decisions along the way; unfortunately, we have taken numerous wrong turns, Karofsky wrote. The sum total of all that misdirection now leads us to the legally unacceptable maps submitted by the Legislature.

Drawn-out process

The ongoing battle over Wisconsins next 10-year political maps began when Evers vetoed GOP-drawn boundaries in mid-November. The governor had championed boundaries drawn by the Peoples Maps Commission, but a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling last year that the next maps must include minimal changes to existing boundaries forced the governor to draw and submit new districts.

The state Supreme Court on March 3 adopted maps drawn by Evers, which maintained, but reduced, GOP majorities in the Legislature. Republican lawmakers appealed to the federal court  with a focus on Evers decision to add a seventh majority-Black Assembly district in Milwaukee, which Republicans said would dilute the Black majority in the six existing districts. The Legislature argued the states high court never decided whether the seventh district was required by the Voting Rights Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled last month that the state court did not properly consider whether a race-neutral alternative that did not add a seventh majority-black district would deny black voters equal political opportunity and sent the matter back to the state court.

If, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Governors addition of a Milwaukee-area majority-minority district evinces a disqualifying consideration of race, then the Legislatures removal of a Milwaukee-area majority-minority district reveals an equally suspect, if not more egregious, sign of race-based line drawing, Karofsky wrote.

The courts latest ruling will almost certainly be appealed, but with the Aug. 9 primary less than four months away, its likely the GOP-drawn maps will be used in this falls midterm. Future legal challenges could result in additional changes leading up to the 2024 presidential election.

Without any legal basis or precedent, and ignoring a decision they made just a month ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is showing its true colors: political gain over judicial fairness, Fair Elections Project Director Sachin Chheda said in a statement Friday. Time and time again, our high courts have let the people of Wisconsin down.

Competitive edge

GOP-drawn maps for the Assembly would create 51 GOP-leaning districts, 35 Democratic-leaning districts and 13 competitive districts, according to a Princeton Gerrymandering Project analysis using past election results. In the Senate, 15 districts would lean Republican, 10 would lean Democratic and eight would be considered competitive.

Republicans currently hold a 61-38 majority in the Assembly and a 21-12 majority in the Senate.

We have thought our maps were the best option from the beginning, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, tweeted Friday. We appreciate the courts due diligence and are glad to move forward with these maps that make the least changes and comply with traditional redistricting criteria.

Congressional maps

While Evers legislative maps were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, his congressional maps were left untouched. Those boundaries increase the number of competitive congressional districts from one to two. Five of the states eight congressional districts are currently held by Republicans.

The Legislature must redraw political lines every decade based on the latest population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2011, Republicans, working in secretive conditions, drew maps that packed Democratic voters into lopsided districts and spread out rural and suburban Republicans into districts with solid, but narrower, majorities. The maps allowed the GOP to hold more than 60% of legislative seats, even when Democrats won all statewide elections in 2018.

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1. Yes. If inflation remains high and interest rates rise, the economy will be a major factor.

2. Yes. If the nation goes into a recession, it will be the issue on the minds of most voters.

3. No. Inflation will likely moderate by then; if so, the economy wont be a major issue.

4.No. All the turmoil involving Russia and Roe v. Wade will probably take center stage.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the economy will play with voters at this point.

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Politics played a larger role than usual in local elections this spring, and in La Crosse County, political parties opened up their wallets and services for several candidates.

According to the most recent campaign finance documents available on the La Crosse County Clerks website and the Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, state and local Republican parties infused a total of $15,459 into local races.

Most of that came from the La Crosse County Republican Party, which gave more than $14,000 to candidates running for La Crosse County Board and Holmen School Board.

Chairman Bill Feehan told the Tribune in an email that the party decided to make a big investment in local candidates because we understand how these local offices affect our lives. He claimed that Democrats and liberal groups have been involved in local elections for decades.

Going forward we will continue to provide financial support as well as training to candidates, Feehan said. We are pleased by the election of six of nine candidates we supported.

Much of the La Crosse GOPs support came in the way of in-kind donations for things such as literature, mailings, printing, robo-calls and more.

Should police be handcuffed by an anti-cop political activist and repeat offender? read one postcard, referencing La Crosse County Board chair Monica Kruse, who won reelection on April 5.

One version of the postcard was shared with the Tribune, mailed with a message in support of candidate Dustin Frost on the other side, who was not running against Kruse, but Dillon Mader in District 30.

Support law enforcement, vote Frost for La Crosse County Board, the mailing read.

Kruse told the Tribune in an email that she felt it was, a very clumsy attempt to paint me as an ultra-liberal, bent on destroying law-enforcement and all that is good and holy. It truly felt like I was running against the GOP machine rather than a single opponent.

She called it a most unusual, highly vitriolic campaign for races that are usually low-key and cheap, and that she thought the La Crosse GOPs efforts were part of a larger, national movement to challenge more progressive lawmakers.

The coordinated campaign  similar flyers, all with the same message, with just the candidates faces changed out, aggressive messaging, false accusations  also suggested centralized managing of campaigns, Kruse said.

Frost lost to Mader, and his campaign finance report shows he took $2,118 from the La Crosse GOP in-kind for mailings. Both Mader and Kruse received support from Democrats.

Another GOP mailing featured former Onalaska mayor Mike Giese, who ran against GOP-backed incumbent Jack Pogreba for his old seat on the county board.

Mike Giese was the champion of the ridiculous and costly wheel tax, the postcard reads, with a photo of Giese above a wheeless car. Dont let Mike Giese pull this costly joke on us again. On April 5th, say no to Mike Gieses ridiculous wheel tax one more time.

The wheel tax proposal is one that Giese supported while previously on the county board in 2015. In an interview with the Tribune, Giese said while its fair game for candidates to draw on their opponents record like this, he thought the increasing involvement from political parties was dangerous to local government.

I think in this election, democracy was not well-served because there was too much party involvement in what is statutorily and by tradition, nonpartisan offices, Giese said.

Giese said he grew up in a very politically engaged household and he is a well-known nonpartisan public figure in the region. He said hes watched local government become more political, accelerating quickly in the last decade and coming to a head in this most recent election.

In the past, the candidates for [county board] havent been throwing down thousands of dollars. What theyve been doing is ringing doorbells, walking around talking to people, going to church, getting their haircut, all of that within their district and securing votes, Giese said. If you go and throw three, four, five-thousand dollars into that situation, you just paid for and you will win that election.

Giese lost to Pogreba by just eight votes on April 5, but declined a recount. He told the Tribune he wouldnt accept an endorsement from the Democratic Party because of his commitment to nonpartisanship and he said didnt receive any money from political parties or groups.

He added that on the campaign trail he would run into people who asked him if he was a Democrat or a Republican. When he would decline to pick a side, they became unwilling to support him.

Does money make a difference? Yes, theres no doubt about it. Does extremism make a difference? Yes, Giese said. We need to be able to stand in that porch and have a conversation thats not predicated in extreme partisan positions. And that did not happen to me this year.

Pogreba did not file a finance report at the latest deadline. Candidates and committees who do not receive or spend more than $2,000 dont need to file in the state of Wisconsin. But records show he did receive a $150 donation from Rebecca PAC, a political action committee associated with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch.

The former lieutenant governors PAC donated a total of $1,350 to five candidates running for La Crosse County Board, two candidates running for Holmen School Board and two running for La Crosse School Board. These were outright, monetary donations, according to the reports, and came alongside a number of other contributions to local campaigns across the state.

The state GOP additionally spent $1,456 on Kimberly Krejchik and Mary LaMothe, two candidates who ran unsuccessfully for La Crosse School Board.

The partys filing states the money was used in-kind for the app, Campaign Sidekick. The apps website claims it can help candidates know exactly how many votes they need to win, information about their voters and the manpower it will take to reach them. It states its a preferred GOP vendor.

As for Democrats, the La Crosse County Democratic Party did not file a report with the state. But the state party infused a flurry of in-kind donations for consulting and mailings totalling in $4,530.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) specifically gave about $1,494 each to La Crosse School Board candidates Katie Berkedal, Juan Jimenez and Merideth Garcia. These were indicated as in-kind donations for mailing services and consulting, and all three candidates won.

The party also gave small, in-kind donations ranging from $1.98 to $3.96 each for 20 candidates running for county board, La Crosse and Holmen School Boards and Onalaska City Council.

Local public officials should be focused on delivering great schools, a functional democracy, and strong public services that benefit everyone  regardless of their politics. Unfortunately, the far-right has chosen to drive divisive candidates and campaigns in local elections in La Crosse and statewide, DPW chair Ben Wikler said in a statement to the Tribune.

Wikler said that the party supported local candidates with consulting on how to engage with their field volunteers, support with mail and digital services and more.

Were thrilled that so many public servants in La Crosse won voters support and can now carry forward their work to make the community a better place, Wikler said, saying the party worked to elect candidates who will be partners to Gov. Evers in his work to support things like quality public education, clean water and air, and strong local economies.

Feehan told the Tribune that the $14,000 the La Crosse County GOP spent pales in comparison to what the Wisconsin Conservation Voters and Steve Doyle spent on behalf of Democrat candidates.

The Wisconsin Conservation Voters is an advocacy lobbying group that supports environmental policies and candidates who support pro-conservation policies and platforms. The group is nonpartisan but donates largely to Democratic candidates.

In La Crosse, the group spent a total of $5,069 on 16 county board candidates in donations of $316.25 each. These were labeled as in-kind donations for online advertising, and the group also publicly endorsed the candidates.

As for Doyle, who serves on the state Assembly and recently won reelection to the county board, filings show his committee, Friends of Steve Doyle, donated at least $419 to support fellow candidate Vicki Burke with postcards. Doyles committee did not file a report with the state, so its unclear if there was support for other candidates.

Feehan shared a photo of a postcard sent by Doyles committee that promote Burke and a number of other candidates running for county board and Holmen School Board, with the message: Keep Holmen moving forward.

Feehan also said government unions played a big role in electing Democrats, pointing specifically at the La Crosse Education Association. For the first time, the teachers union made an endorsement, publicly supporting Berkedal, Garcia and Jimenez for La Crosse School Board.

In addition to the endorsements, the group gave roughly $24 to each candidate in-kind for printing materials, according to the PACs filings.

The impact of politicizing nonpartisan races

UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky told the Tribune that while political parties being involved in local races can sometimes make it easier for voters to choose, it may also contribute to the increasing political divide.

Increasingly, Americans gain psychological gratification from seeing their political party win, and they gain even greater psychological gratification from seeing the opposing party lose. We need to ask ourselves if it is healthy to extend this type of conflict and competition to local elections, Chergosky said.

Political parties getting involved in local races can help increase turnout, Chergosky said. But because Americans are identifying more strongly with political affiliations in recent years, politicizing nonpartisan races can make them a hotbed for partisan battles.

Conflict between the parties has a way of spiraling out of control, Chergosky said, saying that parties pressure each other to put resources into an election and respond to different strategies, creating easy conflict.

Chergosky said, the bottom line is that when nonpartisan elections become partisan, well likely see higher levels of participation in these elections, and well see voter psychology change in critical ways. Voters will decide based on the party affiliation of the candidates rather [than] considering other factors.

The politicization of nonpartisan races raises a few key questions, he said: Do we want to see school boards, county boards and other local offices become partisan offices that resemble any other partisan office in politics? Do voters benefit when political parties try to expand their reach in the political system? Are the duties and responsibilities of local officeholders related in meaningful ways to the positions of political parties, or do we fundamentally misunderstand these offices when we try to view them through a partisan lens?

Big raisers

Some candidates for local office raised thousands of dollars for their campaigns.

According to the pre-election filings, supervisor Rob Abraham raised the most of any candidate with $6,408 towards his successful election to La Crosse County Board.

Abraham received both $2,118 from the La Crosse County GOP and $150 from the Rebecca PAC.

His opponent, longtime supervisor Vicki Burke, raised $2,405 for her reelection, which included support from the DPW.

Frost was a close second to Abraham, raising $5,570 for his campaign.

Here are other county board candidates contribution totals, all of whom received financial support from Republicans: Dennis Jacobsen with $2,150, Jordan Briskey with $2,405, Guy Valiquette with $1,818, Kevin Hoyer with $2,118, Ken Schlimgen with $2,904, and Hubert Hoffman with $1,900.

No other county board candidates had filed finance reports with the clerk as of the latest deadline.

In the often divisive Holmen School Board race, two Republican-backed candidates Chad Updike and Josh Neumann received $4,196 and $4,317 in campaign contributions, respectively.

Both candidates narrowly lost but received about $897 each from the county GOP and endorsements from the Rebecca PAC.

Incumbent Rebecca Rieber, who won reelection to the board, was exempt from filing a campaign finance report herself, but DPW filings show she received a $2 in-kind donation for consulting from the state party.

In the La Crosse School Board race, Berkedal raised the most with $4,083. Jimenez raised $3,710 and Garcia raised $2,988. Republican-backed candidate Kimberly Krejchik raised a total of $931, much of that from the La Crosse County GOP and Rebecca PAC.

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Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, hits other cities

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russia has resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond after warning that it planned to step up missile strikes on the capital. Saturday's strikes are a reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite a pivot toward a new offensive in the east. Moscow says the renewed attacks targeted Ukrainian military sites. But each day brings more civilian victims of a war that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body. The teenager and at least eight other people died after rockets hit a residential area of the northeast city of Kharkiv.

US Army using lessons from Ukraine war to aid own training

FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP)  U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China. The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in California's Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack. In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

'Magic mushrooms' for therapy? Vets help sway conservatives

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The medicinal use of hallucinogenic mushrooms is making inroads in U.S. states as military veterans advocate for the therapeutic value of psychedelic drugs, including in conservative states like Utah, Texas and Oklahoma. At least four states have approved studying their medicinal properties in the last two years and several U.S. cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms. Oregon is the first, and so far only, state to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychedelic active ingredient found in certain mushrooms. But studying them has gotten approval not only in blue states like Hawaii, Connecticut and Maryland but also GOP-led Utah, Texas, and Oklahoma, where the state House passed a bill this year.

12 injured in shooting at South Carolina mall; 3 detained

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolinas capital that authorities do not believe was a random attack. Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said three people who had firearms have been detained in connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting at Columbiana Centre. Authorities said no fatalities have been reported but that eight of the shooting victims were taken to the hospital. Of those eight, two were in critical condition. Daniel Johnson said he and his family were visiting from Alabama and were eating in the food court when they first heard shots ring out. Johnson said people were screaming and knocking over tables as they fled.

DA: 3 of 6 dead in Sacramento shootout were in gang dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Newly filed court documents in a deadly downtown Sacramento shooting reveal that three of the six who died were involved in the gang dispute that led to the massive shootout. At least one of them fired a weapon while another boasted before the killing about shooting rival members. The information was contained in documents filed Friday by the Sacramento County District Attorney's office. Court documents say suspect Smiley Martin and Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi posted on social media earlier in the day that they wanted to shoot rival gang members. The Sacramento Bee was first to report on the filings. The April 3 shootout wounded a dozen others.

Unrest sparked by far-right demos continues in Sweden

HELSINKI (AP)  Unrest has broken out in southern Sweden despite police moving a rally by an anti-Islam far-right group, which was planning to burn a Quran among other things, to a new location as a preventive measure. Scuffles and unrest were reported in the southern town of Landskrona after a demonstration scheduled there by the Danish right-wing party Stram Kurs party was moved to the nearby city of Malmo. Up to 100 mostly young people threw stones, set cars, tires and dustbins on fire, and put up a barrier fence that obstructed traffic, Swedish police said. The situation had calmed down in Landskrona by late Saturday but remains tense.

Crews fight New Mexico fires as some evacuations lift

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP)  Authorities have lifted some evacuation orders for a southern New Mexico mountain community hit by wildfire. Firefighters are working Saturday to contain a wind-driven blaze that killed two people and destroyed over 200 homes. A Village of Ruidoso spokesperson said about 60% of the estimated 4,500 people who were told to evacuate since the fire started Tuesday were allowed to return home late Friday. Evacuation estimates were previously reported to be around 5,000 people. Specific numbers werent immediately available. Fire incident commander Dave Bales said crews on Saturday worked to put out hot spots and clear lines along the fires perimeter to keep the fire from spreading.

Suit seeks to overturn renewed Philadelphia mask mandate

PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Several businesses and residents have filed suit in state court in Pennsylvania seeking to overturn Philadelphias renewed indoor mask mandate scheduled to be enforced beginning Monday amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. Philadelphia earlier this week became the first major U.S. city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate after reporting a sharp increase in coronavirus infections. Attorney Thomas W. King III said the citys emergency order went against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and imposed a renegade standard." The Philadelphia mayors office declined comment but said courts have ruled that the city has both the legal authority and requisite flexibility" to take steps to control COVID-19 spread.

WNBA players say life in Russia was lucrative but lonely

For WNBA players, spending the offseason by competing in Russia can be lucrative, with some earning more money than they make back home. But they also describe the loneliness of being away from family and friends, of struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, and of living in a place with little sunlight in winter and temperatures well below freezing. Brittney Griner is one of those athletes who went to Russia to earn extra money. But the experience has turned into a prolonged nightmare after she was arrested in February by police who reported finding vape cartridges allegedly containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She is awaiting trial on charges that could bring a prison term.

Art Rupe, pioneering record executive, dead at 104

NEW YORK (AP)  A pioneering record executive who helped launch the careers of Little Richard and Sam Cooke has died. Art Rupe died Friday at his Santa Barbara, California, home at the age of 104. Rupe was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. The Greensburg, Pennsylvania, native was a contemporary of Jerry Wexler, Leonard Chess and other businessmen-producers who helped bring Black music to a general audience. He founded Specialty Records in Los Angeles in 1946 and worked on such early rock classics as Little Richard's Tutti Frutti" and Lloyd Price's Lawdy Miss Clawdy.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  In Rio de Janeiro, two rescue dogs have turned local mascots and budding online influencers after joining their rescuers' ranks, wooing their growing audience, one bark at a time.

Corporal Oliveira, a dog with short brown hair thought to be around four years old, turned up one morning in 2019 at a police station on Rio's Governador Island, injured and weak.

"I gave him food, water. It took a while for him to get used to me," said Cpl. Cristiano Oliveira, the officer who took the dog under his wing and later gave him his name. But within a few days, Corporal Oliveira  the furry animal  started following his new master around the precinct. Oliveira has since joined another precinct, but the dog never left.

Corporal Oliveira has his own Instagram profile with more than 45,000 fervent followers, always hungry for more photos and videos of their mascot in his trademark police uniform, standing on top of police armoured vehicles, motorcycles or sticking his little head out of a regular patrol car's window. He even has a miniature toy firearm attached to his uniform.

A dozen miles from there, in the leafy and leftist neighborhood of Laranjeiras, another rescue dog has turned mascot.

Caramello  a name inspired by the colour of his fur  has been residing at the fire brigade that found him injured across the iconic Sugarloaf mountain ever since he was rescued nearly a year ago. During that time, the 11-year-old dog has amassed some 27,000 followers.

Older, and slightly less adventurous then Corporal Oliveira, Caramello's online efforts have focused on drawing attention to a wide range of good causes and campaigns.

He has used his newly found clout to promote awareness around cancer, or to encourage donations for victims of natural disasters such as the recent deadly landslides in Petropolis. He's also helped other rescue dogs or cats find new homes.

"Caremello is a real digital influencer," said Maj. Fabio Contreiras, from the Catete Fire Brigade, one of Rio de Janeiro's oldest.

But with fame, comes burden. And the dogs' fans are demanding.

"Sometimes I have too much work. I go a week without posting and people complain: 'Where is (Corporal) Oliveira? Has he gone missing?'," jokes Oliveira, the police officer in charge of the dog's social media. He can get more than 200 messages in one day. Sometimes, he just has to tell them: "He's on holiday!"

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Tenth Report Of The Concerned Citizens Group

15 April 2022

The Concerned Citizens Group made its tenth visit to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) from March 20 to 25, 2022. The visit took place after the Delimitation Commission had made its report public which led to considerable consternation amongst the political parties in the Union Territory, especially those in the Kashmir Valley. It also took place in the immediate aftermath of the release of The Kashmir Files a film that was being officially promoted by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its governments at the Centre and in the states as an authentic account of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990.

The CCG decided to visit both the Kashmir Valley and Jammu to interact with political leaders, civil society and business organisations as well as community leaders to assess their perception of the current social and political situation in the Union Territory.

The CCG has no government or political party affiliation and it is purely a non-official group of individuals. Its visits to J&K are paid for the members themselves with each bearing his/her own expenses. The group does not accept and has never accepted sponsorship from any government or non-governmental organisation (NGO). Its sole aim is to act as a bridge between the people of J&K and the rest of India  trying to convey the views of the former to the latter so that Indians outside J&K become aware of the situation of their fellow citizens.

The CCG consists of five members: Yashwant Sinha (former External Affairs Minister of India), Sushobha Barve (Executive Secretary, Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation, Delhi), Wajahat Habibullah (Former Chairman of the Minorities Commission and the first Chief Information Commissioner of India), Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Kapil Kak and Bharat Bhushan, former editor and independent journalist.

This time around, only four members of the group  Wajahat Habibullah, Sushobha Barve, Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Kapil Kak and Bharat Bhushan undertook this visit. Yashwant Sinha could not join because of pressing personal reasons.

During the visit, the CCG members met several political leaders including former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Lone, Chief Spokesperson of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) among others, civil society and business leaders, trade organisations, journalists, village panchayat heads and community leaders both in Srinagar and Jammu.

Worsening Public Mood

Reading 1984 or Darkness at Noon is one thing and living it is quite another. A stressful mind cannot think clearly and we are all terribly stressed, a Kashmiri, the group met, said summing up the situation in the Kashmir Valley.

Another public intellectual summarised the normal Kashmiri state of being today, saying, A terrible isolation has been thrust upon us. It has impacted our minds. We avoid calling each other. We dont meet each other. Leave alone differing with someone or debating an issue, people are even scared of whispering. You can no longer argue with the younger generation about Indias democratic institutions to which one can appeal for redress. They dont seem to exist for us.

A common refrain one heard was that Kashmiris traditionally were slow to react to momentous changes affecting their lives and this time around as well it was no different. Kashmiris always react late. But they will react, predicted a business leader. Civil society leader, however, claimed, The people are waiting for something big  a big event that they hope would bring about change. They have surrendered their own agency. They know that they are facing naked aggression and that the only thing that can save them is power. But they are powerless.

A political leader claimed that as long as Delhi pressed only political buttons  removing the provisions of Articles 370 and 35A, bifurcating the state, fiddling with the delimitation of constituencies  Kashmiris would do nothing. They will do nothing even if there were a Hindu chief minister from Jammu. In fact, the very next day the Secretariat would be crowded with people with their petitions and applications. The government employees would go back to their jobs even if their salary had been reduced. If, however, the Centre presses religious buttons  interfering with prayers in mosques, banning Hijab for women or anything that seems to be preventing religious practices  then Kashmir will erupt. Otherwise, life would continue as usual despite the political diminishing of the Kashmiris, he claimed.

A significant fact that the group noticed this time around was that Kashmiris across the board thought that communal hatred had gone very deep. Today we have come to a stage where a Hindu will support a Hindu and Muslim will support a Muslim. This way of thinking is gaining ground in India as well as in J&K, a business leader claimed.

Hatred has gone deep. Even if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) loses the 2024 general election, it wont go away. The Congress, the only other national party, does not seem to have the capacity to counter it, another civil society leader said. Yet, he claimed that there was a realisation that the hatred that has been unleashed has to be countered both in India and J&K. He warned, This (communal) propaganda can start unravelling India as a nation and society as well, given its impact on the economy, politics and on the younger generation. However, within India as well there are no signs of change. Things are getting darker by the day.

While the security forces continue to eliminate armed militants, not everyone believes the claims that militancy has been controlled. How is that despite so many militants being gunned down, the official figure for the number of active militants always remains around 200? a civil society activist asked. The obvious conclusion was, he claimed, that new recruits were joining militancy to make up for the loss almost as if on a conveyor belt.

Another claimed, What Home Minister Amit Shah did was effective from his point of view. He has virtually finished separatism as separatists have either been killed or put in jail. Yet Pakistan remains effective here and keeps militancy simmering. All that has happened is that their mouthpieces  Hurriyat, etc.  have been silenced.

A common perception in the Kashmir Valley was that militancy would continue  not so much with militants being sent across by Pakistan but with local recruitment. There is a palpable distancing from India amongst the youth. You can see the hatred in the eyes of the young. It is difficult to predict how it will manifest itself, a seasoned political leader observed. Pakistan, however, was not expected by anyone to end the facilitation of militancy in the Valley as it considers Kashmir to be the core issue to be settled with India.

After the official promotion of the film The Kashmir Files (more on its impact in J&K, later in this report), not only had the remaining Kashmiri Pandits become unsafe in the Valley, even mainstream politicians feared for their lives. If Kashmiri Pandits are unsafe, do you think pro-India politicians are safe? I think we would be the first in the line of fire of the militants here. And we have become equally unsafe in the rest of India. Anything can be engineered, anyone can shoot us  all it needs is an emotionally provoked person and one bullet, a mainstream political leader said.

These people in Delhi will do anything to stay in power. They are clearly not thinking of the possible consequences of their actions, he lamented.

What was astounding, however, was the comparison some social notables drew between militancy and the current administration and the fear both induced in the public. The population here has always been driven by the gun. The gun of the militants was controlled by Pakistan and the fear of the Pakistani gun drove people. Militancy was and continues to be unaccountable. However, earlier the Administration was accountable and we could approach it with grievances, complain of excesses or speak action against the officials manning it. Now we cannot speak freely against any administrative misdemeanours. Today the Administration has become unaccountable like militancy earlier. We are still being driven by the gun but it is different gun, a civil society leader claimed.

Environment of Political Distrust

The CCG found that the political ambience in Srinagar was much more mistrustful and tense than during its earlier visits. Many civil society leaders and friends pleaded apprehension in meeting the group. There seemed to be a pervasive air of uncertainty at the level of the political leadership and on the ground.

The political leaders that the CCG met all thought that the delimitation proposed by the present Delimitation Commission was tendentious and was aimed at polarisation of communities. They pointed out that the Commissions proposals upheld principles of neither population size, which would have given more constituencies to Kashmir Division, nor accessibility, that would have favoured the outlying mountainous areas (referred to as Trans-Chenab) of Jammu, although these are both the recognised determining principles in aligning constituencies adopted by Delimitation Commissions at the national level.

The delimitation exercise, they claimed, had created communal division as well as anxiety by virtually pitching Jammu against the Kashmir Valley. They clearly saw the influence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the delimitation process and pointed out that constituencies had been carved out in Jammu in a manner that would make the BJP more secure in any future election. The shifting of Muslim dominated areas to reduce the communitys influence in several constituencies in the Jammu region and giving reservations to Gujjars, one of them claimed, shows that the BJP can go to any extent for petty gains. Another said, They will try everything to cook up the election. The delimitation exercise is a proof of that  just one Lok Sabha seat of Anantnag dividing across a mountain range, half in Jammu and Half in the Kashmir Valley proves it.

Some of them claimed that the possible electoral impact of this exercise was as yet uncertain as Muslims know what they are up to. They will not get the votes even if they manage to buy their leaders, one of them claimed. Others, however, felt that the BJP would be able to manage the J&K election this time around.

There was apprehension that before the elections, the Centre would use all kinds of tactics to divide the PAGD (Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, an alliance of several regional parties of J&K aimed at restoring the special status and rights of residents of the erstwhile state). We managed to stay together for the District Development Council elections. But today the situation is quite different and at this rate we may not be able to manage to keep the alliance intact for the assembly elections. The constituents of the PAGD are battling against each other at a time when they ought to stay together. The constituent parties need not only to accommodate each other but also to reach out those in Jammu. If we cannot get political parties in Jammu to join the PAGD, we can at least support individuals to maximise our advantage. If friendly contests have to be there, there should be an agreement on them in advance, a Kashmiri political leader suggested.

There was high expectation that the assembly elections in J&K would be held sooner than later. Earlier, they wanted to stretch the timeline to the elections. Now after winning in Uttar Pradesh, they have gained confidence. They want to install a BJP government in J&K as well. They have parties which will align with them  some of which they have created. Now they will even have Gujjar support. They think this is the right opportunity to have a government with a Hindu chief minister. That would send a strong message to the country that the BJP can form a government even in J&K.

However, despite intermittent announcements by visiting dignitaries from New Delhi, there was complete uncertainty about when an election will be called. There have been some media reports suggesting that the J&K elections would be held by the end of the year along with Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat but there is no certainty to this.

There is also an expectation of restoration of statehood, but no surety on timing, amid doubts on whether the scheduling of elections in J&K would be before or after such restoration. If elections are held to a Union Territory Assembly, then parties would weigh options on levels of participation, although boycott of elections is not planned.

Media in Distress

The general impression we gathered was that the role that free media could play in J&K to hold the administration to account had been diminished with media increasingly put on a tight leash. There was a sense of fear amongst media practitioners. Even journalists who the CCG members had met earlier were scared of meeting us for fear of being targeted by the administration which monitored their movement and interactions.

They complained of constant surveillance. Surveillance typifies and brackets you. You are also branded by your reports and the people you meet. That is then used to define your journalism and based on that you can be denied access to the administration and your reporting thwarted, explained a senior journalist. In fact, we become more vulnerable by talking to you, he claimed.

Journalists recounted apocryphal stories of how the media is viewed by the Army and the administration. A top Army general apparently asked a senior journalist, Before I talk to you have to first tell me whether you consider yourself an Indian citizen or not. He apparently added that of the 70-lakh population of the Kashmir Valley, nearly 65 lakh were adversarial in their attitude  trying to justify his asking the peremptory question about whether the journalist considered himself an Indian or not. The fact of the matter is that it is the attitude of the Army and the local administration towards the media that has become increasingly confrontational. They no longer see the media as the Fourth Pillar of democracy, a journalist felt.

In another instance, a senior official apparently told journalists a year ago, Kashmirs problem is of Five Ms  Masses, Masjids, Maulvis, Militants and Media. We have controlled the masses, the masjids and the maulvis  now militants and the media need to be controlled. In one year, even militants, the government claims, have been controlled, leaving the media as their major focus, a journalist said.

Another journalist claimed that an official told him, We want to end any kind of hope that people have in the media. He gave this as the reason for the police banning public demonstrations outside Srinagars Press Colony. Special government housing provided to journalists by earlier administrations had become, much like Delhis Jantar Mantar, a regular site of protests by people about their grievances. After banning public protests there, now they want to abolish the Press Colony itself, he claimed.

Such is the working environment for journalists that most find it very difficult to do any meaningful reportage. There is a coercive eco-system that makes the practice of journalism difficult, senior journalists who met the group said. The coercive environment, they claimed, consisted of intense surveillance, preparing background notes on all journalists (listing their names, siblings, parents, bank account details and properties owned), asking journalists to specify their political ideology and their stand on various issues, abolition of the Kashmir Press Club to prevent interaction amongst journalists, monitoring of social media activity, not renewing accreditation cards and not recognizing freelance journalists. Within the media, the administrations focus apparently is on those who came into the profession after the year 2000. Local journalists are invited to government events only by invitation and in most cases for all major events organized by the Army or the local administration, journalists are flown in from Delhi for reporting.

The abolition of the Kashmir Press Club is seen by the local journalists as a particularly egregious act. The Kashmir Press Club was a safe space for women journalists and young freelance journalists. They could meet there, exchange notes with each other as well as learn from their seniors in the profession. It was the only space where working journalists could interact. Now even that has been taken away and you can see journalists roaming around the (Dal Lake) bund, we were told.

Journalists claimed that they were pressured not to give the version of the family members of those shot in encounters with the security forces. They were criminalized if they questioned the police version of the events and accused of purveying fake news or working to an agenda. The journalists the group met claimed that the Army and the police had created a group of pliable influencers on social media platforms. There is a vast machine they have created to spread the normalcy discourse. It impacts our journalism because we then stand out as those spoiling the official narrative and we are trolled on social media, a journalist complained.

Journalists felt that there had been a steady progression in stages of controlling the media since August 5, 2019 when the special status of the J&K was abrogated and the state bifurcated. In the run-up to the August 5 decision, the local media in the state was controlled so effectively that even after the momentous change in the status of the J&K the local media did not stop publication. This was followed by putting pressure on those journalists in J&K who reported for the national media to tamper their reportage. And thereafter, those writing for foreign publications and freelancers were targeted. The most acute problem is being faced by the freelancers, who are mostly young and inexperienced because they are bewildered by the crackdown, a senior journalists told the group.

There was a perceptible feeling that across India there was little support for them. There was neither any legal nor moral support from fellow Indian journalists. They complained that Kashmiri journalists were being arrested by charging them with non-journalistic offenses as in the case of Sajjad Gul and Fahad Shah of The Kashmir Walla  they both got bail but were immediately arrested under the notorious Public Safety Act immediately thereafter. Another senior journalist, Gowhar Geelani, has been forced to hide because an arrest warrant was issued against him for not appearing before a Tehsildar who ostensibly wanted him to sign a bond of good behaviour.

The Kashmiri journalists felt that they had been left alone to fend for themselves by the national media organisations. While the response of international organisations like the International Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Frontiers is prompt, there was lack of support from mainstream Indian journalists associations and organisations. What they are doing to the Kashmir media today will come to visit journalists in the rest of India tomorrow. Kashmir is only a laboratory for testing how far the media can be controlled. They will perfect their techniques here and then use them in other parts of India as well, a senior journalist warned.

Unusual Success Story of Satyagraha

It will be recalled that claiming to cleave to the principles of democracy, the government had in December 2020 called elections to the District Development Committees, an instrument of decentralisation instituted under Part IX of the Constitution. To assess the impact of this measure on development aspirations of the local citizenry the group visited village Arizal about 50 km from Srinagar, located on the peripheries of Tosamaidan, a vast (11,500 hectare) mountain plateau in the Pir Panjal range in Badgam district that had for centuries been a highland pasture (dhok) but since 1964 leased by the State government to the army for use as a firing range, a lease that had been terminated with the armys concurrence only in April 2014 by the Omar Abdullah Government.

This was in consequence of a public agitation led by an NGO constituted by the local residents. The Tosamaidan Bachao Front was formally launched in August 2013, inspired by a government Medical Officer Dr Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, posted in Tosamaidan in 2009, who had been alarmed by the high casualty rate of local residents from injuries sustained from unexploded shells.

Located in the Sukhnag range of the Pir Panjal at the crossroads of passes leading to Poonch and the LoC, named in legend as Tu Shah Maidan (you, the king of meadows) by no less than the marauder Mahmud of Ghazni, Tosamaidan is rich with forest, lake, gushing springs and sparkling streams undulating through highland and valley.

Interspersed with a number of villagers it is inhabited by shepherds and farmers that, hitherto deprived of the benefits of the natural wealth of the meadow, are amongst the poorest in Kashmir. We were told that panchayat development schemes have been sanctioned for roads, schools and hospitals to service the community, but there was not much evidence of development activity on the ground.

Our meeting in Arizal was attended by over fifty persons, included several sarpanches but only one lady, herself an active social worker. This. With the help of the School for Rural Development and Environment (SRDE) of the Delhi based NGO Society for Rural Urban and Tribal Initiative (SRUTI) a handbook on Tosamaidan has been published, Tosamaidan: A Story of Peoples Victory (Aanugya Books, Delhi 2022), which seeks to identify natural resources and tourist development possibilities in the area.

It was the effective use of Panchayati Raj Institutions and the power of grassroots democracy that led the movement to its logical end says the book (p58), going on to describe how the unanimous resolutions of all 64 panchayats of the area helped persuade the military authorities not to press for renewal of lease. The unanimous demand of participants in the meeting, including the sarpanches, was that now that the local public had regained control of their land, they be entrusted with its development. They were particularly apprehensive of the opening of the property to outside investment and pleaded that the local government assist them to develop the area for the purpose. In 2017, an autonomous Tosamaidan Development Authority was indeed instituted by the government. But we were not shown any viable development plan and sarpanches complained that they were not given audience let alone consulted by the local Deputy Commissioner

Tosamaidan has the potential to become a major tourist destination not only for J&K but for the country. Strategies have been developed by the erstwhile Planning Commission to bring sustainable development to ecologically fragile environments with the objective of ensuring distribution of wealth and opportunity to the local inhabitants. On Tosamaidan the group would suggest that Niti Ayog, with the help of professionals in this field, develop a plan for high altitude tourism, which will utilise the rich natural resources of the area to bring maximum social and economic returns. This could then be implemented though the local DDC, which would then be required to be assigned the funds, functionaries and resources, both administrative and financial, as mandated under Article 243 of the Constitution.

The Kashmir Files: The Film and its Impact

A recurring theme during this visit of the CCG to both the Kashmir Valley and Jammu was the feature film The Kashmir Files which was being officially promoted at various levels in the Central and state governments ruled by the BJP. Almost everyone that the group met had strong views about the possible impact of the film on the politics of J&K as well as that of rest of India.

The Kashmir Files is based on the stories and testimonials of Kashmiri Pandits who, fearing grave insecurity and volatility due to the sudden onset of violent militancy in the Valley in early 1990, felt compelled to migrate out of the Valley to Jammu, the National Capital Region and other places in the rest of India. While being not all lies, not all truths, the film tells a story that needed to be told: of human anguish, heartache of memories and gnawing pain of how a proud and erudite community of over three lakhs got clawed out from their millennia-long geo-cultural moorings into uncertain and widespread social and climatological geographies. And how, successive governmentsboth at the Centre and in the Stateover the last three decades since their exodus, have not been able to take any meaningful initiatives for their return and rehabilitation.

The only exception, we were told, was Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs extraordinary and acclaimed initiative, with support of successive state governments, to create Government jobs for Pandits and they being housed in relatively more secure temporary camps, both of which are still work in progress. This initiative has enlarged the footprint of the Pandits in the Valley from about 3,000 in 2002 to approximately 10,000 today. Taken forward, the process of large-scale return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits would augur well not just for them but even more so for the composite socio-cultural ethos of the majority community.

Almost the entire opinion spectrum in the Valley conveyed to our group that the film sought to give a spin to the deeply tragic and unfortunate exodus of Pandits by weaponising their suffering and marketing their pain for politico-commercial considerations and possible electoral dividends. Not surprisingly, the producers of the Bollywood blockbuster are said to have grossed a thousand per cent return on their investment.

Civil society groups conveyed to us that the filmmore reelty than reality, as a leading academic put itseeks to slander, vilify and delegitimise the Valleys majority communitys own pain and suffering of three decades during which period tens of thousands of youths were killed. Every family lost a member and has a story to tell. All Kashmiris have suffered and all need justice. But The Kashmir Files, in a brutal and dehumanising manner, people averred, describes every Kashmiri Muslim as barbaric, devious and jihadi to boot. This at a time when hotels in Kashmir are chock-a-block full of tourists from the rest of India!

We were told in most human situations, shades of grey prevail: a tiny fraction of the majority community did target Pandits, instil fear among them that triggered their exodus, they lamented. But far larger numbers, themselves under threat, helped the Pandits to move out in safety, remained in touch with them over three decades even as both communities sustained these bonds and extended support to each other in myriad ways. But for producers of The Kashmir Files, who had an agenda, these were not stories worth marketing.

Did the film seek to heal wounds? Not quite. In fact, wounds of Pandit migration had begun to heal somewhat, but the film has not only reopened these but sought to inflame passions. Characterisation in the film of Farooq Abdullah, three-time Chief Minister, former Union Minister and a sitting MP of Lok Sabha, as a pro-Pakistani and a close associate of a prominent secessionist leader has caused deep disquiet among people. Many expressed their disappointment and surprise at the countrys topmost leadership, including the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, extolling a film that sows nafrat ki rajniti (politics of hatred), injects communal politics into Kashmiris suffering with the agenda of super-polarisation. Rabid hate is so brazenly on display. Centuries of peaceful coexistence and accommodation between the two communities, people said, had been thrown into the bin. In strategic and comprehensive security terms, The Kashmir Files has the potential to have a damaging impact on national cohesion, unity and solidarity. In Jammu and Kashmir, the impact has been direct and pressing.

Wide cross sections in the Valley opined how the film had exacerbated their all-pervasive sense of dread and distress. The majority community fears that their wards and relatives studying and working in the rest of India could come to harm under the prevalent environment of polarisation and communal tension. Many parents expressed renewed apprehensions on sending their wards to the rest of the country for study, business and work.

As for Kashmiri Pandits, their local leadership had conveyed to our group during our visit in July, 2021 that given the continued deep anger in the Valley arising from nullification of Article 370, revocation of Article 35 A and the humiliating bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019 counter reaction in the form of a big surprise could well ensue. On our visit this time, they expressed their deep sense of mounting insecurity emanating from The Kashmir Files. The recent attempted killing of a Pandit medical store owner in Shopian, and attacks on three non-locals in four days (after our group returned) appears to vindicate the fears of both communities.

During our Groups interactions in Jammu, ethno-cultural complexities of that region dominated the narrative. The majoritarian right-wing Dogra heartland of the Tawi river drainage areawhich has the largest number of Kashmiri Panditscomprises the districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba and Reasi. People here, as per reports, hailed The Kashmir Files as implicitly representing their political-ideological impulses. There was widespread sloganeering in cinema halls in which Pandits are also said to have participated. On the other hand, the Chenab valley districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, as also the Pir Panjal districts of Poonch and Rajauri, presented a far more nuanced and mixed perspective. The hot button issue for the latter districtsdominated by Paharis and Gujjarswe gathered, was the Central ruling dispensations promise of Scheduled Tribes (ST) status for the Paharis (Gujjars already have that status) with the objective of weaning them away from the States mainstream parties. This, it is expected could reflect in their voting choices in the Assembly elections when these take place.

In conversations with members of Jammus civil society we were informed that the Dogras today looked at the Kashmiri Pandits with a certain level of mistrust. One opinion was that after warmly welcoming them during their initial migration they were perceived as competitors for jobs in which the Pandits invariably succeeded, as the cause for rise in land prices even as the Pandits spearheaded the movement for abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A and actions aimed to target the majority community in the Valley. Another view expressed was that the euphoria post reorganisation of J&K had given way to the realisation among Dogras that it is they who would have to pick up the detritus leading to Kashmiri Pandits being made the fall guys.

Yet another perspective conveyed to us was that the peace constituencies in the Jammu region were strong, people were inherently for amity and were primarily driven by economic and commercial interests. It is for this reason that despite efforts towards super polarisation by The Kashmir Files, the business communities in the Jammu region and Kashmir Valley stay united in common interests. This augurs well for the future.

The Situation in Jammu

In the aftermath of abrogation of Article 370, a sense of disaffection had seeped in even in Jammu. As the weeks and months passed, people began to come to terms with how the changes might affect them  especially land ownership and jobs, which were thrown open to people from outside J&K.

These changes impacted people in different ways. For example, the revenue and land records which were registered by the judiciary were shifted to the revenue department. This meant that many lawyers lost their livelihoods. Mining contracts that were reserved for the state residents, were opened to outsiders through online auctions. For many years, liquor revenue earnings and licences were with local residents, they too were thrown open to people from across India.

When the government announced that the licenses would be allotted online, for three months liquor traders were agitating on the streets. The bulk of the licenses went to people from UP, Punjab and Delhi and just 10-15% local people got licenses. Since 2019, the State Human Rights Commission, the Consumer Commission and all the appellate authorities have been disbanded. In one stroke, all the redressal mechanisms available to the public disappeared. No wonder then that each policy decision seemed to make UT citizens further disempowered.

As anger, frustration and disillusionment set-in post August 5, 2019, Jammu became virtually a city of protests. The Bandh call given by the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry was backed by lawyers, transporters, labourers and others throughout the region. This was unprecedented.

During the District Development Council elections, the BJP failed to win in Rajouri and Poonch, whereas the Doda belt voted along communal lines. For three years now, Muslims in these areas continue living in fear. There are continuous attacks through statements and videos against Muslims. They feel that the demolition drive being run by the administration against encroachment on government land is targeted at Muslim houses and lands  most of those targeted are nomads. They lament that Aukaf land has been snatched away by the administration.

Many in Jammu allege that the Delimitation Commission report was prepared in the BJP office in Jammu and then stamped by the Commission. Jammuites have not accepted the down-gradating of the erstwhile J&K state to a Union Territory. This remains an overwhelming sentiment across all communities and professional groups across the region.

However, Jammuites seem unable to resolve their long-term dilemma of whether they are anti-Kashmir or anti-Muslim. This dilemma has dominated Jammu politics for long and is perhaps a reflection of the psyche of a Hindu minority in a Muslim majority state/UT. As a result, they are unable to see the advantage of building alliances with the political parties and leaders from Kashmir and the benefits of such alliances to the Jammu region.

However, this sentiment is layered and complex. The business interests in both the regions that have built economic alliances over time, making the two regions interdependent. The resentment over stopping the Darbar move was first raised in Jammu, for example. Despite that hundreds of Kashmiris continue to come to Jammu during Winter as has been the practice for decades. This reflects their sense of security in Jammu city.

The Muslim population in the Hindu dominated districts of Jammu varies  from 5-7% in Jammu district, 15% in Kathua to 20% in Udhampur district. By and large, they have a peaceful relationship with the Hindu Dogras. They identify themselves more with Jammu than with the Valley.

Since 1947, Jammu has absorbed many displaced persons and allowed them to settle in Jammu city and the region. These displaced persons include 1947 Hindu and Sikh refugees from Mirpur and Kotli areas across the LoC (line of Control) in Poonch and Rajouri. The film The Kashmir Files and frenzy it has created has also created counter-reaction amongst the older refugees from 1947.

A Mirpuri academic whose family was displaced at the time of Partition, angrily spoke about the Mirpur massacre in which a far larger number of people were killed than Kashmiri Pandits in 1990. We too became refugees at that time but did we get any assistance from the government for our rehabilitation which the Kashmiri Pandits have continued to have for over 30 years? she asked. Scratch the surface and Jammu Muslims tell you about the Muslim massacre of 1947 when thousands were killed or were forced to migrate to Pakistan, changing Jammus demography forever.

A Kashmiri Pandit academic we met felt that Jammu had always accommodated displaced people and their ideologies. Jammus interest, however, he said, was rooted in Kashmir. He blamed the central government for the continuing difficulties in Kashmir. The government of India has always tried to buy the loyalty of the Kashmiris, rather than winning their hearts. It tried to purchase their loyalty through appeasement. That policy continues till today, he claimed.

For the first time after 70 years, however, he felt, The Kashmiris have witnessed the blunt power of the Indian state. It may be repressive but now they know what it is and what it can be. What is significant is that the exercise of that blunt power has now been decentralised and I do not see any reaction to it. The Kashmiris now realise that Azadi is not an option, he claimed.

On the other hand, a former senior policeman, also a Kashmiri Pandit, told us, There have been many experiments in Kashmir in the past to ensure the integration of Kashmir with India. Earlier there was an attempt at slow-integration but now there is an attempt to assimilate at an accelerated rate. He quoted former Vice President Hamid Ansaris convocation address at Kashmir University where he said, Minorities would be willing to integrate with the Union of India. But if you try to assimilate them you would create a problem.

At present BJP is trying assimilation and this is creating serious difficulties in Kashmir. The problem is aggravated further when the party interest is conflated with national interest, he argued. He was of the view that during 1996, 2002 and 2008 state elections, the police and security forces did not tell people whom to vote for and instead encouraged them to just come out in large numbers and vote.

The period between 2002-2008 was the most peaceful in Kashmir. Unfortunately, the opportunity was squandered. The Year 2019, gave the BJP a foothold in Kashmir to fulfil their party agenda. Since then, a new experiment is under way  that of imposing a hard state policy,  he argued.

He explained that hard state policy towards the minorities was tried in Gujarat and resulted in successfully subduing the Muslim minority. But Gujrat is a small and homogenous state. Kashmir is different  it is a border state, a Muslim majority area and Jammu and Kashmir are very diverse regions. In Jammu, religion is a bonding force and the heart of Jammuites is with India. In 1990, due to prevailing discontent, the people in Kashmir supported the Azadi sentiment but it subsided. Today people are again upset with India and the anti-India sentiment has spread widely, he explained.

Subduing this sentiment with hard policies of suppression is unlikely to work in the long run, he felt.

Wooing the Pahari Community

The Pahari ethnic community of Jammu has been demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for long. The J&K state government had passed a cabinet resolution on August 8, 1989 recommending to the government of India to include seven additional tribes in the list of STs. These were: Paharis, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddi, Bazigor, and Sansi. In 1991, Gujjars and Bakarwals were included in the list of STs. The Paharis then alleged that they were excluded for political reasons. Ever since then, they have agitated for ST status.

The Delimitation Commission report and the designation of reserved constituencies for STs has agitated the Paharis once again and mobilised them across party lines. The demand is spurred by long standing grievance that their community has been left behind socially and economically and they link the demand for ST status not just to political rights but also to jobs and admissions in educational institutions. In response to their demand, the BJP leaders have been making public statements that Paharis would be designated as ST soon.

The CCGs discussions with pollical and civil society leaders in Jammu indicated that electoral politics was behind the wooing of the Pahari community leaders by the BJP. However, opinion seems to be divided in the Pahari leadership on whether they should go with the BJP as a one-time exception or leave the possibility of a long-term association open depending on how the party treats their interests. Some observers felt that all the Pahari vote might not go in one direction.

The Gujjars have been silent on this issue so far. At least one Gujjar public figure predicted that the Paharis would get what they are demanding minus political reservation. This, however, is unlikely to appease the Pahari leaders.

Jammu Trade and Business upset

After the organisation of J&K into Union Territory, a spate of policy decisions was announced and speedily implemented. The full impact of the abrogation of Article 35A began to be felt following the change in the domicile policy which opened the doors to residents from outside J&K to acquire jobs, land purchase, mining rights, liquor shops, etc. These policies have been unpopular with the Jammuites.

Last year, the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) declared a Jammu Bandh which evoked overwhelming response throughout the region with lawyers, transporters, small shopkeepers joining the protestors from trade, business and industry. On the eve of the bandh, the JCCI released a set of 10 demands. Following their protest, they were invited for talks with the government. The government agreed to all their demands except one - that of reserving licences for liquor vends for locals.

Notably, Reliance Retail has had to withdraw from Jammu in the face of stiff resistance by local traders. In our meeting with the President and executive members of JCCI they expressed anger and resentment against not being invited officially to participate in the various meetings that took place in Srinagar with prospective foreign investors from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. They felt that Jammu was always discriminated against when it came to economic development as Kashmir was given preference.

An industrialist told us: The J&K UT Land Allotment Portal has a list of applications received for land allotment. Land allotment letters for various industrial estates  existing and proposed - have been issued. Hardly 300 canals of land is available in existing industrial estates like Ghatti and Kathua. Around 5000 kanals of undeveloped land has been allotted with no infrastructure facilities. All these entrepreneurs have been asked to deposit land premium in full within 60 days or else their allotment can be cancelled.

The industry representatives of Jammu have requested the government to take 10% token-money and with the rest to be paid within 30 days of infrastructure provision in these industrial estates. However, the government has not as yet responded to their suggestion.

It seems that in the Jammu region, besides the anger over loss of statehood, various social and ethnic groups and communities  including lawyers, traders, industrialists, Jammu Muslims, Paharis and Gujjars  are also resentful because of the various issues affecting them. However, there is no political party or a political leader articulating their anger to mobilise people politically.

Wajahat Habibullah

Air Vice Marshal (R) Kapil Kak

Sushobha Barve

Bharat Bhushan

Yashwant Sinha  (Endorsed)
The United States military deployed about 24,000 troops to help state and local governments across the country fight COVID-19. That mission has ended, at least for now. The Department of Defense is making preparations for the next possible infectious disease spread. And, officials are seeking to learn from the experiences of service members who took part in the COVID-19 mission.

The experiences can help military leaders decide on the number and kinds of troops to deploy in case another pandemic or other world crises or conflicts happen, said General Glen VanHerck. He heads the U.S. Northern Command and is responsible for defense of the homeland.

VanHerck told The Associated Press that his command is rewriting the militarys current pandemic and infectious disease plans. Officials are also planning wargame exercises to test the abilities of U.S. military medical workers.

Of the 24,000 U.S. troops deployed, nearly 6,000 medical workers were sent to assist in hospitals. About 5,000 troops helped give vaccinations.

VanHerck noted that the ways military forces were used in the pandemic morphed over time. He said one of the main things the military learned was that the work of small teams proved to be more valuable than mass movements of troops and facilities.

In the early days of the pandemic, the Defense Department sent hospital ships to New York City and Los Angeles. They also set up hospital operations in other states at the request of state leaders. The idea was to use the troops to treat non-COVID-19 patients so that hospitals could center on more serious pandemic cases.

But while images of the military ships were powerful, many beds went unused. Fewer patients needed non-COVID-19 care than expected and hospitals were still overloaded by the pandemic. This led to changes in how military forces were deployed. Troops were sent to hospitals to fill in for overworked employees or to work alongside them in additional treatment areas.

Lieutenant Colonel Suzanne Cobleigh led an Army team that was deployed to two hospitals in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from December to February. She spoke to Associated Press reporters about one patient the team helped at a Michigan hospital as the Omicron version of COVID-19 was quickly spreading.

The COVID-19 patient was having severe breathing difficulties, but Cobleigh said all patient beds at the hospital were full.

An Army nurse on her team knew of an open space in a temporary treatment area. The nurse quickly went into action, hurrying to get the patient wheeled to the area. During the process, the gurney struck a wall, damaging it a little.

When she saw what happened, Cobleigh praised the nurses drive to help her patient.

Shes going to damage the wall on the way there because hes going to get that bed," Cobleigh said. "(The patient) is going to get the treatment he needs. That was the mission.

The last military medical team deployed for the pandemic finished its assignment last week at the University of Utah hospital. But officials say about 200 troops are being held on prepare-to-deploy orders through the end of May in case COVID-19 infections rise again.

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

mission  n. an important job, usually involving travel to somewhere

morph  n. to change from one thing to another over time

facility  n. a place, especially in buildings, where a particular activity happens
Students have until the end of April to tell the universities that have accepted them if they will attend.

Most students found out if they were accepted in late March. Some students are accepted by their top choice school and immediately decide they will attend it. Others get rejections and must choose another school. Still others are placed on a waiting list and might not find out if they are accepted to their top choice until the summer.

After all the studying, tests and applications, students are usually happy to be accepted by several schools. But choosing a college is not easy. This year, the decision might be more difficult than ever.

Lowest acceptance rates in history

Colleges and universities around the U.S. are reporting much lower acceptance rates.

That includes Rice University in Houston, Notre Dame University in Indiana, the University of Southern California and both Brown University and Harvard University of the Ivy League.

VOA spoke with two experts who explained why the rates are so low.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students delayed college, they said. In addition, thousands of universities decided not to require standardized tests. As a result, this year universities received many more applications than usual and have fewer places for students who are finishing high school this year.

Nicole Porcaro runs No Anxiety Prep, an educational advising company near Washington, D.C.

A lot of students who in previous years thought they were shoo-ins for certain schools have not been [accepted], she said.

Porcaro said some students she works with are now deciding between their second-choice schools.

I encourage them to try to understand, which is really hard at that age, that plans and dreams change. And it may seem that you are 100 percent locked into a school or a major or a plan, and it changes.

Alix Coupet is an advisor for a company called Empowerly based in San Francisco, California. In the past, he was an admissions counselor at Stanford. He said some students feel stuck.

Look for connection

Rice, a highly rated school in Houston, Texas, accepted only 2,691 students out of over 31,000 who applied.

Yvonne Romero da Silva is the schools Vice President for Enrollment.

Romero da Silva said students deciding between more than one college should think about the one they feel most connected to, even if it is not the one with the highest rank.

Each institution has a unique element to it, culture to it. So I feel sad sometimes for the students who felt forced to make that decision of where theyre going to go simply because the school was ranked higher than the school that they really, really loved.

Romero da Silva said many parents can get caught up in a schools rank. But the important thing for them to do is help their children get excited about going to a school where they will thrive, or do well.

Not too late to visit

This year, many universities opened their campuses to visitors and are not closed because of COVID-19 restrictions. So, Romero da Silva said she believes high school students who went to events for prospective students will have an easier time deciding if they want to attend the school. Rice hosted its event for visitors, known as Owl Days, recently.

Rices campus is so beautiful, you just cant get a sense of the physical spaces until youre actually here, Romero da Silva said.

Many universities offer more chances for students to visit before requiring a decision. The experts said this is extra helpful for graduate students. They may be able to visit a laboratory or to meet with a professor who will guide their studies.

How to make a calm choice

Coupet said one of his jobs during this time of year is to remind students that they put a lot of work into choosing schools over a year ago when making applications.

I become kind of a mirror to help reflect these things [the student] said were important, Coupet said.

What about the waiting list?

Both Coupet and Porcaro said it is unlikely, especially this year, that students will be accepted from waiting lists. But they should accept a place on the waiting list quickly. The next step is to contact the school and express interest for a second time. This is called a letter of continued interest. The document should include any new information about the student.

The new information does not have to be curing cancer, Porcaro said. But as long as they can show theyve been using their time well and not coasting.

The next thing students should do is send in money to hold their place at another school, Coupet said. This is called a deposit. They may lose the money if a spot at their first-choice school opens.

But the peace of mind is precious at this stage, he said.

As the year goes on, send a short update every three to four weeks, Coupet added.

What about international students?

Porcaro said there is a lot of information available for international students. They should attend as many computer-based activities as possible. She also discussed a company called College Scoops that presents independent visits to college campuses.

Coupet said international students who are on a wait list should use two strategies: tell the university that they do not need financial aid and consider centering their studies on a different subject. The subject can always be changed later. After all, many American students do it.

At a lot of schools around the country you can change your major on the first day of college back to biology. Students change their mind here all the time.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English.

Are you an international student deciding on an American college or university? How are you making your decision? Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. Quiz - Experts Give Advice on Deciding Which School to Attend Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

Words in This Story

application  n. a formal and usually written request for something (such as a job, admission to a school, a loan)

standardized test n. a test that requires all test-takers to answer the same questions which is used to measure a persons abilities

shoo-in  n. someone or something that will win easily or is certain to win

lock into v. (phrasal) to be sure about something or to have decided on something

stuck  adj. unable to move or change

unique  adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else

prospective  adj. likely to be or become something specified in the future

mirror  n. something that shows what another thing is like in a very clear and accurate way

coast  v. to progress or have success without special effort

precious  adj. very dear or valuable

strategy  n. a plan covering a long period of time
The Expedition 67 crew is heading into a busy period next week that begins with a Russian spacewalk, followed by the departure of four private astronauts and the launch of the SpaceX Crew-4 mission.

Meanwhile, the residents aboard the International Space Station continued a broad array of research to understand what happens to the human body during a long-term space flight.

Two cosmonauts are getting ready for Monday's spacewalk set to begin at 10:25 a.m. EDT to activate the European Robotic Arm (ERA) on the outside of the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev will go into the weekend reviewing their procedures planned for the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. On Monday, the duo will exit the Poisk module, translate to Nauka, and install the ERA control panel and other components on the outside of the orbiting lab's Russian segment.

The next day, four Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) astronauts will end their space research and education mission aboard the orbiting lab. Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria will lead Pilot Larry Connor and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy inside Space Dragon Endeavour when they undock from the Harmony module's space-facing port on Tuesday at 10:35 a.m. The private foursome will splashdown off the coast of Florida on Wednesday morning completing a 12-day mission in space.

The Ax-1 quartet had a packed schedule on Friday conducting a host of microgravity science. Lopez-Alegria and Connor took turns scanning each other's heart using the Ultrasound 2 device for the Cardioprotection study. Stibbe explored genetic identification and tested the comfort of a specialized radiation protection vest. Pathy continued his Earth photography sessions while also testing a different vest that monitors vital signs in real-time while an astronaut comfortably works on the station.

The four Expedition 67 astronauts from NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) continued their complement of space research and lab maintenance while assisting the Ax-1 crew. Commander Tom Marshburn scanned the eyes of Pathy using medical imaging gear to understand how weightlessness affects an astronaut's vision. Flight Engineer Raja Chari packed cargo inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance and inspected the vehicle's hatch while NASA Flight Engineer Kayla Barron spent Friday cleaning crew quarters and performing orbital plumbing duties. Astronaut Matthias Maurer videotaped an educational event for German students demonstrating the CIMON mobile artificial intelligence companion.

Finally, four SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts are in quarantine counting down to a liftoff aboard the Dragon Freedom crew ship from Florida at 5:26 a.m. EDT on April 23. Commander Kjell Lindgren will lead Pilot Robert Hines and Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti on a ride to the station's Harmony module where they will dock just over 24 hours later.

On-Orbit Status Report

Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) Axiom-1:

Public Affairs Office (PAO), Payload, and Commercial Activities: The Ax-1 crew completed activities associated with several ISS National Lab sponsored payloads including Cardioprotection, Nano ISS Antenna, TESSERAE, CRISPR, Earth Observation, and Sansori. Private Astronauts Larry Connor and Eytan Stibbe performed four ESA-sponsored PAO ICE Cubes media events. Mike LA and Larry Connor captured still and video imagery of approved commercial activities.

Payloads:

AstroRad Vest (Ax-1): An Ax-1 crewmember donned the AstroRad Vest and completed the Question-and-Answer sessions. Comfort and Human Factors AstroRad Radiation Garment Evaluation (CHARGE) (AstroRad Vest) tests a special vest designed to protect astronauts from radiation caused by unpredictable solar particle events (SPEs). Astronauts provide input on the garment as they wear it while performing daily tasks, including how easy it is to put on, how it fits and feels, and the range of motion it allows. Garment developers can use this input to improve design, and the use of the vest will protect crewmembers on missions to the Moon and Mars.

Bio-Monitor (Ax-1): An Ax-1 crewmember set up and donned the Garment and Headband and connected the Data Unit to the Garment and Bio-Monitor Application. Bio-Monitor is a Canadian onboard instrument that serves as a platform for scientific experiments on the ISS. The instrument performs on-orbit monitoring of crew member physiological parameters, with wearable sensors that only minimally interfere with crewmember daily activities.

Cardioprotection (Ax-1): An Ax-1 crewmember set up the camera, configured the Ultrasound 2 equipment, and performed ultrasound scans. The Space Frontier and Extraterrestrial Cardioprotection (Cardioprotection Ax-1) performs cardiovascular evaluations on Ax-1 crewmembers. Human research in space has, to date, focused on professional astronauts, but as spaceflight opportunities expand, more diverse populations experience exposure to the space environment. The study supports protection of heart health in this expanding population.

Crew Interactive MObile companioN (CIMON): An ISS crewmember performed two educational interactive events with German schools and children from the KinderHerz Foundation using the CIMON hardware. The Pilot Study with CIMON is a technology demonstration project and an observational study that aims to obtain the first insights into the effects on crew support by an artificial intelligence (AI), in terms of efficiency and acceptance during long-term missions in space. Spaceflight missions put the crew under a substantial amount of stress and workload, and it is thought that AI could provide operational support to crewmembers.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) (Ax-1): An Ax-1 crewmember used pipettes to load the CRISPR-Ax 96-Well Plate and installed the Well Plate into the Space Automated Bioproduct Laboratory (SABL) for incubation. CRISPR is a genome editing system that allows its users to detect and manipulate specific DNA and RNA sequences in living cells of diverse species. This technology could provide rapid and accurate detection of pathogens and contaminants on future long-term space missions.

Sleep in Space (Changes in Sleep and the Microbiome) (Ax-1): An Ax-1 crewmember collected surface samples in various ISS locations and prepped the samples for cold stowage. Sleep in Space examines sleep quantity and quality of astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight. The investigation also examines effects on the human gut microbiome or microbial community and the environmental microbiome and records factors associated with cardiac and metabolic health, including body mass index, heart rate, and blood glucose. Sleep contributes to overall health and well-being; inadequate sleep can increase risk of certain diseases.

Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive, Environments (TESSERAE) (Ax-1): An Ax-1 crewmember set up the TESSERAE hardware for tile assembly operations. TESSERAE (Ax-1) tests self-assembly and docking of an autonomous, self-assembling robotic swarm of tiles in microgravity. The investigation helps assess the feasibility of satellite and space habitat construction on-orbit to support future missions to the Moon and Mars and space tourism in low-Earth orbit (LEO).

H2 Sensor Tech Demo (H2ST) Install: Following yesterday's installation of the H2ST, the crew powered up the H2ST. The crew then installed the Drift Check Kit Assembly to the H2ST and performed a drift check of the H2 sensors. The Drift Check Kit Assembly was removed after calibration was performed. The H2ST setup will allow ground teams to collect Arcturus data prior to the upcoming Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) and Life Support Rack (LSR).

Systems:

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Pre-Treat Tank Remove and Replace (R&R) and Dose Pump Inspection: The crew R&R'd the Pre-Treat Tank as part of nominal WHC preventative maintenance. Each tank contains five liters of pre-treat solution, a mix of acid, chromium oxide, and water, used for toilet flushing and required for nominal WHC operation to prevent crystallization of urea in urine and mitigate microbial growth. Additionally, the crew inspected the WHC dose pump for leaked pre-treat and found none. Since the current dose pump has been operating for over two years, which is well beyond its operational warranty of six-months, the risk of pre-treat leaking was deemed credible. Until the dose pump can be R&R'd in a future activity, the crew will perform periodic inspections.

Crew Quarters (CQ) Port Cleaning: In preparation for Crew-3 departure, the crew cleaned the intake and exhaust ducts, fans, and airflow sensors in the Port CQ. Due to the large amounts of dust seen during previous CQ cleanings, the crew removed all relevant panels, temporarily stowed them, and then cleaned all areas at once.

Oxygen Generation System (OGS) Screen Install: The crew installed a temporary Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Cone Screen at the OGS rack front to cover the OGS Cabin Air Inlet. Use of the temporary Cone Screen will provide an added layer of protection in preventing foreign object debris (FOD) from getting to the OGS Avionics Air Assembly (AAA) until a new filter block, which will be delivered on Crew-4, can be installed. FOD collecting at the AAA inlet reduces the flow in the rack and would allow for O2 to build in the rack if a leak developed.

Dragon Zenith Docking System Hatch Seal Inspection & Cleaning: The crew inspected the Dragon zenith docking hatch seal and vestibule for FOD and cleaned as needed. Liberated FOD could compromise the International Docking Adapter (IDA) seal surface during undock. This inspection was for Crew Dragon Endeavour, the vehicle for the Ax-1 crew, in preparation for undock next week.

Robotic Operations: Yesterday, the Mobile Transporter (MT) was translated from Worksite 4 (WS4) to WS6, and the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) was walked off from the Mobile Base System (MBS) to unstow the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) from the MBS before being maneuvered to an overnight parking configuration. Today, Robotics Ground Operators maneuvered the SSRMS from the overnight park into position to support Day 1 of 2 of the MSS survey of Crew Dragon Endurance. This survey will consist of a detailed inspection of the vehicle's Thermal Protection System (TPS). Day 2 of this survey will be performed tomorrow. TPS inspections are performed on returning vehicles prior to undock from the ISS to ensure the vehicle is in a good configuration for re-entry.

Completed Task List Activities:

None

Today's Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

CQ Activation

MSS Survey of Crew-3 Dragon [In Work]

Look Ahead Plan

Saturday, April 16 (GMT 106)

Payloads:

Aging and Heart Health Habitat Swap (Ax-1)

AstroRad Doff (Ax-1)

At Home in Space Journals (Ax-1)

Bio-Monitor HW Changeout and Calibration (Ax-1/NASA)

Cardio Protection Urine Collect (Ax-1)

CRISPR Plate Removal (Ax-1)

Earth Obs (Ax-1)

Monitoring Stress Data Transfer and Photo (Ax-1)

Nano ISS Antenna Calibration and Stow (Ax-1)

NanoRacks Module 9 Ops #3 (Ax-1)

NanoRacks Module 102 Photo (Ax-1)

Neurowellness Hardware Ops (Ax-1/NASA)

Photocatalyst Filter Check (Ax-1)

Sleep in Space Data and Questionnaire (Ax-1)

TESSERAE Ops (Ax-1/NASA)

Systems:

ISS Crew Off-Duty

Sunday, April 17 (GMT 107)

Payloads:

Actiwatch Setup (Ax-1)

Bio-Monitor HW Calibration, Exercise, Doff and HW Stow (Ax-1/NASA)

Microbiome in Space Urine Collect (Ax-1)

Photocatalyst Filter Check (Ax-1/NASA)

Reflective Eye Test Data Prep (Ax-1)

Snowcone Powerdown and HW Remove (Ax-1)

Standard Measures Urine Setup (NASA)

Systems:

ISS Crew Off-Duty

Monday, April 18 (GMT 108)

Payloads:

CIMON Setup Education Quiz and KinderHerz (ESA)

Photocatalyst Filter Check (Ax-1/NASA)

SERFE Water Sample (NASA)

Systems:

Max CEVIS

PEPS Inspection

Exercise Equipment Gather

Today's Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

CIMON Unpack and Deployment On Bogen Arm

Dragon Cargo Transfer

Question-and-Answer with CIMON

PAM Facilitator Time

Ax-1 Bio-Monitor Data Unit Battery Replacement and Synchronization Using Controller

CIMON Battery Exchange

Video with CIMON for the KinderHerz Foundation

CQ Port Cleaning

Checkout of the Node 1 Wireless Access Point (WAP) with CIMON

CIMON Disconnection, Clean-up, and Stow

CIMON Battery Charging

OGS Screen Install

Cell Biology Experiment Facility Left (CBEF-L) Fastener Measurement

Sansori Ax-1 Optical Coherence Tomography 2 (OCT-2) Hardware Setup

Human Research Facility (HRF) Electroretinograph Functional Checkout

Sansori Ax-1 OCT-2 Just-In-Time Training

Environmental Health System (EHS) Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK) Stow Operation

Sansori Ax-1 OCT-2 Exam

HRF Pneumotonometer Functional Checkout

H2ST Power Up

WHC Dose Pump Inspection

Cold Atom Lab (CAL) Moderate Temperature Loop (MTL) Jumper Leak Check

WHC Pre-Treat Tank R&R

Sansori Ax-1 OCT-2 Hardware Stow

TESSERAE Hardware Gather

MERLIN 3 Icebrick Insert

H2ST Drift Check

Dragon Station Support Computer (SSC) 22 Swap

Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth

Dragon Zenith Docking System Hatch Seal Inspection & Cleaning

Orthostatic Intolerance Garment (OIG) Fitcheck Setup

PAO Event in JEM

OIG Fitcheck

Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)

OIG Fitcheck Stow

Life Science Glovebox (LSG) Work Volume Deploy

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By Trend

Azerbaijans BsuFlight Team T-11 will present a project of single-engine firefighter UAV in the finals of the TEKNOFEST International Aviation, Space and Technology Festival in Baku, the team member Firangiz Gurbanova told Trend.

According to Gurbanova, the UAV will have the function of autonomous flight.

"The UAV will have a 360-degree camera installed on the front, as well as gas sensors and smoke detectors, allowing it to detect nearby fires," she said.

"Our device, in manual or autonomous mode, will be able to easily detect an ignition or a fire in hard-to-reach areas where fire equipment cannot access, transmit the appropriate coordinates, and extinguish it. For this, the device will be equipped with special fire extinguishing balls," Gurbanova said.

She noted that the balls operate under self-activation, under the influence of heating from a flame up to 80 degrees. When this temperature is reached, the coating of the ball is destroyed, thus allowing for the release of a fire-extinguishing powder.

The captain of the BsuFlight Team T-11 Rashad Gojalar added that his team is ready to provide all necessary assistance and support in this area to the Azerbaijani emergency services.

The upcoming TEKNOFEST festival will be held in Azerbaijan on May 26-29, 2022. TEKNOFEST in Baku is held by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan. At the same time, the TEKNOFEST production office operates in Baku. The full staff of the office consists of Azerbaijani specialists.

The event has been held annually since 2018, with the joint organization of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation, which is managed by the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology and the technical director of Baykar Makina, in partnership with more than 60 Turkish state institutions, universities and private companies.

The goal is to popularize such areas as aviation, space industry and digital economy, to encourage entrepreneurship in these areas, to identify the knowledge and skills of young engineers through competitions organized within the framework of the festival, as well as to present national technologies to the general public.

Trend News Agency, Day.Az, Milli.Az, Azernews, Eastweststream, Today.Az and Turkic.World are official media partners of TEKNOFEST.

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WATERFORD  A Wisconsin-based brewery has purchased an old firehouse with plans to transform the property into a new attraction in Waterfords downtown.

MobCraft Beer Inc., which specializes in customer-suggested brews in exotic flavors, is the new owner of the former village fire station at 122 Second St.

Since 2018, village officials had been looking for a brewery operator to take over the firehouse and turn it into a beer-themed attraction along the Fox River.

Established in 2013, MobCraft bills itself as the worlds first crowd-sourced brewery, meaning that the company creates new beers based on customer ideas. The result has been brews flavored like apple pie, fruity breakfast cereal, blueberry waffles and peanut butter cups.

National exposure on the ABC competition game show Shark Tank helped the company open its first brewery in Milwaukee. The company then engaged Waterford officials with a proposal to transform the old firehouse into a brewery, winery, taproom, bar and restaurant.

Company officials could not be reached for comment, but they announced on social media this week that they had completed the fire station purchase.

Waterford village officials also confirmed that the property sale was scheduled to be finalized.

An agreement struck with the village last year called for MobCraft to purchase the fire station for $399,900, which the village then would rebate over three years, making the property a virtual gift. In exchange, MobCraft would build and operate the brewery attraction that Waterford officials had long wanted.

The village rebate would not begin until after MobCraft had occupied the property for one year.

Details of the new brewery opening have not been released.

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Madison police are investigating two armed robberies that happened within hours of each other Friday night near UW-Madison's campus.

In both cases, the robber was armed with a gun, according to UW-Madison police. No arrests had been made as of late Friday night, Madison police said.

The first armed robbery happened around 5:30 p.m. at the McDonald's at 1102 Regent Street, according to Madison police. The second was around 8:50 p.m. at the Walgreens at 311 East Campus Mall.

It's unclear whether the robberies are related.

Madison police declined to specify what, if anything, was stolen from the businesses.

No injuries were reported in either robbery, Madison police said.

UW-Madison Police were asking the public to avoid the area of Dayton Street and South Mills Street around 5:40 p.m. as officers searched for the McDonald's robber, who police said had a gun.

The robber was seen around 5:50 p.m. heading east on Dayton Street riding a bike with red wheels, UW-Madison police said. He was wearing a black jacket and black pants.

By 6:16 p.m., UW-Madison police said officers believed the suspect left the area, and the scene was all clear.

Shortly before 9 p.m., UW-Madison police said a man with a black ski mask, glasses and a long blue jacket had committed an armed robbery with a gun on East Campus Mall. The public was again asked to avoid the area as the robber fled along West Johnson Street.

By 9:50 p.m., UW-Madison police gave the all clear for students because the robber had left the area.

Madison police are asking anyone with information about the robberies to contact police at 608-255-2345, or Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014 or P3Tips.com.

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A UW-Madison student housing cooperative whose building the university has slated for demolition will likely look off campus for a new place to live because the two parties are seemingly at an impasse.

The Zoe Bayliss Women's Cooperative has leased space at 915 W. Johnson St. from UW-Madison since the 1950s and is one of the last student housing co-ops in the state. As Downtown rents rise, the co-op is also one of the few affordable housing options left for UW-Madison students.

UW-Madison, however, plans to demolish the building after the end of next school year to begin construction on a new academic building that will pave the way for the eventual teardown of the antiquated Humanities Building. The demolition plans have been in the works and communicated to the co-op for more than a decade, university officials have said.

The project leaves the couple dozen Zoe Bayliss residents searching for a new home for the 2023-24 school year, which they had hoped UW-Madison would provide in the form of a similar stand-alone building.

The university's latest  and final  offer is renovating part of Phillips Hall, 1950 Willow Drive, into a student cooperative community housing 34 students. University Housing spokesperson Brendon Dybdahl estimated the renovation would cost about $3 million. The proposed design would add features common in a cooperative living environment, such as a commercial kitchen, central bathroom and lounge space.

Zoe Bayliss residents overwhelmingly voted down the UW-Madison proposal, co-op president Angela Maloney said this week. Objections included increased cost, the lease's length expanding from nine months to 12 and concern that the arrangement wouldn't allow the co-op to operate independently.

University Housing director Jeff Novak said the new rate  about $120,000 annually, including utilities  would cost residents less per month over 12 months than the co-op's current nine-month rate, which is roughly $104,000 with utilities. He called the deal "very fair," with rent that still falls well below market value in the Madison co-op community, does not account for utility costs in the summer months and includes air conditioning, an amenity the current building lacks.

Zoe Bayliss would continue to manage their own expenses and decide what to individually charge residents, including whether to offer nine-month leases, Dybdahl said.

Zoe Bayliss is monitoring the private housing market over the next year to find a place to purchase or lease long term, Maloney said. But UW-Madison can also change its mind and make another offer.

"Were pretty hopeful well be able to figure something out," she said, noting a fundraiser slated for later this month.

Zoe Bayliss is free to turn UW-Madison down, but the university doesn't have plans nor an obligation to provide other alternatives, officials said. Regardless of the co-op's decision, UW-Madison is moving forward on the plan to create a student cooperative-style community in Phillips Hall.

"We've had a 70-year relationship with Zoe Bayliss and we want to continue to have it," Novak said in a Friday interview. "We want to partner with them but if they choose not to, we understand.

"Since 1955, UW-Madison has offered a cooperative and that's not changing."

If you go Who: Zoe Bayliss residents, alumni and community members What: Food and T-shirt fundraiser Where: Zoe Bayliss Cooperative, 915 W. Johnson St. When: 6 p.m. April 29 Why: All money goes toward co-op's search for a long-term housing solution.

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Madison will get a $6.4 million federal grant to help fund improvements at Metro Transits sprawling maintenance facility on the Near East Side, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway announced Friday.

The funding will help Metro finish a multi-phase project ahead of schedule and ensures money is available to complete the project. Metro is planning to implement a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in 2023 and a full network redesign in 2024.

Investing in public transit truly is about investing in people, Baldwin said at a press conference at the Metro facility at 1101 E. Washington Ave. The funding will help Metro become more efficient, safer and better equipped for the future, she said.

The 300,000-square-foot maintenance facility, built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, needs major upgrades and support systems for electric buses.

Metro needs to move its infrastructure into the 21st century, Rhodes-Conway said. Public transit is important to our economy, as it provides business better access to workers, workers more access to jobs, and students more access to education and training to prepare for those opportunities, she said.

In 2019, the city began a multi-phase, $30 million-plus renovation of the facility that will provide a new service lane, replace heating and cooling systems, and remodeling of maintenance bays and driver support spaces, administration and dispatch areas.

The facility will help support the citys coming BRT system, electric buses and route efficiencies, city transportation director Tom Lynch said later. Buses will be maintained there, some electric buses will be charged, and many will be stored at this location, he said.

BRT, a high-frequency, high-capacity, limited-stop service that would run on city streets and dedicated lanes with special stations, is also the backbone of a coming Metro network redesign, a new vision of the entire bus system.

On Tuesday, the City Council will consider a resolution to authorize a contract with New Flyer, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, to use $41.6 million in already secured federal funds to buy an initial 27 electric, zero-emission buses and approve the next steps for the 15.5-mile first phase of the BRT project that would run roughly from East Towne Mall to West Towne Mall. A future route would run from north to south.

The resolution calls for a base order of 27 60-foot all-electric articulated buses, which is more than half of the 46 vehicles needed to operate the upcoming BRT system. It also includes an option to add 19 more vehicles if more funding becomes available through the federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act and Small Starts grant programs.

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The resignations this year of the only Black zookeepers at Vilas Zoo have led to a review of the workplace environment at various Dane County departments after the departing zookeepers accused management of racism, neglecting animal welfare, unequal discipline and retaliation.

The former zookeepers, a man and a woman, worked at the zoo for five and nearly four years, respectively, and have both gone on to work at other zoos in major U.S. cities.

In written exit interviews, other interviews, documents and emails obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal, the two former zookeepers and other zoo staff describe witnessing animals die because of zoo management decisions; the zoos deputy director using a racial epithet about Asians; and unfair treatment and retaliation for voicing their concerns to management. Among the charges of animal neglect, they said, a penguin had been decapitated by a raccoon.

In their exit interviews, both zookeepers pointed to the leadership of Beth Petersen, the general curator, and Joseph Darcangelo, the deputy director, as the cause of troubles at the zoo, which is owned by Dane County.

I foresee management being problematic as long as Beth Petersen and Joseph Darcangelo are in their current roles, wrote Taylor Woods, one of the zookeepers. They are more interested in their personal vendettas against certain staff members than they are in increasing animal welfare and developing their staff.

The other zookeeper, Marley Mann, likened the work environment at the zoo to a North Korean dictatorship where truth is bestowed from on high, regardless of fact, and dissent is not tolerated.

Mann, who has worked at the Dallas Zoo since leaving Dane County in January, said in an interview with the State Journal that discipline at the zoo had devolved into a culture of snitching, in which staff in the good graces of management get away with mistakes that could get others punished.

Woods, who left the zoo in February, declined a request for an interview. She now works at the St. Louis Zoo, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Petersen, Darcangelo and zoo director Ronda Schwetz did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In a statement on behalf of zoo management, Greg Brockmeyer, the director of Dane Countys Department of Administration, said the county encourages all departing employees to give honest feedback about their employment.

Obviously, there are times when such feedback may include assertions that are either obviously false or turn out to be unfounded after a thorough investigation, Brockmeyer said. Nevertheless, the County remains committed to providing employees a voice to express any concerns or suggestions when they decide to depart.

Union steps in

In March, Erik Anderson, a zookeeper and the head of ASFCME Local No. 65, which represents county workers, voiced concern about Manns and Woods resignations and complaints of racism to the Office for Equity and Inclusions advisory board.

We have no more Black zookeepers, Anderson said. I think that thats important to address, the lack of people who look similar to visitors, and especially for children, to look up to.

Anderson has made his own accusations against zoo management of retaliation and harassment over his union activities and reporting racism, according to documents. He declined to speak about conditions at the zoo on the record, citing the zoos media policy, which prohibits staff from speaking to reporters without authorization.

The exit interviews and Andersons comments have prompted an ongoing look into the workplace environments across various Dane County Departments jointly conducted by OEI (Office for Equity and Inclusion) & Employee Relations, Dan Lowndes, Dane Countys risk manager, said in an email.

Its not an hour-and-a-half review, Lowndes added, noting the review was ongoing and involved dozens of face-to-face interviews with employees. Its in depth to really figure out what we can do to improve things.

In the last five years, four complaints have been made to the Office for Equity and Inclusion regarding the zoo, according to copies of the complaints obtained through public records requests. County investigators determined all those complaints were unfounded.

Dying penguins

The Vilas Zoo has long been a beloved fixture of Madison. One of the last free zoos in the United States, the grounds, adjacent to the UW Arboretum, house more than 650 animals, from bison and flamingos to bears, snakes and giraffes.

But Mann and Woods also disclosed a number of actions by zoo management that they said led to the deaths of some animals.

In one instance, Petersen, the general curator, decided to stop trapping raccoons that got onto zoo property and instead put Epsom salts on the ground in an attempt to repel them, according to Woods exit interview and an interview with Mann and other zoo staff. The salts did not work as hoped, and a raccoon found its way into the penguin exhibit and decapitated an elderly African penguin named Alice.

Petersen then opted to trap the raccoons, Woods said. But Petersen put the traps on concrete, which caused the raccoons to rip the skin off their fingers and hands as they tried to dig out of the traps. The raccoons were then euthanized since they couldnt be released into the wild.

Zoo managers made other mistakes that led to the loss of five to six African penguins within the last year, Woods said. One of the penguins died from a fungus infection, and the others died from capture myopathy, an often fatal disease for animals in captivity caused by overexertion and handling.

Instead of sending them to an institution who has a successful penguin colony, we are providing them with stuffed animals and mirrors to make them think that they are in a larger colony, Woods wrote. This is not appropriate ... All of the bird-savvy keepers agree that we should send them out, but the managers have decided to keep them because it is easier.

Other incidents

In other animal welfare complaints, Woods alleged:

A capybara named Shrek jumped into a drained pool while it was sedated, breaking one of its legs. The animal was found dead the next morning.

A hornbill was introduced into a meerkat exhibit and was later found dead and partially eaten by the meerkats.

A young seal named Lucille had an uncommon intestinal issue and died within a week after Petersen declined to take the animal to the vet.

Two green aracaris, a species of toucan, drowned after being introduced to an exhibit with an aquarium.

Theyll often come up with an idea that might sound good at a surface level, Mann said of management, citing the decision to introduce hornbills to the meerkat exhibit since some hornbills forage together with some mongooses.

But meerkats can eat small birds, Mann added.

We tried to diplomatically provide this info, that Hey, this is probably not going to turn out super well because they might kill each other, he said. They didnt want to listen to us.

Curator responds

Jess Thompson, the zoos conservation education curator, and veterinarian staff at UW confirmed the incidents involving the penguins, seal, capybara, hornbill and aracrais, although they said the hornbill died a year after being introduced to the meerkat exhibit and that another hornbill has successfully lived alongside the meerkats since being introduced. They stressed nothing indicated that the meerkat killed the hornbill. Dr. Mary Thurber, an expert in zoological medicine who works for the zoo, said the sick seal received daily medical care.

Thompson noted that the zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a gold standard given to fewer than 10% of wildlife exhibitors in the country.

Half of all animals in zoos die before reaching their median life expectancy, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which notes on its website that it is particularly difficult to place an individual death in the context of what is typical for the species.

Many animals at the zoo live well beyond their median age, Thompson said, noting that the mother of Lucille the seal, Betty, died at 50 as the oldest seal in captivity.

Its (animal welfare) a field thats evolving and we are really fortunate to have experts both at UW that we work with and the AZA, Thompson said. Were always looking to evolve and update to the best of our knowledge and were proud of the longevity of the animals that are here.

The zoo has not seen any lapses in its accreditation since first receiving it in 1990, nor any animal welfare complaints, save one regarding an elephant 20 years ago that ultimately went to a sanctuary, said Rob Vernon, a spokesperson for the AZA. Vernon did not respond to questions about whether any animal deaths at the zoo have been reported to the association.

Documented complaints

In their exit interviews, both Mann and Woods cited racism and discrimination and the resulting lack of opportunity as reasons for quitting their jobs.

I have been the victim of many microaggressions and witnessed racism towards my coworkers several times (from the managers), Woods wrote. None of those incidents were ever acknowledged by upper management.

Neither recounted specific incidents in those interviews. However, other documents show Mann and other zoo staff complained to county officials about unequal treatment and that Darcangelo, the zoos deputy director, was accused by other zoo staff of referring to a Chinese restaurant in February 2020 as Ching-a-Lings and said it served Ching-Chong food.

Darcangelo made the comment to another zookeeper, according to documents.

That zookeeper, who declined to be named because of the zoos media policy, confirmed the incident to the State Journal.

Its a toxic waste dump here, the zookeeper said of the workplace environment. If you speak up against it, youre labeled as a bad person (by management).

After learning about and investigating Darcangelos comments at the time, Anderson, the head of the union, reported it to director Schwetz on June 30, 2020, according to emails.

Three days later, Schwetz emailed Anderson, calling his actions completely inappropriate. She noted that Anderson was not management and that his actions will have negative effects on any attempt to appropriately investigate this matter. Anderson was also ordered to appear for a pre-disciplinary meeting and hand over any information he had regarding complaints about Darcangelos comment. Anderson ultimately was not disciplined.

I would maintain that I do have a right to ask questions and report it, Anderson said in an interview with the State Journal. I would assert that thats my right and duty as an employee group officer.

In a complaint to the County Board, Local 65 said Schwetz was retaliating against Anderson for reporting racism in the workplace, adding that that the zoo director reprimanded Anderson for reporting widely known complaints of her fellow supervisors racist discriminatory misconduct.

In a response to the unions complaint, Amy Utzig, the countys director of human resources, urged county supervisors to dismiss the complaint and not investigate because Schwetz had already investigated Darcangelo.

Utzigs letter does not specify what Schwetzs own investigation found or whether Darcangelo was disciplined. Utzig declined a request for comment, saying the county does not comment on personnel matters.

There was one complaint made directly to zoo management in the last five years, but it was resolved internally, said Lowndes, the countys risk manager.

There have been no complaints about the zoo made to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Developments Equal Rights Division or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Lowndes said.

Workplace friction

While working at the zoo, Mann filed a grievance with the countys administration and a complaint of racism from zoo management to the Office for Equity and Inclusion.

Mann complained he was being discriminated against because of his race, leading to him being disciplined differently from other staff, assigned more work and not being allowed to work with big cats, his main field of interest.

During both probes, Petersen and Darcangelo denied Manns complaints to county investigators, according to documents. They said Mann had a history of showing up late for work and had nine disciplinary infractions.

But Mann argues he garnered so many infractions because he was made to work more areas of the zoo than other zookeepers, which made him prone to mistakes.

One of the infractions stemmed from when Mann and the zookeeper who reported Darcangelos alleged racist comment were working in the big cat area and accidentally let a lion get too close to a tiger. The other zookeeper is white.

They punished me and they did not punish him, and their justification for it was all these other infractions that they documented, Mann said in an interview. The other zookeeper wanted to take his share of the responsibility, but they wanted to blame me and give him a pass.

In an interview with the State Journal, the other zookeeper said he was as much if not more responsible for the incident.

In performance evaluations, zoo management wrote that Mann does own up to his actions and that he had a positive relationship with other keepers.

Of the four complaints about the zoo made to the Office for Equity and Inclusion, which included those by Mann, one was made by a female zoo employee in 2018, according to documents obtained through a records request.

The female employee reported that a male co-worker would enter her work area unannounced, making her anxious because she often triggered his anger. In a letter responding to the complaint from the Office for Equity and Inclusion, that female employee was told to work these issues out with your supervisor.

It is important that all Dane County staff work to get along and hopefully the issues in this case can be resolved within your department, wrote Carrie Braxton, the countys manager of Equal Employment Opportunity.

Past controversy

The complaints and accusations of zoo staff are the latest controversy to hit the zoos top brass in recent years.

In 2021, Schwetz, the zoos director, struck a deal with authorities in Seattle to dismiss criminal charges of sexually assaulting a male co-worker during a 2018 business trip in exchange for taking drug and alcohol awareness classes.

Two years prior, the Henry Vilas Zoological Society filed a complaint against Schwetz and her eventual accuser for making sexually explicit and demeaning comments to society staff. The accusations came as the zoo and the society were locked in a public battle over the societys role in operating concessions and guest services at the zoo.

A county investigation determined there was not enough evidence to prove that Schwetz had used a vulgar term to describe the societys executive director.

Now in Dallas, Mann describes his new job and relationship with management as a night-and-day difference compared to his experience in Madison.

Despite being on the job a couple of months, hes been moved up to a primary zookeeper position and is finally working in his longtime field of interest: large carnivores like lions, cheetahs and spotted dogs.

The management here trusts its staff and communicates with them ethically, Mann said.

As a primary keeper, Mann works in one area during the day, a far cry from his days in Madison, where he was expected to move between and build knowledge of multiple areas.

Its a night-and-day difference, he said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct or clarify the characterizations of some of the animal injuries. The capybara that jumped into a drained pool broke one of its legs in the fall. The seal that died had an uncommon intestinal problem. And the hornbill died a year after being introduced to the meerkat exhibit while another hornbill has successfully lived alongside the meerkats since being introduced.

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has taken to blocking critics, including conservatives, on his official campaign Facebook page, a move that his office says is legal, citing guidance from the Legislature's attorneys.

In 2019, a federal judge ruled against Vos and other Republicans in a lawsuit after they blocked a progressive group, One Wisconsin Now, from their official Twitter pages. In short: It is illegal for public officials on their public accounts to limit discourse by blocking others.

Vos' office contends that it is legal to block members of the public from an official campaign's social media pages, as an elected official's office and his/her campaign are separate entities.

It isn't easy to tell the difference between the two Facebook pages. The Facebook page for Vos' office is called "Wisconsin State Representative Robin Vos" while his campaign page is called "Representative Robin Vos."

The advent of social media has ushered in a range of questions about what qualifies as a public space where speech can rarely be constrained, and what is a private forum where it can more readily be limited.

"Does the First Amendment prevent public officials from 'blocking' members of the public from their private social media?" The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin addresses this question in an online Q&A. "Short answer: No."

"People dont lose their free speech rights just by virtue of gaining public office. If public officials are using social media as private persons, the First Amendment protects their right to limit their audience and curate the messages on the page, just like any other private person. Re-election campaign accounts may be either personal or for government business, depending on how the official uses them."

On that same page, the ACLU responds to the question: "Does the First Amendment prevent government officials from blocking members of the public on social media?"

To that question, the ACLU responded: "Short answer: Sometimes. If social media is used by a public official to conduct government business, blocking members of the public from seeing the site or from posting comments may violate the First Amendment. Blocking people from a site used for government business because of the views they hold or express is particularly likely to violate the First Amendment. But the mere fact that a government official is using a social media site does not mean it is being used for government business or that the First Amendment applies."

Vos' office declined to comment on the record for this report.

Two Burlington residents who live in Vos' district, Matthew Snorek and Adrianne Melby, told The Journal Times they have recently been blocked from the "Representative Robin Vos" page.

Melby is the wife of Aaron Melby, who ran unsuccessfully for Burlington Area School Board earlier this month, despite having the endorsement of the Racine County Republican Party. Snorek ran unsuccessfully for Town of Burlington chairman last year.

Both of them criticized Vos in comments on posts on the campaign page.

Adrianne Melby had told Vos "You did nothing" in a Facebook comment regarding her effort to ban mask mandates in schools and said "Where were you?" as her husband and another GOP-backed candidate, Ryan Mueller, sought seats on the BASD board; she was blocked soon after.

Snorek, in a comment on Vos' campaign page, had expressed support for Adam Steen, who is challenging Vos in an Aug. 9 Republican primary to represent Assembly District 63.

After those comments were posted, Melby and Snorek were blocked from viewing and commenting on the page "Representative Robin Vos." Both told a reporter they cannot see the page from their own accounts.

Another example Another episode in the discourse around elected officials' ability to block social media comments aired this past year. After the Green Bay Press Gazette reported that state Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Gibson, had previously been referred for charges for child abuse (although charges were never formally filed), Sortwell for months closed his official Facebook posts to comments.
TWIN FALLS  Susan Buhler never thought her week would include spraying Easter bunny costume heads with Febreze.

Buhler knows it sounds ridiculous. But just talking about it brings smiles and laughter, something she thinks will help get her through the tough road ahead.

Smiling gets you through faster than crying, she said. Thats the only way to be.

On Tuesday morning the alarm went off inside her business on Main Street West, Poindexters Costumes and Novelty Shop. For the past 23 years, Buhler has helped people transform into superheroes, gorillas, clowns, witches, princesses and more.

When the text from the alarm company arrived she didnt think anything of it, but then she realized her camera system wasnt working.

I told the company, I said, Just disregard. Im going to head down there and see whats going on, she told the Times-News. When I was going down, thats when I saw the flames.

A massive structure fire had engulfed the Radio Rondevoo building, Buhlers neighbor.

Now all the owners affected are trying to process their losses and look to the future.

Eves Bail Bonds

You never think its your building, said Eve Collins, owner of Eve and the Outlaw Bail Bonds.

Collins was in Boise for a medical appointment when one of her employees called and asked if she knew why officials were cautioning people to avoid downtown.

Sure enough, I saw it online and, of course, I had a breakdown, she said. It was extra sad, part of Twin Falls is gone.

The Idaho State Fire Marshals office found no definitive cause of the fire that destroyed the Radio Rondevoo Event Center. The office said the fire originated in the attic of the building.

Authorities have not allowed Collins to go inside her office, but she knows the smoke, water and flames were relentless.

An office downtown was a dream of hers and for the past six years, she has loved every moment.

I can keep going, she said. Ill be okay.

She plans to rent a smaller space downtown and possibly down-size. She has a couple of full-time employees that she has continued to pay after the blaze.

Its not their fault, she said. They said, Well, how do you do that? and I said, Thats not really for you to worry about.

Its an iconic building

After the fire, Collinss thoughts didnt go to her own business, but to her landlord, Alex Castaneda, and his family.

People have asked what they can do, she said. They really need to reach out to the people who own the Mexican restaurant, the people who work there, Alex, the people that worked with Alex, and Vanesa, his assistant. They are wonderful people.

The Castaneda family turned the historic building into an event center, hosting weddings, quinceaneras, baptisms, birthdays and concerts.

Built in 1940, the Radio Rondevoo building originally had a dance floor and stage downstairs with a large radio station upstairs, called KTFI.

Its an iconic building, Collins said. I had aunts and uncles who used to go there for dances.

Every Saturday night, the radio station hosted Live from the KTFI Ballroom, which featured big-name bands of the day such as Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and Lawrence Welk, the Times-News previously reported.

In 1960, the building was sold to Western Broadcasting and the ballroom was converted into a skating rink.

Alex and his wife, Lupe, took over ownership in 2010. Alex is a realtor with Blue Lakes Real Estate and also the president and CEO of the South Central Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Alex has done a lot of good things for the community. A lot, Collins said. Hes a very good man.

The Castanedas have provided the facility free of charge for nonprofit organizations and churches holding events or fundraisers.

We work with people, Alex told the Times-News in 2012. Its a venue for different cultural events we do, not just the Hispanic community; its really needed for everyone.

Castaneda family

Lupe Castaneda cant pick one favorite memory from her 12 years of owning Radio Rondevoo. And the loss of being able to make new memories is still fresh.

Our youngest son is graduating and we cant have his graduation party there anymore, she said, tearing up. And his prom was going to be there too because he goes to Canyon Ridge. Cant do that either. When we bought it, our boys were little. They grew up there  it was our second home.

Growing up in Blackfoot, her fondest childhood memories were at the Copacabana, a ballroom and rollerskating rink. When she and her husband moved to Twin Falls, they realized a similar place didnt exist locally.

Music and celebration is a big part of our Latin community, she said.

Over the years, her two sons had their first jobs at Radio Rondevoo and her nieces had their quinceaneras there. But the building wasnt just theirs.

That place was the community building, she said. The Radio Rondevoo belonged to the community, otherwise there would be no need to have the Radio Rondevoo.

She and her husband have received countless texts, phone calls and Facebook messages, all of which they have read. Community members are even stopping them in public to share their memories.

I got stopped at the grocery store yesterday, she said. I was told by a young Hispanic woman, she said Lupe, you guys dont realize how important that building was, not just for the community but also for us, the Latin community because we were able to have a place where we could have our celebrations.

She is directing community members who want to help other fire victims to a GoFundMe account for the owners of Tacos Villa, which also burned. She said her husband will conduct his real estate business from another location but Tacos Villa will be without income.

In addition to supporting their tenants, the Castanedas will be refunding anyone who put down a deposit for an event. Lupe Castanedas said the building was booked for the rest of the year and part of 2023.

It does leave a scar in the communities heart  I know that, she said.

It is still too soon to say whether they will rebuild, but if new details come up the family will share with the community. The family appreciates those who controlled the blaze.

The fact that no one was hurt is huge for us, Lupe said.

Moving forward

The future is still uncertain for many of the businesses involved in the fire.

The Castanedas will be moving to 752 Addison Ave., the new home of Alex Castanedas real estate business, his wife said.

Susan Buhler is still in limbo.

At this point, everybody is saying, I dont know until they go do this, till they go do that, Buhler said. Its a lot of I dont knows on the phone.

Although her building didnt suffer any fire damage, hours of water and smoke took a toll.

Buhler hired a restoration crew to help with the clean-up and said she will know more about the status of her building in the next few days.

We cant sell anything for full price at this point now because its all got to be somewhat damaged. Hopefully, it wont be too bad and we can give people really good deals. Fire sale! she said, laughing. Tell everybody to watch for that fire sale.

Jokes are one way she is coping, along with the support of the community.

Both Buhler and Collins said they were overwhelmed by the number of messages and phone calls they have received.

Ive been on the phone nonstop for the last two days, Buhler told the Times-News on Wednesday. The public has been wonderful.

Anyone with happy memories of the Radio Rondevoo are invited to post pictures on its Facebook page. The family hopes to keep the page going to celebrate the years of smiles and laughter.

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By Azernews





By Ayya Lmahamad

It has been a little more than a year since Azerbaijan's decisive victory in the Second Karabakh War and the liberation of its territories from Armenian occupation. And now the results of this great victory are recognized by all influential international organizations.

Speaking at the meeting dedicated to the results of the first quarter of 2022, President Ilham Aliyev underlined that the European Union, international organizations, and neighbors have accepted the realities of the period following the war with Armenia in 2020.

European Union

The intensification of relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union, as well as the position of the EU on the future of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, confirms that this institution, which has the potential to significantly affect global processes, agrees with the new realities that emerged in the region.

At the initiative of the European Council President Charles Michel, trilateral meetings with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan were held in December 2021 and April 2022.

The final communique issued in Brussels on April 6 did not include the term Nagorno-Karabakh, conflict and Minsk Group, which is quite natural and is clear evidence that the European Union has accepted the realities of the post-conflict period.

UN, NAM, OIC

The worlds leading international organizations have recognized the new realities as well. For instance, an international event, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijans membership in the UN, has recently been held in Shusha under the UN auspices. And this step shows that the UN is a body that fully recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

While speaking about the international organizations, it is worth noting here the worlds second-largest international organization, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the successful activity of Azerbaijan within this institution.

Prolongation of Azerbaijans chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement for another year with the consent and support of member states is an indicator of a high level of trust in Azerbaijan and Ilham Aliyev.

This is a manifestation of the great confidence shown to us. The Non-Aligned Movement has demonstrated a fair stance on the past conflict immediately after Azerbaijan became a member of this movement, and I believe that further important events have taken place in this direction since the end of the war, President Ilham Aliyev said.

Moreover, Azerbaijans activities within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the adoption of several resolutions covering political, economic, and cultural issues related to the consequences of the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan at the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization is a clear example of Azerbaijans successful activities.

Neighboring countries

The same is possible to say about the neighboring countries. Their acceptance of new post-conflict realities and the launch of the 3+3 cooperation format is a very positive development.

The first meeting of the 3+3 cooperation platform, dedicated to the issues of ensuring peace and stability in the South Caucasus was held in Moscow on December 10, 2021. The platform, on the initiative of the Azerbaijani and Turkish presidents, is considered the most promising format for discussing regional issues and cooperation.

We are pleased with the launch of the 3+3 cooperation format. The first such meeting has been held. There was no agenda for the first meeting, as it was simply a meeting to create this format. We have plans for the second meeting and [agenda] what issues should be discussed there, President Aliyev said.

OSCE Minsk Group

In his speech during the same meeting, President Ilham Aliyev also stated that the OSCE has fully accepted the new realities.

I recently had a meeting with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, and the meeting once again showed that the OSCE also fully accepts the new realities, and this is a very significant event, he said.

It is worth noting that the institution is practically inactive today and showed zero results in 28 years of work.

Now, the realities created by Azerbaijan in the region put an end to the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group. However, the OSCE can play a role as a credible international organization and contribute to the normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations in order to ensure security and cooperation in the region.

At the same time, political scientist Elchin Mirzabayli told Azertag that everything shows that in the post-conflict period Azerbaijan is confidently moving towards its goals, pursuing a consistent and principled policy to achieve its goals.

He noted that the results of this policy are evident, adding that Armenia has already accepted the five basic principles, including Azerbaijans territorial integrity, and renounced its territorial claims against Azerbaijan in this regard.

"The statement of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in his last speech in the parliament that the international community recognizes Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory can be considered as a recognition by official Yerevan," he said.

Shortly, the measures taken during the post-conflict period, the documents adopted by international platforms, bilateral and trilateral meetings, the statements made by various institutions and states- all confirm the worlds approach to the realities in the region in terms of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and inviolability of its borders.
The day after she missed a state deadline to submit a plan to avoid a budget shortfall for her office, Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin responded to state budget officials Thursday morning by telling them they can withhold her salary to avoid a deficit.

In an email to Idaho Division of Financial Management administrator Alex Adams on Thursday, McGeachin called Adams request for her plan to avoid a budget shortfall a rather pointless formality after suggesting that the state withhold her salary at the end of the year to avoid a deficit.

But withholding McGeachins salary alone may not be enough to avoid a shortfall and there are still unanswered questions about her plan to avoid a budget deficit, state records obtained by the Idaho Capital Sun show.

Since at least March 11, state officials have been warning McGeachin in writing that her office faces a projected budget shortfall at the end of the 2022 fiscal year that ends June 30 if she does not cut expenses.

McGeachin is running for governor in the May 17 Republican primary election, challenging incumbent Gov. Brad Little and a field of six other GOP hopefuls.

On April 7, Adams sent McGeachin an email asking her to provide a written plan to avoid a budget deficit in her office. Adams estimated that paying McGeachins salary and health insurance benefits through the end of the fiscal year would result in a $2,283 deficit, a figure that has evolved as McGeachin has lost staff.

The Idaho Constitution has a balanced budget requirement, and Idaho law prohibits state agencies or officials from spending more than the amount of money that is provided by the Idaho Legislature through the appropriations process.

State law also requires McGeachin to respond to Adams, the administrator of the Division of Financial Management. She did not respond to Adams with plans to avoid a budget shortfall by Wednesdays deadline, the Sun previously reported.

McGeachin did send a response Thursday morning just before 11:45 a.m, according to records obtained by the Sun.

McGeachins complete response is below:

Dear Mr. Adams,

I have always been transparent with the finances of my office, as you well know, Alex.

If there is a shortfall in the final month of the fiscal year, that amount may be withheld from my final paycheck as needed to balance my accounts. Of course, DFM already has access to all of my offices accounting and expenditure records, making this exercise a rather pointless formality.

Sincerely,

Janice McGeachin

Adams wrote back to McGeachin later Thursday, public records obtained by the Sun show. Adams wrote that the Division of Financial Management still needs McGeachin to make several budget decisions, including whether to pause all vendor payments through July 1 when the 2023 budget kicks in or pay them now, and whether she wants to pay her employer and employee share of the premiums herself, apply for a waiver to transfer the cost for premiums to the 2023 budget year or lose coverage.

If McGeachin doesnt resolve this matter with the Office of Group Insurance, Adams told McGeachin there would likely be a gap in her health insurance coverage.

I cant stress enough the urgency of you finalizing these decision points, Adams wrote. Please let us know your direction by Monday.

Reached Thursday for comment, Adams referred the Sun to his email response to McGeachin where he requested additional decisions from McGeachin on making vendor payments and handling her health insurance benefits.

Chief Deputy State Controller Joshua Whitworth has previously warned McGeachin that state law and the Idaho State Controllers Offices constitutional duties prohibit them from spending money beyond the budget that was set by the Legislature for McGeachins office, the Sun previously reported.

McGeachins budget shortfall is coming after a district judge in 2021 ordered McGeachin to pay the Idaho Press Club nearly $29,000 in court costs and fees after McGeachin lost a lawsuit over public records. In 2021, McGeachin declined to release records related to her education task force, and the Idaho Press Club filed suit to secure the release of the records and won.

Last year, McGeachin said she couldnt afford to pay the legal fees out of her budget and asked the Idaho Legislatures Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to approve a supplemental funding request to cover the legal fees. JFAC never acted on McGeachins supplemental funding request.

McGeachin has not returned numerous telephone and email messages the Sun has left since April 4.

The winner of the May 17 primary election advances to the Nov. 8 general election.

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Morocco has strongly condemned the raid conducted by the Israeli occupation forces on the Al Aqsa Mosque, the closing of the shrines gates and the attack on unarmed worshipers in the mosque compound, causing many injuries.

This blatant aggression and methodical provocation during the holy month of Ramadan against the sanctity of the mosque and its place in the heart of the Islamic Ummah will only fuel feelings of hatred and extremism and destroy the chances of reviving the peace process in the region, the ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Morocco, whose Sovereign King Mohammed VI chairs the Al Quds Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, calls on the United Nations and the international community to intervene urgently to put an end to these violations and assaults against the defenseless Palestinian people and its sacred values, the statement added.

The statement said that upon the Sovereigns instructions, Moroccos condemnation and denunciation were communicated directly to the head of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat.

The United Nations, the OIC, the Arab League, the European Union and the United States have denounced the raid and expressed concern over the spate of violent incidents at the al-Aqsa compound.
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  President Jair Bolsonaro led thousands of motorcyclists on a campaign ride through Brazil's most populous state Friday, seeking to drum up support ahead of October's elections as he trails in early opinion polls.

Bolsonaro, wearing a black leather jacket, piloted a Honda cycle during the rally that motored about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Sao Paulo city to Americana. Officials of Sao Paulo state gave no estimate on the number of participants, many of whom carried Brazilian flags or wore the national colors of green and yellow.

He is a popular president, who is among the people, and the majority is on his side. We have to have these movements in the streets that show what the truth is," said Leandro Rosa, a 42-year-old supporter who joined in the rally with his son Leonardo, 16, on the back of his motorcycle.

Bolsonaro is focusing much of his campaign attention in Sao Paulo state. Some of his Cabinet ministers resigned in recent weeks to run for Senate seats representing the state and to seek its governorship and are expected to stump for his re-election.

He got more than two-thirds of the votes in the state in the 2018 election, but a survey released this week by pollster Ipespe put him in a close race in Sao Paulo with his main opponent, leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Da Silva recently tapped Geraldo Alckmin, Sao Paulos former governor, as his running mate.

For Brazil as a whole, opinion polls have shown Bolsonaro trailing da Silva, but recently the gap has been narrowing.

Motorcycle rallies by Bolsonaro supporters became popular last year, with events staged in numerous cities across Brazil as a Senate committee began investigating his administrations handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The presidents disapproval rating rose during the pandemic as he expressed skepticism about coronavirus vaccines and opposed economic restrictions imposed by local leaders trying to curb the virus spread. It has caused more than 662,000 deaths in Brazil, the second most in the world, behind only the United States, according to data from John Hopkins University.

We have gone through difficult times, two years of pandemic, and today we feel the repercussions of a war on the other side of the world, but we will overcome these obstacles, Bolsonaro told the motorcyclists.

Pollastri reported from the motorcycle rally.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
After searching for several years across the West for a ranch to purchase, in 2007 Paul Lew Davies III discovered property along Rosebud Creek that captured his imagination.

It wasnt the western ranch some might imagine with gleaming snow-capped mountains in the background. Instead, it offered a traditional western appearance, he said, along with a bit of history.

After enjoying the property for 15 years  along with the deer, pronghorn and upland bird hunting it offered  Davies has decided to sell the 18,000-acre spread. The asking price advertised by Hall and Hall realty for Davies Eagle Creek Ranch is $12.5 million.

The ranch is almost exclusively native range, Hall and Hall advertised, and the property includes a licensed shooting preserve.

Davies said he, his family and friends enjoyed ATVing, hiking and hunting on the ranch over the years.

Its been a great place, he said.

Eagle Creek Ranch is a portion of the historic Philbrick Ranch, founded by brothers Newell and Freeman Philbrick in 1891.

Sales

When Davies bought Eagle Creek Ranch in 2007, the sale price was about $5 million. That year, Montana land sales peaked before the nation dropped into a brief recession, Norman C. Wheeler & Associates, a Bozeman appraisal firm, noted in a March report. By 2013, prices were climbing again. Except for a drop and leveling off in 2015-16, the average dollar per acre has since been on a steady climb.

We were fortunate to buy that property before Eastern Montana became as popular as it is now, Davies said.

Eastern Montana properties 40 acres and larger have climbed on average from just shy of $1,200 an acre in 2020 to about $1,400 an acre by last year, according to Wheeler & Associates.

Much of Eastern Montana has not seen the increases in property values experienced by other regions of the state, the appraisal firm noted. When considering sales involving properties 640 acres in size and greater, growth in values in 2020 and 2021 was modest at best.

The average price per acre for Eastern Montana land 640 acres and larger climbed from just over $600 in 2018 to around $750 by 2021.

This is modest compared to prices in Western Montana where the average cost per acre has climbed from about $1,750 in 2017 to more than $2,500 by 2021.

Not hot?

Andy Rahn, of Montana Land Source, called 2021 the hottest year ever in the state for ranch sales, with almost 1.2 million acres sold. Last year, the state also saw the most expensive ranch sale in its history  twice. First the Climbing Arrow Ranch north of Bozeman sold after being listed for $136.25 million. Then in December media mogul Rupert Murdoch bought the Matador Cattle Co. ranch in southwest Montana that was listed for $200 million.

After last years record-setting transactions, this year is trending slower as properties for sale and sales of land are down about half compared to last year, according to Rahns statistics.

Scarce by nature, large ranch sales tend to be infrequent, wrote Wheeler & Associates. Most are held in strong, multi-generational ownerships, or owned by outside investors.

Yet down through the generations, the Philbrick descendants have gradually sold the vast holdings their pioneering ancestors once claimed.

This included in 2014, the 24,588 acre Diamond Ranch that was offered for $12.95 million. Genie May Garfield, the only child of Malcom and Edith May Philbrick, was the last descendant to own the property. Malcom was one of Freeman Philbricks three children.

Also in 2014, the 9,621-acre E V Ranch was advertised for $4.25 million. It too was once part of Freemans vast holdings. Its sale was advertised as being offered for the first time in well over 100 years. The land became another acquisition of Wilks Ranch Montana Ltd. One of the many properties in the state purchased by billionaire Texas brothers Dan and Farris Wilks.

History

Looking back, the expansion of the Philbrick empire was due primarily to the resourceful, if not always reputable, acquisition of water, according to a 1984 New York Times story. Following the custom of the time, Philbrick had his hired hands file homestead claims on widely scattered plots of ground with springs and then bought the land from them. By owning water in remote and arid parts of the valley, he controlled the land in between by default.

Freeman Philbrick moved to Montana from Maine in 1884, working on sheep ranches in the Forsyth area as hired help before striking out on his own. Three years later he took up a squatters claim in Rosebud valley, he wrote in Progressive men of the state of Montana. Slowly he expanded his holdings until by 1901 he owned 12,800 acres stretching all the way to Armells Creek. Across the vast expanse of pasturage he ran an average of 7,000 head of Merino sheep, along with 150 head of cattle.

His land holdings grew even more after homesteaders went bust and Freeman was able to purchase acreage at a discount, the Times stated. Eventually, he owned 80,000 deeded acres (125 sections) one of the largest blocks of land then owned by any individual in Montana, the newspaper reported.

Newell Freeman joined his brother in Montana in 1891. According to Montana State Universitys Library archives, which has some of his paperwork, Newell lost his first sheep herd in a market crash before building up another outfit to 10,000 head of sheep and cattle with his partner Ernest Thomas.

But it was the fact that Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry traveled through in 1876, two days before their defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, that captured Davies imagination. The U.S. Cavalry also once had a supply cache on the land. An old ice house built in the 1800s still stands, Davies noted, a relic of a bygone era.

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Creed Burleson checked into the Radisson Blu in Kyiv on Feb. 22 with big plans. He would set up a new website design business in Ukraine over the coming days, stopping by the bank and submitting paperwork to establish the new company with local authorities.

Instead, Burleson, 62, an Army veteran from Marion in North Carolina, ended up in the hotels garage-turned-bunker two days later as Russias bombardment began. There was no way out because the trains were so packed, he told McClatchy.

The sounds of air raid sirens were constant as Burleson searched for an escape. At that point, in the early days of the war, the extent of Russias capabilities and its penetration of the capital werent clear. But Burleson did not believe that time was on his side.

So he reached out to Project Dynamo, an organization founded months earlier by three Florida men to help extract Americans from war zones the U.S. government wouldnt enter.

Project Dynamo put him through a secretive vetting process to confirm his identity. They told him to expect a text with a pickup location and to pack a single bag.

He received the text with coordinates around March 2 with four hours notice, and was soon on a bus toward an undisclosed location and told to turn off all his electronics.

All the security areas that we had to go through  some of the authorities came on and looked at you. Some of them collected our passports. Some of them went through our luggage. And you just hoped they were Ukrainians, and not Russians, because what if theyve infiltrated? Burleson recalled by phone, now safely out of Ukraine.

I was really, really happy to get the heck out of there, he added.

Private rescues

Project Dynamo began in the living room of Bryan Stern, a Tampa, Fla., resident and U.S. veteran who was among a small group of military first responders in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

When the United States began pulling out of Afghanistan 20 years later, in August of last year, and images emerged of Afghans falling off an airborne U.S. C-17 in their desperate effort to escape, Stern was reminded of that day in New York when men and women jumped to their deaths from the towers.

I called up a couple friends of mine, and said, This is what were going to do,  Stern said in an interview on an encrypted video call from a location in southern Ukraine. Two other Tampa residents help Stern with the business and legal side of the project.

We didnt have a very detailed plan  we had some ideas, we had some thoughts, he said. But we know enough to know that you have to get there first to understand the environment.

Project Dynamo was successful at conducting private rescues of Americans in Afghanistan at the end of the war there. After the U.S. military departed in September, with Taliban forces in full control, Dynamo chartered an aircraft that flew more than 120 U.S. citizens and green card holders to the United States.

But some in the U.S. government expressed concern that the group took risks that other nonprofits would not. One of their flights out of Afghanistan in September had to be grounded in the United Arab Emirates en route to the United States, after Project Dynamo failed to share the manifest with U.S. authorities in advance. One individual on the flight was ultimately not allowed to enter the United States.

A State Department official would not comment on the work of Project Dynamo, instead directing U.S. citizens to the departments website for assistance leaving Ukraine.

We continue to be focused on communicating with U.S. citizens residing in Ukraine to urge them to depart immediately, an official said. U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine, and those in Ukraine should depart immediately using commercial or other privately available ground transportation options if it is safe to do so.

In January, as the group was wrapping up its operations in Afghanistan, another crisis brewed.

Stern arrived in Kyiv over Valentines Day weekend at the encouragement of a donor to begin planning for the possibility of a Russian invasion, building infrastructure for rescues. In an unfamiliar country, he had to find airfields, aircraft, buses and drivers, figure out escape routes and identify potential waypoints and safe houses.

Everyone we work with, I have personally met, Stern said. We take the time to drink the tea, eat the food, meet the family, smoke the hookah, smoke the cigars, drink the vodka  whatever it is  to make sure the people were talking to are the ones were supposed to be talking to.

It became clear as soon as the war began on Feb. 24 that Dynamos mission in Ukraine would look far different than its operations in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, all the land borders were closed. So all of our operations were by air, Stern said. In Ukraine, its the photo negative. The first thing they did was close the airspace, but all the land borders are open.

A spokesman for Project Dynamo said the organization has evacuated more than 400 people from Ukraine so far, with multiple rescue missions currently underway. Press for Project Dynamo is handled by Judge Public Relations, whose owner, James Judge, is running for Congress in Tampa as a Republican.

Unlike its mission in Afghanistan, Dynamos work in Ukraine is not limited to U.S. citizens and residents. Nationals of Ukraine, NATO countries, and others with claims for asylum, are eligible as well.

Deb, a Canadian volunteer for Project Dynamo who helps secure their database of case information and train case officers, said her work for the organization has been among the most fulfilling of her career.

For me, its the direct connection to the people in crisis  we have the messages from people asking for help, and some of those messages are very specific of the troubles theyre in, said Deb, who asked for her last name not to be published out of safety concerns.

All of the stories are heart wrenching, she said. The ones that hurt me the most are the people in places like Mariupol where we literally dont have a way to get there safely to help people.

Babies and Holocaust survivors

The group has organized its rescue missions into several categories.

Gemini and Aquarius missions focus on bringing babies recently born through surrogacy out of Ukraine, and surrogate mothers to safer areas of the country where they can still give birth without compromising the parental rights of the child. Ukraine is one of the only countries in Europe where surrogacy is allowed, entangling expecting families around the world in the war.

Voyager missions focus on extracting Holocaust survivors  mostly Jewish Ukrainians  hoping to reach Israel.

Many of these people find themselves stuck in southern or eastern Ukraine, where the war has shifted since Russia was forced to retreat from its assault in Kyiv in the north.

Most people who wanted to leave en masse have left, Stern said, but theres a whole bunch of people who are stuck in the east and the south who are cut off. So instead of doing busloads, now were doing carloads.

While Mariupol has been surrounded and decimated by the Russians, other territories in the south and east remain contested and can become suddenly accessible to attempted rescue missions.

The fluidity of the war could continue for some time, Stern said.

When we were in Afghanistan, we were in the last 10 pages of a 400-page book, he said. Here were in the fifth week of World War Three. Who knows where this war goes.

McClatchy investigative reporter Ben Wieder contributed to this report.
Butte police reports

Pipe bomb, pistol found

Early Thursday night, a woman with a duffel bag came to the emergency room at St. James Healthcare asking for medical treatment.

During that time, security personnel searched her duffel bag and found a pipe bomb and a pistol.

The duffel bag was quickly taken out of the facility and the Butte police were called, who removed the pipe bomb and confiscated the pistol.

The case is under investigation.

Driver hits house

Just before 3 a.m. Wednesday, police arrived in the 800 block of Empire Street, where an alleged inebriated driver, Tyler Warren Carney, 26, of Butte, had just struck a house.

Carney appeared intoxicated and a Breathalyzer revealed he was more than twice over the legal limit.

He was jailed for the misdemeanor offenses of aggravated driving under the influence, careless driving, and driving without a valid drivers license.

Unwanted man

A call came in around 6:15 p.m. Tuesday about an unwanted man in the 1000 block of Michigan. When officers arrived, Nathan Earl Eggleston, 43, of Butte was mostly incoherent, refusing to leave the premises.

He had in his possession what appeared to be methamphetamine and he was jailed for felony possession of dangerous drugs.

Alleged assault

Early Tuesday afternoon, a 27-year-old woman reported to police that Jimmy Richard Edwards, 44, of Butte had allegedly assaulted and choked her.

Edwards was arrested later in the day for the felony offenses of partner or family member assault (strangulation) and criminal contempt.

Off to jail

Early Tuesday morning, police were called to investigate a suspicious vehicle in the 2900 block of Carter Street. While in the area, an officer watched as the alleged car turned into the McDonalds parking lot.

The officer approached the vehicle, and found the driver Dwayne David Clark, 35, of Butte, who had warrants out for his arrest for felony violation of release condition and two misdemeanor counts of criminal contempt. Off to jail he went.

Stay away

Robert Lawrence Kostrezewa, 36, of Butte has reportedly been told multiple times to stay away from the Tripp & Dragstedt Apartments, 436 S. Main St.

Late Monday afternoon, Kostrezewa decided to try his luck again and went to the apartment building. His misguided attempt got him arrested for misdemeanor criminal trespass to property.

Confrontational woman

Police were called to Maloneys Bar, 112 N. Main St., at around 12:30 a.m. Monday because a woman was acting strangely, and even though she was asked to leave, she refused. Attempts were made by officers to take Aleshia Katherine Gutierrez, 29, of Butte to her home, but instead, she became confrontational.

Gutierrez was jailed for misdemeanor failure to disperse.

Traffic hazard

At around 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jordan Ellis Pederson, 30, of Butte was reportedly hindering traffic while standing at the intersection of Harrison and Holmes. He allegedly was kicking cars as they drove by and giving drivers the middle finger.

He was arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Told to leave

Late Wednesday morning, a man was causing a disturbance at St. James Healthcare. The man was told to leave and he complied.

Way too loud

Late Wednesday night, a person living in the 300 block of West Daly Street was playing his music way too loud for his neighbors taste. An officer arrived and told the man to turn it down and he did.

A few hours later, a couple was arguing at a residence in the 100 block of West Quartz Street. The argument got heated and a neighbor called 911. The couple told the officer they would knock it off for the night.

Game system gone

It was reported Thursday morning that someone stole a PlayStation 4 gaming system from a home in the 600 block of North Alaska Street.

Twisted Tea heist

A male teen-ager attempted to steal a 12-pack of Twisted Tea from the Town Pump, 1370 Harrison Ave., at around 2 a.m. Friday. As he tried to get out of the store, he pushed the female clerk. He was then tackled by a customer, but was able to get away. He then ran from the scene on foot.

Criminal trespass

A 60-year-old man fell asleep at the Front Street Laundromat, 1000 E. Front St., and when he tried to leave the building at around 3:30 a.m. Friday, he tripped the alarm. He was cited for criminal trespass.

Burglary attempt

Just after 5 a.m. Friday, an alarm scared off a would-be burglar who had entered a garage at Ace Hardware, 2607 Harrison Ave.

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After searching for several years across the West for a ranch to purchase, in 2007 Paul Lew Davies III discovered property along Rosebud Creek that captured his imagination.

It wasnt the western ranch some might imagine with gleaming snow-capped mountains in the background. Instead, it offered a traditional western appearance, he said, along with a bit of history.

After enjoying the property for 15 years  along with the deer, pronghorn and upland bird hunting it offered  Davies has decided to sell the 18,000-acre spread. The asking price advertised by Hall and Hall realty for Davies Eagle Creek Ranch is $12.5 million.

The ranch is almost exclusively native range, Hall and Hall advertised, and the property includes a licensed shooting preserve.

Davies said he, his family and friends enjoyed ATVing, hiking and hunting on the ranch over the years.

Its been a great place, he said.

Eagle Creek Ranch is a portion of the historic Philbrick Ranch, founded by brothers Newell and Freeman Philbrick in 1891.

Sales

When Davies bought Eagle Creek Ranch in 2007, the sale price was about $5 million. That year, Montana land sales peaked before the nation dropped into a brief recession, Norman C. Wheeler & Associates, a Bozeman appraisal firm, noted in a March report. By 2013, prices were climbing again. Except for a drop and leveling off in 2015-16, the average dollar per acre has since been on a steady climb.

We were fortunate to buy that property before Eastern Montana became as popular as it is now, Davies said.

Eastern Montana properties 40 acres and larger have climbed on average from just shy of $1,200 an acre in 2020 to about $1,400 an acre by last year, according to Wheeler & Associates.

Much of Eastern Montana has not seen the increases in property values experienced by other regions of the state, the appraisal firm noted. When considering sales involving properties 640 acres in size and greater, growth in values in 2020 and 2021 was modest at best.

The average price per acre for Eastern Montana land 640 acres and larger climbed from just over $600 in 2018 to around $750 by 2021.

This is modest compared to prices in Western Montana where the average cost per acre has climbed from about $1,750 in 2017 to more than $2,500 by 2021.

Not hot?

Andy Rahn, of Montana Land Source, called 2021 the hottest year ever in the state for ranch sales, with almost 1.2 million acres sold. Last year, the state also saw the most expensive ranch sale in its history  twice. First the Climbing Arrow Ranch north of Bozeman sold after being listed for $136.25 million. Then in December media mogul Rupert Murdoch bought the Matador Cattle Co. ranch in southwest Montana that was listed for $200 million.

After last years record-setting transactions, this year is trending slower as properties for sale and sales of land are down about half compared to last year, according to Rahns statistics.

Scarce by nature, large ranch sales tend to be infrequent, wrote Wheeler & Associates. Most are held in strong, multi-generational ownerships, or owned by outside investors.

Yet down through the generations, the Philbrick descendants have gradually sold the vast holdings their pioneering ancestors once claimed.

This included in 2014, the 24,588 acre Diamond Ranch that was offered for $12.95 million. Genie May Garfield, the only child of Malcom and Edith May Philbrick, was the last descendant to own the property. Malcom was one of Freeman Philbricks three children.

Also in 2014, the 9,621-acre E V Ranch was advertised for $4.25 million. It too was once part of Freemans vast holdings. Its sale was advertised as being offered for the first time in well over 100 years. The land became another acquisition of Wilks Ranch Montana Ltd. One of the many properties in the state purchased by billionaire Texas brothers Dan and Farris Wilks.

History

Looking back, the expansion of the Philbrick empire was due primarily to the resourceful, if not always reputable, acquisition of water, according to a 1984 New York Times story. Following the custom of the time, Philbrick had his hired hands file homestead claims on widely scattered plots of ground with springs and then bought the land from them. By owning water in remote and arid parts of the valley, he controlled the land in between by default.

Freeman Philbrick moved to Montana from Maine in 1884, working on sheep ranches in the Forsyth area as hired help before striking out on his own. Three years later he took up a squatters claim in Rosebud valley, he wrote in Progressive men of the state of Montana. Slowly he expanded his holdings until by 1901 he owned 12,800 acres stretching all the way to Armells Creek. Across the vast expanse of pasturage he ran an average of 7,000 head of Merino sheep, along with 150 head of cattle.

His land holdings grew even more after homesteaders went bust and Freeman was able to purchase acreage at a discount, the Times stated. Eventually, he owned 80,000 deeded acres (125 sections) one of the largest blocks of land then owned by any individual in Montana, the newspaper reported.

Newell Freeman joined his brother in Montana in 1891. According to Montana State Universitys Library archives, which has some of his paperwork, Newell lost his first sheep herd in a market crash before building up another outfit to 10,000 head of sheep and cattle with his partner Ernest Thomas.

But it was the fact that Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry traveled through in 1876, two days before their defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, that captured Davies imagination. The U.S. Cavalry also once had a supply cache on the land. An old ice house built in the 1800s still stands, Davies noted, a relic of a bygone era.

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Voters in Butte School District 1 will vote on a school levy and decide between seven candidates for two elementary school trustee positions in this years mail-in school election.

The district is asking voters to consider an increase in taxes so that $97,377.25, which is roughly 1.51 mills, will go toward the elementary general fund. The general fund is used for things like salaries and benefits for teachers, school utilities and maintenance of the building, supplies and operation costs, according to Kevin Patrick, the business manager for the district.

The passing of the levy will result in a $2.04 tax increase on a home with a market value of $100,000 and a $4.08 tax increase on a home with a $200,000 market value, according to a draft ballot provided by Patrick.

Patrick said the levy is needed so the district can use 100% of the maximum budget allowed by the state. If we didnt run the levy, wed be at less than the maximum the state would allow, he said.

Butte School District Superintendent Judy Jonart said although the school does have funds left over from Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief funds because of COVID-19, those funds can only be used in response to the pandemic. When it comes to things unrelated to COVID, like paying for a snow plow to remove snow from school parking lots and walkways, that money must come from the general fund, she said.

The elementary school trustee elections in Ramsay, Divide and Melrose school districts scheduled for May 3 are canceled because the trustees ran uncontested and won automatically.

In Ramsay School District 3, Kristin Chiamulera will serve a three-year term as trustee and Linda Musick Rosin will serve a one-year term. In Divide School District 4, Stephen B. Salusso will serve a three year term. In Melrose School District 5, Holly Carpenter will serve a three-year term and Loreal Tabita will serve a one-year term. The next school trustee election will be in May 2023.

The appropriate ballots will be mailed to all registered voters in Butte-Silver Bow on April 18, Patrick said. Anyone wishing to vote in the Butte School District 1 election who is not registered must appear in person at the Clerk and Recorders Office, where they will receive a certificate of late registration so they can get a ballot, according to a news release sent out by the Butte-Silver Bow Clerk and Recorder.

All ballots must be turned into the School District office by 8 p.m. May 3 in order to be counted, according to Patrick. For more information, contact Clerk & Recorder Linda Sajor-Joyce at 497-6342 or the appropriate school district.

Trustees on the Butte Ballot

ROSE GRINER

Rose Griner (formerly Rose Henn) has never been on a school board or in a public-facing position before, but has been on the other side of meetings as a parent. She currently works as a waitress at Oasis Casino and has four kids in the Butte School District; one will graduate this year. A military brat, she was born in Washington but attended Head Start in Butte, as well as East Middle School, Butte High School and Butte Academy of Beauty Culture. She earned her cosmetology license in 2007. If elected, Griner wants there to be more parent and community involvement in the school board and thinks there should be a question and answer session at each meeting. Parents get a chance to speak at the school board meetings and even though they hear us I don't think they actually listen, Griner said. The school board is supposed to represent the community and the students. As a board member, I will listen to the community so I can represent them.

KELLY J. LEE

Kelly J. Lee has served as a trustee in Butte School District for three years, and he has two sons who are attending Butte High School and East Middle School. He attended Butte School District and was born and raised in Butte. Hes worked for the Butte Fire Department since 2008 and was recently promoted to assistant fire chief and fire marshal. He is serving his 14th year on the Butte Civic Center Board, has been a board member for Montana State Firemens Association and was formerly a president and board member for Mile High Little League. I feel that a quality public education is the cornerstone of our community and I want to continue to use my place on the board to ensure that it stays that way, Lee said. Schools are continually asked to do more for our students. In addition to providing education, they have been asked to supplement mental health services and facilitate assistance programs, such as nutritional services. Because of this, I think it is very important that schools are provided with the staff and resources they need to perform these tasks.

SHANE MARTIN

Shane Martin has never ran for any elected office before, but he has two young children in elementary school. He works for the US Forest Service as the assistant fire management officer for the Butte Ranger District. If elected, Martin would like to see elementary students have a physical education class every day, and see that all students have the opportunity to take music and art classes. Our schools are doing a great job on the core classes, but we need to take care of the whole student so that we are producing good citizens that will add to our community, he said. He also said he wants to make sure every parent is heard at school board meetings. We may not agree, but parents need to know they are being listened to, he said.  I want to ensure that Butte public schools continue to produce high quality students that make a difference in our community.

KATHY MILODRAGOVICH

Kathy Milodragovich hasnt served on a school board before, but taught in the Butte School District for 25 years. Now that shes retired, she feels she has time to be an active school board member. Both her children and grandchildren went through the Montana public school system. Shes worked seasonally for the U.S. Forest Service and worked for two sessions with the Legislative Council in Helena. In retirement, she was involved in administering National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is data used to produce the nations report card. She graduated from the University of Montana with a liberal arts degree that included an emphasis in history and anthropology. She later earned a K-8 certification, and then added a special education endorsement. My goal is to help focus on policies that improve student achievement and quality instruction, Milodragovich said. It is important for board members to work collaboratively with each other to consider policies that advance student learning. Staff and the community have a share in making student achievement successful.

MATT MOORE

Matt Moore has never served on a school board or in a public-facing position, but has a child attending Whittier Elementary and has worked in public service. He was formerly an engineer for the Butte- Silver Bow public works department. He serves on several volunteer boards including the Urban Forest Board and the Wolfe Tones Hurling Club Board. He currently works at his own engineering firm, Moore Engineering and Inspection, and has a bachelors degree in civil engineering from Montana Technological University and a Masters of business administration from Western Governors University. If elected, Moore wants to make sure Butte School Districts children and teachers are safe and supported, and that Buttes Public Schools continue to provide high-quality education. I am running to protect our public schools from being manipulated by outside influences, he said. I am disturbed by the trend of vilifying our teachers and administrators.

Biographies and headshots of Karen M. Bartle and Conrad Dane Peeples were unavailable at the time of publishing.

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DES MOINES  Publicly, Iowa Democrats are putting on a brave face. But the reality is more grim: Their leadoff position in the countrys presidential nominating process is very much in danger.

Every four years, every election cycle since the modern system was created in 1972, Iowa has started the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican candidates for president. That has brought expansive attention to Iowa as presidential candidates make early visits to the state in hopes of building momentum.

But the national Democratic Party this week approved new rules that could shake up the order in which states execute its process of choosing the partys nominee. Under the new rules, states are required to apply to be one of the first four or five states to cast their presidential preference.

So Iowa is no longer guaranteed its enviable leadoff position in picking Democratic presidential candidates. And the criteria for early-voting states being established by national Democratic leaders will make it difficult for Iowa to make a case it should remain among the early voters.

Iowa Democrats will nonetheless make their case, they say.

Iowa will absolutely be applying to be in the early window and we will look forward to enthusiastically making our case, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn said in a statement.

Iowa state Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, leader of the Democrats in the Iowa House, said Thursday she is confident Iowa Democrats will be able to make the case that the state deserves to maintain an early-voting position.

I have confidence that we can make a good case for why we need to be first in the nation and why weve continued to show that we can play this role in an important and valuable way, Konfrst told reporters on a press call. I have full confidence that we can get there through the application process.

That application process, though, may be stacked against Iowa.

When choosing the early-voting states, the national party will consider multiple factors, including the demographic diversity of the states population, whether the state is considered a battleground in the presidential general election and access to the ballot  in other words, giving preference to states with primary elections over states like Iowa with caucuses.

Iowa does not fare well in those metrics.

Iowa is not a diverse state relative to most of the rest of the country; it is tied with Utah for having the seventh-highest white population, according to federal census data.

In the past two presidential elections, Iowa went for Republican Donald Trump by 9 and 8 percentage points in the general election. But Iowa does have a stronger line of defense here: Over the past nine presidential elections since 1988, Iowa has gone for the Democratic candidate six times and the Republican three times.

And, of course, on the Democratic side Iowa remains a caucus state. That can only be changed by state law. And even if Iowa Democrats wanted to change their primary process to an election from a political party event, Republicans currently have full majority control of the state lawmaking process.

It certainly does not bode well for the (Democratic) caucuses, the traditional first in the nation position, said Dennis Goldford, a political-science professor at Drake University who wrote the 2010 book, The Iowa Precinct Caucuses: The Making of a Media Event. If they havent passed on, so to speak, theyre certainly in critical condition.

The Democrats potential changes may not be noticeable to Iowa for another six years. If President Joe Biden seeks re-election in 2024, it is unlikely he will face any significant primary challenge. Thus, the Democrats presidential nominating season will not likely be competitive. It will probably be the 2028 election season before the Democratic presidential primary is competitive and garnering national interest.

The Democrats potential changes also do not impact Republicans. In fact, national Republicans on Thursday reiterated their plan to keep Iowa as the first state in their partys presidential nominating process.

That means its conceivable that in 2024 and beyond, two different states could start the parties presidential nominating processes.

Jeff Kaufmann, the Republican Party of Iowa chair, said Thursday that he, too, holds out hope that national Democrats will continue to include Iowa among its early-voting states. And he warned that if they take Iowa out of that position, that it will send the message that national Democrats do not value rural, Midwest voters.

Were going to go first. Iowa Republicans are going to go first. I want Iowa Democrats to go first, Kaufmann said. Even if theres a political advantage to me being able to say that (national Democrats) tossed Iowa overboard  I dont want to be able to say that. Because I think the state is going to be stronger if we go together. And I think the process is going to be stronger. So Im still going to stand with (Iowa Democrats).

Iowa Democrats and Republicans have long been forced to defend their enviable position on the presidential nominating calendar. The heat on Iowa Democrats rose to a fever pitch after the 2020 caucuses, when a new program designed to record and report the results on caucus night failed, leaving Democrats without official results for weeks.

Critics of the Iowa Democratic caucuses also point to the caucus format, which unlike an election requires participants to be physically present for a defined period of time, making participation challenging for individuals with physical challenges, or with family or work responsibilities that conflict.

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By Trend

Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov met with Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Levan Davitashvili on April 15, Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers told Trend reports.

According to the Cabinet, the sides expressed satisfaction with the development of friendly relations between the two countries, as well as emphasized the importance of joint projects.

The prospects for bilateral cooperation in trade and economics, transport and transit, investment, energy, and many other areas were also addressed.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  An appellate court has denied a Tennessee death row inmate's request to reopen his case after unknown DNA was found.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled late Thursday that Oscar Smith, 71, "has not presented new scientific evidence establishing that he is actually innocent of the murders of the victims, The Tennessean reported.

Smith's attorney, Amy Harwell, earlier Thursday sought a stay of execution from the Tennessee Supreme Court so the lower court could consider the request. The motion for a state of execution was still pending Friday afternoon.

Smith is scheduled to receive a lethal injection April 21. He was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett, 13 and 16, at their Nashville home on Oct. 1, 1989. Smith has maintained that he is innocent.

Earlier this month, Smith asked the Davidson County Criminal Court to reopen his case after a new type of DNA analysis found the DNA of an unknown person on one of the murder weapons. The judge denied that request as well as a second request to reconsider, writing that the evidence of Smiths guilt was extensive. Smith appealed.

Smith's attorneys argued in Thursday's motion that the Criminal Court judge incorrectly applied the law when it denied Smiths request to reopen his case.

Smith previously sought to prove that fingerprint evidence used against him was unreliable. In Thursdays motion, Smiths attorneys argued the combination of a fingerprint and DNA from an unknown person on one of the murder weapons should be considered together as strong proof of his innocence.

In Thursday's opinion, Judge Timothy Easter detailed the evidence against Smith, including prior threats and a life insurance policy taken out by Smith for the three victims.

Thus, the court concludes there is not a reasonable probability that the recently discovered DNA evidence would have prevented Petitioners prosecution or conviction, Easter wrote.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Tennessean.

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Police say a northwest Georgia man killed his grandmother by stuffing her in a freezer while she was still alive. Floyd County Police discovered the body of 82-year-old Doris Cumming late Thursday in the Armuchee home she shared with her grandson, 29-year-old Robert Keith Tincher III. Tincher is charged with murder, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another. He remains jailed in Rome. Police say they believe Cumming was injured in a fall in December. Instead of seeking help, investigators say Tincher dragged her through the home. Police say he wrapped her in plastic bags and placed her in a large freezer even though he still saw breathing and movement.
LONDON (AP)  Six people have been arrested after climate change activists climbed onto an oil tanker in central London to protest investments in fossil fuel, British police said Saturday.

The Extinction Rebellion climate activism group said two Olympic athletes  gold medal-winning canoeist Etienne Stott and Laura Baldwin  were among those protesting Friday. The oil tanker protest was part of mass climate demonstrations Friday that saw hundreds of activists blocking four key bridges across the British capital, causing delays and disruption across central London.

Extinction Rebellion said thousands of people are expected at Londons Hyde Park on Saturday for more protests.

More than 600 people have been arrested over the past two weeks after environmental activists climbed atop oil tankers, padlocked themselves to structures and blocked roads at oil depots across the U.K. The group Just Stop Oil, which is affiliated with Extinction Rebellion, is demanding that Britain's Conservative government stop any new oil and gas projects.

The demonstrations are part of a growing climate action movement that has also seen the group Insulate Britain obstruct highways and roads to press its demands that the government fund more energy-efficient homes. The demands have become more urgent as energy prices are skyrocketing in the U.K. and elsewhere.

A spokesperson for Shell said the company respects the right of everyone to express their point of view - we only ask that they do so with their safety and the safety of others in mind.

We agree that society needs to take urgent action on climate change. Shell has a clear target to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050, in step with society," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, police in central England said nine people were charged after Just Stop Oil held a demonstration Friday at an oil terminal in Kingsbury, near the city of Birmingham.

Read all AP stories on climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following Russia's withdrawal  most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were "simply executed.

The jarring number emerged shortly after Russias Defense Ministry promised to step up missile attacks on Kyiv in response to Ukraines alleged assaults on Russian territory. That ominous warning followed the stunning loss of Moscow's flagship in the Black Sea, which a senior U.S. defense official said Friday was indeed hit by at least one Ukrainian missile.

Amid its threats, Moscow continued preparations for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine. Fighting also went on in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Gov. Oleh Sinehubov.

Around Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of the capital's regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.

Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said.

More bodies are being found every day under rubble and in mass graves, he added, with the largest number found in Bucha, where there were more than 350.

According to Nebytov, utility workers gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were tracking down people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south of terrorizing civilians and hunting for anyone who served in Ukraines military or government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted  by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.

In his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskyy also said he discussed the fate of Mariupol with top military and intelligence officials. He said he couldnt offer details, but we are doing everything we can to save our people.

Zelenskyy said peace and how many more Ukrainians the occupiers have time to kill depend on Ukraine receiving more outside support, and echoed calls for more and faster military aid, as well as an oil embargo on Russia.

More violence could be in store for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.

The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Russia used missiles to destroy a facility for the repair and production of missile systems in Kyiv, Konashenkov said.

Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.

However, Ukrainian officials said forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. A senior U.S. defense official backed up the claim, saying the U.S. now believes the Moskva was hit by at least one Neptune anti-ship missile, and probably two. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment.

The Moskva, named for the Russian capital, sank while being towed to port Thursday after taking heavy damage. Though Moscow did not acknowledge any attack, saying only that a fire had caused ammunition on board to detonate, the loss of the ship represents an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.

The sinking reduces Russias firepower in the Black Sea, although military analysts disagreed on the event's significance to the course of the war. Either way, the loss was viewed as emblematic of Moscow's fortunes in an eight-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.

A flagship russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday.

Russia's warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring Friday as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.

In one central park, a small group of people including a woman draped in a Ukrainian flag danced to the music of a portable speaker.

Such tentative signs of prewar life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes. But a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations.

In Mariupol, the city council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials of people killed by them.

Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown, the council said on the Telegram messaging app.

Fighting continued in industrial areas and the port, and Russia for the first time used the Tu-223 long-range bomber to attack the city, said Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Mariupol has been blockaded by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion, and dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against a siege that has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians.

The mayor said this week that the city's death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence in Mariupol of atrocities like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv.

Mariupols capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraines eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.

It's not certain when Russia will launch a full-scale campaign.

Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of the region.

Also Friday a Russian rocket hit an airport at night in the central city of Oleksandriia, Mayor Serhiy Kuzmenko said via Facebook. He made no mention of casualties.

And a regional Ukrainian official said seven people were killed and 27 wounded when Russian forces fired on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near Kharkiv. The claim could not be independently verified.

Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutors office, told the Suspilne news website that authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.

Russia's Defense Ministry said strikes in the Kharkiv region had liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company of up to 30 people and liberated an iron and steel factory in Mariupol. The claims could not be independently verified.

Fisch reported from Kramatorsk. Burns reported from Washington. 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 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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The arrival of cloud computing services such as AWS and Microsoft Azure in South Africa has profoundly impacted businesses and the local hosting market.

One of the key reasons for this is how easily companies can use cloud services without the technical knowledge needed to build and maintain such complex systems themselves.

Absolute Hosting managing director Jade Benson said its adapt-or-die for South Africas hosting companies.

However, he also said their shared hosting services had not been affected by the arrival of international cloud platforms in South Africa, as they offer clients a simple product aimed explicitly at the .za namespace.

Clients dont require the skillset, software, and licensing required to deploy simple online services such as WordPress hosting, email hosting, and domain registration, Benson stated.

While basic shared hosting services may have been relatively insulated from the rise of cloud computing, platforms like AWS and Azure have come to dominate in larger enterprises due to their business benefits.

In 2022, the International Data Corporation ran a survey of 106 South African chief information and technology officers, of which 70% said public cloud applications are essential for their organisations technological transformation.

80% also said cloud-based solutions had helped their organisation maintain operations during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Vodacom managing executive for cloud, hosting, and security Kabelo Makwane said these statistics were not surprising.

This is in line with our assertions several years ago when we embraced cloud hosting and anticipated that more organisations would adopt the technology to accelerate their digital transformation journeys, Makwane told MyBroadband.

Makwane said the arrival of international cloud services aided the evolution of Vodacom Business from a telco to a technology company.

Vox cloud division head Barry Kemp said they have also been evolving their services and started offering multi-cloud products, including virtual data centre cloud facilities.

Kemp said that connecting different cloud platforms is the key to success in this area.

The other key change has been the upskilling of staff across multiple cloud solutions to be able to offer turnkey solutions to customers.

Kemp said the arrival of platforms like AWS and Microsoft Azure presented opportunities for local providers and South African businesses to use technologies previously out of reach.

Platforms, products, and services that help customers to scale, pivot and innovate their businesses are now readily available, he said.

Local providers have quickly upskilled to build, provision and support a wide range of services delivered both internationally as well as locally hosted.

According to Benson, companies that do not evolve with the times may be left behind as increased adoption of cloud computing services is a certainty.

I suspect that hosts who have not invested in deploying their own cloud services that can compete with these major companies are seeing an exodus to a certain degree, Benson said.

Now Read: How much you will pay on petrol and tolls to go away this Easter weekend
The late Sally Schmitt never attended a culinary arts school, but she collected a lifetime of cooking knowledge that she passed on in the voice of a skilled, patient educator in her new book "Six California Kitchens."

Sallys cooking and entertaining helped change the Napa Valley into the tourism dynamo it is today. She learned the basics in her mothers homestead kitchen, ran a small kitchen at what was Vintage 1870, later buying a rundown home in Yountville that previously had been a laundry and transforming it into the French Laundry restaurant.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

After 16 years she decided to stop cooking for others. Instead, I wanted to pass on the techniques, habits, knowledge and recipes I'd acquired through the years."

This led to another kitchen: a renovated farmhouse in the rustic town of Philo, Mendocino at their Apple Farm, where she taught cooking to small groups.

Eventually, she and her husband, Don, retreated to a cottage on the coast of Mendocino, where she only had to cook for themselves. After six years, she and Don moved back to Apple Farm to be with their family. Don passed away in 2017 with Sally passing away on March 5, five days after celebrating her 90th birthday, but not before she was able to set her wisdom down in this beautiful book.

As she did with every project she took on over her life, Sally relied on the help of her family, ranging from the book design by Byron Hoffman, her grandson, and her daughters, plus a couple of grandchildren, pitching in for the food and prop styling.

By the way, one of her grandchildren, Perry Hoffman, followed Sally into the professional kitchen, earning his first Michelin Star at 25 at the now-closed etoile at Domaine Chandon; then he was culinary director at Healdsburgs farm-to-table marketplace, Shed, which is also now closed. When the chef left the Boonville Hotel in the Anderson Valley owned by his uncle, Johhny Schmitt, he came back home to where he had worked after high school under his uncle. Except now he is chef/partner. Recently, Perry also opened up Offspring, a wood-fired pizza pop-up at the Farrer Building across the street.

One pleasure of the book is the additional voices of Napa Valley before it became a tourist destination, such as Thomas Keller, who purchased The French Laundry from the Schmitts when they wanted to slow down.

Cindy Pawlcyn wanted to become a chef but saw no females in that position until her sister-in-law found an article in Sunset magazine that featured Sally and her cooking at the French Laundry. This eventually led Chef Pawlcyn to the Napa Valley to open Mustards Grill and other restaurants.

Robin Daniel Lail, who grew up as part of the Inglenook winery and founded Lail Vineyards, remembers the pleasure of Sallys Chutney Kitchen during the 1970s.

Another fan was Lissa Doumani, who, with her husband Hiro Sone, eventually opened the Michelin-starred restaurant Terra (sadly gone) in St. Helena.

The erudite Gerald Asher, longtime wine writer for Gourmet magazine (again, sadly gone) is quoted from his book, "A Vineyard in My Glass": The evenings I spent at their Yountville restaurant were among my most memorable in California.

While she did not attend culinary school, she did learn from a wide world of sources, including the famed Time-Life cookbooks on Foods of the World, and Sunset magazine, which printed an impressive list of recipes in those days.

From a lifetime of cooking in her six kitchens, she passes along a bit of insight on almost every page. She devotes a whole page to Cleaning As You Go, another whole page on Keeping It Simple.

She learned one of her most valuable lessons from the years she cooked the monthly luncheon for the Napa Valley Vintners Association, back when all the membership could sit at one long table. While the vintners had a discerning palette, she discovered: Simple food, without fancy frills, was what pleased them the most.

Other knowledge she shares includes Start the day clean. Dont have things piled up to be washed from the day or night before, to my restaurant years taught me to be prepared (always planning the next meal) plus Ive also learned not to fixate on measuring much, unless Im baking teaching herself what measurements of dry ingredients looked like in the palm of her hand. The list goes on, so youll have to read the book to learn more.

I loved the tone of the writing and the mix of historic images and illustrations with photos of the finished dishes. The only thing that made me raise an eyebrow was the frequency cream was incorporated in the recipes, particularly most of the soups. Most classes Ive taken have emphasized a vegetable base as healthier. But she and her husband lived long lives, so maybe theyre on to something there.

In my column, I always try to give readers a wide choice of books/websites by listing three recipes from three different sources, but I feel it would be a shame not to share at least three recipes from Sallys cookbook. She uses the format often seen in professional kitchens, with instructions on the left-hand side, ingredients on the right-hand side, so Ill follow her lead here.

One more tip from Sally: I recommend you read through it at least three times before you start cooking. Long ago I discovered that piece of advice on my own.

Tuna Tartare

"Six California Kitchens" by Sally Schmitt

Serves 8 to 10 as an appetizer

Adapted from

This is an easy starter for a meal to add to your repertoire of dishes.

Slice and cut gently not very small dice, 1 pound of the very best ahi tuna avoiding the connective tissue:

Transfer to a bowl and add: 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil

1 Tbsp. finely chopped jalapeno

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger

1 Tbsp. finely chopped green onion

Use your finger or a fork, toss gently until combined. Serve on toast rounds or very crisp cucumber slices. Garnish each serving with 1 little sprig of cilantro and Maldon salt.

Zanzibar Duck with Rice and Papaya

"Six California Kitchens" by Sally Schmitt

Serves 6

Sally had an admitted love affair with duck so she includes a whole chapter of duck recipes. She credits the African Cooking, volume of the Time-Life series, as the inspiration for this dish, which was a favorite when she cooked her monthly Friday night dinners at the Chutney Kitchen in Vintage 1870 from 1970 to 1978.

Note: She allows 1 hour for preparation and 2 hours of cooking time so this is not a spur-of-the-moment dish. Rice also needs to be made.

Preheat the oven to 400

On a rimmed baking sheet: 6 whole duck legs

Arrange them skin-side up and season with: Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Roast in the oven until they re very brown, but not dried out, about 45 minutes

While the duck legs are cooking, prepare and set aside 2 green or red bell peppers, charred, peeled, and torn into strips.

In a medium saucepan, combine and bring to a simmer: 2 cups chicken stock

12 whole cloves

2 jalapeno peppers, halved

Drain the fat from the duck legs and lower the oven temperature to 300F. Reserve the flavorful duck fat for another use (this makes great fried potatoes). Pour the prepared stock over the duck legs and cover the pan with parchment paper. Return to the oven and steam until tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour more. Discard the cloves and jalapenos. Carefully pour off the cooking juices into a large saucepan.

Add: 4 cups of chicken stock

1 cup fresh orange juice

2/3 cup fresh lime juice

Return the duck to the 300F oven, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes to let the skin crisp up. At this point, it can sit in a very low oven up to 30 minutes more until you are ready to serve. Bring the stock and juices to a gentle simmer and keep it simmering until it reduces to about 3 cups. After the stock is reduced, taste for salt and add more if needed.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over low heat, melt:  cup butter

Peel, seed, cut into cubes and add to the pan: 2 fresh papayas

Gently warm and sprinkle with:  teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Kosher salt

When ready to serve, place a generous spoonful of rice on each plate. Add a duck leg and scatter the reserved pepper strips over the leg. Place a serving of the warmed papaya on the side and spoon the reduced stock overall. Be very generous. There should be enough liquid to really soak into the rice. Garnish with lime and orange zest.

Coffee Pots de Creme

Makes enough for 6 to 8 ramekins or 8 to 10 ovenproof espresso cups

I love fruit desserts but every so often, you need chocolate. The classic flavoring is vanilla, but the chocolate variation is my favorite.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, scald, and remove from the heat:

2 cups half-and-half

3 Tbsp. instant espresso coffee

1 cinnamon stick

In a medium bowl, beat gently to avoid having too much foam:  cup egg yolks from about 6 eggs

 cup sugar

Add the hot half-and-half mixture slowly to the bowl in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Strain the mixture into a large heatproof measuring cup. Fill the ramekins or espresso cups and place them in a roasting pan

Pour enough hot tap water into the pan to come about two-thirds up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the custard is barely set, 30 to 50 minutes, depending on how warm the mixture was to start. It should jiggle in the middle.

Let cool a little, and then lift the ramekins out of the pan, using a jar lifter if theyre still too hot. Then cool before serving or refrigerate to serve cold.

To serve, top each with: A spoonful of softly whipped cream, chocolate-covered coffee beans or chocolate curls.

Ken Morris has been cooking for comfort for more than 30 years and learning in kitchens from Alaska to Thailand to Italy. He now cooks and writes from his kitchen in Napa. Email macmor@sbcglobal.net.
Russia envoy to Armenia: Everyone should avoid steps that could aggravate situation

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Armenia army general staff ex-deputy chief: I will say its a lie if someone says it was possible to win 44-day war

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By Trend

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan hosted an event and exhibition on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the State of Palestine on April 15, 2022, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The event was attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the embassy staff, and public figures, including heads of a number of universities in Azerbaijan.

The event started with the national anthems of both countries.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fariz Rzayev noted that the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on April 15, 1992 was a significant event in our history. He said that the fact that Palestine was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan after the restoration of its independence is an example of friendship and solidarity. Noting that Azerbaijan attaches importance to relations with Palestine, Rzayev also stressed the successful cooperation between the two countries within international organizations. The Deputy Minister expressed confidence that the Azerbaijani-Palestinian relations, based on strong solidarity, will continue to develop successfully at both bilateral and multilateral levels.

Afterwards, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Republic of Azerbaijan Nasser Abdul Karim Abdul Rahim congratulated on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Palestine, the countries that are interlinked via cultural and religious values. The Ambassador said that over the years, relations between the two countries have been successfully developing within the principles of solidarity, friendship and mutual respect. The support of the State of Palestine to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan was reiterated. Nasser Abdul Karim Abdul Rahim noted with satisfaction that Azerbaijan and Palestine cooperate not only in the bilateral format but also in the framework of a number of international organizations, including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement. The Ambassador wished peace, tranquility and prosperity to both countries and peoples, and expressed his best wishes on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

At the end of the event, the participants got acquainted with a photo exhibition dedicated to the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Palestine.
In an interview published on Saturday, Vice Chancellor of Germany, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck spoke against introducing an immediate embargo on natural gas supplies from Russia, TASS reported.

"An immediate embargo on [Russian natural] gas would threaten social peace in Germany," he said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe. "Therefore, we need to act with caution, to prepare our moves thoroughly and to stick to our plans, if we want to harm [Russian President Vladimir] Putin."

"We are working actively to become independent on fossil fuels from Russia," the minister said, adding that the German government "made very good progress" in reducing its dependence on supplies of Russian natural gas and coal.

"As far as gas is concerned, active construction of terminals to receive liquefied natural gas [LNG] is under way," he continued.

Speaking about Germanys ability to produce gas on its own, Habeck said that the North German Plain has vast deposits of shale gas, but it can be extracted only with the help of the hydraulic fracturing technology, also called fracking.

"It will be hard from the point of view of water legislation, as it may entail negative consequences for our nature. For the time being, there have been no companies willing to do that," the minister said.

In his opinion, issuing licenses and building production would take years.

The vice chancellor added that Germanys own natural gas deposits, where the fuel can be extracted by traditional technologies "are largely exhausted."

Also, Habeck is urging compatriots to take steps to save on energy amid the crisis in Ukraine, AFP reported.

As a general rule, I would say that we can always save 10 percent on energy, he said.

He suggested that people can make savings by closing curtains to avoid heat loss at night and lowering their temperature settings by one degree.

I urge each and everyone to save on energy right now, said Habeck, a Green Party politician.

If over Easter we can ride a bike or take the train, thats good, too. It spares your pocketbook and annoys Putin, he added.
RTHK: More rain falls on South Africa's flood-ravaged east

South Africa's flood-ravaged east was hit by more rain on Saturday after the deadliest storm to strike the country in living memory killed nearly 400 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

Floodwaters engulfed parts of the southeastern coastal city of Durban this week ripping apart roads, destroying hospitals and sweeping away homes and those trapped inside.

Emergency services in the southeastern KwaZulu-Natal province, where Durban is located off the Indian Ocean coast, were on high alert.

Recovery operations and humanitarian relief were underway in the city of 3.5 million which would normally have been teeming with Easter holidaymakers this weekend.

The death toll rose on Saturday to 398, while 27 people were reported still missing, the government said in a statement. More than 40,000 have been rendered homeless.

"Sadly there are still bodies being recovered from homesteads, especially from the rural areas," Shawn Herbst of the first responder company Netcare 911 said.

"There is still damage taking place, especially with the rain we are experiencing today."

This weekend's rainfall will not be "as hectic as it was in the past few days", according to Puseletso Mofokeng, South Africa Weather Service forecaster. With soil being over-saturated with water, more flooding is expected.

Six days after the floods first struck, hope of finding survivors is fading and Durban emergency medical services spokesman Robert McKenzie said the response was now focused on recovery and humanitarian relief.

"We have moved from the emergency phase to the recovery phase of the disaster, more to humanitarian relief effort and restoration of services," he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has postponed a working visit to Saudi Arabia that was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, his office said.

"The loss of nearly 400 lives and thousands of homes, as well as the economic impact and the destruction of infrastructure, calls for all hands on deck," said Ramaphosa.

South Africa, the continent's most industrialised country, is still struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic and deadly riots last year that killed more than 350 people, mostly in the now flood-struck southeastern region. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-04-16. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Trend

The Brussels meeting was held under the dictation of Azerbaijan, a veteran of the first Karabakh war, political expert Elshad Hasanov said, Trend reports referring to Ses (Voice) News Agency.

Azerbaijan's balanced foreign policy pursued for many years is yielding positive results, the expert stated.

He noted the adoption of the five principles proposed by Azerbaijan at the Brussels meeting on April 6.

"Armenia was forced to accept them. The recent trilateral meeting can be considered a political victory for Azerbaijan. The speech of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in parliament following the Brussels meeting called on citizens to live in peace with neighbors. The Armenian leadership understands that if the country lives in peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey, it will develop economically," Hasanov said.

---
OSU Career Services honors exceptional student employees

Media Contact: Kelsie Miner Paul | Senior Coordinator, Employer Development & Student Development | 405-744-4603 | kelsie.miner@okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University Career Services recently celebrated 78 nominees for Student Employee of the Year with a ceremony on Thursday.

Each spring, as part of National Student Employment Week, OSU honors student employees who are nominated by their supervisors and selects a Student Employee of the Year who best embodies the contributions and achievements of students who work while attending post-secondary school.

The contest is sponsored by OSU Career Services, in conjunction with the National Student Employment Association's National Student Employee of the Year contest.

Eli Halcomb, an electrical engineering junior, was recognized as the 2022 Student Employee of the Year. Halcomb works as an IT assistant and audio/visual technician at Stillwater Public Schools.

Kevin Calvert, director of technology at SPS, nominated Halcomb due to his leadership, problem-solving, and consistent support and dedication to the students and staff at SPS.

Eli has been a dedicated leader in our department and continues to impress us, Calvert said. He solves problems we didnt know we had, continues to grow and shows us new ways of looking at things from a different perspective. One of the most amazing things about his approach is his humility and grace as he presents his creative ideas. Student Employee of the Year Eli Halcomb received a $1,500 scholarship presented by Vice President for Student Affairs Doug Hallenbeck.

Halcomb was praised for his ability to think creatively and work collaboratively  skills that led to SPS selecting his idea to implement eduroam and improve Wi-Fi availability for students, staff and guests.

Stillwater Public Schools was the first K-12 school in the state to use this system due to his idea, Calvert said. Not only was he able to come up with the idea, but he was instrumental in implementing it quickly because of his technical skills.

Halcomb also runs audio, video and livestreaming for school district board meetings. In addition to the difference he makes for Stillwater Public Schools, Halcomb also volunteers his tech services for a local church and private school.

In recognition of his service to the community through student employment, Halcomb received a $1,500 scholarship from OSU Career Services, presented by Vice President for Student Affairs Doug Hallenbeck.

During the Student Employee Award process, the committee selected five finalists: Roger Bennett, Halcomb, Manoj Jagadeesh, Madelyn Owens and Kathryn Steedman. Each finalist received a gift basket worth more than $450, including items from OSU Career Services and various businesses around the Stillwater community.

OSU Career Services also recognized the Office of First Year Success as the 2022 Employer of the Year for its commitment to hiring and developing OSU student employees.

Additionally, U.S. Foods provided two scholarships for student employees in University Dining Services: Aryanna Carr and Bailey James.

Our team is grateful to have an opportunity to recognize all the outstanding student employees who make a difference in our community, said Kelsie Miner Paul, senior coordinator of employer development and student employment for OSU Career Services. Managing both a work schedule and a school schedule is not an easy feat, and these students have gone above and beyond during their time at OSU. Were proud of all our nominees and happy to celebrate these leaders.

To watch the recorded ceremony, visit bit.ly/StudentEmployee2022.
OSU celebrates 'Capitol Cowboys Day' with Oklahoma lawmakers

Media Contact: Harrison Hill | Senior Research Communications Specialist | 405-744-5827 | harrison.c.hill@okstate.edu

From early in the morning till late in the afternoon on Wednesday, the Oklahoma Capitol building was a sea of orange, with orange power and O-S-U cheers echoing through the halls.

Capitol Cowboys Day, hosted by the OSU Alumni Association, was a chance for Oklahoma State University alumni and students to visit with state lawmakers about their OSU experience and share areas where they would like the university and the legislature to further partner.

With our land-grant mission  and more than 140,000 alumni living in the state of Oklahoma  the Cowboy family serves the entire state, said OSU Alumni Association President Rob McInturf. Today is about the loyalty we exemplify as Cowboys. It is part of our culture. We want lawmakers to hear firsthand from students and alumni about the positive impact OSU has had on their lives.

At the lunchtime program, OSU President Kayse Shrum addressed the crowd.

It is so great to see all of this orange in the Capitol today, Dr. Shrum said. We are so grateful for all the support that our state leaders give to Oklahoma State University. And we look forward to a bright future and continuing to work with them.

(Left) Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks to the crowd, (Center) Students and alumni visit with Sen. Jo Anna Dosset, (Right) OSU President Kayse Shrum with Rep. Trish Ranson.

Gov. Kevin Stitt also shared words of encouragement and support for the students and his alma mater.

I know that you guys are leaders in not only the state, but the university, because you're here and you're involved, Stitt said, addressing the students and alumni in the crowd. And I just want to encourage you that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. So dream big.

Jessica Russell, director of public policy for the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, works daily as a liaison between OSU and legislators.

I love seeing orange everywhere. Everybody's so excited and engaged, Russell said. Its a great opportunity to celebrate OSU.

Russell is a familiar face for Oklahomas lawmakers, but she thinks this was a unique chance to connect them with other OSU faces.

Many of the lawmakers at the event had a connection to OSU already. As the representative from District 34, which includes OSU and Stillwater, Trish Ranson is very familiar with the university.

What I've experienced here at the Capitol during my tenure is just how far the connections go from Oklahoma State, Rep. Ranson said. And you know, especially with being a land-grant college with Extension [offices] in every county, there are quite a few representatives who are either graduates of OSU or they have connections with OSU. Because of that, it's fitting that we have the event here today and celebrate that connection.

For Ranson, the partnership with the state and OSU is important.

We're good partners in the sense that, what we decide here at the Capitol impacts our campus, but it also impacts our students and our alumni, Ranson said. So how do we work together to make sure that the policies that we're passing help the population going forward?

However, working together goes further than just benefiting Oklahoma.

This is it; is not just about the state, Ranson said. We have alumni all over the nation and the world. So how are we using those relationships to make sure that OSU can go forward and be a better partner worldwide?

And being a better partner worldwide starts with building connections.

Our students and alumni are well rounded and great leaders  theres no better advocate for the university, Russell said. OSU is a great partner in all endeavors, and we hope that really resonates with state leaders today.

Ransons counterpart in District 33, Rep. John Talley, said he was impressed with the dedication students showed at the Capitol.

Students went to every representative's office and talked to us, Talley said. They spent the first couple of hours going to offices and meeting representatives and talking to them about policy  really just showing how much, as an OSU student, they care about government and what legislators think. And I think that helps a lot.

In their meetings with lawmakers, alumni and students focused on a handful of topics.

Being able to share my love and pride of the university with legislators was amazing. said Natalie Evens, a chemical engineering senior. By giving me the opportunity to provide our elected officials with a students perspective of how what they are doing impacts my life and my future, shows how OSU values student input.

Alumni also enjoyed the experience.

As graduates of Oklahoma State, we understand that its our responsibility to be civically engaged, said Tina Parkhill, chair of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Today was about communication and building relationships to enhance our elected officials understanding that OSU is important to their constituents.

We were so well received today, and it was extremely gratifying to watch our students connect with legislators. These students are Oklahomas future leaders and our future is bright orange.

During the daily floor sessions, Rob McInturf, Pistol Pete and Dr. Kayse Shrum were formally recognized on the floor and received a citation honoring and thanking the university.

Talley said hearing what people at OSU needed was informative, and he appreciated getting that insight.

It's all about communication, Talley said. Just exactly what OSU is doing. We have to keep working at that, letting the government know what the needs are of state institutions. We need to let the government know how what happens at OSU helps the whole state, whether it be research or graduates going into our workforce.

During the daily floor sessions, McInturf, Pistol Pete and Shrum were formally recognized on the floor and received a citation honoring and thanking the university. As the senator from District 21, Tom Dugger was asked to officially recognize OSU on the Senate floor.

It's really nice to have the opportunity to have a little Cowboy orange all through the Capitol, Dugger said. Higher education is extremely important to the state, and OSU is a premier player. The people of Oklahoma deserve an educational leader and Oklahoma State University fits that bill.

Organized by the OSU Alumni Association with the assistance of key legislators, the event will become an annual staple that continues to grow the relationship between OSU and Oklahoma.

For OSU, the future looks bright.
More rain falls on South Africa's flood-ravaged east

Volunteers clean up debris at the Durban harbour following heavy rain. Photo: AFP

South Africa's flood-ravaged east was hit by more rain on Saturday after the deadliest storm to strike the country in living memory killed nearly 400 people and left tens of thousands homeless.



Floodwaters engulfed parts of the southeastern coastal city of Durban this week ripping apart roads, destroying hospitals and sweeping away homes and those trapped inside.



Emergency services in the southeastern KwaZulu-Natal province, where Durban is located off the Indian Ocean coast, were on high alert.



Recovery operations and humanitarian relief were underway in the city of 3.5 million which would normally have been teeming with Easter holidaymakers this weekend.



The death toll rose on Saturday to 398, while 27 people were reported still missing, the government said in a statement. More than 40,000 have been rendered homeless.



"Sadly there are still bodies being recovered from homesteads, especially from the rural areas," Shawn Herbst of the first responder company Netcare 911 said.



"There is still damage taking place, especially with the rain we are experiencing today."



This weekend's rainfall will not be "as hectic as it was in the past few days", according to Puseletso Mofokeng, South Africa Weather Service forecaster. With soil being over-saturated with water, more flooding is expected.



Six days after the floods first struck, hope of finding survivors is fading and Durban emergency medical services spokesman Robert McKenzie said the response was now focused on recovery and humanitarian relief.



"We have moved from the emergency phase to the recovery phase of the disaster, more to humanitarian relief effort and restoration of services," he said.



President Cyril Ramaphosa has postponed a working visit to Saudi Arabia that was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, his office said.



"The loss of nearly 400 lives and thousands of homes, as well as the economic impact and the destruction of infrastructure, calls for all hands on deck," said Ramaphosa.



South Africa, the continent's most industrialised country, is still struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic and deadly riots last year that killed more than 350 people, mostly in the now flood-struck southeastern region. (AFP)
New Delhi [India] April 16 (ANI/PNN): Rapz, a flagship brand of Smart Tech Overseas has announced the launch of two new models "Rapz Smartwatch - Active 200 Pro & Active 1000 BT calling watch. The Active 200 Pro comprises of practical tools such as alarm clocks, stopwatch, timer, camera control, adjustable brightness, find the phone. It also consists of automatic sleep, tracking your deep, light, and awake sleep patterns, and provides a comprehensive analysis of your sleep quality to help you get a better understanding of your health and make reasonable adjustments to your lifestyle. Rapz Active 1000 on the other hand gets all your messages and notifications straight on your wrist in its full 1.32'' IPS HD touch screen defining your personal style. It comes with a waterproof 3W speaker, microphone lightweight design with 30 Days long-lasting battery Life. The launched smartwatches also come with distinct features of heart rate monitor, body temperature tracker, sedentary alerts, and blood saturation tracker, besides weather info and music control. Vaibhav Kaopor, Co-Founder, Just Rapz said, "We aim to make wearable technology in everyday life safe, enriching, and fun. We are working hard to launch some more innovative smartwatches in this fiscal. We are also marketing the products with the help of social media influencers to tap into the right audiences as fast as we can. With the tech bloom in the current economic transition and a sharp concentration in the lifestyle domain, people are more likely to adapt to growingly efficient & health friendly appliances competitive in all means." "We are one of the fastest-growing lifestyle wearable brands today. We are supporting first time a "Make In India" project through our Rapz Smartwatch (Active 200 Pro) which is the first watch in the wireless charging segment" he added. Rapz Active 200 Pro comes in 3 colours Black, Pink, and Blue (Silicon strap) with wireless charging. The company has priced the smartwatch at (Rs 9999/-). On the other hand, Rapz Active 1000 comes in Black and orange colours with 30 Days Big Battery Life and cost (Rs 10,999/-). The company has not yet revealed the availability details of the Rapz smartwatches. The new variants of the brand are also equipped with the most advanced techno frenzies like magnetic charging USB cable, NFC Wireless charging, & battery life of up to 30 days in just one charge, apart from a lot of other high functionalities. The specialty and the value-for-money of the products Rapz Active 101, Active 200 Pro, Active 1000 come with a one-year returnable policy. While the Rapz Active 101 come in Full HD IPS LCD Screen "TFT screen, brightness screen pixels with a single built body with Hi-fi dual-module calling function, and a built-in microphone and speaker. The products are available online at Amazon Tata Cliq, Flipkart, Nayka, Paytm, Ajio, Reliance store, and also at the company official websites www.rapz.in & www.smtindia.co In the future plans, the brand is all set to launch two more models Rapz Active 300 Signature Series and Rapz Active 300 Lite which are claiming to have large battery life and bigger dial LCD as its key feature with multiple other products USPs, while proving to be the puzzling choice of today's youth. All the smartwatches come with a 1.69-inch AMOLED display and Bluetooth calling functionality. Rapz is a new age lifestyle brand that advocates technology embedded in comfort & personality. It offers a wide range of products like Headphones, Bluetooth Speakers, Wireless Smartwatches, Neckbands, TWS, Earbuds, at the most affordable price range, and has stakes of more than 50 SKUs in the market at the moment. Rapz also recently participated in an event under titled sponsorship with MTV Beats in December 2021 with Rapz new introductory gadgets. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
New Delhi [India] April 16 (ANI/PNN): Continuing with its mission to celebrate success with its buyers, House of Surya (HS Group) has announced a series of schemes and bonanzas to perk up the buyer community on the occasion of its new showroom launch. The latest in this tradition has been a Lucky Draw Bonanza whose winners will be announced on the company's New Showroom unveiling on April 18 2022. True to its pursuit to always redefine saree trends, HS Group presents a new look Surya Sarees showroom at Chandni Chowk. The lucky winners will take home LED TVs, mobile phones and electric scooters as the most desirable prizes. Moreover, there will be unlimited fun and celebrations too apart from an especially curated fashion show revolving around HS collections. Surya Sarees and Surya Ethnic Fashion are the two sides of the HS Group coin. If one represents the retail persona of the group, the other showcases the traditional might and cultural ethos of Indian culture. The new look showroom is like a bride itself in many ways. From design studios to latest wedding collection to fresh spring/summer collection, the discerning customers of HS Group can take home whole new experiences steeped in brilliance, class and finesse. "Every wedding is an important milestone for everyone at HS Group. This is the reason why we have completely revamped our showroom with our trademark of 2,000 new designs every season to ensure every family celebrates this significant occasion with immense joy and flair" said Arvind Gupta, Joint Managing Director, HS Group. "HS Group is one of the first Indian entities to explore global frontiers to drape the world in Indian colours. Over the years, it has been a way of life at HS Group to celebrate success with compassion and cheers with its valuable buyers all across the world," added Neeraj Gupta, Joint Managing Director, HS Group. Deepak Gupta, Joint Managing Director, HS Group said, "Mesmerizing the audience and the business fraternity alike, the glorious day of April 18 will be topped by a talk session on latest retail trends. Come let us celebrate HS Group legacy together." HS Group has been draping Indian Excellence for more than 50 years. Welcome to the fascinating world of HS Group. What began as a small enterprise from the by lanes of Chandni Chowk in 1960 is today a landmark in celebrating India's most respected and treasured traditions. The baton of vision of its founder Late Hoshiyar Singh has been carried forward by the generations diligently with pride and sincerity. From an initial footprint of a modest 184 sq. ft. of retail space, HS Group has grown to sprawling 2 lakh sq. ft. of retail, warehousing and office infrastructure encompassing awe inspiring handcrafted masterpieces on one hand and on the other a treasure trove of artisans and craftsmen handpicked and nurtured from all over the country. The lineage of HS Group has its imprint on international skies too. The group has been exporting Indian excellence to more than 50 countries since 2003. Buyers from all over the world trust and believe in the HS hallmarks of skilled expertise, uncompromising commitment and unmatched quality. Surya Sarees Website: https://suryasarees.com/ This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, has issued a tender for setting up 500 MW/1000 MWh standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS), according to an official statement released on Saturday. It is a first-of-its-kind tender in the country. It will provide Discoms with storage facilities to be used on an "on-demand" basis. The tender has been issued under the standard bidding guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power in March 2022. The total capacity to be set up under the Request for Selection (RfS) is 1000 MWh (500 MW x 2hrs), which will constitute two projects of 500 MWh (250 MW x 2 hrs) capacity each, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said. The Projects will be installed in the vicinity of the Fatehgarh-III Grid-Substation of the ISTS network, in the State of Rajasthan. The Buying Entities will be offered the storage capacity to charge and discharge the same daily through RE power, as per their energy shifting requirements, it said. The projects will be set up on a "Build-Own-Operate" basis, with the connectivity and necessary permissions being under the scope of the project developer. Land for the projects will be provided by the CTU to the developers on a right-to-use basis. SECI is the implementing agency of this tender and will be procuring capacity on behalf of the Buying Entities, charging a facilitation fee in the form of a trading margin. A unique feature of this tender is the composition of capacity offtake. Out of the total capacity being installed under the tender, 60 per cent of the capacity will be off taken by SECI on behalf of the buying entities, and the offtake of 40 per cent of capacity will be the responsibility of the developers, through third-party or market sale. Thus, through this tender, the Government provides substantial support for market development in the energy storage domain. Out of the 60 per cent capacity off taken by SECI, 30 per cent will be earmarked to be used by National Load Despatch Centre, Power System Operation Corporation Limited for grid ancillary services. The tender marks the first tranche of the Government's immediate target of setting up 4000 MWh of Battery Storage Capacity as part of achieving increased penetration of RE in the national grid. (ANI)
HDFC Bank's asset quality has improved also on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The bank's gross NPA stood at 1.26 per cent as on December 31, 2021.

HDFC Bank's net non-performing assets stood at 0.32 per cent of net advances as on March 31, 2022, according to a statement released by HDFC Bank.

The Bank held floating provisions of Rs 1,451 crore and contingent provisions of Rs 9,685 crore as on March 31, 2022. Total provisions (comprising specific, floating, contingent and general provisions) were 182 per cent of the gross non-performing loans as on March 31, 2022.

The Board of Directors of HDFC Bank approved the company's results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2022, at its meeting held on Saturday. (ANI)
By Trend

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he would like to visit the Ukraine and confirmed a report his administration is having conversations about sending a senior official to Kyiv, Trend reports citing Daily Mail.

'We're making that decision now,' Biden said when asked if a top member of his administration would make the trip.

But when asked if he'd like to go, the president said: 'Yeah.'

It's not the first time Biden has expressed his interest in making such a trip.

While visiting U.S. troops in Poland last month, Biden lamanted he couldn't cross the border into the Ukraine, saying 'they' wouldn't let him.

'They will not let me, understandably, I guess, cross the border and take a look at whats going on in Ukraine,' he said.

White House officials have pointed to the incredible security procedures that would need to be put into place for Biden to visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Before Biden went to Poland, White House press secretary Jen Psaki ruled out a presidential visit to Ukraine.

The latest round of questions came after Politico reported on Wednesday that the White House was considering a high-level trip to the Ukraine match those by European leaders.

A visit by Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris was ruled out with sources telling the news outlet that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was more likely to be tapped to go.

European leaders such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have all visited Zelensky in the past week.

The White House is looking to match such a trip as a show of support for Ukraine.

Biden last visited Kyiv as vice president, in January 2017 - three days before leaving office.
After the first wedding pictures shared by Alia on her Instagram, now new pictures from their 'gathbandhan' ceremony have taken the Internet by storm.

Gathbandhan is a ritual in Hindu weddings in which the bride's 'pallu' is tied to the groom's scarf. The ritual symbolises the union of the couple for eternity.

From the groom's side, mother Neetu Kapoor, sister Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and cousin Karisma Kapoor performed the rituals, as Ranbir's other cousin, Kareena Kapoor Khan, stood by the newly-wed couple's side.

Ranbir and Alia began dating on the sets of Ayan Mukherjee's 'Brahmastra' in 2018 and made their first public appearance as a couple at Sonam Kapoor's wedding in the same year.

Their choice of South Africa as their honeymoon destination follows their earlier visit to the country to ring in the New Year. That was when they fell in love with the place and decided to return after tying the knot.

--IANS aa/srb

( 196 Words)

2022-04-15-23:12:05 (IANS)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be directed and scripted by Adam Sztykiel with Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey producing.

In the DC comics, The Wonder Twins are alien siblings named Zan and Jayna who were introduced as the young companions to older heroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in Hanna-Barbera's 1970s 'The All-New Super Friends Hour'. The twins are known for their catchphrase: "Wonder Twin power, activate!"

Warner Bros' last release was 'The Batman' and upcoming projects include the animated DC film 'League of Super-Pets', 'Black Adam' and 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods'.

May is known for her breakout work in the 'Yellowstone' prequel '1883' in which she portrayed Elsa Dutton. Apa rose to fame with CW's 'Riverdale' portraying comic book character Archie Andrews. He also played the lead role in the Michael Bay-produced pandemic thriller 'Songbird'. (ANI)
Bollywood actor Jaideep Ahlawat, who will be seen sharing screen space with Ayushmann Khurrana in 'An Action Hero', has completed his shoot for the satirical action film. Jaideep took to his Instagram handle on Saturday and shared a picture that showed him holding a clapboard from the upcoming film. In the caption, he wrote, "And... it's a Wrap for Me. What a Journey for this film. Thank you Guys for all the Love and an Amazing experience. Thank you for Believing in me. Love you All." 'An Action Hero' went on floors in January this year with its first schedule filmed in London. Last month, Ayushmann had wrapped up the London schedule of the film. Speaking about his journey shooting for the movie, Jaideep said, "Shooting for An Action Hero was the best of both worlds - lots of learning and even more fun! Working with the entire team of An Action Hero has been a joy ride and an enriching experience. Anirudh Iyer's storytelling is flawless and Ayushmann was just the most perfect co-star!" Featuring an artist's journey, both in front and behind the lens, the Anirudh Iyer directorial is set to enthral the audience with its slick action and offbeat satirical sense of humour. The film is co-produced by Colour Yellow and T-Series. (ANI)
Bhatt, who married Kapoor in an intimate ceremony on Thursday, took to her Instagram handle and dropped a series of pictures from her Mehendi ceremony.

The pictures garnered more than seven million likes and thousands of congratulatory messages from fans and followers on Instagram.

'Wonder Woman' star Gal Gadot also dropped 'Congratulations' with a red heart emoticon in the comments section of the delightful post.

Alia Bhatt is all set to make her Hollywood debut with Netflix's international spy thriller 'Heart of Stone' which will feature Gal Gadot and 'Fifty Shades' star Jamie Dornan in the lead.

The project will be helmed by British filmmaker Tom Harper. Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder have contributed to the script. Plot details are being kept under wraps. (ANI)
Ranbir's mother Neetu Kapoor, sister Riddhima Kapoor, and her husband Bharat Sahni were clicked leaving their home to attend the reception at the 'Barfi' actor's home, which was also the wedding venue.

The trio was dressed in shimmery black western outfits, perfect for the reception night.

Ranbir's cousin Nitasha Nanda also reached the venue dressed in a black and purple sequined outfit.

Alia's mother Soni Razdan and sister Shaheen Bhatt were also spotted outside Vastu. Soni was decked in a black western outfit teamed with soft pink makeup. Shaheen looked surreal in sequined golden attire which she complemented with minimal jewellery and pink palette makeup.

The 'Brahmastra' actors' close friends including filmmaker Karan Johar and Ayan Mukerji also dressed in shimmery black outfits for the wedding reception.

Alia's best friend Akansha Ranjan Kapoor arrived with her family at the venue. She was spotted wearing a beige sequined dress. Whereas, her family members including Anushka Ranjan were dressed in black outfits.

Decked in a white outfit, Shweta Bachchan Nanda was also spotted reaching Vastu to attend Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt's after wedding party.

Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor tied the knot on Thursday, April 14 in an intimate ceremony with the couple's family members and close friends in attendance. (ANI)
Subair and his aged father Basheer were returning on a bike after attending Friday prayers at a mosque when a car hit the bike and both of them fell down.

Basheer said that four men came in two cars and hacked his son to death, after which they escaped in one car, leaving the other at the place where the crime took place.

"I think I can recognise two of them," said Basheer, who suffered minor injuries after falling down from the bike.

The local SDPI activists alleged that it was a planned attack by RSS/BJP combine.

The police have launched a probe by sending teams to Tamil Nadu, where the killers are believed to have escaped.

Following the gruesome murder, DGP Anil Kant has issued an advisory to all the 14 district police chiefs, urging them to ensure that the force is on high alert.

Doubts are being raised as to whether it was a revenge killing, as in the same area (Ellapully) where this murder took place, a 26-year-old RSS worker, Sanjith, was brutally murdered in November last year, allegedly by SDPI activists.

--IANS sg/arm

( 237 Words)

2022-04-15-21:00:44 (IANS)
The Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department is in the process of buying land between Thiruneermalai and Anagaputhur areas of Chennai for widening the Adayar river in the city's southern parts. Officials said that this is for the first time in the history of the department that private land is acquired to widen a river in the state. Department engineers told IANS that the river will be widened between Thiruneermalai and Anagaputhur as the width of the river in this area is less than 100 feet and this leads to flood when water overflows. Sources in the Department told IANS that the state government has allocated Rs 70.05 crore for the project. Of this 50 per cent will be used for compensating the land owners while the balance would be used for implementing flood mitigation project. The tender process will commence after the Government Order is issued which is expected next week, sources in the Water Eesources Department said. The total length of the river is 42 km and it flows through Manivakkam, Varadharajapuram, Mudichur, Thiruneermalai, Anagaputhur, Kattupakam and Manapakkam before it drains into the sea. Officials said that after acquiring the land, the bunds would be strengthened and walls would be raised. Meanwhile, a total of 4,500 encroachments have been removed from Adayar river so far and notice have been issued to remove 5,000 other encroachments. --IANS aal/vd ( 242 Words) 2022-04-15-21:06:03 (IANS)
The Delhi Police has caught a syndicate of international fraudsters and extortionists and arrested five people for abusing and extorting innocent people, an official said on Friday. The accused were identified as Sonu Singh, Vikash Kumar, Harpreet Singh, Pankaj Kumar and Jitender Kumar. Giving details, DCP (Crime branch) Rohit Meena said a complaint was lodged by a man alleging that he and his family, friends and relatives were being abused and threatened by some unknown persons through some international and national WhatsApp mobile numbers, since the last few days to repay the loan taken from "Cash Advance Ha", an unauthorized Chinese micro finance company. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case under sections 419, 420 and 385 of the IPC & 66 C, 66 D of the IT Act. During investigation of the Call Detail Records of the mobile phones used in the crime, it was revealed that the accused persons were making calls to the victims through fraudulently obtained WhatsApp numbers, of which most were from Assam and West Bengal. On scrutiny of the Call Detail Records of the mobile numbers, one of the accused was located in the Delhi-Gurugram border area after which raids were conducted at SalaPur Khera, Bijwashan, Delhi, where the accused Sonu Singh, who used to make the calls to the victims through a fraudulently obtained WhatsApp number was arrested and the mobile numbers used in the crime were also recovered from him. At the instance of Sonu Singh, another accused Vikash Kumar was arrested from Farukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. During technical analysis, it was found that Vikash Kumar was running a team of callers, who used to make calls to the persons who had taken a loan from their App. It was also found that if a person needed to take a loan through the Apps available online, he had to download the application first. At the time of downloading the application, the app asks permission to capture the contact list, photo gallery and other personal data of the phone of the loan seeker. It was assured by the loan application that the loan amount will be interest free for the next 60 days. As soon as the permission was granted by the loan seeker, all their data automatically got transferred to Chinese servers. Two more persons Harpreet Singh and Pankaj Kumar, who are working as managers in the company have also been arrested and one more accused Jitender Kumar, who used to provide WhatsApp mobile numbers for calling purposes has also been arrested in the case. --IANS uj/bg ( 436 Words) 2022-04-15-21:16:02 (IANS)
Taking a selfie during a ritual bath in the Ganga river turned fatal as three teenagers died in two different incidents in Patna while undertaking the activity, officials said on Friday. The teenagers went to Ganga to take holy dip on the occasion of Satuan festival on Thursday. The first incident was reported at Goraiya Sthan at Maner town in Patna district. A SDRF official said that 6 teenagers came to the river and four of them, identified as Ankul, Aditya, Guddu and Manna, went inside the water. "While taking selfies, they probably did not realize the strong flow of water. When they started drowning in the river, a crossing boat managed to rescue two, Guddu and Manna while Ankul and Aditya were swept away in the strong flow of water," the official said. A similar incident occurred at the bank of Ganga river near Dostnagar locality in Patna where Tinku Kumar, a resident of Lodipur, went there to take a holi bath on the occasion of Satual. He was also taking selfies in the deep water without realising the strong flow of water and was also swept away. The SDRF team worked till late in the evening but they failed to fish out the dead bodies. Satuan is a traditional festival of Bihar, celebrated here for good health during the summer session. In this festival, people used to take a dip in the river followed by consuming sattu (gram flour), and chutneys made of raw mangoes, onions, and salt. Some people also use pickles to enhance the taste. These low cost foods are very helpful in protecting people from heat waves, while being very popular among villagers during summer in particular. --IANS ajk/vd ( 297 Words) 2022-04-15-21:18:06 (IANS)
Eight workers of BJP's youth wing BJYM arrested for vandalism at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence during a protest and later released on bail, were felicitated by Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta at the party office. Tweeting about the felicitation programme that took place on late Thursday evening, Gupta said: "The eight BJYM activists who went to jail for protest against anti-Hindu Kejriwal got bail from court after 14 days. Welcomed these young revolutionaries at party office today. Each of our workers will continue fighting anti-Hindu forces." When asked about felicitation of the accused, Gupta on Friday told IANS that Kejriwal's remarks in the assembly have hurt sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits and their plight was the main reason for the BJYM's protest against him. "Instead of apologising to Kashmiri Pandits whose sentiments he hurt, Kejriwal and his party leaders continued to humiliate them. We just exercised our democratic right to protest against this arrogance and callousness of Kejriwal and his cronies," Gupta said. When asked about the AAP's allegation of "BJP felicitating the goons", Gupta said: "BJP is a party of nationalists and works for national interest. Kejriwal does politics of appeasement for vote. Yes, they are revolutionaries who took a stand for Hindus and Kashmiri Pandits. The AAP must look within. We will come continue to protest till Kejriwal apologies for his anti Hindu remark." The Thursday event has drawn criticism from AAP on Friday. Senior AAP leader and MLA Atishi said that the party has sent a message to its workers all over the country that they will be felicitated if they indulge in hooliganism and vandalism. --IANS ssb/pgh ( 286 Words) 2022-04-15-21:26:02 (IANS)
By Trend

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov instructed to establish the effective operation of transit corridors in order to carry out export and import operations, Trend reports via Business Turkmenistan news agency.

The head of state said this when visiting the Turkmenbashi International Seaport during his trip to the Balkan region of Turkmenistan.

During the trip, Deputy Prime Ministers Esenmurad Orazgeldiyev and Chary Gylydzhov reported on the reception and export of agro-industrial complex goods at this terminal, as well as on the effective use of the port's capabilities by domestic entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, the Turkmenbashi International Seaport is located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. On average, 1,500 vessels enter its waters per year.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Friday between the district administration of Chamba and NHPC Ltd for execution of a pilot hydrogen project in the presence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here. NHPC Group General Manager A.K. Pathak and Deputy Commissioner D.C. Rana signed the pact. Thakur said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that India would go carbon neutral by 2070 and by 2030, India will generate 500 GW from non-fossil fuel sources which will be 50 per cent of the total installed capacity. "This initiative of the state government with the cooperation of NHPC will be a big milestone in this regard," Thakur said. He said a grid connected ground mounted solar PV plant of 300 KW would be installed and the power would be used in the electrolyser to produce hydrogen. About 20 kg hydrogen per day would be generated through the electrolysis process and would be considered as green hydrogen and would be stored in pressurising form. He said nine to 12 litres of water would be utilised to produce 1 kg of hydrogen fuel. --IANS vg/arm ( 198 Words) 2022-04-15-21:26:03 (IANS)
In a tweet, Modi said: "Had a wonderful meeting with district Panchayat Members from Gujarat. They had insightful views on ways to improve the quality of life and infrastructure in the villages."

On April 12 also, Modi met District Panchayat members from Gujarat and talked at length about issues related to rural development and leveraging Jan Shakti for societal progress.

--IANS ssb/pgh

( 86 Words)

2022-04-15-22:52:02 (IANS)
The newly appointed Vice Chancellor of Jammu University, Umesh Rai on Friday sought integration of science curriculum by engaging and enrolling students of the University in various new student and youth related start-ups and other projects, scholarships and fellowships initiated by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology. "The students from the University of Jammu should be engaged in some of the futuristic science projects launched by the Ministry, which would enable better exposure for them (the students) from the peripheral region," Rai said as he met Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh. This was Rai's first meeting with the Minister after taking over as Vice Chancellor. He was a professor in the Delhi University before taking up his present assignment. Asserting that the research in the University has to be linked with start-ups, Singh said, "In order to make the start-ups sustainable, not only the academic streams need to come together but the industry also needs to be made equal stakeholders with investments of resources." Invoking the integrated approach -- which, Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to promote in the government, the Minister said he has asked the departments not to come out with separate projects but the projects which have to be based on the themes, and according to the themes different relevant departments and ministries can join together for a common agenda, Ministry officials said. --IANS niv/pgh ( 251 Words) 2022-04-15-23:14:03 (IANS)
The lack of approval of genetically modified (GM) crops since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002 signals a dormant regulatory environment that fails to consider the benefits reaped by modern technologies to enhance India's agriculture sector, said a report released on Friday. The trajectories of GM crops such as Bt brinjal and GM mustard in the regulatory pipeline suggest that the scientific assessment of GM crops has been highly susceptible to the ebbs and flows of political discourse. "Conflict of interest in the regulatory set-up acts as a hindrance in forming a transparent, objective and science-based mechanism for GM approval apart from lack of infrastructural support and the independence of the apex regulator form some of the major bottlenecks in the approval process," the report by advocacy think-tank that works on policy issues, Centre for Civil Society (CCS), said. Citing double earnings by Maharashtra and Gujarat farmers who adopted Bt cotton, a report by a think-tank on Friday claimed there is a scope to see similar success in the adoption of Bt brinjal, provided regulatory hurdles for GM crops are removed. Therefore, decoupling politics and ideologically-driven positions from the science on GM is the key if India were to adopt technologies that boost its agricultural ecosystem, which will benefit farmers, consumers and society at large, it said. Answering skepticism -- for example, the perceived unnaturalness of GM crops due to the human intervention of introducing a new gene -- has presented the policymakers with an arduous task, one that involves navigating through the sharp GM divide while at the same time embracing innovative technologies that solve pressing obstacles facing India's agricultural ecosystem, the report added. In several areas, farmers have continued to protest the restrictions on GM, especially Bt cotton, most recently in February 2022 at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, "but the government refuses to budge and gives in to public opinion driven by activists," the CCS said even as it acknowledged lack of benefits for farmers in rain-fed areas and the uptick in pesticide usage due to increased pest-resistance. "In both Maharashtra and Gujarat, farmers have been able to at least double their harvest and cut costs by planting Bt cotton. There is scope to see similar success in the adoption of Bt brinjal. But given the political turmoil and the anti-GM push in approving GM crops in India, certainty for farmers in the legality of GM seems to be a far cry away. An independent regulator that is able to take decisions without being swayed by politicians or activists is one way out of this," the report recommended. The report, however, does not find any mention of farmers' suicide from Maharashtra, mainly from the cotton belt. --IANS niv/khz/ ( 462 Words) 2022-04-15-23:24:08 (IANS)
Amid the row over the alleged suicide of contractor Santosh Patil, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday expressed confidence that KS Eshwarappa will come out clear from all allegations and will return in the cabinet. Karnataka Rural Development Minister KS Eshwarappa on Friday tendered his resignation from Ministership to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai amid the row over the alleged suicide of contractor Santosh Patil. Speaking to reporters here, the former Chief Minister said despite committing any mistake Eshwarappa has to resign due to certain pressure. "Though KS Eshwarappa did not commit any mistake, such a situation has come for him that he has to resign. If an enquiry is completed in two to three months, he will be proven clean and didn't commit any mistake, due to some pressure he's tendering his resignation, there will be no problem to take him back in the cabinet, he's resigning though he made nothing wrong," he said. "I have confidence that he will face it and he will become a minister after he comes out clean. I wish him good luck. He will become minister once he comes out clean," he added. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday accepted the resignation of his cabinet colleague KS Eshwarappa. "I have accepted Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa's resignation. I will send it to the Governor," Chief Minister Bommai told reporters here. Notably, Eshwarappa represents the Shivamogga Assembly seat. Following tendering his resignation, Eshwarappa said, "I will come out clean. I have said this earlier too. The Investigation is going on. Earlier, I had asked our seniors to take my resignation but they had asked me to wait. Now I do not want to embarrass my seniors and have given my resignation to the Chief Minister." Deceased contractor Santosh Patil had accused the Minister Eshwarappa of corruption. He was found dead in a lodge in Udupi on Tuesday. (ANI)
While the normalcy has returned to the violence-hit Khargone town of Madhya Pradesh, still the people are facing problems as many weddings have been called off because the families are refusing to marry their daughters in the riots-affected areas. The people of Sanjay Nagar Basti of Khargone town are still facing the brunt of the violence. The mob not only burnt their houses to ashes but also filled their future life with difficulties. Mahesh Patil, a local said that his son's wedding got called off because of the riots. His son was supposed to be married after two months but after the riots, the bride's side has refuse to send their daughter to the riot-hit areas. Nanuram Patil, son of Mahesh Patil, marriage was fixed six months back but his wedding was called off by his in-laws arguing that such incidents often happen here. "My son's wedding got called off as rioters looted my house during Ram Navami. The in-laws saw that it is not feasible to live here as riots and stone-pelting happen here. They say that the wedding will happen only if we buy a plot somewhere else," said a local, Mahesh Patil on Friday. Some of the families were also forced to postpone the marriage of daughters due to the violence that took place during a Ram Navami procession. Speaking to ANI, Laxmi, a bride who was to get married on April 14 said, "On Ram Navami violence broke out in our village. We tried to stop the rioters but they didn't stop and looted our house. My house was full of gifts and all other wedding essentials. All the relatives were here for my wedding but it is now postponed due to the violence." She further said that the rioters looted many houses and also set many houses on fire. "Stone pelting occurred in Talab Chowk during Ram Navami... my sister's wedding material, kept in a neighbour's house got looted during the violence. I am in talks with the groom's side we will extend the wedding date due to these riots," said a local, Satish. "The administration should take strict action against the rioters and if they will not take action then will be forced to migrate. This is not the first time but the same thing happened in 2016 and 2021. People are afraid to visit our village; they don't want to have any kind of relationship with the villagers. People think that the girls are also not safe in here and that is why they refuse for weddings too," he added. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan assured the victims of Khargone violence of rebuilding their houses. "Shouldn't bulldozers be used against those who trouble the poor? The houses of the poor were burnt in Khargone. They should not worry as 'Mama' will build their houses. We will recover from those who burnt their houses," said Chouhan. Several people including police personnel were injured when groups of people pelted stones at each other during a Ram Navami procession on April 10. The stone-pelting started at the beginning of the procession leaving around four people injured including a police inspector. (ANI)
Amid the communal violence in some parts of the country, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said that a divided nation will never rule the world and asked to replace fear with faith. In a Facebook post, the Congress leader said, "Muslims, as always will lay down their lives for the nation. But are hurt when their children are attacked in pointless hate. When the State chooses to by-pass rule of law and destroy homes and lives what respect is left for patriotism?" Khurshid was referring to the demolition of houses of some people involved in the attack on a Ram Navami procession a day after communal clashes erupted in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone. He further said that the governments and non-State actors who attack Muslim citizens for self-promotion must realise they attack the noble dream of Hindu-Muslim unity, the corner stone of our Republic and bonds of social harmony. "We cannot live by stone pelting and demolitions alone. Former unjustified by felt injustice and the latter arrogant misuse of the law. A divided nation will never rule the world so give up the policy of divide and rule at home. Faith must replace Fear, not be fear," he added. Several incidents of stone-pelting were reported in some states on Sunday during a Ram Navami procession. The district administration and police demolished illegal buildings of miscreants involved in the attack on a Ram Navami procession. The authorities ran the bulldozer over about 45 houses and shops. Around 16 houses and 29 shops were demolished. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday assured the victims of Khargone violence of rebuilding their houses. "Shouldn't bulldozers be used against those who trouble the poor? The houses of the poor were burnt in Khargone. They should not worry as 'Mama' will build their houses. We will recover from those who burnt their houses," said Chouhan. Earlier, the MP chief minister had termed the Khargone violence 'unfortunate'. (ANI)
After tendering his resignation, former Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa on Friday urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to conduct an investigation into the alleged suicide case of contractor Santosh Patil. "I urged the CM that an investigation should be conducted into the alleged suicide case of contractor Santosh Patil. It should come out whether it is a murder or suicide case," said Eshwarappa. He further said that there is a conspiracy behind the Opposition demanding his resignation on the basis of the allegations. "For the last four days, I have been asking my seniors to accept my resignation, today they accepted it. There is a conspiracy behind all this," he added. Earlier, Eshwarappa had exuded confidence that he will come out clean in the investigation. "I will come out clean. I have said this earlier too. The Investigation is going on. Earlier, I had asked our seniors to take my resignation but they had asked me to wait. Now I do not want to embarrass my seniors and have given my resignation to the Chief Minister." Karnataka Chief Minister on Friday accepted the resignation of his cabinet colleague KS Eshwarappa following a controversy over the alleged suicide of contractor Santosh Patil who had accused the minister of corruption. "I have accepted Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa's resignation. I will send it to the Governor," Chief Minister Bommai told reporters here. Notably, Eshwarappa represents the Shivamogga Assembly seat. Deceased contractor Santosh Patil had accused the Minister Eshwarappa of corruption. He was found dead in a lodge in Udupi on Tuesday. (ANI)
"Patil would have earned fame if Congress government had tried to implement the irrigation projects. He himself was a minister, it was their own government. He is taking out a rally without doing anything when was in power," Bommai told media persons here.

Patil commenced the tractor rally on April 13 from Nargund in Gadag district and will conclude in Bilagi taluk on April 17.

Speaking about the Karnataka cabinet expansion, CM Bommai said that the subject would be discussed during Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s national president JP Nadda's visit to the state.

Karnataka Assembly elections are scheduled to take place next year. (ANI)
As per the police, the incident took place on the intervening night of 14 and 15 April around 3 am.

According to the police, based on a viral video, 10 people have been arrested at Koringa police station for organising a 'nude dance' at a Poleruamma Jatara (fair) in Uppangala village of Thallrevu Mandal in East Godavari district.

"A case has been registered and 10 people have been arrested. We don't know when the incident happened and we will get all the details soon," added the police. (ANI)
By Trend

Three Chinese astronauts returned to earth on Saturday after 183 days in space, state television reported, completing the country's longest crewed space mission to date, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The astronauts landed nine hours after they left a key module of China's first space station.

While in orbit, the Shenzhou-13 mission astronauts took manual control in the Tianhe living quarters module for what state media called a "docking experiment" with the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft.

Following their launch in October, the astronauts - Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and a female crew member Wang Yaping - spent 183 days in space, completing the fifth of 11 missions needed to finish the space station by the end of the year.

Shenzhou-13 was the second of four planned crewed missions to complete construction of the space station, which began last April. Shenzhou-12 returned to Earth in September.

China's next two missions will be Tianzhou-4, a cargo spacecraft, and the three-person Shenzhou-14 mission, Shao Limin, deputy technology manager of Manned Spaceship System was quoted by state media as saying.

Barred by the United States from participating in the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit, China has spent the past decade developing technologies to build its own space station, the only one in the world other than the ISS.

China, which aims to become a space power by 2030, has successfully launched probes to explore Mars and became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.
As the counting of votes cast in the by-poll to the Ballygunge Assembly seat is underway, TMC candidate Babul Supriyo on Saturday exuded confidence in winning the election and said the people of West Bengal are with Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee. "I'm confident. The 41 per cent voters turnout here rubbished the opposition's unnecessary claim of false voting. Had that been the case, would turnout have been this huge? West Bengal is with Didi and TMC", said Babul Supriyo. The by-polls were necessitated after former Union Minister Babul Supriyo resigned as the Lok Sabha MP of Asansol after resigning from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He later joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The Ballygunge Assembly seat by-poll was necessitated after the demise of state Minister Subrata Mukherjee. Speaking on the Asansol Lok Sabha by-poll, Supriyo said, "Asansol has given me much love and I will always appreciate it. Shatrughan Sinha's victory is also certain. Before reaching the final phase of the result every moment is interesting and let's enjoy the journey." The TMC has fielded yesteryear actor Shatrughan Sinha in Asansol, which has a substantial Hindi-speaking population, while the BJP has nominated Asansol Dakshin MLA Agnimitra Paul from the constituency. In the state Assembly elections last year, Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 213 seats while BJP on the other hand garnered 77 seats in the 294-seat state Assembly. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Supriyo had defeated TMC candidate Moon Moon Sen by a massive margin of 1,97,637 votes, securing 51.56 per cent of the total votes polled. In 2014, Supriyo's victory margin was 70,480 votes. Bye-election to a Ballygunge Assembly seat and Asansol Lok Sabha seat was held on April 12. On the polling day, BJP's Lok Sabha by-poll candidate Agnimitra Paul alleged that TMC workers thrashed her security personnel and pelted stones at her convoy while TMC candidate Babul Supriyo alleged electoral malpractice by BJP. (ANI)
After a teacher and student contracted the coronavirus infection, a total of 14 COVID-19 positive children who are admitted to hospitals in the national capital, most of them have comorbidities, informed official sources on Saturday. "As many as 14 COVID positive children those who are admitted in private and government hospitals of here, are most of them comes under comorbidities," sources said. A student and a teacher of a private school in South Delhi tested positive on Thursday, following which, other students who were in the same class were sent home. It assumes importance as the schools started to function fully offline from April 1 after all the curbs related to COVID were lifted on February 28 considering the low positivity rate. Meanwhile, the Delhi government also issued a fresh advisory for schools in the national capital, directing them to close the entire premises or specific wings temporarily if any student or staff tests positive for COVID-19. The advisory stated that the students and teachers should strictly follow the COVID-19 protocols including maintenance of social distancing, sanitization of hands, wearing masks, etc. However, a Delhi doctor called the shutting down of schools due to teachers and students contracting COVID-19 a "knee jerk" reaction and said people who are contracting COVID have mild symptoms. "With the present trend, I feel it is a knee-jerk reaction. In the last two years, we have destroyed the younger generation as their mental and physical development is wasted. The real investment of a country is children. If they don't progress then after 10 years we will have weak personalities," said Paediatric Pulmonologist at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Dr Dhiren Gupta. The national capital has been witnessing an uptick in coronavirus cases over the last few days. Delhi has recorded 366 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with a positivity rate of nearly four per cent (3.95 per cent), said the health bulletin on Friday. A total of 1,072 active cases have been recorded in the national capital during the last 24 hours, the highest number of active patients since March 7. (ANI)
Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday started an investigation of a case registered in Barharwa police station in Sahibganj Jharkhand in which cabinet minister Alamgir Alam has also been named. In the FIR, Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam has also been named. Based on this FIR registered with Jharkhand Police related to a tender, ED is now investigating the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (15 of 2003). ED Zonal office Ranchi has summoned the complainant Shambhu Nandan Kumar and sought all the details of the FIR, and full details of the tender in which the persons accused in the FIR caused an obstruction. (ANI)
"Deliberate attempt to create communal tension in the state. In the coming days, you will see the entry of Owaisi in the picture, after Raj Thackeray. It is an attempt to start a communal rift and untoward incidents in the state," Patil told media persons here.

Raj Thackeray had asked the Maharashtra government to remove the loudspeakers from mosques and warned of "putting loudspeakers in front of the mosques and playing Hanuman Chalisa."

He even reiterated its warning to the state government that they should shut loudspeakers in mosques by May 3.

Earlier in the day, Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) put up a poster outside the Saamana Office in Mumbai asking Sanjay Raut to "shut down his loudspeaker" in response to Shiv Sena leader's reported remark terming Raj Thackeray the "Owaisi of Maharashtra".

The MNS poster also has a picture of Raut's car that the party had turned upside down in the past reminding the Shiv Sena leader of the incident.

"Whom did you call Owaisi? Sanjay Raut shut down your loudspeaker, whole Maharashtra facing problem due to it or else we will shut down your loudspeaker in MNS style," read the poster outside the office. (ANI)
Notably, the Punjab government today announced 300 units of free electricity for every household from July 1.

"What we said, we did. After Delhi, people of Punjab will also get free electricity," tweeted Chadha (roughly translated from Punjabi).

Interestingly, the announcement was made on the day when the AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann completed its first month at the office.

Providing free electricity to every household for up to 300 units is one of the major promises made by AAP in Punjab in the Assembly elections that concluded last month.

In Delhi, the AAP government provides 200 units of free electricity to the people.

Earlier, Mann rolled out a doorstep ration delivery scheme in the state last month which was also AAP's key campaign agenda in the polls. (ANI)
In a key development in the Gorakhnath Temple attack case, the judicial custody of accused Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi has been extended by 14 more days after he was presented before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) court in Gorakhpur on Saturday. The court also transferred Abbasi's case to Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) or National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Lucknow. "Court has transferred the case of Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi to ATS or NIA Special Court in Lucknow. His judicial custody has been extended to 14 more days. He will be produced before Special Court. ATS has sought his remand under sections of UAPA," PK Dubey, the lawyer told ANI. On April 3, 2022, a man forcibly tried to enter the Gorakhnath Temple premises and attacked the on-duty police personnel with a sharp weapon. Not ruling out the terror angle in forcibly entering the Gorakhnath Temple and assaulting the police personnel, the Uttar Pradesh government had handed over the probe to the Anti-Terrorism Squad after the accused got arrested. Murtaza's father also said that the accused is mentally not stable and had no planning to commit the offence. Meanwhile, the Chief Superintendent of Gorakhpur Sadar Hospital Dr JSP Singh, on Tuesday refused to comment on the mental condition of the Gorakhnath Temple attack accused. "No such evidence can be substantiated which would suggest if the accused is mentally unfit," he added. Uttar Pradesh ATS on Friday informed that eight people have been taken into custody in this case. (ANI)
The reason is a teacher who offers free classes to these students, a majority among them come from financially weaker sections and belong to remote areas of the state.

SK Jha who provides free classes to these students said around 12,000-14,000 aspirants are currently preparing for their exams.

Most of the students studying here are Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and Staff Selection Commission (SSC) aspirants.

"All the students, here, are from the Non-Technical Popular Category (NTPC), who have already cleared their first Computer-Based Test (CBT-1)," SK Jha told ANI on Saturday.

SK Jha has a team of 30-35 people who work tirelessly throughout the week to prepare the test material for the exam preparation.

"One can find students of humble backgrounds, belonging to the remotest areas, preparing for their competitive exams in order to get employed," said Jha.

Jha mentors these students for their government exams, a twice a week, without charging any fees.

A farmer's son from Aurangabad expressed how the guidance of their teacher helped to boost his confidence and perform better every day.

"We arrive here by 6 in the morning to give a 90-minute test constituting 120 questions," said Gudia from Mokama, one of the students. (ANI)
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said that the upcoming month of May will be dedicated to women in Himachal Pradesh when attention would be given to the women-related issues. Speaking to the reporters here on completion of four years of Mobile Health Service, Thakur said, "Har Ghar Har Dwaar Haspatal, an initiative taken four years ago on April 14, 2018, with 3 vehicles to provide healthcare facilities to people in the villages. Today, after 4 years I can say that more than 7 lakh people have received free checkups and free treatments. This has helped people save crores of rupees. We will dedicate a complete May month to the women. During this one month, attention would be given to the women-related issues, and all sorts of tests would be conducted." The Union Minister further stated that the mobile healthcare services that had begun with three vehicles in 2018 have now increased to 32 and have reached 6,400 villages across the state. "We have reached nearly 6,400 villages through these 32 vehicles. Our focus is to increase it further," he said. Earlier, addressing on the occasion, the Minister said that Tuberculosis is a grave problem and the state aimed at removing it by 2021, however, due to the pandemic, there was a shift in the priorities. "Tuberculosis is a grave problem, world's 1/4 of TB patients are in India. There's stigma around people suffering from it. PM Modi kept the goal to eradicate TB by 2025. In Himachal, we aimed to remove it by 2021 but covid shifted our priorities," he said. Asked about the Aam Aadmi Party leaders' visits to Himachal Pradesh in the run-up to the state Assembly polls, Thakur said, "They have no ground here, their unit is finished." Earlier this month, Himachal Pradesh Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Anup Kesari joined the BJP. (ANI)
Despite the fact that involuntary urination during sleep can be a symptom of certain potentially lethal cardiac arrhythmias, they are rarely considered in the diagnostic evaluation. Researchers have made an evidence-based case for expanding the diagnostic workup to include cardiac arrhythmias when a normally continent individual experiences Enuresis Nocturna (involuntary urination during sleep). The study was published in the journal, 'Heart Rhythm'. When a normally continent individual experiences Enuresis Nocturna, treating physicians typically consider a differential diagnosis of urinary tract infections, anatomic malformations, emotional disturbances, epilepsy, sleep apnea, and the effects of diuretic or sedative medications. The sudden death from long QT syndrome type 2 of a 23-year-old female who had experienced two isolated bedwetting episodes but no other symptoms, prompted researchers to examine the prevailing protocols among physicians likely to encounter patients with unexplained enuresis. They conducted an anonymous internet-based survey asking physicians to select the diagnostic tests they would perform for a patient with unexpected and unexplained bedwetting and no other symptoms. The 346 respondents included 102 paediatricians, 73 family physicians, 57 internal medicine specialists, 35 residents, 37 interns, and 42 advanced medical students. Of these, 114 were senior physicians with more than three years of experience. Most of the survey respondents said they would perform urinalysis and kidney ultrasound following events of enuresis to search for an underlying urinary disease. Many also selected testing for diabetes and abnormalities in urinary flow. While 19 per cent recommended performing an encephalogram, an indication that they considered the possibility of nocturnal epileptic seizures as a potential cause, only 1 per cent thought that performing an electrocardiogram was indicated. This finding demonstrates that arrhythmic seizures are practically never considered part of the differential diagnosis of unexplained enuresis. "We are very surprised and extremely concerned by the lack of awareness among primary physicians about the possibility of nocturnal arrhythmogenic seizures caused by long QT syndrome," noted lead investigator Sami Viskin, MD, Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. "The condition, which is highly lethal when left undiagnosed and untreated, is easy to detect with an electrocardiogram and is highly responsive to appropriate therapy," she added. It is important to raise awareness of the fact that the same arrhythmias known to cause syncope in the "awake patient" may also cause nocturnal seizures during sleep. If these nocturnal seizures are not witnessed, then unexplained bedwetting may be the only clue remaining from the dramatic event. Dr Viskin explained that the underlying diagnosis for most cases of enuresis will not be an arrhythmic syncope, especially in young patients. However, it is important to explore this possibility, particularly when the events are highly sporadic, noting that "An electrocardiogram is an inexpensive and easily performed test that is invaluable for diagnosing potentially fatal diseases that can be easily cured." "Inquiring about a familial history of sudden death should be an integral part of every medical consultation," Dr Viskin added. Failing to recognise a malignant family history can be pivotal: Post-mortem investigation of the patient uncovered family history including genetic predisposition and instances of sudden death. (ANI)
Sinha, who recently joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured 6,56,358 votes with a winning margin of over 3 lakh over Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Agnimitra Paul, who took second place by winning 3,53,149 votes.

CPIM's Partha Mukherjee bagged 90,412 votes while Congress candidate Prasenjit Puitandy got 15,035 votes.

After the massive win, Sinha said, "Earlier in some places 'Khela Hobe' used to happen with EVMs but here free and fair elections were held without any fear. This win is of TMC, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the people of Asansol. I have never seen such an overwhelming response and love."

Asked whether he had made BJP 'khamosh', he said, "People have already done that (silenced the BJP). Mamata Banerjee is the country's favourite and popular leader. She will be a game-changer (in 2024 polls) and we will stay with her where she goes including Bihar," added the 'Kalicharan' actor.

Saturday has been a happy-go-lucky day for the ruling party in Bengal as the TMC won both Asansol parliamentary and Ballygunge Assembly seats by-elections. In Ballygunge, TMC candidate Babul Supriyo won the bypolls securing 51,199 votes.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the Kalighat temple in Kolkata after the bypolls results.

The Asansol Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Supriyo, a two-time BJP MP, quit the BJP in October last year and joined the TMC.

The Ballygunge Assembly seat bypoll was necessitated after the demise of state Minister Subrata Mukherjee.

Polling for one parliamentary constituency Asansol and one assembly constituency Ballygunge in West Bengal was held on April 12. (ANI)
By Trend

The Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG) for a comprehensive management of Indias relations with neighbouring countries on Tuesday deliberated on a host of issues, including the construction of border infrastructure that would facilitate trade with neighbours like Nepal, opening rail connectivity with Bangladesh and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and Myanmar, Trend reports citing The Indian EXPRESS.

The first meeting at the secretary level of the IMCG, set up as a high-level mechanism towards mainstreaming Indias Neighbourhood First policy, was convened by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

The meeting deliberated upon and took important decisions on various aspects of Indias bilateral relationship with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the areas of trade and investment, connectivity, border infrastructure, immigration, development cooperation and border security, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Sources said issues considered at the IMCG meeting included special needs of countries such as Bhutan and Maldives in terms of supply of essential commodities and the fisheries issue with Sri Lanka.

Secretaries of ministries/Departments of Home, Commerce, Finance, Fisheries, representatives from Ministries/ Departments of Defence, Railways, Economic Affairs, Consumer Affairs, Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, Information & Broadcasting and from Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Council Secretariat as well as other relevant agencies along with heads of Border Guarding Forces participated in the meeting.

The IMCG is supported by Inter-Ministerial Joint Task Forces (JTF) convened by the joint secretaries concerned in the MEA.
After a Popular Front of India (PFI) worker was hacked to death in Palakkad on Friday, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) General Secretary, Hannan Mollah, while condemning the incident, said that the bloodshed needs to stop and this type of politics only spoils the well-being of democracy. "This is 'Khoon kharabi' politics, and it should stop. There should be no bloodshed. Any matter can be discussed but violence and murders are unacceptable, it's the biggest crime," said Mollah. He also emphasised the importance of peace for the overall social well-being and said,"'Khoon ka badla' should be stopped. This type of violence spoils the social and democratic well-being of the country. The exchange of bloodshed and murders should be stopped." Popular Front of India worker, Subair (43) was hacked to death in Palakkad on Friday. He was attacked while he was on a bike along with his father. Later, PFI accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of the murder. Investigation is on in this connection. (ANI)
The deceased was identified as Sreenivasan, a former Sharirik Shikshan Pramukh of the RSS.

Sreenivasan was hacked at a shop by a group of people who had reached there on bikes.

The Bharatiya Janata Party alleged PFI for the said murder.

Earlier, a Popular Front of India (PFI) worker Subair (43) was hacked to death in Palakkad on Friday. He was attacked while he was on a bike along with his father.

PFI had blamed the RSS for the murder.

Further investigations in the matter are underway. (ANI)
An electrician died of electrocution at the residence of Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala in Chandigarh Sector-3. "We received a call that a person has been electrocuted at the house of Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala in Sector 3. The injured was taken to the hospital where doctors declared him dead. Action is being taken in the matter," Karan Singh, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), Chandigarh told ANI. Ashok Pradhan, a member of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and a temporary PWD employee, said that the electrician had gone to the residence of the Minister to fix an air cooler. He alleged that the ambulance did not reach on time. Demanding justice for his colleague, Pradhan said starting Monday, all employees of the Minister's house and PWD (temporary and permanent) will sit on a protest at the MLA hostel until justice is served. (ANI)
In a solemn ceremony at BB Cantt, Lieutenant-general DP Pandey, Chinar Corps Commander and all ranks paid homage to the gallant soldiers on behalf of the proud nation, said the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Defence, Srinagar.

The three bravehearts were injured after the vehicle they were travelling in was overturned near Kanipora village.

Late Subedar Om (41) joined the Army in 1998. He belonged to Bhiwani in Haryana and is survived by his wife.

Late Havildar Ramautar (39) joined the Army in 2002. He belonged to Alwar in Rajasthan and is survived by his wife.

Sepahi Pawan Singh Gurjar (23) joined the Army in 2018. He belonged to Dausa in Rajasthan and is survived by his Mother.

The mortal remains of Subedar Om, Havildar Ramautar and Sepahi Pawan Singh Gurjar will be taken for last rites to their native place, where they would be laid to rest with full military honours.

In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and remains committed to their dignity and well being, the PRO said. (ANI)
BJP president JP Nadda will be on a two-day visit to Karnataka from Sunday as part of efforts to shore up the party's preparations for assembly polls with the Basavaraj Bommai government in the limelight over several issues including the Hijab row and resignation of KS Eshwarappa from the council of ministers. The BJP chief will hold several party programmes and visit historical temples during his visit to the state, which will go for assembly polls next year. Nadda will reach Toranagallu on Sunday morning. He will visit Shri Bhatrahalli Anjaneya Temple in Hosapate and take part in a meeting of the state BJP executive. He will also take part in a question and answer session with the delegates. On the second day of his visit, Nadda will visit several temples including Shri Virupaksheshwara Temple, Yantrodharaka Anjaneya Temple in Hampi, Kadale Kalu Ganapa, Sasuve Kalu Ganapa, Ugra, Narasimha, Badavi Linga and Ugrana Veerabhadra Temple. Nadda will also visit Malyavanta Hill in Hampi. According to the legend, Lord Rama met Anjaneya at Malyavanta Parvata. The only statue of Lord Rama in a Padmasana posture is also there. The BJP chief will also visit the world heritage site Vijaya Vittal Devasthanam famous for its stone chariot and musical pillars. Nadda will also visit Kamlapur Archaeological Museum. He will visit remnants of the past glory in Mahanavami Dibba, Vijayanagara Palace, Step well, Kamal Mahal, Elephant and Horse Lines. Besides Nadda, BJP general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and other state leaders are expected to hold meetings about the preparations for the upcoming assembly elections. During the visit, Nadda is expected to assess the ground-level situation in the state. Three teams with seven-eight leaders, led by BJP general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh, Basavaraj Bommai and state BJP president Nalin Kateel are also assessing the ground-level situation to boost the party's preparations for the assembly polls. The BJP is expected to take a call on the post of Karnataka party chief in the coming months as Nahin Kateel's ends early next year. A reshuffle in the Karnataka cabinet is also in the pipeline for which Chief Minister Bommai has made 2-3 visits to the national capital to meet the party's top leadership. Eshwarappa resigned as Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister on Friday following FIR against him in the contractor death case. (ANI)
Election poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Saturday met with Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi at her residence here in the national capital. The meeting was also attended by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi along with a group of senior leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, AK Antony, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken, Ambika Soni and general secretary organisation KC Venugopal.The meeting was held amid the buzz of Kishor joining Congress party. After today'meeting, Venugopal said that Kishor had given a detailed presentation with a road map for the 2024 General elections. When asked the senior leader and the party's general secretary organisation said that role of Kishor in the Congress party will be known within a week. According to the sources accessed by ANI, Kishor in his presentation suggested that Congress should fight alone in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, and it should form alliances in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra to which Rahul Gandhi has agreed, Kishore has clearly said that Congress should focus on 370 Lok Sabha constituencies for the 2024 General elections. He also added that specific strategy should be formulated with respect to certain states like Uttar Pradesh Bihar and Odisha where he wants Congress Party to work on a war footing basis and not form any alliance. "But, the party leadership is yet to take a call on this because the party has a strong alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar. In certain states like Odisha, only a single Member of Parliament has been elected in the 2019 general elections and in Uttar Pradesh recently in the Assembly polls Congress loss the plot very badly. Kishor's belief that if the Congress party follows a road map, then there will be a turning point in the 2024 elections," a Congress leader said on anonymity. Venugopal said that a small committee will be formed by Sonia Gandhi to look into the suggestions and ideas of the poll analyst and how to take them forward. While sources have indicated that the strategist will be joining the Congress party, Kishor, however, has specifically said that he does not want to hold any post and will be content with whatever role the Congress party gives him. The poll analyst had earlier fallen out with the Congress after several rounds of talks, the most recent after the win of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a three-day visit to Gujarat from April 18 during which he will unveil multiple development projects and lay the foundation stone of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar. He will attend the Adijati Maha Sammelan in Dahod and inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects worth around Rs 22,000 crore. A PMO release said the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar on April 19 in the presence of the Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus. GCTM will be the first and only global outpost centre for traditional medicine across the world. It will emerge as an international hub of global wellness. He will inaugurate Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar and unveil multiple development projects in Banaskantha. The Prime Minister will visit the Command and Control Centre for Schools in Gandhinagar on April 18. A PMO release said the Centre collects over 500 crore data sets annually and analyzes them meaningfully using big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, in order to enhance overall learning outcomes for students. He said the Centre helps track daily online attendance of teachers and students and undertake centralized summative and periodic assessments of learning outcome of students. "The Command and Control Centre for Schools has been deemed a global best practice by the World Bank, which has also invited other countries to visit and learn about it," the release said. PM Modi will dedicate to the nation a new dairy complex and potato processing plant at Diyodar, Banaskantha district, built at a cost of over Rs 600 crores, on April 19, at around 9:40 am. The new dairy complex is a greenfield project. It will enable the processing of about 30 lakh litres of milk, produce about 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh litres of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk (khoya) and 6 tonnes of chocolate daily. The potato processing plant will produce different types of processed potato products like french fries, potato chips, 'aloo tikki', patties etc, many of which will be exported in other countries. These plants will empower the local farmers and give a boost to the rural economy in the region. PM Modi will also dedicate the Banas Community Radio Station to the nation on the same day. This community radio station has been established to provide farmers key scientific information related to agriculture and animal husbandry. It is expected that the radio station will connect with over 5 lakh farmers of about 1,700 villages. PM Modi will dedicate to the nation the expanded facilities for the production of cheese products and whey powder at the Banas dairy plant in Palanpur. He will also inaugurate the organic manure and biogas plant established at Dama, Gujarat. He will lay the foundation stone of four gobar gas plants of 100 tonnes capacity to be established at Khimana, Ratanpura - Bhildi, Radhanpur and Thawar. PM Modi will inaugurate the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit, to be held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, April 20 at around 10:30 am. Prime Minister of Mauritius and DG, WHO, will also be present on the occasion. The three-day summit will witness five plenary sessions, eight roundtables, six workshops, and two symposiums, with the presence of around 90 eminent speakers and 100 exhibitors. The release said that the summit will help uncover investment potential and give a fillip to innovation, research and development, start-up ecosystem, and the wellness industry. It will help bring together industry leaders, academicians and scholars together and act as a platform for future collaborations. "PM Modi will attend the Adijati Maha Sammelan in Dahod on the same day at around 3:30 pm, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects worth around Rs 22,000 crore. The event is expected to witness participation of over 2 lakh people," it said. Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for manufacturing of 9000 HP Electric Locomotives at the Production Unit in Dahod. The release said that cost of the project is around Rs 20,000 crore. Dahod workshop, established in 1926 for periodic overhaul of steam locomotives, will be upgraded to an electric locomotive manufacturing unit with infrastructure improvements and it will provide direct and indirect employment to over 10,000 people. It said the Prime Minister will inaugurate projects worth over Rs 1400 crore. "He will inaugurate Dahod District Southern Area Regional Water Supply Scheme, constructed on Narmada River Basin, worth around Rs 840 crore. It will cater to the water supply needs of around 280 villages in Dahod District and Devgadh Baria city," it added. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate five projects of Dahod Smart City worth around Rs 335 crore. These projects include Integrated Command & Control Centre (ICCC) Building, Storm water drainage system, Sewerage works, Solid Waste Management System and Rain Water Harvesting System. Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, benefits worth Rs 120 crore will be provided to 10,000 tribals of Panchmahal and Dahod districts. Prime Minister will also inaugurate 66 KV Ghodia substation, Panchayat Houses, Anganwadis, among others. Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of various projects of the state government worth around Rs 550 crore. This includes water supply related projects worth about Rs 300 crore, Dahod Smart City projects worth around Rs 175 crores, works related to Dudhimati river project and GETCO Substation at Ghodia. (ANI)
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday condemned the silence of the Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi over the Karauli violence and said that the opposition leader sowed the seeds of hatred and only focuses on hiding the inefficiencies of Congress. "Not just Karauli but many such incidents have been reported but Sonia Gandhi is silent over these issues. She needs a self-introspection. The people's mandate has rejected congress numerous times," said Thakur. Taking a political jibe at the opposition leaders, the Union Minister said that the opposition was busy in baseless accusations. "During Congress government, no actions were taken against the miscreants, Mamata Banerjee's term was full of murders, rapes and violence. Only because they can't efficiently work in their respective states they end up putting baseless accusations," he added. He also highlighted the fact that the Congress party had been in power for decades and said," They have been a ruling party for years, record riots have been reported during Congress term. They practice divide and rule." The Union Minister's statement came after leaders of 13 Opposition parties in a joint statement on Saturday urged people to maintain peace and harmony while demanding stringent punishment against the perpetrators of communal violence. The appeal came amidst reports of communal clashes from states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat among others. (ANI)
The two accused persons, who the police believe supplied charas to drug peddlers across the city, were arrested from Dharavi in an operation carried out by the Bandra Unit of Anti Narcotics Cell

The police are currently interrogating them to find out the source of the contraband and the recipients.

The apprehended accused were identified as Sunil Shishupal (45 years) and Nevazi Aliman Miyan (60 years). The police said that they had come from Bihar and Rajasthan respectively to supply drugs here in Mumbai.

The drugs recovered from their possession are worth Rs 60.75 lakhs in the international market, police said.

A case has been filed against both the accused under the relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985. Further investigation is underway. (ANI)
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana would celebrate the party's formation day on April 27. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, along with other party leaders, would attend a day-long meeting to be organised on the occasion. The foundation day celebrations will be held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre in Hyderabad. Rao directed all the party leaders and representatives to be present at the meeting venue by 10 am on April 27. As per the copy of the itinerary of the Chief Minister from his office, it informed that TRS Party President K Chandrashekhar Rao will arrive at the venue by 11.05 am. He will kick start the party foundation day celebrations by hoisting the party's flag. Later, he will deliver a welcome address and introduce 11 resolutions for the party. The TRS was founded by Rao, on April 27 in 2001 to fight for a separate Telangana. (ANI)
By Trend

The number of visitors from Kazakhstan traveling to Georgia in March 2022 totaled 5,358 people, which is an increase of 427.4 percent, compared to the same period of 2021 (1,016), Trend reports via Georgian National Tourism Administration.

The same figure also increased by 196 percent, compared to the reporting period of 2020 (1,810) and by 10.9 percent, compared to March 2019 (4,832).

Thus, Kazakhstan ranked 9 among TOP-10 main countries of origin for people arriving in Georgia in March 2022. Meanwhile, Turkey ranked first on the list with 42,421 visitors to Georgia in the reporting period of 2022, followed by Russia (22,536), and Armenia (21,990).

The total number of international visitors to Georgia in March 2022 amounted to 211,484 visitors, which is an increase of 266.3 percent, compared to 57,728 over the same period of 2021.
Two people including a Bangladeshi national of a gang were arrested in connection with an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) robbery here, said police on Saturday. Of the two arrested, one hails from the Sundarban area of West Bengal and another is a Bangladeshi national. They are part of a Bangladeshi gang that conducts recce of an area to prepare plans to execute similar crimes in multiple cities. After executing the plan, they used to escape to Bangladesh, police said. Commissioner of Police of Bhubaneswar, Soumendra Priyadarshi said, "The criminals were arrested from Bengaluru. They are a part of a larger group of at least five men who are involved in the crime. We are in search of other members of the gang. The arrested accused are in judicial custody." He further said, "A similar incident took place in Goa and three Bangladeshi criminals were arrested by Delhi police on October 23, 2020. On further investigation, we found that this case has a link to that. Our team reached Bengaluru and raided 30 hotels to locate them. A special team was formed to conduct this operation. After interrogation, it was revealed that the arrested accused are Bangladeshi nationals. These criminals went to Bengaluru, perhaps planning a similar crime there as well." The police told that the incident took place on April 4, 2022, in the Dhauli police station area in Bhubaneswar when the criminals uprooted an ATM machine of State Bank of India (SBI) at Lingipur Housing Board Colony and took out the money. They damaged the CCTV camera installed at the ATM to destroy the evidence. Apparently, there was Rs 20-25 lakhs cash in the ATM which the criminals robbed with the help of a stolen vehicle. The Commissioner said, this was one of the rare detection cases, where criminals from some other country are directly involved in it. A case has been registered against the accused and the police are on the lookout for the other syndicates of the gang. (ANI)
The chargesheet was filed under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code before the NIA special court in Bengaluru.

In 2020, the NIA had lodged this case after the examination of Abdur Rahman, an alleged accused in an Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) case, which led to the unravelling of an IS module wherein the names of various persons responsible for radicalising and funding the visits of Muslim youth from Bengaluru to ISIS areas such as Syria had emerged.

The NIA had earlier filed chargesheet against two accused persons in connection with this case.

The investigation revealed that Mahmood and Manna were involved in radicalising and recruiting gullible Muslim youth into the IS fold through the 'Quran Circle' group.

They were also involved in raising and receiving funds to finance the visit of radicalised Muslim youth to Syria.

Mahmood and Shihab had earlier visited Syria illegally to establish connection with IS terrorists.

--IANS atk/arm

( 195 Words)

2022-04-16-20:12:03 (IANS)
India on Saturday questioned the World Health Organisation's (WHO) methodology to estimate the COVID-19 death toll in the country, stating that the same mathematical model cannot be used to estimate the mortalities of a country like India which has a large geographical size and population. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that India has shared its concerns with the methodology along with the other Member States through a series of formal communications including six letters issued to WHO. The concern specifically includes how the statistical model projects estimates for a country of geographical size and population of India and also fits in with other countries which have a smaller population. The ministry in a statement in response to a New York Times article titled "India Is Stalling WHO's Efforts to Make Global COVID Death Toll Public" dated April 16, said, "India has been in regular and in-depth technical exchange with World Health Organisation (WHO) on the issue. The analysis while uses mortality figures directly obtained from Tier -I set of countries, uses a mathematical modelling process for Tier II countries (which includes India). India's basic objection has not been with the result (whatever they might have been) but rather the methodology adopted for the same." During these exchanges, specific queries have been raised by India along with the other Member States e.g. China, Iran, Bangladesh, Syria, Ethiopia and Egypt regarding the methodology, and use of unofficial sets of data. "The concern specifically includes how the statistical model projects estimates for a country of geographical size and population of India and also fits in with other countries which have a smaller populations. Such size fits all approach and models which are true for smaller countries like Tunisia may not be applicable to India with a population of 1.3 billion," it said adding that the WHO is yet to share the confidence interval for the present statistical model across various countries. The Ministry said that the model gives two highly different sets of excess mortality estimates when using the data from Tier I countries and when using unverified data from 18 Indian States. "Such wide variation in estimates raises concerns about validity and accuracy of such a modelling exercise," it added. "India has asserted that if the model is accurate and reliable, it should be authenticated by running it for all Tier I countries and if the result of such exercise may be shared with all Member States," the Health Ministry said. The Ministry further said that the model assumes an inverse relationship between monthly temperature and monthly average deaths, which does not have any scientific backing to establish such a peculiar empirical relationship. India is a country of continental proportions climatic and seasonal conditions vary vastly across different states and even within a state and therefore, all states have widely varied seasonal patterns. "Thus, estimating national level mortality based on these 18 States data is statistically unproven," it said in a statement. The Global Health Estimates (GHE) 2019 on which the modelling for Tier II countries is based, is itself an estimate. The present modelling exercise seems to be providing its own set of estimates based on another set of historic estimates while disregarding the data available with the country, the statement reads. "It is not clear as to why GHE 2019 has been used for estimating expected deaths figures for India, whereas, for the Tier 1 countries, their own historical datasets were used when it has been repeatedly highlighted that India has a robust system of data collection and management," it added. In order to calculate the age-sex death distribution for India, WHO determined standard patterns for age and sex for the countries with reported data (61 countries) and then generalized them to the other countries (incl. India) who had no such distribution in their mortality data. Based on this approach, India's age-sex distribution of predicted deaths was extrapolated based on the age-sex distribution of deaths reported by four countries (Costa Rica, Israel, Paraguay and Tunisia). Of the covariates used for analysis, a binary measure for income has been used instead of a more realistic graded variable. Using a binary variable for such an important measure may lend itself to amplifying the magnitude of the variable. WHO has conveyed that a combination of these variables was found to be most accurate for predicting excess mortality for a sample of 90 countries and 18 months (January 2020-June 2021). The detailed justification of how the combination of these variables is found to be most accurate is yet to be provided by WHO. "The test positivity rate for COVID-19 in India was never uniform throughout the country at any point of time. But, this variation in covid-19 positivity rate within India was not considered for modelling purposes," the Health Minister said. Further, India has undertaken COVID-19 testing at a much faster rate than what WHO has advised. India has maintained molecular testing as the preferred testing method and used Rapid Antigen as screening purposes only. Whether these factors have been used in the model for India is still unanswered, it added. Containment involves a lot of subjective approaches (such as school closing, workplace closing, cancelling of public events etc.,) to quantify itself. But, it is actually impossible to quantify various measures of containment in such a manner for a country like India, as the strictness of such measures have varied widely even among the States and Districts of India. Therefore, the approach followed in this process is very much questionable, it said. "In addition, a subjective approach to quantify such measures will always involve a lot of biasness which will surely not present the real situation. WHO has also agreed about the subjective approach of this measure. However, it is still used," it said. It said that India has expressed the above and similar concerns to WHO but a satisfactory response is yet to be received from WHO. According to Health Ministry, during interactions with WHO, it has also been highlighted that some fluctuations in official reporting of COVID-19 data from some of the Tier I countries including USA, Germany, France etc. defied knowledge of disease epidemiology. Further inclusion of a country like Iraq which is undergoing an extended complex emergency under Tier I countries raises doubts on WHO's assessment in categorization of countries as Tier I/II and its assertion on quality of mortality reporting from these countries. "While India has remained open to collaborate with WHO as data sets like these will be helpful from the policy-making point of view, India believes that in-depth clarity on methodology and clear proof of its validity are crucial for policymakers to feel confident about any use of such data," the statement further reads. "It is very surprising that while New York Times purportedly could obtain the alleged figures of excess COVID19 mortality in respect to India, it was "unable to learn the estimates for other countries"!!" it added. (ANI)
The United States wants China to pay a "greater price" for Beijing's actions around the world, including its alleged support for Russia and cyberattacks on Taiwan, US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Friday. Graham is currently visiting Taiwan as part of a delegation of six US lawmakers, headed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez. The delegation arrived in Taiwan on an unannounced visit for talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and National Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng, reported Sputnik. "We're going to start making China pay a greater price for what they're doing all over the world. The support for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has come with a price. The never-ending cyber-attacks on your economy and your people by the Communist Chinese needs to come with a price," Graham said during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen. Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Wu Qian said on Friday that US lawmakers' visit to Taiwan is severely undercutting the foundation of relations between China and the United States. Speculations about the US lawmakers' visit have circulated over the past couple of weeks, with the visit initially anticipated last weekend. However, the delegation's visit was postponed after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive for the novel coronavirus, as per the news agency. China has repeatedly criticized the United States for maintaining official contacts with Taiwan, saying such actions infringe on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and provoke instability in the region. (ANI)
Celebrity wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin's main ally in Ukraine accused Ukrainian authorities of "persecuting" her husband for political reasons and pleaded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to immediately release him from captivity. Oksana Marchenko who is a former TV star and hosted "X-Factor Ukraine" first posted a direct appeal on Wednesday, the day after her husband, longtime Putin pal Viktor Medvedchuk, was held in Kyiv for treason, reported New York Post. In a video, she appealed to Zelenskyy saying, "President Zelensky, I ask you to take all necessary actions for the immediate release of my husband." Medvedchuk who is listed by Forbes last year as Ukraine's 12th-richest person, worth USD 620 million was put under house arrest last May, charged with "high treason." However, according to Ukrainian police, he fled house arrest a few days after Putin invaded Ukraine at the end of February. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced Viktor's arrest, showing him downcast and in cuffs and sparking widespread celebrations. "There is no doubt that my husband is being persecuted for political reasons, contrary to the laws of Ukraine and international law," she insisted of the 67-year-old oligarch and former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party. In yet another appeal on Friday, she pleaded for her husband's release and called him a "political prisoner." Marchenko at the press conference, without offering proof, said, "I have no doubt that my husband was beaten within hours after his capture." "I call for help to stop the physical and mental torture," she said. She said she had "unfortunately" not heard from Zelenskyy and conceded that she was not expecting to, either. "He doesn't answer such questions, he is his own law," Marchenko added, according to Russia's TASS news agency, reported NY Post. (ANI)
After clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on early Friday morning, the US called on all sides to exercise restraint and urged both sides to cooperate to lower tensions. "The United States is deeply concerned by the violence in Jerusalem today on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount. We call on all sides to exercise restraint, avoid provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount. We urge Palestinian and Israeli officials to work cooperatively to lower tensions and ensure the safety of everyone," the US State Department said in its statement. The State Department said that the US is closely following developments and will continue to be in close contact with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials to seek to deescalate tensions. Notably, Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Temple Mount early Friday morning, as spiking tensions, threats of terror and the observance of major holidays all converge around the flashpoint holy site. Over 150 were injured in the clashes and the director of the mosque said some 400 Palestinians were detained. This Friday is the second during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the first night of Judaism's week-long Passover holiday, and Good Friday, when Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. At the same time, a series of deadly terror attacks in Israel in recent weeks has killed 14 and left Israel reeling. The attacks have prompted countermeasures from Israeli security forces across the West Bank, including arrests that have spilled into violence. (ANI)
Washington Post reviewed a diplomatic note that Russia sent the US this week and said that the note warned that US and NATO shipments of the "most sensitive" weapons systems to Ukraine could bring "unpredictable consequences," reported Aljazeera.

"We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security," said the note.

The shipments were "adding fuel" to the conflict, the note also said, according to the newspaper.

Notably, the US military aid package included artillery systems, artillery rounds, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters - and brought the total tally of US aid to Ukraine since Russia's invasion began to more than USD 2.4 billion. (ANI)
A Sri Lankan Police sergeant, who was arrested for joining the protest at the Galle Face Green area in uniform and making a statement to the media, has been released on bail after he was produced in court on Friday. A large number of people including artists and master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya joined the ongoing protest at Galle Face, the main beachfront in the capital Colombo, outside Sri Lankan President's secretariat for the 8th day. The Colombo Additional Magistrate Keminda Perera this afternoon ordered that the sergeant be released on three personal sureties. He was arrested on charges under sections of the Penal Code, the Police Ordinance, and the Official Secrets Ordinance. by the Fort Police on Thursday, reported Colombo Page. A group of pro bono lawyers including President's Counsels appeared in court on behalf of the police sergeant. The case is due to be heard again on April 29. Meanwhile, the police have also commenced an investigation regarding the police sergeant who joined the Galle Face protest in uniform. The police stated that further action will be taken based on the progress of the investigation. Issuing a statement on Thursday the Police Headquarters said a Policeman must work within the jurisdictions of the service when on duty, as per the news portal. A massive protest has been continuing in the Galle Face Green area in the capital city of Colombo as the Island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts. This comes at a time when Sri Lanka is celebrating its New Year. The Sri Lankans are protesting against the government's handling of the economic situation and demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Protesters have been accusing Rajapaksa's government of corruption and misrule. (ANI)
Members of the Punjab Assembly will elect the new Chief Minister of the province in Pakistan during the Saturday session at 11:30 am on the direction of the Lahore High Court, a local media reported. The special session of the House to elect the Chief Minister will be chaired by Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, Dawn newspaper reported. Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) candidate Pervaiz Elahi and the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz, are stated to be in a close contest for the post of CM after the resignation of Sardar Usman Buzdar, who was nominated to the post by the ousted Pakistan PM Imran Khan in 2018. Today's session will be held in line with the Lahore High Court's Wednesday order. Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti had instructed Mazari to hold the election of Chief Minister on April 16, reported Dawn newspaper. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced holding the first phase of local government elections in Punjab province on June 9 this year. The first phase of elections will be held in a total of 17 districts. According to the schedule, the public notice inviting nomination papers will be issued by the returning officers (ROs) from April 18 although the last date for withdrawal of candidature and publication of candidate list would be issued on May 19, The Nation reported. The ROs will publish the names of candidates on April 26 and the nomination papers will be scrutinised between April 27 to May 9. The ROs will publish the revised list of candidates on May 16 and the date for withdrawal of nomination papers by the candidates and publication of the revised lists of candidates is May 19, The Nation reported. The ECP barred holders of public offices from visiting any constituency for local government polls, unveiling any development scheme and canvassing for any candidate or political party. The ECP also issued a code of conduct to ensure that elections are conducted honestly, justly and fairly in accordance with law and corrupt practices are guarded, The Nation reported. (ANI)
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday accused the former premier Imran Khan of selling gifts received during foreign visits, reported local media. "I can confirm you that Imran Khan took gifts worth Rs 140 million from Toshakhana (state depository) and sold them in Dubai," ARY News quoted Sharif as saying, who further added that the valuable state gifts included diamond jewellery, bracelets and watches. Sharif's remarks came in response to a question regarding a petition filed in the Islamabad High Court seeking details of the Toshakhana. The then PM Imran Khan had refused to reveal the details of the depository of the state gifts, citing provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, reported Geo News. However, the former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry refuted the premier's claims, saying he is "throwing dirt on Imran Khan". Chaudhry further advised the premier to avoid superficial gossip and focus on national issues, according to the media outlet. Notably, according to Pakistan's law, gifts received by the head of the state from another state or country have to be deposited in the Toshakhana. In the event the head of the state wishes to keep the gift, the payment equal to its value, which is decided through an auction, has to be paid to the state exchequer. Meanwhile, ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday appealed to the overseas Pakistanis to donate money to PTI in order to topple the "foreign-backed" government headed by Shehbaz Sharif. Khan alleged that with the help of the US, a corrupt government has overtaken Pakistan and therefore he wants the country to hold fresh elections where Pakistani citizens can decide on their future. (ANI)
By Trend

A delegation of cultural figures, ecologists, Turkologists and bloggers of Georgia have visited Azerbaijans Shusha city [liberated from Armenian occupation in the 2020 second Karabakh war], Trend's local bureau said.

The guests, who arrived in the country with the support of the Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia and the Georgian representative office of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), watched the de-mining process in the liberated Jabrayil and Fuzuli districts.

The Georgian delegation included 21 people.
Palestinians clashed with Israeli police forces on Friday at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, leaving more than 100 people wounded.

The secretary-general called on leaders on all sides to help calm the situation. Provocations on the holy site, sacred to both Jews and Muslims, must stop to prevent further escalation, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement.

Guterres reiterated his call for the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem to be upheld and respected, said the statement.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland is in close contact with key regional partners and the parties to calm the situation.

Guterres reiterated his commitment to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements, said the statement.

The tension between Israel and the Palestinians has flared up in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past three weeks as the Jewish festival of Passover overlaps with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (ANI/Xinhua)
"High Commission of India expresses its heartfelt condolences on the passing away of Bilquis Edhi. Hers and Edhi foundation's humanitarian assistance is well appreciated across borders. RIP," tweeted the Indian embassy.

Notably, Bilquis Edhi, founder of Edhi Foundation, a social welfare organization in Pakistan, adopted the specially-abled Indian girl Geeta, who was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express by the Pakistan Rangers at the Lahore railway station when she was just seven or eight years old. Geeta was later brought to India from Pakistan back in 2015.

Bilquis, whose death was confirmed by her son Faisal Edhi, passed away at a Karachi hospital at the age of 74 on Friday, reported the Dawn newspaper.

According to a spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation, Bilquis was suffering from "multiple ailments". "She had heart problems in addition to lung issues," the media outlet quoted him as saying.

The wife of renowned humanitarian and philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, Bilquis was rushed to a private hospital in Karachi earlier this week after her blood pressure suddenly dropped.

A professional nurse, Bilquis was called the Mother of Pakistan. Her charity saved thousands of unwanted babies by placing jhoolas (cradles) at Edhi Homes and centres across the country.

She was felicitated with various national and foreign awards including the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice (2015), and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, which she received along with her husband in 1986, according to the media outlet.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Arif Alvi, and former premier Imran Khan, among others, expressed grief on the demise of Bilquis Bano Edhi. (ANI)
The central leaders of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) suggested their four members for different positions in the new government during the meeting held on Friday, local news reported. The leaders of the PPP held a consultative session at the residence of PPP's President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss the ministries for the new government. The session was attended by PPP's President, PPP's Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and its senior leaders, ARY News reported. The members suggested that the position of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) should be given to their member Sherry Rehman, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah should get the Communication department, Petroleum should be given to Naveed Qamar and the Ministry of Human Rights should be given to Shazia Marri. According to the publication, PPP's three ministers are likely to get slots and four state ministers in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government. The members also recommended giving the position of Ministry of Interior to the PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah, Planning and Development to Ahsan Iqbal, Information to Marriyum Aurangzeb, Defence/Water and Power to Khawaja Asif and Finance Adviser post to Miftah Ismail, reported ARY News. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, General-Secretary of Pakistan Democratic Movement is likely to get no ministry in the centre. It was also recommended to give two ministries to Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) including the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. Earlier, according to sources, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to add 12 National Assembly members of PML-N and seven members of PPP to his federal cabinet. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) will get three ministries and a state minister portfolio while MQM-P will get the governorship of Sindh, PPP will get Punjab and JUI-F will get Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and BNP-M will get the governorship of Balochistan, according to Geo TV citing sources. PM Shehbaz Sharif became the Prime Minister on April 11, following the ouster of Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion. (ANI)
Expressing serious reservations over the rise in provocations from the Afghan border security forces, the Foreign Office (FO) in a statement said that Pakistan strongly condemned such cross-border firing incidents and demanded strict action against those responsible.

Pakistan also demanded from the Afghan charge d'affaires to ask the Kabul administration for enhancing the security measures in the border areas and make bilateral contacts more effective to avoid such incidents.

The developments come after Pakistani check posts were reportedly targeted in unprovoked shelling and firing from the Afghanistan side in Chitral on April 14 that continued for 5-6 hours, reported the media outlet, adding that 35 shells had been fired from Afghanistan in the cross-border attack.

Further, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed after terrorists ambushed a military convoy near the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan on Thursday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

ISPR further added that the security forces initiated a prompt response, and effectively engaged and killed four terrorists. (ANI)
A Taiwanese rights activist, who served a five-year jail term for "subversion" in China, returned to Taiwan on Friday, expressed concerns regarding human rights violations in China, according to a media report. "After being improperly detained by China for more than 1,852 days, Lee Ming-cheh arrived at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport at around 10 a.m. today, April 15, 2022," Radio Free Asia quoted the statement of a coalition of rights groups that campaigned for Lee's release. In a joint statement issued with his wife, Lee said that the world seemed unfamiliar after five years in jail, however, his current isolation is completely different from the one he experienced in China. "Now I am embraced by love, not besieged by terror," the media outlet quoted him as saying. "Our family's suffering is over, but there are still countless people whose human rights are being violated in China. May they one day have their day of liberation, too. We know that freedom comes from oneself, just as the people of Taiwan traded blood and tears under martial law for freedom, democracy and human rights. May the Chinese people know and learn from this," he added. Notably, Lee is an activist with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is vilified by Beijing for refusing to accept its claim on the island. He was sentenced to five years in jail for "attempting to subvert state power" in November 2017, according to the media outlet. According to Amnesty International's Taiwan branch, Lee, who was accused of setting up social media chat groups to "vilify China" was barred from speaking to his wife on the phone, or from writing letters home during his jail term. Meanwhile, terming Lee's incarceration "unacceptable", the Taiwan government called on the Chinese government to protect the rights of Taiwanese nationals in China. "Lee Ming-cheh ... was tried by a Chinese court for 'subversion of state power' and imprisoned for five years, which is unacceptable to the people of Taiwan," the media outlet quoted Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng as saying on Friday. Notably, Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China for over seven decades. However, Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan, which is a territory with its own democratically-elected government, maintains that it is an autonomous country. (ANI)
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has been elected as the new National Assembly Speaker on Saturday, Samaa TV reported. The seat fell vacant on April 3 after the resignation of Asad Qaiser who, hours before the Supreme Court's deadline for the vote of no-confidence motion was to expire, addressed the assembly to announce the decision, reported The Express Tribune. The former speaker said that the then-cabinet had shared the alleged "threat letter" with him and asked the lawmakers to stand for the country's sovereignty. "I can no longer remain on the seat of the speaker and I resign," Qaiser had said. He also said that he accepts the Supreme Court's decision and asked former speaker Ayaz Sadiq to run the session. Meanwhile, Qasim Suri resigned as the Deputy Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly, less than an hour before the voting on the no-confidence motion against him started. Confirming the news, Suri shared a copy of his resignation on Twitter and said that his decision signified his association with his party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and democracy, Dawn newspaper reported. "We will never compromise on Pakistan's sovereignty and integrity. We will fight for the country's interests and independence. We will go to any length to protect Pakistan," he added. Qasim Suri faced severe criticism over his decision on April 3 ruling to dismiss a no-confidence motion against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his decision to defer the session scheduled for the NA speaker's election from April 16 to April 22 as a delaying tactic, reported Dawn newspaper. On April 9, Murtaza Javed Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-N submitted a resolution of the no-confidence motion against Suri, saying he had "repeatedly violated the rules, parliamentary practices, democratic norms and traditions, and even Constitutional provisions and when presiding over the House, failed to conduct proceedings in an orderly manner to enable productive debate on issues of public importance". (ANI)
A chaos ensued in Pakistan's Punjab Assembly after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) lawmakers threw "lotas (round vessel)" at Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari as he arrived to chair the session for the election of the Chief Minister, reported local media. The PTI lawmakers set off a ruckus in the Assembly as they brought "lotas" to the House and started chanting "lota, lota (turncoats)", lashing out at dissident PTI members, who parted ways with the party and decided to support the Opposition, reported Geo News. The lawmakers of the ruling party also threw "lotas" at Mazari and then attacked him despite the presence of security guards. Mazari was also slapped by PTI members, following which, he was escorted by Sergeant-At-Arms, reported Samaa TV. Notably, Punjab Chief Minister's office has been vacant for nearly two weeks since former Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, who was removed from his position last week, accepted Usman Buzdar's resignation on April 1. Today's session for the Chief Minister's election is being held in line with the orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC), wherein it rejected PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz's plea to hold the early elections and restored the powers of the Deputy Speaker, according to Geo News. The PML-Q candidate Pervaiz Elahi, backed by PTI, and the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz, are stated to be in a close contest for the post of the Chief Minister. Exuding confidence in their victory in the CM election, the joint Opposition has claimed to have the support of 200 members in the house of 371. Notably, a candidate needs the support of 186 members to become the chief minister. (ANI)
European Parliament member Hannah Neuman has said that violence against women and girls has increased in Afghanistan, reported local media. Neuman, in an interview with TOLOnews, highlighted a number of issues faced by Afghan women, especially cases of underage marriage and trafficking of girls on the rise. "For the women especially there is a lot of insecurity about their future, there is a lot of insecurity if tomorrow they can go for their job again, there is a lot of insecurity--how to they feed their children--there is a lot of insecurity about how would be the future, especially of their girls, and we see an increase in forced marriage where even children at the age of 8 or 9 are being married, we see an increase that especially girls are being sold," said the Parliament representative. Earlier, at a press conference in Kabul on Wednesday, Neuman also spoke about the ban on girls' education by the Taliban, urging the latter to reconsider reopening schools for them in the country. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on March 15, 2021, has caused huge political turmoil in the country accompanied by worsening conditions for women residing there. (ANI)
The local officials of Afghanistan's Khost and Kunar provinces confirmed that the Pakistani aircraft launched the airstrikes on different parts of the provinces, killing five children and a woman. Officials of the Khost province said that the Pakistani aircraft bombed the Pesa Mila, and Mir Safar areas of the province on Friday night, Khaama Press reported. While, the local residents of the province said that the airstrikes were conducted in the Spera district of Khost province, killing 33 members of two families. Meanwhile, the local residents of Shaltan district of Kunar province said that five children and a woman were killed in the airstrike conducted by Pakistan. Upon this, Pakistan government nor the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has commented on the bombing but the Pakistani media said that the bombings have targeted the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pashtun Islamist militant groups in those provinces, as per reported by Khaama Press. TTP, a conglomerate of ethnic Pashtun Islamist militant groups, operates from Pakistan's north-western tribal area of North Waziristan and has been fighting the Pakistani state in various forms since 2007. While the local residents in Afghanistan Nimroz province said that the Pakistani forces have opened fire at Afghan drivers killing at least one, reported Khaama Press. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Ministry of the Foreign Affairs has summoned the Afghan charge d'affaires in Islamabad to lodge a protest over the cross-border attack on Thursday, reported local media.Expressing serious reservations over the rise in provocations from the Afghan border security forces, the Foreign Office (FO) in a statement said that Pakistan strongly condemned such cross-border firing incidents and demanded strict action against those responsible. Pakistan also demanded from the Afghan charge d'affaires to ask the Kabul administration for enhancing the security measures in the border areas and make bilateral contacts more effective to avoid such incidents. (ANI)
"It was decided to include key members of the British government and a number of political figures to the Russian 'stop list' amid the unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed in particular in the imposition of sanctions against senior officials of the Russian Federation," the statement read.

The Ministry noted that new sanctions are in response to London's information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, containing it and strangling its economy.

The Ministry also accused the United Kingdom of deliberately inflaming the situation around Ukraine, sending lethal arms to Kyiv, and pushing other countries to impose sanctions against Russia, as well as "the Russophobic course of the British authorities."

The list includes a total of 13 UK officials, with the outlook of being expanded "in the near future" to include politicians and members of parliament. (ANI/Sputnik)
Fidic (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) has launched a Digital Transformation Committee as part of its ongoing efforts to boost and upgrade its structure and global external affairs and stakeholder relations capability.

The new committee will monitor and identify changes in digital technology and techniques to help futureproof Fidics products and services delivery, such as for Fidic contracts, and will also identify issues or trends in the digital space that could be potential disruptors to Fidic and or its members and the wider industry.

Key strategic priorities of the committee are to advocate for and give guidance on the use of new and existing technologies across the consulting engineering industry and complete and publish guidance on digital platforms that would be of use to Fidic members. The committee will also advise and assist Fidic in the exploration of digitising and developing the Fidic contract suite to aid productivity and user friendliness.

Stakeholder work

Commenting on the setting up of the new committee, Fidic chief executive Dr Nelson Ogunshakin said: The launch of our new Digital Transformation Committee is another step in the strengthening of Fidics stakeholder work and it covers a crucial business area of our industry too.

Given the growing importance of digital, BIM, smart contracts, digital twins, internet of things, data, block-chain and technology in the global engineering and construction sector, this new committee will have a very important and strategic role to play in advising Fidic and the industry on the key issues we all face.

As well as exploring new technologies, products, new business models and services that Fidic could offer its members and the wider sector, the new Digital Transformation Committee will also enable Fidic to be more external facing and help us to make a positive impact on and influence in the global engineering and infrastructure industry to meet the challenges our industry faces as it moves out of the Covid crisis and beyond.

New chair of Fidic

The chair of the new Fidic Digital Transformation Committee is Mark Enzer OBE FREng, advisor at global multidisciplinary consultancy firm, Mott MacDonald Group. Commenting on his new role, he said: It is fantastic to see Fidic taking this step and I am delighted to serve as the first chair of this crucial new committee. Its an honour to collaborate with such amazingly talented people from across Fidics global eco-system.

The new committee, which will meet quarterly, will also establish task groups, where appropriate, to develop specific areas of work and initiatives. The work of members will ensure that Fidic keeps abreast of and up to date with the latest digital and technological developments in a fast-moving area of the global construction and infrastructure sector.-TradeArabia News Service
The new leadership of Shehbaz Sharif in Pakistan is rushing to gain control of the government's digital media after the ouster of Imran Khan. The social media team of former Prime Minister Imran Khan has archived the official Twitter account of the Prime Minister's Office and the bureaucracy and political leadership of the new government are rushing to take charge of the official digital assets, which are being used full-throttle in this era of technology against opponents as well as to propagate agenda of those in power, reported Dawn. A new Twitter account has been created for the incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the previous one was archived as social media platforms have emerged as the new battleground for the new government and the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)-led administration. Soon after taking charge, the new administration has ordered the suspension of all activities of the government's Digital Media Wing (DMW), including its website, and its employees have been directed not to come to work anymore, reported Dawn. As soon as Shehbaz Sharif took over, the official Twitter account of the Prime Minister's Office, @PakPMO, was archived, and the PML-N social media team created a new account for Mr Sharif, @PMO_Pk. Created in 2018, @PakPMO was the first official social media account of any prime minister of Pakistan. While it was a useful and modern means of direct communication between the government and the public, archiving a verified account was a political decision of the PTI leadership. This is contrary to the practice adopted by various institutions where the verified accounts continue to operate as usual, regardless of who's in office, reported Dawn. Meanwhile, the officials who archived the account defended their decision, claiming it was an international practice. "This is done even in the US. And the official account is archived, not deleted, to protect the data on it, as there are chances the new handlers of the account may delete its history," said Imran Ghazali, former general manager of the DMW. The DMW was set up in 2018 to work as a strategic unit of the government to effectively counter fake/libellous news and highlight the development agenda of the then government. It was responsible for curating the digital content for official social media assets of the government on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. The DMW was a reincarnation of the Social Media Wing of the Press Information Department (PID), but all the employees of DMW belonged to the private sector. Soon after Shehbaz Sharif took office earlier this month, the head of DMW, Ghazali, quit. While the GM and another senior official of the DMW have resigned, and another post remains vacant, the contracts of the remaining 20 employees of the wing were valid up to August. (ANI)
The Mauritius Premier is arriving in India on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During his visit, Jugnauth will participate in the Ground-Breaking Ceremony of the WHO-Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar next Tuesday as well as in the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, along with PM Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The Mauritius PM will also pay a visit to Varanasi apart from his official engagements in Gujarat and New Delhi.

"India and Mauritius enjoy uniquely close ties, bound by shared history, culture, and heritage. The upcoming visit will further strengthen the vibrant bilateral ties," MEA said.

Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Secretary to the Cabinet of Mauritius NK Ballah in New Delhi and said the bilateral cooperation between the two countries was "progressing from strength to strength".

Earlier in January, PM Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth had jointly inaugurated the India-assisted social housing units project in Mauritius virtually. They also launched the Civil Service College and 8 MW Solar PV Farm project in Mauritius that is being undertaken under India's development support. (ANI)
Berlin [Germany], April 16 (ANI/Sputnik): The number of Ukrainian refugees coming to Germany by train each day has decreased by nearly 70 per cent, German Minister for Transport Volker Wissing said on Saturday, stressing that the country will remain open for Ukrainians seeking refuge. "The number of people fleeing to Germany by train has fallen significantly compared to the peak at the beginning of the war - from around 8,200 to the current 2,500 people per day. We continue to keep the logistics and transport structures in place, however, because ... (we) can experience an increase in the number of refugees at any time. We must expect further escalation and be prepared. People who are in need in Ukraine should be able to find refuge in Germany," Wissing told the RND news agency. Germany "cannot and will not" reject any refugees from Ukraine, he added. According to Germany's Interior Ministry, almost 300,000 refugees from Ukraine have been registered in the country as of April 1, with most of them traveling by train. The ministry noted that the actual number is likely higher as not all Ukrainian refugees have registered with the police. Ukrainian citizens holding a biometric passport are allowed to legally stay in EU member states for 90 days without contacting the migration authorities. (ANI/Sputnik)
South Asia Research Director, Dinushika Dissanayake, pointed out the arrest of 8 in an official statement issued by the rights advocacy group, Amnesty International, reported Dawn newspaper.

Dissanayake emphasized putting a stop to exerting "draconian" laws by the Pakistan authorities, saying that the 8 arrested were only exercising their right to freedom of expression. Furthermore, the Research Director exclaimed that Pakistan has always crushed peaceful protests from the opposition.

"The Pakistani authorities must stop using the draconian Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act to punish people who are simply exercising their right to freedom of expression online," she said.

"For far too long, successive governments have used this law as a tool to crush peaceful dissent and intimidate supporters of political opposition", Dissanayake added.

She also insisted that those eight people from Punjab territory, "must be immediately and unconditionally released" by the FIA. (ANI)
Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on Friday termed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, a "security risk" in wake of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman's remarks on the safety of country's nuclear assets, according to a media report. "Imran Khan's job was to save Pakistan, not just the PTI. He spoke of Pakistan's nuclear assets at a rally questioning the safety and integrity of assets when he should have been seen protecting them rather than implying Pakistan was a rogue state," Sherry Rehman parliamentary leader of the PPP in the country's Senate said while addressing a press conference, News International reported. During a roadshow in Peshawar on Wednesday, Khan who was ousted after the recent no-confidence motion against his government, questioned whether Pakistan's nuclear weapons were safe in the hands of what he called "robbers" and "thieves", referring to the newly elected Shehbaz Sharif regime. "When you take an oath to the country, you promise to put it before your own interest; Khan is making Pakistan pay the price for his disregard for the sanctity of the oath. This is a democracy, not a dictatorship; you cannot label those who oppose you as traitors," Rehman said. Rehman went on to label Imran Khan as a "security risk" to the country, and urged the newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to try Imran Khan under Article 6 of the Pakistani Constitution. Pakistani Army on Thursday had rubbished Imran Khan's allegations raising doubts over the country's capability to safeguard its nuclear assets. PPP's Rehman also used the press conference to talk about the "foreign conspiracy" allegations of Imran Khan saying that PTI tried to divide the country for its own gains by feeding this conspiracy narrative to the nation. "The PTI is simply upset due to the true neutrality of the state institutions and the establishment," Rehman said. (ANI)
The Queen, who is head of the Church of England, has cut back on some public engagements recently, reported CNN.

While she is understood to be in good health, she has some mobility problems and has been increasingly delegating public appearances to other senior royals.

In February, Buckingham Palace announced that the 95-year-old monarch had tested positive for coronavirus, suffering mild cold-like symptoms. But she continued light duties at Windsor.

The Queen revealed last week that the illness left her "very tired and exhausted."

It comes just a few days after it was announced that she would not be attending Thursday's annual Maundy Service, reported CNN.

Other members of the royal family are expected to be in attendance on Sunday.

This was the first time since 1970 that she was unable to attend the Maundy Service; Prince Charles took her place, following the tradition of distributing special coins to community stalwarts, reported CNN.

The number of recipients relates to each year that the Queen has been alive: This year it was 96 men and 96 women.

The Queen's 96th birthday is on April 21. The occasion will be marked with a 41-gun royal salute in Hyde Park, but the biggest festivities will be reserved for her official birthday in June, reported CNN. (ANI)
The President of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP) - Sri Lanka National Centre, Dr Maitipe Wimalasara Maha Thera on Saturday blamed the "mismanagement" of economic policies by the country's leadership for the present turmoil. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Dr Maitipe while giving his views on the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, said, "In the present situation, the present economic crisis in Sri Lanka over a considerable period of time is due to mismanagement. For the last 75 years, Sri Lanka was not able to improve its economic policies". Comparing Indian economic policies with Sri Lanka, he said that both countries achieved independence at the same time -- India on August 15, 1947 and Sri Lanka on February 4, 1948, however, India has established economic policies irrespective of different governments coming to power in the country. "This is very unfortunate, both India and Sri Lanka achieved independence at the same time. We always believed that Indian independence helped Sri Lanka also to achieve it. We have a great reverence for India and we pay respect to it. There is some political battle over some of the economic policies whereas India has established economic policies irrespective of different governments coming to power in India. Some of the policies have not really changed, preferably the long term perspectives and vision. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, it changes with the different governments. It is some form of mismanagement," said Dr Maitipe. He also highlighted the problems that the island nation faced since independence and also questioned why management was not on the right track? "This is the highest peak time of the economic crisis. There are many other factors too, many other reasons as well --why management is not on the right track?" said the Buddhist monk. Sri Lanka's economy started showing cracks after Tsunami and COVID-19 pandemic which hit its tourism sector, the highest contributor to its GDP. In a veiled attack on China, he said that maybe Sri Lanka is facing a crisis due to political misbehaviour or foreign influence. "Foreign policy of Sri Lanka is not very much transparent. Sometimes we go with the Chinese version, sometimes we go with the Indian version and sometimes we are in the non-alignment movement, sometimes with the Russians, and Americans. Our policies are not functioning smoothly," he said. China has become the world's largest government creditor over the past decade, with its state-owned policy banks lending more to developing countries than the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank in some recent years. It invested heavily in Sri Lanka. But the opacity around the terms and scale of some of that lending has been criticized, especially as the pandemic exacerbates debt problems in Sri Lanka. "Sri Lanka in one way is influenced by China. Indian influence is also there but, they are friendly. We received so much help from them. Sri Lanka is a small island with just 22 million population and is situated in a vital position on the map. India thinks about Sri Lanka, maybe some countries are not happy about it. We received donations and facilities from both countries. The present economic crisis is caused by Chinese loans. It's a death trap," said the monk. China is displaying reluctance in assisting with loan bailouts to Sri Lanka, which is facing severe economic and foreign debt crises even as the Asian giant was earlier keen on providing loans for various infrastructure projects in the country. Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation. The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel, leading to the power cuts in the country. The shortage of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries. (ANI)
The Ukrainian capital "came under fire" on Saturday morning, the city's mayor said, reported CNN.

"As a result of the morning rocket strike, one person was killed and several injured were hospitalized in the Darnytskyi district of the capital," Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in televised remarks.

"Our air defence forces are doing everything possible to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless," he added.

Klitschko earlier urged residents who have evacuated from Kyiv to refrain from returning, after several explosions on the outskirts of the capital, reported CNN.

"It is no secret that one of the Russian generals recently stated that they were ready for missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital. And, as we see, they are carrying out such shelling," he added.

The Russian military warned on Wednesday that it would strike Ukrainian "decision-making centers" -- including those in Ukraine's capital -- in response to what it said were "attempts of sabotage and strikes" on Russian soil, reported CNN.

Two days later Russia carried out such an attack on a "military facility" on the outskirts of Kyiv.

"Tonight a military facility on the outskirts of Kyiv was hit by Kalibr high-precision long-range sea-launched missiles," said Russian Ministry of Defense Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov.

"As a result of the strike on the Zhuliany Vizar machine-building plant workshops for the production and repair of long-range and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems were destroyed, as well as anti-ship missiles," Konashenkov added. (ANI)
Tehran [Iran], April 17 (ANI/Xinhua): The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said Saturday that the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) continues to monitor activities in Iran's nuclear sites, but it has no access to the recorded information in its cameras. "Monitoring continues, but until a (nuclear) agreement is reached, the information will remain with us and will probably be deleted," Behrooz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the AEOI, was quoted by Iran's Arabic language news network Al-Alam as saying. Regarding the transfer of some nuclear facilities in Karaj, near the capital Tehran, to Natanz complex in central Iran, he said "unfortunately due to the terrorist operation against Karaj facilities, we had to intensify security measures and moved an important part of these machines." "Centrifuge machines have been moved to a safer location because of their importance, and they are now operating," he noted. On April 4, Iran informed the UN nuclear watchdog about its plan to transfer the producing machines of centrifuge parts from Karaj to Natanz. The AEOI spokesman added that with the agreement reached with the IAEA, the issues regarding the past activities of Iran would be solved by June. "We do not have any technical issues at the moment, although there might be some small issues that are being solved," he said. In 2015, Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers, including the United States. However, former US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments. Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal. (ANI/Xinhua)
According to the country's foreign ministry, the Afghan acting minister of foreign affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi and the acting deputy defense minister Alhaj Mullah Shirin Akhund were present during the session.

"Pakistani Ambassador to Kabul Summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, today. Along with the IEA Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the session also included Deputy Defense Minister Alhaj Mullah Shirin Akhund where the Afghan side condemned the recent," it tweeted.

The local officials on Saturday of the Khost and Kunar provinces confirmed that the Pakistani aircraft launched the airstrikes on different parts of the provinces, killing five children and a woman.

Officials of the Khost province said that the Pakistani aircraft bombed the Pesa Mila, and Mir Safar areas of the province on Friday night, Khaama Press reported.

While, the local residents of the province said that the airstrikes were conducted in the Spera district of Khost province, killing 33 members of two families.

Meanwhile, the local residents of Shaltan district of Kunar province said that five children and a woman were killed in the airstrike conducted by Pakistan.

Upon this, Pakistan government nor the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has commented on the bombing but the Pakistani media said that the bombings have targeted the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pashtun Islamist militant groups in those provinces, as per reported by Khaama Press. (ANI)
Sitecore, the global leader in end-to-end digital experience software, has announce that it has fully integrated the core products from the acquisitions of Boxever, Four51, Moosend and Reflektion into its Digital Experience Platform (DXP).

The completion of these integrations is a significant milestone that accelerates Sitecore's delivery of the industrys most complete, SaaS-based DXP as it reimagines how content, experience orchestration, commerce and analytics support modern enterprises in becoming digital-first.

The integration comes at a critical time for brands looking to revolutionize digital experiences to meet customers in the moment with more relevant, intuitive, and human experiences.

The new additions have been fundamental to expanding Sitecores advanced, SaaS-enabled composable DXP that empowers brands to deliver unforgettable customer interactions and will enable businesses to provide real-time, personalized digital experiences across every touchpoint, from content to commerce.

With a full suite of capabilities hosted in the cloud, Sitecore has reimagined how content, experience orchestration, commerce and analytics will support modern enterprises.

Sitecore Chief Product Officer Dave OFlanagan said: "For brands to truly meet the moment, it has never been more crucial than it is now to adopt technology that offers choice, flexibility and speed. Sitecore is committed to delivering a composable DXP that meets the continuously changing needs of brands  unifying content, experience and commerce, enabling them to offer exceptional customer experiences while continuing to innovate for whatever demands are around the corner."

"Ambitious brands have outgrown the one-size-fits-all vendors, and they will not settle for piecemeal point solutions  they need a stack of best-in-class features that work in harmony together  and this is what Sitecore delivers," he added.

Area Vice President (MEA) Mohamed Al Khotani said: "Sitecores products are made with customer challenges in mind, resulting in targeted solutions that help resolve their changing needs and create a better experience overall. With the availability of these products in the region - one of Sitecores strongest - our local customers can now enjoy the best of what Sitecore has to offer."

Sitecore plans to continue its investment and growth in the Middle East, with a new office in Dubai, set to open in the coming months, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Members of law enforcement gather outside Columbiana Centre mall in Columbia, S.C., following a shooting, Saturday, April 16, 2022. Sean Rayford/Associated Press

Ten people were shot and two were trampled in a shooting at a South Carolina mall on Saturday.

Authorities have detained three people, the police chief said.

Investigators believe the shooting "stemmed from an isolated conflict between the armed suspects."

A dozen people were injured Saturday afternoon in a shooting incident at the Columbiana Mall in Columbia, South Carolina, police said.

Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook told reporters in a press conference that three people have been detained so far, but that authorities are referring to them as "people of interest" rather than suspects.

No one was killed in the shooting, but 10 people suffered gunshot wounds and two were injured during the "stampede" that followed the shooting, Holbrook said. He added that the oldest gunshot victim was 73 and the youngest was 15.

Eight people in total were taken to area hospitals, with two of the gunshot victims in critical condition and six in stable condition, Holbrook said.

Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) April 16, 2022

He said authorities were called to the mall around 2:30 p.m. after gunfire broke out near the Gap store.

"What we know is at least three people were seen with firearms in the mall, and at least one person fired a weapon," Holbrook said, adding that the information was still preliminary and could change.

The Columbia Police Department said Saturday evening that investigators believe the shooting "may have stemmed from an isolated conflict between the armed suspects." Holbrook said earlier that police "don't believe this was random."

Holbrook urged witnesses to contact authorities with any further information, adding that "a lot of people saw a lot of different things."

"This is not a situation where we had some random individual show up at a mall and start shooting people," Holbrook said.

Holbrook said law enforcement teams were still inside the mall as of 5 p.m. EST clearing out stores one at a time.

Read the original article on Insider
From left: Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Fridman, Oleg Deripaska, Alisher Usmanov. Sang Tan, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Dmitry Lovetsky/Getty Images

A dozen sanctioned Russian oligarchs are linked to more than $1 billion worth of property.

A BBC analysis revealed the difficulty of finding property owners, making it hard to sanction them.

Insider reported that it is tougher to find the owner of certain assets than sanction individuals.

A dozen Russian billionaires sanctioned by the West are linked to more than $1 billion worth of UK property, an analysis by the BBC revealed.

Among those included in the findings were Roman Abramovich, Alisher Usmanov, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven. None of these individuals immediately responded to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.

The analysis found which oligarchs owned what through leaked offshore documents, the Land Registry, and court papers.

Rachel Davies, head of advocacy at anti-corruption group Transparency International, told the BBC: "Because of the system of secrecy here in the UK and in relation to the Overseas Dependencies it's really easy for people to hide their assets and their funds in the UK and not even the police necessarily have sight of where those assets are."

The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.

Several measures have been taken by the US, UK, and EU amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These include removing Russia from the international payment platform SWIFT and the seizure of assets belonging to wealthy Russian businessmen.

According to BBC's report, Abramovich, who reportedly has had half of his fortune frozen, is linked to more than 50 properties in London worth more than $300 million (230 million), including his 15-bed mansion in Kensington.

The British government sanctioned Abramovich but Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the US not to sanction the Chelsea FC owner so he could facilitate peace talks.

Usmanov, who had transferred ownership of most of his UK property to trusts, is linked to two mansions and multiple properties in London worth slightly less than $200 million (more than 150 million).

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He recently had his $735 million superyacht impounded by German authorities.

Deripaska, whose yacht was sailing towards Turkey on Thursday, is linked to properties near Buckingham Palace and a mansion in Surrey, according to the report.

A spokesperson for Deripaska told the BBC that the sanctions were based on "unfounded and hollow accusations," and that he had "never been involved in politics."

Fridman told the BBC that saying he was close to Vladimir Putin was "absolutely incorrect," while Aven, who was described as one of Putin's closest oligarchs by the EU, said the sanctions against him were "understandable, but unfair," as he never operated under the demands of Putin, he said.

Fridman owns a mansion in North London, which was worth $85 million (65 million) at the time of acquisition in 2016, according to the report. Aven reportedly owns a mansion in Virginia Water, Surrey, which is worth around $20 million (15 million).

Arkady Rotenberg, linked to a mansion worth around $60 million (45 million), sparred in the same judo gym as Putin in St Petersburg, according to BBC.

Other individuals linked to properties in the UK include Andrey Akimov, Polina Kovaleva, Yuri Soloviev, Mikhail Gutseriev, Igor Shuvalov, and German Khan.

The report concluded that senior judges and lawyers faced difficulties in finding the owner of a property in the UK, especially those linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs. Insider previously reported that it is harder to find the owner of the seized superyachts than imposing sanctions on oligarchs.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A 14-year-old Massachusetts girl scared off a man who allegedly broke into her home Friday morning  and her quick thinking later helped police apprehend the suspect, according to the Middleborough Police Department. Her mother told CBS Boston the girl armed herself with two steak knives before yelling for the intruder to leave.

Police said the girl, identified as Avery Cormier by CBS Boston, woke up at approximately 7:20 a.m. to the sound of someone in her home. She then "bravely confronted" the man, later identified as 58-year-old Joseph Ridge, causing him to flee  and as he was getting away, she took a video of the car he drove that included his license plate number.

"I got him out of the house. I scared him," the girl told a 911 dispatcher in audio released by police. "I took a video of his truck leaving so I have his license plate number."

AUDIO: Courageous Teens Actions, 911 Call to Middleborough Police Leads to Arrest of Break-In Suspecthttps://t.co/wCcxwTeKbI

 Middleborough Police (@MiddleboroughPD) April 15, 2022

Cormier's mother, Dianne Tautkus, told CBS Boston that her daughter scared Ridge away while wielding two steak knives. Police confirmed at a press conference Saturday afternoon that she told them she had grabbed a knife before confronting the intruder.

"I really didn't realize that she had it in her to stay so calm under fire," said Tautkus. "Grabbed two kitchen steak knives and she went back and stood outside the door and started screaming at him 'Get out of my house. Get out of my house. You don't belong here.'"

Ridge was apprehended soon after, and charged with aggravated breaking and entering during the daytime, trespassing and disorderly conduct, police said. The department said Ridge was "well-known" to police and had been out on bail for an "unrelated incident."

Police said Ridge had been arraigned more than 130 times prior to Friday's arrest and has a "history of violence." They also said he had no specific connection to the family.

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"I would like to commend the courageous actions of this girl. Even in the midst of an extremely scary event, her bravery assisted us in identifying the man believed to be responsible for breaking into her home," said Middleborough Police Chief Joseph Perkins. Perkins said she was an honor roll student who was home for the day because it was Good Friday, according to CBS Boston.

At a Friday arraignment, a judge set Ridge's bail at $200,000, CBS Boston reported. If Ridge does post bail, he would be required to be on house arrest with a GPS monitor.

"The suspect in this case is a career criminal who was arrested after terrorizing a 14-year-old girl in her own home," Perkins added. "Hopefully his arrest this time will bring this known felon to account for his crimes."

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A woman sits on her wheelchair beside houses destroyed by Russian shelling amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Sumy REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

The UN has warned that the lives of 2.7 million people with disabilities in Ukraine are at risk.

Many people with disabilities are trapped in their homes and have no access to medication or food.

Very few recorded refugees are disabled, indicating most were forced to survive inside the war-torn country.

The United Nations has warned that the lives of 2.7 million people with disabilities in Ukraine are at risk due to Russia's invasion.

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities statement said people with disabilities "have limited or no access to emergency information, shelters and safe havens, and many have been separated from their support networks."

It added that "there are ongoing reports that many people with disabilities, including children, are trapped or abandoned in their homes, residential care institutions and orphanages, with no access to life-sustaining medications, oxygen supplies, food, water, sanitation, support for daily living and other basic facilities."

The committee also notes that women with disabilities are at a heightened risk of rape and sexual violence by Russian forces.

Russia has previously bombed a care home for disabled people.

While more than 4.8 million people have fled Ukraine due to the war, the UN committee notes that very few of these people  or even those who are internally displaced  are disabled, indicating few have been able to leave their homes.

A spokesperson from the US Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, helping evacuate people with disabilities from Ukraine, told The Independent that there is a "lack of wheelchair support" and a "big lack of transportation."

One disabled Ukrainian man, Oleksandr Nikulin, told Insider's Ryan Prior about his journey out of Ukraine and how he is now helping other disabled people to cross the border.

He said, "transporting refugees with disabilities often requires a lot of special tools, knowledgeable workers, and accessible accommodations, which can be expensive. Many of the organizations catering to refugees are not equipped to deal with refugees with disabilities."

Anna Kaminski, a volunteer at the Ukraine-Poland border, told Insider that she hasn't "seen any special provisions being made for the arrivals of elderly or disabled people."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott (Texas) announced Friday that he would be ending the increased inspections of trucks at the border that raised alarms due to the traffic jams and the slowdown in trade the measure caused.

Abbott said last week that every commercial truck would have to be inspected as a means to combat cartels and drugs at the border. The move was also in response to the Biden administration saying it would end Title 42, which allowed Border Patrol to deny asylum claims and easily deport migrants.

However, the Abbotts directive drew backlash, even from some Republicans, as long traffic jams came as a result and threatened hundreds of millions of dollars in fruits and vegetables that were being transported from Mexico to the U.S.

Abbott said in a press conference and statement Friday that he has come to an agreement with several governors in Mexico and is ready to lift the extra inspections.

Abbott said Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca agreed to increase security along the border and guard low water crossings that migrants use to illegally enter the U.S.

The Texas Department of Public Safety can return to random searches of vehicles crossing all of the bridges from Tamaulipas, Abbott said.

Abbott said the new decree starts immediately and will continue as long as de Vaca upholds his end of the agreement.

I understand the concern that businesses have about trying to move products across the bridge, but I also know the anger that Texans have that is caused by Joe Biden not securing the border, Abbott said.

The move comes at a time when Abbott is sending busloads of migrants to Washington, D.C., a move he says is meant to make the Biden administration see the effects of illegal immigration.

The White House has condemned Abbotts recent actions at the border and the buses of migrants, saying it has been a publicity stunt and is costing the U.S.

Governor Abbotts unnecessary and redundant inspections of trucks transiting ports of entry between Texas and Mexico are causing significant disruptions to the food and automobile supply chains, delaying manufacturing, impacting jobs, and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Akron police are investigating a possible homicide near an apartment complex Friday on Storer Avenue.

Police were called to the 300 block of Storer Avenue, said Capt. David Laughlin, where they found a 25-year-old man "with what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds" inside a car in an apartment parking lot. Laughlin said he wasn't sure of the initial nature of the call.

The man was transported to Cleveland Clinic Akron General where he was pronounced dead at 9:03 p.m, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office.

Efforts needed to stop violence: Akron chief: Murders briefly ended after one arrest. But more help needed to curb violence

The man's identity is being withheld pending notification of the family, Laughlin said.

A woman who was in the car with the man was unharmed, he said.

Laughlin said officers have been interviewing witnesses, who said they saw three or four men getting into a vehicle.

It was not the only shooting in Akron this past week. Two women were injured, one critically, in a shooting Thursday in the Summit Lake neighborhood.

Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron homicide under investigation after man shot, killed
Back in 2017, Westminster was rocked by a long series of allegations of sexual misconduct made against members of parliament and their staff. A year later, Sarah Vaughan, an author of psychological thrillers, published a novel exploring the trials and tribulations of a married couple dealing with the fallout of a #MeToo accusation. Now, with scant progress made cleaning up Westminsters act, Netflix has brought that story to the screen in the form of a glamorous six-part miniseries.

Anatomy of a Scandal follows Tory MP and immigration minister James Whitehouse (Rupert Friend) in the wake of revelations that he cheated on his wife Sophie (Sienna Miller) with his parliamentary aide Olivia (Aladdins Naomi Scott). What starts as a mere tabloid imbroglio becomes far more serious when James is accused of rape. The scandal is, from there, anatomised at the Old Bailey, as Michelle Dockerys prosecution lawyer, Kate Woodcroft, pulls the politicians life and history apart.

Whitehouse is a devious customer, and who better to portray that than Friend, a man blessed by nature with a face as shifty as it is handsome (Rufus Sewell was presumably unavailable). But in the ensuing game of he-said-she-said, its Millers Sophie who is tasked with the role of moral umpire. Should she stick by her husband as the Daily Mail splashes his affair across its front pages? Should she support him as the allegations become more serious? And, indeed, ever more personal? Sophies assessment that her husband is a bit assertive but not brutish is tested over and over.

All of this makes Anatomy of a Scandal sound like a very serious piece of work, and to some extent thats true, because it certainly takes itself very seriously. Not content to merely show up the flaws in the prosecution of sexual assault (fertile territory of late, as seen in shows like Joanne Froggatts Liar and Sheridan Smiths No Return) Anatomy of a Scandal adds a layer of political intrigue. The Bullingdon-esque escapades of James and the prime minister (Geoffrey Streatfeild) are paired with the bollockings  essential to any depiction of Westminster  of a Malcolm Tucker-lite spin doctor, played by Joshua McGuire (who seems to be in everything right now, taking any role that Tom Hollander passes on). Sex doesnt have to kill a career these days, he tells the embattled MP. You might even gain some fans among the older male voter.

If this confluence of saucy potboiler Apple Tree Yard and the Oxbridge oafs of The Riot Club sounds naff, thats because it is. And the writing doesnt help, veering between wildly expository (Ive been so stressed out at work these past many months, James tells his wife, Im honoured to have the immigration portfolio but it is impossibly complex) and deeply cliched (If mere infidelity were enough to ruin a marriage, there wouldnt be an intact family in this whole bloody school, Sophie is told by a fellow mum). But the biggest problem with Anatomy of a Scandal is its own slipperiness. Is this an erotic thriller? A courtroom drama? An expose of social issues? At times it is all of these things, though most of the time it exists in the listless space between any clear genre  or sense of identity.

It is, sadly, not for me to pontificate on the wisdom of releasing Anatomy of a Scandal just two weeks after serious allegations of sexual misconduct by two, real life, Tory MPs came to light. But it does speak to the shows fundamental failing. Depictions of abuses of power can be sexy or they can be unsexy, but they should never be both. The central drama  played out by Friend, Miller and Scott  works hard to avoid being overly stimulating, but can never resist playing the sex and rape sequences on-screen. Even as it sermonises, Anatomy of a Scandal cant resist titillating. Prosecuting sexual assault is as urgent as it is frustrating, the lawyer, Kate, tells her junior. Frustration, it seems, is the order of the day.
In 1963, inside a covert U.S. military base in northern Greenland, a team of scientists began drilling down through the Greenland ice sheet. Piece by piece, they extracted an ice core 4 inches across and nearly a mile long. At the very end, they pulled up something else  12 feet of frozen soil.

The ice told a story of Earths climate history. The frozen soil was examined, set aside and then forgotten.

Half a century later, scientists rediscovered that soil in a Danish freezer. It is now revealing its secrets.

Using lab techniques unimaginable in the 1960s when the core was drilled, we and an international team of fellow scientists were able to show that Greenlands massive ice sheet had melted to the ground there within the past million years. Radiocarbon dating shows that it would have happened more than 50,000 years ago. It most likely happened during times when the climate was warm and sea level was high, possibly 400,000 years ago.

And there was more. As we explored the soil under a microscope, we were stunned to discover the remnants of a tundra ecosystem  twigs, leaves and moss. We were looking at northern Greenland as it existed the last time the region was ice-free. Our peer-reviewed study was published on March 15 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

With no ice sheet, sunlight would have warmed the soil enough for tundra vegetation to cover the landscape. The oceans around the globe would have been more than 10 feet higher, and maybe even 20 feet. The land on which Boston, London and Shanghai sit today would have been under the ocean waves.

The ice core and the soil below are something of a Rosetta Stone for understanding how durable the Greenland ice sheet has been during past warm periods  and how quickly it might melt again as the climate heats up. Today, humans are warming Earths climate, and the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rising quickly.

Secret military bases and Danish freezers

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The story of the ice core begins during the Cold War with a military mission dubbed Project Iceworm. Starting around 1959, the U.S. Army hauled hundreds of soldiers, heavy equipment and even a nuclear reactor across the ice sheet in northwest Greenland and dug a base of tunnels inside the ice. They called it Camp Century.

It was part of a secret plan to hide nuclear weapons from the Soviets. The public knew it as an Arctic research laboratory. Walter Cronkite even paid a visit and filed a report.

Camp Century didnt last long. The snow and ice began slowly crushing the buildings inside the tunnels below, forcing the military to abandon it in 1966. During its short life, however, scientists were able to extract the ice core and begin analyzing Greenlands climate history. As ice builds up year by year, it captures layers of volcanic ash and changes in precipitation over time, and it traps air bubbles that reveal the past composition of the atmosphere.

One of the original scientists, glaciologist Chester Langway, kept the core and soil samples frozen at the University at Buffalo for years, then he shipped them to a Danish archive in the 1990s, where the soil was soon forgotten.

A few years ago, our Danish colleagues found the soil samples in a box of glass cookie jars with faded labels: Camp Century Sub-Ice.

Paul Bierman , CC BY-ND

A surprise under the microscope

On a hot July day in 2019, two samples of soil arrived at our lab at the University of Vermont frozen solid. We began the painstaking process of splitting the precious few ounces of frozen mud and sand for different analyses.

First, we photographed the layering in the soil before it was lost forever. Then we chiseled off small bits to examine under the microscope. We melted the rest and saved the ancient water.

Then came the biggest surprise. While we were washing the soil, we spotted something floating in the rinse water. Paul grabbed a pipette and some filter paper, Drew grabbed tweezers and turned on the microscope. We were absolutely stunned as we looked down the eyepiece.

Staring back at us were leaves, twigs and mosses. This wasnt just soil. This was an ancient ecosystem perfectly preserved in Greenlands natural deep freeze.

Paul Bierman , CC BY-ND

Dating million-year-old moss

How old were these plants?

Over the last million years, Earths climate was punctuated by relatively short warm periods, typically lasting about 10,000 years, called interglacials, when there was less ice at the poles and sea level was higher. The Greenland ice sheet survived through all of human history during the Holocene, the present interglacial period of the last 12,000 years, and most of the interglacials in the last million years.

But our research shows that at least one of these interglacial periods was warm enough for a long enough period of time to melt large portions of the Greenland ice sheet, allowing a tundra ecosystem to emerge in northwestern Greenland.

We used two techniques to determine the age of the soil and the plants. First, we used clean room chemistry and a particle accelerator to count atoms that form in rocks and sediment when exposed to natural radiation that bombards Earth. Then, a colleague used an ultra-sensitive method for measuring light emitted from grains of sand to determine the last time they were exposed to sunlight.

The million-year time frame is important. Previous work on another ice core, GISP2, extracted from central Greenland in the 1990s, showed that the ice had also been absent there within the last million years, perhaps about 400,000 years ago.

Lessons for a world facing rapid climate change

Losing the Greenland ice sheet would be catastrophic to humanity today. The melted ice would raise sea level by more than 20 feet. That would redraw coastlines worldwide.

About 40% of the global population lives within 60 miles of a coast, and 600 million people live within 30 feet of sea level. If warming continues, ice melt from Greenland and Antarctica will pour more water into the oceans. Communities will be forced to relocate, climate refugees will become more common, and costly infrastructure will be abandoned. Already, sea level rise has amplified flooding from coastal storms, causing hundreds of billions of dollars of damage every year.

Paul Bierman , CC BY-ND

The story of Camp Century spans two critical moments in modern history. An Arctic military base built in response to the existential threat of nuclear war inadvertently led us to discover another threat from ice cores  the threat of sea level rise from human-caused climate change. Now, its legacy is helping scientists understand how the Earth responds to a changing climate.

[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.]

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Andrew Christ, University of Vermont and Paul Bierman, University of Vermont.

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Andrew Christ receives funding from the Gund Institute for Environment and the National Science Foundation.

Paul Bierman receives funding from the US National Science Foundation and UVM Gund Institute for Environment.
The Daily Beast

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Carabinieri MIlano/FindMadeline.comJust a few days shy of what would be Madeleine McCanns 19th birthday, a break in the case points to everyones worst fears: that the young Briton was abducted, sold and killed by a pedophile sex ring that worked in and around the Portuguese resort town where she disappeared 15 years ago.Thousands of tips and hundreds of sightings over the years led to dead ends until Christian Bruckner was officially named a
A California police department has launched an investigation into its own officers who were filmed blaring copyrighted Disney music in attempts to prevent residents from recording them.

Related: LA jail guards routinely punch incarcerated people in the head, monitors find

The incident in question occurred during a vehicle search on the night of 4 April, when residents in Santa Ana, a city near Los Angeles, woke up to a series of Disney songs being blasted outside their windows. The songs included Toy Storys You Got a Friend in Me, Encantos We Dont Talk About Bruno, Mulans Reflection and Cocos Un Poco Loco.

According to a video posted on YouTube, the songs emerged from a police cruiser that belonged to police officers who were investigating a stolen vehicle.

In the video, a woman can be heard asking the officers, Whats the music for?, saying that she was unable to sleep.

Johnathan Hernandez, a Santa Ana city councilman, is later seen in the video, asking the police officers, Guys, whats going on with the music here?

An unnamed officer told Hernandez that he was playing the music from his phone and on the cruisers PA system in an attempt to prevent a resident, who was recording him, from continuing to do so. The officer explained that it had to do with copyright infringement.

Hernandez went on to ask the officer if he knew who he was, to which he replied, Youre a city councilperson.

Absolutely  and this is my district. Youre not going to conduct yourself like that in front of my neighbors, Hernandez can be heard saying.

The officer then apologized repeatedly to Hernandez and to the individual filming the incident.

My people live here, brother. Please treat them with respect ... Theres kids that need to go to school. Theres people that are working. You chose to use our taxpayer dollars to disrespect a man with your music. Thats childish, sir, Hernandez told the officer.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Hernandez explained that his neighbors were afraid and confused by the behavior. He added that he found it ironic that the police were playing songs from Encanto and Coco in a mostly Latino neighborhood.

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Those were films that were used to bridge the Latino community, said Hernandez, and police are using them to silence it.

The Santa Ana police department has responded to the incident, saying that it is investigating the officers involved.

We are committed to serving our community and we understand the concerns as it relates to the video. The Santa Ana police department takes seriously all complaints regarding the service provided by the department and the conduct of its employees. Our department is committed to conducting complete, thorough, and objective investigations, it said.

The incident reflects an apparently growing trend in which police officers play copyrighted music in order to prevent videos of them from being posted on to social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, which can remove content that includes unauthorized content.

Last July, a police officer in Oakland, California was filmed blasting Taylor Swifts Blank Space as he was confronted by several activists on the steps of a courthouse.

Similarly, in February last year, an individual who filmed his visit to the Beverly Hills Police Station, where he sought to obtain body camera footage, encountered an officer who began playing Sublimes Santeria.

 The photo on this article was changed on 17 April 2022 as an earlier image was of vehicles from the Los Angeles police department, which was not involved in the incident.
Christies has announced two major appointments to its senior management team in the Middle East region - Dr Ridha Moumni has been promoted to the role of Deputy Chairman (Middle East & North Africa), effective immediately, and Meagan Kelly Horsman has been named Managing Director, Christies Middle East, led by Anthea Peers, the new President for Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

For Peers, the Middle East is a strategic priority for the company, and these two important executive announcements underscore the firm's commitment to deepening the investment in this area.

In his new role, Moumni will be responsible for business strategy across the region, with a strong focus on the Gulf and North Africa amongst other areas. He will work to expand and enhance Christies profile and portfolio of offerings while also promoting the companys diversified businesses.

He was previously Christies Senior Client Advisor for the Middle East, joining the company from Harvard Universitys Department of Art History, where he was an Aga Khan Fellow.

Kelly Horsman, who take over the new role on May 23, brings to Christies her extensive experience in Collection Management and Development for some of the most important collections in the UAE.

Based in the region since 2010, Kelly Horsman worked previously in the primary art market, starting her career in the art world at Bonhams. She has also curated numerous exhibitions, delivered short courses relating to the art sector, and created a curated print fair at Al Serkal Avenue.

On the senior appointments, Peers said: "Joining Christies London 16 years ago, I vividly remember the excitement felt ahead of the first auction we held in Dubai, back in May 2006. This expansion and further successes in the region, as we forged relationships throughout the area, remains pivotal for the business, and the Middle East has always been at the forefront of my mind."

"Its therefore an even greater pleasure to announce these new management appointments so early in my new role as President, Christies EMEA. There will be further news to come in the weeks and months ahead, underlining the strong investment Christies will continue to make in the region going forward," he added.

Christies Dubai office hosts two dedicated specialist departments for watches and Middle Eastern art, as well as a special events team, led by the newly appointed General Manager Itziar Salgado.

In addition to its core team of colleagues based in Dubai, Christies said it engages and directs a strong network of consultants throughout the region and receives integral support from senior colleagues across the business, including Dr. Bertold Muller, Managing Director Christies EMEA; and a highly skilled team of managers, client advisors, and specialists in Islamic Art, 20th/21st Century Art, Old Masters, and Collections.
Mailboxes, utility poles and other damage littered the street after a car crashed into them in Springfield Saturday.

Crews were called to the 2000 block of Crabill Road around 6:20 p.m. to reports of a truck that after crashing into several mailboxes and a telephone pole had crashed into the woods.

At this time, the Springfield post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said it did not appear anyone was taken to the hospital.

>> 2 taken to hospital after shooting at Kettering bowling alley; 17-year-old in custody

Video from the scene shows lines down on yards and fire crews on scene.

It is unknown if the lines are from power poles, but there are no major outages reported in the area, according to the Ohio Edison outage map.

Emergency scanner traffic indicated that several mailboxes, signs, gas meters and poles were damaged.

We will update this story as we learn more.
Photo by VCG/Getty Images

The COVID-19 wave crashing across China right now not only threatens the 1.5 billion people who live there. It also poses a serious danger to the rest of the world.

Leaving aside the risk to already fragile global supply chains, theres a chance that the surge of infections in China will give the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen ample opportunity to mutate into some new and more dangerous variant. If that happens, the progress the world has made against COVID since vaccines became widely available in late 2020 could slow, if not reverse.

Theres the distinct possibility that things will get out of control in China, John Swartzberg, a professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at the University of California-Berkeleys School of Public Health, told The Daily Beast. If that happens, Swartzberg added, there will be a remarkable amount of viral reproduction occurring in people and this will increase the possibility of problematic variants being produced.

Two COVID Variants Just Combined Into a Frankenstein Virus

Experts disagree just how likely it is that the next major variantlineage is the scientific termmight emerge in China. Ben Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at The University of Hong Kong, said the next major lineage may come from countries where the virus has already swept through the population. Somewhere in Europe, or the U.S.

But there are unique dynamics that boost the chances of a new SARS-CoV-2 lineage appearing in China. The Chinese population is hugeand might be way less protected against infection and thus viral mutation than, say, Americans or Europeans.

This disparity is partly the consequence of Chinas earlier success against COVID. For more than two years, the Chinese government and health establishment managed to suppress the novel coronavirus. This despite the pathogen likely originating at a meat market in Wuhan in east-central China in late 2019.

Thanks to Chinas frequently severe limits on crowds and travel daily, the country went two years with practically no COVID. Yes, there were a few tens of thousands of cases across the vast country during the initial wave of infections in the spring of 2020. But after that, almost nothing. So few cases that the 150 or so daily new infections authorities logged in mid-January 2021 qualified as a surge.

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There are few people on the subway in Xian, Shaanxi Province, China, April 16, 2022. Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Then came Omicron. The new lineage, which first appeared in South Africa last fall, is by far the most transmissible. Some experts described the earlier form of Omicron, the BA.1 sublineage, as the most contagious respiratory virus theyd ever seen, owing in part to key mutations on the spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it grab onto and infect human cells.

The BA.2 sublineage that soon replaced BA.1 is even worse: potentially 80 percent more contagious than BA.1. Theres also a very rare recombinant form of Omicron called XE that combines the qualities of BA.1 and BA.2 and might be 10 percent more transmissible than even BA.2.

BA.1 and BA.2 shrugged off Chinas strict social distancing. Even the most fleeting contact between family members, neighbors and coworkers was enough to ignite a viral firestorm in China starting in January.

Omicron struck the southern city of Hong Kong first, then neighboring Shenzhen a few weeks later. After that, the Omicron wave spread to Shanghai, farther to the north, prompting the government to impose one of its strictest, and most controversial, lockdowns yet.

The virus kept spreading. By early April officials were logging an average of around 15,000 new cases a day. A spike in deaths followed. In Hong Kong alone, nearly 9,000 people have died since mid-February. To be clear, thats a fraction of the infections and deaths that countries with fewer restrictions tallied during the worst of their own COVID surges. Whats so worrying in China is the trendand the potential for cases, and deaths, to keep going up and up.

Chilling Vids Show Locked-Down Shanghai Residents Screaming From Their Windows

And not everyone trusts the official numbers. Chinese cities other than Hong Kong have yet to report COVID deaths from the current wave, leading some experts to ask whether the government in Beijing is deliberately delaying the data in order to mask the extent of the crisis. Im skeptical about the death rate reported in China, Peter Collignon, an infectious disease expert at the Australian National University Medical School, told Bloomberg.

Paul Tambyah, president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection in Singapore, told The Daily Beast there could be some under-reporting by health officials, but probably not enough to truly alter our understanding of the Chinese outbreak. The active Chinese social media scene, which has broadcast images of individuals chafing under lockdown restrictions, is unlikely to have missed large numbers of severe cases or deaths, Tambyah said.

Still, the COVID wave in China is badand getting worseat the same time cases hover at a year low across much of the rest of the world, despite BA.2 becoming the dominant sublineage almost everywhere.

It could be that we are seeing the resurgences in China, including the emergence and spread of new sub-strains, primarily because the population there never achieved high levels of natural immunity, Edwin Michael, an epidemiologist at the Center for Global Health Infectious Disease Research at the University of South Florida, told The Daily Beast.

You cant build up natural antibodies across a large population if no one is ever exposed to the virus. Thats the downside of total lockdowns. The antibodies in recovered COVID patients lend strong immunity that, combined with vaccinations across large groups of people, can help blunt the impact of a new lineage. Michael for one said he believes natural immunity is stronger and longer-lasting than immunity resulting from even the best messenger-RNA vaccines.

Not that everyday Chinese people have access to the mRNA jabs. Chinese authorities loudly criticized, then banned, Western vaccines, apparently in order to protect the market for locally made jabs. But experts disagree how effective and long-lasting Chinas domestic Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines are. Tambyah said theres enough data to conclude the Chinese shots are highly effective at preventing severe illness and death.

Michael said he disagrees. They also used inactivated viruses in their Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, which I had expected to be more robust than mRNA vaccines in terms of producing a more diversified immune response that could counter new mutants, et cetera, Michael said, but apparently it would seem that this response has waned, making people susceptible again to new strains.

But even if they are reasonably effective, the vaccines are unevenly distributed in China. The governments attacks on foreign jabs has had the effect of encouraging anti-vax attitudes, especially among older Chinese who might be less media-savvy than their younger counterparts. So while 85 percent of all Chinese have gotten jabbed, just half of the most vulnerable age groupover-80sare fully vaccinated. That plus the lack of natural immunity has left millions of people exposed to aggressive lineages that can punch right through lockdowns.

Not only are millions of Chinese at risk of serious illness or death, theyre also potential incubators for potentially worse forms of SARS-CoV-2. Any place can be a source of new variants, but those places with low levels of population immunity and unchecked spread of the virus are the most likely, Amesh Adalja, a public-health expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Daily Beast.

Hong Kong residents line up to receive their free COVID-19 vaccination. Photo by Ben Marans/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Each individual infection, unchecked by antibodies, tends to produce two mutations every two weeks, Niema Moshiri, a geneticist at the University of California, San Diego, told The Daily Beast last year.

What if we had 50 million people pull slot-machine levers simultaneously at the same time? Moshiri asked. We would expect at least one person would hit the jackpot pretty quickly. Now, replace the slot machine with clinically meaningful SARS-CoV-2 mutation, and thats the situation were in.

All that is to say, the longer COVID rates remain high in the worlds most-populous country, the greater the chance that the next major lineage will be Chinese. New lineages are inevitable from one country or another, of course. The trick is to slow the rate of mutation so that fresh vaccine formulations, therapies and public-health policies can at least keep pace with major changes in the virus.

Thats hard to do when the pathogen is spreading fast in a country of 1.5 billion people with uneven rates of vaccination by potentially low-quality jabs and very little natural immunity to back up the shots.

It appears a Chinese meat market was the very first laboratory for SARS-CoV-2. The first place the virus could spread and mutate until it became the fast-moving, deadly pathogen the whole world now struggles with. Its possible some Chinese citylocked down but still ripe for viral transmissioncould be the lab for the next major form of the same pathogen. It could be even more transmissible than BA.2. Or maybe it will have some ability to evade natural and vaccine-induced antibodies. It could have both dangerous qualities.

Regardless, that lineage, whether it first appears in China or somewhere else, could prolong the pandemic into its fourth year.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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China said it conducted military drills near Taiwan as a response to U.S. lawmakers' official visit to the island nation on Friday.



The Peoples Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that the Chinese military sent frigates, bombers and fighter planes to the East China Sea and the area around Taiwan while the U.S. delegation held a news conference in Taipei.



This operation is in response to the recent frequent release of wrong signals by the United States on the Taiwan issue, the statement read. The U.S. bad actions and tricks are completely futile and very dangerous. Those who play with fire will burn themselves.



The move was a countermeasure to the recent negative actions of the U.S., including the visit of a delegation of lawmakers to Taiwan, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.



He added that China would continue to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.



A separate statement from Chinas defense ministry called the U.S. visit deliberately provocative which had led to further escalation of tension in the Taiwan Strait.



The bipartisan group, composed of Sens Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Burr (R-NC), Robert Portman (R-OH), Benjamin Sasse (R-NE) Ronny Jackson (R-TX) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) landed in Taiwan on Thursday and met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen the next day.



During their meeting, Sen. Graham told President Tsai Ing-wen that Russias invasion of Ukraine and Chinas aggression have solidified a common viewpoint in the U.S.



To abandon Taiwan would be to abandon democracy and freedom, said the Republican senator. Theres a backlash growing in the world to thuggery  to the bad guys.



Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Menendez called Taiwan a country of global significance.



Beijing, which considers Taiwan as one of its provinces, has expressed fury in the past over such reference to the island state as a country.



China has notably increased its military activity near Taiwan in recent years, frequently conducting air force flights into Taiwans air defense zone.



Just last month, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hya Chunying stated that Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinas territory is an irrefutable historical and legal fact.

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Three Chinese astronauts returned to earth on Saturday after 183 days in space, state television reported, completing the country's longest crewed space mission to date.

The astronauts landed nine hours after they left a key module of China's first space station.

While in orbit, the Shenzhou-13 mission astronauts took manual control in the Tianhe living quarters module for what state media called a "docking experiment" with the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft.

Following their launch in October, the astronauts - Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and a female crew member Wang Yaping - spent 183 days in space, completing the fifth of 11 missions needed to finish the space station by the end of the year.

Shenzhou-13 was the second of four planned crewed missions to complete construction of the space station, which began last April. Shenzhou-12 returned to Earth in September.

China's next two missions will be Tianzhou-4, a cargo spacecraft, and the three-person Shenzhou-14 mission, Shao Limin, deputy technology manager of Manned Spaceship System was quoted by state media as saying.

Barred by the United States from participating in the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit, China has spent the past decade developing technologies to build its own space station, the only one in the world other than the ISS.

China, which aims to become a space power by 2030, has successfully launched probes to explore Mars and became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.

(Reporting by Liangping Gao in Beijing and Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
One Easter tradition in Mandarin continues to be kept alive.

The 17th annual Frances Pruitt Easter Egg Hunt kicked off Friday at the Community Hospice Earl B. Hadlow Center for Caring.

PHOTOS: Two sea turtles released back into the ocean at Jekyll Island

The goal was to create a safe and fun event for PedsCare patients  children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.

Sixty participants from PedsCare took part, as well as more than 200 adults and children of Community Hospice & Palliative Care staff members.

Ruby Gills daughter Ember is about to turn 10 years old. She and her family joined in on the excitement Friday.

Sometimes we feel kind of isolated. Its good to have these opportunities to normalize our lives and our situation, Ruby Gill said.

She said the Community PedsCare program has had a large impact on her family.

She has spinal muscular atrophy Type 1, so her little body doesnt work, and she needs a ventilator to help, Ruby Gill said. But her little mind works great.

The annual egg hunt event is held each year in memory of Frances Pruitt, who in 2003 was a patient at the Earl B. Hadlow Center for Caring.

She had always had an Easter egg hunt at her home for all the neighborhood kids and our kids and grandkids, Pruitts daughter, Scyles Bush, said. When she was here, obviously she was too sick, but she was still worried about it.

So, the egg hunt began in the courtyard, which Pruitts room looked down upon.

Its just gone on from there  and grown, grown and grown, Bush said. This year is fantastic.

Currently, there are 235 children in the Community PedsCare program, and 60 took part in the event.

The Easter Bunny made an appearance as well. Families also had the chance to take part in crafts, sidewalk chalk and eat some good food.

STORY: Test-drive an electric car this weekend in Downtown Jacksonville

Susan Ponder-Stansel is the president of Alivia Care, the parent company to all of the work they do.

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Today, were just out here celebrating the fact that we can be together and have this joyful event on our campus, even though were taking care of people here who have a very limited time left in this world, Ponder-Stansel said.

PedsCare is a pediatric palliative and hospice program of Community Hospice & Palliative Care.

If you havent reached out to community PedsCare and you have a child with special needs or a hospice situation, then these people are great, Gill said. Theyve definitely been here for us, have made our journey a lot easier and have given us a lot of resources that we really appreciate.

Community Hospice & Palliative Care serves 1,300 adult patients throughout 16 counties in North Florida daily.

CLICK HERE to learn more about PedsCare.

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Associated Press

It was a happy Mother's Day indeed for Consuelo Buelvas, who called her son's game-winning shot from 3,110 miles away in Sincelejo, Colombia. Jorge Alfaro pinch-hit three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning gave the San Diego Padres a stunning 3-2 win Sunday against his former team, the Miami Marlins. If Alfaro looked confident in going deep to center field on the first pitch he saw from Cole Sulser (0-1), it's because he was buoyed by a phone call he had with his mother before the game.
A notorious Mexican drug trafficker linked to jailed kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzmans cartel has been captured in Colombia, according to police, after his model girlfriend posted pictures of the pair kissing at a tourist attraction on Facebook.

Colombian police arrested alleged Sinaloa drug cartel capo Brian Donaciano Olguin Verdugo, known by his nickname El Pitt, in a luxury apartment in the city of Cali, they announced last Sunday.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) alerted Colombian authorities that El Pitt had entered the country in February. A Facebook post, made by the unnamed model, showing the couple at Los Cristales, a hilltop statue of Jesus Christ, helped police track down the pair.

Breaking all security protocols, including using only encrypted apps, the model convinced him to take a selfie kissing in front of Los Cristales mountain, a police source told El Tiempo . She immediately posted the photo on her Facebook account.

The Independent has contacted the DEA for comment.

Security officials then spent two weeks trailing and surreptitiously photographing the drug trafficker, who was reportedly in the country to broker deals with former Colombian guerillas regarding shipments of cocaine to Mexico.

Surveillance photos published by El Tiempo show the couple lounging in bed at night, where Verdugo is shirtless and can be seen with distinctive tattoos on his chest, one of the markers police were told to look out for.

The alleged Sinaloa leader, who was seeking to establish a permanent resident in Colombia and serve as a regular cartel emissary between Mexico and Colombia, then tried to bribe police with around $265,000, officials say.

If I was in Mexico, I would have already been freed by a group of armed men, he told arresting officers, according to El Tiempo.

Verdugo will now be extradited to California for prosecution on charges of cocaine trafficking, according to police.

At the time of his capture, Mr Verdugo had an active Interpol red warrant for his arrest in 196 countries.
The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has announced the curators for the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale, the first event of its kind which will showcase the art and creativity of Islamic culture and will take place in Jeddah in early 2023.

The distinguished international curatorial team will oversee the Islamic Arts Biennale: Dr Saad Alrashed, leading Saudi scholar and archaeologist; Dr Omniya Abdel Barr, Barakat Trust Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum; Dr Julian Raby, Director Emeritus of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC and Sumayya Vally, co-founder of the experimental architecture and research firm, Counterspace.

The Biennale will champion innovation while supporting continuing traditions and encouraging the preservation of skills. It will explore spirituality in the aesthetic realm and celebrate both shared heritage around the globe and diversity of artistic expressions and forms. By inviting artists from around the world, it will provide new dialogues and insights.

A gateway to the two holiest cities

The location of the first Islamic Arts Biennale, originally planned for Riyadh, will now be the city of Jeddah with its historic and continuing significance as a gateway to the two holiest cities to Muslims across the world, Mecca (officially Makkah Al-Mukarrama) and Medina (officially Al-Madinah Al-Munawwara). The wealth of historical sites such as Bab Makkah, combined with the diversity of the citys cultural heritage, complement the Biennales objective to interlink past, present, and future.

Prince Badr bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Culture of Saudi Arabia, noted: Cultural and artistic exchange are essential in this period of unprecedented growth and development in the creative community in Saudi Arabia. The Diriyah Biennale Foundation is at the forefront of this cultural awakening and flourishing art scene. Our contemporary edition closed in March after attracting critical acclaim, and the Islamic Arts Biennale represents our next chapter.

Aya Al-Bakree, CEO of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, said: It is a great honour to announce our Islamic Arts Biennale, the first of its kind. It follows another historic moment, when the Diriyah Biennale Foundation presented Saudi Arabias highly praised first contemporary art biennale under the title Feeling the Stones.

Contextual display of artworks

Our Islamic Arts edition will once again work with leading practitioners and curators to present a contextual display of artworks and installations curated thematically. It will enable broad audiences to experience and learn about Islamic civilisations and their ongoing legacies within the arena of arts.

In December 2021 the Diriyah Biennale Foundation successfully launched Saudi Arabias first contemporary art biennale in the JAX district of Diriyah. The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale was one of Saudi Arabias largest and most significant international displays of contemporary art, a platform for global dialogue and exchange featuring more than 60 acclaimed artists from Saudi Arabia and around the world.

The mission of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation in establishing the first Islamic Arts Biennale is to celebrate and enrich the cultural and artistic exchange between Saudi Arabia, as the birthplace of Islam, and communities around the world.

The Foundation will host a biennale every year, alternating between the Contemporary Art Biennale and the Islamic Arts Biennale.-- TradeArabia News Service
The Hill illustration, Madeline Monroe/iStock

The Interior Department is selling additional oil and gas leases, but with some changes. And former EPA boss Scott Pruitt is running for the U.S. Senate.

This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, were Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Interior declares new oil, gas lease sales, royalty hike

The Interior Department on Friday announced another round of oil and gas lease sales on public lands as well as an increase in royalty rates.

The administration initially froze new leasing on public lands shortly after President Biden took office, but a federal district court that summer issued an injunction against the order. The department cited that injunction in announcing the lease sales.

In the announcement, the department said the Interior Department will issue final sales notices for the upcoming sales Monday. The Interior Department also announced a royalty hike, increasing rates from 12.5 to 18.75 percent.

The administration said the sale would incorporate 173 land parcels on about 144,000 acres, 80 percent less than the acreage nominated under the Trump administration.

The story so far: In October, the Bureau of Land Management said that it will incorporate national greenhouse gas emissions in oil and gas leasing decisions. Separately, the federal government also said it would incorporate the so-called social cost of carbon into leasing decisions and other regulations.

Judge James Cain, a Trump appointee, blocked the use of the metric in February, but an appeals court overturned the ruling in March. The same week, the department announced new lease sales would proceed following the ruling.

The Interior Department had previously announced an offshore lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, but after a court ruled those sales invalid, the government said it would not appeal.

A mixed reaction: Responses from environmental and conservation groups were mixed. A spokesperson for the Center for Western Priorities called it good news that shows that Secretary Haaland and her team at Interior are listening to Westerners and working in the best interest of taxpayers.

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By limiting the upcoming sale to areas with existing oil and gas infrastructure, Interior will prevent speculators from locking up public lands with little or no potential for future production, he added. Raising the royalty rate ensures taxpayers will get a fair share from oil produced on these parcels.

However, the Center for Biological Diversity excoriated the decision.

The Biden administrations claim that it must hold these lease sales is pure fiction and a reckless failure of climate leadership, Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. Its as if theyre ignoring the horror of firestorms, floods and megadroughts, and accepting climate catastrophes as business as usual.

Read more about the announcement here.

Trumps EPA chief files to run for Senate

Trump-era Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt will run to represent Oklahoma in the Senate.

Pruitt officially filed on Friday to run for the seat currently held by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). Inhofe announced earlier this year that he would not run for reelection.

It had been previously reported that Pruitt was considering a Senate bid.

Pruitt helmed the agency tasked with protecting the environment until resigning in 2018 amid several ethics controversies.

He faced scrutiny for his $50 per night deal to rent a condo co-owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist as well as for spending on his security detail, first-class travel and a soundproof booth in his office.

He also targeted several Obama-era environmental protections for rollbacks or changes, including climate regulations on power plants and oil and gas drillers, as well as clean water regulations.

Inhofe announced in February that he would retire at the start of 2023, triggering a special election to replace him.

Pruitt will face off against a number of other Republicans in the June 28 primary, including Rep. Markwayne Mullin and Inhofes longtime chief of staff Luke Holland, whom the senator has backed.

Read more about the upcoming election here.

MCCARTHY PUSHES BACK ON EXIT RUMORS

National climate adviser Gina McCarthy is pushing back on reports that she will soon depart her White House post.

Late Thursday she tweeted, Reports that I have resigned from my position as President Bidens National Climate Advisor are simply inaccurate.

Weve made great progress these past 14 months, but we have much more work to do  and I remain excited about the opportunities ahead, McCarthy added.

However, it was not reported that she resigned. Instead, multiple news outlets reported that she was planning to step down.

Reuters, which first reported on the potential exit, noted that she could leave as soon as next month. E&E News reported that she would leave in the coming months.

Asked for comment on Thursday, White House spokesperson Vedant Patel said via email, We have no personnel announcements to make.

Gina and her entire team continue to be laser focused on delivering on President Bidens clean energy agenda, he added.

Sources said there has been talk about the possibility McCarthy could leave her position, but they did not have direct knowledge of any plans or timing of any departure.

It is not particularly unusual for White House officials to leave after more than a year of service, though most are likely to try to stay at least until after the November midterm elections.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, for instance, has said she plans to leave her role this year.

Read more about the situation here.

 TUNE-IN TO RISING, now available as a podcast. Its politics  without the screaming.

Wind power overtook coal, nuclear for first time

Wind power was the No. 2 source for power generation in the U.S. for the first time ever on March 29, surpassing coal and nuclear power, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday.

Wind turbines in the continental U.S. produced 2,017 gigawatthours of electricity on the 29th, according to data from the EIA. While there have been days in the past when wind generation separately outpaced coal and nuclear generation, the 29th marked the first day that it surpassed both power sources.

The full story: Natural gas remained the top source of power generation on March 29, comprising 31 percent of power generation, followed by wind, nuclear and coal.

The milestone comes a little more than two years after nationwide wind capacity outstripped nuclear capacity in September 2019. This did not immediately result in higher wind power output than nuclear, because wind generators are designed to run at lower capacity than nuclear generators.

Wind power generation often hits an annual high in spring, when wind speeds tend to peak and electricity demand is usually at one of its lowest points, which prompts coal and nuclear generators to reduce output. Overall, wind typically produces the least amount of electricity per month of any major source, and the EIA does not project that it will surpass coal or nuclear for a full month at any point during this year or 2023.

Read more about the milestone here.

WHAT WERE READING

Louisiana loses challenge to federal greenhouse gas emissions policy: We are disappointed (The Associated Press)

California Ran on Nearly 100% Clean Energy This Month (Bloomberg)

Is your electric utility blocking climate action? (Grist)

And finally, something offbeat and off-beat: Spring training.

Thats it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hills Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. Well see you Monday.

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Library of Congress/Getty/Naval Historical Center

Beginning in the summer of 1862, the CSS Alabama, a Confederate ship captained by Raphael Semmes, roamed the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans to find, capture, and burn Union Navy ships. In this endeavor, the Southern ship was wildly successful. Sailing 75,000 miles around the globe and back again, that pirate Semmes, as the newspapers called him, sent over 60 ships to the bottom of the ocean. Their precious cargos would never support the Norths military campaigns.

As a last resort, Lincolns Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, commissioned the USS Kearsarge and its previously undistinguished captain, John Winslow, to travel to the uttermost ends of the earth, if necessary, to find and destroy the Alabama. After months of chasing the rebel raider, Winslow trapped Semmes and his crew in the harbor of Cherbourg, France. The Confederate captain refused to surrender. Instead, he would turn the tables: The pirate vowed that on the morning of June 19, 1864, he would destroy the Kearsarge and its captain who dared to corner him. What follows is an excerpt from a new book To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the Souths Most Feared Shipand the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War.

To the Uttermost Lengths of the World by Phil Keith and Tom Clavin Phil Keith and Tom Clavin

Sunday, June 19, 1864: Off the coast of Cherbourg, France

At 8.30 on the Kearsarge, with the morning meal complete and the dishes washed and stowed, the crew worked on their final pre-battle tasks: cutlasses were sharpened, pistols made ready, and the Marines cleaned their rifles. A first round was carefully loaded in every chamber. No one knew if a boarding party would be called or if there might be a need to repel boarders, but the crew would be prepared for either scenario. Gunners sorted out their shots and shells and the powder monkeys carefully placed buckets of water near all the guns in case they were needed to douse any fires. Every cannon was loaded with a shell and primed.

Then, the waiting began. Would there even be a battle that day? Despite the bravado of Capt. Semmes, no one really knew if he was bluffing. Perhaps this whole exercise would turn into nothing more than another stand-off, like those the crew had experienced with the Sumter, Florida, and Rappahannock. Men with pipes were told they could not smoke them. There was too much powder and loose ammunition on deck.

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The temperature began rising, and the heat beat down on the men and the freshly holy-stoned deck. There was little chatter. The predominant sound was the sea swishing down the sides of the Kearsarge as she prowled back and forth.

There was no reason for further delay. Finally, Semmes gave the order. Moments later the Alabama was under light steam power and gliding through the harbor. He could see not just the Kearsarge beyond the entrance to Cherbourg but the Couronne too, ready to escort the rebel raider beyond the three-mile limit. Also, on the move through the harbor was the Deerhound. Captain Jones would keep a safe distance while providing the Lancaster family with a good view of the action.

As the Alabama departed Cherbourg, its officers and crew could see the tops of buildings and nearby hills lined with those people who hoped to witness a unique event.

Whatever was to happen, the captain of the Southern ship aimed to be the best-dressed participant. Just before the trip away from the French city had begun, Semmes had gone below. He returned wearing his best and hardly ever worn Confederate States of America uniform, the gold epaulettes and brass buttons shining in the strong June sunlight. The captain had even allowed his steward, Bartelli, to wax his mustache. As the Alabama moved through the harbor in an almost stately way, those with sharp eyes on shore noted the proud captains outfit and posture.

When it passed the berth of the French warship Napoleon, the Alabama was treated to three cheers. The French frigates band followed this up by the closest it could get to playing Dixie. As Arthur Sinclair recorded, We were surprised and gratified. It was much appreciated by us, and no doubt stirred our brave lads to the centre.

At the same time, Capt. Winslow slowly paced the quarterdeck of the Kearsarge. His head was down, hands clasped behind his back, his brow deeply furrowed. What do we do if he does not come out today? Where is the damn St. Louis? What will Welles do with me if I let another raider elude my grasp?

Lt. Cdr. Thornton quietly approached his captain, trying not to overly disturb his private thoughts. As he drew close, he cleared his throat and whispered to his leader, It's time, sir.

Very good, Mr. Thornton.

Per Sunday tradition, all the crew not performing critical tasks would fall in on the main deck in their very best uniforms to hear the Bible read by the captain, maybe a homily, and hopefully a few words on the situation they were facing. Winslow took his customary position between the two long rows of his officers and sailors who were lined up port and starboard, stiffly at attention. Nearly all his crew were there. Two engineers were below deck, maintaining Kearsarges head of steam and a gang of coal shovelers were feeding the furnaces. The normal deck watch was posted and alert.

Winslow cleared his throat and began, At ease, men. Today I want to read to you a few passages from...

Cap'n! a bosun positioned high above the main deck cried out from his mizzen mast perch, She's a-comin! She's comin' out!

It was as if a bolt of St. Elmo's fire had been shot through the crew. Every man stiffened, waiting for the command to Take stations!

Winslow slapped his Bible shut and handed it to Thornton. My glass! he barked.

The captain's yeoman ran to the focs'le, grabbed his chiefs spyglass, and dashed back to his commander's side.

Winslow strode to the port rail and lifted the powerful brass and optical instrument to his one good eye and peered at a large vessel, belching gray smoke, steaming out of the mouth of the harbor. He could not resist declaring, And so there you are, you bastard. At last!

The crew, overhearing, broke into wild cheers, waved their hats, and jumped up and down in place. They were on a hair trigger, some on tiptoes even, waiting for the captain's next command.

He lowered his glass, turned to his exec, and said, simply, Battle stations, Mr. Thornton.

All Thornton had to do was turn to the crew and yell, Go!

The Battle of Cherbourg by Louis Le Breton depicts combat between the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama, on June 19, 1864, nine miles off Cherbourg, France. The infamous Confederate blockade runner and commerce raider, had taken 65 ships during her Civil War career. Louis Le Breton/Everett

Every sailor knew his place, and the mass of men dissolved into a wild scramble for their assigned posts. Some dashed to the engine room, others headed for the guns. Loaders began sweating in the ammunition lockers hauling out more shot and shell. The surgeon and his staff prepared a medical station in the wardroom, laying out battle dressings and bone saws. Hospital stewards began spreading sand around the guns to soak up the blood that was bound to be shed. The gunner's mates grabbed rammers, lanyards, spongers, and fire locks. Stokers shoved more coal into the fires and the engineers hefted rags and oilcans. Landsmen, seamen, and powder monkeys distributed powder bags, round shot, and shells. The Marines positioned their rifles, grappling hooks, pistols, and even cutlasses while also taking over the forward Parrot gun.

As every man settled in, the hard-charging shape of the Alabama grew larger. She had a bone in her teeth, and she was headed straight for the Kearsarge.

Helmsman! Winslow shouted, Point her out to sea!

Winslow would not fight this battle in French territorial waters. He would take a position six miles out, then turn and face the enemy. He was a cautious man, a careful man. Thirty-seven years in the Navy, many of them at sea, had taught him that preparation and practice beat daring and impetuosity. He would make sure his men were fully ready, then reverse course and head straight for his old friend and former shipmate, with every intention of blowing him and his cursed ship to Kingdom Come.

To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the Souths Most Feared Shipand the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War is available now.

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The Taliban authorities warned Pakistan on Saturday after five children and a woman were killed in Afghanistan in alleged rocket attacks by the Pakistani military in a pre-dawn assault along the border.

Border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militant groups were carrying out attacks from Afghan soil.

The Taliban deny harbouring Pakistani militants, but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre (1,600-mile) border known as the Durand line, which was drawn up in colonial times.

"Five children and a woman were killed and a man wounded in Pakistani rocket attacks in Shelton district of Kunar," provincial director of information Najibullah Hassan Abdaal told AFP referring to the eastern province of Kunar bordering Pakistan.

Ehsanullah, a resident of Shelton district who goes by one name as many Afghans do, said the assault was carried out by Pakistani military aircraft.

A similar pre-dawn assault was carried out in Afghanistan's Khost province near the border, another Afghan government official said.

"Pakistani helicopters bombarded four villages near the Durand line in Khost province," he said on condition of anonymity.

"Only civilian houses were targeted and there were casualties," he added, but did not offer more details.

Afghanistan's Taliban government warned Islamabad after the attacks.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombardment and attack that has taken place from the Pakistan side on the soil of Afghanistan," government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters in an audio message.

"This is a cruelty and it is paving the way for enmity between Afghanistan and Pakistan ... We are using all options to prevent repetitions (of such attacks) and calling for our sovereignty to be respected.

The Pakistani side should know that if a war starts it will not be in the interest of any side. It will cause instability in the region."

Story continues

- 'Military violations' -

Pakistani military officials were not immediately available for comment.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi protested to Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul against what he said were "military violations" committed by Pakistan.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it was "deeply concerned" by civilian deaths caused by air strikes, and the mission was verifying the extent of losses.

TOLO News, Afghanistan's leading private TV channel, showed footage of houses destroyed in the assault in Khost.

"All the targeted people were innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the Taliban or the government," Rasool Jan, a resident of Khost, told the channel.

"We don't know who is our enemy and why we were targeted."

Hundreds of civilians of Khost poured into the streets chanting anti-Pakistan slogans later on Saturday, photographs obtained by AFP showed.

Border areas between the two countries have long been a stronghold for militant groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which operates across the porous frontier with Afghanistan.

The Afghan Taliban and the TTP are separate groups in both countries, but share a common ideology and draw from people who live on either side of the border.

Thousands of people usually cross the border daily, including traders, Afghans seeking medical treatment in Pakistan, and people visiting relatives.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, the TTP has become emboldened and launched regular attacks against Pakistani forces.

In February, six Pakistan soldiers were killed in firing by the TTP from Afghanistan.

Last month the TTP announced it would launch an offensive against Pakistani security forces from the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The TTP are pressuring the Pakistani authorities to allow militants to return to their hometowns with impunity after foreign fighters were told by the Afghan Taliban to leave Afghanistan.

abh-jd/dw
What started as a $50 loan for home repairs turned into a $1 million investment scam that spanned five years for a couple living in Louisiana, according to federal prosecutors.

Now their neighbors son is facing federal charges.

Monty Matthews, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is accused of extorting the couple with promises of bogus investments accompanied by threatening text messages between 2017 and 2022. When law enforcement eventually caught up to him, prosecutors said the 52-year-old feigned medical distress and was taken to the hospital, where he reportedly assaulted two FBI agents while trying to escape.

A grand jury indicted Matthews on 15 counts of fraud, extortion, attempted escape and assault on an officer in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release on Friday, April 15.

Matthews was ordered to remain in jail following his failed escape attempt and could not be reached for comment.

A public defender representing him did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment on April 15.

According to an FBI agents affidavit filed with the criminal charges, Matthews mother lived across the street from a couple identified in court documents only as LW and CW. The first time Matthews reportedly interacted with them in 2016 was to ask for money for home repairs.

Over the next year, the agent said, he continued to ask for petty cash while promising to repay them.

Then, in August 2017, Matthews approached the couple with an investment opportunity  one in which he promised they would recoup all of the money they loaned him and then some, the affidavit states.

Matthews pinned the investment on a made-up rich person who he called Richard Craft, telling LW and CW all they had to do was provide him with cash and he would be their investment group team leader, the FBI agent said.

According to the government, the couple never knew the name of Crafts supposed investment agency, nor did they know what their money was being invested in.

Story continues

Cash drops

The FBI agent said Matthews would text LW with instructions to meet him with cash  often on almost a daily basis and sometimes multiple times in one day. The deposits ranged from $200 to $2,000, according to the affidavit.

From 2017 to 2022, the FBI agent said, LW made 4,515 cash drops with Matthews totaling $1.06 million.

Matthews kept the scheme going by sending threatening text messages, often posing as a federal agent or another authority figure while saying he was going to have them arrested if they didnt give him more money, court documents state.

He also told LW to take certain routes to drop off the money, the FBI agent said, and he seemed to know when she veered off route.

You will need to get your affairs in order, Matthews reportedly said in a September 2021 text message while pretending to be a federal agent. This is my final time communicating via electronic. When I get the signed paperwork. I am personally gonna bang on your home door 4 times. Count to 8 then will knock it down. You have gotten under my skin and I dont like scratching. You sleep well tonight. For tomorrow may be the day we come face to face.

He reportedly signed the message, Peace out crook.

Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Matthews on March 23 and he was arrested two days later, court documents show. He had multiple bench warrants at the time connected to seven previous arrests, a judge said.

Escape attempt

After his arrest, the judge said Matthews exaggerated and/or fabricated medical complications including acting like he could no longer remain seated and falling to the floor. He was then taken to the hospital for testing, which the judge said revealed nothing to support defendants claims of medical distress.

Matthews was then told he would be discharged and taken back to jail.

Defendant waited until one of his restraints were free to then physically assault at least one FBI agent, forcibly pushing that agent out of the way so he could flee, the judge said. In the efforts to get the defendant back in restraints, approximately 7 different individuals assisted, including two federal law enforcement agents.

Both of those agents were reportedly injured in the process.

The judge ordered Matthews remain in jail after his arrest, citing his failed escape attempt, the evidence against him and lack of stable employment.

A grand jury subsequently returned an indictment on Wednesday, April 13, court documents show.

Investment advisers own dad among victims in $3 million Ponzi scheme, NC officials say

Swiss banker was really Hawaii man using fake accent to swindle $2 million, feds say

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He gave $1M to shag-dancing friend at a Cracker Barrel  but it was a scam, feds say
Starting with the Fall 2023 school year, high school students in Florida will be taught financial literacy with classes that will be mandatory. Students must pass the financial literacy classes to graduate.

Photo by Andy Barbour: https://www.pexels.com/photo/student-and-teacher-having-a-conversation-6683894/

There are 10 other states that have already approved legislation for financial literacy courses in high school. They are: Alabama (existing), Mississippi (existing), Missouri (existing), Nebraska (to begin in 2024), North Carolina (existing), Ohio (2025), Rhode Island (2024), Tennessee (existing), Utah (existing) and Virginia (existing).

In late March, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring high school students to complete a financial literacy course before receiving their high school diplomas. Under the bill titled Dorothy L. Hukill Literacy Act, students must take a half-credit in personal financial literacy and money management courses.

Overall, financially literacy is low in the U.S. Only 4 in 7 American adults are financially illiterate. And only one in 10 American teenagers earned a top ranking for financial literacy in testing in 2017.

Florida led most of the nation in bankruptcy filings. You can see that Floridians, generally speaking, are not financially literate, Catherine McEwen, who sits on the Credit Abuse Resistance Education advisory board, told the Tampa Bay Times. We would like the folks in Florida to be educated to the extent that we dont have a job anymore.

Financial literacy is an important life skill for a student to have, said Gov. DeSantis in a statement. Ensuring our students have the skills to manage their finances and perhaps one day own a business will pay dividends for our state. I am proud to sign this bill to support the future of Floridas students and ultimately their families and communities.

This move by Florida will benefit public school students, 21.9 percent of whom are Black (non-Hispanic).

Read full story at Finurah here.
Former CEO of Raiffeisen Bank, Pierin Vincenz, has been found guilty of fraud and other charges.

The former "banker of the year" was sentenced to almost 4 years in prison.

The Swiss banker had used company funds to pay for Tinder dates, personal holidays, and strip clubs.

A Swiss ex-banker once awarded the title of "banker of the year" has received three years and nine months in jail for charges including fraud after a trial exposed his spending of nearly 200,000 Swiss francs ($200,000) of company money on strip clubs, tinder dates, and more, Reuters report.



Former Chief Executive of Raiffeisen Bank, Pierin Vincenz, 65, was also fined 840,000 Swiss francs ($900,600) and ordered to pay nearly 1.6 million francs to firms affected by his fraud.

Vincenz has been found guilty of several charges, including fraud, embezzlement, and forgery in a series of illicit deals that made him millions, said the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

The expenses he charged to the bank became a feature of the trial poured over by the media.

According to The Sunday Times, Vincenz was accused of using his company credit card to fund what the prosecutor called a 20-year "tour de Suisse of the red-light zones."

Most notable was the $217,675 paid to strip clubs and burlesque bars, the Daily Beast previously reported. Vincenz spent approximately $97,000 at one burlesque cabaret theatre, The Sunday Times said, which he charged to his Raiffeisen company card.

The BBC previously reported that Vincenz spent 700 francs ($749.37) on dinner with a woman he met on Tinder, which he labeled a "job interview."

The Times reported that Vincenz claimed almost 250,000 Swiss francs on private jets and family holidays to Mallorca, Tenerife, and Dubai. Vincenz justified the spending by stating they were necessary to maintain contacts with international banks, German news site Tagesschau said.

During the trial, The Sunday Times said he admitted to "mistakes" regarding his corporate expenses. One of these errors, the newspaper said, was spending more than $5,000 on his company credit card to repair a Zurich hotel room wrecked in what prosecutors called a "massive row" with a stripper.

Reuters reports that Judge Sebastian Aeppli, who sentenced Vincenz, said "(His) understanding, whereby practically all expenditures of a business person fall under disposable company expenses so long as any remote connection to the business activity exists, clearly went too far," Aeppli said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia and current World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused the world of giving just a fraction of its attention to Black lives compared to white.



In a virtual press briefing from Geneva on Wednesday, Ghebreyesus called out the world for racial bias, claiming it valued Ukrainian lives over those in other parts of the world, especially Africa and the Middle East.



I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way. Some are more equal than others," he said solemnly, referencing a line from George Orwell's allegorical "Animal Farm." "And when I say this, it pains me. Because I see it. Very difficult to accept  but its happening.



The WHO head cited the crises of Ethiopia (5.5 million people), where he is originally from, Yemen (23.7 million people), Afghanistan (22.8 million people) and Syria (14.6 million), as also requiring and deserving of immediate attention.



Combined, over 66.6 million people are considered by WHO to be in desperate need of humanitarian aid in those four countries alone, not including the millions of people who have fled and sought refuge in other parts of the world.



The Ukraine crisis has displaced approximately 6.5 million people within the country, with over 4 million crossing the border to neighboring countries such as Poland and Hungary.



Ghebreyesus was especially critical of the media, whom he considered responsible for failing to report on the ongoing emergencies in Africa and the Middle East. He cited atrocities in Ethiopia, including people being burned alive and starved. According to the United Nations, more than 400,000 people in the northern city of Tigray are living in famine-line conditions.



He called for the need for balance in considering all lives as precious in spite of race and ethnicity.







Featured Image via World Health Organization (WHO)

Story continues

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The Root

Just over six years ago, a soon to be mother of two died in the operating room only 17 minutes after delivering the second child born to her and her husband, Charles Johnson IV. According to the CDC, Black women die at rates three times higher than that of white mothers during childbirth, and Johnson is unwilling to let his wife become a statistic without due justice. He is suing Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for what he says is the culture of racism within the institution that led to her death.
Investigations by the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Inspector General's office into police officers accused of creating fake COVID-19 vaccination cards so they could attend out-of-state training are still pending.

MPD on Friday issued a news release indicating its investigation had so far not turned up any evidence to support the allegation, but noted one officer under investigation, who is on a leave of absence, has not been served an internal investigation document. The investigation remains active.

The department in February acknowledged an open investigation into the matter following a story about the probe by WTMJ-TV (Channel 4).

The allegations are also being investigated by the city of Milwaukee Inspector General Ronda Kohlheim. That investigation is open as well.

An open records request submitted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to the Police Department about the allegations remains pending.

According to the WTMJ report, a police lieutenant, detective and officer are under investigation. MPD in March 2021 implemented a policy that required staff members to show proof of vaccination for nonemergency work related to travel and travel training requests. In May 2021, the lieutenant approved travel for the detective and officer to a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, saying both were in compliance with the department policy.

In its statement Friday, the department said, to date, no one involved in the investigation had been disciplined.

Contact Steve Martinez at steve.martinez@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stjmartinez.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police investigation into fake COVID vaccine cards pending
Protesters enter the Senate Chamber on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Capitol rioter Eric Munchel is now allowed to download and use the Uber Eats app.

Munchel was given the moniker "Zip-Tie Guy" after his participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

A source told the Daily Beast that he may have requested it in order to begin work as a delivery driver.

A capitol rioter famous for being photographed with zip ties and tactical gear on the Senate floor is now allowed to order Uber Eats during his house arrest, court documents show.

Eric Gavelek Munchel, infamously nicknamed the "Zip-Tie Guy," is now permitted to "download and use the UberEats app on his smartphone" and "use his employer's internet-enabled computer for business purposes" while under house arrest, the order from Judge Royce Lambert read.

The Daily Beast reported that while the official reason for his request is unknown, an anonymous source close to the matter said Munchel may be looking to start working with Uber Eats as a delivery driver.

"His job is outdoors, and on bad weather days he can't work, so he wants to be able to deliver food for people," the source told the Daily Beast.

Sandra Gayle Roland, who represents Munchel, confirmed in an email to Insider that Munchel did indeed make the request in order to begin employment as an Uber Eats driver.

Stipulations of his house arrest allow him to leave his home for limited reasons, including work.

Munchel was arrested in Tennessee last year along with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart. They were both indicted on eight charges last year, including conspiracy to commit obstruction and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Munchel and Eisenhart were released from custody under house arrest after a federal appeals court deemed them nonviolent rioters.

Read the original article on Insider
March 30, 2022: A relative mourns on the coffin with the body of 3 year-old Mykola Goryainiv, who died with his parents as they were driving a car trying to evacuate from a fighting zone in Kharkiv region, during a funeral ceremony in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

The photos are soul-crushing  body after body populating the streets of Ukrainian cities in the wake of Russian bombardment and withdrawal.

Flattened apartment buildings and business areas. A train station filled with refugees bombed. Bodies bound, tortured and then shot.

Some tiptoe around the words war criminal, but that is exactly what the Russian troops and Russian president Vladimir Putin are  war criminals.

Thomas Friedman, writing in The New York Times on Monday, said Putins invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent indiscriminate bombing and civilian deaths mean that the order of things will never be the same.

Kendall P. Stanley

How does the world have an effective U.N. with a country led by a war criminal on the Security Council, who can veto every resolution? How does the world have any effective global initiative to combat climate change and not be able to collaborate with the biggest landmass country on the planet? How does the U.S. work closely with Russia on the Iran nuclear deal when we have no trust with, and barely communicate with, Moscow? How do we isolate and try to weaken a country so big and so powerful, knowing that it could be more dangerous if it disintegrates than if its strong? How do we feed and fuel the world at reasonable prices when a sanctioned Russia is one of the worlds biggest exporters of oil, wheat and fertilizer?

The answer is that we dont know. Which is another way of saying that we are entering a period of geopolitical and geoeconomic uncertainty the likes of which we have not known since 1989  and possibly 1939, Friedman wrote.

Indeed, how do we proceed?

More: Kendall Stanley: Driving on down the highway

More: Kendall Stanley: Where to from here

Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage

Putin has backed himself into a corner, his forces incapable of taking Kyiv and unable to get a quick victory in Ukraine. The countryside is littered with bombed out and disabled tanks and Russian forces have been pulled back to the eastern area of the country.

Story continues

Ukrainian officials are warning residents of renewed fighting and urging them to leave the areas that may be affected, while vowing that Ukraine will fight back with everything it has.

Western allies are hampered by the fact Russia has more nuclear warheads than anyone else, and getting into a shooting war with Russia could and probably would have grave consequences.

There are still plans for peace talks but so far those talks have been non-starters. There is no way Putin is going to admit defeat or pull back from Ukraine. You would think that allowing some humanitarian escape routes could be arranged but youd be wrong.

Friedman suggests that Putins failures in Ukraine will make Ukraine hostile to Russia for decades and will push Ukraine further into the embrace of the European Union, all while strengthening the NATO allies. In other words, Putin has to date not only not achieved his objectives but has ended up with the exact opposite results.

Its easy for critics to say the West must do more for Ukraine and countries are providing more and more munitions and weapons systems to the Ukrainians. Yet there is only so much the West can do short of engaging directly with Russian forces.

Here we now sit  a war criminal at the controls and no clean exit strategy to get him to move off his desire to take over Ukraine, bombed back to the Stone Age if needed.

If we could only get him in the docket at The Hague 

Betty Doherty

MFB indeed

Those who knew Jim Doherty knew his boat name was MFB (the last one I remember was MFB III).

And they knew MFB meant My Favorite Blonde, a nod to his blonde wife, Betty.

For some of us around the News-Review office she was Betty D., and we all knew that Betty and Jim loved and cherished one another.

One big love of their life was square dancing and they were charter members of the Whirl-a-Way square dancers in Petoskey.

Unfortunately Jim died 40 years ago, but Betty kept on going and was 96 when she died March 31.

The obituary started, Ladies and Gentlemen, Family and Friends ...

We are all here to celebrate the life and kindness of Betty Loyal Doherty.

Warm, kind and a friend to all who knew her, that was Betty. As the obituary said, back together with her Jim.

 Kendall P. Stanley is retired editor of the News-Review. He can be contacted at kendallstanley@charter.net. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer and not necessarily of the Petoskey News-Review or its employees.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Kendall Stanley: The horrors of Ukraine
KYIV (Reuters) - One person was killed and several wounded in missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday morning, Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said in televised comments.

Klitschko added that medics were fighting for the lives of those who had been wounded. "Kyiv was and remains a target of the aggressor," he said.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Catherine Evans)
A shooting on Beale Street last weekend provoked a familiar response  more security and the return of the Beale Street security fee, a cover charge designed to reduce the number of people congregating on a public street.

Little further details are available about the firefight that left one dead and reportedly had three Memphis police officers involved. An attorney representing the family of Tacquan Smith, the 26-year-old man killed, has questioned why the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office hasn't handed over evidence related to the shooting. The Memphis Police Department had not released any footage of the incident as of Friday evening.

With the details of what happened on Beale last weekend still ambiguous, Memphis leaders have expressed concern about safety on the street and how the shooting will affect the perception of a crucial tourism draw.

VICTIM'S FAMILY CRITICIZES D.A.: Lawyer for Beale Street shooting victim's family criticizes delay from D.A.'s office

RETURN OF BEALE STREET ADMISSION: Beale Street admission price will return following shoot out between patrons and police

The return of a Beale Street cover charge and enhanced wanding for weapons until 3 a.m. was announced this week ahead of the national spotlight being on Memphis. The Memphis Grizzlies are scheduled to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for the first game of their first-round playoff series.

The enhancements coming before the Grizzlies' game prompted Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland to tell WMC Action News 5 that he was pleased with the security measures.

We have a concerted effort going on and were one of the few entertainment districts that take these kinds of precautions. Weve seen these kinds of incidents all over the country in entertainment districts and it doesnt make us feel any better but it makes us all the more determined to do the best we can, Strickland said to WMC.

Paul Morris, the former head of the Downtown Memphis Commission, said in an interview this week that during his tenure Beale was among the safest areas of Memphis and what was then known as Beale Street Bucks, the cover charge he first instituted, makes the street safer when it is in effect.

Story continues

Attorney Howard Manis, center, speaks to the media alongside the family of Tacquan Smith. Smith was killed when two groups of Beale Street patrons opened fire in front of police, prompted a shoot-out in the busy entertainment district.

"Beale, I'd say, generally speaking, demonstrates a much safer place to be than most other places. It's just two of the most secure two blocks in our city. And the fact that big news event happened and that's a very bad thing. And I'd like to know the facts of that," Morris said.

The larger safety problem on Beale when he led the DMC, Morris said, is not gun violence but what happens when the street becomes too crowded.

"And the problem mostly was crowd density that would lead to surges and fights and and even just general lawlessness. And we were able to address those concerns with the institution of Beale Street Bucks, which thinned the crowd out and made the crowd manageable. The police could actually have a chance to provide the security they're designed to provide. Before Beale Street Bucks, the police's hands were tied in their ability to provide security in a densely populated area," Morris said.

Some, including members of the city council, have believe the security fee unfairly curtails access to a public street and is exclusionary.

Councilman Chase Carlisle says the security fee and wanding will help the situation but he is also looking for another, tougher response.

"I think it's tragic that we have incidences like this recurring all across the city. I think it's tragic that people are hurting the perception of some of our crown jewels of why people love Memphis and want to come to travel to Memphis and want to invest in Memphis and they're in there putting people in danger, in harm's way," Carlisle said.

"The real question is, what can we do to send a message that this stuff won't be tolerated and the people are safe? And I think again, it just goes to a show of force, that when you're in and along and around our tourism zones, you're going to be safe and protected."

Micaela Watts contributed reporting.

Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: After Beale Street shooting, officials add fee, wanding security
Associated Press

Russia's ambassador to Poland was splattered with red paint thrown at him by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine, preventing him from paying respects on Monday at a Warsaw cemetery to Red Army soldiers who died during World War II. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the attack, saying on her messaging app channel that we wont be scared while the people of Europe should be scared to see their reflection in a mirror.
A shooting in south Fort Worth left at least one person injured Friday night.

Shots were fired near Supermercados Teloloapan #14, located in the 3900 block of Hemphill Street, around 10 p.m. First responders were told two individuals may have been shot in the area.

Police said upon their arrival they did not find anyone injured, but confirmed there is a crime scene.

Central division units came upon a victim from the shooting that was en-route to a local hospital, police said. Central units assisted and got the victim an ambulance.

The individual was taken to a nearby hospital and was listed in unknown condition, police added.

There are no suspects in custody and the investigation remains ongoing.
Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Lendlease Group (ASX:LLC) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

View our latest analysis for Lendlease Group

The model

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) -AU$834.7m AU$146.7m AU$265.5m AU$322.8m AU$365.0m AU$400.4m AU$429.8m AU$454.2m AU$474.7m AU$492.2m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 13.09% Est @ 9.7% Est @ 7.33% Est @ 5.67% Est @ 4.51% Est @ 3.7% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 6.9% -AU$781 AU$128 AU$217 AU$247 AU$261 AU$268 AU$269 AU$265 AU$259 AU$251

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$1.4b

Story continues

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.8%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.9%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2031  (1 + g)  (r  g) = AU$492m (1 + 1.8%)  (6.9% 1.8%) = AU$9.7b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$9.7b ( 1 + 6.9%)10= AU$5.0b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is AU$6.4b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of AU$11.3, the company appears slightly overvalued at the time of writing. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

Important assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Lendlease Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.9%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.214. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Moving On:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. Can we work out why the company is trading at a premium to intrinsic value? For Lendlease Group, we've compiled three relevant items you should assess:

Financial Health: Does LLC have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk. Future Earnings: How does LLC's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
L'Occitane sold nearly $25 million worth of products to Russia in the first half of the year. AP

L'Occitane announced on Friday that it would be closing its Russian in a sudden U-turn.

The cosmetics group previously said it would keep its 110 Russian stores open to protect employees.

It intends to continue paying both its Russian and Ukrainian employees as stores remain closed.

A luxury French beauty retailer has performed a sudden U-turn by closing its Russian operations a few days after saying it would stay open.

It marks the latest battle between Western governments and private companies.

L'Occitane, a cosmetics company with 133 stores in the US, released a statement on Friday saying it was closing its stores and e-commerce website in Russia, having previously limited its actions to halting investment and expansion plans in the country.

"Given the enormous human suffering being caused by escalating military action in Ukraine and to protect our employees worldwide from potential public aggression, we have decided to close our own stores and e-commerce websites in Russia," L'Occitane said in a statement.

L'Occitane did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment outside normal working hours.

According to the company's latest interim annual report, L'Occitane operated 110 shops in Russia, while the country accounted for 3% of its total sales.

The company made a total of $735 million in sales in the first half of its 2022 financial year and sold $23.6 million worth of items in Russia.

The Friday statement followed an announcement on Tuesday by L'Occitane that the company would not close its stores in Russia as they could not confirm their 700 employees in the country would not face retaliation as a result of the potential exit.

L'Occitane said it would continue to pay the salaries of both its Russian and Ukrainian employees.

Firms that have continued to operate in Russia as most pull out are facing strong criticism from governments in the West. A number of companies have scaled back operations without completely ceasing trading.

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A database developed by Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld at Yale University's School of Management shows all the companies still operating in Ukraine. Fashion brand Lacoste and US IT company Cloudflare are among those listed as "digging in."

US president Joe Biden has attempted to limit the activity of US investors and companies in Russia, signing an executive order on April 6 banning "new investment in the Russian Federation by a United States person, wherever located."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Its shaping up to be a very busy weekend in Whatcom County as thousands of British Columbians celebrate a long weekend by crossing the border.

Southbound travelers at the four border crossings into Whatcom County were experiencing long wait times Friday morning into the afternoon, April 15. The Cascadia Gateway dashboard was showing delays of around an hour at the Peace Arch, Pacific Highway and Sumas crossings at around 2 p.m., while Lynden reported wait times of under 30 minutes.

The CityNews radio station out of Vancouver, B.C. reported that some travelers were waiting for well over three hours to cross the border to kick off Easter weekend. Easter Friday is a holiday in British Columbia, while many also take the following Monday, April 18, off from work as well.

Its the first long weekend since the Canadian government dropped its COVID-19 testing requirements on Friday, April 1.

Traffic was already heavy at the four main Whatcom County border crossings on Thursday, April 14. According to the data compiled by B.C. and Washington government agencies, nearly 15,000 vehicles traveled northbound and southbound on Thursday, making it one of the busiest days of the year.

Border traffic has dramatically increased in April following the lifting of testing restrictions. Throughout February the average traffic count at the four main border crossings was around 5,000 vehicles a day, while late March was peaking at around 7,800 vehicles a day. The past few weekends have had average daily totals of around 15,000 vehicles.

Travelers are still required to submit information into the ArriveCAN app or website before arriving at the border crossing.

thenewstribune.com
It has been 33 years since Liverpool's Hillsborough disaster. (Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)

The preceding moments of Saturday's FA Cup semifinal between Manchester City and Liverpool saw some ugliness when a group of City fans interrupted a moment of silence recognizing the Hillsborough disaster.

Minutes before kickoff, referee Michael Oliver blew his whistle to begin the reflection of the disaster that saw 97 Liverpool fans die and hundreds more injured in a crush at an FA Cup semifinal on April 15, 1989. Per the Associated Press, the silence was disturbed by chanting from the Manchester City end of the stadium and followed by boos from Liverpool supporters.

Oliver opted to end the moment of "silence" early by blowing his whistle.

La aficion en City rompiendo el minuto de silencio por la tragedia de Hillsborough https://t.co/JBkV9u263b pic.twitter.com/1u01gO0DWc  Guillermo Rai (@GuillerRai) April 16, 2022

Manchester City quickly released a statement of apology, via the BBC:

"Manchester City are extremely disappointed with the actions of some City supporters during the minute's silence before today's game," a club spokesperson said.

"The club sincerely apologises to all those connected with Liverpool Football Club."

The interrupting fans probably didn't enjoy the match that followed, as Liverpool scored three first-half goals and eventually won 3-2 to advance to the FA Cup final.

After the match, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola echoed his club's apology, saying the chanters "don't represent who we are," while Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp said he accepts the apology, via ITV:
SOMERSET, Calif. (AP)  A marijuana field worker who shot and killed a Northern California sheriff's deputy was convicted Friday of second-degree murder.

Juan Carlos Vasquez-Orozco, 22, also was found guilty of assault with a gun on three other deputies. He could face life in prison when he is sentenced in May.

Prosecutors say Vasquez-Orozco killed El Dorado County sheriffs Deputy Brian Ishmael in October 2019. Ishmael, 37, had answered a 911 call from the owner of land in rural Somerset about people possibly stealing plants at a marijuana garden, prosecutors said.

Ross didn't tell authorities that Vasquez-Orozco and another man, both Mexican citizens, were tending the garden on his land and he worried that they would take the plants without the men who hired them paying Christopher Ross $3,000 he was owed, prosecutors said.

Ross also didn't tell authorities that Vasquez-Orozco and Ramiro Bravo Morales had a gun, the El Dorado County district attorney's office said.

When three deputies from El Dorado County and one from neighboring San Joaquin County arrived at the growing site, Vasquez-Orozco opened fire and ran from the grow, then returned and ambushed the deputies, prosecutors said.

Ishmael, a four-year veteran and father of three, was hit four times and died at the scene. San Joaquin County sheriffs Deputy Joshua Tasabia was wounded.

Ross has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and will face 11 years and eight months in prison, District Attorney Vern Pierson said.

Ramiro Bravo Morales was convicted of being an accessory after the fact.
Ukrayinska Pravda

Iryna Balachuk - Monday, 9 May 2022, 08:50 In an attempt to avoid taking part in hostilities in Zaporizhzhia Region, Russian soldiers have shelled 20 of their own vehicles. Source: Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration on Telegram Quote from Zaporizhzhia Military Administration: "According to local residents, Russian troops have shelled 20 of their own vehicles in Polohy in order to avoid going to the front line; they blamed the shelling on [Ukrainian] resistance fighters in the temporar
Merle Oberon was born in Bombay

Merle Oberon, a Hollywood star of the black and white era, is a forgotten icon in India, the country of her birth.

Best-known for playing the lead in the classic Wuthering Heights, Oberon was an Anglo-Indian born in Bombay in 1911. But as a star in Hollywood's Golden Age, she kept her background a secret - passing herself off as white - throughout her life.

Mayukh Sen, a US-based writer and academic, first stumbled across her name in 2009 when he found out that Oberon was the first actor of South Asian origin to be nominated for an Oscar.

His fascination grew as he saw her films and dug deeper into her past. "As a queer person, I empathise with this feeling that you must hide a part of your identity to survive in a hostile society that isn't really ready to accept who you are," he says. Sen is now working on a biography to tell Oberon's story from a South Asian perspective.

She was born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1911. Her mother was part-Sinhalese and part-Maori while her father was British.

The family moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1917 after Oberon's father died in 1914. She got her start in acting through the Calcutta Amateur Theatrical Society in the 1920.

In 1925, after watching her first film, a silent movie, The Dark Angel, Oberon was inspired by its star, Vilma Banky, to become an actress, according to Sen. She left for France in 1928 after an army colonel introduced her to director Rex Ingram who gave her bit parts in his films.

Oberon's mother Charlotte Selby, who had darker skin, followed her as her maid.

Oberon's performance in Wuthering Heights, opposite Laurence Olivier, cemented her place in Hollywood

A 2014 documentary called The Trouble with Merle later found that Selby was, in fact, Oberon's grandmother. Selby's daughter Constance had Oberon as a teenager but the two were reportedly raised together as sisters for some years.

Oberon's first big break came from Sir Alexander Korda - a filmmaker she would later marry - who cast her as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933).

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Publicists for Korda reportedly had to invent a background story to explain her race.

"Tasmania was chosen as her new birthplace because it was so far from the US and Europe and was generally considered to be 'British' to its core," Maree Delofski, director of The Trouble with Merle, wrote in her notes on the documentary.

Oberon was passed off as an upper-class girl from Hobart who moved to India after her father died in a hunting accident, Delofski said.

Oberon, however, soon became an intrinsic part of local lore in Tasmania and, for the rest of her career, Australian media followed her closely with pride and curiosity. She even acknowledged Tasmania as her hometown but rarely mentioned Calcutta.

Oberon's breakout role was as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII

But Calcutta remembered her. "In the 1920s and 1930s, there were passing mentions of her in the memoirs of a lot of Englishmen," journalist Sunanda K Datta Ray says.

"People claimed she was born in the city, that she was an operator at the switchboard of the telephone exchange and that she won a contest at Firpo's restaurant."

As she bagged more Hollywood films, Oberon moved to the US and in 1935 was nominated for an Oscar for her role in The Dark Angel.

But it was her performance in 1939's Wuthering Heights, opposite acting legend Laurence Olivier, that cemented her place in the industry.

She was reportedly picked over Vivien Leigh, another India-born actress, because the team behind the film felt she was a bigger name, Sen says.

A New York Times review of the film said Oberon had "perfectly caught the restless, changeling spirit of the Bronte heroine".

The late 1930s catapulted Oberon to the so-called big league, Sen says. Her inner circle included figures like music composer Cole Porter and playwright Noel Coward.

Filmmaker Sir Alexander Korda was Oberon's first husband

Korda and veteran producer Samuel Goldwyn helped Oberon assimilate, taming traits like her accent that would have given away her South Asian origins, Sen says.

But Oberon's secret weighed on her - even though her light-skinned complexion made it easier for her to pass off as white on screen.

"She still often felt the need to silence frequent murmurs that she was mixed race. Film journalists of her era would note her tanner complexion," Sen says.

Some accounts claim Oberon's skin was damaged by skin-whitening or bleaching treatments.

After Oberon was injured and her face scarred in a car crash in 1937, cinematographer Lucien Ballard famously developed a technique that lit her in a way that would obscure her blemishes. (Oberon divorced Korda and married Ballard in 1945.)

"Some sources have suggested that the technique was also a way to 'whiten' Merle's face before the camera," Sen says.

Oberon's nephew Michael Korda, who published a family memoir called Charmed Lives in 1979, said he obscured details of her background after she threatened to sue him for including her real name and birthplace.

Oberon and her backers made concerted efforts to keep her past hidden

"I had assumed that enough water had passed under the bridge, but she still minded very much indeed about her past," he said in an interview.

The charade became harder to maintain. In 1965, Oberon cancelled public appearances and cut short a trip to Australia after finding the local journalists to be curious about her background. Reports say she was distraught during her last visit to Tasmania in 1978 as questions around her identity continued to swirl.

But she never admitted the truth in public. She died in 1979, of a stroke.

In 1983, her Anglo-Indian heritage was revealed in a biography, Princess Merle: The Romantic Life of Merle Oberon. The authors found her birth record in Bombay, her baptismal certificate, and letters and photographs her Indian relatives had.

Through his book, Sen hopes to be able to convey the enormous pressures Oberon faced as a South Asian woman "navigating an industry that wasn't designed to accommodate her and producing such moving work while fighting those battles".

"Dealing with those struggles couldn't have been easy. It feels more productive to extend grace and empathy to her than to judge."

You may also be interested in:
RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco condemned on Saturday the Israeli raid on Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem saying the escalation undermines peace efforts.

At least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli riot police inside Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, the latest outbreak in a recent upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict.

"This blatant attack and systematic provocation during the holy month of Ramdan....will stoke hatred and extremism and undermine chances to revive the peace process in the region," Morocco's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Morocco, whose king chairs the Al Quds Committee at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), resumed diplomatic ties with Israel in December 2020.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi, Editing by Franklin Paul)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a massive civilian parade in the capital, Pyongyang, celebrating a milestone birth anniversary of his state-founding grandfather in which thousands marched in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family, state media said Saturday.

The reports didnt mention any speech or comments made by Kim during Fridays event and it appeared the country passed its biggest holiday without showcasing its military hardware, amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

Commercial satellite images in recent weeks have indicated preparations for a large military parade in Pyongyang, which could take place on the April 25 founding anniversary of North Koreas army and display the most advanced weapons in Kims nuclear arsenal, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Theres also expectation that Pyongyang will further escalate its weapons testing in the coming weeks or months, possibly including a resumption of nuclear explosive tests or test-flying missiles over Japan, as it attempts to force a response from the Biden administration while it's preoccupied with Russias invasion of Ukraine and a rivalry with China.

State media images showed Kim waving from a balcony looking over Kim Il Sung Square, which is named after his grandfather, as huge columns of people carrying red plastic flowers and floats with political slogans marched below.

Ri Il Hwan, a member of the ruling Workers Party Politburo, issued a call for loyalty, saying in a speech that North Koreans will always emerge victorious under Kims guidance. It appeared Kim didnt deliver a speech and state media didnt mention any comments regarding the United States or rival South Korea.

The parade came hours before thousands of young people performed a mass dance in the square as fireworks launched from a nearby riverbank lit up the night sky.

Kim Il Sungs birthday is the most important national holiday in North Korea, where the Kim family has ruled under a strong personality cult since the nations founding in 1948. This weeks celebrations marking the 110th anniversary of his birth came as his grandson revives nuclear brinkmanship aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and remove crippling economic sanctions.

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North Korea has opened 2022 with a slew of weapons tests, including its first flight test of an ICBM since 2017. South Koreas military has also detected signs that North Korea is rebuilding tunnels at a nuclear testing ground it partially dismantled weeks before Kims first summit with then-U.S. President Donald Trump in June 2018.

Kim Jong Uns defiant displays of his military might are also likely motivated by domestic politics, experts say, as he doesnt otherwise have significant accomplishments to trumpet to his people after a decade in power.

His stated goals of simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and bringing economic prosperity to his impoverished populace derailed after the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Koreas demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a limited surrender of its nuclear capabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed further shock on his broken economy, forcing him to acknowledge last year that the North was facing its worst-ever situation.

Sung Kim, the top U.S. official on North Korea, is scheduled to visit South Korea next week for talks on the international communitys response to the Norths recent missile tests.

North Korea has recently resumed its trademark harsh rhetoric against its rivals. One of its international affairs commentators labeled U.S. President Joe Biden as an old man in senility, while Kims powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, called South Koreas defense minister a scum-like guy and threatened to annihilate South Korea with nuclear strikes.

Kim Jong Uns stated goal of deploying tactical nuclear weapons, Kim Yo Jongs recent threats toward Seoul and satellite imagery of tunneling activity at Punggye-ri all point to an upcoming nuclear test," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Additional missile launches are also expected for honing weapons delivery systems."
Gov. Kevin Stitt drew Republican, Democratic, Libertarian and independent opponents, while open U.S. Senate and congressional seats attracted numerous hopefuls in the three-day candidate filing period that ended Friday.

Several statewide officers, including Republicans Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd, were unopposed until Friday morning, when a flurry of candidates showed up at the state Election Board to ensure more incumbents had contests.

When filing ended, Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready was the only statewide officer not to draw an opponent. The Republican was reelected to a second and final four-year term.

Oklahoma elections: Donald Trump endorses incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas for Congress

Tegan Malone finishes her paperwork to file for Oklahoma's House District 95. More than 500 candidates filed for office this week at the state Capitol.

A total of 569 candidates filed at the Capitol this week for federal and state offices. That was the lowest number in a gubernatorial year since at least 2002, when there were 574; election board records go back only to 2000 for candidate totals.

Primaries are scheduled for June 28, with runoffs set for Aug. 23. The general election is Nov. 8.

Oklahoma Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax welcomed the sense of normalcy during filing this year.

This is the first normal candidate filing weve had since 2016 because If you were here in 2018, you had 20,000-25,000 teachers who were demonstrating outside the Capitol, thousands more inside and record numbers of candidates filing.

Then of course in 2020, we had drive-through filing and the Capitol building wasnt even open for anybody to come inside.

Candidates filed on Friday at the state Capitol. A total of 569 candidates filed during the three-day filing period.

Scott Pruitt filing for U.S. Senate race the week's biggest surprise

In a week that had been mostly lacking in suspense, former Oklahoma attorney general and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt filed as a candidate on Friday for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Pruitt joined a Republican field that had 13 candidates when filing concluded. Former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, of Oklahoma City, was the only Democrat to file for the seat. Among the other Republicans is U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, whose departure created an open seat that drew 14 Republican candidates, one Democrat and one independent.

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Pam Pollard, a former chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party who serves on the Republican National Committee, predicted GOP runoffs in the open Senate seat race and the 2nd District congressional race.

I think with the numbers, mathematically, its going to be almost impossible to get that 50%-plus-one vote with that many candidates on the ballot, she said.

Republicans hold all of the statewide offices, all of the federal seats and most legislative seats. They appeared to be poised to continue their dominance this year, as most of the incumbents in statewide offices drew opponents who are not well known and likely wont have enough money to compete.

We feel very strong about our candidates that have filed, Pollard said. We put together a strong farm team years ago and now our farm team is coming up and filing for offices.  We think that were going to be victorious in every race. We cant think of a race that were going to lose here in Oklahoma.

Pollard said she wasnt surprised that Stitt drew some primary opponents, noting dark money groups had been financing negative ads, but she defended the governors record and said he had pulled the state through some difficult times in the last four years.

Oklahoma Democrats hope to pick up legislative seats

Alicia Andrews, chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, said she was hopeful the party would pick up seats in the Legislature and mount a strong challenge to Stitt.

"I wish we were fielding more candidates on the statewide side, but Im hopeful, and, thankfully, with this majority Republican chaos, that folks are ready for something different.

"I think the fact that theres like more than one Republican challenger (for Stitt) shows that Oklahomans as a whole are just kind of tired of our current situation. We have candidates that are very different so that gives more of a choice, more of an opportunity."

State school Superintendent Joy Hofmeister changed from a Republican to a Democrat last year to challenge Stitt. She filed for the office this week and will face former state Sen. Connie Johnson in the primary. Libertarian Natalie Bruno alsohas filed for governor.

House Speaker Charles McCall, of Atoka, was among dozens of state legislators who won new terms without opposition. Lawmakers redrew their own districts last year, and most were drawn to the advantage of one party or the other.

All five congressional seats will have contests this year.

The 5th District, which has had Democratic and Republican representatives in the last three years, was redrawn to make it safe for the GOP. Incumbent Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma City, will face primary opposition and, if renominated, will have a Democratic and an independent opponent.

As you all know, the last election was the most expensive election in Oklahoma history  $20 million both sides all in for a national race, Bice said. This is going to be much different because I think the focus is just on holding the seat, not a competitive seat, so its just a little bit of a different dynamic. The district has changed somewhat.

Democrat Joshua Harris-Till said he would get more votes than Bice despite the change in district boundaries.

Its a really great year for the 5th Congressional District no matter the gerrymandering that we kind of saw in the district, he said.

U.S. Sen. James Lankford, running for his second full term, drew two Republican primary opponents, including Tulsa pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, who has been running for several months. Six Democrats, an independent and a Libertarian also filed for the seat.

NOTE: This story was updated with the final number of candidates filing for the vacant U.S. Senate seat.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma congressional races draw crowds as candidate filing ends
Apr. 15One of the defendants arrested as part of a Boulder County theft investigation called "Operation Unicorn" was sentenced to prison Friday after accepting a plea deal.

Shane Michael Phillips, 22, pleaded guilty Friday in Boulder District Court to distribution of a controlled substance and aggravated motor vehicle theft.

As part of the plea deal, attorneys agreed Phillips would serve eight years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. He will receive credit for 255 days of time served.

Prosecutors dropped the original 19 charges, which included various counts of theft, aggravated motor vehicle theft, trespassing and drug charges.

Boulder Deputy District Attorney Carlos Rueda said Phillips and his codefendants were responsible for a "wave" of vehicle thefts, porch thefts and various other crimes in Boulder County and other areas on the Front Range from September 2020 until February 2021.

Rueda said Phillips was connected to about 60 victims and more than $100,000 worth of stolen items in Boulder County.

Phillips, who appeared for the hearing virtually from the Boulder County Jail, said "I am accepting everything that's going on and the plea of guilty."

Boulder District Judge Norma Sierra accepted the plea deal and issued the stipulated sentence.

Phillips, Marie Alins Roman, 36, and Adrian Cisco Quintana, 44, were issued warrants on 53 different criminal charges as part of "Operation Unicorn" in August 2021.

According to the release, the three suspects are accused of multiple motor vehicle thefts, porch piracy, and vehicle trespasses at 46 known locations in Boulder, Longmont and Lyons between September 2020 and February 2021, with damages valued at approximately $115,000.

They were also connected to incidents in 12 other jurisdictions in the Denver-metro area.

The operation got its name "because of the group's affection for unicorns," and investigators said unicorn drawings and figurines left at the various scenes helped investigators to connect the incidents.

The cases against Roman and Quintana are still pending and in the arraignment stage.
JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP)  The journey of the Palestinian who opened fire at a street-side bar in Tel Aviv last week, killing three young Israeli men and sending the city into lockdown, began a two-hour drive away in an impoverished refugee camp deep inside the occupied West Bank.

Twenty years after Jenin saw one of the biggest battles of the second Palestinian uprising, Israel is once again launching near-daily raids into the camp and trading fire with local fighters. Decades of dispossession, poverty and violence have only deepened the camp's reputation as a bastion of armed struggle against Israeli rule.

Tires, gutted appliances and other rubble are piled up near the entrances to the camp, which is transformed into a fortress at night, when the raids usually occur. Narrow roads wind through a confusion of squat concrete homes built on a hillside, some adorned with portraits of slain Palestinians and the flags of armed factions.

Palestinian assailants have killed 14 Israelis in a series of attacks in recent weeks, and clashes at a major Jerusalem holy site on Friday have raised tensions further.

Last Thursday, Raad Hazem, a 28-year-old from the Jenin camp, attacked the bar in central Tel Aviv and eluded a massive manhunt for hours before police shot and killed him near a mosque.

A large poster celebrating Hazem as a martyr to the Palestinian cause was hung over the main entrance to the camp after the attack, praising him for imposing a curfew on the seaside metropolis.

Israel has launched a wave of arrest raids across the West Bank, igniting clashes with Palestinian militants. At least 25 Palestinians have been killed, many of whom had carried out attacks or were involved in the clashes, but also an unarmed woman and a lawyer who appears to have been killed by mistake. Twelve were from in or around Jenin.

The renewed violence came as little surprise to Ahmed Tobasi, the artistic director of the Freedom Theater, which was co-founded by a famous militant and offers drama classes, performance facilities and a safe space for young Palestinians in the camp.

Story continues

What do you expect from a child who grows up in a refugee camp, who sees army raids morning, noon and night?" he said. His fathers a prisoner, his brothers a prisoner, his mother has been detained, his friends are prisoners or martyrs.

Theres no opportunity to be anything else, he said.

The camp is home to Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. Like other camps across the Middle East, it has grown into a crowded, built-up neighborhood where a U.N. agency provides basic services.

Jenin emerged as a militant stronghold during the 2000-2005 intifada, when Palestinians launched scores of suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians, and Israel imposed closures and carried out deadly raids. On March 27, 2002, a suicide bomber struck a large Passover gathering in the coastal city of Netanya, killing at least 30 people and wounding 140.

Days later, Israeli troops launched a massive operation in the Jenin camp. For eight days and nights they fought militants street by street, using armored bulldozers to destroy rows of homes, many of which had been booby-trapped. An AP reporter who visited the camp immediately afterward said it looked like an earthquake had hit.

At least 52 Palestinians, up to half of whom may have been civilians, were killed in the fighting, according to the U.N. Twenty-three Israeli soldiers were killed, including 13 in a single ambush.

Two decades later, the Palestinians' dream of an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza  territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war  is more remote than ever.

Peace talks ground to a halt more than a decade ago, and Israel continues to build and expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which it unilaterally annexed and considers part of its capital. Gaza is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority's limited self-rule is confined to West Bank cities and towns.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to Palestinian statehood, but his government has taken steps to improve economic conditions, including easing some movement restrictions and issuing thousands of work permits to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel had hoped such measures would help prevent a repeat of last year, when protests and clashes in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ignited an 11-day Gaza war.

Now, in the wake of the attacks, Israel is tightening restrictions around Jenin and calling on the PA, which coordinates with it on security matters, to take action.

But the increasingly corrupt and authoritarian PA is mired in a crisis of legitimacy that would grow even worse if it is seen to be fighting alongside Israel. Palestinian officials say the relentless Israeli raids in Jenin only undermine it further.

We are ready in principle to work on enforcing law and order, and to implement our agreements with the Israelis, but in exchange for what?" Jenin's governor, Akram Rajoub, told The Associated Press. I dont work for the Israelis. If I dont see a political solution on the horizon, then why should I do anything?

Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired Israeli general who held senior positions in the West Bank during the intifada and is now at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, says it's the other way around.

Youre looking at the chicken and the egg here. We operate there because they dont," he said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Tel Aviv attack, but other officials did not. Rajoub visited the mourning tent of the attacker's family and gave a speech filled with praise that he later posted to Facebook.

Thats something very disturbing," Kuperwasser said. The Palestinian Authority still thinks its in an ongoing struggle against Zionism and against Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

In the Jenin camp, the PA is seen as a public service provider at best, and at worst as collaborators with the occupation.

The Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian resistance are on opposite sides," said Osama Hroub, a local leader with the Islamic Jihad militant group, which has a strong presence in Jenin.

"The Palestinian Authority performs its specific security duties in exchange for economic favors, with no regard for the Palestinian people, he said.

Few expect another full-blown uprising. Israeli officials say the recent attacks appear to have been carried out by lone assailants with perhaps some accomplices, rather than by militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

On the streets of Jenin, the tires are piled up in anticipation of the next confrontation.

We are going to live on our land and die with dignity, and we arent going to surrender to the occupation," Rajoub said.

___

Associated Press reporter Nasser Nasser contributed to this report.




UPDATE: Police confirm to Channel 2 action news that the kidnapped mother and her 11-year-old son have been located at this time. No details were given on the suspect or if any arrests have been made at this time.

Original: The Atlanta police department is searching for a mother and her 11-year-old son believed to have been kidnapped from a home in Northwest Atlanta.

Officers responded to a kidnapping call just before 1 p.m. at a home on Abner Terrace. At the scene, officers learned that a male suspect abducted an adult female and 11 year old child against their will, forcing them into a vehicle. The vehicle is believed to be a black Jeep Compass with a Georgia license plate of CSL5977.

Kerline Lubin, 38, is the adult victim kidnapped with her 11 year old son, Pierre, according to information released by Atlanta police.

Levi's Call (GAs #AMBERAlert) issued for 11 y/o Pierre Lubin on behalf of Atlanta P.D.



The child is believed to be traveling in a black Jeep Compass, tag CSL5977 & last seen w/ suspect Leonard Cross, age 37, who took Pierre & mom.



 911 or Atlanta P.D. at 404-291-9613. pic.twitter.com/yL6dymaJLY  GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) April 16, 2022

Police have identified a possible suspect in this kidnapping. Leonard Cross has been listed as a possible suspect and is believed to be both armed and dangerous.

Police are actively working this incident to locate the missing mother and son. They are asking anyone with information or details on the location on the suspect, victims, or vehicle to call 9-1-1 or Crimestoppers immediately at (404) 577-TIPS (8477), online www.crimestoppersatlanta.org.

TRENDING STORIES:
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Thousands of Serbs waving Russian and Serbian flags and carrying pictures of President Vladimir Putin marched through Belgrade to the Russian embassy on Friday, to protest Serbia's government bid to distance itself from Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.

Throngs of people, many from ultranationalist organizations, joined the march from the city center to the nearby Russian embassy, where they fired signal flares, played Russian and Serbian anthems and hailed the two countries as brotherly nations.

"I came to this rally to support Russia and to say a loud and clear 'no' to policies of authorities in Belgrade who made a shameful decision to vote against Russia in the U.N.," said Mladen Obradovic, a protester.

In recent weeks Belgrade voted three times for United Nations' resolutions that condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and suspended it from the main U.N. human rights body. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation."

Still, Serbia, which is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas and oil, refuses to impose sanctions against the Kremlin and it maintains regular flights to Moscow.

Protesters chanted "No NATO" and "Serbians and Russians are brothers," and slogans against President Aleksandar Vucic who won the presidential vote on April 3, while his Progressives secured the most votes to form a government.

Earlier this week, in a move seen by experts as a departure from military cooperation with Russia, Vucic said Serbia was eyeing a purchase of two dozen new and used Western jet fighters.

(Reporting by Branko Filipovic, Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Snohomish County prosecutors have charged 50-year-old Richard James Rotter for killing Everett Officer Dan Rocha, at a Starbucks on March 25.

Rotter is being charged with first-degree aggravated murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver.

As court documents state, while Rocha was inside a North Everett Starbucks waiting for coffee, he noticed a blue Mini Cooper roll into the parking lot. Not long after, a man began to move items, including guns from the Cooper to a silver Ford Fusion.

Rocha then activated his body camera, stepped outside the Starbucks and contacted Rotter.

During one exchange with Rotter, Rocha said to him, Do me a favor, bud, leave the guns alone, OK?

Rotter replied, Excuse me?

Rocha: Whats going on with the guns?

Rotter: Uh, the, nothing.

According to court records, Rocha alerted dispatch and was told Rotter had outstanding arrest warrants and was a convicted felon.

While Rocha talked with dispatch, Rotter stated, I am a convicted felon.

Rocha replied: You are?

Rotter: Yeah.

At some point, Rocha told Rotter he could not leave because he was being investigated on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm, according to police records.

Court records state Rotter became agitated and refused to stop moving guns from one car to the other.

Rocha attempted to take Rotter, who was armed, into custody, but he resisted, documents state.

Investigators found a cellphone video that shows Rotter wrestling with the officer. They fell to the pavement, Rotter pulled out a gun and began firing toward Rochas head.

According to court documents, Five distinct pops can be heard until Officer Rochas body camera ends up facing upward, motionless and you can see the defendant stand up and go towards the Mini Copper.

Rotter allegedly shot Rocha in the head three times. Two other bullets were found in Rochas bulletproof vest.

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Rotter jumps into his Mini Cooper, backs over Rochas body and speeds off, court records state.

Bystanders, officers, and medics came to Rochas aid, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Court records state a Glock 19 used by the shooter was found at Rochas feet.

Rotter was arrested three miles away following a chase.

When Rotter had his bail hearing, a judge agreed with the Snohomish County prosecutor and set his bail at $5 million.

Investigators got a search warrant for the Mini Cooper and found blood smeared on the passengers outside door handle, blood on the undercarriage, right and rear wheel, gear shift, and other places.

Court documents state the blood collected from the scene and cars is believed to belong to Officer Rocha.

In the silver Ford Fusion, detectives found blood on the rear trunk and bumper, a knife, four gun magazines, a 9mm caliber Luger cartridge, a black camera bag that contained 21 grams of a substance believed to be heroin, a sandwich bag believed to contain methamphetamine, five sandwich baggies believed to contain fentanyl, and other items.

A nephew of Rotter believes he was in Everett to buy and sell guns or drugs.

A female friend who recently saw Rotter said he was one of the main suppliers of fentanyl in the Tri-Cities. She said he worried he would get caught and end up back in prison.

But did he indicate what he would do? an Everett detective asked her.

She replied, No sir, he just said, Im not going back there. Theyre not gonna take me alive.

Rotters next court appearance is expected on April 19.




Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Biden has called Putin a war criminal and called for a war crimes investigation into Russia.

Rep. Ilhan Omar told Insider the US should support an investigation by the ICC by becoming a member.

Omar and other lawmakers introduced a resolution Thursday calling on the US to join the ICC.

Rep. Ilhan Omar said it would be hypocritical for the US to support a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court without moving to become a member.

"To me, there is staggering evidence that Putin and Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. I believe we should fully support an investigation into those crimes, and the best way to do that is to support the body that will carry out that investigation, the International Criminal Court," Omar said in a statement to Insider.

"It would be staggeringly hypocritical to support an ICC investigation into Russia, while opposing the court's very existence as a non-member," she continued.

Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, introduced a resolution on Thursday calling for the US to become a member of the ICC, an international body based in The Hague, Netherlands, that investigates genocides, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

The resolution came after President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and called for a war crimes trial against him after reports of atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

The New York Times reported earlier this week the Biden administration was debating how involved the US should be in an ICC investigation into Russia.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Baritone Nathan Gunn imitates flying while performing the one-man opera "In Our Daughter's Eyes" at REDCAT. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Two new one-act music theater monodramas were given their individual world premieres in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. While unrelated, each was an inspiration of, and an act of agency by, a well known baritone. Gender is on the table, as is race and personal transformation. Each has been individually in development for the last five or six years. Each is structured as kind of dramatic song cycle.

The timing of the premieres, which included delays because of the pandemic, was entirely coincidental if you believe in coincidence. I dont. They are all but tailor-made to be mounted together as a single evening.

Everything Rises, which was commissioned by the UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures series, is a personal project by Davone Tines and violinist Jennifer Koh, with an all-BIPOC team, that experimentally explores with ancestry and inclusivity. A somewhat more conventionally operatic In Our Daughters Eyes by Du Yun was created for Nathan Gunn. Its premiere at REDCAT Wednesday was by Los Angeles Opera for its Off Grand series and has performances through Sunday.

The seemingly unfashionable issue of In Our Daughters Eyes is masculinity. When asked about manhood in the 21st century, Du Yun said in a talkback after the performance, I dont know much about that, and I dont really care about that. The composer then added that she loves her father, whom she credits with having been a strong role model.

With a libretto by Michael Joseph McQuilken, who also directed the production, the opera is the letter/diary of a father chronicling the birth of his daughter. A beguiling character who likes airplanes, partying, drinking and puttering around his man cave workshop, he is forced to confront his shallowness when his wife's pregnancy begins to go badly. Catharsis leads, with a theatrical turn of events, to epiphany.

Without a spoiler, I dare say no more other than "In Our Daughter's Eyes" is based on real life and is meant to bring unexpected tears to our eyes. It also brings the Kafka-esque Du Yun into atypically melodramatic territory. Her opera Angels Bone, which won a Pulitzer Prize, is a musical wild ride that revolves around the sexual exploitation of angels who return to Earth and become enslaved. A Cockroachs Tarantella, for speaker and string quartet, concerns a cockroachs desire to become human rather than be crunched by humans. She contributed enticing offbeat elements to the Industrys Sweet Land.

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But she is not without her still edgy approach, with a blaring, bedazzling score for violin, cello, clarinet/saxophone, trumpet, guitar and percussion. Vibrantly conducted by Kamna Gupta, it makes little allowance for sentimentality.

Gunn is terrific. The opera was his own effort to become a more creative performer and, as a father of five and a recovering alcoholic, has elements of his own personality and story. He jumps into each scene, busy as a bee. With the help of projections, his workshop readily becomes the site of surreal dreams, of visions of his past, of the babys progress and her uncertain future. He builds a playpen while also constructing his own maturity. The vocal lines are robust; the singing, exceptionally so.

Unfortunately, though, the unsubtle amplification of Gunns baritone exaggerates nuance to the point of no longer being nuance. I will be an honest reporter, he sings at the beginning of the opera in a voice disembodied by loudspeakers. Over time, the ear adjusts (as the ear does in overly loud movie theaters) and your brain begins to put artificial sound and real person together, but only through mental desensitizing. Cut the amplification in half and the opera will double in honesty.

Like In Our Daughters Eyes, the production of "Everything Rises" by Alexander Gedeon (who recently resigned from Long Beach Opera, citing the organization's "culture of misogyny" and "racial tokenism") uses projection, but it is more spare, more choreographed, more restrained. Koh and Tines take us through their parallel journeys from traditional careerism to becoming themselves. It is a slow process of illumination  sometimes angry, not always comprehensible but ever indispensable.

The production begins with a video clip that can be found on YouTube of Koh at 17 in a phenomenal performance at the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition, of which she was a top prize-winner.

When Koh walks on stage for real, she is in a soloists formal silk gown and plays holding a single tone with an authority full of inner meaning. Tines emerges in the traditional formal attire that he wore at the beginning of his career as well and describes himself in song as "a moth lured by moneyed benefactors, a wind-up monkey to sing for their private dinners." By the end they are both wearing skirts and in each others arms, free to be themselves.

Ken Ueno's score is subtly chant-like, serving less to announce itself as to empower the performers on their effortful path to self-expression. When the music does stand out  as in an intrusive rhythm track on Uenos otherwise gripping arrangement of the Billie Holiday's covert ode to racial justice, Strange Fruit  it diminishes.

Interviews by Koh and Tines with relatives make vivid their backgrounds. The dramaturg Kee-Yoon Nahm said their relatives are characters in the drama. Kohs mother is seen in large projections and heard explaining how she chose to emigrate from Korea to the United States when she was 22 but that her daughter had no choice about growing up an Asian in a non-Asian world. Tines learns of a relatives lynching, and there are projections of broken branches.

Koh and Tines explain in the program note their need to listen for "resonances across Black and Asian histories" as they uplift their voices "poised to speak truths."

As an audience shrouded in a cloud of whiteness, we are asked to meet their gaze and listen to their stories. Campbell Hall on the UCSB campus was not full and the audience was, as the artists anticipated, primarily white. Koh and Tines' stories compel and help explain their sensibilities as outsiders. But the fact is, great artists are by definition outsiders whose purpose is to show us what we don't otherwise see.

What we first notice in Koh and Tines is their extraordinary communicability. Violin and voice speak with an eloquence and power worth knowing about. But that, as in all artists, is background. Everything might rise even higher with those resonant histories in the background rather than foreground. Koh and Tines' stories have made them what they are, but their art needs to be  and is  great enough to tell us who they are.

That too brings in the issue of amplification, which captured every breath Tines took and distorted his louder passages. For Koh, the slightest sound of the bow touching strings could be magnified into a major event. Each, however, is a performer whose very presence draws you in. You make the effort. The amplification on this scale does the work for you. Change comes with effort.

In the end, though, the most important change is the maturation of Koh, Tines and Gunn beyond the comfort of conformist concert stages and into places where real issues can be expressed. This is how they have earned our trust, and why overamplification is not about trust.

After a second performance Thursday night, presented by the Center for the Art of Performance, UCLA at Royce Hall, Everything Rises will likely go to New York, but nothing has been announced. In Our Daughters Eyes, produced by Beth Morrison Projects, will go to the Prototype Festival in New York in January 2023, as Morrison announced from the stage. After that comes the opportunity for a savvy presenter to book the operas together.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Boris Johnson with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, 9 April (Ukrainian Presidential Press Ser)

Moscow has announced it is banning Boris Johnson and alongside 10 senior ministers and politicians from entering Russia in retaliation at UK sanctions.

It comes just days after the British government unveiled further measures aimed at targeting those aiding and abetting Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine  now in its seventh week.

The action by Moscow was taken in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials, the countrys foreign ministry said.

The entry blacklist includes Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, foreign secretary Liz Truss, defence secretary Ben Wallace, chancellor Rishi Sunak, former prime minister Theresa May, and Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

The Kremlin added the move was in response to Londons unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy.

In March, similar measures were taken against the US president, Joe Biden, alongside the CIA chief William Burns, and the secretary of state, Anthony Blinken.

Since Russias illegal invasion began, the Foreign Office has imposed asset freezes on the Kremlins biggest banks, including Sberbank, military officers involved in the shelling of the besieged city of Mariupol, oligarchs and political officials.

This map shows the extent of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as of 13 April (Press Association Images)

Last week, in coordination with the EU, the UK imposed a string of new sanctions on 178 Russian separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, as the foreign secretary vowed to crackdown on those aiding and abetting Putins war machine.

The government has also been supplying defensive weapons to the Ukrainian government including anti-tank missiles, which have been used against Russian forces advancing on key cities.

The British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation surrounding Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the behalf of NATO, the Russian ministry added.

Mr Johnsons government has come in for criticism for failing to crack down quickly enough on individual oligarchs and the flow of Russian dirty money connected to the UK.

But the Foreign Office said last week the UK has now sanctioned over 1,400 individuals and businesses  including over 100 oligarchs and family members  since the invasion of Ukraine began.
The New York Times

KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine  The solicitation to commit treason came to Oleksandr Vilkul on the second day of the war, in a phone call from an old colleague. Vilkul, the scion of a powerful political family in southeastern Ukraine that was long seen as harboring pro-Russian views, took the call as Russian troops were advancing to within a few miles of his hometown, Kryvyi Rih. He said, Oleksandr Yurivich, you are looking at the map, you see the situation is predetermined, Vilkul said, recalling the
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A yacht linked to Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska arrived in a bay near the southwestern Turkish resort of Gocek on Saturday, as more Russian billionaires head for Turkey to flee Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Deripaska, founder of Russian aluminium giant Rusal, has been sanctioned by the United States, European Union and Britain. He has previously called for peace.

A Reuters witness saw the 73-metre (239.5 foot) yacht Clio arrive off the coast of Gocek in the Aegean coastal province of Mugla on Saturday. The Cayman Islands-flagged vessel remains in a bay off Gocek.

The arrival of Clio in Turkish waters comes after two superyachts linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who made a surprise appearance at Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul this month, docked in Turkish ports.

World governments are seeking to isolate President Vladimir Putin and his allies over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a "special military operation".

NATO member Turkey shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good ties with both and mediates in the conflict. It has supported Kyiv, but also opposed sanctions on Moscow, including measures against Russian billionaires.

Ankara relies heavily on Russian energy imports and tourists and has emerged as a safe haven for Russians fleeing sanctions, and many have invested in Turkish property.

On Friday, a Ukrainian diplomat said Ukraine is working with Turkey for more support and understands - though it is not happy with - the reality of Ankara's parallel ties to Moscow.

(Reporting by Yoruk Isik; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by David Evans)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday that Finance Minister Lawrence Wong would succeed him as the city-state's leader.

Wong was chosen as leader of the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) so-called fourth generation team, according to an announcement on Thursday, paving the way for him to become prime minister.

"The plan is for Lawrence to succeed me as PM, either before or after (if the PAP wins) the next General Election. It is due in 2025 and will surely be a tough fight," Lee said in a social media post on Saturday.

Lee, whose father Lee Kuan Yew was the island nation's independence leader, has been prime minister since 2004.

Stability has long been one of wealthy Singapore's major strengths, making it a haven for investors and businesses in a region where political upheaval is not uncommon.

Wong, 49, who helped steer the Southeast Asian city-state through the COVID-19 pandemic as co-chair of the government's taskforce, had been tipped by analysts as a potential successor to Lee, 70.

Leadership succession in the country, governed by the PAP since its 1965 independence, is normally a carefully planned affair.

But an unexpected decision last year by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat to step aside as Lee's designated successor disrupted leadership planning.

"I am already 70 and I am looking forward to handing over to Lawrence once he is ready," Lee told a news conference. He said they would later decide whether he or Wong would lead the party into the next general election.

Emerging from travel curbs and strict regulations that made it a pandemic success story, Singapore is vying to retain and build on its status as a hub of international commerce.

"The pandemic is not over, we have to get through it," said Wong when asked about major issues facing the country.

"There are considerable economic challenges to tackle arising from the war in Ukraine, not least the threat of higher and more persistent inflation and weaker growth."

He said the country would also need to look over the horizon to position itself in a more "complex, volatile and unpredictable world".

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and William Mallard)
Arkansas-based Sissys Log Cabin announced plans Friday for a new multi-million dollar location in Laurelwood Shopping Center and a partnership with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Construction of the free-standing structure is scheduled to begin later this year and finish before summer 2023.

Sissys is also now the official jeweler for the Grizzlies and FedExForum.

People shoveling ceremonial dirt at Sissy's Log Cabin's groundbreaking event Friday for its future location at 4542 Poplar Ave. at Laurelwood Shopping Center.

Sissys made the announcements at a groundbreaking ceremony at 4542 Poplar Ave. in East Memphis, the jewelers future location.

Were 120% in this market, we have a 40-year lease on this ground, were not going anywhere and were going to make this one of the best jewelry stores in the South, and I hope Memphis is very proud of it, said Bill Jones, Sissys Log Cabin CEO.

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The future 9,000-square-foot store will be Laurelwoods newest addition. Surrounded by green space and ample parking, the new Sissys will feature the jewelers expanded lines including Rolex and Cartier, diamonds, estate jewelry and more.

Jones said the project remains in the early stages as far as bidding and planning, though the total cost will be in the multi-millions.

Sissys current Memphis location, 404 S. Grove Park Road, which opened in 2014 at Laurelwood will remain open during construction.

Founded in 1970, Sissys is a family-owned and -operated jewelry store with six locations across Arkansas and Tennessee in Pine Bluff, Little Rock, West Little Rock, Jonesboro, Conway and Memphis. Sissys offers a selection of diamonds, jewelry, estate jewelry and fine gifts.

Sissy's Log Cabin founder Sissy Jones speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony at 4542 Poplar Ave. Friday afternoon as Bill Jones, Sissy's Log Cabin CEO and her son, watches on.

Official jeweler for the Memphis Grizzlies and FedExForum

As part of the partnership with the Grizzlies and FedExForum, next season Sissys will become the presenting partner of the floor seat experience with the Floor Seat Lounge within FedExForum and official partner of the first two rows of floor seats for Grizzlies games.

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The announcement comes a day before the Grizzlies begin their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves at FedExForum Saturday.

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Were going to have luxurious jewelry in there (the Floor Seat Lounge), its gonna be fun and were going to redecorate, Jones said. Its going to be absolutely fantastic. Its just all about having fun and no better than one of the best teams in the NBA. I say the best team in the NBA.

Anthony L. Macri, Grizzlies vice president of partnership marketing, said the partnership will include Grizzlies-branded jewelry from Sissys.

When we were looking for a jewelry partner and we have been, Macri said. We wanted to find the right partner thats going to be a perfect fit for us and perfect fit for our fans.

Omer Yusuf covers the Ford project in Haywood County, residential real estate, tourism and banking for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached via email Omer.Yusuf@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @OmerAYusuf.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Sissy's Log Cabin to build new store, partner with Memphis Grizzlies
KWANDENGEZI, South Africa (Reuters) - Rains that have killed around 400 people and left thousands homeless in South Africa this week began pounding the east coast again on Saturday, threatening more flooding and forcing many to take refuge in community centres and town halls.

The rains, which have left at least 40,000 people with no shelter, power or water, had died down by Friday, but are now expected to continue until early next week.

"I'm so worried," said Gloria Linda, sheltering under a large umbrella by a muddy road in her township of Kwandengezi, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) inland from the main eastern coastal city of Durban.

This week's heavy downpours in Kwazulu-Natal Province knocked out power lines, shut down water services and disrupted operations at one of Africa's busiest ports of Durban, as well as closing roads leading into the city.

"A lot of people's houses are damaged, a lot of people died. Weve got no water, no electricity, even our phones are dead  we're stuck," Linda said, before meandering down a dirt track to a funeral of a friend killed by the floods.

Elsewhere, a family stood in the rain looking at their collapsed metal shack, one of several homes that lay in ruins.

State broadcaster SABC said on Saturday the death toll was now 398, with 27 people still missing. In places wrecked by flooding, many relatives were searching only to recover victims' bodies for burial.

"We phoned the police, we phoned the ambulance, we phoned fire brigade, none of them responded in time," Muzi Mzobe, 59, told Reuters in front of a pile of rubble  what was left of a house he was renting out to tenants who were killed in it.

"Four people were covered in rubble here, and when we got them out, they had already passed on."

(Reporting by Rogan Ward; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Frances Kerry)
A death row inmate in South Carolina set to be executed later this month has chosen to die by firing squad rather than the electric chair, according to court documents filed Friday.

Richard Bernard Moore, 57, has spent more than two decades on the states death row after he was convicted of killing a convenience store employee in 1999. A circuit judge had set his execution date for 2002, but prosecutors said at the time they expected years of appeals.

Now, two decades later, Moore is set to be executed on April 29, the first person to be put to death in South Carolina since 2011. Hes chosen death by firing squad  what led to this?

Why can S.C. inmates choose how they die?

South Carolina law states death row inmates must choose their method of death 14 days before their execution date. A law passed by the Legislature in 2021 makes death by electric chair the default method if an inmate refuses to make a selection.

Moore is the first inmate  one of 35 men on the states death row  to choose how hell be executed. On Friday, he wrote in a statement filed with the states Supreme Court, I more strongly oppose death by electrocution.

Richard Bernard Moore, a death row inmate in South Carolina, has chosen to be executed by firing squad. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP)

Because the department says I must choose between firing squad or electrocution or be executed by electrocution, I will elect firing squad, Moore wrote, and added: I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution.

Why not lethal injection?

Lethal injection is the most common form of legal execution in the United States, with 30 states and the federal government using it as their primary method, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), a Washington-based nonprofit.

In addition to the 1,363 executions by lethal injection since 1976  the year the Supreme Court confirmed capital punishment is legal under certain circumstances  163 inmates have been electrocuted, 11 have died in the gas chamber, three were hanged and three others were executed by firing squad.

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Lethal injection often includes three drugs: pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Pentobarbital puts the inmates to sleep, and pancuronium bromide paralyzes them before the potassium chloride ultimately stops the heart.

Eight states use one drug  a lethal dose of an anesthetic  to execute inmates. In South Carolina, where lethal injection is allowed, the procedure uses three drugs. But the state hasnt been able to obtain the drugs needed for years  because according to Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling, manufacturers and pharmacies have refused to help  prompting the states General Assembly to pass the new law last year so executions could start up again.

Death by firing squad

South Carolina joins Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah in allowing death by firing squad. The states corrections agency last month said it had finished developing the proper protocols for executions using that method, in which an inmate is hooded and strapped to a metal chair with restraints before three volunteer prison workers fire their rifles at the inmates heart.

Moores death would be the fourth firing-squad execution in the U.S. following Ronnie Lee Gardners in 2010. Gardner, who was on death row in Utah for the 1984 murder of an attorney, was strapped to a chair in a room at a prison. According to witnesses, a black hood was placed on his head and a small target was placed over his heart before he was executed by a five-person firing squad.

In 2017, Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that, In addition to being near instant, death by shooting may also be comparatively painless.

This March 2019 photo shows the 110-year-old electric chair that South Carolina uses for executions. (Kinard Lisbon/South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP)

For comparison, other methods of execution are often botched: The DPIC estimates that from 1890 to 2010, 3% have gone awry. Lethal injection has resulted in at least 75 botched executions, and electrocution at least 84. In all, there have been at least 276 botched executions  but none by firing squad.

In October 2021, John Marion Grant convulsed and vomited as he was executed in Oklahoma after he was given a sedative. In 2018, the state of Alabama tried to execute Doyle Lee Hamm, but workers couldnt find a suitable vein to inject the drugs into his body. He ended up with 10 to 12 puncture marks, including six in his groin and others that punctured his bladder and penetrated his femoral artery. He died of cancer four years later.

A barbaric way to die

Moores attorneys continue to appeal his death in both state and federal courts.

Lindsey Vann, executive director of Justice 360 who is serving as Moores attorney, wrote in court papers filed this week: The electric chair and the firing squad are antiquated, barbaric methods of execution that virtually all American jurisdictions have left behind.

She recently said death by electrocution and firing squad are execution methods that previously were replaced by lethal injection, which is considered more humane. The new state law, she added, makes South Carolina the only state going back to the less humane execution methods.

Moores attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to push back his execution while another court determines if either electrocution or firing squad would violate a state ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Attorneys claim corrections officials have not demonstrated that they cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injection instead.
The Hill

The United Kingdoms defense ministry said on Sunday that senior Russian officials have entered the battlefield in Ukraine amid Moscows ongoing invasion of the neighboring country. In a Twitter thread, the British Ministry of Defence said that the Russian senior commanders are likely to take personal leadership of their operations, noting that they rarely delegate
New York Times Bestselling Author Chris Grabenstein visited Marion County third through fifth graders April 14 after postponing his presentation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I need three volunteers who are not afraid of making a fool of themselves in public," Author Chris Grabenstein announced Thursday from the stage of the Palace Theatre to a full house of Marion County third through fifth grade students.

With a silly sense of humor, funny voices and the personality of the stand-up comedian he once was, the New York Times Bestselling Author had the kids laughing in their seats throughout his entire presentation, absorbing his writing advice of "show, don't tell" and "don't be boring" through their laughter.

Chris Grabenstein invited three students from each presentation on stage with him to help illustrate the power of strong verbs as he had them walk and strut across the stage.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee in communication, Grabenstein moved to New York City with seven suitcases of typewriters and $1,000 to land a writing job in hopes of making it as a comedian. He then spent many years working in advertising before experiencing a personal tragedy and realized that life is short: he wanted to be a writer.

"Fortunately, I had saved up enough money that I could quit. That's my advice to all young people. Save up some money," he joked.

After first writing books for adults that his "two dozen" nieces and nephews shouldn't read because of the adult content, he adapted a manuscript he had already written to be a book for younger audiences and it was picked up by Random House.

His career as a bestselling children's author took off from there and he eventually would write his bestselling "Mr. Lemoncello" series.

"That's what I discovered I'm truly meant to do is write for kids," he said.

A steady line at the Marion Public Library formed of students and their families to meet New York Times Bestselling Author Chris Grabenstein Thursday.

Grabenstein's spring visit in Marion was originally planned for 2020, and 2,350 copies of his book "Shine!" that he wrote with his wife J.J. were distributed to third through fifth graders throughout the county's districts just before the event was canceled due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Made possible through a grant from the Marion Community Foundation, the much-awaited visit finally happened Thursday, and the author spoke to two groups of Marion County students from the Palace Theatre Stage in his first speaking engagement to kids in over 2 years.

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He then headed over to the Marion Public Library for a book signing event at 5 p.m.

Marion Public Library Communications Manager Diane Watson was pleased with the turnout at the book signing, seeing so many students and families attend that library staff needed to wrap the line through the stacks of books in the children's section in order to manage the crowd.

Watson worried that the kids who received a book through the grant funding in 2020 wouldn't be able to locate their books for the signing event, but was relieved to watch as one after another students showed up with books in-hand.

One of these students, River Valley Heritage Elementary fifth grader James Skaggs, was the first student Watson saw arrive in the library. He and his classmate, Chase Fabian, were among the first students to meet Grabenstein, pointing out their teacher, Elizabeth Sawzin, who was behind them in line.

"He's very popular, and I've never met someone as popular as him, so I'm really excited to see someone that's that popular, fascinating, interesting," Skaggs said.

Chase Fabian (left) and James Skaggs (right) are fifth graders at River Valley's Heritage Elementary. They had been waiting to meet Grabenstein since they were in the third grade before the onset of the pandemic.

Sawzin said the kids had a great time at Grabenstein's presentation earlier in the day, and she felt happy they finally got to see him in person.

"It's nice to get back to some normalcy around here. My fifth graders were supposed to go when they were in third grade, so it was nice for them to get the experience after all," she said.

Each student took a photo with Grabenstein at the book signing event, receiving personalized attention from the author, who asked the students for their story ideas and offered them advice or the answers to their questions about his life or career.

One of the last students to meet Grabenstein asked him if it is emotional to write a book.

Though often a comedian, Chris Grabenstein describes to a student how it can often be an emotional experience to write a book.

"Yes, sometimes I'm actually crying," he responded. "You have to go through a dark night for the sunshine that comes after."

His advice to her? Keep reading.

"It teaches empathy better than anything else," he said. "You get to be someone else for a couple of hours. You get to walk a little bit in their shoes."

Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 564 - 5243 | sveneziano@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Bestselling Author Chris Grabenstein visits Marion County students
Ukraine has received nearly $900 million in donations since Putin invaded the country in late February.

The country has received more than than 600 grants totaling $886,052,533 since Feb. 28 four days after the Russia-Ukraine war beganand April 14, according to Candid, an information services company that specializes in nonprofits.

Candid updates a Philanthropic response to the war in Ukraine page in real time as new information becomes available.

Since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, many companies and organizations have prioritized sending philanthropic aid to Ukraine. Within the first two weeks, $397 million was raised, and charities like Bloomberg Philanthropies and Open Society Foundation donated $10 million and $25 million respectively in humanitarian aid. The IKEA Foundation donated $22 million in charitable aid on Mar. 3 and the American Red Cross which has donated $12 million towards relief efforts as of April 14.

Large corporations and humanitarian organizations arent the only ones donating. Celebrities and individual citizens are stepping into make change as well.

For a lot of Americans, we can still remember the Cold War and wonder if Ukraine falls, what is next? Kelly Palmer, the executive vice president of strategic growth for Ren Inc., a philanthropic solutions provider, said in an interview with Fortune. The best way to help support Ukraine is to donate to a reputable nonprofit organization and make sure to designate the donation to provide relief for Ukrainians impacted by the war. This can be done as an outright donation to the nonprofit organization or can be done through a charitable account such as a donor-advised fund.

Which celebrities are donating to Ukraine?

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively gifted $1 million to Ukrainian refugees, by donating to the United Nations refugee agency in late February. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings tweeted that he was making a $1 million donation to Razom, a Ukrainian nonprofit group, on Mar. 2.

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Supermodel Gigi Hadid pledged to contribute all of her 2022 Fall Fashion Week earnings to Ukrainian war refugees, on Mar. 6. Celebrity power couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis raised over $30 million for Ukraine, which earned them a personal thank you from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Mar. 20.

Bethenny Frankel a former Real Housewives of New York starraised $85 million out of a $100 million goal for Ukraine.

Some donations are edible

On Mar. 2, Chef Jose Andres, the founder of World Central Kitchen, tweeted that nothing made him prouder than the 10,000 pounds of flour and other goods that his organization delivered to both Ukraine and Poland as part of ongoing relief efforts.

While financial aid is the most common form of contribution, some organizations are thinking outside the box. For example, Sunflower Railroad, a group of military veterans and emergency health professionals, are in the process of donating an ambulance to Ukraine, which was gifted by the Poudre Fire Authority.

In addition, charities like UNICEF have collected financial donations for Ukraine but also dispatched humanitarian supplies in March, including 17,000 blankets and winter outfits for children. The Fairfield Ukrainian Club is collecting medical necessities like aspirin, as well as diapers and baby clothes, to send to Ukrainian refugees in need.

How is Ukraine using donation money?

Congress approved The Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 in early March to provide aid to Ukraine. The act provides $13.6 billion in emergency spending, which included an allotment of $3.5 billion for military supplies alone.

This incredible figure begs the question: what is the war costing Ukraine?

Ukraine is spending approximately $4 billion each day on war, when damaged infrastructure, economic losses, and other factors are taken into account, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, as reported by Ukrinform, a Ukrainian multimedia platform. In contrast, war expenses for Russia are estimated to be over $20 billion daily, according to Consultancy.org.

The world is certainly experiencing empathy and showing care, Olga Langbort, a fundraising organizer for Tikva, a Jewish orphanage in Odessa, Ukraine, told Fortune. We have not had this scale of oppression and invasion since the second World War and humanity is coming together to provide assistance to those who desperately need it most".

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Russian soldier Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine's IT Army, a government-directed force of volunteer hackers, is using facial recognition technology to identify dead Russian soldiers and send photos of the corpses to their families, The Washington Post reported Friday.

In a Telegram video reminiscent of those produced by the hacker group Anonymous, IT Army explained the process. "As a dead body is found and a photo of its [sic] made, AI will look for the accounts in social media as well as the accounts of a friend, relative, if there are joint photos in internet. Next, we notify a beloved one about the death of a soldier and attach a photo of the body. As of now, we have managed to identify 582 abandoned corpses and inform relatives," the English subtitles read.

IT Army also accused the Russian military of "leaving their dead comrades on the battlefield to rot." The distorted voice narrating the video goes on to claim that Russia's "first Chechen war was stopped by Russian mothers" and implores Russians to "[s]top killing your children now."

Writing for The Week last month, Jason Fields noted that the First Chechen War, fought between 1994 and 1996, was "hugely unpopular" in Russia and exposed the weakness of Russia's post-Soviet military.

The facial recognition technology  and training on how to use it  has been provided to Ukraine free of charge by Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That. According to The New York Times, Ukrainian officials have previously used the technology to verify the identity of Russian prisoners of war and to search for potential saboteurs.

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In North Iraq, Easter Among Assyrians Who Speak the Language of Jesus

Erbil -- It does not exist on Google Maps, it does not appear in any internet search results, and even once you get there it is not easy to guess what lies behind the high white walls marked by a blue and green coat of arms with a tau in a yellow field in the centre. But once through the main entrance, Gabriel Danbo's monastery appears majestic, placid, geometric: the square shapes of the main buildings dialogue with the circular fountain in front of the church.

This Easter - with its patient work of recovering the history of this very ancient Christian community, it is a small sign of the hope that amidst so many hardships is trying to be reborn in Ankawa, the Christian district of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan that during the years of Isis became the refuge for thousands of Christians from Mosul and the Nineveh plain.

The complex - inaugurated last year - is located on the outskirts of Ankawa and houses five brothers of the Antonian Order of Saint Ormisda of the Chaldeans. Their original monastery, that of Rabban Hormizd in al-Qosh, was abandoned decades ago. But now here the wealth of Syriac manuscripts they possessed (some also from the Syriac Orthodox monastery of Mar Mattai on Mount Maqlub, where in 2014 Isis was just 3km away in the valley below) is being catalogued and digitised by the fathers and a group of students.

"These guys speak sureth, modern Aramaic," the superior general of the order of St Ormisda, Fr Samer Yohanna, explains to AsiaNews. "It's like reading Latin: you understand something, but you have to study to master the language. That's what we do with these kids," adds the priest, a professor at the Syriac faculty of Erbil's Salahaddin University.

The Aramaic spoken today by some Christian communities in the Middle East (an estimated 400,000 people in all) is a modern version of the language of Jesus. The liturgy, on the other hand, still uses classical Syriac and Arabic. But Christians in this region do not consider themselves Arabs, not even those who speak Arabic instead of Sureth, as in al-Qosh, a city disputed between the Kurdistan regional government and federal Iraq. "Are you Kurdish or Arab?". Christians are almost offended by this question: they frown, they flinch, the smile disappears from their faces: "No, I am a Christian".

In this potpourri of peoples, where many have already disappeared (the Jewish quarter of Erbil is uninhabited, while in Baghdad there are only six Jews left), the Christians from an ethnic point of view call themselves Assyrians, direct descendants of the Babylonians. In fact, in Ankawa there are murals depicting the famous blue door of Babylon surrounded by a pair of lamassu, the mythological divinities with the head of a man, body of a bull and powerful angel wings.

Although Iraq's Chaldean-rite Christians no longer feel as endangered as they did between 2014 and 2017 - the Isis years, when thousands of families had fled their home villages for refuge in Hawler (the Kurdish name for Erbil) - their numbers continue to shrink. "More or less there should be 8,000 Christian families here," says Bishop Bashar Warda. "In recent years at least 2,000 arrived from Mosul and the Nineveh plain. And almost all of them have stayed". But looking at the whole of Iraq, since 2003, one third of Christians have emigrated abroad. The challenge is to keep young people in the country, who, as in Lebanon or Syria, leave as soon as they have the chance, especially if they have studied.

"We try to work in areas where we see that there is a chance to prosper, like in Erbil, where we have created more than 400 jobs," says Mgr Warda. "The government of Kurdistan has supported and encouraged us, but since 2010 we have been trying not only to maintain our presence here as Christians, but also to have a voice in society, and we do this mainly through education and health."

"But it is the government in Baghdad that must understand that it is necessary to implement laws and regulations to protect the minorities and indigenous peoples of this country,' he continues. If they disappeared, an important part of Iraq's history would be lost. In addition to the manuscripts, all the artefacts in the Syriac Heritage Museum are also being digitised thanks to a two-year grant from Usaid, a US cooperation agency. "But Fr Samer had this idea for a long time", continues Mgr Warda, "since before the arrival of Isis".

In Erbil there are now four Catholic schools and a hospital, the Maryamana, which the bishop wanted. "For me it is incredible to see that there is a hospital dedicated to Mary, with a Christian name, in my city", says Onell Nael, a Syriac student of Fr Yohanna's who has now partly abandoned his work as a cataloguer at the monastery to work as an interpreter for American soldiers stationed in Erbil. "Christians and Muslims hang out together and respect each other. During Ramadan, for example, I do not smoke or eat in front of my fasting colleagues," says the young man, who works with the museum in his spare time. "But if I asked for the hand of a Muslim girl, her family would kill me.

Sectarian divisions are harder to overcome in politics than in everyday life. The protests that erupted in October 2019 called for an end to Iraq's post-2003 political system, which assigns Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds a specific role in government. "The idea of the Iraqi citizen as such must return to the centre," Fr Samer argues. "Enough of these confessional divisions".

"Democracy is a process that takes decades,' Msgr Warda summarised. "There is still a lot of suspicion and mistrust among the various communities, and we have to wait for things to improve with time. But with the number of Christians decreasing year by year, I fear that patience will not work in our favour.
By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and top Ukrainian finance officials will visit Washington next week during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, sources familiar with the plans said on Friday.

Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko are slated to meet bilaterally with finance officials from the Group of Seven countries and others, and take part in a roundtable on Ukraine to be hosted by the World Bank on Thursday, the sources said.

Thursday's event will be the first chance for key Ukrainian officials to meet in person with a host of financial officials from advanced economies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Spillovers from Russia's war in Ukraine are expected to dominate next week's meetings of senior economic officials from World Bank and IMF member countries, as well as the G7 and G20, with the IMF poised to downgrade its forecast for global growth as a result of the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on what he calls a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine.

Kyiv and its Western allies say those are bogus justifications for an unprovoked war of aggression that has driven a quarter of Ukraine's 44 million people from their homes and led to the deaths of thousands.

Thursday's meeting will be more of a roundtable than a donors conference, although both the IMF and World Bank have set up separate accounts to be able to process and relay donations, and additional pledges are expected to be announced next week.

It will give officials a chance to discuss the physical devastation and economic consequences of the war, as well as the continued functioning of Ukraine's banking and financial sector.

"Without support now, there will be no reconstruction in the future," one of the sources said.

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The World Bank had no immediate comment on the event.

World Bank President David Malpass told an event in Warsaw this week that the bank was preparing a $1.5 billion support package for Ukraine.

The IMF's executive board last week approved creation of a new account giving bilateral donors and international groups a secure way to send financial resources to Ukraine.

Canada, one of Ukraine's main supporters, has proposed disbursing up to $1 billion Canadian dollars through the new account, which will be administered by the IMF.

The account will allow donors to provide grants and loans to help the Ukrainian government meet its balance of payments and budgetary needs and help stabilize its economy as it continues to defend against Russia's deadly invasion.

Marchenko last week said his government was seeking about 4 billion euros ($4.37 billion) in foreign financing in addition to the about 3 billion euros it has already received to deal with a budget shortfall.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal will attend economic meetings next week in Washington, D.C., a World Bank official told The Hill.

Other top Ukrainian officials such as the countrys finance minister will also be in attendance at the meetings.

The meetings will include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Group of Seven finance officials, according to Reuters, which first reported the news.

The Hill has reached out to the International Monetary Fund for confirmation.

The World Bank will host the event, which will take place on Thursday and center around the war in Ukraine.

Sources told Reuters the meeting will be a roundtable and not a donors conference, although the World Bank and IMF have accounts established for donations to Ukraine.

This comes nearly two months after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched the invasion in Ukraine on Feb. 24. Russian forces have since caused significant destruction in many parts of Ukraine. Attacks have impacted civilian structures such as homes, schools and hospitals, as well as important infrastructure including rail, bridges, ports and roads.

In a report published last weekend, the World Bank said the ongoing war is expected to cut Ukraines gross domestic product by 45.1 percent this year.

Western allies have given billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, with President Biden announcing an additional $800 million in security assistance to the country this week.

The World Bank also announced new aid for Ukraine this week, saying it was preparing to send the country $1.5 billion to support continuation of essential government services during the war.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
TOKYO (AP)  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to working together under a longstanding bilateral alliance on Saturday at a time of heightened global tensions including threats from China and North Korea.

In a meeting over breakfast, the delegation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, agreed with Kishida on the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The six lawmakers visit follows their earlier stop in Taiwan, where they made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy, while issuing a warning to China. They met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

China carried out military drills near Taiwan in protest of the delegations visit. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China was prepared to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Japan has long been nervous about Chinas possible invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory to be united by force if necessary. China and Taiwan split after a civil war in 1949.

Concerns in Tokyo, especially among conservative politicians seeking a more assertive role for their military, have heightened since the war in Ukraine. The question is sensitive because Japans pacifist constitution, adopted after its defeat in World War II, bans the use of force in international disputes. Japan keeps its overseas military operations to peacekeeping and humanitarian relief.

Officially, Japan does not recognize Taiwan but they maintain friendly relations. China opposes any official official exchanges between Taiwan and other foreign governments.

The issue of whether the U.S. would intervene in the case of China's attack on Taiwan remains open. Analysts say Japans role in such a hypothetical situation is even more unclear because Japan is host to a huge U.S. military presence under the alliance.

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Kishida told the representatives from Congress that the bilateral alliance superseded political party divisions, and sought their understanding on Japan's role in working toward peace and prosperity in the region. Tokyo also asked for U.S. support for ongoing efforts by Japan to bring home Japanese who were abducted by North Korea decades ago, the ministry said. North Korea returned some of the abducted people in 2004.

The U.S. delegation also includes Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas.

___

Associated Press Writer Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.

Wu is on Twitter https://twitter.com/huizhong_wu

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Scientists in multiple countries protested to demand real government action on climate change, with some engaging in dramatic civil disobedience like chaining themselves to a bank door or gluing their hands to a government building.

Im willing to take a risk for this gorgeous planet, for my sons, Peter Kalmus, a biological systems and climate change scientist at NASA, told Insider. Weve been trying to warn you guys for so many decades that were heading towards a fucking catastrophe, and weve been being ignored.

Thats why Kalmus and three others chained themselves to an office building of Chase Bank (JPMorgan Chase has invested more money in fossil fuels than any other bank) last week in Los Angeles. Kalmus, along with a physicist, an engineer and a science teacher, were all arrested by Los Angeles police clad in riot gear, according to LAist.

I'm grateful we tried. Man, oh, man, did we try. pic.twitter.com/TlYrwwGB8v  Peter Kalmus (@ClimateHuman) April 11, 2022

The paradigm is starting to shift for scientists, soil scientist Rose Abramoff told Earther. Abramoff was also arrested last week after chaining herself to a White House fence alongside other protesters.

She said she had previously taken pains to remain unbiased, but that its not political to tell the truth. Serving the habitability of life on this planet is not and should not be a political issue.

Police grab climate protesters from the steps of a government building in Madrid on April 6. (Photo: Aldara Zarraoa via Getty Images)

Police grab climate protesters from the steps of a government building in Madrid on April 6. (Photo: Aldara Zarraoa via Getty Images)

Scientist Rebellion estimated that around 1,000 activists  including both scientists and nonscientists who also participated  from 25 countries took part in the protests. In London, 25 people glued scientific papers  and some their own hands  to the windows of the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, The Guardian reported.

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The governments insane, and I dont know what to do, other than to do this, to try and get the attention that we need to wake the public up, ecologist Aaron Thierry said, his hand superglued to the window pane.

The governments insane, and I dont know what to do, other than to do this, to try and get the attention that we need to wake the public up.



Ecologist Dr Aaron Thierry (@ThierryAaron), who has his hand superglued to the window at @beisgovuk with @ScientistsXpic.twitter.com/Hx8oAvZZgC  Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) April 13, 2022

In Spain, protesters threw fake blood on the Spanish Parliament steps in Madrid. The activist group said 53 people  about half of the people at the demonstration  were arrested.

Fernando Valladares, a research professor with the Spanish National Research Council, told Euro News that its not just the future thats in peril due to the warming planet, its the present as well.

Crop failures, migrations, and marine flooding. What else do we need to know? he said.

A climate protester in Madrid being grabbed by police. (Photo: Aldara Zarraoa via Getty Images)

A climate protester in Madrid being grabbed by police. (Photo: Aldara Zarraoa via Getty Images)

The mass action followed the release of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes latest report. The report warned that its now or never for the world to take sharp action to cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), a goal set by the Paris climate accords.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Federal prosecutors accused a Virginia Beach firm of illegally seizing and selling vehicles belonging to seven service members, including a member of SEAL Team 2 while he was deployed overseas.

The seizures by Steves Towing Inc. violate the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the Department of Justices lawsuit alleges.

The act says towing companies need a court order before auctioning off service members vehicles, and bars them from enforcing a storage lien while deployed, and for 90 days afterward.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, seeks damages for affected service members, as well as a court order barring Steves Towing from illegally auctioning off their vehicles. The lawsuit also seeks a civil penalty.

The flagrant disregard of a law designed to protect the rights of those in military service will not be tolerated, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division.

We must put an end to unlawful business practices that bring harm and distress to those selflessly serving in our armed forces.

The lawsuit details the case of a SEAL Team 2 Petty Officer 1st Class who had parked his 1992 Toyota Land Cruiser and 1987 Toyota 4Runner in a parking lot across from team headquarters at Little Creek.

The vehicles had Arizona license plates. While Steves Towing asked the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles for vehicle records, it did not check with Arizona.

Thirty-six days after towing the vehicles, on Feb.7, 2020, Steves Towing filed liens to cover storage charges of $970 each for the vehicles, the lawsuit said.

That same day, Steven E. Gilliam, the companys president, reported to the Virginia DMV that the company enforced its two $970 storage liens on the Land Cruiser and 4Runner by purchasing both from itself for $500 each, the lawsuit said.

The company never obtained a court order allowing it to dispose of the vehicles, the lawsuit said.

Gilliam did not return a call seeking comment.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act provides a variety of financial and housing protections to members of the military.

Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com
Apr. 16WATSONTOWN  Three new businesses in downtown Watsontown were introduced to the public on Thursday.

The Watsontown Area Business Alliance (WABA), the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Central PA Chamber of Commerce and borough officials celebrated those businesses with three ribbon-cutting ceremonies on Thursday afternoon. The celebration included Moore Good Hair Days, located at 203 Main St., TK Tackle, located at 223 Main St., and Rose Cottage Home and Gifts, located at 214 Main St.

"It's a great opportunity for Watsontown," said WABA President Barbara Diehl. "Everybody is within a block of each other. It makes it nice to go to more than one thing downtown."

Terah Moore, owner of Moore Good Hair Days, said the business has been open for six weeks. She has been working in the hair salon industry for 12 years. This is the first she has opened her own business.

"This has been a dream ever since I was a little girl," said Moore. "It's a new beginning."

Moore stood on a red carpet with her husband Aleem Moore and their two children, Kennedy, 10, and Anthony, 6. Their daughter Kennedy held the scissors and cut the ribbon.

Moore said she felt "accomplished."

The salon is open by appointment only. She specializes in haircuts and coloring.

TK Tackle, a bait and tackle shop owned by Troy Kitner, was located along Route 405 toward Montgomery and then moved into their new location on Main Street on Feb. 12. They are also partnered with CR Wilds, owned by Ross Rothmell.

"We outgrew our other location," said Kitner.

On Feb. 28, a Cadillac Escalade crashed into the showroom of the shop. Kitner spent the next few weeks cleaning up the thousands of dollars worth of damage and fixing the store. There's still a tire mark on the floor, one he plans to keep.

"It's been an adventure," said Kitner. "Never a dull moment. It's nice to have the room back. The community here is amazing."

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The business has custom, handmade spinners, fishing tackle, and is a distributor for Nikko soft baits and Al's goldfish lures, Adams Custom lures, and a variety of other items. The goal is to keep as much of their product from domestic and local businesses.

Renee Metzler, owner of Rose Cottage, said they opened on Black Friday 2021. She and her husband lived in Texas for 10 years before moving back to the Watsontown area in October.

"I have always loved gifts and goodies," she said. "I've always wanted to own a shop like this."

The store is modeled after a cottage and visitors are greeted with music, candles and tea. They sell florals, home decor, seasonal decor, garden items, unique gifts, and "little surprises and rare finds" that consist of vintage items, antiques, locally handmade items and local artisan products.

"It feels like a blessing and an opportunity to be here right on Main Street," said Metzler. "I hope the businesses in the downtown continue."
This is a recap of news from April 16. For the latest on Ukraine, click here.

Russian forces stepped up attacks on Saturday, with scattered strikes in Kyiv and western Ukraine in a reminder that no region is out-of-bounds despite Russia's pivot toward the east.

Russian troops struck a military target in Kyiv that killed one and injured several and shelled an oil refinery in Lysychansk that caught fire. After Russia's Black Sea flagship was sunk by Ukrainian missiles, Russia warned Friday there would be more attacks on the capital's military targets.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of the regional legislature, Hanna Zamazeyeva, also said Saturday that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

Zamazeyeva said the targets included several residential blocks where there are no military facilities.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv in the east, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kirovohrad in the central Ukraine and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south.

RUSSIA'S ARSENAL: What weapons are being used in Russia's invasion of Ukraine? A visual guide to key military equipment and locations

A building damaged during fighting is seen in Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 13, 2022.

USA TODAY ON TELEGRAM: Join our new Russia-Ukraine war channel

Latest developments

 Ukraines parliament on Saturday confirmed that 21 journalists, including renowned Ukrainian photojournalist Maxim Levin and Fox News cameraperson Pierre Zakrzewski, have died while covering the war in Ukraine and expressed sincere condolences to the families of the victims.

The governor of the Kharkiv region says seven people, including a 7-month-old child, were killed in shelling of a residential neighborhood in the city.

 Russia and Ukraine on Saturday agreed upon nine humanitarian corridors across several cities.

Story continues

President Joe Biden is not set to visit Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told the podcast "Pod Save America" Thursday.

Community kitchen established by World Central Kitchen destroyed amid Russian bombardment of Kharkiv

KHARKIV, Ukraine  Russias bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.

Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.

The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andres tweeted that the non-governmental organizations staff members were shaken but safe.

The organization says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andres said the attack in Kharkiv shows that to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance and that his groups chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.

 Associated Press

Russian general died in battle, St. Petersburg governor says

A Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol for weeks.

Gov. Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Frolov died a heroic death in battle without saying where or when he was killed. Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St. Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.

Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war. At least seven other deaths of generals have been reported; Russia has not confirmed all of them.

-The Associated Press

Mariupol is holding out, but the situation is critical

A key strategic city in Ukraine has now endured more than six weeks of a brutal Russian siege, putting up a fierce resistance that has so far helped thwart Moscow's plans to control eastern Ukraine's industrial heartland.

But shortages of weapons and supplies are threatening Mariupol's ability to resist Russian forces.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday the fate of Mariupol will be key in determining whether negotiations can end the war.

The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol  what they are doing now  can put an end to any format of negotiations, Zelenskyy told The Associated Press.

Once a city of 450,000, now only 120,000 people live there. At least 21,000 people have been killed in Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said. Bodies were carpeted through the streets.

The city was thrust into the international spotlight in early March with the bombing of a maternity hospital, an attack Western leaders have described as a war crime. The airstrike killed three civilians, including a child, and left 17 wounded.

A woman collects wooden planks in a street destroyed by shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 13, 2022.

Fake security service messages are new Russian cyber attack, Ukraine officials claim

Russian cyberhackers are posing as the Security Service of Ukraine in hopes of tricking Ukrainians into downloading viruses, Ukraines information protection agency said Saturday.

The State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine said in a Telegram post that the bad actors are using popular messengers and asking users to download a file with instructions on how to act during the wartime period, but the file is a virus. The main targets of the attacks are civil servants, the agency said.

The enemy does not stop trying to organize cyber attacks in Ukraine, the agency said. And although they are usually unsuccessful, each of us must pay attention to information security.

The information protection agency affirmed that the Security Service of Ukraine does not send out such messages and encouraged Ukrainians to think twice before engaging with similar messages.

- Ella Lee

Ukraines richest man pledged to help rebuild Mariupol: Reuters

Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraines richest man, is resolved to help rebuild the besieged city of Mariupol so it can again compete globally some day, he said in an interview with Reuters.

The biggest company in Akhmetovs financial and industrial holding company, System Capital Management, is the mining conglomerate Metinvest, which is headquartered in Mariupol. The steelmaker, which is the biggest in Ukraine, vowed Friday never to operate under Russian occupation.

"My ambition is to return to a Ukrainian Mariupol and implement our (new production) plans so that Mariupol-produced steel can compete in global markets as before," Akhmetov told Reuters.

Mariupol massacre: 'Why? Why? Why?' Ukraine's Mariupol descends into despair

He added that for Metinvest, the war started in 2014 when the company lost all its assets in Crimea and the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas. Still, that made the business tougher and stronger, he said.

As Ukraines largest private business, Akhmetov is confident System Capital Management will play a key role in rebuilding Mariupol.

- Ella Lee

Rocket strike kills 1 in Kyiv, mayor says

One person was killed and several wounded in a missile strike that hit Ukraines capital, Kyiv, early Saturday, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post.

Our anti-aircraft defense forces are doing everything possible to protect us, but the enemy is intruding and ruthless, he said. It is no secret that one of the Russian generals has been stating for days that they are ready for missile attacks on the capital of Ukraine. And as we can see, they are doing so.

In an earlier statement on Ukrainian television, Klitschko said numerous people were hospitalized and doctors are fighting for their lives. He encouraged Kyiv residents to refrain from returning to the city if possible.

- Ella Lee

Italian ambassador back in Kyiv to open embassy

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio said Friday that Italys ambassador to Kyiv is officially back in Ukraines capital.

It is the symbol of an Italy that wastes no time, never stops believing in diplomacy and persistently seeks peace, Di Maio tweeted Friday.

Italys embassy in Kyiv will reopen Monday and be fully operational, Di Maio added.

The move comes after the European Union earlier this month resumed its diplomatic presence in Kyiv after pulling out of the nation when Russia invaded in February,

- Ella Lee

Russia bans Boris Johnson, other UK officials from Russia

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and 12 other British officials are banned from entering Russia, Russias Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Saturday, citing unprecedented hostile actions by Britains government.

The Russophobic course of the British authorities, whose main task is to stir up a negative attitude towards our country, curtail bilateral ties in almost all areas, is detrimental to the well-being and interests of the inhabitants of Britain itself, reads the ministrys statement. Any sanctions attacks will inevitably hit their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff.

Russias foreign ministry claimed Britain is deliberately aggravating the situation around Ukraine, by providing Ukraine with weapons and coordinating with NATO and other Western allies to impose large-scale sanctions on Russia.

The ministry claimed additional British politicians who contribute to whipping up anti-Russian hysteria would soon be added to the list of banned individuals.

- Ella Lee

Ukraine counts 400 COVID cases a day, health minister says

Amid the devastation of an invasion from Russia, Ukrainians also are trying to dodge COVID-19.

Some 400 cases of COVID-19 are recorded daily in Ukraine, Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko said in an interview with Ukrainian television channel TCH.

Lyashko explained that at the start of the war, about 4,000 cases were recorded daily. Numbers have continued to drop since then. Still, about 2,900 patients are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19, he said.

The health minister added that the scope of the nations COVID-19 statistics are limited by the ongoing war, noting that eastern regions of Ukraine are not reporting numbers, nor are they required to.

- Ella Lee

Men help Maria Dyachenko, 83, board a transport during evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on April 12, 2022. Dyachenko said her village of Dovhenke was completely destroyed during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Russian holiday could mark key deadline in Ukraine

An upcoming national holiday in Russia could be an important milestone in that country's invasion of Ukraine, a war that has been more difficult than the Kremlin anticipated.

May 9 is Victory Day, marking the Russian defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II. Officials in both Ukraine and the West see it as a date by which Russian President Vladimir Putin could target progress in the war.

The date  marking the end of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War  is one that has gained significance in Putin's tenure "and has become a foundational moment in the Kremlins politics of memory and Russian national identity," said Hannah Chapman, assistant professor of political science at Miami University.

The Kremlin has staged massive shows of strength to mark the day, with parades and other displays of military might.

But not everyone agrees. Read more.

 Merdie Nzanga

More than 900 civilian bodies found in Kyiv region, police chief says

The bodies of more than 900 civilians were discovered in the Kyiv region following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the regional police chief said in a briefing Friday.

Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyivs regional police force, said the bodies had been abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% of the casualties had died from sniper fire and gunshot wounds. He added that more bodies were being found every day, under the rubble and in mass graves.

Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said. The number of killed civilians has surpassed 900  and I emphasize, these are civilians, whose bodies we have discovered and handed over for forensic examination.

He added: The most victims were found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 corpses.

According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha had been gathering up and burying bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Nebytov added that Russian troops were tracking down people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

US confirms 2 Ukrainian missiles sank Russian flagship in Black Sea

Two Ukrainian Neptune missiles struck the Russian missile cruiser Moskva, which later sank, according to a senior U.S. Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Pentagon officials had previously said they could not confirm the Ukrainian claim, but they also did not refute it.

The warship Moskva, which has a history that goes back to days of the Cold War, sank into the Black Sea on Thursday in the latest blow to Moscow's war effort in Ukraine.

Losing the vessel, built in Ukraine during the Soviet era and named after the Russian capital, represents a military setback and symbolic defeat for Russia as its troops regroup for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after stumbling in the north.

 Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zelenskyy on Mariupol; civilian bodies found: April 16 Ukraine recap
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the recent French election isnt who won, but who lost  and what it might mean for America.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen of the National Rally party won enough of the vote  27.8% and 23.2% respectively  to head into a runoff on April 24. Close behind them were an assortment of hard-right and hard-left candidates. And in the also-ran category: Valerie Pecresse (4.8%) and Anne Hildago (1.8%). Amazingly, their parties  the Republicans and the Socialists  dominated French politics for decades, and now theyre fast on their way to obscurity.

Its a little bit like if America held a giant nonpartisan jungle primary and the Republican and Democratic candidates combined didnt break double digits, never mind fail to make the runoff.

Of course, Frances politics and political system are quite different from ours so the analogy shouldnt be taken too literally. Theres a reason France had five republics, and were still working on our first. Macron created his party, La Republique En Marche, in 2016 just so he could run for president.

Still, French politics have changed a lot in recent years. The most notable change is that the center of gravity has moved decidedly rightward. Le Pen, daughter of the far-right nativist Jean-Marie Le Pen (whom she expelled from the National Front party in 2015, for his antisemitic comments), is a national populist who, according to a YouGov poll, led Macron among all voters under the age of 55.

Meanwhile, in part because Macron has branded himself as the only centrist in French politics, the left has become more radical. Jean-Luc Melenchon, dubbed by British papers as Frances Corbyn (perhaps in part for his own problems with the Jewish community), came in third with nearly 22% of the vote, barely a point shy of Le Pen. Melenchon wants to scrap the Fifth Republic entirely and start over.

Another important difference between France and America is that liberalism over there still has more of its original meaning. A French liberal, or neoliberal, on economics is a champion, or at least a proponent, of laissez faire economics. Meanwhile, both the far left and far right alike are far friendlier to state-driven regulation of the economy. The differences mostly manifest themselves over which winners and which losers the state should pick.

Given that our politics are moving in a French direction, its an interesting thought experiment: What if America had its own French-style jungle primary?

Its harder than it might sound because polls arent entirely reliable. Partisanship in our polarized two-party system often drives big shifts in voter attitudes on some issues. For instance, when Donald Trump railed against free trade, a lot of Republicans and Democrats switched positions.

Its easy to imagine an Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders moving toward something close to Melenchons agenda of constitutional radicalism and confiscatory taxation (in 2017 he even proposed a 100% tax on earnings above 400,000 euros). And even if they wouldnt go that far, you can be sure someone would. Thats part of the problem with Frances system, the bigger the field in the first round, the more incentive there is for fringe candidates to throw their hats in.

On the right, the picture is murkier. The loudest voices on the right champion their own versions of populism and nationalism. Foxs Tucker Carlson, who has praised Sen. Warrens economic program, has also promoted anti-immigration replacement theory, which is all the rage in France.

While I suspect Carlson would leap into the race, hed have a lot of competition in his lane. A host of Republicans have embraced the idea that the GOP should become the party of the working class, at war with Big Tech and woke corporations generally. What this means in practice, varies widely. What unites them is rejection, in whole or in part, of the American rights traditional laissez faire dogma about not using the state for picking winners and losers. In September, J.D. Vance, whos running for the Senate from Ohio, asked why the state doesnt confiscate the assets of nonprofit institutions he dislikes and give it to the people whove had their lives destroyed by their radical open borders agenda?

Who would be a Macron-like centrist? Im not sure and, not wanting to hurt their standing among Republicans, Im reluctant to offer a guess.

What I am certain about is that while I have ample contempt for both parties these days, I am grateful for our two-party system and constitutional safeguards. The founders were as concerned about the tyranny of autocracy as they were about the tyranny of the majority and the tyranny that would result from any single faction that might attain momentary power thanks to periodic gales of populist rage.

Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch. Goldbergs column is provided by Tribune Content Agency.
Quiet, soft-spoken and effective, Keith Long is one of the many faithful volunteers at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital.

Always arriving an hour before his shift to get in a little personal reading time, you can count on seeing Keith at least one day a week in the West Lobby, ready to great and assist patients and visitors on their way into the hospital. Keith also serves one day a week in the Outpatient Surgery Department at Jennie Ed.

Keith served in the Marine Corps from 1960-1966, spending two years in the Far East. The rest of his service time was spent at Camp Pendleton in southern California, one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. Keiths original intention was to enlist in the Air Force. However, the Air Force recruiter was not in at the time. He was invited by the Marine Corps recruiter to spend a few minutes with him while he waited for the Air Force recruiter to return. Keith left the building as a Marine.

After returning from the service, Keith spent 22 years with Omaha Box Company as a short-haul truck driver. With his territory limited to a 200 mile radius around Omaha, Keith was able to return home to his family each night. When asked how he liked his time at Omaha Box, Keith replied that he very much enjoyed it as it was a great opportunity to meet new people. In addition to driving truck, Keith also served as a firefighter for the Eaton Corporation.

When asked about his reasons for being a volunteer, Keith indicated that after being home for three weeks post-retirement, he just knew he had to do something more. Having briefly considered using his degrees in math and computer science in a tutoring capacity, Keith decided that volunteering at Methodist Jennie Edmundson would be a better fit for him.

As he almost always is, he was right. Thank you, Keith, for your dedicated 14 years of service (so far).

If youd like to volunteer at Methodist Jennie Edmundson, call the Volunteer Services office at 712-396-6040. The hospital is recruiting for their volunteer team.

 Jennie Edmundson

Hospital
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Members of the European Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, who visited Tunis this week, urged all political stakeholders in Tunisia to hold a real inclusive dialogue as soon as possible so as to resolve the political and economic crisis.

At a press conference held at the headquarters of the European Union delegation in Tunis, MEPs stressed the need to launch a comprehensive and well-structured political process involving political parties and civil society activists in a bid to help Tunisia overcome political and economic crisis, reports TAP news agency.

Head of the delegation and permanent rapporteur for Tunisia in the Foreign Affairs Committee Michael Gahler underlined that the process of political reforms, which began with the online consultation, should be accompanied by of an economic recovery plan.

The European Union notes with concern the dramatic deterioration of the economic and social situation in Tunisia, which has been exacerbated by the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine, he was quoted by TAP as saying.

We are always ready to provide technical and financial assistance to help Tunisia surmount its crisis, he pointed out, adding that the EU will follow up closely the evolution of the political process and the implementation of the roadmap announced by President Kais Saied.

Regarding political reforms, members of the delegation expressed the European Parliaments willingness to participate in the evaluation of options for electoral reform.

Gahler called on Tunisian authorities to draw inspiration from the expertise of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), particularly democratic reforms and achievements.

Concerning the financial support of the European Parliament, member of the delegation Javier Nart indicated that the signing of budget support agreements between Tunisia and the EU requires the achievement of real democratic gains.
Morocco will enter the LNG market in the next upcoming days after it finalizes supply deals, as it seeks to bolster the share of natural gas in its energy mix, Energy Minister Leila Benali said.

The Minister added that her department had talks with Portugal, France and Spain to activate the unused capacity in their regasification infrastructure in order to import gas through a pipeline that carries gas to the two power stations of Tahadart and Bni Mathar.

The two power stations have been idled since Algeria unilaterally halted the flow of gas through a pipeline that had 13 bcm capacity.

The first arrival of LNG to Morocco would create demand for natural gas, she said.

Morocco consumes some 800 million cubic meters of gas most of which was supplied by the now halted pipeline.

It expects its gas needs to rise to 3 bcm by 2040, as gas is poised to play a key role in Moroccos industry as an energy transition source with low carbon footprint.

Regasification is important to Moroccos energy sovereignty, said the minister, adding that her department was examining multiple ports to host the regasification units.

Benali also said that Morocco was preparing to launch the national energy security council as a consultative body.

She said Moroccos storage capacity of oil products was at 1.6 million tons and would rise to 8 million tons by 2023.
A candidate for the Nebraska State Board of Education is responding to allegations of sexual assault made against her son, a student at Chadron State College.

Elizabeth Tegtmeier issued a press release Friday after The Eagle, CSCs student newspaper, ran a story about her son, Caleb Tegtmeier, on its website.

Caleb Tegtmeier, who had served as a vice president of finance on the campus activities board until resigning in March, is the subject of two protection orders filed in Dawes County Court. The women seeking the protection orders allege sexual improprieties by Caleb Tegtmeier, who was also named a student trustee representing CSC on the Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees. He has been attending school at CSC since 2019, having been awarded a scholarship to complete its Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP).

Elizabeth Tegtmeier is a candidate for the District 7 seat, challenging incumbent Robin Stevens, of Gothenburg.

I am aware of allegations of impropriety that have been asserted against my adult son, Elizabeth Tegtmeier said. As noted in the media coverage of this issue, there are two civil matters currently pending before the judge in Dawes County, as well as a Title IX complaint pending at Chadron State College arising from the same allegations. To date, the court has yet to issue any factual findings.

Ultimately, we are confident the truth will prevail. In the meantime, we consider this a private family matter and request that our familys privacy be respected. My commitment to serving Nebraskas schools, students, and teachers on the Nebraska State Board of Education has not wavered and remains strong.

Elizabeth Tegtmeier, of North Platte, launched her campaign in response to the Nebraska State Board of Educations consideration of health standards. The proposed health standards became a divisive issue for the state board, with Gov. Pete Ricketts among conservative leaders criticizing topics in the standards involving sexual orientation, gender identity and sex education.

Among the issues Elizabeth Tegtmeier cites on her website as part of her campaign, she cites protecting children from sexually inappropriate and racially divisive material. She also says she offers True Western Nebraska Representation and will represent values of western Nebraskans and listen to their concerns.

Chadron Police Chief Rick Hickstein confirmed to the Star-Herald that an investigation is underway involving the allegations against Caleb Tegtmeier. No charges have been filed, according to a search of online court records.

Two women filed for protection orders against Caleb Tagtmeier in February. Hearings on both protection orders were held and are currently under advisement by Judge Russell Harford.

After making inquiries to CSC, the Star-Herald was referred to Jodi Yorges, director of strategic initiatives and communications for the Nebraska State College System. Though Yorges said the college could not comment on specific matters relating to individual conduct or Title IX complaints involving students due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), she said: We can state that neither the System Office nor the College received notice of a hearing in Dawes County District Court on Friday, April 8, 2022, and to date, have not received a copy of any protective orders. It is important to note that law enforcement or court proceedings are separate from any Title IX investigation conducted by the College. The College does not participate in the judicial or criminal proceedings conducted by the county except to the extent that we cooperate as requested.

She referred questions about status of a student trustees status to representatives of Ricketts office, though she noted that trustees are appointed by the governor and the term of newly appointed trustees runs from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023. She also outlined the process of appointment, which includes a trustee completing an application that involved letters of recommendation, review by a selection committee that involves the vice president/dean of student affairs.

The committee nominates up to three candidates, she said, and the applications of those candidates are forwarded to the governors office, typically in late November or early December. The applications are the only materials the college provides to the governor, Yorges said.

If a Student Trustee is found responsible for misconduct, the Board of Trustees will take the appropriate action, Yorges said.

Representatives of Ricketts office had not responded to the Star-Heralds inquiry as of publication.

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WATCH: #AmberHeard's former assistant's video deposition is being played. Kate James: Is this relevant? She goes on to explain everything she did for #AmberHeard (with a bit of an attitude)

You were paid for that work, correct?

James: Very poorly. (laughter in the courtroom) pic.twitter.com/xRbCXwk7tj  Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 14, 2022

Marriage counselor for #JohnnyDepp and #AmberHeard testifies she saw bruises on Heard's face. She saw the bruising in person and Heard also showed her photos of her injuries. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/Osx6MX6T65  Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 14, 2022

WATCH: #AmberHeard's team huddles looking at something on a phone. Sidebar. Judge then sends jury out. Judge asks Deuters if she has been watching the trial, she said yes, "clips" online. HER ENTIRE TESTIMONY IS STRUCK. #JohnnyDepp @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/OqidFlIa3e  Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 14, 2022

Posted on the docket today. The judge in #JohnnyDepp v #AmberHeard granted Depp's motion to exclude Eve Barlow from the courtroom for the duration of the trial. @Angenette5 pic.twitter.com/IwKkrvxjcH  Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 15, 2022

Johnny Depp fans booted from court for alleged violent threats against Amber Heard w/ @benkesslen https://t.co/FX6AjBPjS8 via @nypost  Elizabeth Rosner (@elizameryl) April 14, 2022

Recently there was a post of a Variety article that summarised Johnny Depp & Amber Heard's marriage counsellor's testimony during their ongoing defamation trial. A lot happened on this day of the trial, so I wanted to try and speak to the full day's events.This is all directly from the witnesses testimonies as the entire court case is being streamed and can be watched online. I chose this rather than articles to ensure as much accuracy as possible, so the following has a lot of direct quotes, notes from people's sessions with the pair, and a few summaries just to keep the post from getting too long. This is the same assistant who claimed that Heard stole her story of sexual abuse during the UK Libel trial , despite the fact that AHs testimony was behind closed doors and fully confidential so there was no way of knowing what she said. It should also be noted that accusation was nowhere to be found in this deposition.- James is clearly incredibly hostile about Amber throughout the entire deposition. She is visibly annoyed when speaking about her - especially when talking about her list of duties for Amber in the above video.- She was asked about a text sent by Depp in August 2016 - after Heard has filed divorce. The text from Depp reads- James claims that she never saw Amber be abused, or any bruises and marks that would indicate as such. She does not believe the allegations.- She would often see Amber crying, but never asked her why as Amber was- She claims that when she asked for a salary raise, Amber yelled at her and waswhile yelling as she was only 4 inches away.- Calls Johnny, the same man who has said in multiple texts that he wants to kill Amber and that he hopes her, a true gentleman who is quiet and shy, and who was always kind to her son.- James states that shes spoken to Adam Waldman, Depp's former lawyer who was dismissed due to leaking information to the press and who has openly slandered Amber on social media, around 10 times. But- It should also be noted that in the UK Libel case, Laura Divenere (Their interior designer) said that Adam Waldman forced her to sign a statement that said Amber was verbally abusive to Kate James - Laura testified that in reality, she only saw Heard yell at her once, and it was because James had made a mistake at the time- The following is a note verbatim from the counsellor's notes during her one on one sessions with Amber to get some background information for the couple's sessions together in October 2015:The counsellor goes on to clarify that 'no closed fist' means an open handed slap, and that Amber admitted to hitting Johnny back and eventually beginning to hit him first, due to her history of beingand- In summary, it was Johnny who began hitting Amber, and Amber admitted that she began to hit back and then eventually would start fights herself. According to Anderson, Amber would start a fight if she felt disrespected or triggered, and felt that it was a point of pride due to the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her father. Anderson believed that Amber would eventually start fights more often than Johnny.- Anderson says that Depp wasbut Amber triggered him. She does not clarify how.- She also says thatand thatHowever, she says that once she advised Heard that this would not be helpful to their sessions, Heard understood.- The therapist claims that it was mutual abuse.- In a phone session in December 15th 2015, Heard said thatThat same session, they talk about a strategy of getting out of the marriage.- Two days later, Heard came to Anderson's office and showed her bruises under her eyes.- In June 2016, after the divorce was filed, Depp says in a one on one session that Heard- She began to answer questions about his drug and alcohol use, but none of it really matters as partway through her testimony, she is ejected from the court and her testimony struck from the records.- No one is quite sure how it happened, but somehow Heard's team figured out that Deuters had been watching previous testimony (The entire trial is live streamed online). From what we see, Heard's lawyers are sitting there watching the testimony normally, the camera cuts to Deuters, and when it goes back to show the courtroom we see one of her lawyers with a phone in his hand., Amber's friend and a (rather controversial) journalist, is sitting in the front row and speaks to a woman next to her, who converses with the lawyer who has the phone. After more discussion within Amber's team, the lawyer asks to present something to the judge.- After some discussion, the judge asks Deuters if she has been watching the testimony. Deuters admits to watching clips online, and is eventually dismissed and her testimony struck from the record.- According to Law & Crime, the trial network that is streaming the case, Eve Barlow was removed from the courtroom for having her phone out, let back in for the remainder of the day at the back of the courtroom, and then eventually banned from the courtroom entirely for the remainder of the case. There's no footage of her being removed, but during the final testimony she is indeed at the back of the courtroom. It's now been confirmed that Depp's team motioned to exclude Barlow from the courtroom, which has been granted by the judge earlier today.- Gina Deuters would go on to repost a Johnny Depp fan account on her Instagram story. It does bring about the theory that perhaps Barlow or Heard's team saw Gina interact with a post on social media about the case.- Kipper says that Depp was seeking treatment for alcohol, opiates, and stimulants.- Two texts are presented during the deposition that has been shown before in the UK Libel Case, where Johnny Depp admits to cutting the top of his own finger off in Australia despite claiming in recent years that it was Heard who threw a bottle at him and did it.- One text reads:- The doctor went to their house after the incident, and said the few rooms he saw were a mess - he says that things looked like they had been thrown, and it looked like there was blood on the walls. This fits with images we've seen in the past of the mess at the house, including messages that Depp wrote on the wall with his own blood accusing Amber of sleeping with Billy Bob Thornton.- Sometime after this incident, Depp texts Kipper. There have been multiple texts from Depp referring to this, and a transcript of a conversation between Johnny and Amber where they talk about it as well. According to Amber in the UK Libel case- According to Kipper, Depp fired him multiple times, to the point where Kipper texted him asking him to stop doing so. Kipper says Depp grew angry at Heard for insisting he take the medication that was prescribed to help with his addiction. Depp's team object to this for hearsay. It is often stated in Kipper's notes that Depp would go to and from being co-operative and hostile towards treatments.- Depp's registered nurse who worked with Kipper, has notes that read- The doctor says that he was in contact with Depp's sister, Christi Dembrowski, about Depp's drug treatment. This directly contradicts Dembrowski's testimony on the first day of the trial, where she claims she only knew of his prescription drug abuse (Her own texts to Depp also contradict this). Dembrowski is also the head of Depp's production company.- Depp texted Kipper that heDepp stans claim that he was referring to Negras, a beer, or Negronis, an Italian Cocktail. However, there's no way a phone could autocorrect to that, so at best, Depp is referring to an alcoholic drink as a racial slur. His doctor says that he thinks it as an 'attempt at humour.'
"The story of China's increased influence will only [grow] now," according to Raffaello Pantucci.

The release of Sinostan, a new book about China's growing influence in Central Asia, will mark the end of a sprawling journey that has taken its authors more than a decade to complete. When Raffaello Pantucci and Alexandros Petersen first set out in 2008 to research Beijing's rising and outsized impact on the region it was only slightly visible, but it has since become one of the most noteworthy examples of China's global sway.

Amid little fanfare in 2001, Beijing made its first major foray into the region when it launched the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional bloc that included Russia and every former Soviet Central Asian country except for Turkmenistan.

That pivot to Eurasia expanded in the coming years as China's growing economic gravitas turned it into Central Asia's largest trading partner and Beijing built a sprawling network of oil and gas pipelines across the region.

Things accelerated in 2013, when Chinese President Xi Jinping chose the Kazakh capital, Astana (since renamed Nur-Sultan), to unveil the Silk Road Economic Belt, the overland component of the multibillion-dollar infrastructure project that would become the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) -- a hallmark of Xi's foreign policy.

For the British and American analysts, it was further proof that years of on-the-ground research in Central Asia and China were set to pay off. While juggling PhD programs and various roles at think tanks around the world, the duo had been working on a project that they would turn into a book meant to understand and explain how Beijing had created an "inadvertent empire" in Central Asia.

It was clear to them that the region was becoming increasingly attached economically and politically to China, but also that it was happening in an organic way, with little central direction or a clear plan from Beijing for how to wield this newfound influence.

"The 'inadvertent empire' idea was born out of the fact that when we looked on the ground, we could see that China was the most consequential player," Pantucci told RFE/RL, "but it was equally clear that there wasn't anyone in Beijing that had a strategic vision."

But just as their project gained new momentum and a finish line for the book appeared on the horizon, tragedy struck in 2014.

Petersen, who had taken a new position at the American University of Afghanistan, was killed in a Kabul restaurant bombing by the Taliban that left 20 others dead.

In the aftermath of the attack, the book was put on hold and, over the years, life caught up with Pantucci: marriage, children, and new jobs took him down other research paths until he finished the book amid the pandemic -- giving a long-overdue tribute to his slain friend.

"For me, it's great to finally have it out there because it's a testament to him as much as it is a subject that I devoted a period of my life to," Pantucci said. "It feels like I'm finally closing out a chapter in my life."

Influence And Indifference

A lot has happened in Central Asia since 2014.

The SCO has since expanded, Chinese businesses have flocked into the region, Beijing has cautiously established a security footprint in Tajikistan, and the expansion of the BRI has seen China become more embedded in the everyday fabric of the region.

Chinese policies have also continued to shape the region.

A brutal crackdown launched in 2017 in Xinjiang, the western Chinese province that borders the region, swept more than 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities into detention camps and prisons. The United States' chaotic withdrawal and the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 have also opened up new opportunities for Chinese influence across the region.

Likewise, Beijing's relationship with Moscow has transformed -- a process that culminated in February when Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a massive strategic document that they said heralded a new era for a "no limits" partnership.

Related: How Egypt Could Become A Critical Energy Hub

But throughout all the changes, Pantucci and Petersen's original thesis that An awkward indifference marked Chinese influence in Central Asia continued to hold. "The massive economic connections, its geographic proximity, and the overlapping domestic concerns all mean that China is a major player, but it's one that is disinterested in the wider problems for the region and instead decides to narrowly focus on its own," Pantucci said.

Xinjiang, which is historically part of Central Asia and was only officially incorporated into China in 1949, has long been integral to Beijing's designs on the region and has been the focus of Chinese concerns over Islamic extremism, which the government used to justify its camp system and crackdown that has drawn worldwide condemnation.

Chinese policymakers see Central Asia as strategic to its own security. Beijing's Develop the West strategy, which was designed to improve economic conditions and development in Xinjiang, also included bringing stability to the province's neighbors.

This has been a welcome financial boon for Central Asian leaders, whose national budgets pale in comparison to individual Chinese provinces and understanding this imbalance is at the heart of the "inadvertent empire" that Sinostan explores.

On the one hand, Pantucci and Petersen argue that Central Asia has functioned as a type of laboratory for China, where "you can see an outline of what China's future foreign policy is going to look like and get a feel for how China is going to manage some of the problems with which it is confronted."

But at the same time, Pantucci said, China has little interest in the bigger picture in Central Asia and perhaps even less in inserting itself into solving the region's economic or political problems.

"China is one of the world's largest economies and it is next door, which just naturally means it will have huge influence over Central Asia," he said. "But it is also not a priority for the Chinese leadership in a big way at all."

New Power, Similar Interests

This dynamic raises many questions for the future of the region, especially in the aftermath of Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

As Russia's January military intervention in Kazakhstan highlighted, Moscow is still the main external security guarantor for Central Asia and China has shown little ambition to supplant it. The war in Ukraine, however, could further accelerate China's influence and limit Russia's.

Central Asian governments, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, have expressed concern and dismay over Moscow's invasion and violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, while the economic hit of Western sanctions on Russia, coupled with the losses and strategic missteps that its military has encountered, could also further curb its appeal as a partner.

In one respect, this sets the stage for Chinese economic and political influence to grow, but with instability still bubbling under the surface across Central Asia, one concern is how much Ukraine will distract Russia from other areas and if it will be able to insert itself as vigorously as it traditionally has done.

"The story of China's increased influence will only [grow] now," Pantucci said. "But one main question is what happens when problems erupt. I don't know if China would be willing to step up to fix things."

By RFE/RL

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Investment from China isnt without strings, however, especially considering Tajikistan is already deeply indebted to Beijing.

A new gold project funded through investment from China could help Tajikistan alleviate some of its economic troubles.

Tajikistans economy is on the edge due to the fallout of Russias war in Ukraine.

Tajikistans president traveled to the northern Sughd region on April 14 to oversee the opening of a new gold processing plant built by a Chinese investor at a cost of around $136 million.

The enterprise, Talco Gold, will produce up to 2.2 tons of gold and 21,000 tons of antimony annually, according to government officials.

China is by far Tajikistans main source of foreign direct investment. In 2021, businesses from China invested more than $211 million in Tajikistan, an amount that accounts for nearly 62 percent of the global FDI figure. Those funds mainly went toward the extraction and processing of lead, zinc, and tin ores, and the mining of precious and semi-precious gems and metals.

Talco Gold is a joint venture between the Talco Aluminum Company, a Tursunzoda-based company said to be owned Hasan Asadullozoda, the brother-in-law of President Emomali Rahmon, and Chinas Tibet Huayu Mining.

The company has promised it will provide jobs for 1,500 people, most of them Tajik nationals. That prospect comes at a fortuitous time, just as Tajikistan faces the prospect of a fresh economic crisis precipitated by international sanctions on Russia, where hundreds of thousands of Tajiks travel annually for seasonal labor.

Work on building the processing facility in the Sughd region, which will work with material mined at the nearby Chulboi, Konchoch, and Shakhkon deposits, had begun four years ago but was delayed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talco is ostensibly an aluminum concern, but it began to branch out in 2015 as a result of a state-designed program to prop up the company. As part of that program, the government handed the company a 25-year concession to the Konchoch gold and silver deposits.

Chinese investments invariably arrive with many strings attached  not least because Tajikistan is deeply in debt to Beijing. According to the Finance Ministry, Tajik debt to China as of January 1 amounted to $1.1 billion, which is almost exactly one-third of the countrys overall external debt.

Some economic experts cast doubt on whether Chinas debt strategy for Tajikistan brings sufficient rewards.

China gives money as a loan to Tajikistan for specific projects, and often the parliament approves tax exemptions during the construction period, one analyst told Eurasianet on condition of anonymity, as criticism of the government can incur reprisals. Construction equipment is brought in from China, Chinese workers are engaged in the building. As a result, all the money goes back to China, and Tajikistan remains saddled with the debt.

By Eurasianet.com

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The first of many new undersea cables is set to be built between the UK and Germany to help the two countries to ease bottlenecks in the renewable energy supply chain.

Undersea electricity cables could become increasingly common as governments drive their energy strategies towards renewables. As countries develop their wind and solar power industries, there will be a greater incentive to build undersea cables that can promote power-sharing across regions. The first of many new major cables is set to be built between the U.K. and Germany at an anticipated cost of $1.95 billion. The NeuConnect project will allow for 1.4 GW of electricity to go to and from the two countries through subsea cables covering a distance of over 450 miles. The project has been dubbed an invisible energy highway, allowing for power-sharing across the U.K. and Germany. The cable will run from the Isle of Grain in Kent in England with the German region of Wilhelmshaven, crossing British, Dutch, and German waters. Once constructed, it could provide power for up to 1.5 million homes.

The approved contracts include work on the cables and converter stations, with both Siemens and Prysmian winning contracts for work on the project. Siemens will supply a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system, while Italian cable manufacturer, the Prysmian Group, will manage the design, manufacture, installation, testing, and commissioning of the NeuConnect Interconnector.

Construction is expected to start this year, allowing for the U.K. to tap into the vast energy infrastructure in Germany, including its significant renewable energy sources. In addition, the new link with Britain will help ease current bottlenecks where wind turbines are frequently powered-down due to an excess of renewable energy being created.

Tim Holt, from the Siemens Energy board, explains the project, if we want to achieve the switch to renewable energy quickly, safely, and affordably, we can no longer afford to have to curtail wind energy due to grid bottlenecks and have to cover demand elsewhere with fossil-based power generation." Further, The electricity connection between Germany and Great Britain represents the increasing integration of the European electricity market. Efficient and cross-border electricity connections unite the countries in their efforts to decarbonize. They are the perfect example that we can only achieve the energy transition together.

The NeuConnect consortium, led by Meridiam, Kansai Electric Power, and Allianz Capital Partners, has been discussing the development for some time but sanctions on Russia have driven European governments to seek alternative energy sources much more rapidly. As well as looking for alternative oil and gas supplies, several governments are strategizing over how to accelerate their renewable energy projects, and are even discussing increasing nuclear capacity for the first time in years.

Related: EU-OPEC Meet As Europe Discusses Russian Oil Embargo

However, this is not the first undersea cable to be approved in Europe, with operations beginning, last year, on a giant undersea cable expected to link the U.K. with Norway. Measuring 450 miles, the $1.86 billion North Sea Link (NSL) is a joint venture between Britains National Grid and Norways Statnett.

The two countries want to share Norways hydropower and the U.K.s wind energy resources, allowing each of them to optimize output to meet demand. The National Grid explained, When demand is high in Britain and there is low wind generation, hydropower can be imported from Norway.

Both the U.K. and Norway are big oil and gas players. But Norway says that its electricity is sourced from 98 percent renewable energy output, mainly hydropower. Meanwhile, in the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated the aim for 100 percent of Britains electricity to come from renewable sources by 2035.

And plans for subsea cables are not only being made in Europe but are extending across different continents. Last year, Greece and Egypt announced that they were in talks about a potential 2 GW submarine interconnector running across the Mediterranean Sea to link the countries grid systems.

This would be the first of its kind to link Europe with Africa, showing the huge potential for greater inter-regional connectivity. And Greece is also embracing plans for a EuroAsia Interconnector, which would run from Israel to the Greek mainland through Cyprus.

When completed, the cable will measure 1,500km and transport between 1 GW and 2 GW of electricity between the regions, connecting power grids across Israel, Cyprus, and Greece. Although early predictions expected the cable to be completed by 2022, new estimates suggest it will be finished in 2024, at a cost of almost $823 million. Funding will come partially from the EU and will support ending Cyprus energy isolation.

While several of these projects are in their infancy, with an increased need for greater energy security across Europe and the rest of the world, we can expect to see the acceleration of renewable energy and related projects over the coming years. Governments around the globe have quickly come to realize their dependency on Russia for oil and gas, leading them to seek out alternative sources as well as to invest more heavily and rapidly in establishing renewable energy projects.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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Analysts are predicting that Russia will have to reduce output in the coming months, even suggesting that it could have a permanent impact on the countrys production potential.

Moscow is struggling to replace lost sales in the West with sales in emerging Asian markets.

Russias oil industrya vital source of budget revenuesis already showing signs of slowdown as Western buyers shun Russian oil while Moscow struggles to replace lost sales in the West with sales in emerging Asian markets. The war Putin started in Ukraine is hitting home: storage capacity is full, infrastructure and shipping logistics prevent Russian from exporting all the oil unwanted in the West to China and India, refineries are cutting run rates as product storage is overflowing, and as a result, companies are scaling back crude production.

This comes at a time when Russia, as a key member of the OPEC+ pact, is allowed to raise its crude oil production by more than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) each month as the alliance is unwinding its cuts by a planned 400,000 bpd per month.

Russia continues to reap a lot of export revenues from its oil amid soaring prices. Its oil is not (yet) officially under embargo or sanctions in the European Union, which received nearly half48 percentof all Russian crude exports prior to the war in Ukraine.

After the Russian invasion, however, many European buyers are steering clear of Russias oil, unwilling to finance the war in Ukraine by paying Putin money for his oil.

Revenues from oil and gas-related taxes and export tariffs accounted for 45 percent of Russias federal budget in January 2022, according to estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Total export revenues for crude oil and refined products currently amount to around $700 million per day, the IEA said this week.

While money still flows to Russia, its oil industry is already showing signs of distress, which could worsen in the coming months as more buyers shun Russian crude and oil products.

Related: 2 ETFs To Bet On Amid Wild Uncertainty And Volatility

In the first ten days of April, Russias crude oil and condensate production slumped to an average of 10.365 million bpd, data obtained by Energy Intelligence showed this week. Thats more than 600,000 bpd below the March average crude and condensate output of 10.996 million bpd.

According to the IEA, Russian oil supply and exports continue to fall, with April losses expected to average 1.5 million bpd as Russian refiners extend run cuts, more buyers shun barrels, and Russian storage fills up. From May onwards, nearly 3 million bpd of Russian production could be offline due to international sanctions and self-sanctioning from buyers.

The buyers strike has already started to force Russian refiners to reduce production, Gunvor CEO Torbjorn Tornqvist said last month.

What does that mean? It means more crude oil will need to be exported instead of the products, and we believe that is not possible and will lead to cutbacks in Russian production, Tornqvist said at the Financial Times Commodities Global Summit in March, as carried by Bloomberg.

Due to the sanctions on Russia, fuel oil deliveries have plunged and storage is brimming with fuel, Vagit Alekperov, the president of Russias second-largest oil producer Lukoil, wrote at the end of March in a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak obtained by Russian daily Kommersant. Lukoil suggests redirecting fuel oil to power plants in order to avoid a shortage in storage capacity, Alekperov said in the letter obtained by Kommersant.

The Taif refinery in the Tatarstan region in Russia has shut because of product overstocking, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier this month.

Russia doesnt have enough storage capacity for oil and products, analysts say, which, in the face of buyers strikes, would inevitably lead to reduced crude oil production.

There is the risk you permanently lose some production potential, Helge Andre Martinsen, senior oil analyst at investment bank DNB Markets, told The Wall Street Journal this week.

In another sign that Russia could be struggling to sell all of its cargoes, Transneft, the Russian oil pipeline operator, has reportedly informed local oil companies that it would be capping the intake of yet-to-be-sold crude because of full storage.

Putin is confident that Russia can find new willing buyers for its oil in Asia. Buyers in Asiaespecially China and Indiaare taking some of the oil unwanted in the West, but logistics, high freight rates, insurance, bank guarantees, and payment hurdles prevent willing buyers in Asia from purchasing all the oil Russia has traditionally sold on the European market.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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A former personal assistant to Amber Heard said she never saw the actress suffer any physical abuse at the hands of then-husband Johnny Depp  but she said Heard once spit in her face when she asked for a higher salary.

Heard descended into screaming fits of blind rage, sent incoherent text messages at 4 a.m. and was often drunk and high on illegal drugs, Kate James testified in a video deposition that was played in court Thursday during the trial for Depp's libel suit against Heard.

Depp, on the other hand, was very calm, almost shy, "like a total Southern gentleman, James said.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor has accused Heard of indirectly defaming him in a 2018 opinion piece that she wrote for The Washington Post. Heard refers to herself in the article as a public figure representing domestic abuse. The piece doesnt name Depp. But his attorneys argue that it clearly references a restraining order that Heard sought in May 2016, right after Depp told her he wanted a divorce.

Depp denies abusing Heard, but Heard's lawyers say evidence will prove that he did. The actor's denials, they argue, lack credibility because he frequently drank and used drugs to the point of blacking out and failing to remember anything he did.

The video testimony from James offered an inverse view: Depp was the peaceful one, she said, while Heard was frequently intoxicated and verbally abusive, including to her own mother and sister.

Her poor sister was treated like a dog that you kicked, basically, James said.

James, who worked for Heard from 2012 to 2015, said she was paid very poorly. She said she was hired with an initial salary of $25 an hour and that her duties ranged from picking up Heard's dry cleaning to talking with the actress's Hollywood agents.

James said she also was tasked with picking up two copies of any magazine that featured Heard and storing them in the garage to prevent Depp from seeing them. Heard went into a blind rage when James failed to place the magazines in the garage, James said.

Regarding Heard and Depp's time together, James said Heard was a very dramatic person who was deeply insecure in the relationship. Heard often called James to cry and complain about Depp, she said.

I remember one time she called me when she was alone in New York City, and she was crying and walking around the streets," James said. She said she told Heard to go inside: "I was worried that the paparazzi might take a photo of her.

Some of the deposition focused on a text message that Depp had sent to James after he and Heard split up. Depp's text read: Come over for a spot of purple and we'll fix her flabby ass nice and good.

A lawyer asked if spot of purple meant wine and whether her meant Heard. James said she didn't want to speculate.

This is the way he writes, James said of Depp. It's very random and you don't sort of question it. ... He writes in a very abstract way.

Lawyers also presented a video deposition of Laurel Anderson, a couples therapist who worked with Heard and Depp in 2015, when they were ages 29 and 52, respectively.

Anderson said both suffered childhood abuse. As a couple, they were engaged in mutual abuse," she testified.

Heards father beat her, Anderson said, adding, It was a point of pride to her if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight.

Heard would also rather be in a fight with Depp than see him leave, and would strike him to keep him there, Anderson said.

The therapist recalled a time when Heard told her that Depp was stepping up, as she would say, on a lot of drugs."

And she slapped him because he was being incoherent and talking about being with another woman, Anderson said. She noted that Depps mother was in the hospital at the time.

Anderson said Depp told her that Heard gave as good as she got. She also said that in at least one session in which she saw Heard alone, the actress told her that Depp hit her. She said Heard showed her bruises, both in photos and in person.

Anderson said Heard also told her that Depp at one point allegedly said, "No one likes you. Youre getting fame from me. Im falling out of love with you. Youre a whore.

Anderson also said that Heards jackhammer style of talking and habit of cutting off Depp overwhelmed him.

Heard wanted to want to divorce but also didn't, and was still figuring out what to do, Anderson said. She loved him. He loved her. She wasnt stupid. She knew that what they were doing wasnt healthy.

Both Depp and Heard are expected to testify at the trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court, scheduled for six weeks, along with actors Paul Bettany and James Franco and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

This story has been edited to correct a word in Anderson's quote to jackhammer," not chat-hammer."

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A top civil rights lawyer for California was fired while working on a discrimination case against video game giant Activision Blizzard and her colleague quit in protest Wednesday, a whistleblower attorney said.

Janette Wipper was fired on March 29 in the midst of her success" in pursuing the case as chief counsel for the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, said her lawyer, Alexis Ronickher.

Melanie Proctor, an assistant chief counsel also involved in the Activision case, resigned Wednesday on what was Proctor's official last day, the attorney said.

Ronickher didn't specify why Wipper was terminated. However, she said Wipper is considering filing a claim under California's whistleblower protection law.

The lawyer noted that Gov. Gavin Newsom had reappointed Wipper to her position just four months before she was being terminated.

Bloomberg was first to report the shakeup Wednesday, citing an email from Proctor to department staff accusing Newsom and his office of interfering with the Activision lawsuit.

For there to be justice, those with political influence must be forced to play by the same set of laws and rules, Ronickher said in a statement.

Claims of interference by our office are categorically false, Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon said in a statement Wednesday.

The administration supports the fair employment department's efforts to fight all forms of discrimination and protect Californians, Mellon said.

The agency sued the Santa Monica-based video game company in July, alleging a frat boy culture that had become a breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women.

It was one of several legal problems affecting the maker of Call of Duty and Candy Crush, dragging down its stock price last year and paving the way for Xbox-maker Microsoft to make a takeover bid.

The $68.7 billion all-cash deal was announced in January. If approved by U.S. and overseas regulators, it could be one of the biggest tech acquisitions in history.

In announcing the agreement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella noted the allegations about Activision and said it will be critical" for the company to drive forward on longtime CEO Bobby Koticks commitments to improve its workplace culture.

Neither Microsoft nor Activision responded to a request for comment Wednesday.

Activision has come under fire from the government and even some shareholders over allegations that management ignored sexual harassment and discrimination against female employees.

A shareholder suit filed last year alleges that the company's negligent response resulted in a loss of share value.

The company also agreed last year to pay $18 million to settle a complaint by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After a nearly three-year investigation, the agency concluded that Activision failed to take effective action after employees complained about sexual harassment, discriminated against pregnant employees and retaliated against employees who spoke out, including by firing them.

A federal judge approved the settlement on March 29, the same day that Wipper was notified of her firing. The judge rejected a request by Wippers agency to delay the settlement as it pursued its own case.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  Sri Lankans shared milk rice and oil cakes to celebrate their traditional new year on Thursday opposite the presidents office, where they camped out for a sixth day demanding his resignation over the worst economic crisis in memory.

Soldiers who were disabled in the island nation's civil war lit a hearth, Buddhist monks chanted religious verses and others set off firecrackers amid chants of: Victory to the people's struggle!

Protesters are occupying the entrance and surroundings of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office, holding him responsible for the economic situation. They also are calling for his powerful family to leave power, accusing them of corruption and misrule.

Other days our children go to their grandparents to celebrate the new year, but today we brought them here to show them the real situation in the country," said Dilani Niranjala, who attended the protest with her husband and two sons aged 10 and 8.

We dont want to lie to them about whats going on in the country and go to our village to celebrate the new year. From their younger days, they should see the truth and live with the truth, she added.

Niranjala's husband, Usitha Gamage, who works as a taxi driver, said he had been discouraged watching the news every morning about skyrocketing living costs.

I am so happy that this struggle is taking place and it gives me new hope and energy, he said.

The new year  after we chase them out  is going to be great for us. This is what I have told my children," he added.

Sri Lankans in recent months have endured fuel and food shortages and daily power outages. Most of those items are paid for in hard currency, but Sri Lanka is on the brink of bankruptcy, saddled with dwindling foreign reserves and $25 billion in foreign debt due for repayment over the next five years. Nearly $7 billion is due this year.

The government announced Tuesday that it is suspending repayments of foreign debt, including bonds and government-to-government borrowing, pending the completion of a loan restructuring program with the International Monetary Fund.

The president and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, continue to hold power, despite their politically powerful family being the focus of public ire. The Rajapaksas have refused to resign but the crisis and ongoing protests have prompted many Cabinet members to quit. Four ministers were sworn in as caretakers, but many key government portfolios are vacant.

Parliament has failed to reach a consensus on how to deal with the crisis after nearly 40 governing coalition lawmakers said they would no longer vote according to coalition instructions, significantly weakening the government.

But with opposition parties divided, they have been incapable of forming a majority to take control of Parliament.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Ri Chun Hi, North Korea's most famous state TV anchor, has announced major events for decades, including nuclear and missile tests and the death of a leader, with an instantly identifiable, passionate voice.

The anchor, dubbed the "pink lady" abroad for her bright traditional Korean attire, became the topic of official North Korean media herself Thursday after leader Kim Jong Un gave her a luxurious residence and asked her to continue to serve as the voice of his ruling Workers' Party.

Experts say Kim is providing special treatment to elite North Koreans to boost their loyalty as he grapples with the pandemic, a troubled economy and a stalemate in nuclear diplomacy with the United States.

"(Kim) said it is the sincerity of the party that it would spare nothing for a national treasure like her, who has worked as a revolutionary announcer for the party for more than 50 years since her girlhood," the official Korean Central News Agency said. Kim expressed his "expectation that she would as ever vigorously continue her work in good health as befitting a spokeswoman for the party."

Kim met Ri, who is about 79, on Wednesday after inaugurating a newly built riverside terraced residential district in Pyongyang, the capital, KCNA said. It said houses in the district were presented to Ri and other people who have given distinguished service to the state.

North Korea often inaugurates construction projects to mark key state anniversaries. Friday is the 110th birthday of Kim's late grandfather, state founder Kim Il Sung. It's the most important anniversary in North Korea, which has been ruled by three generations of the Kim family since its foundation in 1948. The new housing area is where Kim Il Sung's official residence was located until the 1970s.

Pyongyang is North Korea's showcase city, and its elite residents enjoy relatively affluent lives compared with people in remote rural areas where many still suffer from poverty and malnutrition. A majority of North Koreans who have fled the country in the past two decades have come from its northern regions close to the border with China.

"By giving houses to those who have been faithful to him, Kim Jong Un would want to further bolster their loyalty and internal unity," said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. "Ri Chun Hi is a clear example of such people as she's strongly propagated his nuclear and missile tests and served as a sort of bugler for him."

Kim toured Ri's house with her and held her hand as they descended the stairs. Ri said she felt her new house is like a hotel and that all her family members "stayed up all night in tears of deep gratitude for the party's benevolence," according to KCNA.

Ri later used her trademark over-the-top speaking technique to narrate a state TV video of Kim showing her the house.

Ri joined state TV in the early 1970s when the country was still governed by Kim Il Sung, and she has gradually become the face and voice of the country's propaganda-driven news broadcasts.

Her close ties to Kim were shown last year at a government foundation anniversary ceremony when she watched from an elevated veranda right next to Kim, and at one point put her hand on his shoulder and whispered to him. At another event, she was the first person to shake Kim's hand before holding his arm and posing for a group photo.

Moon, the analyst, said Ri receives Cabinet member-level treatment at home, appears healthy and is expected to continue to handle key televised announcements for at least the next few years.

Ri's passionate, effusive style has sometimes generated laughter in other countries. In 2011, a Taiwanese TV station apologized after one of its newsreaders mimicked the tone Ri used when she announced the death of Kim's father, Kim Jong Il.

Since inheriting power upon his father's death, Kim Jong Un, 38, has led North Korea with absolute authority. But he is facing one of the toughest moments of his rule after the coronavirus pandemic shocked an economy already in dire shape from mismanagement and U.S.-led sanctions. Analysts say recent missile tests were meant to advance his weapons arsenal and pressure the U.S. into recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state and relaxing international sanctions.

___
WASHINGTON (AP)  A Florida man who attacked police officers while storming the U.S. Capitol during the January 2021 insurrection has been arrested, officials said.

Steven Miles, 39, of Zephyrhills, was arrested Tuesday in Florida, where he made his initial court appearance, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Zephyrhills is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Tampa.

Miles faces charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, civil disorder and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon. The case is being prosecuted in Washington, D.C., federal court.

According to court documents, Miles on Jan. 6, 2021, joined with others objecting to Democratic President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory over former Republican President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol that day in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying election results, authorities said. Five people died in the violence, including a police officer.

According to a criminal complaint, Miles marched in a group to the Capitol, where he and other rioters fought with police officers who were protecting the Capitol. Miles shoved and attempted to punch police officers, prosecutors said. Miles then made his way up a staircase, smashed a plank of wood into a window and entered the building through that broken window, officials said. He briefly walked through the building and then left through a door.

Online court records didn't list a defense attorney for Miles who could be reached for comment.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, nearly 800 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, officials said. More than 250 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

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Charles W. Herbster received blunt condemnation from many Nebraska political leaders this week after reports that he allegedly groped multiple women, something the candidate vehemently denies.

But with Herbster showing no signs of shirking from the governors race and the state GOP saying it will stay out of the primary, it appears voters will ultimately determine the gravity of the claims.

The Nebraska Examiner reported allegations from eight women who said Herbster, a Republican megadonor and CEO of Conklin Co. and other businesses, touched them inappropriately. Among the accusers: State Sen. Julie Slama, who has confirmed the Examiners reporting that Herbster reached up her skirt without her consent and touched her inappropriately at a political event in 2019.

The Examiner did not name the other seven accusers and The World-Herald did not independently corroborate those accounts.

Herbster has denied the allegations, threatened legal action, and called the story a dirty political trick being carried out by one of his chief competitors in the race, Jim Pillen, and Pillens most notable backer, Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The campaign did not release any additional information on Friday, but Herbster took to social media and, for at least the second time, drew parallels between his situation and that of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and former President Donald Trump.

Condemnation of Herbster came quickly from many powerful figures across Nebraskas political spectrum, including from his competitors in the governors race, every female state legislator, former Gov. Kay Orr, Ricketts and Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert. Like Ricketts, Slama and Orr have endorsed Pillen, while Stothert has endorsed State Sen. Brett Lindstrom.

Nebraska GOP Chairman Dan Welch called the allegations serious in a statement on Friday.

Without casting judgement in this matter, the NEGOP condemns all forms of sexual assault and believes any allegation must be investigated appropriately, Welch said. Per the NEGOP Constitution, the party remains neutral in the Governors primary. Republican voters will examine these allegations as they weigh all the candidates in the race as the May 10th primary approaches.

But the party is poised to support Herbster, if he does win.

The NEGOP will support our nominees for the general election, Welch said.

Herbster, a Falls City businessman, and Pillen, a Columbus livestock producer, were seen as early front-runners for the GOP nomination, each touting big war chests and prominent endorsements. Trump is Herbsters most prominent endorser. That support has largely defined Herbsters campaign since he received it.

But perception of the primary has gradually shifted among some observers and insiders, who now see a three-way race between Herbster, Pillen and Lindstrom. Polling from two campaigns in mid-March showed Herbster with a lead over Pillen, whose lead over Lindstrom appeared to be narrowing  the percentage of undecided voters and the margin of error in those polls suggested an open race.

Scandal is never a good thing for a candidate, but its particularly damaging when its late-breaking, like this one, said Dona-Gene Barton, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor who has researched the lifespan of political scandals. The effects of scandals tend to fade pretty rapidly, she said, but it still takes time.

Counties were able to start mailing early voting ballots for Nebraskas primary last week. In-person early voting started Monday, and election day is May 10.

Some voters have already mailed in their ballots. As of Friday, the Douglas County Election Commission had accepted 15,170 completed ballots, according to spokesperson Valerie Stoj. They will have sent out 80,613 by early next week. As of Friday, a total of 357,561 voters were registered in the county.

No political scientist or observer who spoke to The World-Herald on Friday said its a sure thing that the allegations reported this week will take Herbster out of the running, but many left that door open.

We got our October surprise, political consultant and lobbyist Perre Neilan said. This widens the path for Lindstrom and Pillen.

The allegations against Herbster are serious, said Paul Landow, retired political science professor and former executive director of the state Democratic Party.

This is a very big, serious deal, he said. And its gonna be difficult for him to overcome it.

It doesnt take a lot of voters to change what appears to be a close race, said John Hibbing, a UNL political science professor.

Barton said in general elections, where people have stronger attachments based on partisanship, they may be more likely to discount the information  though, in a primary, voters may have already formed attachments to the candidates running.

Certain voters could treat the allegations differently.

Im sure that people who are strong Trump supporters, especially given Trumps history with regard to women, will not be turned off by this, Hibbing said. But its not at all clear that (Herbster) can win the primary with just those individuals.

Political consultant Chris Peterson said in a text message that he doesnt think it will change Herbster voters minds, and it could even harden their support.

There are still tens of thousands of persuadable voters up for grabs  enough to decide the election, he said. If those voters havent sided with Herbster before now, after hes spent almost $10 million, the sexual assault allegations probably solidify their view of him. This doesnt mean Herbster cant still win, but, unless he effectively portrays himself as the victim, his path may have narrowed.

This has to make Pillen and Lindstrom feel better about their positions, Hibbing said, and maybe even the leading Democrat, State Sen. Carol Blood.

Especially if the Republicans should go ahead and nominate Herbster, he said, I think that would open up opportunities for the Democrats, which rarely happens in a statewide race in Nebraska.

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LEXINGTON  Tap a keg in Bloomington-Normal and you might taste the familiar mass-produced flavor of beer made in St. Louis.

But locally made hazy India pale ales, stouts, sours and lagers are filling more and more glasses as the craft beer scene expands and welcomes new brewers.

Destihl Brewery tapped into craft beer first, opening in Normal 15 years ago, when craft beer was not even a widely accepted or understood beverage yet in B-N or in broader Central Illinois, and when the whole business concept was more risky and not well understood, founder and CEO Matt Potts said.

Since Destihl laid the foundation in Bloomington-Normal, several other brewers have struck out on their own and found a place in the growing industry.

With five breweries now open in Bloomington-Normal  the latest, Casper Brewing Co., opened just before New Years Day in southeast Bloomington  the brewers say the more the merrier.

The high tide raises all boats, so it just brings more water into the harbor in general, said Bryan Ballard, co-owner of Normal's White Oak Brewing, in a phrase repeated by most of the beermakers.

According to the Brewers Associations annual industry production report, the number of craft breweries operating in the United States reached an all-time high of 9,118 in 2021, with 1,886 microbreweries, 3,307 brewpubs, 3,702 taproom breweries, and 223 regional craft breweries.

As the largest local, Destihl is one of those 223 regional craft breweries, having surpassed 15,000 barrels produced per year, which Potts called "an awesome achievement for us and the B-N community."

Chad Bevers, owner of Lil Beaver Brewery at 5 Finance Drive in Bloomington, said the market for craft beer in Bloomington-Normal doesnt feel crowded, in part because customers tend to support the brewery closest to their neighborhood.

Ballard, who's been co-owner White Oak Brewing at 1801 Industrial Park Drive in Normal since it opened in 2015, said it helps that each local brewery has found its niche with unique flagship beers.

For White Oak, a subtle, easy-drinking blonde ale called Holla Atcha is the best seller, but they've also become known for their hazy IPAs with several in heavy rotation, Ballard said.

Casper, at 3807 Ballybunion Road in Bloomington, boasts a popular Vienna lager alongside other European-style beers.

A blueberry wheat ale called Holy Jeans is No. 1 at Keg Grove Brewing Co., 712 E. Empire St. in Bloomington.

Co-owner Jeff Mroz said since they opened in 2018, his team has tried to keep a diverse but approachable selection of beers on tap.

We like to have many different styles available and we dont like to be overly aggressive in those styles, he said.

Bevers, on the other hand, is known for "wild and crazy" flavored beers, even experimenting with a spicy mango habanero beer (Magic Mango Inferno).

But a hazy pale ale called Wainbows tops the list at Lil Beaver  name courtesy of Bevers' children  along with variations like the Dark Side of the Wainbow, which adds blackberry, vanilla and milk sugar.

I never set out to have a flagship beer, Bevers said. I was like, Im just going to keep making new stuff, but the whole markets kind of shifted to where not everyones always looking for something new. Now people are getting to that phase of, Id kind of like to know what Im going to have.

Since adding a full kitchen 18 months ago, Lil Beaver is featuring more light beers, which is radically different from where they started in 2018.

Destihls Deadhead IPA series has brought name recognition for the Normal brewery, with distribution as far as Sweden, Potts said.

The Hawaii Five Ale, Peanut Butter Porter and Wild Sour series are sold far and wide as well, though they keep some local namesakes in rotation, like the Normal Pils.

Summer of beer

Three new players will soon enter the brewing game in McLean County, putting the rising tides metaphor to test this summer.

Fiala Brothers Brewery and Beer Hall is expected to open at 127 E. Beaufort St. in Normal in early June.

Ryan and Steve Fiala, the brothers who own D.P. Dough in Normal and Champaign, say they hope to bring a new experience to uptown Normal with a rooftop bar and patio overlooking the train tracks.

We want to give people every reason to come to uptown and frequent all the local bars, and I think well fit in well with whats already here, Ryan Fiala said.

Steve Fiala, the brains behind the brewing side of the operations, said hes fond of classic-style beers.

My favorite beer I brew is a saison, a farmhouse ale, so leaning toward that one being our flagship, but I also love pale ales, IPAs, session pale ales  anything along those lines, he said.

With the goal of being like a neighborhood bar, Fiala Brothers will feature offerings from other local breweries, too.

In Lexington, less than 20 miles northeast of Bloomington, Main Street is preparing for barrels in business.

The trio behind Analytical Brewing aim to open in late May or early June at 510 W. Main St.

With analytical chemist and co-owner Andy Arndt taking the lead as brewmaster, they hope customers will help to determine which beer becomes their flagship.

I think people who like craft beer are a little bit analytical by nature, co-owner Brian Graves said. Theres the people who like just one particular type of beer and thats it, but part of the fun of craft beer is you like to try all kinds of different things.

Throughout their years of homebrewing, they've dabbled in shandies, IPAs, stouts, blond ales and even sours made from fruit grown in their backyards.

Weve talked a lot of times about having it kind of feel like hanging out on our back patio, Arndt said. So I have a lot of different kinds of beer in my house because I dont know whos going to show up, what they like to drink and whatnot, so you can kind of have something for everybody. It kind of continues that theme of just a place to hang out.

Co-owner Nate Poehlman said the Lexington community and city leadership have been supportive as theyve worked to renovate the nearly 100-year-old agricultural sales building turned taproom.

Weve had people stopping by like, Hey, were so excited; we cant wait for you to open. This is just what we need. I dont know if they mean beer or just a place to hang out, he said, laughing with his business partners.

Just down the street, the owners of Side Door Brewing Lexington have been quietly working toward a June opening after years of renovating 12,000 square feet in a 118-year-old building at 125 W. Main St.

Weve been working at our own pace and trying to get it done exactly how we want it, said Fred Morissette, a brewer who worked at Destihl in its early years.

He and his wife Heather already have their basement stocked with bourbon-barrel aged beer  his specialty  in the midst of the aging process.

Room to brew

Given his prior experience in craft beer making, Morissette said the market is far from saturated.

Bloomington-Normal isnt huge, but youre not going to see saturation for a while because everybodys doing their own different thing, he said.

Ballard, at White Oak, said new brewers joining the field have continued to find underrepresented styles of beer to make, keeping the market interesting.

Having breweries in the area creates more impetus for people to want to travel to this area for beer tourism, more so than if there were only one or two breweries, he said.

Bevers, of Lil Beaver, said distributing packaged beer can get a little crowded, though, as local brewers try to make their product stand out on grocery and liquor store shelves. However, he agreed the continued expansion of the industry can make this area a destination for thirsty customers.

Steve Fiala said customers seem to be drawn to the locally-made, and the beer-making community ensures the support is spread around, leaving "room for 10 more breweries."

Mroz, at Keg Grove, agreed: "The craft beer industry is really cool; its a really community-centered and collaborative type of industry. People drink beer all over the place, so I think theres always more room for beer."

Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer.

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NORMAL  Sharon Zaychek said people get into button collecting because theyre like little pieces of art.

The Freeport, Ohio, woman was among seven other dealers who hawked their collectible buttons Saturday at the Illinois State Button Society show at the Holiday Inn in Normal. The event returned to the Twin Cities for at least its 10th year on Friday.

Brenda Eilbracht, of Champaign, was named vice president of the ISBS on Saturday. She said around 12 people submitted 91 cards of buttons for judging.

Contests were divided by historical or non-historical divisions, and then by classes of themes or materials, which included wood, metal, glass, pearl, plastic, fabric and more. Division I consisted of buttons made before the 1890s.

Judging was based on following the class and division criteria, by using buttons with the appropriate materials and themes.

Entry fees were less than dollar per card. Winners took home cash prizes consisting of just a few dollars.

Eilbracht said: There could be thousands of dollars worth of buttons on a card and you might get a $10 prize.

It's really the elusive blue ribbon that contestants are after, she said, while also noting that curating and placing buttons on a card is very intensive work.

She explained that dealers usually acquire their inventories when someone passes away and their family offers to sell their collections. Eilbracht, 68, noted that many people who collect buttons are in their senior years, and theyre trying to encourage younger people to start collecting.

The youngest entrant was Ruth Thatcher, 9, of Indianapolis. She won a first-place award in the junior division for her card, which featured bears and hearts.

Her great-great-grandmother was real big in the Indiana Button Society, Eilbracht said.

Buttons displayed for sale at the show varied greatly in price. Attendees could pick buttons from bins for a few dollars each, or lock in rarities listed for several hundred dollars.

Eilbracht, who has a teaching degree in home economics, said she did custom sewing and alterations for years, but didn't know much about buttons until she went to an antique store and found a little jar of Czech glass buttons.

She later took a different button from her collection to a show in Champaign, and was surprised when a dealer offered her $200 for it.

After telling her husband, he responded to her: Do you have any more?

Eilbracht said she now has two storage units full of buttons.

Pearls before twine

Susan Weinrebe, of Frankfort, shopped around at the show, which she said has been good for me.

Theres lots of room to get around. Its accessible and the dealers are great and what theyre offering is great, she said.

Weinrebe said while she loves to compete, it is a learning experience. One of her entries was disqualified, she said, because she mistook a button with a veneer for a white button.

One of her favorite award categories was based on the Nancy Drew book series.

I enjoyed it just because it was fun, she said.

Also dealing buttons was Al Schulz of Madison, Wisconsin. He said while his wife is more of a button collector, he submitted a card comprised of cow buttons for a contest. However, it was disqualified because one of his buttons was actually a deer and not a cow.

Gary Brockman of Middleton, Wisconsin, was another dealer at the event.

It's been a smaller crowd, but it's certainly been a passionate crowd, he said.

He said he and his partner, John Jacobsen, both really like glass.

I think the variety of construction techniques, the technology that was involved and pretty much everything that you see in larger glass pieces and glass vessels you will find in buttons as well on a miniature scale, Brockman said.

Theres no one hot button that collectors all look for.

Everyone has their own particular love, Brockman said.

Rhonda Gurgone was there to hunt for jewelry materials for her business, The Buttons Stop Here. She said going to shows teaches her a lot about history, which helps her sell products like earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

You never know what youre going to find, she said of going to button shows.

Gurgone said when crafting, she tries to keep the buttons intact so they retain their value.

I feel like its just giving them a different life, she said.

One button that piqued her interest was a tiny wooden block of cheese found among Zaycheks wares, who explained they were given out during the 1939 Worlds Fair, along with mini-sausage buttons.

The sausages are harder to find than the cheeses, said Zaychek.

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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BLOOMINGTON  An abandoned car crash scene in Bloomington has led to drug charges against a pair of Normal residents.

Bloomington police responded about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday to a single-car accident near Stewart Street where officers located a damaged vehicle that had struck a telephone pole, but found no driver or passengers. Police found cannabis and a spent 9 mm handgun shell casing within the car, prosecutors said.

Through video surveillance and a receipt found in the vehicle, police located Kaveior K. Thomas, 32, and Courtney A. Boyd, 27, at their Normal residence.

A search warrant for the residence led authorities to seizing about 22 grams of cocaine, 8.5 grams of ecstasy, a .40 caliber firearm loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, an additional 77 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition, a digital scale and other drug packaging materials, prosecutors said.

Thomas is charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver (Class X felony), unlawful possession of a controlled substance (Class 1 felony), two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, and violation of the Illinois FOID Card Act (Class 3 felonies).

Boyd is charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Thomas was jailed in lieu of posting $25,035 and Boyd remains jailed in lieu of posting $10,035.

Arraignments are scheduled for May 6.

Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather

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LINCOLN  Lincoln College alumni are still shocked by the schools sudden announcement it would close at the end of its spring semester in May. They also worry about the impact for current or would-be students.

The idea that Lincoln College is closing after 157 years is unsettling, said Jennifer Thomas, a 1996 graduate of the school who now lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Lincoln announced March 30 that it would be closing after the spring semester. Employees and students were told the news in separate meetings that day, while many alumni found out on social media, including a post by the college on the "Lincoln College Alumni" Facebook page.

Since then, the college's alumni have mobilized on social media. The Save Lincoln College Facebook group has more than 2,500 members, including alumni, employees and students. Members have been reaching out to celebrities and millionaires to ask for donations. They had hoped for a saving donation by Friday, and while that did not happen, they are still trying.

The effort has gotten some attention. Mixed martial arts fighter Corey Anderson, a 2009 Lincoln graduate now living in the Rockford area, talked about the school's upcoming closure in a press conference on Wednesday.

You can hear it in my voice, Im trying not to cry. That was home for me, man, if it wasnt for Lincoln, I wouldnt be here, he said.

In recent years, Lincoln has started recruiting heavily from the Chicago and St. Louis areas. It is the only downstate Illinois school considered a Predominantly Black Institution by the federal government.

Chicago State University also announced an agreement earlier this week, the first PBI and first Chicago-area school to offer help for transfers.

'There isn't another Lincoln College'

For Lincoln alumni, the impending closure feels like a cycle of grief, said Ali Gaus Pedersen, who knew Thomas when they attended Lincoln in the mid-1990s. She now lives in the Chicago area.

At some point, its just going to become sad again, Pedersen said.

When Pedersen and Thomas attended, Lincoln was a two-year school. Lincoln started in 1865 as a four-year school, but cut back its programs to two years during the Great Depression.

When Lincoln College President David Gerlach started in 2015, he received approval and started adding four-year bachelor's degree programs in the fall of 2016. Before then, the college had received permission from the Higher Learning Commission to start offering bachelor's programs in 2001, mostly through the Accelerate Bridge of Education program for adult learners at the Normal campus. Options expanded further when the college received permission for two master's programs in 2019.

In fall 2019, Lincoln was at its largest traditional student enrollment ever, at more than 825 students.

But enrollment has dropped since then. When the college announced it was closing, it had 564 full-time traditional students and 143 students in the Accelerate Bridge to Education program.

Lincoln has always been a welcoming place for students who may have struggled at other schools, alumni said.

Pedersen had planned to send her daughter to Lincoln in the fall of 2023. Like Pedersen, her daughter planned to swim for the school. Her daughter has an IEP, Pedersen said, but she would not have had any worries dropping her off for school at Lincoln.

There isnt another Lincoln College, she said.

Thomas said that as a student with a physical disability, the idea of going straight to a four-year school was intimidating. Lincoln was willing to work with her and give her the accommodations she needed to be successful.

Instead of being just a number, you are a person, she said.

She continued to turn to that support system after going on to a four-year school, she said. Lincoln tutors and professors continued to help her, with one tutor even driving across the state to visit her and help her when officials at the university would not provide the accommodations she needed.

The fact that Lincoln was a two-year college with students living on campus was a draw for Sarah Bigelow when she graduated from high school in Pittsfield in the early 1980s. She had not really been considering college and probably did not have the grades to get into a four-year school right away, she said. The 1985 Lincoln grad now lives in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area.

To me, Lincoln was a great fit for me, she said.

Alumni now worry that losing Lincoln will mean that the students it has catered to and supported over the years  from students who were not ready for a four-year college in the 1980s to first-generation students from Chicago today  will miss their chance to attend college.

Everybody has a right to post-secondary education, and the bigger universities arent necessarily a good fit for everybody () without a place like Lincoln, where are they going to go? Thomas said.

Present and future uncertainty

The school's closure is also a loss for students who are there now, Pedersen said. She predicts that not every student will end up transferring to another college or university.

All of the kids that are already there, this is going to affect their academics forever, she said.

Along with sadness, alumni have expressed confusion over how sudden the closure has been. Lincoln College has attributed some of the timing of the decision to a cyber attack in December. The school only regained full access to systems in March, and while no personal information was compromised, full access to enrollment and financial predications made it clear the school would have to close, the schools original announcement said.

Pedersen wishes there had been more information provided about the cyber attack and more appeals to alumni before now. If they'd had more time, she thinks donors could have raised the needed money, or at least had a better shot at doing so. Even now, she wants to see the college do all it can to stay open.

Just put up a fight, she said.

Thomas agrees that if the alumni had known about the problem months ago, the school could have avoided the situation it now faces. She holds out hope for a last-minute donor, though.

Why didnt we know a year ago this was happening? she said.

Bigelow thinks Lincoln is just the first in what will be a larger trend. MacMurray College in Jacksonville closed in 2020, in part due to the pandemic. Lincoln Christian University is redesigning its offerings in response to financial pressures as well, including ending most of its bachelor's programs, increasing cooperation at area churches including potentially using church space and possibly selling all or part of its campus. Illinois Baptist College, which was in Washington, also closed in 2020.

Colleges are also navigating ways to attract students even as there are fewer high school graduates to recruit. The Chicago Tribune reported earlier this week that another 13 colleges in the state are on a federal list for potential closure.

Ohio University Professor Richard Vedder told the Tribune that he expected further closures, especially for smaller, less prestigious schools. Students may not be convinced those degrees are worth the time and money needed to get them.

Bigelow thinks more students are also likely to pick trade schools and other opportunities that lead directly to a job. People are going to be less willing to pay for degrees that do not lead naturally to returns on that investment, she said.

Are these colleges worth enrolling at, going into debt for? she said.

John Kielman of the Chicago Tribune contributed reporting.

Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter: @connorkwood

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BLOOMINGTON  For decades, Bloomington has seen suburban sprawl pulling residents and businesses out east, but recent economic development could shake things up.

For the last several years commercial businesses and franchise restaurants have flocked to east Bloomington along Veterans Parkway. Real estate brokers say the trend is partially due to easy access to highways, as well as new land becoming available for development.

"What's interesting is that we saw this shift from downtown businesses and their east side for residential housing to Veterans Parkway and along the Veterans Parkway corridor," said Greg Yount, real estate broker with Coldwell Banker in Bloomington. "We've seen this kind of an extended shift and movement as ground is made available for development further east, both in terms of residential and commercial."

But, in recent years Bloomington has seen growing interest throughout the city, including to the west, said Bloomington City Manager Tim Gleason. Last year, the city issued 95 permits for single-family homes, five for multi-family housing, and 55 for mobile home housing.

The permits have been spread throughout the city, with a high concentration along the city's east side, where there has been significant development in the Grove at Kickapoo Creek subdivision in Ward 8.

Gleason and several local real estate brokers have attributed the city's hot real estate market to economic development being driven by electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive's plant in west Normal and the Italian chocolate company Ferrero, which is building a manufacturing plant in Bloomington.

In the span of three years, Rivian has more than tripled the workforce at its manufacturing facility, currently employing 5,075 people.

"I think it's important to understand that commercial real estate is a slow process," said Laura Pritts, a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker in Bloomington. "What we see over the next couple years is just the beginning of what Rivian and Ferrero are bringing to the market."

Trends in home, business real estate

Brittany Patterson, a real estate broker with RE/MAX Rising in Bloomington, said first-time homebuyers are a significant player in the current housing market, but economic development is also bringing people to the city from out of town and out of state.

"Weve got a lot going on in Bloomington, a lot of jobs here, and with job opportunities come people," she said. "I'm guessing they would rent, but rent is so high now, they might as well purchase a home. ... If the rental prices went down, I think we would have a lot of buyers that would probably wait, but since rental prices are so high, people are just saying, 'Skip it  I might as well purchase a home and have a mortgage if Im going to pay like $1,500 for rent.'"

Yount and Pritts added that business owners are increasingly looking at developing along Bloomington's west side and in downtown.

"There has been a resurgence of interest in historical buildings in the downtown Bloomington area and uptown Normal," Pritts said. "As we move away from those franchise operators, we see a shift in the type of real estate they are interested in."

Pritts noted that businesses tend to favor offices near services, leading some of them back downtown and to other areas of the city.

"They want to be where they can grab something to eat or shop on their lunch hour," she said. "Both retail and office are unfolding in new ways. It's going to be interesting to see. Nobody's really sure how that will look going forward."

Suburban sprawl drives growth

This summer Bloomington will begin redrawing its nine wards to reflect population changes based on 2020 Census data. Under Illinois law, the wards must be as balanced as possible, with no more than a 10% difference in population between them.

According to the 2020 Census, Bloomington has a population of 78,678, which means each ward should have as close to 8,742 people as possible. Currently, two wards have a 10% imbalance: on the city's west side, Ward 7 with 7,711 people (-11.79%), and on the city's east side, Ward 8 with 10,973 people (+25.52%).

That goes to show that the concern that the city has and the community has in this suburban sprawl has actually occurred," Ward 8 Alderman Jeff Crabill said. "We know that 2,500 more residents live on the east side of town, and likely a lot of that has to do with the new housing out there."

He added, "You build that housing and people have gone out there. Its important that we try to turn the trend to bring more people to the older neighborhoods downtown."

U.S. Census Bureau data shows the city's population has continued to shift east in the past decade.

In 2011, Bloomington had a population of 76,610 and would have needed each ward to represent about 8,512 people. At the time, there were imbalances in Ward 6 on the city's west side with around 7,302 people, and in Ward 9 on the city's east side with around 9,518 people, according to Pantagraph archives.

Gleason said he doesn't view the population shifts as indicating a large trend of residents migrating from one side of the city to another. Rather, he said, it is a sign of population growth tied to the recent economic development.

"They're not connected, which is why there needs to be an entire realignment," Gleason said of the population shifts. "There are wards between those two areas. I think it's a symptom of the development that we have seen up to this point that has generally been on the east side.

"We are not losing families or people living on the west side. This is growth."

'More buyers than homes'

City staff are drawing new maps based on this data, which the city council is expected to discuss in June. Residents can also propose new ward maps based on precinct and population data, which is available at cityblm.org.

In January, former Ward 1 Alderman Jamie Mathy proposed an initiative seeking to incentivize development in Bloomington's core communities while slowing urban sprawl. The conversation sparked discussions about what the city has done to prepare for extending services to the east as residential neighborhoods continue to grow.

City staff are investigating how to create the program Mathy proposed, which would give potential financial incentives for people to invest in and renovate homes in Bloomington's older neighborhoods as a way to promote infill.

"There is demand for living closer to the downtown, whether it's in the downtown or close proximity," Gleason said. "Not everyone can afford or wants a $300,000 to $400,000 home. If you were to put some money into some of these older neighborhoods, you can find a really nice home."

Patterson said she's seen houses on the far east side listed for $350,000 and stay on the market longer than those in the $150,000 to $250,000 range that are more scattered throughout the city.

They usually stay on the market a little longer because theyre more expensive, she said, adding that some of the east side neighborhoods have filled up. The inventory is pretty low in that area, pretty low. Because people get into those houses for a reason  those big houses, four- to five-bedroom homes in nice neighborhoods  and they tend to stay there.  I think it would take a pretty big life event for someone to move out of that area.

Economic growth has also driven up the price of most single-family homes. Debbie Connor, a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker who has worked in the field for 25 years, said some single-family houses are having 15 to 20 showings a day with multiple offers.

"Right now, the biggest thing in Bloomington is that Bloomington-Normal is in low inventory of homes," said Connor, who is also a representative of Rave Homes, which is expanding the Grove at Kickapoo Creek subdivision. "With Rivian bringing these people into town, we have people living in hotels. There are a lot more buyers than homes."

Temporary solutions

On the far west side, a developer is looking to add a 70-room hotel designed for long-term stays that could accommodate people who are moving to the city but are unable to find a permanent home.

The company, stayAPT Suites, submitted a site plan to the Bloomington Planning Commission for review, asking to allow the roughly 2.31 acres of land at 1032 Wylie Drive to be used for a hotel, as it is zoned general commercial.

Jennifer Kearney, chief marketing officer for stayAPT Suites, said they are excited to bring "our new apartment-style hotel brand" to the area.

"We are looking forward to joining this wonderful community, which has much to offer both its travelers and residents  from a great business community to its vibrant culture."

While developers continue to progress in various parts of the city, Patterson said the low inventory of single-family houses has spurred some frenzy with buyers taking whatever they can afford.

Right now houses are going 15 to 20% over asking price, and then people are offering cash and theyre offering not to do inspections, which I think is a terrible idea, she said. Its getting pretty desperate, but you can only go so low in terms of what youre willing to do to get a house. Dont get so desperate that youll give up some of the rights that you have as a buyer, because youll regret it in the long run.

The Pantagraph's Kelsey Watznauer contributed to this report.

Contact Sierra Henry at 309-820-3234. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_sierrahenry.

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Question: To be released soon in theaters will be the long-awaited sequel "Top Gun: Maverick," starring again Tom Cruise. In the original, can you name the area resident who was the actual pilot who flew the jet fighter, performed Cruises aerial stunts and made famous a scene of buzzing a tower in the movie?

Answer: Born in Lincoln and a 1977 graduate of Pekin High is Scott Altman, who flew the actual aerial stunts in the original 1986 "Top Gun." Now a 62-year-old retired Navy test pilot and veteran of four Space Shuttle missions, Altman says of his "Top Gun" experience: "The flying was incredible. Most Navy pilots don't get to buzz a tower like in the movie  because you probably wouldn't be flying anymore. But since it was Hollywood, they wanted the scene. I had to buzz the tower. And, of course, they wanted nine different takes  so we did it nine times!"
Roads in cocoa growing areas in the Western-North Region have seen a major boost under Year of the Roads project touted by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



As a result, cocoa farmers can cart their farm produce to the Produce Buying Company (PBC) on time.



Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr.Joseph Boahene Aidoo said this when he inspected works on the 38km Benchema-Adjoafua road.



The CEO of COCOBOD said that stretch of road was the heart of the cocoa industry and would be completed in no time.



He said the US$43 project was funded by COCOBOD and the Government of Ghana and commended the Amandi Construction Works for the quality of work and the solid layer used to asphalt the road.



He said reports from drivers of long trucks loaded with cocoa found it difficult to climb the hills on the serpentine portion of the road in the past.



"As a result, bad boys used to climb the trucks to offload the cocoa as the trucks moved slowly in trying to climb the hills which is now a thing of the past".



The CEO said construction of a steel bridge at Bia which used to be narrow, was underway and would be completed in the coming months.



Mr Aidoo said the government had done well in terms of roads and rejuvenated cocoa farms and assured cocoa growing areas of witnessing unprecedented construction works on their roads in the coming months.

Source: GNA









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Mr Joseph Boahene Aiddo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has appealed to traditional rulers to stamp their authority to uproot the galamsey menace especially in Cocoa growing areas of the country.



According to him, galamsey activities continued to wreak havoc on cocoa farms, which was taking a toll on the Cocoa industry.



Mr Boahene Aidoo was addressing a durbar of the chiefs and people of Suaman-Dadieso when he led officials of COCOBOD to visit the KUMAD Global Impact Ltd and Afarinick company Ltd. Planting Seedling Nursery Site for COCOBOD Rehabilitation Project at Suaman-Dadieso in the Western -North cocoa Region.



He said as custodians of the land, traditional authorities wielded more power and owed it a sacred duty to conserve, preserve and protect the land from all forms of degradation.



Mr Aidoo bemoaned that many of the cocoa farmlands had been depleted with the indiscriminate cutting of cocoa trees for galamsey activities.



The CEO said: Of much concern to COCOBOD, was the wanton pollution of river bodies and land degradation.



Mr Aidoo said COCOBOD was yet to roll out an irrigation system of farming and farmers cannot rely on polluted streams with all the toxin to irrigate their farmlands.



He said there had been a considerable decline of cocoa production in the Western-North cocoa Region which used to produce a chunk of cocoa in Ghana and COCOBOD was moving heaven and earth with major innovative interventions to reverse the trend.



The Chief of Suaman-Dadieso, Nana Kofi Armah lauded the efforts of COCOBOD to streamline issues in the cocoa industry to boost production.



He admitted that the galamsey menace had become a source of worry to farmers in the Western-North Region.



The Chief lauded Mr Aidoo for holding the key to the future of the cocoa industry in Ghana and appealed to COCOBOD to release money given to cocoa farmers on time.



Nana Armah stressed the need for an irrigation system to irrigate cocoa farmlands all year round.



On the shortage of fertilizers and the use of faeces of fowls, the Chief suggested to COCOBOD to set up a poultry farm to use the faeces as fertilizer on cocoa farms.



The traditional ruler acknowledged that the Plantain Seedlings Nursery, which would feed cocoa farms, had given employment to a sizeable number of youths in the area.



Nana Armah lauded the efforts of Mr Aidoo, adding that when the history of the cocoa industry is revisited, he would stand tall with Tetteh Quarshie, who introduced cocoa into the country.

Source: GNA









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A rainstorm has caused extensive damage to a poultry farm at Yaakrom, a farming community along the Ghana-Cote DIvoire border in the Dormaa West District of the Bono Region, killing more than 6,000 birds.



The rains, accompanied by a windstorm, hit the community around 1630 hours and ripped about 90 coops and other structures, destroying the personal belongings of Mr Yaw Takyi Ansonama, the Managing Director of the Ansonama Farms.



Mr Francis Kwadwo Oppong, the Dormaa West District Chief Executive, Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, and other key staff of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) had since sympathized with the victim and his family.



Interacting with the management of the farm, the Regional Minister said she was shocked about the level of destruction and assured the victim of the RCCs support.



She said the Council would collaborate with the National Disaster Management Organisation to assess the impact of the loss and see how best the government could support it.



Madam Owusu-Banahene asked poultry farmers and other agri-businesses in the area to insure their property and plant trees around the farms to serve as windbreaks.



Mr Ansonama expressed appreciation to the Minister for the visit, which had provided him with some comfort.



He said the farms contained about 90,000 birds and provided between 300 to 400 direct and indirect jobs to residents, adding that because of the level of destruction it was difficult to shelter the birds.



He expressed concern over the rising cost of poultry feed, including soya beans, wheat bran, concentrates and maize, affecting their economic activities and appealed to the government to subsidize poultry feed importation.





Source: GNA









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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo strongly believes the countrys ailing economy will soon be revived.



He assured Ghanaians of his governments commitment to making things happen despite some challenges.



Government is working hard to restore our nation back onto the path of progress and prosperity; a path on which our nation was charting before the onset of COVID-19 whose negative consequences have been further exacerbated by the effect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said in his Easter message to Ghanaians



Adding that, All these difficulties notwithstanding, I am confident that with creativity, enterprise, hard work, perseverance and unity, we the Ghanaians shall overcome.



President Nana Addo, however, called on Ghanaians to continue to have hope in his government.



I admonish all of us to be inspired and guided by this promise of salvation. I ask respectfully all of you to continue to have hope of great times soon for our country.









Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









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Russia has banned UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior UK ministers from entering Russia over the UK's "hostile" stance towards Russia on the war in Ukraine.



The UK government has been very critical towards Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and has sent millions of pounds and thousands of military aid to Ukraine which has helped stave off the Russian military's assault.



Russia announced on Saturday, April 16, that UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other members of the Cabinet have been barred from the country.

Moscow said the decision was made in retaliation to the UK's sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine.

In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said: "London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy" were responsible for its decision.



It added: "In essence, the British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation around Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the part of Nato."



The full list of UK politicians banned by Russia include;

-Prime Minister Boris Johnson

-Foreign Secretary Liz Truss

-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace

-Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice Dominic Raab

-Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps

-Home Secretary Priti Patel

-The Chancellor Rishi Sunak

-Minister of Entrepreneurship, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng

-Minister of Digitalization, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries

Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey

-First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon

-Attorney General for England and Wales and advocate general for -Northern Ireland Suella Braverman

Conservative MP and former British Prime Minister Theresa May





The move comes after the UK and US governments announced further sanctions on Russia this week.









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Mayor Isko Moreno speaks after declaring his bid to run for president at a public school in Manila, Philippines on Wednesday Sept. 22, 2021. The popular mayor of the Philippine capital said Wednesday he will run for president in next year's elections, the latest aspirant in what is expected to be a crowded race to succeed the controversial Rodrigo Duterte. (AP Photo)

The Baguio-Benguet chapter of Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), a political party founded by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., withdrew their support for his namesake for the upcoming presidential elections. They now support Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.

KBL provincial chairman Bernard Ellamil highlighted their reason for withdrawing their support for Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.  his familys unpaid P203 billion estate tax.

Being a presidential candidate, hindi po maganda na meron tayong bagahe like one of the biggest issue ngayon na P230 billion unpaid estate tax (its not good to have baggage like one of the biggest issues right now like the P230 billion unpaid estate tax), he said.

Ellamil claimed that Isko, compared to BBM, actually had accomplishments, and that Marcos Jr.s support to their chapters campaigns were limited.

Ellamil added, One of the many reasons why [we switched is because] Isko acts and works faster and there is proof of what he has accomplished and that these are not just promises.

We were hoping to at least have a T-shirt that we can wear as a uniform, but they [Bongbong Marcos camp] gave us only a hundred, which is not enough, he claimed.

KBL Baguio District 7 coordinator Susan Matic, who comes from a family of Marcos loyalists, affirmed Ellamils claim of Marcos Jr.s lack of support.

We waited for BBM for months. The pandemic came and went. We went through hardships. We were hoping for a little help just to get by as promised, but it never came, she said.

Isko Movement Cordillera coordinator Aried Mendoza welcomed their change of support, saying Someone with a heavy baggage like this is not qualified to be president.

While they are switching their votes in favor of Isko, candidates would have to decide for themselves should they decide to do the same.

There are more than 3,000 members in KBLs Baguio-Benguet chapter.

Mark Ernest Famatigan is a news writer who focuses on Philippine politics. He is an advocate for press freedom and regularly follows developments in the Philippine economy. The views expressed are his own.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said all of the countries of the world should be concerned that Russia could turn to nuclear weapons as the war in Ukraine nears its third month.

Not only me  all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried, Zelensky said when asked by CNN on Friday if he was worried that Russia could use a tactical nuke. Because it can be not real information, but it can be truth.

Zelensky said he could see the use of chemical or nuclear weapons because for them, life of the people is nothing. We should not be afraid, be ready, but that is not a question only for Ukraine, he said. [Its for] all the world. I think so.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

Officials in the U.S. have accused Russia of war crimes in its invasion, which began on Feb. 24. Last week, Amnesty International published a report that detailed accounts of Russian forces extrajudicially executing Ukrainian civilians and repeatedly engaging in unlawful violence, including in the city of Bucha  where evidence of torture and beheadings has been uncovered in recent weeks.

Testimonies show that unarmed civilians in Ukraine are being killed in their homes and streets in acts of unspeakable cruelty and shocking brutality, Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in the report, adding, The intentional killing of civilians is a human rights violation and a war crime. These deaths must be thoroughly investigated, and those responsible must be prosecuted, including up the chain of command.

On Thursday, CIA Director William Burns said that "potential desperation" could cause Russian President Vladimir Putin to turn to nuclear weapons but noted he hadnt seen a lot of practical evidence.

Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that theyve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons, Burns said at an event at Georgia Tech. While weve seen some rhetorical posturing on the part of the Kremlin about moving to higher nuclear alert levels, so far we havent seen a lot of practical evidence of the kind of deployments or military dispositions that would reinforce that concern. We watch for that very intently.

Story continues

NBC News reported last week that the Biden administration is deploying declassified information  even when it is not rock solid  in an attempt to undermine Moscows propaganda and prevent Russia from defining how the war is perceived in the world.

A woman pushes her bicycle in front of a destroyed apartment building in Borodianka, Ukraine, on April 9. (Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

It doesnt have to be solid intelligence when we talk about it, a U.S. official said. Its more important to get out ahead of them  Putin specifically  before they do something. Its preventative. We dont always want to wait until the intelligence is 100% certainty that they are going to do something. We want to get out ahead to stop them.

On Friday, Russias Defense Ministry pledged to launch more strikes against Kyiv following the sinking of its naval flagship, the Moskva, in the Black Sea. Russia also sent a diplomatic note to the Biden administration warning the U.S. against continuing to arm the Ukrainian military or else face unpredictable consequences for regional and international security.

_____

What happened last week in Ukraine? Check out this explainer from Yahoo Immersive to find out.
Spot the fake: The egg on the right belongs to the zitting cisticola bird, but the one of the left is a cuckoo finch forgery.

For two million years African cuckoo finches have been tricking other birds into raising their young by mimicking the colour of their eggs, but new research suggests the tables may be turning in this evolutionary scam.

The cute yellow appearance of the cuckoo finch belies its nefarious nature: it smuggles its forged eggs into foreign nests, where unwitting foster parents treat them like their very own.

The cuckoo finch eggs then hatch a little earlier than the others in the nest, allowing them to grow quicker and beg more loudly for food than the host chickswhich starve to death as their confused parents prioritise the imposter.

Aiming to save their young from this grisly fate, birds like the African tawny-flanked prinia, a common victim of the ruse, have evolved ever more colourful and elaborate patterns for their eggs to avoid falling for counterfeits.

But the wily cuckoo finch has responded in kind, evolving the ability to copy a variety of egg colours and signatures of several different bird species.

Way back in 1933, British geneticist Reginald Punnett hypothesised that cuckoo finches inherited this remarkable talent of mimicry from their mothers.

His theory has been proved for the first time by a study published in the PNAS science journal this week, which confirmed that the skill is inherited via the W chromosome which only female birds havesimilar to how only human males have the Y chromosome.

The far larger cuckoo finch hatchling, centre, demands all the food in the nest, leaving the hosts chicks to stave to death.

However the study said that "in this particular arms race, played out in grasslands of central Africa, natural selection has shaped a genetic architecture that appears to be a double-edged sword."

Studying the DNA samples of 196 cuckoo finches from 141 nests of four grass-warbler species in Zambia, the researchers found that the long-term dupes have evolved new ways to sniff out the cuckoo finch's deceptions.

The uncrackable green egg

Claire Spottiswoode, an evolutionary biologist of the University of Cambridge and University of Cape Town who led the research, gave the example of the olive-green egg, laid by the tawny-flanked prinia.

A single female cuckoo finch cannot produce an infinite variety of differently coloured eggs, she said.

It can only mimic the egg of the bird that raised itthe cuckoo finch is "imprinted" with how to target its future victims from the shells of its foster siblings.

This means that different cuckoo finches can lay blue or white eggs, while others can produce them in red and whitebut because the skill is inherited via the female chromosome, they can never combine those pigments to make that olive green.

The tawny-flanked prinia has evolved more elaborate eggs to filter out fakes, including a green colour that cuckoo finches cannot mimic.

"Maternal inheritance is the reason why they're unable to mimic that particular deep olive green colour," Spottiswoode told AFP.

That puts the cuckoo finch at a evolutionary disadvantagetheir rivals the prinias can inherit the genetic talents of both parents to make increasingly complicated eggs.

"We may see the emergence of unforgeable egg signatures which could force cuckoo finches to switch to other naive host species," Spottiswoode said.

Even now cuckoo finches "make a lot of mistakes" she said, and once prinias spot a forgery they spear the egg and throw it out of the nest.

But if an egg avoids detection long enough to hatch, the parents lose all ability to detect the much larger fraud in their nest.

"It's really remarkable how you have this beautiful adaptation at the egg stage, then at the chick stage the hosts seem to be completely stupid and raise a chick that looks completely unlike their own," Spottiswoode said.

Explore further Scientists crack egg forging evolutionary puzzle

More information: Genetic architecture facilitates then constrains adaptation in a hostparasite coevolutionary arms race, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Genetic architecture facilitates then constrains adaptation in a hostparasite coevolutionary arms race,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2121752119

 2022 AFP
FORT EDWARD  A Malta woman is expected to receive 1 to 2 years in prison for trying to bring drugs into the Washington Correctional Facility.

Neshekah S. Mathieson tried to enter the medium-security prison in Fort Ann at about 6 p.m. on Aug. 22 with a quantity of marijuana, Suboxone and fentanyl, according to state police.

Mathieson was charged with felony counts of first-degree introducing dangerous prison contraband, first-degree introducing prison contraband, fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. She also faces a misdemeanor level prison contraband charge.

Mathieson pleaded guilty on April 8 in Washington County Court to felony fifth-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in satisfaction of the charges. She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 13.
MULLICA TOWNSHIP  The township will renovate its existing town hall and create a new 4,000-square-foot police headquarters with $5 million in bonds issued by the Atlantic County Improvement Authority.

Township Council voted Wednesday to enter into a lease purchase agreement with the Improvement Authority, and on Thursday, the authority voted to issue the bonds and to act as construction manager and owner of the property for the 30-year bond term.

At the end it will be turned over to Mullica, authority Executive Director John Lamey said at the Thursday meeting.

We will get the guys up out of the basement finally, Mullica Deputy Mayor Kristi Hanselmann said Friday of the Police Department, which has had its offices underground.

There is no bathroom, no Americans with Disabilities Act access, no running water and only small basement windows in the Police Department, Hanselmann said.

Its deplorable conditions they have been working in, Hanselmann said. We are excited to get them up and out and in a proper, safe environment.

New legislative district map may shore up GOP in South Jersey State Sen. Vince Polistina is happy with the new state legislative district map, which inclu

The small town hall will be gutted and rebuilt. Much of the building dates to the 1960s, but the courtroom/meeting room dates to the 1930s, she said.

A new police building will be created between the existing public works building and the municipal building.

While the work is being done, police and municipal employees will work out of trailers at the Elwood firehouse next door, Hanselmann said.

All three will be tied in together in one large municipal complex, the deputy mayor said.

She is hoping the projects groundbreaking will be in August or September, but much will depend on the ability to get building supplies.

The goal is to preserve the small Pinelands community feeling of town hall, Hanselmann said. It will fit in with our town, it will not be an ultra-modern building.

The COVID-19 pandemic has lessened, but for some virus lingers Fatigue, memory loss and an elevated heart rate are just a few of the residual effects Rob E

Earlier plans called for spending $6.9 million to demolish the existing municipal building and build a new one, Hanselmann said.

Citizens didnt feel comfortable. We cut about $2 million off, she said.

The Improvement Authority had already agreed in February 2021 to issue bonds for the larger project, but voters rejected the project in a November referendum.

Since so much time had passed and the project had changed, Lamey said bond counsel advised a new application be made to the state Local Finance Board.

REPORTER: Michelle Brunetti Post 609-841-2895 mpost@pressofac.com

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Not one turbine has been installed off the coast of New Jersey. In fact, not one turbine has been built. And its not expected the states fledgling offshore wind industry will really take flight until at least the end of 2024, when the first blades start churning out utility-scale megawatts of renewable energy.

Yet a group of industry insiders say they are already hiring, or gearing up to train or hire, tens of thousands of specialized workers in coming decades, from painters to scientists to surveyors needed as New Jersey emerges as what they believe will be a national leader in wind.

Interest is high enough that 2,200 people will attend a three-day International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum conference at the Atlantic City Convention Center later this month where Kadri Simson, European commissioner of energy, and Jennifer Granholm, U.S. secretary of energy, are set to speak.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority recently announced plans to provide more than $1 million to Rutgers University, Rowan University, Montclair State University and New Jersey Institute of Technology for academic research in offshore wind workforce training. The schools will develop 24 fellowships and other initiatives to advance the industry.

In fact, academic and technical courses will be offered starting this year.

Once-in-a-generation opportunity

Offshore wind is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, said Jenifer Becker, managing director of Wind Institute development at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Its estimated that offshore wind will result in $150 billion of private investment in the next 15 years. And we want to make sure were driving economic and environmental benefits to New Jersey, and particularly to the communities that have been historically underserved or overburdened.

Becker spoke recently at Rowan Universitys annual faculty research day, as did other representatives in the renewable energy industry. The Wind Institute, which has no permanent home yet, serves to coordinate jobs development, research and funding.

Gov. Phil Murphy has committed to 7,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035, enough to power about 3 million homes. That means a completely new infrastructure has to be built in the state, including hundreds of skyscraper-high turbines, cables, onshore and offshore substations, and transmission grid connections.

And in February, a U.S. Department of Interior auction brought in $4.37 billion from six winning bids for what the Biden administration calls the nations highest-grossing competitive offshore energy lease sale in history. The half dozen projects will produce 30 gigawatts of wind energy by 2030 in whats known as the New York Bight, most of which falls off the coast of New Jersey.

Becker said the state is creating a new supply chain through component manufacturing.

For example, she noted construction is underway by EEW AOS on a monopile fabrication facility at the Port of Paulsboro in Gloucester County, and the largest offshore wind manufacturing facility in the U.S. There, EEW, using union workers, will build hundreds of needed 400-foot-long, 2,500-ton monopiles  steel towers that anchor turbines to the ocean floor. The state has invested $250 million in the project, and EEW has contracted with 30 companies for design, permitting, site work and concrete.

And a first-of-its kind New Jersey Wind Port in the U.S. is being built in Lower Alloways Creek, Salem County, where parts will be marshaled at a staging area and GE-made nacelles will be assembled. Nacelles, each the size of a double-decker London bus, are the housing that contains gears, shafts, generators and other parts.

Becker said the goal is to start training a New Jersey-based workforce that can capture those jobs. Among the initiatives, including the new fellowships, are:

NJ to study environmental impacts of offshore wind projects ATLANTIC CITY  New Jersey officials will commission studies on the environmental impact of 

Train students at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology in submerged arc welding and marine coating applications through a program now being developed.

Offer wind turbine technician certificates through Rowan by the beginning of 2023, and offer an associate of applied science degree in wind power and turbine technology later the same year.

Develop a certified training facility at Atlantic Cape Community College by the end of 2022.

Davon McCurry, deputy head of market and government affairs at rsted, also spoke at the Rowan event. rsted has partnered with PSEG to build two of the states first three offshore wind projects, named Ocean Wind 1 and 2 and totaling 2,200 megawatts  enough to power 1 million homes.

McCurry said he expects about 500 jobs to eventually be created just at the Port of Paulsboro to build the monopiles. That doesnt include jobs expected at the wind port, the Port of Newark/Elizabeth, and rsteds Atlantic City operations and maintenance facility and project office, and operations in Newark. rsted has set aside $22 million in a trust to invest in minority- and women-owned firms looking to break into the offshore wind field.

McCurry acknowledged global supply chain problems and other events could impact rsteds plan to start producing power from its first wind farm 15 miles off Atlantic City by the end of 2024.

The work in offshore wind includes logistics, shipping and even use of helicopters and drones, said Marie-Lou Picherit, an innovation manager at rsted.

I mean this is massive and we have many different needs, Picherit said, noting scientific research is critical to core systems and electrical transmission.

rsted is already hiring marine fisheries managers, engineers, geophysicists, accountants and other professionals for its U.S. operations, though not necessarily just for New Jersey.

Tens of thousands of jobs

In a separate interview, Joris Veldhoven, commercial and finance director for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, said he envisions thousands of jobs forming over the next 30 years.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a partnership between Shell New Energies US and EDF Renewables North America, was selected to build a 1,510-megawatt offshore wind project 10-20 miles off New Jersey between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light, enough to power 700,000 homes. Atlantic Shores also put in a winning bid of $780 million for one of the federal wind leases.

Veldhoven gave a breakdown of how many jobs the ventures first wind farm might generate:

Atlantic County commissioners won't investigate ACUA finances NORTHFIELD  Atlantic County commissioners voted Tuesday not to investigate the finances of 

1,700 jobs for planning and development that started in 2019 and is expected to run through 2024.

5,700 for manufacturing and construction from 2024 to 2027.

11,100 for operations and maintenance for 30-plus years starting in 2027.

Some of those jobs, such as construction, might just last a few years, while others will be permanent and stretch over decades. In addition, Veldhoven expects up to 9,000 indirect jobs in trade, transportation, real estate, administration, and even hotels and food.

I think I dare to say its tens of thousands of jobs overall, Veldhoven said. Though we have no control over indirect jobs.

While most of those jobs will be based in New Jersey, Veldhoven said he has colleagues living in New York and Philadelphia.

Officials say most of the jobs will pay well. For example:

Both Atlantic Shores and rsted have signed agreements with unions to supply workers. Former state Sen. Steve Sweeney, a longtime union official, previously estimated union construction jobs at the monopile plant, which dont require college degrees, would pay an average of $70,000 a year.

The Wind Institute has a current opening for a project manager paying from $70,000 to $88,000 a year. A private company job listing for a renewable energy engineer gives a salary range of $78,000 to $100,000. And listings for wind turbine technicians pay anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 or more.

Scientists already at work

Several Rowan engineering professors are already working with graduate students on innovative wind projects. One project includes a new way to repair wind turbines on site; another is exploring a new way to investigate the soil of the ocean floor.

Damian Bednarz, managing director at Attentive Energy, which won one of the recent federal offshore wind leases with a bid of $795 million, said the company wants to bring innovation to the state, as well as looking at how we actually propel the jobs that are going to come with this.

Emotions buffet NJ coastal wind project in peek at US future OCEAN CITY  Some warned that God will be angry if windmills mar the pristine horizon, and s

A lot of our work here is also thinking about how we expand out the economic opportunity beyond the traditional sources, Bednarz said. Were very focused on the supply chain. ... I think the state is doing a tremendous job and making sure that it is a leader in offshore wind here and in the country.
MAPLE SHADE  Police are investigating a double shooting early Friday that left one man dead and a second man in critical condition at an apartment complex in the township.

At 3:30 a.m., police were called to the Fox Meadow Apartments in the first block of Laurel Drive off Route 73, where they found a man shot to death near the door to a unit. He was identified as Maurice Kobassic, 27.

Police found a second man outside who had been shot in the face. He was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he underwent emergency surgery and is listed in critical but stable condition, authorities said.

The victims shared an apartment in the complex, said authorities, who added a motive for the shootings is unknown and continues to be investigated. No arrests have been made.

Man charged with running over woman in Elizabeth road rage incident A New Jersey man has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly ran down a woman in a road rage incident that was caught on video. The footage filmed by a neighbor shows a car on a residential street in Elizabeth backing up and then chasing the woman onto a front lawn, as she slips and falls. Authorities allege 56-year-old Vincent Jean of Elizabeth was involved in a minor traffic accident nearby and began pursuing the woman after she began taking pictures of his car as he tried to flee. The Union County prosecutor's office has charged Jean with attempted murder, aggravated assault and other offenses. The 23-year-old woman was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Kobassics slaying is the fourth at the Fox Meadow Apartments in the past five years.

On Jan. 16, Ezekiel Sanders Jr., 32, was killed in a drive-by shooting while in the parking lot of the complex where he lived.

On March 23, 2017, Sasikala Narra, 38, and her son, Anish Narra, 6, were fatally stabbed in the apartment they shared with Narras husband, who found them when he arrived home from a work function.

Those three slayings remain unsolved.

Fridays slaying investigation is being conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutors Office and Maple Shade police.
CHICAGO - After a fire tore through an Englewood church Friday afternoon causing extensive loss, according to authorities, those in the congregation still hoping to gather for in-person services Easter Sunday will have that chance.

The Antioch Missionary Baptist Church will hold worship services at Englewoods Calahan Funeral Home, 7030 S. Halsted St., beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday with the churchs pastor, Gerald Dew, according to the churchs Facebook page. The services will also be streamed online.

Meanwhile, Chicago fire Deputy District Chief Curtis Hudson said around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, firefighters returned to the church with the department to check on just some steam after firefighters had already returned to the scene a few times to put out any residual flames.

I know last night we came back at 8 and then 2 in the morning and then again this morning at 7, and were here now, Hudson said. Rekindling is to be expected for such a big building.

Hudson said when the roof collapsed Friday, the debris that was then underneath the fallen roof was likely still on fire and wasnt getting any direct water, which would explain any flare-ups. Hudson said there were no visible flames as of early Saturday afternoon.

Chicago fire first arrived on scene of the extra-alarm blaze about 2:30 p.m. Friday and had it under control as of 4:05 p.m., fire department spokesperson Larry Langford said. No injuries have been reported.

It was not known what cause the fire yet and Hudson said Saturday it was still under investigation.

Rodney Simpson, 32, who lives in East Pilsen, went out to the church Saturday morning to feel the weight of what happened yesterday. He said he saw a few other people standing around, looking at the building and saw more arrive as he was leaving.

Simpson said he grew up in the Englewood church from early childhood up until his early-to-mid 20s. Though he hadnt attended any service at the church in some 10 years, he was brought to tears as he walked up to what remained of what he called his home growing up.

Walking up to the building and seeing it, even the emotional response to that you really cant prepare for, Simpson said. It was like a piece of my history, my familys history, the communitys history, the citys history, its been hollowed out. It definitely hurt to see that.

He said he still has several connections to the church, including his mom and brother who attend. He found out about the fire from his best friend who he met and grew up with in the church then called his mom to check on her.

I think we were and still are all in a state of shock, Simpson said. Theres a lot of things that are coming up for me. The space will be missed and honored for the community and the relationships it nurtured, the spirit that it held. Itll be missed.

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Black Hills State track and field added a seventh provisional mark at the Loper Invitational on Friday in Kearney, Nebraska.

Whitney Scott earned a provisionally qualifying mark in the women's pole vault, clearing 12 feet, 3.5 inches. This vault earned Scott a third-place finish.

Two Yellow Jackets finished first in Kearney as Breanne Fuller nabbed the top spot in the women's 200-meter dash with a time of 25.33 seconds and Kyla Sawvell took first in the hammer throw with a mark of 179 feet, 11 inches.

Fuller also earned a second-place finish in the women's 100 with a time of 12.21.

The Yellow Jackets are set to compete in the Kit Mayer Open next weekend.

Yellow Jackets softball swept by Eagles

Black Hills State softball dropped Friday's doubleheader to Chadron State, 2-0 and 11-4, after cold temperatures led to a three-hour delay of Game 1. The win wrapped up a four-game sweep for the Eagles.

The Yellow Jackets (10-24, 8-24 RMAC) had a strong performance in the circle from Crystal Amaral in Game 1. She allowed two runs on five hits while striking out six.

BHSU struggled to gain momentum at the plate as Chadron State claimed a 2-0 victory in the first contest.

Chadron State jumped up 6-0 through two and a half innings to take control of Game 2. But the Yellow Jackers chipped away with three runs in the bottom of the third and cut their deficit to 6-3 on a two-run single by Gianna Haley. She finished 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.

But the Eagles proved too much and pushed their advantage to 11-4 in the top of the seventh en route to the victory.

The Yellow Jackets host Fort Lewis next weekend with games at Noon and 2 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday. The series marks the final homestand for BHSU this season.

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Eighty years ago, 16 modified B-25 bombers launched off an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean off Japan, sparking a spirit of innovation and bravery that would come to be synonymous with the Air Force, the term Raider, and the culture and heritage of Ellsworth Air Force Base.

On April 18, 1942, Lt. Col. James Jimmy Doolittle led a mission that had never been done before, a mission that would come to be known as the Doolittle Raid. A bomber had never been flown off of an aircraft carrier. But the attack on Pearl Harbor had left a gaping hole in United States morale and a need for unconventional and immediate answers.

Capt. Francis Low, a Navy submariner, hatched the plan to strike back at the Japanese home islands, getting buy-in from President Roosevelt and Army Air Forces commander Gen. Hap Arnold. The job was then handed over to perhaps the worlds foremost aviator at the time, Jimmy Doolittle.

Planning and preparation for the mission would essentially require reinventing the B-25.

They had to take the plane apart, said John Moyes, Wing Historian for the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, describing everything from figuring out new gas tanks and bombsights to attaching broomsticks to the tail turret to simulate machine guns.

No kidding, Moyes said, they put black broomsticks in the tail turret to simulate machine guns so the Japanese fighters wouldnt be as apt to attack from the rear. And it worked.

They basically had to reinvent the plane, he said. And along with that reinvention came a troupe of volunteers training blind. Nothing was familiar, and little was known. But that didnt stop anyone.

They were training for a mission they didnt know, said Lt. Col. Christopher Billau, Commander of the 89th Attack Squadron, one of the original squadrons that participated in the raid. They were told as they were on their way out.

Two of those volunteers hailed from South Dakota. Henry Potter served as Doolittles navigator during the raid, while Don Smith piloted one of the bombers. Yet another South Dakotan, John Waldron, was on the USS Hornet, the aircraft carrier that launched the B-25s. Waldron was also part of the Battle of Midway, according to Moyes.

South Dakotas ties to the Doolittle Raid and the legacy that continues 80 years later are firmly cemented at Ellsworth. The 28th Bomb Wing is home to three of the four squadrons that participated in the raid: the 34th Bomb Squadron, the 37th Bomb Squadron, and the 89th Attack Squadron.

Evolving the squadrons

The evolution of these squadrons over the past 80 years has been significant in many ways. From the aircraft themselves to the missions and how theyre conducted  yet a theme has emerged that has woven through the past 80 years, a theme that connects the Raiders of 1942 with both Ellsworth Air Force Base and the men and women that make up these squadrons: innovation.

Theres still this underlying spirit of innovation, said Lt. Col. Ross Hobbs, Commander of the 34th Bomb Squadron, another of the four squadrons based at Ellsworth to participate in the raid. Were constantly evolving in terms of not only what our platform can do, but also what we expect out of our people, in terms of the level of effort.

Billau's squadron handles the M-Q9 remotely piloted aircraft. These aircraft fly halfway around the world, piloted from a ground cockpit at Ellsworth. Billau painted a picture of sticks, throttles, stacked computer screens, and glowing maps.

For me specifically, and for our squadron, (the raid) ties us back to those that came before, Billau said, and quite frankly, the atmosphere of innovation. As you look at launching a large bomber aircraft off of an aircraft carrier  that is not normal.

Not normal, but evidence of a mindset of, How do we do something? How do we make this work? he said.

Over at the 34th Bomb Squadron, the walls are lined with the legacy of innovation, stemming even before the raid. Patches, posters, and memorabilia tell a bold story of a proud heritage.

Hobbs presented the B-1 bomber as an example of how innovation within the Air Force continues to manifest itself at Ellsworth, and within his squadron.

Beginning as the B-1A, the B-1 was canceled, brought back, and canceled again, before finally staying as a primary aircraft for the US Air Force.

It went though some massive changes, Hobbs said, recounting its early stages as a low-altitude penetrator, able to sneak in and drop nuclear weapons and get away.

After 9/11, the B-1 was doing things that no one ever thought that it would be doing, Hobbs said, including significant changes in the weapons it could carry. Their bread and butter today are long-range strike, standoff weapons, such as the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).

Lt. Col. Jonathan Beha, Commander of the 95th Reconnaissance squadron, currently stationed at RAF Mildenhall, England, and the only squadron from the raid not currently at Ellsworth, recalled quite a bit of evolution in the 95th following WWII. The squadron transitioned to flying the B-26 Marauder in North Africa and Europe, then the A/B-26 Invader in Korea before transitioning to the B-66 Destroyer in Hurlburt Field, Florida, until the squadron was deactivated in 1958.

It was reactivated in 1982 at RAF Alconbury in the United Kingdom, this time flying the U-2 until 1993. In 1994 at RAF Mildenhall, the 922nd Reconnaissance Squadron was redesignated as the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron.

Their motto is First to the Front, Beha said, dating back to WWI in 1918 when the 95th was the first pursuit squadron to the front lines in France. This tradition continued to the Doolittle Raid as the first American attack on the enemy in WWII.

It took over four months for the United States to counterattack Japan after the Pearl Harbor attack, Beha said. I think of how angry Americans like me were after the 9/11 attack and how it wouldve felt to wait four months to fight back.

The Doolittle Raiders had American resolve fueling their mission, he said.

The Doolittle Raiders are among the giants on whose shoulders I now stand.

How do we make this work?

Billau said the "how do we make this work" mentality propelled the Doolittle Raid not only to conception, but execution and success. Moyes said the raid indirectly turned the tide of the war in the Pacific.

This was the first time in 700 years that Japan had been attacked by a foreign military, he said. Tactically, not much. Strategically huge.

The raid achieved what it had set out to do: a morale boost for the United States and a wake-up call for the Japanese military. Moyes speculates that the raid led indirectly to the famed Battle of Midway, a turning point in the war.

(The raid) made the Japanese mad and it scared them, Moyes said. They stopped looking outward, they realized they could be hit. They pulled defenses back in and realized the American carriers are really the threat. You can pick up and move with a carrier.

The Japanese lost four carriers at the Battle of Midway and all the trained pilots that went along with them, plus the aircraft. You can rebuild a plane, Moyes said. You can rebuild a carrier, but the institutional knowledge lost with a person is far more difficult to replace.

The losses from Midway were horrifying for the Japanese.

The Doolittle Raid and the Battle of Midway are all part of the legacy and heritage of the raid, Moyes said, and all of you are part of the [that] legacy.

Ellsworth Air Force Base didnt include the Doolittle Raid squadrons until the 1980s, when they picked up the 34th Bomb Squadron. The 37th Bomb Squadron came along in the '90s, with the 89th Attack Squadron joining in the mid-2000s, cementing the Doolittle legacy at the base.

The impact of the raid has reached far beyond WWII  a legacy thriving at Ellsworth through a term called Raider Culture, a term prevalent throughout the base. The phrase Raider Country is boldly displayed in large letters across one of the hangars. Moyes tied the weight of the name Raider, and what it means, not only to the raid, but to 9/11, Libya, to answering any given call, and any horn sounded. That innovation born of the raid that has influenced every mission since. He referenced words such as boldness, innovation, courage, commitment, selflessness, resilience.

But words are only as good as the people that embody them.

Raider culture

The Raider culture tends to be, hey, were ready when you need us, whether thats the President of the United States or the Secretary of Defense, theres no question, Moyes said.

To Hobbs, the culture at Ellsworth means a consistent place of combat capability. A shared vision through squadrons, operations, and up to the wing. All of the support functions that take place at Ellsworth Air Force Base are devoted to supporting the mission of the Bomb Wing, he said.

When he built the vision and mission statement for his squadron, Hobbs didnt have to worry about alignment up the chain.

If I didnt believe in what Global Strike Command was pushing down, my mission and vision probably wouldnt align, but I think theyre spot on. I think weve been moving in a great direction.

That support is part of the culture that Col. Hobbs has come to value at Ellsworth, and part of what Raider Culture is all about.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, it doesnt matter what the equipment that we fly is, Billau said. It matters, the people and the attitude that they have, as far as supporting each other.

The legacy and heritage of Ellsworth and the Doolittle Raid are synonymous with the innovation and changes seen across the aircraft and their squadrons, but its always the people that overcome the difficulties, Moyes said. Because they care. You've got to be bold enough to think outside the box. Hey, maybe we could try that. Then you talk about it, and theres the innovation. And theres bravery of thinking outside the box, and the bravery of actually implementing the innovation.

The participants in the Doolittle Raid were volunteers for a dangerous mission, but so is the group he works with every day, Hobbs said.

Its a reminder to me that we ask a lot of our people constantly, that the job that we do is very dangerous and it means a lot to our nation," he said. "You can do 100 great things, but if you mess up one thing, nobody remembers the other 100 things that you did great. So, theres a lot of pressure, just like there was on the Doolittle Raiders."

Hobbs said he hopes the legacy of the raid that continues at Ellsworth today will serve as a reminder for civilians, too, of the sacrifice of the men and women who serve today.

Its the reminder that the people that work on this base, that do the job day in and day out, who have signed up and said I will sacrifice  that the people here on base are willing to give their lives for your freedom, and for your protection. Not only for ourselves, but for those who cant, he said.

The support felt within Ellsworth is a feeling that is mirrored by the community around it, Hobbs said. A consistent phrase heard on base about Ellsworth was the hidden gem of the Air Force.

Thats simply tied to the heritage that we all share, Billau said. That ties us all together. I really love it here.

The base is steeped in the heritage of not only the raid and its significance to the base, but also each squadron. Passing down the history of each squadron is a regular exercise, and a way to not only preserve, but continue the spirit of innovation, courage, and Raider culture that has been evolving and thriving for the past 80 years.

In the end, the important thing is continuing the story of the raid," Moyes said. "The legacy of the raid. And the story of the people on this base. Thats the important thing. Machines make history, people make heritage.

Contact Laura Heckmann at lheckmann@rapidcityjournal.com

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Tashina Banks Rama said her father raised her to be independent.

When she talked to him about her job at the Red Cloud Indian School, formerly the Holy Rosary Boarding School on the Pine Ridge Reservation, American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis Banks said thats why he banged on doors.

He said, That is why we did everything we could, so that you could walk in and change those systems from the inside, Banks Rama said.

She said people ask her how she reconciles her fathers role in the movement with her job as executive vice president at Red Cloud Indian Schools. She said she doesnt have to answer to the person asking the question because she already answered her father. She also said the people who live on the reservation and are from the area are the ones who are going to figure out how to make the place better.

Banks Rama discussed her fathers role, growing up while seeking asylum, and the Wounded Knee Occupation of 1973 with the Rapid City Human Relations Commission - Mniluzahan Okolacipiyapi Ambassadors (HRC-MOA) on a bus just outside of the Wounded Knee Massacre memorial site April 7.

Members of the HRC-MOA took the trip across the Pine Ridge Reservation to gain a better understanding of Lakota culture and of history. Just across the street from the memorial site, Banks Rama told the history of the founding of the American Indian Movement in 1968 and the 71-day siege at Wounded Knee.

Banks Rama said her father and the American Indian Movement were first invited to the community by leaders and activists in 1972 in response to murders across the reservation and a lack of investigation.

There was a lot of tension, political tension, which translates in our community to family tension and cultural tension, she said. In those days there was even tension of full-bloods versus non-full-bloods.

She said the movement was invited to the reservation because of the tensions and because they felt like they werent being heard.

Banks Rama said the Wounded Knee Occupation wasnt intended to be an occupation. She said the night before Feb. 27, 1973, there was a community meeting in Calico, a community close to Red Cloud, where people voiced concerns about the unsolved murders, rapes, women being abused and disappearing. The group decided to go to Wounded Knee to have a press conference and demonstration and to bring attention to the concerns.

What ended up happening was it turned into a caravan from Calico through Pine Ridge and the streets were kind of being lined with people, she said. Within minutes the police also started to arrive and started to barricade them in.

In April during the occupation, Frank Clearwater and Buddy Lamont were killed. Banks Rama said inside the occupation, there was community, ceremonies and prayer for spiritual help.

What was happening internally in that community was a beautiful experience because it ended up being 2,000 people, 2,000 Native people from across the country who came to support sneaking food in and through these gullies, she said.

Banks Rama said there were armored vehicles surrounding the area and an estimated 10,000 rounds of ammunition being exchanged.

It was a scary time, she said.

She said people decided they would negotiate out everybody who was inside the occupation. Many were arrested, but Banks Ramas father was sneaked out by Leonard Crow Dog.

Banks Rama said they had a ceremony the night before the incident ended and painted Banks with invisible paint and told him he wouldnt be caught. She said Lenny Foster helped to sneak her father out and tells the story of how a jeep with United States Marshals shown a flashlight into a flat field while they were getting away. She said they should have been spotted, but the Marshals kept going.

However, Banks did go to trial with charges related to the occupation in January 1974. Banks Rama said after the trial, South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow said if Banks was caught, he wouldnt last in one of the state prisons. Banks Rama said her father then decided their family would leave.

We became fugitives where we lived like refugees in our own country, she said. We lived wherever we were granted asylum.

She said the family eventually lived outside of Syracuse, New York, in the Onondaga Nation. She said after they lived there for a while, her father decided he couldnt live that way any longer and turned himself in. She said Banks served about 18 months with parole.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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Elijah West appeared in federal district court in Rapid City on Friday morning for his initial appearance for a triple homicide on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

A grand jury charged West, 24, with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to crimes of violence, and one count of knowingly possessing ammunition, a crime because West has prior felony convictions.

The mandatory minimum for each first-degree murder charge is life in prison, and the firearm charges each have a minimum 10-year sentence that would be served non-concurrently. For possessing ammunition, West would face a maximum of three years.

According to the indictment, West is accused of shooting and killing Jamie Graham, 38, Alma Garneaux, 38, and Michael White Plume, 39, on Jan. 5 near Wounded Knee. The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety put out a notice through social media that day identifying West as a person of interest in the case. He was brought into custody the same day on unrelated charges, according to a January FBI release.

During Wests hearing, prosecutor Benjamin Patterson of the United States Attorney's Office read the charges. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann informed West of his constitutional rights and set an order of detention allowing him no bail. The order states there is a serious risk that West will not appear in court and that he will endanger the safety of others.

West will be held in the Pennington County Jail where he has been since his arrest. Federal public defender Alecia Fuller is representing West. The defense made no argument against West being held without bail.

West pleaded not guilty to all charges as instructed to do by Wollmann. As a magistrate judge, Wollmann is unable to accept a guilty plea in a felony case. Magistrate judges conduct many preliminary hearings and hear cases involving petty offenses on federal lands but have limitations in more major cases. A guilty plea would be heard by a district judge.

The case is in federal court because the crimes occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Major crimes committed against or by a Native American person on a reservation fall under federal jurisdiction. Major crimes include murder and other felonies as defined by the Major Crimes Act.

Wests trial is set for June 21 at 9 a.m.

 Contact Shalom Baer Gee at sgee@rapidcityjournal.com 

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Managers are fed up with remote work and want employees back in the office, according to a recent survey.

Earlier this month, the background and employment screening company GoodHire released results from a survey of 3,500 American managers, 75% of whom said they prefer employees work either hybrid or full-time in the office.

Last month, several large companies announced their plans to bring employees back to the office, either some or all of the time, including Google, Twitter and Citigroup. The Twitter CEO announced, Business travel is back effective immediately, and office openings will start on March 15.

GoodHire referred to the effort as the Great Return.

The majority of managers surveyed said a full-time return to the office was happening in the near future, and only about a quarter said their company wouldnt mandate a full-time return to the office this year. A slim majority of managers thought employees wanted to return to the office, although several other studies conducted over the last year find otherwise.

The survey found that 77% of managers would take the hard line and implement severe consequences such as termination, loss of benefits, promotions, time off and pay cuts for employees refusing to return to the office. GoodHire noted, Just 23% would allow employees to work remotely full-time if or when return-to-office mandates are implemented.

Managers want employees to return to the office despite 73% of them acknowledging productivity and engagement had either improved or stayed the same during the COVID-19 remote work period, and 68% said that fully remote operations would either add to their profit or cause it to remain neutral.

Most managers also agreed that the company was able to open recruitment more broadly with remote work to other geographical locations, and that this would allow them to hire better talent.

Despite these positive findings of remote work, the survey concluded that managers are burned out and tired of remote management.

GoodHire reported, An overwhelming 69% of all managers said they agreed or were neutral about experiencing burnout with remote management and desired to manage in-office employees.

In its reporting, GoodHire said, As much as employees love remote work, managers are concerned about control. Its hard enough to motivate employees to stay productive and focused while they are in an office, and remote working makes managing productivity even more difficult.

This observation is likely the key reason managers so desperately want employees back in the office.

So much so that 60% of managers responded that they agreed or strongly agreed that a full-time return to the office mandate is coming, and only 16% werent sure, while the remainder (24%) didnt believe a mandate was in the near future.

If employees do not return to the office, managers fear a lack of focus due to personal commitments, difficulty in maintaining and creating a positive company culture and overall productivity with remote workers, according to the survey.

Of significant interest for employees, 51% of managers said their companies would definitely consider pay cuts for those employees who refused to return to the office.

Yes  this just got real.

Most managers reported that they were looking for incentives to get employees to return to the office, such as increased compensation for in-office work or office perks like happy hour, lunches or parties.

When asked if company return-to-the-office plans had been shared with employees, only 19% of managers said their companies have planned, shared and have already started their post-COVID working model.

Employers need to evaluate what works best for their organization. The reality is that no matter how many LinkedIn influencers say otherwise, establishing positive work culture, supportive working relationships and accountability are difficult when working remote. There is more to a workplace than productivity, and employers need to determine how best to strike that balance of employee flexibility and creating a work culture that builds a successful and collaborative work environment.

The best advice for employers  you do you. Determine the best model for your organization and do that. Communicate your expectations and reasoning as soon as possible. In reality, hybrid workplaces are likely the future of work and employers who lack flexibility might be left without the talent it needs to deliver, but employers need to take all of this into consideration and then determine what works best for their organizational culture.
When Peter Chang opened his restaurant in Short Pump 10 years ago, the buzz was dizzying.

The China-born chef had cooked for dignitaries in China, developed a rabid fan following for his signature Sichuan cooking and was famously stalked by Calvin Trillin in his New Yorker piece Wheres Chang?

Since opening Peter Changs China Cafe in Short Pump, now located at 11408 W. Broad St., Chang has opened several more restaurants in the state from Virginia Beach to Fredericksburg, including a downtown Richmond location in Scotts Addition at 2816 W. Broad St.

This spring, Chang was named a finalist for a James Beard award for outstanding chef, a high honor reserved for only five chefs in the country.

The 59-year-old chef has been nominated for a James Beard award before, both as a nominee and twice as a semi-finalist for best chef in the Mid-Atlantic.

His daughter and business partner, Lydia Chang said, Hes pretty shocked to be in the outstanding chef category. Hes honored and excited at the same time.

Chang is known for his Sichuan-inspired entrees with hot and numbing spices such as crispy pork belly, hot pots and dry fried eggplant, to name a few.

Chinese food rarely has been deigned worthy of awards and recognition by the powers-that-be in the food world. This is why Peter Chang, being the only Virginia chef nominated as a finalist for a James Beard this year, is such a big deal, Richmond Times-Dispatch restaurant critic Justin Lo said.

The brilliance of Peter Chang is that, without doing some sort of fusion thing, he captures the nuances of a specific regional style of Chinese cooking from the Sichuan province, while also translating the cuisine for a broader American audience. His food has integrity. Its impactful. Its thoughtful. And it really resonates, Lo said.

Chang doesnt speak English, but via his daughter Lydia who translated, he said that the Sichuan taste profile is complex and well balanced with a combination of spice, sweet, soy and acid.

The most common spices he cooks with are red pepper, Sichuan peppercorn and white pepper, he said.

Chang is still cooking every day at Q by Peter Chang in Bethesda, Md., close to his home in D.C. He also visits Mama Chang in Fairfax on a weekly basis, which celebrates the cooking of the Chang women including his mother, grandmother, wife and daughter Lydia.

As for his favorite dish at his restaurants, Chang said, I love fish-steamed branzino with ginger and scallion or chopped fresh chili pepper. I could enjoy anytime of the day.

When we visited Chang at his Scotts Addition location, we were invited into the kitchen where we watched the celebrated chef cook spicy ginger duck with sliced ginger, celery, red bell pepper, garlic and cilantro in a giant wok over an open flame. Aromatic spices filled the air as a line of cooks gathered around him to watch.

As for what keeps him cooking in the kitchen, he said, Keep doing what you love, follow your passion and stay curious.

He also said he enjoys working with the next generation of chefs, like Simon Lam, a research chef at Peter Chang. When we work together I show him how things are cooked classically. He then finds a way to replicate the dish using western cooking techniques, Chang said.

He doesnt cook in his Richmond restaurants much anymore, but said that the local team has really outperformed themselves. They understand the standard, and are constantly improving the quality of food and service.

Changs legendary story and rise to fame has inspired a whole new line of chefs.

Growing up, I was always told not to go into the restaurant industry. There wasnt much respect for Asian food in general, said Vanna Hem, co-chef and co-owner of The Royal Pig, a buzzworthy Cambodian pop-up restaurant that has moved into more permanent digs in Hatch Local Food Hall at 400 Hull St.

But looking at Peter Chang inspired me. It was like, We can do this and make people think differently about our food in general, Hem said. People think its cheap fast food. Peter Chang was the first who made it like an art. Thats been inspiring, just as a young Asian male, to have somebody to look up to and aspire to.

Will Leung-Richardson, owner of Kudzu RVA food truck, also said that Peter Changs cooking opened his eyes to a whole new style of Sichuan cooking.

Coming from a Cantonese background  his grandparents owned the Moon Gate I restaurant in Chesterfield  it was the first time Sichuan cooking stood out to me. It was like Wow. His food inspired me to be more adventurous with my own cooking. His commitment to the traditions but utilizing innovations all his own, that was definitely inspiring.

As for the James Beard award for outstanding chef, winners will be announced on June 13 at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Thanks to Chef Chang, folks are finally coming to their senses and acknowledging that Chinese cuisine deserves to take its place alongside other cuisines that have long garnered such recognition, Lo said.
Chesterfield police responded to an accident Thursday in which a child riding an electric scooter was hit by pickup truck.

Police spokesperson, Cpt. John Miller said the accident occurred near the intersection of Bach Lane and Vincent Lane around 6:07 p.m. Miller said a man driving a 2012 Ford pickup truck was traveling northeastward toward the intersection and struck a 9-year-old girl riding an 2022 Razor, electric scooter.

Miller said police attempted to fly her to the hospital, but due to inclement weather the med-flight helicopter was unavailable. Instead, she was driven to a local hospital, where she remains in critical condition. The girl has multiple broken bones, a chest injury and injury to her head, according to Miller.

The driver of the truck remained on scene and cooperated with authorities. He was issued a summons for driving without a license.

The crash remains under investigation.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, knows shes one of the top targets in the country for Republicans who want to seize control of Congress in the midterm elections, but shes well-financed for the challenge.

Spanberger, seeking her third term in Congress but her first in a newly configured district that no longer includes the Richmond suburbs, has raised more than $4.2 million, including more than $1.1 million in the last quarter, ending March 31.

She ended the quarter with almost $3.9 million in the bank, as a group of Republican challengers narrows with a primary scheduled in June.

The thousands of doors weve knocked and millions of dollars weve raised demonstrate the tremendous amount of enthusiasm for Abigails people-powered campaign  and it reflects the high level of engagement that we are seeing on the ground, said Sam Signori, campaign manager for Spanberer.

Virginians know that Abigail is working hard in Congress, responding to the economic concerns of the communities she represents, and delivering results, Signori said.

Two other incumbent Democratic congresswomen targeted by Republicans  Rep. Elaine Luria, D-2nd, and Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10th  also reported big campaign war chests to prepare for the midterm challenges.

Luria ended the last quarter with more than $3.1 million after raising $1.2 million for a total of $4 million in the cycle that began last year. Wexton had more than $3 million on hand at the end of March, after raising $548,481 during the quarter and almost $1.7 million during the two-year cycle.

In the Richmond area, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, reported raising almost $345,000 for the quarter and more than $1.1 million for the cycle. Wittman ended March with $673,459 on hand.

His Democratic opponent, Herb Jones, announced his candidacy last month and had not reported his initial campaign fund raising by Friday.

Rep. Donald McEachin, D-4th, also had not reported by Friday evening, but held a commanding fund-raising lead at the end of last year over Republican challenger Leon Benjamin, whom he defeated by more than 90,000 votes two years ago.

McEachin raised $449,383 last year, compared to $85,061 for Benjamin, who also had not reported quarterly totals.

Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, who now represents Powhatan and Goochland counties and a portion of Hanover, raised $152,092 during the quarter and $670,370 overall. He ended March with about $376,000 in hand.

Josh Throneburg, a Charlottesville minister who just clinched the Democratic nomination in the 5th, has raised $307,678, including $37,524 in the last quarter, which he ended with $149,037.

The opposition to Spanberger, Luria and Wexton in the battleground districts is still taking shape, with some campaigns filing their quarterly reports late on Friday under a midnight deadline.

In the 7th, the GOP field has winnowed from eight to six candidates, but only two  Prince William Supervisor Yesli Vega and Spotsylvania Supervisor David Ross  had reports filed in time for the initial release by the Virginia Public Access Project early Friday evening.

Vega, who recently attracted attention with a highly public endorsement by Ginni Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, had raised $356,810 through the end of March and had almost $294,000 in hand.

Ross raised $142,672 and finished the quarter with $121,271 on hand.

Derrick Anderson, a Green Beret combat veteran from Spotsylvania County, reported raising $231,834 during the quarter and more than $521,000 overall.

Anderson, who moved from Goochland back to Spotsylvania after giving up a position at a Richmond law firm to run for Congress, had $371,281 on hand at the end of March, according to his report to the Federal Elections Commission.

Our campaign for Congress is picking up steam at just the right time, he said in a pre-deadline announcement on Thursday.

Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Crystal Vanuch reported to the FEC that she had raised $483,589  including $400,000 in debt  and had $468,091 in hand. Im incredibly grateful to all of our supporters who have rallied behind us in the first weeks of our campaign, she said in her news release on April 4.

Two other contenders  state Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, and Prince William teacher Gina Ciarcia  had not filed their quarterly fund-raising results by Friday evening.

However, Reeves later reported to the Federal Elections Commission that he had raised $268,925 during the quarter and $519,238 overall. He reported $390,407 in hand at the end of March.

Reeves had raised $250,000 through the end of December. Ciarcia didnt launch her campaign until after the previous quarter ended.

Ciarcia reported raising $33,600 during the period, with $13,478 on hand, according to the FEC.

Two others  Stafford resident Gary Adkins and Spotsylvania resident Michael Monteforte  have dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination. Adkins withdrew on Friday, according to a statement filed with the Federal Elections Commission, and the Virginia Public Access Project no longer lists Monteforte as a qualified candidate.

In the 2nd District, state Sen. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia Beach, has a widening fund-raising lead in the four-way race for the GOP nomination. Kiggans raised $434,532 in the quarter and $1.1 million during the cycle, ending March with $592,553 in hand.

Jarome Bell has raised $96,542 in the quarter and more than $424,000 overall, but ended March with just $9,437 in the bank, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Tommy Altman had raised a total of $188,651, including $43,270 during the quarter, and had $19,337 on hand. No report was on file for Andy Baan.

Prince William Supervisor Jeanine Lawson appears to lead the 12-candidate GOP pack in the 10th District. Lawson has raised more than $843,000, including about $305,000 in the last quarter. She had $545,734 in the bank.

Hung Cao has raised $314,316 and had $223,711 in hand at the end of March.

Caleb Max, grandson of former 10th District Rep. Frank Wolf, raised $201,076  most of it in loans that he made or guaranteed, according to the filing at the Federal Elections Commission  and held $149,104 at the end of March.

Among the other Republican candidates who had reported by Friday evening: Dave Beckwith had raised $49,142, with $34,060 on hand; Theresa Ellis had raised a total of $78,227, including $18,075 in the quarter, and had $16,078 on hand; John Henley had raised $47,973 and had $4,498 on hand; and Brooke Taylor had raised $58,300 and had $50,605 on hand.
A longstanding tradition at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, the 2022 Excellence in Virginia Government Awards recognize Virginians for their efforts to make positive impacts for the Richmond area and our communities throughout the commonwealth. Were proud to celebrate the individuals and organizations who contribute to the well-being from which we collectively benefit.

As a top-ranked graduate school of public affairs, cultivating and recognizing public servants is a cornerstone of our mission. This continuing effort is especially significant after emerging from two years of virtual awards ceremonies necessitated by the pandemic.

Were thrilled to host our award recipients in person at noon on Tuesday, April 26 at the Richmond Marriott. I hope youll join me for this one-of-a-kind event.

Each year, the Excellence in Virginia Government Awards also support scholarships for two students, which are funded solely through philanthropic contributions. Creating opportunities for our students is key to preparing a new generation for success as public servants.

These awards were inspired by our schools namesake, L. Douglas Wilder  the 66th governor of Virginia and the first elected African American governor in the United States. As a trailblazer with seven decades of public service, Wilder continues to inspire our students as a distinguished professor at the Wilder School.

In the spirit of Wilders commitment to transformational leadership, the 2022 EVGA recipients serve as exemplary models for their communities.

Fighting sickle cell has been a lifelong passion for Florence Neal Cooper Smith. Approximately 100,000 Americans suffer from this inherited disease, which distorts the shape of red blood cells and blocks blood flow. The disease disproportionately affects African Americans, who make up 90% of cases in the United States.

Cooper Smith co-founded the Virginia Sickle Cell Awareness Program and partnered with Wilder to pass legislation for insurance companies to provide coverage for sickle cell, as well as requiring all babies in Virginia to be tested for the disease. At age 90, Cooper Smith continues to raise awareness and funding to combat sickle cell.

Vaccinating people against COVID-19 has helped Sacred Heart Center of Richmond save lives and build health resilience in Latino communities. Led by Executive Director Tanya Gonzalez, a Wilder School graduate, Sacred Heart Center has helped raise Latino vaccination rates to the highest levels of any population in Richmond. Through grassroots education and vaccine clinics, Sacred Heart Center mobilized to reverse the disproportionate hospitalizations and deaths that affected Latino groups at the onset of COVID-19.

Equipping students with the skills to prepare for high school is paramount for upward mobility and career success. The All Saints Catholic School of Richmond, which serves around 200 pre-K to eighth grade students, is recognized for boasting a 100% high school graduation rate. Through development of leadership skills, All Saints Catholic Schools student body emerges ready to take on adult life upon graduation.

Preserving and interpreting the role history played in the evolution of civil rights is no small task. For the Moton Museum of Farmville, recognizing and learning from the past is a core mission. Formerly Robert Russa Moton High School, the Moton Museum is a National Historic Landmark, focused on creating a dialogue to explore the development of public education and the historic transition from segregation to integration.

Fostering positive community relationships is vital for effective public safety for law enforcement. Danville Police Department Chief Scott Booth recognized the importance of this connection when he began his role in 2018 and since has seen decreased crime levels. Since then, Booth has developed educational programs that promote office and citizen education, relationships and trust among the Danville community.

Providing reliable access to high-speed internet in rural Virginia communities is key for participation in a digitally connected society. Grayson County with Appalachian Power and GigaBeam Networks has played a pivotal role in connecting residents across underserved areas. A pilot program is developing a network infrastructure of nearly 150 miles of fiber-optic cables, with an additional 100 miles planned.

With more than 51 years of service experience at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, Betty Mattice is an expert at keeping operations and processes running smoothly. As the agencys information technology manager, she manages a help desk staff and often has to respond to emergencies outside of normal business hours. Mattice even keeps a cot in her office to be readily available when the unexpected happens.

It is our privilege to recognize and honor the 2022 Excellence in Virginia Government Awards recipients for the extraordinary contributions they make to public service. We invite you to join us.

For more information about the award recipients and to register for the April 26 ceremony, visit: https://bit.ly/evga2022
In coordination with Virginia Techs Center for Economic and Community Engagement, the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is asking all businesses in Montgomery County to participate in our annual Best Places to Work survey. The survey will be open through Friday, April 22.

The Best Places to Work program was started in 2017 when the chamber and the NRV Society for Human Resource Management partnered to develop this initiative and raise awareness of our communitys outstanding workplaces. In 2020, the chamber combined Best Places with our Leadership Conference, as both recognize organizations that are changing and embracing new employment and leadership practices.

The chamber hopes to receive record participation, so the Best Places to Work recognition is representative of the majority of businesses in our community. With this goal in mind, the chamber recommends businesses set aside dedicated time for employers and employees to participate.

In addition to the Best Places to Work survey, the chamber is also accepting nominations for rising leadership through the 40 Under 40 program, and recognizing leaders who have had a profound impact on our community through the Hall of Fame. All three recognitions are open to both chamber members and nonmembers.

Our community is one of the most rapidly growing in the commonwealth, and we want to showcase businesses that are making a difference, said 2022 Chamber Board Chair Mark Woolwine.

The Montgomery County Chamber will host its fifth annual Best Places to Work in Montgomery County event on Wednesday, May 18, at the Inn at Virginia Tech & Skelton Conference Center, as part of our Leadership in Changing Times: A Conference for All & Best Places to Work luncheon.

Those attending the May conference have the opportunity see the top 25 Best Place to Work announced, as well as hear from two phenomenal keynote speakers: Dwayne Washington, vice president for Merrill Lynch; and Jay Caughron, Ph.D., professor of organizational psychology at Radford University and founder and CEO of Allied Consulting Network.

More info about each recognition and the May 18 program can be found at https://bit.ly/lcbestplaces22.

- Submitted by Leo Priddy
ROCKY MOUNT  Plans to bring public water to the southern side of Smith Mountain Lake took another important step this week.

The Franklin County Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended a proposal by the Western Virginia Water Authority to build a water tower along Virginia 40 in Union Hall.

The recommendation comes after the Franklin County Board of Supervisors voted last month to split the cost of the towers construction with WVWA. The total cost of construction is estimated at $3 million.

Franklin County is funding the project using federal funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act that was passed last year. The county obtained $10 million in additional funding with $7 million dedicated to broadband expansion and $3 million dedicated to water and sewer expansion.

The new water tower is proposed for a wooded 15-acre property on Virginia 40 between Old Salem School Road and Berger Loop. In addition to the 174-foot tower, the site also will include a 500-square-foot treatment/filtration building and drain field.

The water tower will hook up to two existing wells with plans for a third, if needed.

Scott Kroll, director of infrastructure development for WVWA who was in attendance at this weeks meeting, said plans are to begin extending water lines once the tower is in place. The water lines are expected to extend along Virginia 40 and possibly along Kemp Ford Road to connect with existing water systems operated by WVWA.

Long range goals, according to Kroll, are to connect to other existing water lines in the county in Westlake. Some proposals are to extend public water from Scruggs Road onto Brooks Mill Road and connect to the Union Hall line on Virginia 40. Another possibility would be to continue the line along Virginia 122 to Rocky Mount, then extend the line to Union Hall along Virginia 40.

While planning commission members agreed that public water was needed, there was some concern about the proposed towers proximity to Virginia 40. The tower will be 180 feet from the road which Kroll explained is due to the need to be in a place with highest elevation.

Id like for it to be further back, but I dont think, logistically, it can be, said Deborah Crawford, Union Hall representative on the planning commission.

Kroll said efforts would be made to keep as many of the existing trees on the property as possible to partially block the view of the water tower and other structures. He said the current location of the tower was necessary to match the elevation of the Westlake tower when the two systems eventually connect.

Crawford also asked that Union Hall residents be allowed to choose the color and any future logo that goes onto the water tower. She said the tower could help to promote the community. Following the additional proposal, Crawford made the motion to approve. The motion was passed unanimously by the planning commission.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors will give a final vote on the tower during its monthly meeting on May 17.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE  The University of Virginia Police Department is reviewing its ban of graduate Jason Kessler ahead of the expiration of a 2018 no-trespass order.

Kessler, a key organizer of both the 2017 Unite the Right rally and a preceding torch march on UVa grounds, attracted much negative attention in April 2018 when he reportedly clashed with students at the UVa School of Law library.

On April 26 of the same year, the UVa Police Department issued a no-trespass order to Kessler valid for four years. Officers cited multiple reports from students that he threatened them based on protected characteristics and says he intentionally misled police about his UVa rally, held the night before the Unite the Right rally.

With the four-year expiration of Kesslers no-trespass order looming, the UVa police officials said they will review his case.

The University of Virginia Police Department will, on occasion, review evidence which led to the issuance of a trespass warning either at the request of the respondent or at the conclusion of the four-year time period, officials said. In this matter, we will be conducting such a review and will take action in accordance with university policy and law.

UVa policy is that no-trespass orders  also referred to as no-trespass warnings  can be reissued prior to the four-year expiration. Renewal can be made if a person is engaged in ongoing conduct that threatens the health, safety, or property of a member of the university or its Medical Center community, a patient or visitor at the Medical Center, the educational process, or for other reasons.

As a public university, UVa cant ban a person for having white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs. Instead, it can ban those who engage in criminal activity on Grounds, violate policy or threaten the health or safety of someone on school property.

Violating an order is a class 4 misdemeanor.

Kessler, who is a UVa graduate, is not the only figure connected to the violent summer of 2017 to be banned from UVa Grounds. When Kessler was initially given the no-trespass warning, only neo-Nazi podcaster Chris Cantwell had also received one.

Kessler attempted to appeal his no-trespass order in 2018. In his appeal Kessler accused the students of being evidence of Jews following him around and harassing him and said he himself was actually the victim of racial harassment.

However, an independent consultant did not agree with Kesslers assessment and upheld the universitys decision that Kessler had intentionally misled UVa police about his march, which ended in violence at the Rotunda.

It was not arbitrary and capricious for the [University Police Department] to issue the trespass warning based, among other things, on [an officers] sworn declaration of facts, the consultant wrote.

Following calls to expand no-trespass orders, in October 2018 UVa issued trespass warnings to 10 additional white supremacists based on their actions during a torch-lit rally on grounds on Aug. 11, 2017.

This wasnt a review of previous efforts; this was an ongoing investigation, said Tim Heaphy, then UVa General Counsel. And I dont think this is over. Law enforcement efforts continue.

Warnings were issued to various notable Unite The Right figures including Benjamin Daley, of Redondo Beach, California; Antonio Foreman, of Thousand Oaks, California; Thomas Gillen, of Redondo Beach, California; Elliott Kline, of Reading, Pennsylvania; Michael Miselis, of Lawndale, California; Vasillious Pistolis, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Robert Ray, of Frankston, Texas; Wil Smith, of Nocona, Texas; Richard Spencer, of Alexandria; and Cole White, of Clayton, California.

It remains to be seen whether the UVa Police Department will review these no-trespass warnings when they reach their four-year expirations on Oct. 25.

In the years since the torch march on UVa grounds, few of the participants have faced criminal charges, which has frustrated some Charlottesville area residents.

Many of the participants, including Kessler and fellow UVa graduate Spencer, have faced civil consequences via lawsuits. The most significant of these lawsuits was the Sines v. Kessler case, which in fall 2021 saw several former UVa students face more than a dozen key rally and march participants in Charlottesvilles federal court.

After a more than a month-long trial, a jury found the defendants to be liable for approximately $26 million in damages after determining they had engaged in a conspiracy to commit violence at UVa and in Charlottesville.

Many of the defendants, including Kessler, are attempting to have the damages reduced or be re-tried altogether.
ReportLinker

Major players in the blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market are IBM, Microsoft, SAP-SE, Ambrosus, Arc-net, OriginTrail, Rip. io, Provenance, ChainVine and AgriDigital. The global blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market is expected to grow from $189.

New York, March 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Blockchain In Agriculture And Food Supply Chain Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06246504/?utm_source=GNW

48 million in 2021 to $278.60 million in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47.0%. The change in growth trend is mainly due to the companies stabilizing their output after catering to the demand that grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The market is expected to reach $1295.93 million in 2026 at a CAGR of 46.9%.



The blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market consists of sales of blockchain services in the agriculture and food supply chain by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that provide blockchain services to the agriculture and food supply chain.Blockchain technology enables the traceability of information in the food supply chain and thus helps improve food safety.



It also provides a secure way of storing and managing data, which facilitates the development and use of data-driven innovations for smart farming and smart index-based agriculture insurance.



The main types of blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain are public blockchain, private blockchain, consortium/hybrid blockchain.A public blockchain is open to the public and can be joined by anyone without special permission.



The services are used by growers, food manufacturers/processors and retailers for product traceability, tracking, and visibility, payment and settlement, smart contracts, governance, risk and compliance management.



North America was the largest region in the blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market in 2021. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market was supported by the increased demand for small and medium enterprises in blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market.This is mainly due to larger businesses are investing heavily in developing their existing solutions, while new businesses are producing exclusive solutions in line with the needs of their national and regional markets.



According to NASSCOM 2019 report, there are more than 450 startups in the agritech sector at a year-on-year growth rate of 25%.For instance, Agridigital is an Australian startup that uses blockchain to support the Australian grains industry.



It helps to track and manage grains as they move throughout the value chain. Thus, the rise in small and medium enterprises is expected to drive the blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market during the forecast period.



Blockchain in food and agriculture market can be expensive and this can hinder market growth.Obtaining the data uploaded to a blockchain can be costly, and this can create a barrier to the adoption of blockchain technology in the agricultural sector.



For instance, the DNA of livestock animals could be expensive.The average cost of data collection is lower for larger farms than smaller ones, which raises the concern of increasing the income discrepancy.



Therefore, obtaining data in a blockchain is expensive and hinders market growth.



The use of blockchain with IoT is an emerging trend followed by companies in the blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market.Companies are using blockchain to secure data in IoT devices.



IoT involves a system of devices that can collect, transfer, and store data over a wireless network.The use of blockchain with IoT devices enables smart devices to exchange data and other financial transactions in a scalable, private, and reliable manner.



Blockchain technology with IoT further supports businesses to share and access data without the need for central control and management. For instance, according to an article published in Thales in 2019, the use of blockchain in IoT devices has doubled and a majority of the organization plans to consider blockchain technology shortly.



In April 2020, Nestle, a Swiss food and drink processing company, partnered with a party certifier, The Rainforest Alliance, to independently provide data beyond what is usually disclosed by the company.Nestle has expanded the use of the IBM Food Trust blockchain technology platform in the launch of Zoegas whole beans and roast and ground coffee in Sweden.



The Rainforest Alliance provides information regarding the traceability of the coffee and the information is accessible to everyone with the IBM Food Trust blockchain platform.



The countries covered in the market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK and USA.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06246504/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Visitors to Paris looking to satisfy their vegan proclivity can now look forward to Chef Alain Ducasses Burgal.

Zucchini, carrots, parsnips, lentils, quinoa and onions so goes the recipe for the veggie burger patty that top chef Alain Ducasse is about to start serving at a Paris kiosk. Unlike many animal protein-free burgers, the superstar chef is taking the concept further by making the recipe entirely vegan.

Eating is a form of activism, according to Alain Ducasse, who underpinned this idea in a book, titled Manger est un acte citoyen and taking the form of a manifesto, published in 2017. From favouring cereals and working with legumes to repurposing peelings, and rethinking techniques to throw away less and extract maximum flavour, the chef-turned-entrepreneur spells out his thinking, based on a more conscious approach to cooking, long in tune with environmental issues.

In 2014, Alain Ducasse decided to remove meat from the menu of his Michelin-starred restaurant at the Plaza Athenee hotel in Paris. It was the beginning of a gastronomic adventure that gave rise to a concept called Naturalite.

Imega credit: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET / AFP

Why is Ducasse going vegan?

The legendary chefs departure from the Avenue Montaigne establishment does not mean the end of Alain Ducasses involvement in the promotion of a more responsible approach to food. The prolific chef opened a food stand named Burgal on 8 April on the French capitals Place de la Bastille, where a burger made without any animal protein will be sold. Its a trendy field right now, and one with its share of food innovations, often coming from the US or Asia.

Indeed, the plant-based food market has a bright future ahead. By 2029, it is expected to be worth more than US$95 billion, according to the predictions of the California-based research firm, Meticulous Market Research Inc.

Image credit: Pierre Lucet

About Chef Alain Ducasses vegan food stand Burgal?

Burgals patty is made with zucchini, parsnips, quinoa, carrots, lentils and onions. And even vegans will be able to take a bite, since the golden bun contains no eggs, no butter and not even milk. Chef Ducasse promises that all the ingredients used are French, except for the cassava and pepper. The burger is complemented by an eggplant condiment and pickles.

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On the side, you wont find fries, but vegetable or chickpea chips. Count 7.50 (approx. S$11) for the burger, or 12.50 (approx. S$19) for a burger menu with a drink and chips. And theres no need to hold back on dessert, as even the chocolate mousse is vegan.

The story was published via AFP.

The post Chef Alain Ducasse Has Just Opened A Vegan Burger Kiosk In Paris appeared first on Augustman Singapore.
SIOUX CITY -- Someone driving around Sioux City this time of year will undoubtedly see them: Easter Bunnies, of all shapes and sizes, affixed to front doors and fences and perched by windows. Pastel-colored inflatable rabbits, wooden rabbits and rusted-metal ones. Look closer and eggs will start to appear in bushes. Flags fly from awnings with messages such as "Happy Spring" or "Happy Easter."

For some of the folks who put this stuff out to mark the occasion, it's a part of a routine. The sort of tradition that gets everyone involved.

"We decorate for all holidays," Sioux City resident Dave Lillie said. "(To) bring some joy to the neighborhood."

Lillie said he and his wife, Dorothy, love to decorate for Halloween the most but Easter doesn't get skimped on by any means.

In their front yard along Court Street, Easter Bunny blow molds take up one corner, a husband and wife rabbit keeping watch over eggs. Tracing the sidewalk, there's a procession of metallic carrots stuck in the ground and crafted in a way that makes them look like DNA helicases. Under a tree, on a rustic bench, sits a trio of doll-like rabbits. Those are acquisitions Dorothy made this year.

"My wife is a collector," Lillie said.

A personal touch

While decorating for the holidays is a husband and wife matter for the Lillies, it's a sibling to-do for Saint Gonzalez and his sisters.

"I love Christmas but I havent been able to put my touch on it. Me and my little sister and my older sister like to decorate and were gonna try this year," he said.

Standing in the yard of the two-story brick house on Jackson Street, you'd think Easter decorating was the real passion. Easter wreaths, an Easter doormat, an Easter Mickey Mouse sign and Easter gnomes have all been set out. Not to mention the multiple inflatable Easter items on the premises. One is a gateway and is Gonzalez's favorite.

"It blows up and goes over and has little streamers going down," he said.

When the decorating is all done for the year and the day actually comes, Gonzalez said he and his family will do an Easter egg hunt and have a meal.

"We just like to hang out and spend some family time together," Gonzalez said.

Celeb sightings

At Heather Frigge's household, the Easter Bunny himself makes an appearance. Grandkids are treated to an Easter egg hunt and actually get to help decorate. The oldest bit of holiday material on Frigge's lawn are these Easter eggs that have been cut out from old wood and stuck in the ground.

"(I) had the kids color them," Frigge said.

Other accoutrements, such as the papery eggs hanging down from an awning, come from Kohl's and Michaels and the Oriental Trading Company (that's where Frigge got her rabbits from this year).

Easter actually isn't the only time of year when a holiday "celebrity" shows up to a Frigge family gathering. "This year, for Christmas, because I do decorations all year, I actually had Santa and the Grinch make an appearance," she said.

Stolen items

Renae Moos goes all out with festooning her place for Christmas...and Halloween...and Thanksgiving...and Easter...and Valentine's Day.

"The only one I dont do is St. Patricks Day because I have no Irish in me," she joked.

Moos is quick to mention that decorating falls under her purview specifically though her husband does pitch in, sometimes.

"Things I cant reach, hell help me with," she said.

When it comes to Easter, there aren't a lot of pieces needing to be strung up. The Moos' front yard features brightly colored inflatables (both rabbits), the wooden hindquarters of a Easter bunny that is burrowing into the ground, a plethora of Easter eggs in the lamppost by the steps leading up to the front door and more hanging from bushes.

According to Moos, she's really gone all in on the holiday decor since her kids were little. One year, there was a big hubbub over the family's blow-up turkey.

"It was stolen when my kids were little and I actually called the cops the next day because they had vandalized a lot of things in my yard. And I called the next day just hoping that they maybe wouldve caught somebody. And they did and I got it back and I still have my turkey and it still blows up every year and it says 'Property of Sioux City Police Department'," she said.

It's not theft or vandalism holding her back from having more stuff out this year, it's the wind. "I just like to decorate. The more the betterI could fill my whole yard if my husband would go for it."

Jared McNett is an online editor and reporter for the Sioux City Journal. You can reach him at 712-293-4234 and follow him on Twitter @TwoHeadedBoy98.

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SIOUX CITY -- Rochelle Pfeifer recalled pulling out a tote filled with shirts, one evening at Siouxland Foster Closet, and encouraging a girl, who was around 7 years old, to pick out whatever she wanted.

According to Pfeifer, the closet's founder and director, every time the girl, who had been placed in a foster home just an hour earlier, held up a shirt, she exclaimed, "I love it!"

The closet, which began serving children and teens in foster care and out of home placements in the summer of 2018, officially became a nonprofit organization last fall. The closet, 1551 Indian Hills Drive, offers free new and gently-used clothing ranging from preemie to adult sizes, as well as shoes, toys, blankets and more.

"We want to show God's love to these kids in whatever way we can do that," Pfeifer said. "Whether that's helping them pick things out or giving them things that they really love."

It's common for youth to arrive at a placement in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes on their backs, according to Pfeifer. If a child entering the foster care system does have other clothing, she said it is often too small, too big or not appropriate for the current season.

Pfeifer and her volunteers have also expanded the closet's services with a Comfort Care for Siouxland Children program, which includes brand new duffel bags with nametags bearing the words "My Stuff" attached, first night packs containing necessities to get a child through the first 24 to 48 hours in care, and new placement packs, which consist of a backpack or luggage item the child can pick out at the closet and fill with full-sized toiletries, books, toys and other items.

"Oftentimes, those kids move between homes with their stuff in trash bags, simply because that's the only option. That's the only bag available for them," Pfeifer said. "This will provide DHS workers with nice new duffle bags in their cars that they can use in those circumstances."

Ideal location

Pfeifer was introduced to the foster care system roughly 15 years ago, when she volunteered with the Plymouth County Foster Care Review Board. She also served as a Mothers of Preschoolers or MOPS coordinator for three years. Some of the MOPS members were foster parents.

"I remember specifically one mom who got a 2-year-old placed late at night. This 2-year-old had nothing, so she sent a Facebook message to our whole group and said, 'Does anybody have size 2 clothes for a girl that they could spare for this child?'" Pfeifer recalled.

Pfeifer wondered where foster parents who didn't belong to a group like MOPS would turn. That thought continued to sit in the back of her mind.

"Fast-forward a few years later, I feel like God just kept bringing that back," she said.

In the fall of 2017, Pfeifer decided to pursue the idea of founding a foster closet. She turned to a foster parent she knows to find out if there was even a need for one locally. Pfeifer learned that the woman's caseworker had been talking the week before about how she wished there was such a service in Sioux City.

Pfeifer reached out to a friend's father-in-law in hopes of using a storage space he had for the closet. However, the man, who serves on the board at Boys and Girls Home and Family Services, Inc., thought he could find a better location for the closet on the nonprofit agency's new campus, the former Indian Hills Shopping Center. Boys and Girls Home and Family Services provides a broad range of services to individuals of all ages with a focus on strengthening families and working to support positive changes in people's lives.

"They donate the space to us. They pay the utilities. They really support us in a huge way," Pfeifer said.

'No worry'

The concept of a foster closet isn't unique to Sioux City. Over the years, foster closets have popped up all over the nation. Some of those closets have served as a model for Siouxland Foster Closet.

In March 2018, Pfeifer moved the closet into a suite a few doors down from the one it currently occupies. She said the donation collection process started slowly, but, by that summer, she said the closet was serving foster parents.

Connie Gehring, who volunteers with the closet, said donors have included people who spent time in foster care or just know what it's like to experience "hard times."

"It's been kind of fun to watch this vision come to fruition," she said.

When a child is placed in a foster home, Pfeifer said those first days are stressful for everyone in the household. She said taking that child to a big-box store to shop for clothing "just adds more trauma." At Siouxland Foster Closet, foster parents can browse the racks and shelves with a child, while volunteers play with their other kids.

"For kids, they can come in and they can look at clothes and pick out whatever they want. There's no worry about the price of it. There's no worry about limiting it. They can come pick out clothes, period," Pfeifer said.

Gehring said the clothing, toys and other items children select go with them when they leave a placement.

"These things are possessions of the children and go with the children," she said. "There's no reason for a foster family to hold onto things. They can just come and get more."

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SIOUX CITY -- A man who pulled out a gun while in police custody, leading to an armed standoff near downtown Sioux City, was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison.

Emanuel Pleitez, 36, of Sioux City, pleaded guilty in Woodbury County District Court to intimidation with a dangerous weapon, felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of assault on a peace officer. Because of Pleitez' past felony convictions, each of the charges included a habitual offender enhancement that increased the prison sentence on each charge to 15 years.

The sentence was agreed to in a plea deal Pleitez reached with prosecutors. He must serve at least 18 years before he's eligible for parole.

District Judge Tod Deck dismissed a charge of trafficking in stolen weapons in accordance with the plea agreement.

Pleitez had been taken into custody on Feb. 10 in connection with a robbery investigation and, while handcuffed and seated in the back of a squad car, told the officer driving the vehicle that he had a gun and threatened to harm himself and the officer.

The officer pulled over, requested backup assistance and exited the vehicle. After another officer arrived on the scene, they observed Pleitez, who was still handcuffed behind his back, armed with a subcompact-style handgun. The officers backed away while more officers arrived and surrounded the car.

Negotiators spent nearly an hour trying to convince Pleitez to drop the weapon. He eventually fired a shot that struck the interior of the vehicle and a second shot that hit the rear passenger window before he tried to climb out. Police fired a gas irritant into the car, and Pleitez surrendered.

No officers fired their weapons during the standoff, which led to a lockdown at the nearby Bishop Heelan High School campus.

At a press conference later that day, police said Pleitez had been patted down for weapons after he was handcuffed and before he was placed inside the vehicle. Police planned to review video to determine where Pleitez hid the gun and was able to handle it.

"Our search protocols have always been very thorough," police Chief Rex Mueller said at the time.

Pleitez also pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of methamphetamine in an unrelated case. His 10-year prison sentence in that case will be served at the same time as his 60-year sentence.

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SIOUX CITY -- The Iowa Department of Transportation is installing fencing around the Interstate 29 bridges over Perry Creek in effort to deter transients from congregating underneath.

The 6-foot, black, vinyl-coated chain-link fencing is similar to existing fencing along the interstate, which was put in place to prevent people from walking onto or across the interstate. Dakin Schultz, District 3 transportation planner, said the fencing project's cost is $15,000.

A fire, which ignited in a homeless encampment, damaged an Interstate 29 box-culvert bridge in Sioux City near the end of October 2019.

The fire consumed various tents and debris under the bridge, which was built only a year earlier. Propane tanks under the bridge further fueled the fire. No one was under the bridge at the time of the fire and none of the emergency responders were injured.

That fire wreaked havoc on the concrete structure of the bridge. The cost to repair it was estimated at nearly $1 million, and the repair work constricted traffic flow near the Wesley Parkway and Hamilton Boulevard exits.

"We had a serious issue back in 2019. After the replacement of most of the structure, we discussed some different measures to try to discourage the use of it for long-term occupation," Schultz said. "We came up with some different ideas. We ended up landing on the fencing option to see if that would do it."

Schultz said he doesn't know if fires under bridges, such as the one in 2019, are on the rise. The Journal reported on two other bridge fires earlier this year.

On Jan. 20, a fire broke out in a homeless encampment underneath a train bridge in the 100 block of Steuben St. No one was injured. The bridge, which is owned by BNSF, sustained "slight damage," according to Sioux City Fire Rescue officials.

Then, on Feb. 12, the Le Mars Fire-Rescue Department was called to a fire under the 24th Street S.W. bridge, which extends business Highway 75 in Le Mars to the Highway 75 bypass. That fire, which broke out underneath a city-owned bridge, was accidental in nature and likely caused by an individual cooking food. The damage was limited to the bridge's non-critical components.

Schultz said the IDOT will monitor the effectiveness of the fencing around the I-29 bridges after installation. The project's completion date is uncertain at this time, due to issues the contractor is having receiving material from the fabricator, according to Schultz.

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SIOUX CITY -- The City of Sioux City will award $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to eligible nonprofit organizations that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city said in a statement that the Sioux City nonprofits must have been founded before Jan. 1, 2020 and experienced "negative economic impacts or disproportionate impacts of the pandemic" in order to be eligible to receive funding.

Although there is no minimum or maximum award level, applicants must strongly document why the specific amount of funding requested is needed. The majority of the awards are expected to be under $25,000.

Visit sioux-city.org/CARESActFunding to apply. The application deadline is May 6 at midnight.

Contact Stacey Frausto at 712-279-6328 or sfrausto@sioux-city.org for more information.

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PHOENIX (AP)  Prosecutors have asked the Arizona Supreme Court to call off an upcoming hearing scheduled by a lower-court judge to determine the mental fitness of a prisoner to be executed in what would be the states first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovichs office told the states highest court in a filing Wednesday that the May 3 mental competency hearing scheduled in Pinal County for death-row prisoner Clarence Dixon is likely to delay his May 11 execution. Dixon was sentenced to death for his murder conviction in the 1977 killing of Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin.

The prosecutors are seeking to throw out the lower court's order that concluded defense lawyers had shown reasonable grounds for planning a hearing over whether Dixon is psychologically fit.

Dixons lawyers have said their client erroneously believes he will be executed because police at Northern Arizona University wrongfully arrested him in a previous case  a 1985 attack on a 21-year-old student. His attorneys concede he was in fact lawfully arrested then by Flagstaff police.

Dixon was sentenced to life sentences in that case for sexual assault and other convictions. DNA samples taken while he was in prison later linked him to Bowdoins killing, which at that point had been unsolved.

His attorneys say Dixons inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy in the case involving an NAU student had started to spill into the case over Bowdoins killing.

Dixon had fired his attorney in the case involving Bowdoins death under an irrational belief that the DNA evidence wasnt admissible in the murder case because he erroneously thinks the NAU Police Department wasnt a legal entity when it arrested him on the sexual assault charges, his current lawyers have said.

Prosecutors told the state Supreme Court that even though Dixons attorneys argued their clients focus on the 1985 sexual assault conviction shows he was incompetent to decline his right to a lawyer, the courts in rulings after his murder verdict found that Dixons focus on that legal challenge, though untenable, did not demonstrate a lack of competence. Eric Zuckerman, one of Dixon's attorneys, said in a statement: The states attempt to overturn the lower courts proper decision to grant a competency hearing to Clarence Dixon, who has a history of schizophrenia and previous findings of legal incompetency, undermines the legal process that will determine whether executing him would violate the Constitution.

Dixons attorneys say putting Dixon to death would violate protections against executing people who are mentally incompetent. They cited a psychiatrists conclusion that their client lacks a rational understanding of the reasons for his execution.

Prosecutors said Dixons legal theory isnt legally viable, but argued that his attempts to undo his murder conviction show he has a rational understanding of why the state is seeking his execution.

Defense attorneys say Dixon has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia on multiple occasions, has regularly experienced hallucinations over the past 30 years and was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 1977 assault case in which the verdict was delivered by then-Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sandra Day OConnor, nearly four years before her appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bowdoin was killed two days after the verdict, according to court records.

Authorities have said the 21-year-old Bowdoin, who was found dead in her apartment, had been raped, stabbed and strangled. Dixon had been charged with raping Bowdoin, but the charge was later dropped on statute-of-limitation grounds. He was convicted, though, in her death.

The last time Arizona used the death penalty was in July 2014, when Joseph Wood was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours in an execution that his lawyers said was botched.

States, including Arizona, have struggled to buy execution drugs in recent years after U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies began blocking the use of their products in lethal injections. Last year, Arizona corrections officials revealed that they had finally obtained a lethal injection drug and were ready to resume executions.

In addition to asking the Pinal County court for a mental fitness proceeding, lawyers for Dixon have filed two other lawsuits over the past week.

In one lawsuit, they asked a court to bar the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency from holding his April 28 clemency hearing, arguing the makeup of the board violates a state law limiting the number of people from the same profession from serving on the board. Three of the boards four current members are retired law enforcement professionals, the lawsuit said.

Dixons lawyers also filed a federal lawsuit protesting several conditions of his confinement since the execution warrant was issued and he was moved to another cell where he is observed around the clock and has limited access to personal property.

As of Friday afternoon, no hearings had been scheduled in either lawsuit.

Arizona has 112 prisoners on death row.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Police: More than 900 civilian bodies found in Kyiv region

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following Russia's withdrawal  most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were "simply executed.

The jarring number emerged shortly after Russias Defense Ministry promised to step up missile attacks on Kyiv in response to Ukraines alleged assaults on Russian territory. That ominous warning followed the stunning loss of Moscow's flagship in the Black Sea, which a senior U.S. defense official said Friday was indeed hit by at least one Ukrainian missile.

Amid its threats, Moscow continued preparations for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine. Fighting also went on in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Gov. Oleh Sinehubov.

Around Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of the capital's regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating 95% died from gunshot wounds.

Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets, Nebytov said.

It's not over: COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in US

Yet again, the U.S. is trudging into what could be another COVID-19 surge, with cases rising nationally and in most states after a two-month decline.

One big unknown? We dont know how high that mountains gonna grow, said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.

No one expects a peak nearly as high as the last one, when the contagious omicron version of the coronavirus ripped through the population.

But experts warn that the coming wave  caused by a mutant called BA.2 thats thought to be about 30% more contagious  will wash across the nation. They worry that hospitalizations, which are already ticking up in some parts of the Northeast, will rise in a growing number of states in the coming weeks. And the case wave will be bigger than it looks, they say, because reported numbers are vast undercounts as more people test at home without reporting their infections or skip testing altogether.

At the height of the previous omicron surge, reported daily cases reached into the hundreds of thousands. As of Thursday, the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases rose to 39,521, up from 30,724 two weeks earlier, according to data from Johns Hopkins collected by The Associated Press.

Ukrainian mom's pain at watching daughter's burial on phone

LVIV, Ukraine (AP)  Viktoria Kovalenko bore witness to the death of her husband and elder daughter when their car was hit by a shell in northern Ukraine.

By the time her loved ones got a proper funeral, she was 500 kilometers away, able to watch the burial only on a cellphone video sent to her by relatives.

Even in the relative peace of Lviv, a city little touched by violence in the war with Russia, it was an ordeal she couldnt endure.

Tears do not let me watch until the end, she said as she played the video in a wooded area where she was pushing her one year-old daughter Varvara in a stroller.

In early March, Kovalenko and her family were in their car, fleeing the area of the city of Chernihiv, one of the war's most intensely besieged.

Twitter adopts 'poison pill' defense in Musk takeover bid

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a poison pill defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musks proposal to buy the company for more than $43 billion and take it private.

The move would allow existing Twitter shareholders  except for Musk  to buy additional shares at a discount, thereby diluting Musk's stake in the company and making it harder for him to corral a majority of shareholder votes in favor of the acquisition.

Twitters plan would take effect if Musks roughly 9% stake grows to 15% or more.

The poison pill injects another twist into a melodrama surrounding the possibility of the worlds richest person taking over a social media platform he described Thursday as the world's de facto town square.

Twitter said its plan would reduce the likelihood that any one person can gain control of the company without either paying shareholders a premium or giving the board more time to evaluate an offer. Such defenses, formally called shareholder rights plans, are used to prevent the hostile takeover of a corporation by making any acquisition prohibitively expensive for the bidder.

Texas halts truck inspections that caused border gridlock

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday repealed his traffic-clogging immigration order that backed up commercial trucks at the U.S.-Mexico border, after a week of intensifying backlash and fears of deepening economic losses.

The Republican governor dropped his new rules that had required all commercial trucks from Mexico to undergo extra inspections to curb the flow of migrants and drugs and ratcheted up a fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy.

Some truckers reported waiting more than 30 hours to cross. Others blocked one of the world's busiest trade bridges in protest.

Abbott, who is up for reelection in November and has made the border his top issue, fully lifted the inspections after reaching agreements with neighboring Mexican states that he says outline new commitments to border security. The last one was signed with the governor of Tamaulipas, who earlier this week said the inspections were overzealous and created havoc. On Friday, he joined Abbott and said they were ready to work together.

When Abbott first ordered the inspections, he did not say lifting them was conditional on such arrangements with Mexico.

Officer's camera misses key moment of Patrick Lyoya's death

Body camera footage of Patrick Lyoyas fatal encounter with a Michigan police officer shows a close-up view of an intense struggle, but the video goes dark 42 seconds before the officer shoots the Black man in the head.

Its the latest high-profile case in which body cameras  touted as tools to hold police accountable  have failed, leaving prosecutors and the public to rely on bystander video for a clearer picture of what happened.

One expert said vendors could make changes to avoid accidental camera deactivations, though it's not clear that is what happened in Lyoya's case, and some activists said an accident seems unlikely. Regardless, Lyoyas family and their attorneys say it shows the importance of citizen video. The shooting was captured by Lyoyas passenger, with a cellphone, and a doorbell camera across the street.

Keep videoing the police because transparency is important for them and its sure important for us, said Ben Crump, an attorney for Lyoyas family.

The officer was on top of Lyoya, who was facedown on the ground, when he shot the 26-year-old Congolese refugee in the head April 4.

After bullets flew, NYC subway workers kept their cool

NEW YORK (AP)  When smoke bombs and bullets were unleashed on a subway full of morning commuters as it crawled toward a stop in Brooklyn, the train's driver, David Artis, couldn't hear the shots.

His first indication something was wrong was when passengers crowded near the door to his operator's compartment to report chaos, one car back.

Artis said after a moment of shock, his thoughts quickly shifted from, Oh my God! to concern for his passengers. He leaned on his emergency training.

Then it kicked in. Get them out, he said Friday after he and fellow transit workers were honored by the mayor for their response to Tuesday's shooting.

In a few minutes of lightning-quick decisions, Artis and train conductor Raven Haynes radioed in the attack, threw open the train doors and evacuated all of the passengers to another train on the same platform, then began getting aid to the wounded.

'Detest me with moderation,' Paris attacks defendant pleads

PARIS (AP)  The only surviving member of the Islamic State attack team that terrorized Paris in 2015 asked Friday for forgiveness and expressed condolences for the victims, wiping away tears during court testimony as he pleaded with survivors to detest me with moderation.

For years, Salah Abdeslam stayed silent about what happened Nov. 13, 2015 in the Bataclan theater, Paris cafes and the national stadium, and the 130 people who were killed. After his trial opened last year, he had a few outbursts of extremist bravado, but for months he refused to answer most questions.

Then this week, his words started flowing, in lengthy testimony that at times contradicted earlier statements. His words at times prompted angry outbursts from the public.

Survivors and victims families, who hope the extensive trial helps them find justice and clarity, had mixed reactions.

Abdeslam said the mastermind of the attacks convinced him two days beforehand to join the team of suicide bombers. The next day, Abdeslam said his brother Brahim showed him the cafe in northern Paris where Salah was meant to detonate himself in a crowd.

Trump backs GOPs JD Vance in US Senate primary in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Former President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed "Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance in Ohio's bitterly competitive Republican Senate primary, ending months of jockeying in a race where his backing could be pivotal.

In a statement, Trump described Vance as the candidate most qualified and ready to win in November.

"It is all about winning! he wrote.

The decision marks a major blow for Vance's top rivals  former state treasurer Josh Mandel, investment banker Mike Gibbons and former Ohio Republican Party chair Jane Timken  who have been locked in a heated and contentious race for both the nomination and Trump's backing in a primary that is now less than three weeks away.

On Thursday night, dozens of Republican leaders in Ohio mounted a last-minute effort to urge Trump not to endorse Vance following a news report that said Trump had made a decision.

States scale back food stamp benefits even as prices soar

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Month by month, more of the roughly 40 million Americans who get help buying groceries through the federal food stamp program are seeing their benefits plunge even as the nation struggles with the biggest increase in food costs in decades.

The payments to low-income individuals and families are dropping as governors end COVID-19 disaster declarations and opt out of an ongoing federal program that made their states eligible for dramatic increases in SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture began offering the increased benefit in April 2020 in response to surging unemployment after the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the country.

The result is that depending on the politics of a state, individuals and families in need find themselves eligible for significantly different levels of help buying food.

Nebraska took the most aggressive action anywhere in the country, ending the emergency benefits four months into the pandemic in July 2020 in a move Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts said was necessary to "show the rest of the country how to get back to normal.

Since then, nearly a dozen states with Republican leadership have taken similar action, with Iowa this month being the most recent place to slash the benefits. Benefits also will be cut in Wyoming and Kentucky in the next month. Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee have also scaled back the benefits.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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The oldest son of former President Donald Trump has met with the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. That's according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session. The interview with Donald Trump Jr. took place Tuesday. He's one of nearly 1,000 witnesses interviewed by members of the House committee as they work to compile a record of the worst attack on the Capitol in more than two centuries. He's the second of Trumps children known to speak to the committee. His sister Ivanka Trump sat down with lawmakers for eight hours in early April.
FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP)  In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.

The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

I think right now the whole Army is really looking at whats happening in Ukraine and trying to learn lessons, said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. Those lessons, she said, range from Russia's equipment and logistics troubles to communications and use of the internet.

The Russia-Ukraine experience is a very powerful illustration for our Army of how important the information domain is going to be," said Wormuth, who spent two days at the training center in the Mojave Desert watching an Army brigade wage war against the fictional Denovian forces.

"Weve been talking about that for about five years. But really seeing it and seeing the way Zelenskyy has been incredibly powerful. ... This is a world war that the actual world can see and watch in real time. 

At the center, the commander, Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor, and his staff have ripped pages out of the Russian playbook to ensure that U.S. soldiers are ready to fight and win against a sophisticated near-peer enemy.

It's a common tool. For example, his base and the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana both shifted to counterinsurgency training during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And the military services have focused other training on how to fight in cold weather  mimicking conditions in Russia or North Korea. But these latest changes have happened quickly in the early months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

About 4,500 soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, are out in the vast desert training area at Fort Irwin, where they will spend two weeks fighting the NTC's resident 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which acts as the enemy military. Soldiers from the regiment  known as Blackhorse  are arrayed in and around Ujen, which also includes role-players acting as the locals.

As the sun was rising earlier this past week, Army Col. Ian Palmer, the brigade commander, stood on Crash Hill, on the outskirts of the town, preparing his soldiers to launch an attack. Lines of tanks spread out in the distance. Heavy winds the night before hampered his progress, so the attack was a bit behind.

He said the exercise is using more drones by the friendly and enemy forces, both for surveillance and attacks. So his forces are trying to use camouflage and tuck into the terrain to stay out of sight. "You know if you can be seen, you can be shot, where ever you are, he said.

Down in the makeshift town, the opposition forces are confident they can hold off Palmer's brigade despite the size difference. The Denovians only have about 1,350 forces, but they are throwing everything they have at the brigade, from jamming and other electronic warfare to insurgency attacks and propaganda.

The role-players have their phones ready to film and post quickly to social media.

The Denovian forces want to portray the unit in the worst possible light, said Taylor, and constantly twist the narrative on social media so Palmer's troops realize they are in a battle for the truth.

That's a challenge, he said, because when I've got a bunch of casualties and Im getting overrun on my left flank and my supply trains arent where they need to be and I cant find the bulldozers, its hard to think about something that someone said about me on Twitter."

The training goal, said Taylor, is teaching the brigades that come in how to fuse all elements of their combat power into a coordinated assault.

Everyone can play an instrument, but it's about making music  bringing it all together in a synchronized fashion. And what you saw today was the artillery was doing the artillery thing, the aviation was doing the aviation thing and the maneuver guys were doing the maneuver thing. But part of the delay in their assault on the town was they couldnt synchronize those three," he said.

Again, they can look to Ukraine to see how Russia failed to do that in the early weeks of the war. U.S. leaders repeatedly noted that in Russia's initial multipronged assault in Ukraine, commanders consistently failed to provide the airstrikes and support their ground troops needed to move into key cities such as Kyiv.

That failure led to Russian troops bombing the cities from the outskirts, hitting hospitals, apartment buildings and other structures, and killing civilians.

So when the next brigade arrives as the training center, Taylor said it will face an enemy on board with doing just that.

We will be very focused on how to fight against an adversary that is willing to destroy infrastructure because that's how we think our adversaries will fight," Taylor said. "Weve got to be prepared for urban combat where we have an adversary that is indiscriminately firing artillery.

Wormuth, the Army secretary, said seeing the training also underscored other lessons the U.S. is taking from the war in Ukraine.

As were watching whats happening to the Russians now, its informative for us to think about what is right, from a modernization standpoint, she said, noting that some U.S. tanks are very heavy and the terrain in Europe is muddier, not like the hard-packed sand of the desert.

The Army, she said, has to determine whats the right balance between the mobility of a tank, the survivability of a tank and the lethality of a tank? If you want to make it more mobile, you make it lighter, but that makes it less survivable. And so you have to decide where youre going to take risks.

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Follow Lolita C. Baldor on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lbaldor

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Police have arrested a 22-year-old male in connection with a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolinas capital on Saturday that left 14 people injured.

Columbia Police Chief W.H. Skip Holbrook said one of three people initially detained by law enforcement as a person of interest, remains in police custody and is expected to be charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol. It is not immediately known if the suspect has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Holbrook said in a news release Saturday night that 14 people were injured ranging in ages from 15 to 73-years-old. Nine people were shot and the other five people suffered injuries while attempting to flee the mall for safety, police said.

The 73-year-old victim is the only person who continues to receive medical treatment, according to police. All the other victims have been treated and released or will be released shortly, the news release said. No fatalities were reported.

According to The State news site in Columbia, Columbia Police Deputy Chief Melron Kelly said some people might have been trampled after shots were fired.

Officers were "going store to store and closet to closet searching for someone with a weapon," Kelly said.

The mall parking lot was closed as emergency vehicles swarmed the mall area. A reunification site for loved ones was staged.

Law enforcement officers carrying long guns and wearing camouflage vests were seen walking into Dave & Busters at the mall.

For continuing developments in this story, read here:

 Tribune News Service contributed to this report.

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OMAHA -- A group of friends gathered at a Motel 6 hotel room near 84th Street and Interstate 80 for a party.

Also present on Sept. 4, 2020, were an assortment of illegal drugs and a stolen handgun. Drugged up on Xanax, ecstasy and LSD, 20-year-old Mason Beaverson handled the gun, at one point aiming it at someone. Partygoers told him to stop.

Then, Beaverson pointed the gun at 17-year-old Evan Latto, who himself had ingested methamphetamine, opioids and marijuana, and pulled the trigger. Latto was killed.

Douglas County District Judge Timothy Burns said Thursday that the tragic events of that night show that guns and drugs dont mix.

This was a preventable accident, Burns said. Theres no question you didnt mean to kill (Latto) ... but youll be forever responsible for his death.

Under Burns sentencing order, Beaverson will be eligible to leave prison in less than a year and must be released in less than 3 years.

Lattos parents didnt think the sentence was long enough.

Brooke Latto uttered a profanity after the judges ruling.

And Brad Latto added: I dont think its fitting at all.

Beaverson, now 22, initially was charged with second-degree murder. In March, he pleaded no contest to amended charges of manslaughter and possession of a stolen firearm. In exchange for the deal, prosecutors also dropped two additional gun and drug charges.

Beaverson had faced a maximum of 20 years in prison on each charge. Burns gave him 5 to 10 years on the manslaughter charge and 2 to 4 years on the gun charge, but he ruled that the sentences would run at the same time. That meant Beaverson will serve 2 to 5 years, following state law that generally cuts sentencings in half. Beaverson already had spent 586 days in jail counting toward that time.

Abbi Romshek, an assistant Douglas County public defender, said Beaverson called Latto a friend and a cousin and would give him food, a phone charger or money for a hotel room when needed.

But Beaverson lacked the maturity to make good decisions, Romshek argued, because of how young adults brains develop, meaning Beaverson had difficulty saying no and thinking through the long-term consequences of his actions.

A friend had asked Beaverson to hold the gun because the friends mother wanted it out of the house, Romshek said. In addition, Beaverson had addiction issues and faced related drug charges  just a week before Lattos death, he had pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. Two days before, hed had a hearing in adult drug court.

After Latto died, Romshek said, Beaverson couldnt sleep or eat in jail and was overwhelmed by flashbacks.

Hes already created a psychological prison for himself, Romshek said. Peace is not found in punishing others.

At that, Brooke Latto shook her head.

She told the judge that while she acknowledged Latto shouldnt have been at the party, she said the shooting wasnt an accident.

When you take a loaded gun and you pull it, thats intent, she said. He took away my future, my everything. ... His family gets to have him come home. I dont.

Shawn Hagerty, a Douglas County prosecutor, asked for a sentence closer to the maximum because of Beaversons inability to accept that he had made decisions that led to Lattos death  he continued to use drugs, he took possession of a firearm, he brought it to a party and he pulled the trigger.

He doesnt acknowledge that this was something that was in his control, Hagerty said. His choices resulted in someones death, and theres no more serious outcome than taking someones life.

The case is similar to a March incident involving a local teen who fatally shot his friend, except in that case officials have said alcohol instead of drugs was involved.

Blake Miller, 18, faces a manslaughter charge in connection with the March 12 death of his friend Tanner Farrell, 18. Miller was scheduled to appear in court this coming Monday, but waived that preliminary hearing Thursday and will be scheduled for trial.

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OMAHA  An Air Force pilot accelerates the E-4B Nightwatch jumbo jet down Offutt Air Force Bases single runway, following the bend in the Missouri River as it soars into a blue Midwest sky.

Once at altitude, the pilot lines up with the boom of a KC-135 aerial tanker, slurping up thousands of gallons of fuel to power a long training mission.

Flights just like that have taken place for years, ever since the Air Force first fielded the E-4Bs as a National Airborne Operations Center in the mid-1970s.

Now, for the first time, those training flights are taking place virtually, in a newly refurbished simulator at a warehouse in La Vista. About 40 Air Force officers and civilians gathered Thursday morning for a ceremony to open the new CymSTAR Training Center simulator facility.

Were going to usher in a new age for the E-4 community, said Maj. Gen. Andrew Gebara, commander of the Louisiana-based Eighth Air Force and the Joint Global Strike Operations Center, who oversees the E-4 mission.

The four-engine jets have earned the nickname the Doomsday plane because one of their chief missions is to maintain communications between military commanders and units in the field in the event of a nuclear war.

The plane also has several classified missions and is used to carry the Secretary of Defense on official trips, said Col. Brian Golden, commander of the Offutt-based 595th Command and Control Group, which operates the fleet of four E-4Bs.

The flying command center has seating for up to 112 people in six sections. Its controls and communications suite have been hardened to withstand an electromagnetic pulse, a damaging burst of radiation.

At all times, Golden said, one of the planes is airborne and a second is on the ground, its crew alert to take off within minutes. He called it the foundation for (nuclear) deterrence for our country.

But until now, the 595th has never had a dedicated simulator for E-4B flight crews. Instead they have traveled to Denver or Miami to use commercial flight simulators for the Boeing 747-200, a civilian version of the E-4B.

By having this trainer here, it is so much more convenient, said Dan Marticello, a retired Air Force colonel who is CymSTARs CEO. It will increase the pace of training, the amount of training, and it will increase our readiness.

Though similar, the 747-200 was not an exact match for the E-4B. The flight engineers stations for the military and civilian models are considerably different, Gebara said. And E-4B crews could not practice aerial refueling  a critical skill for military pilots  in civilian simulators.

As a result, about 80%-90% of pilot training is currently done in the jets and 10%-20% in the simulator, Golden said. With the CymSTAR facility opening so close to Offutt, those figures will be reversed.

Thats a huge cost savings, he said. The E-4B costs $147,000 an hour to fly, more than any other Air Force jet. Simulator time costs only a few hundred dollars an hour.

At $16 million, that makes the simulator look like a bargain.

In just over a quarter year, Ill save the entire cost, Golden said.

Its not clear why the Air Force had not previously purchased a simulator for an aircraft that performs such a critical mission. But the 595th was able to get one now because 747-200s have nearly disappeared from the skies. None of the worlds airlines still fly them.

The Air Force purchased the simulator from Kalitta Air, a Michigan-based cargo carrier, which stopped flying 747-200s in 2017.

It has been rebuilt as a true E-4B simulator, with an accurate flight engineers station and the capability to practice aerial refueling. It also has state-of-the-art visuals and upgraded computer systems to meet Defense Department cybersecurity standards.

They did a good job. Its perfect. It looks like an E-4B, Golden said.

He said flight crews will begin using it in June, though a few pilots  including Gebara  tried it out after the ceremony Thursday.

The simulator comes online as the Air Force prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the airborne command post mission. The mission was originally flown by EC-135 jets until the larger E-4s took over in the 1970s.

Formerly part of the Offutt-based 55th Wing, the mission transferred to the new 595th Command and Control Group in 2016.

The following year, an EF-1 tornado struck the Offutt flight line and damaged two of the E-4Bs, causing $8.3 million in damage. Then in 2019, the 595ths hangar was damaged and its alert facility destroyed in a devastating flood.

The units leadership now works out of the Riggs Building, formerly the home of U.S. Strategic Command and now the headquarters of the 55th Wing.

Flight and maintenance operations currently take place in temporary facilities at the Lincoln Airport during a two-year project to rebuild Offutts runway. A new permanent alert facility for the 595th is expected to be built in about five years.

The unit is also preparing for the retirement of its aircraft in the late 2020s, though the Air Force hasnt yet selected the model that will replace the venerable E-4Bs.

Its been a tumultuous time for a unit whose readiness the nation depends on.

Were supposed to be calm, in the background, always ready, Golden said. Were reliable for everyone.

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In a rare occurrence, three major faiths celebrated holy days on Friday. Christians observed Good Friday. Judaism celebrated Passover, which begin at sundown on Friday and lasts for eight days. Friday also marked the continuation of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began April 1. Western Christian churches will celebrate Easter on Sunday, and Eastern Orthodox churches will follow suit a week later, on April 24.  Journal editorial board
ORLANDO, Fla.  During this weeks National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, a Colorado State University professor proposed a better way to predict the damages of a devastating hurricane  do away with the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

Hurricane specialist Philip Klotzbach spoke Tuesday about his crusade in doing away with the famous wind scale in favor of measuring surface pressure, the force exerted on the sea surface by the air above, as a better metric to predict hurricane damages.

Wind hasnt worked recently, said Klotzbach, a CSU meteorology professor. Its not bad but pressure actually does (predict) better.

Klotzbach spoke Tuesday to a standing-room-only event during the four-day biannual Orlando conference, which showcases experts, authorities and entrepreneurs from all over the country versed in climatology, emergency management and tropical phenomenon.

His pitch was simple: Replace the wind scale for a pressure scale. Klotzbach is not the only person supporting a movement of using pressure over wind, and Tuesday was not the first time the CSU professor pitched the idea. During the 2020 hurricane season, Klotzbach and other meteorological scholars published a paper about the subject, but it went largely ignored and overshadowed by a storm of a different nature  the COVID-19 pandemic, Klotzbach said.

Frankly, I think to get attention, we need a large hurricane like a Hurricane Ike, which was a Category 2, Klotzbach said. People said, Oh, its not a major hurricane, Im not going anywhere. And then, you know, 15-20 feet of storm surge in the Baltimore peninsula, and all those people lost their lives.

Last week, CSU released its predictions for an above-average hurricane season this year predicting 19 named storms.

The Saffir-Simpson scale, which ranks hurricanes based on wind strength from categories 1 through 5, was first made in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Since then, the scale has become the most used tool in communicating a storms strength to the public.

It became more than just the wind, it became kind of the overall damage that the storm was likely to cause, Klotzbach said.

Earlier versions of the scale in the 70s do incorporate central pressure as a metric, but it was removed for reasons that arent clear.

The NOAA describes the Saffir-Simpson scale as an example of the types of damages associated with winds, but also acknowledges the scale doesnt address other potential impacts for other hurricane-related hits such as storm surge, rainfall-induced floods and tornadoes.

Understanding pressure is crucial to Klotzbachs argument. Pressure is what is largely responsible for storm surge  which the National Hurricane Center has said is the most deadly force a hurricane produces. In 2019, the NHC found that most people consider wind to be the greater destructive force in a hurricanes arsenal, but that isnt the case, said NHCs storm surge specialist Cody Fritz.

Historically, storm surge has contributed to about half of storm-related deaths, Fritz said.

A study of storm damage between 2007 and 2021 found that Saffir-Simpson scale predictions mostly didnt see much of a consistent relationship between forecasted wind and excessive hurricane damages, according to CSU. However, CSU found a very strong relationship between predicted pressure and damages to an area, Klotzbach said.

Consider a tale of two hurricanes: 2004s Charley and 2005s Katrina. Both were devastating storms, but measuring the wind speeds before landfall predicted Category 5 Charley as the more threatening storm. Katrina was measured in as a Category 3 storm before landfall.

But if we look at the pressure for Katrina, it was much lower than for Charlie when it made landfall, Klotzbach said.

The lower the pressure, the bigger the storm and more widespread its winds tend to reach, which means not only is there a wider coverage of strong winds but also a greater exertion of storm surge.

Hurricane Charley was devastating for Southwest and Central Florida, but the storm only produced about 7 feet of surge. Katrina put New Orleans through 28 feet of storm surge.

The levees failed in New Orleans and all the damage that caused was devastating, but even had the levees held in New Orleans, we had 200 fatalities in Mississippi from storm surge, Klotzbach said. About 1,800 people in total died because of Katrina. Comparatively, Charley was responsible for 37 deaths.

Applying the surface pressure scale to Katrina would have labeled the storm as a Category 5 hurricane, according to Klotzbach. The same could be said for 2012s Super Storm Sandy, which made landfall in New Jersey as an extratropical storm under the wind scale, but a pressure scale wouldve labeled it as a Category 4 hurricane.

So why do meteorologists include the wind scale in the public forecast? Some argue its because most people dont understand what surface pressure is, Klotzbach said.

But I dont think most people really understand what wind is either, he said.

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Across the Arctic, strange things are happening to the landscape.

Massive lakes, several square miles in size, have disappeared in the span of a few days. Hillsides slump. Ice-rich ground collapses, leaving the landscape wavy where it once was flat, and in some locations creating vast fields of large, sunken polygons.

Its evidence that permafrost, the long-frozen soil below the surface, is thawing. Thats bad news for the communities built above it  and for the global climate.

As an ecologist, I study these dynamic landscape interactions and have been documenting the various ways permafrost-driven landscape change has accelerated over time. The hidden changes underway there hold warning for the future.

What is permafrost?

Permafrost is perennially frozen soil that covers about a quarter of the land in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in Canada, Russia and Alaska. Much of it is rich with the organic matter of long-dead plants and animals frozen in time.

These frozen soils maintain the structural integrity of many northern landscapes, providing stability to vegetated and unvegetated surfaces, similar to load-bearing support beams in buildings.

As temperatures rise and patterns of precipitation change, permafrost and other forms of ground ice become vulnerable to thaw and collapse. As these frozen soils warm, the ground destabilizes, unraveling the interwoven fabric that has delicately shaped these dynamic ecosystems over millennia. Wildfires, which have been increasing across the Arctic, have been increasing the risk.

Thawing permafrost can cause the ground to sink and crack in places, destabilizing roads and buildings. Orjan F. Ellingvag/Corbis via Getty Images

Under the surface, something else is active  and it is amplifying global warming. When the ground thaws, microbes begin feasting on organic matter in soils that have been frozen for millennia.

These microbes release carbon dioxide and methane, potent greenhouse gases. As those gases escape into the atmosphere, they further warm the climate, creating a feedback loop: Warmer temperatures thaw more soil, releasing more organic material for microbes to feast on and produce more greenhouse gases.

The evidence: disappearing lakes

Evidence of human-caused climate change is mounting across the permafrost extent.

The disappearance of large lakes, multiple square miles in size, is one of the most striking examples of recent patterns of northern landscape transitions.

The lakes are draining laterally as wider and deeper drainage channels develop, or vertically through taliks, where unfrozen soil under the lake gradually deepens until the permafrost is penetrated and the water drains away.

There is now overwhelming evidence indicating that surface water across permafrost regions is declining. Satellite observations and analysis indicate lake drainage may be linked with permafrost degradation. Colleagues and I have found it increases with warmer and longer summer seasons.

Gullies created by thawing soil drain a lake in the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska. Christian Andresen and Mark J. Lara, CC BY-ND

This insight came after some of the highest rates of catastrophic lake drainage  drainage that occurs over a few days due to permafrost degradation  on record were observed over the past five years in northwestern Alaska.

The disappearance of lakes across the permafrost extent is likely to affect the livelihoods of Indigenous communities as water quality and water availability important for waterfowl, fish and other wildlife shift.

Slumping hills and polygon fields

The thaw and collapse of buried glacial ice is also causing hillsides to slump at increasing rates across the Russian and North American Arctic, sending soil, plants and debris sliding downslope.

One new study in northern Siberia found that the disturbed land surfaces increased over 300% over the past two decades. Similar studies in northern and northwestern Canada found slumping there also accelerated with warmer and wetter summers.

Slumping hillsides show how easily thermokarst landscape erodes in Canadas Aulavik National Park. Sarah Beattie/Parks Canada An ice wedge dated to the late Pleistocene era in Noatak National Preserve in Alaska. David Swanson/National Park Service

In flat terrain, ice wedges are able to develop, creating unusual geometric patterns and changes across the land.

Over decades to centuries, melting snow seeps into cracks in the soil, building up wedges of ice. These wedges cause troughs in the ground above them, creating the edges of polygons. Polygonal features naturally form as a result of the freezing and thawing process in a way similar to that seen at the bottom of drying mud flats. As ice wedges melt, the ground above collapses.

Even in extremely cold high Arctic environments, the impacts of only a few uncommonly warm summers can dramatically change the surface of the landscape, transitioning previously flat terrain into undulating as the surface begins to sink into depressions with the melting of ice in the soil below. Overall rates of ice wedge thawing have increased in response to climate warming.

Thawing pingo and polygons  a mound and depressions formed by ice wedges  in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Emma Pike /Wikimedia

How permafrost ice wedges cause tundra polygons.

Across many Arctic regions, this thawing has also been hastened by wildfire. In a recent study, colleagues and I found that wildfires in Arctic permafrost regions increased the rate of thaw and vertical collapse of the frozen terrain for up to eight decades after fire. Because both climate warming and wildfire disturbance are projected to increase in the future, they may increase the rate of change in northern landscapes.

The impact of recent climate and environmental change have also been felt at lower latitudes in the lowland boreal forest. There, ice-rich permafrost plateaus  elevated permafrost islands heaved above adjacent wetlands  have rapidly degraded across Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia. They can look like cargo ships filled with sedges, shrubs, and trees sinking into wetlands.

Why does it matter?

Frigid temperatures and short growing seasons have long limited the decomposition of dead plants and organic matter in northern ecosystems. Because of this, nearly 50% of global soil organic carbon is stored in these frozen soils.

The abrupt transitions were seeing today  lakes becoming drained basins, shrub tundra turning into ponds, lowland boreal forests becoming wetlands  will not only hasten the decomposition of buried permafrost carbon, but also the decomposition of above-ground vegetation as it collapses into water-saturated environments.

Russia has a large part of the worlds permafrost. When Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, some Western institutions paused funding for scientific studies there after years of international cooperation. Joshua Stevens/NASA Red areas are talik, or unfrozen ground above permafrost, expected in the 2050s in five northern Alaska parks. Permafrost thickness varies with climatic conditions and landscape history. For example, the active layer that thaws in summer may be less than a foot thick near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, or a few feet thick near Fairbanks, while the average permafrost thickness below these sites has been estimated to be around 2,100 to 300 feet, respectively (about 660 to 90 meters), but varies greatly. National Park Service

Climate models suggest the impacts of such transitions could be dire. For example, a recent modeling study published in Nature Communications suggested permafrost degradation and associated landscape collapse could result in a 12-fold increase in carbon losses in a scenario of strong warming by the end of the century.

This is particularly important because permafrost is estimated to hold twice as much carbon as the atmosphere today. Permafrost depths vary widely, exceeding 3,000 feet in parts of Siberia and 2,000 feet in northern Alaska, and rapidly decrease moving south. Fairbanks, Alaska, averages around 300 feet (90 meters). Studies have suggested that much of the shallow permafrost, 10 feet (3 meters) deep or less, would likely thaw if the world remains on its current warming trajectory.

To add insult to injury, in water-logged environments lacking oxygen, microbes produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas 30 times more effective at warming the planet than carbon dioxide, though it doesnt stay in the atmosphere as long.

Methane from thawing permafrost bubbles up from an Arctic bog in Sweden. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

How big of a problem thawing permafrost is likely to become for the climate is an open question. We know it is releasing greenhouse gases now. But the causes and consequences of permafrost thaw and associated landscape transitions are active research frontiers.

One thing is certain: The thawing of previously frozen landscapes will continue to change the face of high-latitude ecosystems for years to come. For people living in these areas, slumping land and destabilizing soil will mean living with the risks and costs, including buckling roads and sinking buildings.

[Get fascinating science, health and technology news. Sign up for The Conversations weekly science newsletter.]

Mark J. Lara receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

In February a landmark United Nations science report said climate change is about to get much worse and likely make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier and way more dangerous in the next 18 years:

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Im a college professor, which is one of those jobs that people outside the profession love to ask you about. For the better part of a decade, most of those conversations have been about one thing: free speech. Are universities, once sites of pure, open intellectual discourse, no longer so pure? What is the future of this endeavor Ive dedicated my life to, if my peers and I are afraid to speak our minds?

In one way, this interest makes sense. An enormous amount of high-profile media coverage has been dedicated to what is said, or not said, on certain campuses: students upset by Antigone at Oberlin (a subject that garnered a 5,000-word feature in the New Yorker); a lecturer resigning at Yale over the wording of an email about Halloween costumes (a New York Times feature, and many more); the Letter on Justice and Open Debate in Harpers, signed by professors at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and Northwestern (among others). The latest entry in the genre is a March piece in the New York Times by a senior at the University of Virginia, who reported that student dogma made her self-censor. Like so many of its ilk, the piece spawned outrage in her defense from some and scorn from othersanother chance to relitigate what is accepted as the issue in higher education in America.

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Each time this happens, I wait for someone to ask me about it. And I always tell my interlocutors the same thing: I dont recognize my school at all in the conversations about what conversation is apparently like at universities in America. I never have.

I teach at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Were a school of nearly 8,000 students between grad and undergrad. Were historically a regional school for southern Massachusetts, and though weve had some academic milestones in recent years, we bear more of a resemblance to the majority of the roughly 5,300 institutions in American higher education than, say, Oberlin, Yale, Berkeley, or the University of Virginia.

Think of how many of those 5,300 schools youve actually heard of. Now think how many youve seen mentioned in conversations about what does, or should, happen in a college classroom. U.S. News and World Reports top 25 collegeswhere, inevitably, most of these stories are sethave around 250,000 undergraduates enrolled per year. There are roughly 16 million undergraduates around the country at any given time. Those other 5,275 schools with millions and millions of students are where the vast majority of college learning in America happens. Whatever side you take on various arguments about speech at elite universities, youre participating in a conversation that willfully ignores this truth.

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A large portion of our student body at UMassDartmouth is first-generation college students. Many are first- or second-generation immigrants, and many others come from white working-class families. This combination reflects the makeup of the universitys surroundings but also higher education across the country. By 2016, more than half of all college students in the United States were the first in their family to go, and by 2020 more than a quarter were either immigrants or the children of immigrants. It is impossible for classroom conversations not to reflect that diversity of background. And all of this is saddled with the weight of the unfamiliarity of the college experience, the enormous promise that our culture heaps onto the achievement of getting into college followed immediately by the anti-intellectual skepticism increasingly associated with the actual practice of higher learning. Plus, just for good measure: the debt.

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For a professor at a school like mine, the tension created by these circumstances defines the job. The trick isnt convincing students to drop their dogmas. Its convincing them that the stuff were talking about could matter in lives already complicated by many other thingsthat they could create a space of excitement or pleasure, one worth the commitment. I think their sense of the purpose of college is constantly shifting, and often under stress. My conceptions of my own teaching, my values and goals, are always under scrutiny and changing as well. Each class is an act of enormous shared challenge and, ultimately, faith.

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I teach in an English department, primarily creative writing and journalism classes. My courses are all built around discussion. What I find most foreign in accounts of free speech on campuses is the depiction of militancy among students, a monolith of kids who, in these representations, apparently show up at age 18 secure in their views and voice and the power of that voice in an academic setting. Instead, what I observe to be the biggest hurdle for my students is the challenge of allowing themselves to speak, which means feeling at home, engaged, and empowered enough to validate their own perspective as worthy of the discussion. At the beginning of each semester, there is reticence to get into debates in class, but it isnt coming from some sense of political fear and self-silencing. Its an act of negotiation, the students coaxing themselves toward a feeling of agency, security, investment, and hopefully community. In my experience, students work really hard to make others feel welcome because theyre going through the same process. They are, by and large, far gentler with one anothers ideas than their own.

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For a lot of students, studying the humanities means giving themselves over to their passion for reading, writing, and discussion, while constantly being asked by themselves and others to defend these acts as worthwhile. I would (often do) argue that they are, but either way this tension permeates every discussionsometimes explicitly, sometimes not.

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I had one student I taught in three separate courses who made it very explicit. In each class, he was present, curious, a really good writer; I think he liked what we were discussing and took it all seriously, but there were at least a few days each semester that began combatively, with him reminding me about the tens of thousands of dollars of debt he carried, pushing me about what the point of all this was. Couldnt he just get an associate degree for this stuff? Why did he have to keep facing down four years of expensive uncertainty? Other students invariably joined in. This never stunted the conversation about whatever text Id assigned, but it did put a charge on it, an entry point that many of them shared that was part of our discourse, even if that hadnt been my goal. I had to bring a level of risk and personal investment to the table that it wouldve been much easier to shelve in the name of authority. I dont know that I ever had a good enough answer for this student. I did, however, watch him grow as a thinker and a writer, almost in spite of himself. I wish hed been able to enjoy our conversations more, even as he gamely participated. I wish there was a concrete way to prove to him, and myself, that this was all worth it.

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Less dramatic examples of this underlying dynamic pop up constantly. Earlier this semester, in one class we ended up having an unplanned conversation about how often students use the word pretentious as a catchall term for snooty, and how they mostly turn it inward: worrying that their ideas are too pretentious, abandoning an essay because they were going for something different that might reek of the word. It was a conversation, ultimately, about permission, about this need to feel like the things theyre working on, hopefully throwing themselves into, are worth the time, are doing something beyond self-indulgence. Pressurea good pressure, I thinkwas again put on me to essentially defend my class. And again, I have no idea if I convinced anyone, but they were generous and good-humored in the conversation, and I really enjoyed the essays they turned in that week.

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To think that these students might be there in bad faith, or are just looking to pile on someone who doesnt get the same things they do, borders on disrespect, especially when they are often so unsure of their own ability to get it, even as theyre thriving. That takes real intellectual and emotional work, and many are undertaking this challenge while working full time, or caregiving full time, or both; on a number of occasions over the years, students have parked their kids in the back with some headphones because they couldnt find child care. During pandemic learning, students were Zooming into our discussions from ROTC training barracks, or their car while dropping their mother off for treatment, or a patients bedside during a long hospice shift.

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As in the haunted depictions of the college classroom in much of the press, students are often remarkably open about their backgrounds and may bring their cultural identity, or queer identity, or neurodivergent identity, or race, or religion, or mental health into our conversationsbut not as a cudgel. Its simply a part of the complex circumstances that shape their perspectives. Im not going to enumerate examples here; these are their stories that theyre generous enough to share with a classroom community. But I can say that in nearly every class period, a student will bring a facet of their own identity to their reading of a particular text. This used to worry me; Id think we were drifting away from the safety and rigor of objective discourse into some minefield of interpersonal slights. But I never saw those fears manifested. I am forever impressed by the respect with which they treat one anothers lives. No wonder this image of an uber-liberal, hyper-focused mob snarling back at me in the classroom rings untrue. Who has the time?

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Am I romanticizing here? Some, yes. Im sure plenty of my students would give less rosy depictions of my classes, and I am not at all immune to complaining about my job. But far more romantic is the generalized idea we have of what college should look like, one that plenty of academics have internalizedblazers and scarves, teensy seminar classes where everyone is breathless with the intensity of debate. If we pretend thats the ideal, anything that falls short of the fantasy is an act of betrayal, and then we dont have to negotiate with the realities of the college classroom as it is now, or the deep flaws that always existed within the ideal.

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The notion that conservative white voices might feel uncomfortable in a classroom like mine doesnt hold up in comparison to the reality that, even at a relatively diverse campus like mine, these provocative conversations are often had in predominantly white classrooms. Throw on top of that the overwhelming whiteness of my department faculty, myself includedthat is a threat to open, rigorous academic discourse. Or what about the fact that my experience is shaped by the increasingly rare luxury of tenure? When more than half of college classes in America are taught by underpaid, temporary adjunct professors, the idea that mean students are really what threatens the future of college and academic discourse is laughable.

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Theres just so much to cover in thinking about the challenges facing higher education in America. Its an industry at an inflection point: The future feels entirely, terrifyingly uncertain. Which is why devoting so much space to coverage of the freedom that certain wildly ambitious people on wildly prestigious (and rich) campuses do or dont feel is so misguided. It continues this fantasy that academias concerns are elite, a semantic playground for those who have the time and luxury to play. There are so few true ivory towers. Alongside them, millions of people are trying to teach and learn, under duress, and largely invisible.
Welcome to this weeks edition of the Surge, the favorite politics newsletter of a certain Jesus Christ. Big weekend for Jesus.





Congress was out this week, so we turn most of our attention to election season, which is beginning to have that distinctive getting real odor about it. Specifically, we refer to the 2024 election, sacred rituals of which are under attack from both the Republican and Democratic parties. As for these rinky-dink 2022 midterms, Republicans are getting a little less worried about blowing a safely red seat in Missouri, and the Alabama governor is giving the people (Trump) what they want.





Lets start with Trump, whos taken a risky turn with his endorsements.





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Sign up for Situation Report, a weekly dispatch of national security, defense, and cybersecurity news, from Foreign Policys Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch.





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Sign up to receive the Future Tense newsletter every other Saturday.

2022 isnt leaving much behind the curtain. WeCrashed, The Dropout, and Super Pumped all provide a fly-on-the-wall perspective on the fascinating-for-their-banality rise of WeWork, Theranos, and Uber. What these brilliantly executed TV adaptations of their source podcasts, documentaries, and books all reveal is that billionaire venture capitalists are as desperate for a good story as any home-quarantined TV binge-watcher, not to mention the various streaming services trying to catch up to Netflix.

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In real time, meanwhile, pretenses are also being dropped left and right, revealing the quintessence (sorry, I also rewatched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty this week) of people and institutions. Putin is being Putin. Elon is being Elon. And I suspect the rest of us, too, are being more ourselves these days than ever before.

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In this respect, the most revealing show of the current glut of compelling must-watch streaming fare is not one of the ripped-from-the-headlines shows about our bubbly unicorns, but Severance, the Apple TV+ show about a mysterious workplace that forces a very distinctive form of work/life balance upon its employees, via a neurological procedure that separates workers at-work (innie) memories and awareness from their at-home (outie) selves. Without giving much away, the first season, culminating in the gripping finale The We We Are, toys with the yearning our workplace innies feel to be un-severed, to drop the separation between our innies and outies.

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Severance, remarkably, works as both dystopian sci-fi and as a too-close-for-comfort portrait of sterile workplaces. As such, its fitting that unlike so much dystopian fiction set in an indeterminate future, Severance, despite the futuristic consciousness-severing procedure, seems to be set in an indeterminate past (judging by the cars and some of the office technology). Because really, even for those of us who dont work in Lumon Industries magnificently named MacroData Refinement department, any severance between our workplace innies and at-home outies belongs distinctly in our prepandemic pasts. And the unsevered we that we are dont really see a way back, no matter how many perks Mr. Milchick offers us.

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I am not only talking about whether we will all go back to the office and carry on like it is 2019. Its about who we will be once back, because regardless of how many workers return to the office for however many days a week, the pandemics great unsevering is here to stay. Reconfigured offices might be repopulated (aided perhaps by more defiant jazz musical dance experiences and coffee cozies) again, but they will no longer be populated by severed inniesit will be our fellow outties we got to know during the pandemic times.

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Weve seen each others cats and dogs on Zoom, been interrupted by each others kids, admired each others home decor, and become accustomed to toggling between the workplace and home without the one severance-aiding procedure we have always had at our disposal: the daily commute. For better and worse, we are unsevered, and our workplaces, and workmates, are going to have to accommodate the we we are.

Here are stories from the recent past of Future Tense:

Jane C. Hu What Happened When I Tried to Claim I Was 146 Years Old on Instagram

Joshua A. Tucker The People Who Believe Russias Disinformation

Justin Sherman Russias War on Google and Apple Maps

Jaime Green What the Most Distant Star Ever Discovered Can Tell Us About the Universe

Wish Wed Published This

Big Electric Trucks and SUVs Are the New Gas Guzzlers, by Nicolas Rivero and Amanda Shendruk, Quartz

Future Tense Recommends

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Rarely does a book come along that connects as many dots as elegantly as The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century by Moises Naim. Naim describes what such seemingly disparate figures as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have in common. To gain, wield, and keep power, they embrace the three Ps: populism, polarization, and post-truth. Future Tensers will especially appreciate Naims insights on how these figures leverage technology and media to create alternative truths adopted by their bases, and his keen observations on why they feel so compelled to do so. Naim argues that the much-maligned post-Cold War, end of history notion that the Western democratic model was the only legitimate form of government has much staying power. Thats why autocrats like Putin, who in other eras would have happily dismissed the trappings of democracy, feel compelled to maintain the appearances of democratic legitimacy. The result is the manufacture of ever more fanciful alternative/post-truth narratives that exacerbate polarization everywhere.

What Next: TBD

On Fridays episode of Slates technology podcast, Lizzie OLeary and Slate Money co-host Felix Salmon discussed Elon Musks stunning bid to take over Twitter. Just last week, Lizzie interviewed Ranjan Roy, writer of the Margins newsletter, about why Musks purchase of 9.1 percent of Twitter stock could really be about him trolling the SEC. She also talked to Wall Street Journal tech reporter Preetika Rana about Ubers surprising new partnership with taxis. Coming up tomorrow in celebration of Tax Day: why the Federal Trade Commission is suing Intuit over TurboTax.

Upcoming Events

Imagining Transportation Futures with Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Wednesday, April 20, at 10:30 Eastern.

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If you are the secretary of transportationthe federal governments point person for tending to our urgent transportation infrastructure needshow much time and space do you have to think expansively about the longer-term future of transportation, of how we and our goods will cross town, and the country, in coming generations, and how that will affect how we live? Future Tense will ask Pete Buttigieg what role imagination plays in managing a federal department as sprawling and impactful as the Department of Transportation. We will also discuss with three of our accomplished Future Tense Fiction authors (Annalee Newitz, Linda Nagata, and Tochi Onyebuchi) whether they think of their fictional/speculative futures as blueprints drafted for policymakers like Buttigieg.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Refugees from Ukraine at the pedestrian border crossing in Velke Slemence, March 1, 2022. (Source: SITA)

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Katarina Paleckova came to the border with Ukraine through the initiative of Debora, a refuge for mothers with children in Banska Bystrica, where her mother works.

I was part of the team working in the customs area, a first contact point for the refugees, Paleckova, an external communication specialist at Danone, described for The Slovak Spectator. They made tea or coffee, prepared food packages, and distributed blankets, gloves, toys or hygiene products. She admitted the situation was quite different from what she read about in the news. When you stand on the border and see these people coming, its very hard not to cry with them.

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To be able to help at the Ukrainian border, Paleckova was given three days of paid leave from her employer.

Several other companies active in Slovakia have taken a similar approach. They support volunteers who help non-governmental organisations or join projects of aid to refugees.

Accommodation, work, school. How to get to Slovakia and how to proceed? Read more

Previous experience an asset for corporate volunteers

Dominika Hradiska, the coordinator of volunteers in #WhoWillHelpUkraine, an online platform covering multiple forms of support, assistance and aid for people impacted by the war in Ukraine and forced to flee to Slovakia, confirms that companies quickly responded to the new situation.
In this week's Rewind Robert Smith recalls a very important milestone in harness racing history. He takes readers back to over 40 years ago when Vernon Downs recorded its 1,000th "Miracle Mile" in the track's history. He also recalls some early happenings related to the unique Vernon Downs and a bit of its now long history.

Close to 70 years ago the sport of harness racing literally took on a new dimension. When Vernon Downs, nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of Central New York, opened their recently completed track for business everything was brand new  even the size of the track. While trotters and pacers had been competing for centuries, they had nearly always "done their thing" on a half-mile track and in a few rare locations over a mile track. The architects of the new ultra-modern Vernon Downs thought it was time for a change. Their track was laid out at a new distance of 3/4 mile.

The track logo shown above displayed a profile of the track's unique shape (Harness Horse photo)

If you were part of the opening day crowd back on July 1, 1953 you might have been a little confused if you had the right place for harness racing. A quick look at the track showed a six furlong oval with a quarter mile chute. This seemed like the perfect confirmation for a minor league thoroughbred track, but it was indeed built for harness racing.

A view of the Vernon track layout as it appeared back in 1953 just before it opened. The starting chute is at the left (Hoof Beats)

The stable area at Vernon at the time of its opening in 1953 (Hoof Beats Photo)

The theory behind the plan was that it would provide safety and speed, and it did. In 1955 the pacer Adios Harry paced the mile in 1:55, a record that stood for 18 years. For all practical purposes the three-quarter mile track was actually a mile track. In the early years Vernon Downs because of its speed ended up on the Grand Circuit tour and many of the top horses and drivers competed at the oval.

From its very beginning the Vernon track attracted the top horses and horsepeople from all areas of the country. In the inaugural season names such as Wayne "Curly" Smart, Ralph Baldwin, Joe O'Brien, Tom Berry, Frank Ervin, Jimmy Wingfield and many more were regulars at the new track. During opening week a young lad named Buddy Gilmour, then just 21, won six races in the first four nights to become the first driver to accomplish that feat. He was already driving like a seasoned veteran.

By the third year of operation Vernon Downs was setting records like never seen before. One horse in particular seemed to do very well nearly every time he set foot on the track. It almost seemed like Adios Harry set a new record in every appearance.

Adios Harry in full flight at Vernon with Luther Lyons driving. This horse drew national attention to the new Vernon track when he paced a number of very fast miles in 1955. (Photo courtesy of Rebecca Batson Kidner)

Milestone Reached In 1980

Ms. Hermi Kinne secretary in the Vernon Downs Publicity Dept. is shown adjusting the sign on the Vernon records board after the track recorded its historic 1,000th "miracle mile" (photo from the Standardbred Record)

After over 25 years of racing had passed, in 1980 Vernon Downs recorded its 1,000th "Miracle Mile." On the evening of August 16, 1980 a 1:57.2 mile by the pacer J Js Apollo driven by Bill Adams established the historic record. This horse was trained by Susan Keleti for co-owners The Turf Stable of New York, Geri and Robert Linski of New Jersey and the Kevbro Stable of Florida.

Somewhat amazing to me was the fact that in the first 1,000 sub 2:00 miles the ratio of pacers to trotters was very lopsided. From the 1,000 miles, 914 were on the pacing gait while just 86 were trotters. In 1980 when this milestone was reached the fastest trotting mile in the track's history was held by Speed In Action and driver Delvin Miller at 1:57. The fastest pacing mile belonged to none other than Niatross who zipped over the three-quarter mile strip in 1:53.3 for part owner Clint Galbraith.

VERNON DOWNS TRIVIA QUESTION

When Vernon notched their 1,000th sub 2:00 mile in 1980 they became the fourth track in history to achieve that distinction. Can you name the three tracks that preceded them?

Closing Note: In 2000 after 47 years of the unique six-furlong track configuration replete with a chute for starting one-mile races in the homestretch, a new 7/8-mile oval was unveiled on July 1 coincidental with the date the track opened in 1953. (Courtesy of Vernon Downs website)

Shown below are a few old photos related to the history of Vernon Downs, particularly the earlier years. See if you can answer the questions related to each picture.



1. Can you name this legendary horse who became rather famous racing at Vernon and later had a bar named after him.



2. These two horses, both with Canadian connections, are involved in a pretty close finish. Can you identify the horses and drivers and also name the winner? No further clues offered other than "be careful" when you pick the winner.



3. These two famous drivers were part of the first year racing scene in 1953. Can you name them both?

Quote For The Week: In the early days of racing at the Vernon track people marvelled at the speeds that were achieved with regularity. When veteran and colourful Canadian horseman Morrie MacDonald was asked what he thought about all the fast times recorded at the 3/4 mile track he responded: "That track is so fast I could go a 1/4 mile in 30 seconds without a horse."

Who Is It?



The above gentleman was a very successful driver at Vernon early in his career. Can you name him?

Who Else Is It?



This is an oldie so I will give some clues. During the first year of racing at Vernon this veteran Canadian owned horse and driver made at least one trip to the winner's circle. This horse and driver were earlier winners of the Canadian Pacing Derby when it was held at New Hamburg, Ont. but not as a pair. The horse won it with another driver and the driver won this famous race with another horse. The driver's grandson (and namesake) was a longtime official in Ontario racing circles. (Harness Horse photo)
Danny Warrens family is celebrating life over death this Easter Sunday, but their triumphant story goes beyond whats typically told from the pulpit.

Warrens wife, Alma Zepeda, gave birth before Christmas, got COVID-19, went downhill quickly and spent 2 months on a ventilator. Those involved with her case, from doctors and nurses to a chaplain, told Warren it was time to let her go, that her lungs were so badly damaged, shed never breathe on her own again.

Warren wouldnthe couldntaccept it. He saw his 40-year-old wife and Army veteran as a strong and independent woman, a police officer in Alexandria who investigates crimes against children. The couple have two little ones, a toddler named Jacob who loves everything about Wreck-It Ralph, and a newborn, Olivia, who barely had the chance to be snuggled by her mother.

He was convinced his wife had a full life ahead of her.

I kept saying, no, her storys not done yet, he said. Her storys not done.

As Warren prayedhis mother, Tammy, said he got on his knees a lothe asked others to join him, from neighbors in North Stafford to co-workers, friends and even those with Joel Osteens television network.

He believes those prayers and conversationsand being at his wifes bedside almost every day, asking questions and pleading for more timeled him to the manufacturers of an experimental drug, which officials at Mary Washington Hospital agreed to administer.

With the treatment, the mother went from being on deaths door to waking up from her medically induced coma. She started to talk again, despite months of inactivity and sedation.

She was transferred to Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Fredericksburg in mid-March to relearn how to use her hands and feet, which were severely impacted by being bedbound for so long.

In less than a month, she was able to come homethrilled to meet her goal of being back in time for Jacobs third birthday on April 10. When she got up from her wheelchair at Encompass and rang a bell signifying that portion of her treatment was over, health officials around her applaudedand wiped away a few tears.

Emotional, remarkable, miraculous, upliftingtheres no shortage of positive adjectives to describe the whole story, said Dr. Ali Hafiz, who works with Pulmonary Associates of Fredericksburg and treated Zepeda in MWHs intensive care unit.

He developed a particular connection with Warren as both men welcomed home babies in late December. When Hafiz saw Zepeda spiraling downwardand heard Warrens pleas for helpthe doctor thought about his own wife and child.

It immediately appealed to my emotions, Hafiz said.

That wasnt the only time Warren made a personal connection with those around him.

Im telling you, all I did was pray and just follow where God led me, the father said. The medicine is probably what cured her, OK? But God put every person in my path so that this could get done.

LET HER GO

While Warren describes the long battle, his wife sits on the couch, listening as if hes describing a stranger. She has little memory of what happened. Olivia was delivered by emergency C-section on Dec. 17, then Zepeda went back to Stafford Hospital four days later.

She had been in the shower, raising her hands to wash her hair when she sensed something was wrong.

I felt a tightness in my chest like someone was squeezing my lungs and I was out of breath, just from shampooing, and I was like, this is not normal, she said.

At the hospital, Zepeda tested positive for COVID-19. She had not been vaccinated, but planned to get the shot after the baby was born.

Everyone else in the family later tested positive as well, and Warren wasnt allowed in the hospital for a while. He kept track of things by phone, and by New Years Eve, Zepeda was put on a ventilator and sent to Mary Washington Hospital.

The COVID-caused pneumonia had progressed to the more severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is often fatal.

They told me that after seeing her CT scans that her lungs are completely gone and that she will never come off the ventilator, Warren said. It was explained to me that youre like holding her back from going up, and you gotta let her go.

Warren said he understands their perspective. The omicron variant of COVID-19 was raging and Fredericksburg-area hospitals were treating more than 150 patientson their way to setting all-time COVID records. Plus, the ongoing labor shortage was heightened, making January and February the worst two months of the pandemic, Mary Washington Healthcare officials said recently.

POWER OF STEM CELLS

As friends and co-workers of Warren and Zepeda extended the request for prayer, the chain reached someone who works for Direct Biologics, a Texas company that manufactures regenerative biologic products. Soon, Warren was talking with Anastasiya Shulman, director of medical affairs.

Warren explained his situation and she explained ExoFlo, an investigational drug in clinical trials for treating COVID patients with acute respiratory distress. It hasnt been approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

Derived from bone marrow, the drug harnesses the power of stem cells without using the cells themselves, said Dr. Vikram Sengupta, chief medical officer at Direct Biologics. The treatment uses the proteins and other information found in genes to create a mechanism that turns down the inflammation present in COVID patients and turns up the bodys ability to regenerate tissue, Sengupta said.

Its not just one molecule hitting one target, it is a whole population of active molecules hitting the inflammation network at different points and a whole suite of other molecules helping cells regrow, he explained.

After numerous phone calls and discussions, Warren wanted to try ExoFlo and Direct Biologics agreed to provide it, for free, through its compassionate care clause. The hospital had to agree to administer it and apply to the FDA for permission to use it.

A lot of conversations followed and Warren credits all the doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists who listened, and talked with him, about the situation.

It was kind of a last-ditch effort, said Shulman at Direct Biologics, and she sensed doctors agreed, both because of Warrens persistence and the notion that it couldnt do any harm.

Dr. Mohammed Choudhry filled out the piles of paperwork and Zepeda was comatose when she got the first treatment, an hourlong infusion. Warren had been warned it might take up to two weeks to see results, and near the end of the 14th day, she showed slight improvement.

Dr. Erik Osborn asked Warren about a second treatment, and the father, and Choudhry, went through the process again of seeking federal approval. Theyd do it a third time as well.

By that time, Zepeda had awakened and a respiratory therapist suggested putting a device over the tube going down her throat, to see if she could talk.

When word spread that she could, Hafiz had to see it for himself. He asked a few questions, and in the clearest voice, without the slightest raspwhich he said is unheard of for someone in her conditionshe told him her stomach hurt.

I was almost trembling when I came out of that room, my expectations were shattered, Hafiz said. I would never in a million years have predicted that moment would have happened. I was completely mind blown by then.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Images showed Zepedas lungs had repaired themselves. Because she suffered other damage from being ventilated that long, she headed to Encompass for intense rehab.

She was determined from the beginning, said Michele Burke, her case manager at Encompass. Were all just very happy and pleased with all the progress she made, and especially as one mom to another, to see her go home to her children.

However, her recovery is far from over. Her right hand hangs heavily at her side, like it weighs a thousand pounds, she said, and her left wrist is curled from being in the same position for so long. Her feet are pointed downward as well, but exercises and braces are designed to correct the issues.

Warrens parents, Tammy and W.O. Warren, have cared for Olivia, day and night, and Zepedas goal is to phase in the babys eventual return home. Jacob has been in child care by day and with his father in the evening.

Zepeda says she feels like a third child, as she cant do anything without assistance. Getting up off the couch, standing in front of her walker and taking a dozen steps wears her out, but she does it hourly. The movement leaves her gasping for breath.

Ill be honest, depression sets in, she said. I have to tell him when I have to go to the bathroom, when Im ready for bed, when Im hungry, when Im thirsty. Everything. There is no independence.

In her mind, it was like a three-day span from the time she entered the hospital again, after Olivias birth, to when she came home on April 7, but apparently not. While she struggles to deal with what shes lostand tries not to get too anxious about how much she may recoverher husband is on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.

Hes jubilant. He keeps telling her about all the progress shes made because he saw for himself her swollen body and deteriorating condition, as machines did everything for her. Even after she woke up, she couldnt sit or stand without assistanceand he still wants to be close by when she does either, in case she needs help.

But the couple, along with his parents and family, feel grateful and blessed in so many ways, Tammy Warren said. His co-workers at Fresenius Kidney Care, where hes a biomedical technician, have donated paid time off. Zepedas income has continued through a COVID relief program, but the couple is certain theyll have piles of medical bills.

A friend set up a GoFundMe account for the two, named Life After Covid.

Neighbors have bought groceries or offered help with Jacob. One came over to brush and braid Zepedas hair before an interview. Her police captain at work has checked in regularly with Warren and co-workers have said how much theyre looking forward to her return.

She tries to digest all that, reconnect with Jacob and get to know her baby daughter, whos already sitting up and teething. Her husband is just glad to have her home, after watching Zepeda teeter on the edge of death and come back from it.

You realize how much you miss and love people when theyre not here, he said.
A new bill passed by the Nebraska Legislature would halt development of proposed racetracks and casinos in western Nebraska until additional studies are completed.

Legislative Bill 876, proposed by Sen. Tom Briese of Albion, passed the unicameral Wednesday with a 38-3 vote. It now heads to the desk of Gov. Pete Ricketts. The bill requires new racetrack and casino facilities to conduct market and socioeconomic studies to see what impact they would have on their communities and Nebraska as a whole.

New racino facilities in the western part of the state have been proposed for Gering, Kimball, North Platte and Ogallala. Other new locations have been proposed for Bellevue, Norfolk and York.

Initial market studies would need to be completed by Jan. 1, 2025, at the latest. Similar studies would be required every five years after the original one is submitted. Of the six senators representing the western Nebraska area, only one, Sen. John Stinner of Gering, voted against the bill.

I thought the whole issue was created because there was some concern that thered be additional casinos proposed in eastern Nebraska. This plan allows the existing horse tracks to put their casinos in place, Stinner told the Star-Herald.

He said it would exclude western Nebraskas horse tracks from getting underway and that he tried to figure out a compromise.

Its very disappointing. Obviously, its jobs for the western part of the state, its tax relief ... three years seems like a long time to wait to even get started on the application process.

Stinner said he was concerned the states Racing and Gaming Commission could shut the racetrack and casino proposals in the western part of the state down entirely.

Thats not a very satisfactory solution for me, he said, adding he was hopeful the bill can be adjusted when legislative sessions open next year. Once a bill passes, he said, its hard to make amendments to it.

As it stands, LB 876 would allow for licensed race tracks to start with one annual meet in their first year and expand to a minimum of 125 races across 15 days by their eighth.

Canterbury Park Holdings, which operates an eponymous race track in Minnesota, is behind the proposed tracks in Kimball and Ogallala. The Becker family, who run horse races out of Hastings, have applied to build tracks at the Gering and North Platte locations. The Beckers' new tracks would be developed by the Chickasaw Tribe of Oklahomas Global Gaming Nebraska group.

The Hastings site, along with locations in Omaha, Lincoln, Columbus, Grand Island and South Sioux City, all currently host horse racing. The bill gives them the go-ahead to get started on constructing casinos, which many of them are already in the process of doing.

In November 2020, the voters of Nebraska voted to approve Initiative 429, which allowed gambling in the state as long as casinos operate in conjunction with horse racing tracks.

The Star-Herald reached out to Canterbury Holdings and Global Gaming Solutions, as well as Gering officials Tony Kaufman and Pat Heath, but had not yet received a return call by publication. Kimball City Administrator Annette Brower declined to comment.

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The presentation will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the community room. This presentation is made possible by Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment and the Alliance Public Library Foundation as part of the HN Speakers Bureau.

Matt Mason is the Nebraska State Poet and executive director of the Nebraska Writers Collective. Through the U.S. State Department, he has run workshops in Botswana, Romania, Nepal and Belarus. Mason is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and his work can be found in The New York Times, on NPRs Morning Edition and in American Life in Poetry. Masons third book, I Have a Poem the Size of the Moon, was released by Stephen F. Austin University Press in 2020. Mason is based out of Omaha with his wife, poet Sarah McKinstry-Brown and daughters Sophia and Lucia.
As Skip McCall led other city leaders and clergy on a walk through downtown Statesville on a Community Walk for Peace, the former NAACP president wasnt just talking about civil rights history, but his own.

In fact, it wasnt even the first time he had peacefully marched on Garfield Street after leaving the Morningside School when a civil rights march came through Statesville.

It motivated us enough to unlock the doors and walk out of the classrooms and even with teachers and other people screaming for us not to leave school and to get back in the class, McCall said. We didnt pay them any attention because we felt that was something that we should do and joined the march.

He was part of a group of students that left Morningside School during a school day when a march From the mountaintop to the valley came through Statesville. He and others marched to Salisbury that day before returning home.

The walk on Friday wasnt as far. The two-mile journey was sponsored by First Baptist Church and Grace Baptist Church and included 11 stops where McCall and others recalled the citys racial history. The Rev. Stephen Shoemaker of Grace Baptist read from the Beatitudes that corresponded with those events. Nancy Davis played a role in organizing the event as well.

The peace march was certainly revisiting a lot of things that have happened over the years, particularly, as it relates to civil rights, racial equity, and as well as the inequities that have occurred over time and certainly the effects it had on the community and individual people, McCall said

Those different events were felt as direct and indirect effects of the city and countys repression of Black people. Some stops were more subtle as one at Garner-Bagnal highlighted how the road split and divided a predominantly Black community, and now serves as a divide between downtown and South Statesville.

A stop at the jail where men were once hanged for their crimes, a fate that was more disproportionately sentenced to Black people, served as a reminder even colorblind laws can have a greater effect on one group of people than others.

But stops at the Iredell County Confederate Memorial also were a reminder that the past isnt that far, and still has effects on the city today.

Current Statesville NAACP President Todd Scott said having McCall there made the reflections more powerful as he and others had experienced those struggles.

Scott also shared the names of three men from Iredell County that had been lynched. He said he learned their names on a recent visit to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Ala., a museum that is a national memorial to the more than 4,400 African Americans that were killed by white mobs between 1877 and 1950. The names from Iredell were a reminder of some of the darkest parts of the countys history.

Its different when you see the names and dates, Scott said.

The NAACP president also said events like this show whats possible to bring the community together.

Its good to get people to come together, Scott said Not everyone wants to see that, but when we get people together there is a lot we can do.

Reconciliation

The Beatitudes, blessings from the Sermon on the Mount, come from Matthew 5:3-12 with verses 9-10 seeming very appropriate for the subject at hand.

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Shoemaker said that each part can be seen as a path for racial reconciliation.

The Beatitudes basically are the path of peace-making. If war breaks all the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes are the path of peace, Shoemaker said.

The pastor also said that the timing of the walk on Good Friday had significant meaning as well.

Good Friday is when the sufferings of Christ and the sufferings of the world merged together. Its important to talk about the suffering of humanity as well as the suffering of Christ on this day, Shoemaker said.

The suffering of those people fighting for equal rights is a clear parallel for those that experienced it.

I thought they were a great combination and I think it tells the whole story of a disenfranchised people who have not been able to fully realize their rights, McCall said.

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Kerri Moseley-Hobbs recently traveled more than five hours to help with arrangements for a loved one.

We look at the tree as an ancestor, Moseley-Hobbs said of the historic Merry Oak. Thats why I came down from Maryland to follow the tree, because its the same thing as when you have a family member pass away  you follow them through the funeral process.

Moseley-Hobbs is a part of a university-wide, multiple-year effort to preserve the presence and legacy of the white oak, which was located on the grounds of Smithfield Plantation and claimed by a storm in May 2020. Estimated to be more than three centuries old and to have stood long before European colonists arrived, the Merry Tree, as it is commonly called, is thought to have become a sacred gathering place for the people enslaved at the plantation.

The Merry Tree was the place or location in which the enslaved community would gather for meetings, religious ceremonies, and celebrations. And when I say celebrations, I also mean homegoing services and funerals, said Moseley-Hobbs, whose four-times-grandfather Thomas Fraction was once enslaved at Smithfield.

Through the combined efforts of Virginia Tech, Smithfield Plantation, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and descendants of families formerly enslaved there, the crown of the tree has been removed and is now in the process of being crafted into two art installations. After extensive planning and discussions, this process officially began in late February.

Since the storm hit and the tree went down, there has been a lot of discussion among university stakeholders and members of the Fraction family to ensure we treated this wood with the dignity it deserves, said Wendy Halsey, assistant vice president for facilities operations at Virginia Tech. While this is just the first step, our path forward will remain committed to collaboration, thoughtful planning, and respect.

A March ceremony held during 1872 Forward: Celebrating Virginia Tech at the Merry Oak site was spearheaded by the work of the Council on Virginia Tech History. The three-day celebration recognized the varied groups who helped shape Virginia Tech: Indigenous peoples, African Americans and European settlers.

Virginia Tech has grown up as an institution in Blacksburg on land that holds Native American, African American, and European American history and traditions, said Menah Pratt-Clarke, vice president for strategic affairs and vice provost for inclusion and diversity. The many people of this land, from 1872 forward, have contributed to our growth.  The events of the 1872 Forward weekend will recognize and honor those who were here before us, who dreamed of what Virginia Tech might become, and whose stories can guide us into our future.

Moseley-Hobbs said she expected almost 100 descendants of the people once enslaved at Smithfield to attend events. Records indicate that the McNorton, Saunders and Fraction families all resided on the site at some point, with the Fractions currently considered to have been the most numerous.

Were still finding other descendants to redevelop the families. We know that we [the Fractions] were a large family here, and now were also trying to help the McNorton family rebuild, Moseley-Hobbs said.

In April 2019, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors dedicated a building on campus to the families. The tiny, three-room building similar to the dwellings enslaved people lived in the 19th century is located at Solitude near the Duck Pond.

Moseley-Hobbs first reached out to the university to learn more about Thomas Fraction in 2016. Since then, shes become a staple at events related to Smithfield and Solitude and has established the More than a Fraction Foundation, which is a co-sponsor of the March event.

She said the Merry Oak resembled many of the trees in West Africa, the region from which her family was taken, so it made sense her relatives would have been drawn to it. She even felt a special connection to the Merry Oak during her earliest trip to Blacksburg.

The first time I came to Smithfield, I paused and stared up at the tree from the top of the hill before I even knew what it was, she said. As we find other's descendants and bring them there, theres always an emotional reaction and connection to the tree.

About two years later, Moseley-Hobbs still clearly recalls that moment.

The tree looked like it had been trying to hold on [to life], and we just said to the tree, 'You can go now,' Moseley-Hobbs said. And a couple months later, the wind hits it, and it goes.

King said the tree most likely grew in response to winds from the west, as do most trees in the region. This, along with retrenchment  a process by which older trees naturally lose mass  and internal decay, made the Merry Oak very susceptible to the eastern winds of the storm in May 2020. Once claimed by the storm, discussions quickly began to determine the best way to preserve the tree and its legacy.

When I came here in 2019, that tree was a huge priority. It was one of the first trees I went to see, King said. Its likely the longest documented object at Virginia Tech, and Im excited to see how this wood can keep telling this story.

Working together, the multiple stakeholders determined the storytelling would primarily continue through two art installations, and the first step was the removal of the trees crown.

The Division of Campus Planning, Infrastructure, and Facilities is proud to partner with many stakeholders  including the Office for Strategic Affairs, Council on Virginia Tech History, Office for Inclusion and Diversity, Virginia Department of Forestry, Fraction family, and many more  to help realize President [Tim] Sands strategic vision for elevating Virginia Techs history onto our physical campus for generations of Hokies to come, said Chris Kiwus, interim senior vice president and chief business officer.

One art installation will be crafted by Floyd County-based artist Charlie Brouwer in collaboration with University Planning and will built near Solitude.

The other will be designed by the descendants of the formerly enslaved families with the help of St. Pierre Woodworking and Sawmill in Floyd County. The company is milling the wood for both projects.

Brouwers work was commissioned through a public bidding process by the Council on Virginia Tech History. The artist said he drew inspiration from the Apostle Pauls letter to the Philippians in designing the installation titled, Think on These Things." The installation will include a circle of benches with words think on sandblasted into the cement inside the circle and a sculpture of a tree made from reclaimed Merry Tree wood standing in its center.

Moseley-Hobbs has been working with other family members and the craftspeople at St. Pierre on the second installation. Though not entirely finalized, the current thought is it will include a bench to be placed near the Merry Oak site adorned with art representative of West African culture.

King said this project has been one of the great honors of his career, but in some ways also one of the easier tasks because of the strong commitment of every party involved.

Weve all really collaborated, and I think thats the key here, he said. It was a tree and its still a tree, but the real story it represents is what were all trying to continue to tell.

Moseley-Hobbs said she hopes the end of this project is really more of a beginning.

Im hoping all this is a kickoff to a long-term plan, not just for Virginia Tech, but expanding even beyond the Blacksburg community, Moseley-Hobbs said. Im hoping the work were doing here becomes a leader and an example, so work like this takes place in other places.

This story was originally published online March 21, 2022, by Virginia Techs VTx.
Through Cash Club and Student Savings accounts, Fibre Federal Credit Union is helping children save money and also is helping save homeless animals.

For every new member 18 years old or younger who signs up for an account, the credit union will donate $5 to the Humane Society of Cowlitz County or to any animal shelter that is nearest to the branch where the account was opened, at up to $5,000 per year.

Animal shelters in Cowlitz County in Washington; and in Columbia, Clatsop, Lincoln and Tillamook counties in Oregon, have received donations totaling $23,320 in response to the new accounts, according to a press release from the credit union.

Recently, Fibre Federal Marketing and Community Development team members presented a check for $3,070 to the Humane Society of Cowlitz County.

The credit union plans to continue developing partnerships with animal shelters and encourages people living within the credit unions membership areas to get involved with the shelters, notes the press release.

Safely shred personal documents April 23 at Fibre Federal Credit Union in Longview People can securely shred documents that include personal information for free from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 23 at the Fibre Federal Credit Uni

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As an overview of what's been produced through the years, the documentary offers a compelling glimpse of what is actually out there. I wish Goodman had given a closer look to maybe three or four films in particular; it's difficult to get a real sense of what any of these films are like when they are reduced to brief clips. As it is, you only get a glimpse. I would have liked a deeper investigation of a handful of these works, since many are in the public domain and copyright is not an issue.
Henry Alan Platt, 33, of Rainier pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of the felony of first-degree child molestation in Cowlitz County Superior Court.

Kelso police arrested Platt on March 31 for suspicion of molesting a child twice about eight years ago in Kelso.

Police were notified of the alleged crimes in February and the minor provided details to an Everett counselor in March, according to a police report.

Platt posted his $60,000 bond earlier this month and his Cowlitz County Superior Court trial is scheduled for June 28.

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Growing up, Sam Kell was certain of two things: he loved construction, and he wanted to be an educator.

Kell spent much of his childhood flipping houses with his father, learning the ins and outs of woodworking and construction.

The experiences stuck with him through high school, where he attended Mark Morris High School and discovered a passion for learning.

I just really found a home in the woodshop when I started coming to Mark Morris, Kell said. I never really felt like I fit in a class. I did well in school, but when I got down here, it just was comfortable for me.

That passion followed him as he graduated from Central Washington University in 2010 and then moved on to Tyee Middle School in Bellevue to teach applied engineering, technology, robotics and woodshop.

In 2017, Longviews industrious community lured Kell back to teach at the same place from where he graduated high school.

Now Kells work on a career and technical education apprenticeship preparation program for Mark Morris students has led him to being named Teacher of the Year by the Washington Industrial Technology Education Association.

Its one of five awards the association gives out at a yearly banquet, where Kell was honored in March.

You know, I thought, Hopefully over time time in my career Ill get the service award after 25 years,  Kell said. I didnt really expect to get teacher of the year.

The apprenticeship program offers students with some general background in metalworking, woodworking and technical skills to learn not just how to design and build things like cabinets and sheds, but also how to beef up their resume and interview with industry titans.

Students also have to finish the 10-hour online training for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is a huge boost for them once they leave high school, Kell said.

When new graduates go into their interviews with an OSHA card in-hand, its significantly more appealing to a union that is looking to hire someone quickly, Kell said.

New graduates also automatically get a direct entry to interview with the Portland-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48, a huge opportunity for students who want careers in local trades, said Rick Parrish, Longview School District communications director.

It is a big deal. Its a really big deal and not easy to get, Parrish said.

High school students often feel pressure to know exactly what they want to do once they leave. Kell said he tries to show his students the wide breadth of choices at their disposal.

Career and technical education at Mark Morris does not just include woodworking or welding; it can encompass opportunities in marketing and film.

It just about exposure for those students, he said. The opportunities and programs like this are really helping launch some kids earlier into their careers.

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RiverCities Transit has taken its first step toward using electric buses by ending a requirement that all its vehicles run solely on diesel.

The Cowlitz Transit Authority voted to end the diesel-only policy during its meeting Wednesday afternoon. The transit agency plans to pursue hybrid diesel-electric buses with an upcoming round of procurements instead of the diesel biofuel that was normally sought.

I can support going to the diesel hybrid bus in the future, but I wouldnt want to jump right into the electrics, said Mike Wallin, Longview council member and vice chair of the Cowlitz Transit Authority.

Transit manager Jim Seeks said the policy was put in place in 2010, when hybrid buses were just starting to become popular but were seen as unreliable. Neither he nor many of the board members knew the policy still was in place until a RiverCities employee stumbled across it recently.

Seeks said there is no plan to switch to a fully electric fleet in the near future, but ending the policy opened the door for the transition as Washington has made electric vehicles a priority issue for the next 10 years.

There could be cost saving on diesel fuel. Its environmentally better than running on diesel 100% of the time and were moving in the direction that were seeing the funding going, Seeks said.

The switch to electric buses would require significant infrastructure investment for charging stations along the current RiverCities routes. Mechanics will have to be trained in handling electric engines instead of internal combustion.

There also are concerns about the reliability and range of the current technology for electric buses. Seeks recently met with the transit department in Porterville, California, and told the Transit Authority the majority of the Porterville fleet is temporarily out of service because of a charging compatibility issue.

If the past history of hybrid vehicles is any indication, in five to 10 years they should have all the bugs worked out, Seeks said.

RiverCities Transit is estimated to receive $1.27 million in federal transit funds through the Washington State Department of Transportation later this year. Seeks said he isnt making plans for those funds until the money actually comes through, but the money could be used to help cover the cost of purchasing new vehicles.

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NASAs Hubble telescope has discovered a critical missing link to study the origins of supermassive black holes. Heres what we know now.

NASA's Hubble Telescope found the 'missing link' between young star-forming galaxies and the first supermassive black holes! Astronomers believe that the identified rapidly growing black hole in the early universe by the Hubble telescope will solve the mystery about the beginning of the universe. NASA scientists say that it's the first time when we have actually spotted one of the rare objects that bridges the gap between the understanding of the young star-forming galaxies and the first supermassive black holes. What makes history? The discovery of the monster black hole, dubbed GNz7q, which had been lurking unnoticed in one of the best-studied areas of the night sky.

The scientists used Hubble data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys to figure out that GNz7q existed only 750 million years after the big bang. GNz7q is a newly generated black hole, according to the scientists. Hubble discovered a compact source of UV and infrared light. This could not be due to galaxies emitting light, but it is compatible with the radiation that would be expected from objects falling into a black hole. Theories and computer simulations anticipated rapidly expanding black holes in dusty, early star-forming galaxies, but they had never been detected until today.

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What this discovery means

After discovering a compact source of ultraviolet (UV) and infrared radiation, Hubble confirmed that GNz7q is a recently formed black hole. Scientists have only ever predicted the existence of these missing connections in dusty, early star-forming galaxies, but have never seen any.

"Our analysis suggests that GNz7q is the first example of a rapidly growing black hole in the dusty core of a starburst galaxy at an epoch close to the earliest supermassive black hole known in the universe," an astronomer at the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen explained about the discovery.

According to NASA, the discovery of GNz7q could be a missing connection between young star-forming galaxies and the first supermassive black holes. NASA explained that the dusty starburst galaxy and the quasar are both present in GNz7q, with the quasar light exhibiting the dust reddish colour. Also, GNz7q lacks a number of characteristics seen in normal, bright quasars, which is most likely due to the fact that the core black hole in GN7q is still in its early phase. Having said that. these characteristics are identical to those of a young, transition phase quasar anticipated in simulations but never observed in the universe. Now, the research team hopes to systematically search for similar objects.
Even for the worlds richest person, $43 billion is a steep price.

Even for the worlds richest person, $43 billion is a steep price.

Elon Musks proposed all-cash offer to buy Twitter Inc. represents about one-sixth of his $250.6 billion fortune. Yet the vast majority of that wealth is tied to his stake in Tesla Inc., the electric carmaker he co-founded that has surged in value over the past two years and lifted him to the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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The purchase isnt straightforward, but Musk has several financing paths. One option is to sell his Tesla shares outright. Another is borrowing against them to stage a leveraged buyout, possibly with outside partners. Musk, 50, currently has about $3 billion in cash or other somewhat liquid assets after spending $2.6 billion buying a 9.1% stake in Twitter in recent months, according to Bloomberg calculations.

For Musk to raise the additional $36 billion in cash needed to buy the rest of Twitter would require selling about 36.5 million Tesla shares, or more than a fifth of his stake. Such an exit could risk a slide in the companys share price -- not to mention potentially raise questions about the commitment, financial and otherwise, of its chief executive officer.

His other option is to borrow against his positions in Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX.

This becomes a hostile takeover offer which is going to cost a serious amount of cash, said Neil Campling, head of TMT research at Mirabaud Equity Research. He will have to sell a decent piece of Tesla stock to fund it, or a massive loan against it.

Borrowing Limits

But even for the wealthiest person in the world, there are limits: The Bloomberg index estimates that hes already borrowed about $20 billion against his shares, leaving about $35 billion remaining that he could theoretically take out against the two holdings.

Musks best and final $43 billion non-binding offer has numerous conditions, including completion of financing, which we believe give it a low probability of success, Robert Schiffman, a Bloomberg Intelligence senior credit analyst, wrote Thursday in a report.

Twitter shares fell 1.7% Thursday in New York, closing at $45.08. Musk offered $54.20 per share in cash. Tesla shares declined 3.7%.

Musk had 52% of his Tesla shares pledged as of June 30, according to the companys most recent proxy filing. The maximum that can be borrowed against pledged shares is 25% of their value, according to a Tesla policy.

Since then, Musk has increased his share count by exercising options. His 172.6 million shares are worth $170 billion, meaning he could theoretically borrow $42.5 billion by pledging all of them.

Musk said in December 2019 that he had also pledged some of his SpaceX shares. His 47% stake in the company is worth about $47.5 billion, based on its October 2021 funding round. If theres a similar maximum loan-to-value ratio, he could raise another $12 billion by fully pledging his SpaceX position -- although banks tend to be much more cautious funding a privately held position, given the lack of liquidity.

Also, Musk has Tesla options worth $54.1 billion that he might be able to borrow against.

Technically Afford

Musk said at a TED event in Vancouver on Thursday that he may seek to keep as many as 2,000 existing Twitter investors, reducing the cash hed need to take it private.

The intent is to retain as many shareholders as is allowed by the law, he said, adding that he could technically afford the full purchase price.

After Saudi Arabias Prince Alwaleed bin Talal tweeted that the offer wasnt close to the intrinsic value of Twitter, Musk asked how many shares the billionaire held in Twitter and for the Kingdoms view on freedom of speech for journalists.

Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley were three of the banks that provided Musk personal loans, according to a 2020 Tesla filing. He has hired Morgan Stanley to advise on the Twitter bid, and his family office, Excession, is run by longtime adviser Jared Birchall, a former Morgan Stanley banker.

No matter how he goes about it, buying all of Twitter would be a stark shakeup of Musks empire. His purchase of a 9.1% stake, first disclosed last week, marked his first significant diversification outside of Tesla and SpaceX.

I am not playing the back-and-forth game, Musk said in Thursdays filing. I have moved straight to the end. Its a high price and your shareholders will love it. If the deal doesnt work, given that I dont have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.

Musk has played up his devotion to both Tesla and SpaceX, frequently tweeting about their achievements and claiming to sleep on the floor of a Tesla factory to set an example to his employees. Meanwhile, since disclosing his stake in Twitter, he has appealed to fellow users about potential moves and in one case suggested the website might be dying, given the lack of tweets from some celebrities.

In recent years, Musk has indicated hes streamlining at least some aspects of his financial affairs. Hes sold multiple mansions in California after vowing to own no home, in 2020. He currently lives in Texas, where he relocated the headquarters of Tesla last year.
The Twitter icon is displayed on a mobile phone in Philadelphia on April 26, 2017. Twitter said in a statement Friday, April 15, 2022, that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a poison pill defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musks proposal to buy the company and take it private. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File

Twitter is trying to thwart billionaire Elon Musk's takeover attempt with a "poison pill" a financial device that companies have been wielding against unwelcome suitors for decades.

WHAT ARE POISON PILLS SUPPOSED TO DO?

The ingredients of each poison pill vary, but they're all designed to give corporate boards an option to flood the market with so much newly created stock that a takeover becomes prohibitively expensive. The strategy was popularized back in the 1980s when publicly held companies were being stalked by corporate raiders such as Carl Icahnnow more frequently described as "activist investors."

Twitter didn't disclose the details of its poison pill Friday, but said it would provide more information in a forthcoming filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which the company delayed because public markets were closed Friday.

The San Francisco company's plan will be triggered if a shareholder accumulates a stake of 15% or more. Musk, best known as CEO of electric car maker Tesla, currently holds a roughly 9% stake.

CAN A POISON PILL BE A NEGOTIATING PLOY?

Although they are supposed to help prevent an unsolicited takeover, poison pills also often open the door to further negotiations that can force a bidder to sweeten the deal. If a higher price makes sense to the board, a poison pill can simply be cast aside along with the acrimony it provoked, clearing the way for a sale to completed.

True to form, Twitter left its door open by emphasizing that its poison pill won't prevent its board from "engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal" at a higher price.

Adopting a poison pill also frequently results in lawsuits alleging that a corporate board and management team is using the tactic to keep their jobs against the best interests of shareholders. These complaints are sometimes filed by shareholders who think a takeover offer is fair and want to cash out at that price or by the bidder vying to make the purchase.

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Twitter said in a statement Friday, April 15, 2022, that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a poison pill defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musks proposal to buy the company and take it private. Credit: Patrick Pleul/Pool Photo via AP, File

HOW DID ELON MUSK REACT TO TWITTER'S ANNOUNCEMENT?

Musk, a prolific tweeter with 82 million followers on Twitter, had no immediate reaction to the company's poison pill. But on Thursday he indicated he was ready to wage a legal battle.

"If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty," Musk tweeted. "The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale."

Musk has publicly said that its $43 billion bid is his best and final offer for Twitter, but other corporate suitors have made similar statements before ultimately upping the ante. With an estimated fortune of $265 billion, Musk would seem to have deep enough pockets to raise his offer, although he is still working out how to finance the proposed purchase.

HOW HAS THIS DEFENSE WORKED IN THE PAST?

Takeover tussles often dissolve into gamesmanship that include poison pills and other maneuvers designed to make a buyout more difficult. That's what happened in one of the biggest and most drawn out takeover dances in Silicon Valley history..

After business software maker Oracle made an unsolicited $5.1 billion offer for its smaller rival PeopleSoft in June 2003, the two companies spent the next 18 months fighting with each other.

As part of its defense, PeopleSoft not only adopted a poison pill that authorized the board to flood the market with more shares, it also created what it called a "customer assurance program." That plan promised to pay customers five times the cost of their software licenses if PeopleSoft was sold within the next two years, creating an estimated liability of up to $800 million for an acquiring company.

PeopleSoft also got another helping hand when the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit seek to block a takeover, although a judge ruled in Oracle's favor.

Even though the company ended up selling to Oracle, PeopleSoft's defense strategy paid off for its shareholders. Oracle's final purchase price was $11.1 billionmore than twice its original bid.

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.




BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China firmly opposes any form of official exchange between the United States and Taiwan, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday, adding that China will continue to take effective measures to resolutely protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks in response to a question regarding the visit to Taiwan by certain U.S. lawmakers including Senator Lindsey Graham.

U.S. lawmakers should abide by the one-China policy pursued by the U.S. government. They should stop official exchanges with Taiwan and not make irresponsible remarks, he said.

Zhao mentioned a statement issued by the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army, which, according to the Ministry of National Defense, had conducted a combined combat-readiness patrol and carried out targeted training exercises in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island.

Zhao said that the relevant actions of the Chinese military are countermeasures to the recent negative actions of the United States, including the visit of the U.S. congressional delegation to Taiwan.

According to reports, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe published an article in a U.S. newspaper recently, comparing Taiwan with Ukraine and saying that the United States should make a clear commitment to "help defend Taiwan".

In response, Zhao said the Japanese politician has been making outrageous and irresponsible remarks on the Taiwan question and provoking confrontation between major countries with ulterior motives. "China is firmly opposed to this."

"Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and the Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair. It is fundamentally different from the Ukraine issue and they are completely not comparable with," he said.

The Japanese side should be especially cautious about its words and deeds on the Taiwan question and avoid sending the wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces, he said.

"In response to those absurd remarks, I want to stress that no one should underestimate the strong resolve, firm will and powerful capabilities of the Chinese people to safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhao said.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
With the growth in digital transformation, the API management market is set to grow by more than 30% by the year 2025 as more businesses build web APIs and consumers grow to rely on them for everything from mobile apps to customized digital services.

As part of strategic business planning, an API helps generate revenue by allowing customers access to the functionality of a website or computer program through custom applications.

As more and more businesses are implementing APIs, the risk of API attacks increases.

By 2022, Gartner predicted that API (Application Programming Interface) attacks would become the most common attack vector for enterprise web applications.

Cybercriminals are targeting APIs more aggressively than ever before, and businesses must take a proactive approach to API security to combat this new aggression.

API and The Business World

With integrating APIs into modern IT environments, businesses are becoming increasingly data-driven.

Just as a restaurant relies on an excellent chef, and a bandleader is a key to success, businesses increasingly depend on API and API integrations. Half of the online traffic is generated by users searching on companies' publicly available APIs. All this access is expected to grow by 37% in 2022.

APIs can also be added to existing applications without changing the basic foundation of the software, allowing organizations to quickly develop and deploy a diverse combination of functionalities to suit specific business purposes or user groups without changing the application's core structure.

API Fuels

Cities with newer 5G wireless networks and older wireless technologies are increasingly being outfitted with high-capacity IoT endpoints - everything from fingerprint readers to smart street lamps - expanding the network's usage opportunities.

According to a projection, more than 30.9 billion IoT are expected to be in use worldwide by 2025, and the number continues to rise every year.

Not only is the cloud-based office productivity software market expected to reach $50.7 billion by 2026, but it is also predicted to rise throughout 2022

Rise Of Growing API Attacks

Though enterprises are taking note of the enormous potential behind APIs (and API releases), their number being launched and produced is increasing at an astronomical rate. This trend has been linked to the increasing relevance of software in today's world.

91% of businesses that have implemented APIs in their business systems experienced incidents related to breaches in security and cyber-attacks. Most of these businesses had to deal with a major incident within the year prior. In order to obtain full benefits of APIs, businesses need to strike accurate and fully managed API security solutions.

So, What 3 Key Risks API Security Poses?

Misconfigured APIs: Right from misconfigured HTTP headers, insecure default configurations to verbose error messages, etc., the ultimate weapon of choice for hackers is the unmanaged and unsecured API vulnerability exploit, which can silently creep into the most unsuspecting places.

Malware Attacks: Starts from taxing the web API memory to send a lot of information per request, malware attacks like DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, SQL injection, MITM-in-the-middle attacks, or Credential stuffing to let anyone get pass-through authentication, etc. hacked, broken or exposed APIs are never-ending stories to extract data with ease.

Inadequate Assets Management: The older, less secure versions of an API leave them vulnerable to attack and data breaches. Brute-force attacks can also significantly impact an API by exhausting all login combinations and causing the server to get overloaded or even temporarily disabled.

3 API Security Best Practices in 2022

1  Apply Zero Trust to API Security

With the zero-trust approach, application security teams should empower their endpoints equally to a state of threat prevention across all three, i.e., authentication, authorization, and threat prevention. This will make it more difficult for hackers to breach your online properties.

2  Understand And Identify API Spikes or Drops Behaviors and Interactions for Vulnerabilities

Understand and further explore API logging to ensure the security and stability of your API.

When trying to protect your API or its users from security issues, it's essential to keep an eye on anything suspicious. Security issues usually appear in abnormal behavior, which doesn't seem quite right. You can identify and address these threats before they cause harm to your API or anyone using the platform.

3  Delegate and Combine Authentication and Authorization

Generally, API developers should implement the principle of privilege separation. This general programming practice allows users to access only the specific resources and methods necessary for their role in the application.

API Monitoring is a critical part of API deployment, but it's also important to consider how you grant users access to your API. Simply verifying a user's identity isn't sufficient; there will likely be resources that only certain users are allowed to interact with and specific methods they must use.

Authentication is necessary for securely verifying the user using an API, and authorization is concerned with what data they have access to (within a request as a token).

The Way Forward

Your web application or API is no different like a castle that needs a defensive moat to protect the inhabitants inside its walls. It needs protection from outside intruders and malicious agents looking to take advantage of weaknesses; that's where Indusface WAF enters the picture.

With AppTrana, you get up-to-date and regular API threats review for any anomalies or suspicious usage patterns of the OWASP Top 10 Vulnerabilities and beyond.

If you want smooth decision-making for API vulnerability detection and protection trends, look no further than AppTrana.
"I hit a vein, a mother lode vein," she says. The wind whips up on the Lincoln Center plaza. "I guess there's been a sea change the last couple of years, starting with 'A Quiet Passion.' For years I took the smallest, tightest-scheduled jobs I could, to spend the least amount of time away from home. But I've started loosening my bonds a little bit. My children are 14 and 8 now, and I suddenly have these opportunities. And maybe as a family that's of value, too. Children do love to be around grown-ups happily toiling. So I've been doing more. I feel fortunate to still be able to get work, and oddly more and better work than I've had before. It's lovely. I'm grateful."
Its no secret the key to successful distribution is connections  and Grand Island has plenty.

In 2019, the average daily number of vehicles traveling entering Interstate 80 and Highway 281 intersection numbered more than 24,000 according to Nebraska Department of Transportation. The same year, NDOT recorded on an average day, 17,385 vehicles left I-80 and headed toward Grand Island via Highway 281.

Those statistics alone indicate Grand Islands main routes are busy, but coupled with Central Nebraska Regional Airport, one could conclude Grand Island is a bit of a transportation  specifically, distribution  hub.

Dave Taylor, president of Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation, can attest to that. Interstate 80 is hugely used as a corridor for Los Angeles ports, East Coast ports and Louisiana ports.

FedEx seems to think so, as construction of a 215,000-square-foot FedEx Ground warehouse and distribution center at 3225 Wildwood Drive, which is the former home of Lewis Greenscape, is well underway.

There is already a FedEx Ground location at 4201 Gold Core Road at the Platte Valley Industrial Park, but Dana Hardek, external senior communications specialist for FedEx Ground, said the company was outgrowing their current Grand Island facility. We continue to experience significant package volume due to e-commerce growth and are optimizing the capacity of our network to meet growing demand for our services.

The new FedEx Ground facility is expected to be completed this fall.

Hardek said the choice to build a new facility in Grand Island was due in part to location. The site was chosen because of its ease of access to major highways, proximity to customers distribution centers and a strong local community workforce for recruiting employees.

Those reasons are shared by many distributors looking at Grand Island, Taylor said. Major highways, proximity to their customers  so theyd have a lot of customers in this area, both incoming and outgoing  is a main thing for them. And then I think local support.

Having availability of other resources in the area  from people to services  also played a role in the FedEx Grounds decision, Hardek explained. (The new facility) will employ a mix of full- and part-time team members, including current employees who may opt to transition from other area facilities. The operation also will contract for package pickup and delivery services with local service provider businesses that hire locally for driver, helper, manager and other positions.

There are plenty of products to be delivered, whether via FedEx or trucking companies in Grand Island like Old Dominion and Midwest Express. Among those producers are Case New Holland, Hornaday Manufacturing, Standard Iron, McCain Foods and JBS.

We have a lot of items that that find the interstate system from Grand Island, Taylor said.

Central Nebraska Regional Airport is another key player in distribution, and Taylor hinted at development on the horizon. Weve talked about next steps for potential warehousing out at the airport and what that could look like.

Taylor said GIAEDC works closely with the airport. Everything that they do out there we can collaborate on here because its not that far away. Were not competing. Were working together.

There are potential additions to Grand Islands distribution landscape near the Wildwood area between Grand Island and the interstate intersecting Highway 281, too, Taylor said. Currently there is over 450,000 square feet of warehouse space that is looking  toward Wildwood. They range from food processing to just general storage. I cant say too much on that right now.

What Taylor will say is that the future of distribution in Grand Island  and nationally  is bright.

The sheer number of organizations that are looking to take the next step and controlling their own destinies and distribution, the large firms that are experts at it, and their growth for the future. FedEx  UPS  all of the large players, all the trucking companies are looking at that same growth pattern, he said.

What ties it together are Grand Islands connections among highways and runways, makers and buyers, shippers and suppliers. Taylor said, When it came time to recruit (distributors), we just had to all be working together to make things happen.

Jessica Votipka is the education reporter at the Grand Island Independent. She can be reached at 308-381-5420.

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More than 30 representatives from fields ranging from law enforcement to food service converged on the Edisto High School gymnasium on March 30 to give students lessons in career readiness.

"It was for the entire school. This gives the students an opportunity to see different careers that are out there. They can actually speak to those persons that are involved in them. We can tell them, but it tends to be more of an impact actually hearing it from a person being involved or working in that position," Terri Franklin, EHS lead counselor, said.

Agencies present at the career fair included, but were not limited to, DAK Americas, Volvo, Chic-Fil-A, McDonald's, the North Charleston Police Department, the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office and the Orangeburg County Fire District.

"We had several students that actually graduated from Edisto High School that came back to participate in our career fair also. That was another important thing. They actually got to see students that graduated from here and how successful they have become," Franklin said.

EHS Career Specialist Trina Jeter said, "The goal is to make sure that these students are college and career ready. It's better to be be able to be hands-on to see things up close and personal. It gives a more in-depth look into a particular career."

A college fair featuring representatives from 29 colleges had also been held on March 11, giving students a chance to explore their higher education options beyond high school.

"We actually had students who were accepted on the spot with various colleges on that day," Franklin said.

EHS Principal Alexis King said the career and college fairs are just a tool to prepare students for whatever they may decide to do beyond high school.

"We can give them the knowledge from the academic piece, but it really does help when these folks that are actually working these careers can really give them additional insight for what it is that we're trying to prepare them for on our end. So that collaboration between the academic world and the career world is extremely important," King said.

Franklin said putting on the career and college fair events is a team effort among herself, her secretary, Penny Sanders, Jeter and counselor Nicole Golson.

"It's just not one person. We all work together as a team," she said.

Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow "Good News with Gleaton" on Twitter at @DionneTandD

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A group of entertaining, talented ladies known as the Starlight Quilters can be found at the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, collaborating and sharing ideas. They have been sewing, doing different needle arts, quilting and fellowshipping for nearly 22 years.

They are looking to welcome new members into their fun-loving, creative group. Current members of the club are Bonnie Thompson, Jane Westbury, Kim Birchmore, Barbara Ott, Valery Carrigg, Sherry Buxton, Jean Hawks, Kathleen Underwood and Cindy Bozard.

We used to be about 25 strong and then the pandemic hit, and we are the remaining group. We want to rebuild, said club president Bonnie Thompson.

We are the only group that meets in the evening. We are a group for working people, she said adding that they designed it that way so that people who had day jobs would have an opportunity to join them after work.

When we started the group, many of the members were still working, said Ott.

We are a social group that has lots of fun, she said.

These women share their interests in quilting, but each member has a specialty or style of needlecraft she prefers, and each month, different presentations may be made to share those techniques or ideas so that everyone can learn.

The team members say they are more than happy to help anyone who is interested in learning stitching, embroidery, crewel embroidery, cross-stitch, hand-sewing and machine sewing. New members need not know anything about quilting, just have an interest in learning, and the group will teach them at whatever skill level they bring to the table.

As far as creating quilts together, We are checkbook quilters, we make the tops of quilts, said Thompson, who shared that there are special machines that sew together the tops, middle and backing on large frames, and these are available in various places in Orangeburg.

The club sometimes does a block of the month activity in which they take a large piece of fabric, cut it up into pieces and organize them back together in different agreed-upon layouts, or patterns, to create a square. These squares can then be used as wall art, a pillow topper or several can be added together in a pattern to design an entire quilt top.

Thompson explained the process of making a quilt sandwich.

First, we create a design out of different fabric. After weve cut the design, we put a layer of batting, or what they used to call wadding. Then we put on the backing. Thats called a quilt sandwich, she said.

After the sandwich is made, you can either hand sew it or machine sew it, or you could tie it, said the president, who then stated that not all quilts are made in the sandwich style.

Some quilts are called crazy quilts -- they are single layers. And, there are biscuit quilts. It all depends on what the purpose is for making them, said Thompson.

We first choose our pattern. Then we choose the fabric to go with it, said Ott, explaining how the group decides what they want to work on and determine how much fabric will be needed.

Each person here has their own specialty. Barbara is our ripping queen who will make us rip out stiches or help us to rip out stiches to make sure we are stitching items correctly, said Thompson.

Kim is creative, works in kids' clothes and all types of different media, which is really wonderful. She very brave, she said and applauded Birchmore for teaching them how to add zippers to their creations.

I made this pillowcase and some mug rugs, said Birchmore, who took a square of the moth and turned it into a sewing bag that she can us to carry her materials.

Carrigg shared some personal art from her grandchildren that she will make into quilt squares to have a one-of-a-kind family heirloom. She offered that the Signs store behind Hardee's on John C. Calhoun can take artwork or paper prints and turn them into quilt-ready fabrics. She had two unique pieces which featured the handprints of her grandchildren and hopes to receive more.

You can take something old and turn it into a quilt, and it becomes something new, said Thompson.

The first meeting of the month is a type of business meeting where they make decisions on what they want to do as a congregation. They consider projects or techniques on which they want to collaborate, venues at which they may like to display work or trips they may want to take.

Being from different backgrounds and communities, these ladies spend time catching up with each and sharing stories or news from around Orangeburg or their respective home areas out of the county such as Ehrhardt, Bamberg, and Sandy Run.

According to Thompson, Starlight Quilters, which began in December of 2000, is the youngest organized club of quilters in Orangeburg, which includes an original group that has been in existence for over 50 years and is associated with the Council on Aging.

Other named quilting entities in the area are: Every Thursday Quilters, President Gladys Sikes, which meets at 1:30 p.m., the first Thursday of each month, at Orangeburg Lutheran Church; Lake Marion Quilters, President Jean Browning, which meets the second Wednesday of the month in Elloree; Southern Applique Quilters, President Dorothy Jackson, which meets at the Clemson Extension Building; Quacky Quilters, person in charge George Ann Rast, which meets in Eutawville; and Orangeburg Quilters, President Vicki McCormick.

If you are interested in learning more about the Starlight Quilters or Every Thursday Quilters, call or text Bonnie Thompson at 803-300-0392.

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Jack Leland Allen, who murdered 27-year-old Nancy Linett Amaker of St. Matthews, has died after almost five decades in prison.

Allen was 81.

Prison records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show he left prison on March 18 for a medical reason.

He died of natural causes at a Midlands hospital on March 20, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections.

Allen kidnapped Amaker, a wife and mother of two children, after she left her uncles department store, Savitzs, in downtown St. Matthews at around 6 p.m. on Aug. 21, 1974.

The next day, someone discovered Amakers body in Darlington County, at an area off of Interstate 95.

She had a gunshot wound to the head.

A nationwide manhunt got underway after the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office and S.C. Law Enforcement Division linked a license plate to Allens 1974 Ford Bronco.

Authorities in Phoenix, Arizona, arrested Allen on Sept. 24, 1974.

Court records show that Allen shot Amaker in Florence County, before abandoning her body in Darlington County.

A Florence County jury convicted Allen, whod been a resident of Hardeeville for almost three years, of murder while in the commission of kidnapping in March 1975.

Allen was sentenced to death.

In 1976, the state Supreme Court commuted all death sentences between 1974 and 1976 to life in prison.

Brian Setree married Amakers daughter, Cathy. The couple had two children.

Setree said although he and Cathy later divorced, they remained close friends. Cathy died in 2013.

He said his mother-in-laws murder, truly traumatized Cathy.

Cathy was 6 when Allen murdered her mother.

They never got over it, Setree said of Cathy and her brother, Jay.

The couples daughter, Allie, is the spitting image of Nancy, Setree said.

Allie Setree said although she never knew her grandmother, she and her tragic death have inspired her to pursue a career in law enforcement.

She is currently working as a paralegal to learn more about the criminal justice system.

This story has been edited to reflect Jay did not die in 2020 and is still alive.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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NEESES  A former mayor and previous councilman from other terms, Joseph Joe Corbett, was sworn in as a new councilman Thursday evening, April 7, at the Neeses Town Council meeting that was moved from its regular scheduled date of the first Tuesday of the month because of the bad storms that evening.

Corbett, who won the recent special election, was sworn in by Gary Doremus, Orangeburg County magistrate, at the start of the meeting.

He was later chosen as mayor pro tem by council but not without some discussion and not before motions for others and a decision that was declined.

Mayor Kenneth Gleaton opened the floor for nominations for mayor pro tem, which is basically a stand-in for the mayor when he cannot be present for meetings and other occasions.

Councilman Wylie Williams first nominated Renee Olenick. Olenick said she did not want the nomination. I have not sat in the mayors seat before like Joe has, she said.

Paula Dyches Hutchins nominated Williams at about the same time Williams nominated Olenick. The nomination of Williams was seconded by Corbett.

Williams, however, declined serving.

Hutchins then nominated Corbett. This was seconded by Williams.

Corbett accepted the decision.

Gleaton, earlier in the meeting, brought up some old business  the town building on 2017 Silversprings Road, which council had been concerned about in previous meetings because of its condition and had discussed options about remodeling and/or selling it.

Gleaton said, The appraiser is putting together a package for us. I think we will get some good information from him. Hopefully, we will have the report by the next meeting.

Gleaton discussed other old business, including the updated business license ordinance which was updated according to state mandate that all S.C. municipalities have standardization when it comes to business license fees.

We are in the process of mailing off business license renewals, said Gleaton. He emphasized that these would be based on the updated business license ordinance.

Gleaton said, according to the ordinance, that for the first $2,000 a business is worth, the license fee is $15 and every $100 after that it is an additional 38 cents. The cap on business worth is $400,000.

$167 is the maximum fee for a $400,000 business under this ordinance, and $400,000 is the cap, Gleaton added.

When asked by The T&D if, for example, a two million dollar business were to come into the local business park, Gleaton stated according to this ordinance that the cap would be $400,000 and that the two million dollar business would still only pay $167 for a business license.

Council went into executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss financial issues. Upon return to open session, Council approved hiring Joey Miller as the part-time maintenance worker for the town. Salary details are being worked out.

Town Clerk Sonja Gleaton stated over email, "Joey will be replacing Mr. Wesley Gleaton, who will be retiring after 16 years of faithful service to the town of Neeses."

In other business:

Neeses Town Council will be having a work session on the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year budget on Monday, April 25 at 5 p.m.

The next regular council meeting will occur Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Neeses Town Hall.

A public hearing on the budget will be held on Tuesday, June 28, at 7 p.m at town hall.

Gleaton said the new playground chips have been distributed in three areas and that Williams and others assisted in the distribution.

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Today, "the very first question should be: Is it any good?" Byrne says. "It's not a great film. But it's a good film." Visually, he says, "you get some pans, you get dollies, you get some interesting double exposure effects in some shots." Byrne and Ruivo also learned, after last year's announcement of the rediscovery, that a newfound "Sherlock Holmes" gets you a ton of interest for Sherlockians everywhere. Various private parties, Holmes freaks all, contributed funds toward the restoration. Among the donors: two producers of the Benedict Cumberbatch "Sherlock" TV series, begun in 2010 and still going strong on PBS.
South Carolina State University's Dr. George Johnson has been honored by the Society of Professors of Education (SPE) for his work on the book We Be Lovin Black Children. Learning to Be Literate About the African Diaspora.

Johnson is a professor, special education program coordinator and acting chair of the S.C. State Department of Education.

Johnson shares the Outstanding Book Award with co-editors Dr. Gloria Boutte of the University of South Carolina, Dr. Joyce King, of Georgia State University, and Dr. Lagarrett King of the University of Buffalo.

During the annual American Educational Research Association Conference in San Diego, April 21-26,

SPE will recognize awardees at its annual meeting on Saturday, April 23. A book signing will be included.

Since 1902, SPE has provided a forum for addressing issues facing the discipline and vocation of education.

It is a particularly challenging time for the field, which has become bitterly contested territory on a national and international level,  said Dr. Pamela Konkol, director of Academic Research and Professor of Foundations, Social Policy, and Research at Concordia University representing the Society of Professors.

Johnson appreciates the recognition.

We are honored to receive this recognition, given the challenges that we are facing in putting forth our story. It validates the importance of our scholarship and research that we conduct on ourselves, Johnson said.

Johnson received his bachelor of arts degree in political science and government from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; a master of arts in educational psychology/special education from the University of South Carolina (UofSC); a master of education in management from Cambridge College; and his Ph.D. in educational psychology/special education from UofSC.

He joined SC State in February 2007.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolinas capital that authorities do not believe was a random attack.

Three people who had firearms have been detained in connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting at Columbiana Centre, Columbia Police Chief W.H. Skip Holbrook said. He said at least one of those three people fired a weapon.

We dont believe this was random, Holbrook said. We believe they knew each other and something led to the gunfire.

Authorities said no fatalities have been reported but that eight of the victims were taken to the hospital. Of those eight, two were in critical condition and six were in stable condition, Holbrook said. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 73, he said.

Daniel Johnson said he and his family were visiting from Alabama and were eating in the food court when they first heard shots ring out and started seeing people running.

Johnson said people were screaming for their children and spouses, knocking over tables in the food court as they fled.

Everybody was trying to get outside, Johnson said. When I was coming out, you could see baby strollers turned over, peoples phones and left keys. It was kind of a hectic situation.

Johnson said he gathered his wife, daughter and son and began heading toward the exit after letting the crowd clear out for a bit.

My biggest thing was  and not to sound selfish  was to make sure that our family was OK and to get them out safely because this is not something that we love to do for Easter weekend.

Heavy police presence continued in the area hours after the shooting, though officers began letting more traffic through the streets surrounding the shopping centers and strip malls that are usually packed on weekends. Officers were also stationed outside a nearby hotel designated as a reunification area for people at the scene of the shooting and their families.

Workers from a couple of stores remained clustered in the mostly empty parking lot Saturday evening, waiting for police to let them back inside to retrieve their car keys and personal belongings so they could leave. They said they did not hear or see anything during the shooting but followed the malls alert system and were evacuated by police shortly after. They declined to give their names, citing company policies.

Todays isolated, senseless act of violence is extremely upsetting and our thoughts are with everyone impacted," Columbiana Centre said in a statement. "We are grateful for the quick response and continued support of our security team and our partners in law enforcement.

The shooting is the latest in a rash of shootings at or near malls across the country.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head Wednesday outside Brooklyn's Atlantic Terminal Mall. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Officials said he was with a group of boys when they got into a dispute with a second group.

On Tuesday, a Southern California shoe store owner mistakenly shot a 9-year-old girl while firing at two shoplifters at the Mall of Victor Valley, police said.

And earlier this month, police said six people were killed and 12 others wounded in Sacramento, California, during a gunfight between rival gangs as bars closed in a busy area near the Downtown Commons shopping mall and the state Capitol.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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(TBTCO) - Trong ngay 8/5/2022 co 584.472 lieu vaccine phong COVID-19 uoc tiem. Nhu vay, tong so lieu vaccine a uoc tiem tai Viet Nam la 215.743.796 lieu trong o tiem cho nguoi tu 18 tuoi tro len la 196.500.593 lieu, tiem cho tre tu 12-17 tuoi la 17.387.941 lieu
A Sublette County educator has been terminated after allegations of misconduct against him surfaced.

David Shaw, the now-former special education director for Sublette County School District No. 1, was placed on administrative leave Monday after the district learned of the allegations, according to a Friday news release.

He was fired on Thursday following a school board vote, the release from the district and Sublette County Sheriffs Office said.

According to the statement, administrators received a voicemail Monday from an unidentified male caller making allegations about Shaw. The caller then emailed a video of Shaw after being contacted by school resource officers. The district then immediately put Shaw on leave.

The incident is being investigated by the San Diego Police Department since the allegations took place there, sheriffs spokesperson Travis Bingham said Friday. Bingham said its unlikely there will be charges brought against Shaw in Sublette County. San Diego police did not return a request for comment by press time.

According to a 2021 post by Shaw on the districts website, he joined the district around 2016 as a special education teacher at Skyline Academy and later became the schools principal.

The Pinedale Roundup reported that after one of its reporters showed trustees photos from the video during the Thursday board meeting, the agenda was amended to include an executive session, which occurs away from the public. According to the Roundup, board members returned from the session and voted unanimously to fire Shaw on the recommendation of the Superintendent (Harris) effective immediately.

Harris did not return a request for comment Friday.

The Roundup reported a school board member said the man in the video was Shaw.

The 36-minute video, posted to the YouTube channel People v. Preds, accuses a man identified as David of trying to meet with someone he thought was a 14-year-old. David denies the meeting and walks away as the man follows him and calls him names.

Im filming so I can see you and expose you to the Internet, the man is heard saying.

David calls the police while walking, giving a description of himself and the other man. He denies making arrangements with an underage boy throughout the video, and declines to show the man his phone.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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American and European political leaders have demonstrated exceptional unity in opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the ignominious invasion grinds towards a protracted war, the United States and Europe should convey their resolve to stay the course by articulating clear objectives for the end of the war.

The United States and Europe should plainly state that their tactical goal is to ensure a Ukraine victory. Ukraine has earned the right to define the parameters of victory within its sovereign territory. It should be the United States policy to do all in its power, short of direct military confrontation with Russia, to ensure Ukraine wins and Russia loses. Russia needs to come out poorer for having unlawfully invaded a peaceful neighbor. Lest it consolidate its ill-gotten gains and bide its time for another strike  as has been Russias way under Putins rule.

Strategically, the United States should ensure that Russia is permanently disabled from coercing or invading its neighbors and engaging in cyberattacks, election distortions and other meddling in the affairs of sovereign nations. Punitive economic sanctions should compel the structural readjustment of the Russian state toward being a responsible stakeholder, and not a disruptor, of the rules-based world order. This includes the necessary defanging of its energy and military belligerence. Russian people deserve a forward-looking and proud nation, unshackled from the pernicious and vainglorious myths of the Czarist and Soviet empires.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not just a regional conflict. It is a frontal attack by a revisionist autocracy on the rules-based free world that enabled over seven decades of unprecedented global peace and prosperity. Russias blatant attack on the free world order should be forcefully repulsed to ensure such attacks are not repeated or encouraged. A resolute response would warn China not to follow in Russias footsteps in attempting to take Taiwan by force. The peace and prosperity of the United States, Europe and the rest of the free world depends on it. Ambivalence and half measures paved the way to the invasion of Ukraine. Gazing into Putins soul, pressing RESET buttons with Lavrov and taking Putins word over your own intelligence services need be relegated to the dustbin of history as grave follies.

Putins rhetoric leading up to his invasion of Ukraine argued that the U.S. and other democracies are discordant, failing and weak. Such sentiments  of decay and incompetence on part of democracies  are echoed with gusto in China. The democratic worlds performance in Ukraine can represent a firm rebuttal to the BeijingMoscow nexus and their designs to topple the global rules-based order.

Staying the course through a protracted war in Ukraine to its eventual victory will be hard. Transatlantic leaders, in respect to their citizens, should be candid about it. It is in America and Europes direct national interest to ensure a Ukraine victory and to preserve the Free World order. Failure will incur high costs in blood and treasure both here and now, as well as down the road. Consequently, this endeavor is deserving of sacrifice by free world citizens, including enduring momentary discomfort and high costs.

In the near-term, America and Europe should act with greater urgency along three fronts to ensure a Ukrainian victory: strengthening Ukraines defensive capabilities, buttressing Ukraines finances and exacting extensive economic costs on Russia to desist its war. Humanitarian assistance for over seven million displaced Ukrainians should continue unabated.

Ukrainians have proven that with right weapons they are more than a match for the Russian conscripts. America and Europe should augment their supply of defensive weapons  with requisite lethality  for Ukraines forces to take the fight to the Russians within Ukraines sovereign territory. Importantly, America should prioritize building Ukrainian air defense capacity with all necessary haste. Ukraine cannot be allowed to falter for the lack of appropriate munitions.

America and Europe should guarantee that the Ukrainian state remains solvent. The country is at war with its economy in shambles. Prior to the war, Ukraine was a world leader in agricultural exports and high-tech industry such as aeronautics. Both real and symbolic gestures help buoy Ukraines economy. Fast-tracking Ukraines European Union membership should receive top billing. The U.S. and Europe should act through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to provide a robust financial assistance package to Ukraine. The G7 could establish a Ukraine Reconstruction and Reinvestment Fund with credit guarantees.

America and Europe, in lieu of direct military confrontation, have declared economic war on Russia. The objective of the economic sanctions is to elicit a desired change in the Russian behavior and not merely to convey indignation. Russia funds its military from its energy dollars. Until, Russian energy sales are prohibited, Russian war machine will continue its butchery. Europe has to wean itself off Russian blood energy. America should launch a warp-speed energy expansion to meet the European demand. Eastern European nations have already embarked on decoupling from Russian energy  the rest of Europe should heed their example.

America and Europe should rally other democracies, such as India, to stand with Ukraine and condemn the Russia invasion. With each new revelation of Russian butchery and war crimes the guilt of large democracies like Germany and India, fueling the Russian war machine though trade, deepens.

Ukraine presents a stern test for the resolve of the Free World and its underwriter, the United States. American people are able and up to the task. It is for American leaders to be worthy of the sacrifice and trust of its citizens. Handled right, America, the Free World and Ukraine will come through it stronger and more united. A free and whole Ukraine including all of Crimea and Donbas will be the proof of it.

Dr. Kaush Arha is a senior fellow at the Center for Tech Diplomacy and the Atlantic Council.

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Matthew Butler spent 27 years in the Army, but it took a day in jail to convince him his post-traumatic stress disorder was out of control.

The recently retired Green Beret had already tried antidepressants, therapy and a support dog. But his arrest for punching a hole in his fathers wall after his family tried to stage an intervention in Utah made it clear none of it was working.

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I had a nice house, I had a great job, whatever, but I was unable to sleep, had frequent nightmares, crippling anxiety, avoiding crowds, he said. My life was a wreck.

He eventually found psychedelic drugs, and he says they changed his life. I was able to finally step way back and go, Oh, I see whats going on here. I get it now, said Butler, now 52. Today his run-ins with police have ended, hes happily married and reconciled with his parents.

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Butler, who lives in the Salt Lake City suburbs, is among military veterans in several U.S. states helping to persuade lawmakers to study psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use.

Matthew Butler, who spent 27 years in the Army, holds a 2014 photograph of himself during his last deployment in Kabul Afghanistan, on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, in Sandy, Utah. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

Conservative Utah has become at least the fourth state over the last two years to approve studying the potential medical use of psychedelics, which are still federally illegal. A string of cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms and an explosion of investment money is flowing into the arena.

Experts say the research is promising for treating conditions ranging from PTSD to quitting smoking, but caution some serious risks remain, especially for those with certain mental health conditions.

Oregon is so far the only state to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychedelic active ingredient in certain mushrooms. But studying them for therapy has made inroads not only in blue states like Hawaii, Connecticut and Maryland, but also GOP-led Texas, Utah and Oklahoma, which passed a study bill through the state House this year.

The progress stands in contrast to medical marijuana, which Utah lawmakers refused to allow until a ballot measure helped push it through. However, the proposal to study a broad range of psychedelic drugs passed easily this year.

Texas has yet to legalize medical marijuana, but former Republican Gov. Rick Perry helped shepherd through a bill last year to use $1.4 million to fund a study of psilocybin for treating PTSD.

The stigma attached to psilocybin and most psychedelics dates back to the 60s and 70s. Its been very hard for them to overcome, said Democratic Rep. Alex Dominguez, who sponsored the bill. My approach was, Lets find the group that all sides claim that they are supportive of. And that would be veterans.

He also heard from conservatives like Perry who support the use of psilocybin to treat PTSD  and let advocates from that end of the political spectrum take the lead publicly.

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Maryland also gave bipartisan approval to spending $1 million this year to fund alternative therapies for veterans, including psychedelics. Democratic sponsor Sen. Sarah Elfreth, whose district includes the U.S. Naval Academy, noted the spike in suicides among veterans.

I dont envision the VA acting anytime soon, she said. Were at a true crisis level and its time for the states to step up.

Psilocybin has been decriminalized in nearby Washington, D.C., as well as Denver, which decriminalized it in 2019, followed by Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Theres also plenty of venture capital being invested from people who have had positive experiences and are highly motivated to invest in psychedelics as treatment, said John Krystal, the chair of psychiatry at Yale University.

Rhode Island lawmakers are weighing a proposal to decriminalize psilocybin this year, and in Colorado theres an effort to get statewide decriminalization on the ballot. But similar measures have stalled in Statehouses elsewhere, including California and Maine.

Studying psychedelics, though, has gained more traction. In Oklahoma, a bill from Republican Reps. Daniel Pae and Logan Phillips would legalize research on psilocybin.

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Matthew Butler, who spent 27 years in the Army, speaks during an interview on March 30, 2022, in Sandy, Utah. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

I believe the research will show that there is a way to use this drug safely and responsibly, and it could save the lives of thousands of Oklahomans, Pae said in a statement. The bill passed the House last month and is now under consideration in the Senate.

Its a stunning turnaround for a field that captivated researchers in the 1950s and 1960s, before mushrooms and LSD became known as recreational drugs. They were federally outlawed during the Nixon administration, sending research to a screeching halt.

New studies, though, have indicated psilocybin could be useful in the treatment of everything from major depression to alcoholism, said Ben Lewis, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute.

People are referring to this current period of time as the psychedelic Renaissance, he said. Up to 30% of depression sufferers are considered resistant to current treatment, and there have been few recent leaps forward in drug innovation, he added.

The risk of addiction or overdose is considered low with psychedelics, especially under medical supervision, and while some cardiac conditions can present a physical risk, many peoples physical reactions arent dangerous.

But there are serious psychological risks, especially for people with certain forms of mental illness or a family history of conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

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Then theres a possibility that a high-dose psychedelic experience could sort of trigger that and lead to long-lasting mental health issues, said Albert Garcia-Romeu, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Classic psychedelics include LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and ayahuasca. Plant-based psychedelics have long been used in indigenous cultures around the world.

Today, their therapeutic use at Johns Hopkins is carefully monitored, Garcia-Romeu said. Patients are rigorously screened and typically have at least three appointments: one for preparation, a second to take the drugs and a third to work through the psychedelic experience.

For Butler, the 2018 arrest at his parents home was a turning point. He started researching new ways to deal with the PTSD he has suffered since deploying six times to Iraq and Afghanistan and working in counterterrorism and hostage rescues in Somalia for the U.S. Special Forces before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2017.

Eventually he came across ayahuasca, long a part of traditional cultures in South America. Last summer, he took part in a ceremony involving the psychoactive brew, overseen by a woman knowledgeable about its effects. She talked to him as the experience took hold, including a feeling of euphoria, the sight of geometric shapes and a sense he was entering his subconscious.

She spoke to him about his childhood and how the military had shaped his life.

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It really was as simple as having an experienced person who understood the medicine, who understood that subconscious space and understood PTSD. It was as simple as listening to her, he said.

He credits that single session with getting his PTSD about 80% under control, though he occasionally does another if he finds his symptoms returning.

About two-thirds to three-quarters of people in studies have experienced significant improvements in their symptoms, Garcia-Romeu said. Those are promising results, especially for quitting smoking, where current treatments only work for about one-third of people, he said.

The Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin a breakthrough therapy in 2018, a label thats designed to speed the development and review of drugs to treat a serious condition. MDMA, often called ecstasy, also has that designation for treatment of PTSD.

How quickly states move from study to wider availability remains to be seen. Connecticut recommended legal medical use only after psilocybin is approved by the FDA, which may take until 2025 or later as the agency works through its process, including risk assessment.

Approval is important to safety as well as access, the Connecticut assessment said  without it, many insurance companies likely wouldnt cover the treatment, leaving it open only to the wealthy.

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In Utah, the study team is expected to complete its work in the fall.

Well see what can and cant be done, said Republican Rep. Brady Brammer, who sponsored the bill. If if they feel like its safe, itll be an interesting ride.
Two police officers were among four people injured after a gunman opened fire at a bar in Cunupia early yesterday morning.

The officers had responded to a report of a large gathering at the bar and minutes later a man fired at the officers and patrons.

The shooter ran off and escaped.

The incident occurred at around 4.40 a.m., at Big Timerz Bar, on the Southern Main Road.
Within days of being appointed Minister of Public Utilities in August 2020, Marvin Gonzales declared the transformation of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) to be his number one priority.

In the 21 months since then, Minister Gonzales has gone through two acting CEOs, an executive director and is now on a third acting CEO at WASA. In an environment of turbulence, successive deadlines for implementing WASAs long-promised plan transformation has been missed.
Body camera footage of Patrick Lyoyas fatal encounter with a Michigan police officer shows a close-up view of an intense struggle, but the video goes dark 42 seconds before the officer shoots the Black man in the head.

Its the latest high-profile case in which body cameras  touted as tools to hold police accountable  have failed, leaving prosecutors and the public to rely on bystander video for a clearer picture of what happened.

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One expert said vendors could make changes to avoid accidental camera deactivations, though its not clear that is what happened in Lyoyas case, and some activists said an accident seems unlikely. Regardless, Lyoyas family and their attorneys say it shows the importance of citizen video. The shooting was captured by Lyoyas passenger, with a cellphone, and a doorbell camera across the street.

Keep videoing the police because transparency is important for them and its sure important for us, said Ben Crump, an attorney for Lyoyas family.

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The officer was on top of Lyoya, who was facedown on the ground, when he shot the 26-year-old Congolese refugee in the head April 4.

Body camera video released by police this week shows the initial stop, and the officer saying the cars license plate wasnt registered to the vehicle. It shows Lyoyas attempt to run away and a struggle as the officer repeatedly tells him to stop. At one point, Lyoya has his hand on the officers stun gun, and the officer yells at him to let go.

The video then goes black. Police dashcam captured some audio but no images of the shooting.

Official sources can have limitations for a variety of reasons, such as the limited view of the dashcam in the Grand Rapids incident, or the fixed viewpoint of a surveillance camera. In the recent Brooklyn subway attack, computer system problems kept authorities from either recording or viewing footage on security cameras in the station where the subway train stopped after Frank James allegedly opened fire.

Other cameras in the system worked, however, and provided critical evidence.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said officers have to hold a button on the camera for three seconds to turn it off. He said the button was hit many times during the struggle in this case, but at the point the screen went dark that was the first moment that it was held down for more than three seconds. Thats what deactivated it.

One body camera expert said it appeared to have been unintentional.

That officer, he is in a full-on struggle with that citizen. And Im sure turning the camera off wouldve been the least of his concerns, said Michael White, a professor at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University and co-director of training and technical assistance for the U.S. Department of Justice Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program.

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White couldnt think of another case in which an officers camera was unintentionally turned off during a struggle.

But cameras are sometimes knocked off officers uniforms.

The Axon Body 3 camera used by Grand Rapids police has a large circular button on the front surrounded by a ridge, so the button is slightly recessed. Officers tap the button twice to record and hold it down for three seconds to turn it off.

Axon said it remains committed to developing technology and training for public safety but declined to comment further, citing the investigation.

Michelle Gross, a Minnesota activist for police accountability and president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, was among those who doubted that the officers camera was accidentally turned off, citing the recessed button.

An expert in police accountability issues agreed. Sam Walker, a retired professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha, called the cameras deactivation suspicious and said it must be investigated.

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In the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, bystander video was crucial in bringing attention to and documenting what happened. In that case, Derek Chauvins body camera fell off as he and other Minneapolis police officers struggled with Floyd, who was Black. Video recorded by a teenage bystander, as well as the other officers body cameras, was key in convicting Chauvin of murder.

During the 2019 arrest of Elijah McClain, a Black man who died after officers confronted him in suburban Denver, the body cameras of all three officers came off during a struggle. The cameras continued to record audio but there was no video footage to verify a police claim that McClain reached for one of the officers guns. He was placed in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with the powerful sedative ketamine. He later died at a hospital.

Sometimes officers intentionally turn off the cameras. In the 2019 beating and death of Ronald Greene, another Black man, Louisiana Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth turned his body camera off during a car chase. It was one of several policy violations for which he was ultimately fired.

White said some body camera models have means to prevent accidental deactivation, such as needing to press a button three times. He said if it is deemed that the camera worn by the officer in Lyoyas death was accidentally deactivated, he wouldnt be surprised if major vendors begin working on modifications, such as additional manual mechanisms or voice activation. He said companies have developed solutions to prevent body-worn cameras from being knocked off, such as stronger magnets.

Ayesha Bell Hardaway, an associate professor of law at Case Western Reserve University and co-director of the schools Social Justice Institute, said the lack of video in use-of-force cases can affect whether officers are charged. Without direct evidence such as video, prosecutors must rely on the reasonable-officer standard in bringing charges, examining whether a reasonable officer would have believed his or her life or the lives of others to be in danger.

The absence of the video at the critical moment gives us no window to put us in that moment, she said. It now puts us right back where we were  relying on the word of an officer.

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Bell Hardaway said bystander video has become increasingly important in these cases.

I shudder to think of the lack of accountability that exists in a world without this technology, she said.

Forliti reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Washington, D.C.; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; Colleen Slevin in Denver; and Jake Bleiberg in Dallas contributed.
Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, hits other cities

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated  and refuted by witnesses  throughout 52 days of war.

The toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine. An infant and at least eight other people died, officials said.

In the towns and villages just outside Kyiv, authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago. Smoke rose from the capital again early Saturday as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike that killed one person and wounded several.

The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return.

US Army using lessons from Ukraine war to aid own training

FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP)  In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.

The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

If the images seem familiar, they are, playing out on televisions and websites worldwide right now as Russian forces pound Ukrainian cities with airstrikes, killing scores of civilians. The information war on social media has showcased impassioned nightly speeches by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Russian efforts to accuse Ukraine's forces of faking mass killings in towns such as Bucha  massacres that the West blames on Moscow's troops.

I think right now the whole Army is really looking at whats happening in Ukraine and trying to learn lessons, said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. Those lessons, she said, range from Russia's equipment and logistics troubles to communications and use of the internet.

'Magic mushrooms' for therapy? Vets help sway conservatives

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Matthew Butler spent 27 years in the Army, but it took a day in jail to convince him his post-traumatic stress disorder was out of control.

The recently retired Green Beret had already tried antidepressants, therapy and a support dog. But his arrest for punching a hole in his father's wall after his family tried to stage an intervention in Utah made it clear none of it was working.

I had a nice house, I had a great job, whatever, but I was unable to sleep, had frequent nightmares, crippling anxiety, avoiding crowds," he said. My life was a wreck.

He eventually found psychedelic drugs, and he says they changed his life. I was able to finally step way back and go, Oh, I see whats going on here. I get it now, said Butler, now 52. Today his run-ins with police have ended, hes happily married and reconciled with his parents.

Butler, who lives in the Salt Lake City suburbs, is among military veterans in several U.S. states helping to persuade lawmakers to study psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use.

12 injured in shooting at South Carolina mall; 3 detained

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolinas capital that authorities do not believe was a random attack.

Three people who had firearms have been detained in connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting at Columbiana Centre, Columbia Police Chief W.H. Skip Holbrook said. He said at least one of those three people fired a weapon.

We dont believe this was random, Holbrook said. We believe they knew each other and something led to the gunfire.

Authorities said no fatalities have been reported but that eight of the victims were taken to the hospital. Of those eight, two were in critical condition and six were in stable condition, Holbrook said. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 73, he said.

Daniel Johnson said he and his family were visiting from Alabama and were eating in the food court when they first heard shots ring out and started seeing people running.

DA: 3 of 6 dead in Sacramento shootout were in gang dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Newly filed court documents in the downtown Sacramento shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others reveal that three of the dead had been involved in the gang dispute that led to the massive shootout, with at least one of them firing a weapon.

Documents filed Friday by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schuberts office show that the three deceased men affiliated with gangs were Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, Devazia Turner, 29, and Sergio Harris, 38, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday.

Turner fired a weapon, but it was unclear if all three fired weapons. Police have said there were at least five suspects in the April 3 shooting.

Two of the suspects  brothers Smiley and Dandrae Martin  were wounded and are hospitalized or in jail. A third suspect, Mtula Payton, 27, remains at large.

In a social media clip posted hours before the shooting, the Martin brothers are seen posing with Hoye-Lucchesi and two handguns and a rifle. In the video, Hoye-Lucchesi and Smiley Martin, 27, talk about going downtown while armed to loiter outside nightclubs and boast about shooting rival gang members, according to a 13-page document.

Unrest sparked by far-right demos continues in Sweden

HELSINKI (AP)  Unrest broke out in southern Sweden late Saturday despite police moving a rally by an anti-Islam far-right group, which was planning to burn a Quran among other things, to a new location as a preventive measure.

Scuffles and unrest were reported in the southern town of Landskrona after a demonstration scheduled there by the Danish right-wing party Stram Kurs party was moved to the nearby city of Malmo, some 45 kilometers (27 miles) south.

Up to 100 mostly young people threw stones, set cars, tires and dustbins on fire, and put up a barrier fence that obstructed traffic, Swedish police said. The situation had calmed down in Landskrona by late Saturday but remains tense, police said, adding no injuries were reported in the action.

On Friday evening, violent clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters erupted in the central city of Orebro ahead Stram Kurs' plan to burn a Quran there, leaving 12 police officers injured and four police vehicles set on fire.

Video footage and photos from chaotic scenes in Orebro showed burning police cars and protesters throwing stones and other objects at police officers in riot gear.

Crews fight New Mexico fires as some evacuations lift

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP)  Authorities have lifted some evacuation orders for a mountain community in drought-stricken southern New Mexico as firefighters worked Saturday to contain a wind-driven blaze that killed two people and destroyed over 200 homes.

The evacuation orders lifted late Friday covered about 60% of the estimated 4,500 people ordered to leave their homes since the fire started Tuesday, Village of Ruidoso spokesperson Kerry Gladden told The Associated Press on Saturday. Evacuation estimates were previously reported to be around 5,000 people.

The big story is we're in a re-population mode," Gladden said earlier during a media briefing.

Those evacuation orders remaining in effect may be lifted in coming days, officials said.

Those waiting to return included Barbara Arthur, the owner of a wooded 28-site RV park that had wind damage but didnt burn.

Suit seeks to overturn renewed Philadelphia mask mandate

PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Several businesses and residents have filed suit in state court in Pennsylvania seeking to overturn Philadelphia's renewed indoor mask mandate scheduled to be enforced beginning Monday in an effort to halt a surge in COVID-19 infections.

The lawsuit, filed in Commonwealth Court on Saturday, said Philadelphia lacks the authority to impose such a mandate.

Philadelphia earlier this week became the first major U.S. city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate after reporting a sharp increase in coronavirus infections, with the citys top health official saying she wanted to forestall a potential new wave driven by an omicron subvariant.

Attorney Thomas W. King III, who was among those involved in last year's successful challenge to the statewide mask mandate in schools, said the city's emergency order went against recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and imposed a renegade standard unfound anywhere else in the world."

The suit accuses city health officials of having usurped the power and authority" of state lawmakers, the state department of health and the state advisory health board.

WNBA players say life in Russia was lucrative but lonely

For the elite athletes in the WNBA, spending the offseason playing in Russia can mean earning more money than they can make back home  sometimes even two or three times as much.

But those who have done that also describe the loneliness of being away from family and friends, of struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, and of living in a place with only a few hours of sunlight in the winter and temperatures well below freezing.

Brittney Griner is one of those players who went to Russia in recent years to earn extra money. For the two-time Olympian, however, it has turned into a prolonged nightmare.

Since arriving at a Moscow airport in mid-February, she has been detained by police after they reported finding vape cartridges allegedly containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Still in jail, she is awaiting trial next month on charges that could bring up to 10 years in prison.

Her arrest came at a time of heightened political tensions over Ukraine. Since then, Russia has invaded Ukraine and remains at war.

Art Rupe, pioneering record executive, dead at 104

NEW YORK (AP)  Music executive Art Rupe, whose Specialty Records was a premier label during the formative years of rock n roll and helped launch the careers of Little Richard, Sam Cooke and many others, has died. He was 104.

Rupe, who was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2011, died Friday at his home in Santa Barbara, California, according to the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation. The foundation did not release his cause of death.

The Greensburg, Pennsylvania, native was a contemporary of Jerry Wexler, Leonard Chess and other white businessmen-producers who helped bring Black music to a general audience. He founded Specialty in Los Angeles in 1946 and gave early breaks to such artists as Cooke and his gospel group the Soul Stirrers, Little Richard, Lloyd Price, John Lee Hooker and Clifton Chenier.

Specialty Records growth paralleled, and perhaps defined, the evolution of Black popular music, from the race music of the 1940s to the rock n roll of the 1950s, music historian Billy Vera wrote in the liner notes to The Specialty Story, a five-CD set that came out in 1994.

Rupes most lucrative and momentous signing was Little Richard, a rhythm n blues and gospel performer since his teens who had struggled to break through commercially. In a 2011 interview for the Rock Hall archives, Rupe explained that Little Richard (the professional name for the late Macon, Georgia, native Richard Penniman) had learned of Specialty through Price, sent a demo and for months called trying to find out if anyone had listened. He finally demanded to speak to Rupe, who dug out his tape from the reject pile.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, hits other cities

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russia has resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond after warning that it planned to step up missile strikes on the capital. Saturday's strikes are a reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite a pivot toward a new offensive in the east. Moscow says the renewed attacks targeted Ukrainian military sites. But each day brings more civilian victims of a war that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old sons body. The teenager and at least eight other people died after rockets hit a residential area of the northeast city of Kharkiv.

US Army using lessons from Ukraine war to aid own training

FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP)  U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China. The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in California's Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack. In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

'Magic mushrooms' for therapy? Vets help sway conservatives

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The medicinal use of hallucinogenic mushrooms is making inroads in U.S. states as military veterans advocate for the therapeutic value of psychedelic drugs, including in conservative states like Utah, Texas and Oklahoma. At least four states have approved studying their medicinal properties in the last two years and several U.S. cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms. Oregon is the first, and so far only, state to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychedelic active ingredient found in certain mushrooms. But studying them has gotten approval not only in blue states like Hawaii, Connecticut and Maryland but also GOP-led Utah, Texas, and Oklahoma, where the state House passed a bill this year.

12 injured in shooting at South Carolina mall; 3 detained

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolinas capital that authorities do not believe was a random attack. Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said three people who had firearms have been detained in connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting at Columbiana Centre. Authorities said no fatalities have been reported but that eight of the shooting victims were taken to the hospital. Of those eight, two were in critical condition. Daniel Johnson said he and his family were visiting from Alabama and were eating in the food court when they first heard shots ring out. Johnson said people were screaming and knocking over tables as they fled.

DA: 3 of 6 dead in Sacramento shootout were in gang dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Newly filed court documents in a deadly downtown Sacramento shooting reveal that three of the six who died were involved in the gang dispute that led to the massive shootout. At least one of them fired a weapon while another boasted before the killing about shooting rival members. The information was contained in documents filed Friday by the Sacramento County District Attorney's office. Court documents say suspect Smiley Martin and Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi posted on social media earlier in the day that they wanted to shoot rival gang members. The Sacramento Bee was first to report on the filings. The April 3 shootout wounded a dozen others.

Unrest sparked by far-right demos continues in Sweden

HELSINKI (AP)  Unrest has broken out in southern Sweden despite police moving a rally by an anti-Islam far-right group, which was planning to burn a Quran among other things, to a new location as a preventive measure. Scuffles and unrest were reported in the southern town of Landskrona after a demonstration scheduled there by the Danish right-wing party Stram Kurs party was moved to the nearby city of Malmo. Up to 100 mostly young people threw stones, set cars, tires and dustbins on fire, and put up a barrier fence that obstructed traffic, Swedish police said. The situation had calmed down in Landskrona by late Saturday but remains tense.

Crews fight New Mexico fires as some evacuations lift

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP)  Authorities have lifted some evacuation orders for a southern New Mexico mountain community hit by wildfire. Firefighters are working Saturday to contain a wind-driven blaze that killed two people and destroyed over 200 homes. A Village of Ruidoso spokesperson said about 60% of the estimated 4,500 people who were told to evacuate since the fire started Tuesday were allowed to return home late Friday. Evacuation estimates were previously reported to be around 5,000 people. Specific numbers werent immediately available. Fire incident commander Dave Bales said crews on Saturday worked to put out hot spots and clear lines along the fires perimeter to keep the fire from spreading.

Suit seeks to overturn renewed Philadelphia mask mandate

PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Several businesses and residents have filed suit in state court in Pennsylvania seeking to overturn Philadelphias renewed indoor mask mandate scheduled to be enforced beginning Monday amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. Philadelphia earlier this week became the first major U.S. city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate after reporting a sharp increase in coronavirus infections. Attorney Thomas W. King III said the citys emergency order went against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and imposed a renegade standard." The Philadelphia mayors office declined comment but said courts have ruled that the city has both the legal authority and requisite flexibility" to take steps to control COVID-19 spread.

WNBA players say life in Russia was lucrative but lonely

For WNBA players, spending the offseason by competing in Russia can be lucrative, with some earning more money than they make back home. But they also describe the loneliness of being away from family and friends, of struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, and of living in a place with little sunlight in winter and temperatures well below freezing. Brittney Griner is one of those athletes who went to Russia to earn extra money. But the experience has turned into a prolonged nightmare after she was arrested in February by police who reported finding vape cartridges allegedly containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She is awaiting trial on charges that could bring a prison term.

Art Rupe, pioneering record executive, dead at 104

NEW YORK (AP)  A pioneering record executive who helped launch the careers of Little Richard and Sam Cooke has died. Art Rupe died Friday at his Santa Barbara, California, home at the age of 104. Rupe was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. The Greensburg, Pennsylvania, native was a contemporary of Jerry Wexler, Leonard Chess and other businessmen-producers who helped bring Black music to a general audience. He founded Specialty Records in Los Angeles in 1946 and worked on such early rock classics as Little Richard's Tutti Frutti" and Lloyd Price's Lawdy Miss Clawdy.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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The ninth season of the popular PBS series Finding Your Roots will include an episode tracing the ancestries of the three still-living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., the shows creator and host, made the announcement Tuesday, during an appearance on the podcast The Black Eagle hosted by Joe Madison.

Gates met with the three survivors  Lessie Benningfield Randle, age 107; Viola Fletcher, 107; and Hughes Van Ellis, 101  when he was in Tulsa on April 8 as the guest of Tulsa Town Hall.

The meeting was arranged by State Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, assistant House minority floor leader and chair of the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus.

I had the honor to give a lecture to well over 1,000 people in Tulsa, Gates said. Before I went on stage, I was asked if I could have a private meeting with the three living survivors of the Tulsa Massacre.

It was such a great honor for me to meet them, he said. (Author William) Faulkner said, famously, that the past is never dead; its not even past. And that was what I felt when I was meeting these three people. I was just overwhelmed to be in their presence.

During the meeting, Gates said, he was asked by Fletchers grandson, Ike Howard, to trace the ancestry of Fletcher, Randle and Van Ellis.

So Im announcing that season nine of Finding Your Roots will include a segment tracing the ancestry of the Tulsa Race Massacre survivors, Gates said.

Finding Your Roots is currently in its eighth season, and Gates appearance on The Black Eagle was to promote the April 12 broadcast of the episode featuring actress Regina King, star of the HBO series Watchmen, and the shows creator Damon Lindelof.

The series, inspired by the classic graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, was set in Tulsa, with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre being pivotal to the story of a woman who carries on her familys legacy of donning a disguise in order to fight for justice in an increasingly violent and corrupt society.

Gates himself appeared in one episode, portraying U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Louis Gates Jr.  the government official, Gates emphasized, who was able to authorize reparations to be paid to race massacre survivors and their descendants in the show.

Gates said tracing the ancestries of the three Tulsa Race Massacre survivors will afford a number of unique opportunities for the Finding Your Roots crew of researchers.

Weve never traced a centenarians ancestry before, Gates said. This will be huge. Think of how close these people are to Reconstruction, and therefore to our collective slave experience.

It just shows you how recent Black history is, he said. Its yesterday. We think, Tulsa in 1921, that was 100 years ago, everybody must be long transitioned. Nope!

Gates said the first step is to get the three survivors tested as soon as possible, so that the DNA tests that are a major part of the research can begin.

No dates for the ninth season of Finding Your Roots have been announced.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  Scott Pruitts political comeback began Friday.

Four years after exiting the Environmental Protection Agencys top spot amid a hail of ethics and management scandals and complaints, the former state senator and Oklahoma attorney general walked unannounced into the Capitol at midday Friday and filed for U.S. Senate.

Asked how he would address questions about the circumstances of his 2018 departure from Washington, Pruitt essentially blamed political enemies for the bad publicity.

Its pretty simple, the Tulsa Republican said. I went to Washington to get something done.  When you go to Washington to make a difference, theres going to be competition. I experienced that competition.  But this is not about the past. Its about what needs to be done in the future.

The extent to which Pruitt can make that narrative fly will figure prominently in a crowded primary that includes 12 other Republicans, plus a Democrat, a Libertarian, and an independent waiting in the general election.

Pruitt was the most notable filer on Friday, the last of three days candidates could enter their names in this years federal and state elections. Overall, this weeks 569 total filings were the fewest in a gubernatorial election year since at least 2002.

An inordinate number, though, were crammed into a few races. The aforementioned U.S. Senate race  to replace retiring Republican Jim Inhofe  attracted 16 candidates, including seven on Friday; the 2nd Congressional District, also an open seat, also attracted 16 hopefuls, including 13 Republicans, a Democrat, and 88-year-old independent Bulldog Ben Robinson, a former Democratic state senator from Muskogee.

Oklahomas other U.S. Senate race, in which Republican incumbent James Lankford is seeking a second full term, drew 11 entrants, including six Democrats, a libertarian and an independent. Lankford has two primary opponents, including frequent filer Joan Farr of Tulsa, who turned in her paperwork Friday afternoon.

One of the Democratic candidates, Jo Glenn of Tulsa, was the 569th and last candidate to beat the 5 p.m. deadline.

All four members of Congress seeking re-election drew multiple opponents and three Republicans, two Democrats, a libertarian and an independent are challenging incumbent Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Except insurance commissioner, where Republican Glen Mulready is unopposed, even the secondary offices have multiple candidates.

All of those people bunched at the top of the ticket meant quite a few legislative seats and district attorneys, and a lot of judgeships, have already been decided.

That includes 20 of 27 DA positions, nine of 48 state Senate seats and 45 of 101 state House seats. Most but not all of those are incumbents.

In a filing-related development, Republican insiders said state GOP Chairman John Bennett, who became a candidate in CD 2 on Wednesday, is expected to resign within the next few days. Vice Chairman Shane Jemision will be acting chairman until a permanent successor is chosen in 30 to 60 days.

Fridays notable filings besides Pruitt included former five-term state Rep. Todd Thomsen, a Republican Corporation Commission entry; term-limited state Rep. Sean Roberts, who decided to challenge incumbent Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn instead of 3rd District Congressman Frank Lucas; and former state Sen. Josh Brecheen, who joined the Republican cavalcade in CD 2.

One candidate, Republican John Williams, withdrew from the state Senate District 22 primary.

The deadline for withdrawal as well as eligibility challenges is 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Tulsa World Newsroom: The story behind U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe with political reporter Randy Krehbiel.

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The first of two public meetings is scheduled Monday for a proposed Mayes County tax increment financing district (TIF) that officials say could attract $6 billion in private investment for a manufacturing operation.

Labeled Project Ocean, the proposal targets 588 acres inside MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor. If approved, the TIF would last a maximum of 12 years, creating up to 6,000 new direct jobs, 1,200 indirect jobs, 16,000 new housing units and a population increase of 18,000 within a 45-minute commute of the park, according to the project plan.

Both public meetings will be at the Mayes County Fairgrounds, the first at 6 p.m. Monday and the second at 6 p.m. April 26 before a potential vote on the matter.

TIFS are economic tools used to promote economic development. They allow governmental entities to use a portion of property taxes generated within the district to invest in the districts infrastructure, providing an incentive for private investment.

The increment revenue projected to be generated by the TIF is about $300 million. A total of 50% of the increment would be apportioned to the park operator, the Oklahoma Ordnance Works Authority, to pay project costs, and the balance would be apportioned to affected tax jurisdictions in proportion to their property tax levies.

Neither county nor state officials have named publicly the company they are courting.

Japanese electronics company Panasonic said last month it wants to buy land in Kansas or Oklahoma to build a multibillion-dollar factory to supply Tesla with lithium-ion batteries, according to reporting from Japan public broadcaster NHK.

The states are being considered, according to the report, because they are close to Texas, where Tesla is preparing a new electric vehicle plant.

Panasonic and Tesla have partnered for some time. Both companies operate a gigafactory outside Reno, Nevada.

Panasonic also reached an agreement in October with electric vehicle start-up Canoo to supply batteries for its lifestyle vehicle. Canoo announced last year that it plans to build a factory at the MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, creating at least 1,500 jobs.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt hasnt commented on the Japanese report on plant sites.

The state House and Senate have scheduled appropriations meetings for Monday, where it is thought legislation related to project will be put on a fast track to the governors desk. Agendas for those meetings, however, had not been posted late Friday.

Video: Electric car maker coming to Pryors MidAmerica Industrial Park.

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BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Idaho Gov. Brad Little said Friday he wont participate in debates heading into next months Republican primary.

The first-term governor had been invited to participate in debates put on by Idaho Debates on Idaho Public Television and another put on by KTVB-TV.

Governor Little has a proven track record of cutting red tape, responsibly managing the budget and the economy, and providing Idaho families and businesses with historic tax relief and record investments in schools, roads, water, and other areas, his campaign said in a statement. Those historic accomplishments and facts are non-debatable.

Little has drawn several Republican challengers, including far-right Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. The governor and lieutenant governor run on separate tickets. Little has a significant fundraising advantage, and debating McGeachin in a statewide televised debate could give her a big platform with not much to gain for himself.

The two have sparred during the coronavirus pandemic, with McGeachin as acting governor issuing several executive orders while Little was out of town. Little rescinded McGeachin's orders each time.

McGeachin, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, tweeted that Little's decision wasn't based on a scheduling conflict, rather he just doesnt want to debate. Once again, he is showing his elitist attitude by refusing to address his record.

After Littles announcement, Idaho Debates officials said it was unclear if the governor's debate will be held without Little, and they were conferring with other candidates. They said it was the first time in more than three decades that a sitting governor seeking reelection had declined to participate.

Also on Friday, Republican state Rep. Priscilla Giddings backed out of a lieutenant governor debate against House Speaker Scott Bedke that had been set for Monday.

Idaho Debates officials said Giddings had previously committed to the debate, as had Bedke. Giddings, however, required her preapproval of reporter panelists, citing her concerns they would be biased. But Idaho Debates officials said they dont reveal reporters on a panel to any candidate in advance.

The decision to withhold the names of the panelists on the false pretense that this will suddenly make them fair and respectful leaves us with very little choice, said Giddings campaign spokesman Zach Lautenschlager in an email to Melissa Davlin of Idaho Public Television, the scheduled debate moderator. We are forced to refuse the invitation.

Bedke in a statement said he was happy to take part in Mondays debate and had also agreed to a debate on KTVB-TV with no preconditions.

Its unfortunate that the people of Idaho will not get this opportunity to see, firsthand, the difference between my record of delivering conservative results versus my opponents empty rhetoric, Bedke wrote.

Idaho Debates are a collaboration between the Idaho Press Club, Idaho Public Television, the League of Women Voters of Idaho and Idahos public universities.

Refusing to take part in the statewide televised debates ahead of the Idaho primary gives voters less opportunity to scrutinize candidates and potentially see different philosophies on display.

Idaho Public Television reaches nearly every household in the state, and we know from past comments that many Republican primary voters rely on debates to inform their decisions at the ballot box, Davlin said.

The governor and lieutenant governor races offer stark choices for voters, with Little and Bedke among the more mainstream Republicans that have dominated Idaho for several decades, and McGeachin and Giddings associated with the far-right that has been making inroads in recent years.

In conservative Idaho, the winner of the Republican primary in statewide races is almost guaranteed winning the general election. Democrats have not held the governors office since 1995 or statewide elected office since 2007.

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson has also said he wouldnt take part in Republican primary debates this year.

Simpson, who is generally but not always aligned with Little and Bedke, has drawn a handful of primary challengers for Idahos 2nd Congressional District that hes represented since 1999.

The most notable challenger there is Bryan Smith of Idaho Falls. Smith ran against Simson in the 2014 Republican primary but lost. Simpsons campaign has said voters have already seen enough of Smith.

Republican U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, who has represented Idahos 1st Congressional District since 2019, didnt draw a primary challenger.

Several other Republican primary debates put on by Idaho Debates are still planned. Those include the candidates for attorney general on Tuesday, superintendent of public instruction on April 25 and for secretary of state on April 26.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NEW YORK  A Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol for weeks.

Gov. Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Frolov died a heroic death in battle without saying where or when he was killed. Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St. Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.

Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Elderly mother feels lost, seeks son's body in Ukrainian town of Bucha

 We pray for you: Ukrainian Jews mark Passover, if they can

 Ukraines port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

Follow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

WASHINGTON  Austrias chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is in his own war logic when it comes to Ukraine.

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told Meet the Press that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and it was not a friendly conversation.

He said Putin said he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesnt trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily Saturday in St. Peters Basilica, attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three Ukrainian parliamentarians.

The pontiff noted that while many writers have evoked the beauty of starlit nights, the nights of war, however, are riven by streams of light that portend death.

Francis did not refer directly to Russias invasion of Ukraine, but he has called for an Easter truce in order to reach a negotiated peace. That call appeared in vain Saturday, as Russia resumed missile and rocket attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond in a reminder that the whole country remains under threat.

At the end of his homily, Francis directly addressed directly Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov and Ukrainian lawmakers Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko and Rusem Umerov, who sat in the front row.

In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer, Francis said, then with emotion he added that the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen, the last three words in Ukrainian.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The Invictus Games for injured and ill service personnel and veterans has opened with a standing ovation and a tribute from Prince Harry for Ukrainian team members who left their war-torn nation to compete.

With Harry and his wife Meghan in the front row for the opening ceremony Saturday night, competitors cheered for nearly a minute as the Ukrainian team waved their nations blue-and-yellow flag after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed them. The event had been delayed by two years because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military service members and veterans, by giving them the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.

Welcoming all competitors, Harry singled out the 19-strong Ukrainian team and their supporters.

Your bravery in choosing to come and for being here tonight cannot be overstated, he said, a day after meeting the Ukrainians at a reception.

You know, we stand with you. The world is united with you. And still you deserve more. And my hope is that these events, this event, creates the opportunity ... of how we as a global community can better show up for you, Harry added.

FORT IRWIN, Calif. __ U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary.

The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in Californias Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

RIYADH  Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday, their second call since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields.

The Saudi readout of the call said the crown prince affirmed support for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The kingdom recently announced $10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlins statement added the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war for years, as well as their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+. The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.

Ukraine has urged nations around the world to cut their dependency on Russian oil imports that it says finance Russias military war on Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces shelled an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk on Saturday, and a large fire erupted, a regional governor reported.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said it wasnt the first time the refinery was targeted and accused the Russians of trying to exhaust local emergency services. He underlined there was no fuel at the refinery at the time of the attack and the remains of oil sludge were burning.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv in the east, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kirovohrad in the central Ukraine and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. The strikes underlined that the whole country remained under threat despite Russias pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

In Kharkiv, nine civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded on Friday, while in the wider region two were reported dead and three wounded, according to the report.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of regional legislature, Hanna Zamazeyeva, said Saturday that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

Zamazeyeva said the targets included several residential blocks where there are no military facilities.

The besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is still holding out, but the situation there is critical.

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised remarks on Saturday that 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians -- more than half women -- are currently being held captive by the Russians.

Vereshchuk said Kyiv intends to swap the captive soldiers, since Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops but demands to release the civilians without any conditions.

ROME  Italy is barring all Russian ships from its ports starting Sunday, as part of expanded EU sanctions announced earlier this month. Ships already in Italian ports must leave immediately after completing their commercial activity, according to a notice sent to port authorities throughout the country.

BERLIN  Peace activists took part Germanys traditional Easter marches on Saturday, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine but also in at least some cases opposing helping Ukraine defend itself with weaponry.

A Berlin event drew 400 people and one in Hannover 500, the dpa news agency reported, citing police. Marches took place in cities including Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Duisburg. Banners included End the war in Ukraine and He who sends weapons reaps war.

The countrys vice chancellor, Greens politician Robert Habeck, warned demonstrators against sending the wrong message, saying there will only be peace when Putin stops his war of aggression. He said in an interview with the Funke media group that it was clear who the aggressor is who and who are defending themselves in an emergency and whom we must support, also with weapons.

Ukrainian officials say Germany has sent anti-tank and antiaircaft weapon as well as night vision equipment, body armor and machine guns.

The locally organized peace marches date back to the days of the Cold War and focus on issues such as disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons.

KYIV, Ukraine -- Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one person died and several more were wounded in the Saturday morning airstrikes on the Darnytski district of the capital, as Russian forces resumed scattered attacks on the capital in western Ukraine.

Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks, which the Russian Defense Ministry said targeted an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital, was an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Russian forces pivot to the east, where a new offensive is feared.

Klitschko urged Ukrainians not to return to Kyiv just yet in televised remarks Saturday, warning that strikes on the capital are likely continue and its suburbs are rigged with explosives. Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. We cant prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

The mayor of Kyiv added that because of the mines, Kyiv residents are barred from visiting parks and forests in the northeastern areas that border with liberated territories formerly occupied by Russians.

MOSCOW -- Russia has barred the UK prime minister and a dozen other top British officials from entering the country in response to British sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Russias Foreign Ministry announced the move that targets Boris Johnson, a number of British ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, on Saturday.

The ministrys statement cited unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials in Russia.

The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas are detrimental to the well-being and interests of the residents of Britain. Any sanctions attack will inevitably backfire on their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, the statement said.

On Friday evening, the ministry announced the expulsion of 18 European Union diplomats from Moscow, in retaliation for the blocs declaring 19 diplomats from the Russian mission to the EU and to the European Atomic Energy Community persona non-grata.

The European Union said the expulsions were groundless, and that EU diplomats targeted were working in the framework of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting that Kyiv was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district in the eastern part of the capital, saying there were explosions.

He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene and that victims details would be released later.

Klitschko urged residents to heed air raid sirens and warned those who have fled the capital not to return for now for their safety.

Thick smoke rising from the site on the eastern side of Kyiv could be seen from parts of downtown near the Dnipro River.

WASHINGTON  Ukraine is sending top officials to Washington for next weeks spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where discussion will focus on the Russian invasion and its impact on the global economy.

Coming to the gathering are Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to a World Bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been officially announced.

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the U.S. has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

TIJUANA, Mexico  A Russian man and Ukrainian woman were married in the Mexican border city of Tijuana after they were unable to travel together to the U.S.

Daria Sakhniuk was allowed to enter the U.S. as a Ukrainian refugee but her partner, Semen Bobrovski, was unable to travel there following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They left Ukraine as the war began.

Bobrovski told El Sol de Tijuana that he believed the marriage Thursday would bolster his chances of entering the U.S. with his new wife. The U.S. allows only Russian nationals with family members in the U.S. to enter the country.

Without it, we wont be able to cross because, still to the official American government, we are strangers to each other," he said.

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the countrys military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said.

He added: The occupiers problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A fire that tore through an Englewood neighborhood church was caused by workers on its roof using a propane torch, Chicago Fire Department officials said Saturday.

The fire, at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church , happened Friday afternoon and caused extensive damage to the structure, 6248 S. Stewart Ave. No one was injured or inside the church at the time.

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The fire departments Office of Fire Investigation determined the blaze was accidental, caused by roofers using a propane torch, according to a tweet from the Chicago Fire Department.

The roof caved in moments after firefighters had evacuated because of dangerous conditions, said Chicago Fire spokesman Larry Langford.

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Meanwhile, church officials decided to have Easter worship services at Englewoods Calahan Funeral Home, 7030 S. Halsted St., beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday with the churchs pastor, Gerald Dew, according to the churchs Facebook page. The services will also be streamed online.

Also Saturday, Chicago fire Deputy District Chief Curtis Hudson said firefighters returned to the church shortly before noon to check on just some steam after firefighters had already returned to the scene a few times to put out any residual flames.

I know last night we came back at 8 and then 2 in the morning and then again this morning at 7, and were here now, Hudson said. Rekindling is to be expected for such a big building.

Firefighters return to check for hotspots a day after an extra-alarm fire at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church on April 16, 2022. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Hudson said when the roof collapsed, the debris that was then underneath the fallen roof was likely still on fire and wasnt getting any direct water, which would explain any flare-ups. Hudson said there were no visible flames as of early Saturday afternoon.

Chicago fire first arrived on scene of the extra-alarm blaze about 2:30 p.m. Friday and had it under control as of 4:05 p.m., Langford said earlier.

Rodney Simpson, 32, who lives in East Pilsen, went out to the church Saturday morning to feel the weight of what happened yesterday. He said he saw a few other people standing around, looking at the building and saw more arrive as he was leaving.

Simpson said he grew up in the Englewood church from early childhood up until his early-to-mid 20s. Though he hadnt attended any service at the church in some 10 years, he was brought to tears as he walked up to what remained of what he called his home growing up.

Walking up to the building and seeing it, even the emotional response to that you really cant prepare for, Simpson said. It was like a piece of my history, my familys history, the communitys history, the citys history, its been hollowed out. It definitely hurt to see that.

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Simpson said he still has several connections to the church, including his mom and brother who attend. He found out about the fire from his best friend who he met and grew up with in the church then called his mom to check on her.

I think we were and still are all in a state of shock, Simpson said. Theres a lot of things that are coming up for me. The space will be missed and honored for the community and the relationships it nurtured, the spirit that it held. Itll be missed.
A federal jury convicted a former supervisory corrections officer of violating the civil rights of three pretrial inmates, including by housing Black inmates where they could be attacked by white supremacist inmates, at the Kay County Detention Center in Newkirk, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Oklahoma announced in a news release Friday.

The former jailer, Matthew Ware, 53, was convicted of willfully depriving two pretrial detainees of their right to be free from a corrections officers deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm and of willfully depriving a third pretrial detainee of the right to be free from a corrections officers use of excessive force.

Evidence and testimony presented at the trial revealed that Ware, while serving as lieutenant of the jail on May 18, 2017, ordered lower-ranking corrections officers to move two Black inmates, DAngelo Wilson and Marcus Miller, to a cell row housing known white supremacists who posed a danger to the Black inmates.

Later that same day, Ware ordered the officers to unlock the jail cells of the Black inmates and the white supremacist inmates at the same time the next morning.

When Wares orders were followed, the white supremacist inmates attacked Wilson and Miller, resulting in physical injury to both, including a facial laceration to Wilson that required seven stitches to close, the news release states.

Then, on Jan. 31, 2018, while Ware was serving as acting captain at the jail, he ordered lower-ranking officers to restrain another inmate, Christopher Davis, in a stretched-out position in retaliation for that inmates having sent Ware a note criticizing how Ware ran the jail, evidence and testimony revealed.

The inmate was restrained with his left wrist on the far left side of a bench and his right wrist on the far right side of a bench for 90 minutes, resulting in physical injury, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Ware faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 for each violation when he is sentenced in about three months, according to the news release.

Criminal conduct by any corrections employee violates the public trust and unfairly tarnishes the reputation of all corrections officials who honorably perform their important work each day, said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma. This verdict demonstrates our continuing commitment to protect the civil rights of all Oklahomans, including those in custody.

This high-ranking corrections official had a duty to ensure that the civil rights of pretrial detainees in his custody were not violated, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. The defendant abused his power and authority by ordering subordinate corrections officers to violate the constitutional rights of several pretrial detainees. The Civil Rights Division will continue to hold corrections officials accountable when they violate the civil rights of detainees and inmates.
Check out the news you should not miss today:

Politics

-- At a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday, secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen presented Vietnamese writer Le Luu's novel Thoi xa vang (A Time Far Past) to U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper while expressing his hope that the two countries will strengthen bilateral relations.

Society

-- A fifth grader from the southern province of Binh Phuoc drowned while playing at a fish pond on Friday, according to local authorities.

-- A 50-year-old man from southern Binh Phuoc Province died of severe bleeding after being slashed by three individuals who had previously struck his motorcycle with their car.

-- Twelve men from the Vietnams Mekong Delta have been sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison for organizing illegal motorbike races.

-- Two members of a family were found dead and two children were in a poor health condition at their home in a Mekong Delta province after closing it for four days with no signs of a break-in.

-- A traffic accident between a tractor-trailer and a 16-seat commercial passenger bus injured seven people on Mimosa Pass in Da Lat City on Friday morning.

-- Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms swept through multiple areas of An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta on Thursday afternoon, causing damage to numerous house roofs.

-- Hundreds of passengers at Phu Quoc International Airport on Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, had to wait for two hours to receive their belongings due to an overload of luggage on Friday night.

-- Three consecutive earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 2.7 to 4.1 struck Kon Plong District in Vietnams Central Highlands province of Kon Tum on Friday night, according to the Institute of Geophysics.

-- A 67-year-old man from the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau has been arrested for murdering his younger brother over a conflict before hiding the victims body in a shrimp farm earlier this week.

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Hundreds of passengers had to wait for two hours to receive their belongings due to an overload of baggage at Phu Quoc International Airport in Phu Quoc Island City off the southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang on Friday afternoon.

The airport authority did not issue any official notification or apology to the passengers for the long wait, according to the passengers.

We had to wait more than two hours to get our checked baggage, so everyone was tired and hungry, but we did not receive any notice from the airport telling us the reason, a passenger complained.

Passengers wait to receive their luggage at Phu Quoc International Airport on Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, on April 15, 2022. Photo: H.S. / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Minh Dong, director of the airport, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper later on the same day that airport staff managed to resolve the overload afterwards.

Dong explained that a total of three delayed flights and nine other back-to-back landings at the airport was the cause of the situation.

The passengers expected the airport would improve its services as Phu Quoc is rising as one of the top tourist destinations in Vietnam.

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A tractor-trailer carrying 35 metric tons of tiles crashed into a 16-seater van on Mimosa mountain pass at the entrance to Da Lat City in Vietnams Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, injuring seven people on Friday morning.

The tractor-trailer, steered by 32-year-old Nguyen Sy Bao from Khanh Hoa Province, suddenly lost control in the middle of the mountain pass, encroaching the opposite lane and hitting the van head-on, which was controlled by Tran Quoc Loi, a 51-year-old resident of Da Lat.

The scene of a head-on collision between a tractor-trailer and a 16-seater van on Mimosa Pass in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, April 15, 2022. Photo: M.V. / Tuoi Tre

The collision caused the tractor-trailer to overturn and severely damaged the right side and the windows of the van.

At least seven people, including five passengers in the van and the drivers of two vehicles, were injured.

Almost of the entire 35 metric tons of tiles on the tractor-trailer were broken.

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Canadian director Rob Jabbazs feature debut The Sadness will screen on Shudder in May following its run at the 74th annual Locarno Film Festival, Fantasia International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest.

Its been such an enjoyably bizarre journey getting The Sadness made and distributed! Im incredibly excited for everyone out there to finally see it! said Rob Jabbaz.

Craig Engler, general manager of Shudder, said, The Sadness is a brutal, boundary pushing shocker, one of the boldest and bloodiest weve ever acquired. We anticipate it having a legendary and well-deserved following among Shudder members.

From the moment we first saw The Sadness, we knew this was something special. The film reaches heights rarely attained in the horror space. Rob Jabbaz is definitely a talent to watch, said Raven Banners Managing Partner, Michael Paszt Shudder is hands down the home for The Sadness and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them.

The Sadness was shot in Taipei, Taiwan where Canadian writer/director Rob Jabbaz, originally from Mississauga, Ontario, now resides, and follows a young couple, played by Regina Lei (76 Horror Bookstore) and Berant Zhu (We Are Champions, How to Train Our Dragon), trying to reunite amid a city ravaged by a plague that turns its victims into deranged, bloodthirsty sadists. Tzu Chiang Wang (Its Drizzling) and In Ru Chen also star. The film is produced by David Barker and executive produced by Li-Cheng Huang, while Eunice Cheng associate produced for Machi Xcelsior Studios.

The Sadness shocked audiences around the globe and was renowned for receiving trigger warnings from genre festival programmers who had never before felt the need to use such labels.

Thursday, May 12 on Shudder.

Trailer only available on YouTube (Violence, horror themes).
Farnworth Park. By Keith Rylance from The Bolton News Camera Club.

Bolton is currently hotter than Greece and Turkey as it records its hottest day of the year

But forecasters warn people should enjoy their bank holiday before the temperature drops next week.

The UK recorded highs of 24 degrees on Friday and in Bolton today, the temperature is peaking at 22 degrees  the hottest day of the year for Bolton.

Simon Partridge, Met Office forecaster, told the PA news agency: We are expecting the weather to be warmer than Greece. Greece looks like it is going to reach 18C (64.4F) or 19C (66.2F) while Turkey is going to reach 21C (70F) on Saturday, so well be warmer than Greece, Turkey and southern Italy.

Friday and Saturday are the warmest days of the weekend, Sunday is expected to be cooler.

Met Office forecasters have said the warm weather parts of England saw on Friday is expected to expand further across the nation, rather than being concentrated on one area, on Saturday.

Bolton is basking in the heat with Easter events on for children and pubs putting out their outdoor chairs and tables.

A new pub has even opened in time in Corporation Street in Bolton with outdoor seating, which promises to bring traditional values of social conversation back to the town.

READ: New Bolton town centre micro bar The Diversion opens

Tomorrow - Sunday, April 17 will see highs of 18 degrees before it drops to 13 from Monday, but this is normal for April.

Rain is forecast in Bolton from Monday, with plenty of showers throughout the week to keep the breeze in the air.

A statement from the MET office said: Sunday will be a dry day with high cloud giving hazy sunshine.

Breezier than on Saturday but still warm for the time of year. Rain arriving in the west late in the evening. Maximum temperature 19 C.

Cooler on Monday with early rain clearing to sunny spells and scattered showers.

Sunny spells and the chance of showers for Tuesday and Wednesday with temperatures around normal for April.

The mercury hit 23.4C (74.1F) in St Jamess Park in central London on Good Friday afternoon, making it hotter than California, with the rest of the warm weather being concentrated in the South East.
How are we supposed to live without Michael Bolton? American Song Contest doesnt have to answer that question just yet, as Connecticut-based Bolton and his song Beautiful World could still place next week through a combination of votes through fans and jurors.

But the early lead on night one of NBCs U.S. take on the Eurovision Song Contest went to Rhode Islands Hueston, wearing his heart on his sleeve with the tear-jerker Held on Too Long. Hueston most impressed the 56-member juror panel  which includes iHeartMedia chief programming officer/president Tom Poleman, KLOS host and former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield and artist/songwriter/producer Ester Dean. He was the first from this group to qualify to move on from this round.

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Hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg, American Song Contest premiered Monday night with competitors from the first heat taking the stage, representing 11 states. The show will feature representatives from 56 states and territories throughout the country; Monday nights premiere included a vast cross-section of talent that stretched from Grammy Award winner Bolton to K-Pop artist AleXa (Oklahoma) and Uganda native UG Skywalkin competing for Indiana.

Hueston, who described himself as a cross between Adele and Chris Stapleton, told reporters that his songwriting comes from difficult experiences, a well of emotions he is exploring separate from his independent group, The Blancos. Competing against Bolton, whom he described as a sweetheart, was a full-circle moment.

I grew up listening to his music, Hueston said. My mom played every record of his as a kid. Its like this weird, full-circle spiritual thing that is going on, he said. Michael Bolton may be responsible for my music career because subconsciously I have heard him belting and singing his ass off for years, and then I happen to perform on the same episode as him, which is pretty crazy.

Story continues

Bolton  who told the press his simple decision to compete on the show is because Im a songwriter  is still not out of the running, because voting will follow a point system in which every state and territory votes with equal power, regardless of population. Viewers are able to vote for their favorite performances on nbc.com/ascvote, the NBC App and on TikTok, the official voting platform partner for American Song Contest. Three more songs will be chosen and revealed next week.

Bolton isnt the only established professional in the competition. Jewel will be on hand for Alaska, SisQo is on deck for Maryland and Macy Gray will be the face of Ohio. Does the mere mention of these established artists make the up and comers nervous?

I am my own contestant, said Wisconsins nuvo retro JakeO. It didnt get in my head. The only thing that gets in my head is myself. I feel like a lot of time leading up to this competition was a lot of time for reflection, and I was trying to kill the ego as much as possible, and what I mean by ego I mean my voices of doubt.

Christian Pagan of Puerto Rico  whose entertaining song Loco inspired Clarkson to have a rum drink  spoke of the differences competing on American Song Contest vs. Idol Puerto Rico, which he won as a performer in 2011. American Song Contest will give the music industry a taste of what he can do as a songwriter as well, he noted.

Mississippis Keyone Starr already had some success singing on a Mark Ronson album and performing at festivals such as Glastonbury. Now, American Song Contest is giving her a chance to stretch as songwriter as well, and she was delighted to see hosts Snoop Dogg and Clarkson enjoying her song, Fire, with Snoop even singing a bit of it before a commercial break.

O-M-G it felt phenomenal, I wanted him to sing it again, she laughed, still blown away by his stamp of approval.

Starr is hopeful that she will advance to the semifinals, and already is eager to record a full album of her own material.

My goal is to put together a full compilation, because I have written songs for these artists as well as had singles, and I think this is the perfect time and opportunity since now [the audience] is properly introduced to my song, she said.

Arkansas country artist Kelsey Lamb also attracted Clarksons attention for her song, Never Like Thing.

Its really wild. Being on a show like this is the biggest thing I have every done in my music career, she said. I couldnt buy this type of opportunity and platform to put my music on.

Snoop also sang along to UG Skywalkins Love in My City, which the performer didnt notice until he took a seat.

When I was walking off the stage, I didnt get to hear him do that, UG Skywalkin said. Its a blessing. Its amazing. I wish I would have heard that.

AleXa also felt the Snoop love when the rapper declared K-Pop his guilty pleasure. (Snoop Dogg acknowledged the genre that I do, she exclaimed.) And Wyomings Ryan Charles was shocked to hear his attempt to make his country-rap song, New Boot Goofin,' into a new Tik Tok trend.

What exactly is New Boot Goofin? Its about that self confidence you get with a new pair of boots and just enjoying yourself, he said.

Pink-haired multi-instrumentalist Alisabeth Von Presley (Iowa) performed her song Wonder with a keytar, and revealed to reporters that the guitar in her video package was an homage to the late Eddie Van Halen.

I love to paint my guitars with Eddie Van Halen stripes, she said. That is what I listen to before I go onstage, a ripping guitar solo gets me in the mood to kick some butt.

The lone band performing on MOnday, Minnesotas Yam Haus, opened with Ready to Go.

It was really nerve wracking. We were told a couple of days before and we were very nervous, but very excited to get it done and start the showoff right, said Lars Pruitt.

Band mate Jacob Felstow added that being the opening band was definitely intimidating because everybody was so talented. Every artist. But we have been an opening band on shows before and we just channel that same energy that we are just going to start the show off, high energy and give it everything you got, and thats all you can do.

American Song Contest will run for eight weeks on NBC, with the semifinals on April 25 and the finale on May 9.

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On April 15, 2022, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with Mauritian President Prithvirajsing Roopun to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Xi Jinping pointed out, since the establishment of diplomatic ties half a century ago, China-Mauritius relations have witnessed sound and steady development, ever-lasting and stronger traditional friendship, as well as increasingly deepening bilateral cooperation in various fields. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, people of the two countries have stood together with mutual assistance in times of difficulty, demonstrating the profound friendship of sharing weal and woe.

Xi Jinping stressed that, I attach great importance to the development of China-Mauritius relations and stand ready to work with President Roopun to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to enhance traditional friendship, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote common development for the benefit of the two countries and the two peoples.

Roopun said in his message, over the past 50 years, Mauritius and China have forged a profound friendship, with all-round development of exchanges and cooperation in various fields. The entry into force and implementation of the free trade agreement has further strengthened the close relations between the two countries. I look forward to the two sides taking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to conduct exploration and innovation, consolidate and expand cooperation, and deepen friendship and mutual trust.
The two candidates for an at-large seat on the Waco Independent School District school board agree on many of the challenges the district is facing, but differ on priorities and the perspectives they say they will bring to the board.

Investment advisor Angelo Ochoa, 42, the son of a WISD teacher, husband to another WISD teacher and a former one himself, said paying attention to the districts teachers is crucial, particularly as pressures are driving experienced ones out of the field. The Rev. Marlon Jones, 42, pastor of St. Luke AME Church, said it is a matter of changing a district culture into one that listens more, is more integrated with the community and draws resources from that community.

The two are seeking election to the remaining year of the at-large seat vacated by Cary DuPuy when he resigned in the middle of his fourth term in November. The boards other at-large seat is held by Keith Guillory, elected last May.

Jones said a sense of not being heard by district officials is complicating the solutions to challenges such as student literacy, discipline and teacher well-being.

People feel by and large they dont have a voice  parents, students, educators, administrators, he said.

Listening to their concerns and involving them in addressing issues increases the chances of better solutions. Jones also said the context of what students and the district are doing well provide helpful perspective. Discipline changes when offending students are not perceived as inherently bad. And while low test scores show a need for strengthening literacy efforts and academics, Jones said 50 recent Waco ISD graduates walked off with associates degrees from McLennan Community College at the same time they received their high school diplomas.

How you define a problem is how you address a problem. We need to build from a place of strength, Jones said.

He said he believes school trustees should not get into day-to-day school management, but he feels they play an important role in community-to-school connections.

Ochoas job as an investment advisor for Disciplined Investors is closer to the career the Waco native imagined after graduating from Tarleton State University with a degree in business and finance and beginning work with Central National Bank. Teaching was not high on his list after growing up the son of longtime Waco ISD elementary school teacher Bianca Ochoa, with a wife, Jamie, a Hillcrest Elementary School teacher, and brother Santiago, who taught at Cesar Chavez Middle School, Provident Heights Elementary School and now Midway Middle School.

But when an opportunity arose to teach finance, business and accounting to students at Waco ISDs A.J. Moore Academy in 2010, he allowed his wife to twist his arm into the classroom, Ochoa said. For the next nine years, Ochoa taught at A.J. Moore Academy, then University High School when it absorbed the academy. He trained students in the volunteer income tax assistance program that allowed them to file tax returns for community members. Ochoa was named Teacher of the Year at University in 2019, an honor his wife and his brother also won at their schools.

He is back in finance, yet still a teacher advocate, he said. During the two years of COVID-19 disruption with Texas schools, he saw more and more teaching friends and colleagues reach a breaking point and talk about leaving the profession altogether.

It went from Its bad to If I could find another job, I would, he said. To me, that is a scary, scary thing.

That persuaded him to run for the school board.

I can give a voice to teachers, so teachers can be heard at the very top, Ochoa said.

While the state and Waco ISD have increased salaries and offered financial bonuses both in hiring and retaining teachers, Ochoa said low salaries are not the top of teacher concerns he is hearing when compared to workload, health and safety issues, administrative support and job demands.

Its not the money. Its something else, Ochoa said. We sometimes forget we are hiring professionals. And we treat principals the same way.

Waco ISD District 4 candidates differ on leadership, priorities The two candidates for the District 4 seat on the Waco Independent School District Board of Trustees differ on what they consider the role of a trustee.

At the same time, Ochoa believes replacing superintendents at this time would only continue Waco ISDs long-running cycle of new superintendents and their administrations every four or five years, and he supports current Superintendent Susan Kincannon.

Im 1,000% on board with Dr. Kincannon, he said. I think shes more than qualified to get us where we need to be.

Continuity also is a consideration in the current discussion of the districts relationship with Transformation Waco, a charter zone within the district created to improve learning at five schools that had been threatened with state closures before their standardized test scores improved.

I know a lot of really, really good persons in Transformation Waco, Ochoa said. I would like to see Transformation Waco and the WISD collaborating more, but if theyre not working hand in hand, ultimately kids arent being helped.

Ochoa and his wife have four children: Henry and James, who attend Hillcrest Elementary; Garner, who attends Atlas Academy in Tennyson Middle School; and Abigail, who attends Vanguard College Preparatory School.

Ochoa is on the boards of Educators Credit Union, the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute, the Greater Waco Legal Services and the Hispanic Leadership Network. Ochoa also volunteers weekly at Indian Spring/Carver Middle School.

Jones, a 2004 Paul Quinn College graduate with a Master of Divinity degree from Texas Christian University, has taught a little in the classroom, including second grade at Focus Learning Academy and middle school at Advantage Academy in the Dallas area.

He points more to his experience in youth entrepreneurial and development programs, from years with Boys and Girls Clubs and their summer camp programs to the nonprofit Youth Entrepreneurs and his current role as vice president for leadership development in the organization Starry, which works with at-risk and runaway youth.

Those experiences not only involved working with school districts in Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, Corsicana, Temple and others, but demonstrated to him how businesses and community volunteers could be used to help students.

Jones said Waco programs such as Motivation Days, where adults from the community go on campus simply to encourage students, or pastors who join police as a settling presence on the last day of school as examples where the community can supplement district efforts. He also suggested the Waco district confer with surrounding districts to share what works for them on issues like student discipline.

Part of leadership is having the humility to ask for help. I know how to ask people, Jones said. I see tremendous potential for our district. I dont know how you can see an opportunity and not step up to serve.

Jones also has served on boards and committees for Waco organizations such as the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce, United Way, public radio station KWBU-FM and the Elm Street Steering Committee.

His wife, Scherrie, is an instructional specialist in math at J.H. Hines Elementary School. They have four children, Marlon III, Patrick and Reese, who attend Mountainview Elementary School, and Paiton, at Vanguard College Preparatory School. They moved to Waco in 2018.

Both candidates said growing public concern over several years of rising property values would shape any Waco ISD board discussion of budgets and tax rates.

Its a huge concern to me.  A lot of people are really, really hurt every time taxes or valuations go up, Ochoa said.

He said, however, that improving district performance has an economic dimension, with better schools more likely to attract outside business, improving the local economy.

Jones said he would lean on the experts in our community for advice on easing the impact of local taxes, but that school-business collaborations and cooperation could lead to budget savings.

The resources in Waco are tremendous, he said.

Asked about outside pressures from state Republican leaders to ban certain books from school libraries and constrain teaching on racism and sexuality, Ochoa said he would consider a range of opinions before making a decision as a trustee.

Jones warned about the intent behind such actions. I think were in a dangerous place where education is being weaponized to win elections, he said.

Two Waco organizations will hold candidate forums this month for Waco City Council and school board races. The Hispanic Leaders Network will host a Meet the Candidates forum from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 915 La Salle Ave.

The Waco NAACP will hold a candidate forum via Zoom from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 25. The webinar ID number is 97386009601. For more information, call 254-733-5261.

Early voting for the May 7 races will take place April 25-30 and May 2-3.

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SpaceX began to use a new vertical testing assembly in McGregor by March and the production line for Raptor 2 rocket engines there is under construction, according to officials in McGregor.

What is new about the new assembly is the pit underneath it to muffle the sound into the ground, Andrew Smith, executive director of the McGregor Economic Development Corp., said Monday. This muffling pit is in addition to flame channels already built on testing assemblies.

They did what they said they would do, Smith said. Smith said certain tests are now much quieter. Others who live and work nearby said other tests are still quite loud.

Smith is also the training captain for the McGregor Volunteer Fire Department, which he said trains in a facility within the McGregor Industrial Park, where SpaceX leases about 4,300 acres from the city.

When Im out there training with my firefighters, the only way I know theyre testing Merlins (rocket engines) is if I see the smoke, Smith said. Its that quiet now.

According to The Perryman Report and Texas Letter, a publication by Waco-based economist Ray Perryman, the space industry  including SpaceX, other private companies and NASA  brings $23 billion per year into Texas along with more than 102,000 jobs.

SpaceX employed 578 people as of last September at its McGregor facility, according an economic development grant awarded by the city of Waco and McLennan County. Conditions in the grant include hiring an additional 400 or more employees for the Raptor 2 production line by 2025.

The new Raptor 2 production line at the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility in McGregor is bringing an additional investment of about $150 million into that town, the Perryman Report states.

On Monday, Smith called SpaceX very good corporate citizens of McGregor.

Marissa Maguire, executive director of the McGregor Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, said she agrees with Smith, that rocket testing conducted on the vertical testing assembly with the new sound muffling pit is quieter.

Maguires and Smiths offices are in the same storefront on Main Street in McGregor.

Not everyone in McGregor agrees that the testing is quieter.

Jana Munoz, who has worked at another company outside the main gate into the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility and about a mile down the road for seven years, says tests are as loud in April as they have ever been.

Its louder and it shakes worse in April than it did in the winter, Munoz said Thursday.

Others who work near SpaceX, including Brittany Blakeman and Dusty Terry, agree that tests remain loud and shake their windows or vibrate their desks.

Comparing loudness

Blakeman, who works on Main Street in McGregor, about mile farther away from SpaceX than Munoz, and lives in Axtell, said she can hear and feel the tests at work. But she only hears them at home, and does not feel them there.

I hear them in Axtell but only gently, Blakeman said Thursday. Axtell is around 32 miles northeast of McGregor and around 13.5 miles from downtown Waco.

Living and working in the area for less than a year, Blakeman said she quickly got used to hearing the tests.

She also compares the sound of the rocket testing since last fall to the sound of Army helicopters flying over the place where she used to live in Alabama.

I would compare it to the sound of Black Hawk (helicopters) flying over my house, Blakeman said. When she lived in Alabama, her house was near an Army base and under the flight path of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

Some of the testing is quieter this month, Terry said Thursday. Other tests are just as loud or louder.

Terry, who works outside the gate of the Rocket Development Facility, may have the key insight on the sound and shaking from rocket testing.

The key insight

There are three places out there where the smoke comes from, Terry said Thursday. When he hears the sound, Terry said he may see smoke coming from one of three distinct locations within the the SpaceX facility.

Out of three places where smoke comes from for rocket testing, only one has a pit built underneath it to muffle the sound.

The newest place where I see smoke (from testing rocket engines) is still the loudest and smoke only started coming from there last summer, Terry said.

SpaceX tested developmental Raptor engines, which were more powerful than Merlins and therefore louder, at McGregor beginning in September 2016. People who work near the SpaceX facility say the louder tests became more frequent last summer.

The Merlin engines, for which tests Smith said are now comparatively quiet, have been ongoing at the SpaceX McGregor facility for years.

When they test for Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy (the Merlin engines), the smoke comes from different place, where I have seen it for a long time, Terry said. The sound from there has never been anywhere near as loud as from the newest place.

SpaceXs website says Merlin engines produce 190,000 pounds of thrust. Merlin Vacuum engines, designed to operate outside earths atmosphere, produce 220,500 pounds of thrust.

These are the same engines that Smith says are tested at the testing system with the pit to muffle the sound.

The engine SpaceX started testing last summer was the first production version of the Raptor. That engine produced around 400,000 pounds of thrust.

People who work nearby say that the louder tests got even louder last fall, which coincides with reports of testing Raptor 2 which produces at least 500,000 pounds of thrust.

SpaceXs website does not say how many decibels of sound any of these engines produce. But the Raptor 2 produces more than 2.5 times the thrust of Merlin, and 25% more thrust than the first Raptor model.

So it stands to reason that the Raptor 2 would be noticeably louder than its predecessor and enormously louder than the Merlin engines ever were. Some testing involves boosters that include many Merlin engines. And the Raptors are tested at testing assemblies without pits to muffle the sound.

So the Raptor 2 tests may continue to be as loud as they are, unless SpaceX either develops a way to test them on the testing assembly with the pit, or builds a second pit for a Raptor test assembly.

Other news from SpaceX in McGregor

Maguire and Smith say the Raptor 2s being tested in McGregor are all made in Hawthorne, California.

Smith confirmed construction continues on a Raptor 2 production line at SpaceXs McGregor facility.

News from the rocket development facility in McGregor will not include a testing schedule, Maguire said.

SpaceX is highly safety conscious, Smith said.

Maguire said the logistics of a rocket test is also complex.

They have to get every component of each test properly assembled and they have to get the rocket fuel shipped in, Maguire said. They only go when theyre ready.

She said that if SpaceX published a schedule, it would miss many of the scheduled times.

We have had congressmen and others here to see tests, and they havent tested (sometimes), Maguire said.

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Russia's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned a day earlier of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites.

But the toll of war reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of a war that has shattered European security and plunged East-West relations to new lows. In the Kyiv region alone, Ukrainian authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago.

Russia's preparations for the anticipated eastern offensive are producing more victims, A mother wept over her 15-year-old son's body in the partially blockaded city of Kharkiv, where shelling increased this week. Nine civilians died and more than 50 people were wounded on Friday, the president's office reported.

An explosion believed to be caused by a missile struck Saturday near an outdoor market in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, according to firefighters and AP journalists at the scene. One person was killed, and at least 18 people were wounded, according to rescue workers.

In the capital, smoke rose early Saturday from eastern Kyiv as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike on the the city's Darnytski district. One person was killed and several more were wounded, he said. The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return for their safety.

"Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless," Klitschko said.

It was not immediately clear from the ground what was hit in the attack. Darnytskyi is a sprawling district on the southeastern edge of the capital, containing a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shopping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas and railyards.

Earlier this week the Russian military said it would carry out strikes on Kyiv, and Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Saturday an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital was targeted. He didn't specify where the plant is located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

He said it was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with "air-launched high-precision long-range weapons." As the U.S. and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraine's defenses ahead of what's expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area in two days. Another hit a missile plant on Friday as tentative signs of prewar life began to resurface in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and withdrew to concentrate on lauching a full-scale assault in eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv was not the only target far from the eastern front Saturday. The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine, an area long seen as a safe zone, reported airstrikes on the region by Russian Su-35 aircraft that took off from neighboring Belarus. Gov. Maksym Kozytskyy didn't provide details about possible casualties or damage.

Fighting continued in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where Russian forces have maintained a blockade since the early days of the invasion, and dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against the siege.

For continuing developments in this story, read here:
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Chinese crime action film "Man on the Edge" opened Friday in a limited theatrical release in North America.



The Cantonese-speaking film is being released by CMC Pictures with Chinese and English subtitles in more than a dozen selected theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Dallas, Vancouver, Toronto and a few other cities across North America.

Starring Richie Jen, Simon Yam, Alex Fong, Patrick Tam and Ron Ng, the film follows a Hong Kong undercover policeman, who struggles in the conspiracy between gangs and the police in order to investigate the truth of gangs' drug trafficking.

The film has received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences. It currently boasts a rating of 8.7 out of 10 from over 15,000 viewers on Maoyan, a Chinese movie-ticketing and film data platform.

"Man on the Edge" also opened synchronously Friday in Australia, New Zealand and the Chinese mainland.
WATERLOO -- After a two year hiatus, the annual dinner meeting of the Cedar Valley Civil War Roundtable will be held at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 2410 Melrose Drive, Cedar Falls on Thursday, April 21.

A social hour will begin at 5:30; dinner will be served at 6:30 and the program will begin at 7:00. Details on the menu and reservations can be found at the organization's website: www.cvcwrt.org or www.facebook.com/CedarValleyCWR2016/, or calling President Frank McCaw (971) 371-9348.

Jeff Kluever, Des Moines, will present the program on the Battle of the Crater, part of the Petersburg Campaign, July 1864 and the Breakthrough of the Confederate Lines, 1865. A long time student of the Civil War, Kluever has delivered hundreds of presentations, tours, and programs focused on slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. His historical novel "Walking the Shadows," about 15-year-old Samantha orphaned by the Civil War, will be available to purchase for $10.

Two members, Sherman Lundy and Randy Miller, will receive Appreciation Awards for their work with the Roundtable and related Civil War and Veterans projects.

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Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Albuquerque Public Schools has fired a West Mesa High teacher accused of sexually harassing a student.

APS board members met behind closed doors Wednesday to conduct a discharge hearing and deliberate the fate of Scott McLeod. They returned to open session after roughly two hours and voted unanimously to follow Superintendent Scott Elders recommendation to terminate him.

McLeod told the Journal he had no comment following the decision. He taught for the automotive program at West Mesa High.

APS officials would not disclose the circumstances surrounding Mcleods dismissal, saying they couldnt discuss personnel matters. But documents released by the state Public Education Department reveal that he was accused of sexually harassing an unidentified 17-year-old student he referred to as his granddaughter.

Specifically, he was accused of making inappropriate comments about the students appearance.

Youre really attractive  I shouldnt (even) say this  but your senior picture shows your boob, like when they had you turn sideways, you can see your boobs, McLeod was recorded saying in school around the end of February 2021.

The PED is seeking to suspend McLeods teaching license for 18 months.

The sexual harassment allegation and proposed discipline are outlined in a statement of contemplated action from PED.

Proceedings with the PED are ongoing, spokeswoman Judy Robinson said.

According to PED records, McLeods secondary vocational-technical license expires at the end of June 2023.

APS had previously placed him on paid administrative leave in the summer of 2021, along with former state Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton and seven others who were vocational education teachers, or otherwise connected to the use of Robotics Management Learning Systems.

Attorney General Hector Balderas office investigated Stapleton for racketeering, money laundering and receiving illegal kickbacks, focusing on her relationship with Robotics and her alleged routing of money meant for vocational education to businesses and charities in which she had an interest.

Stapleton resigned as New Mexico House majority leader in July last year amid the investigation, unequivocally denying any wrongdoing.

In September, she was charged with more than two dozen felonies, including racketeering and money laundering. Her case is scheduled for trial in December.

It is unclear whether the Stapleton scandal played any role in APS decision to fire McLeod.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Two men in apparent mental health crises threatened to shoot multiple people last month in separate incidents across Albuquerque, according to police.

One wielding a Bible, a machete-sized glass shard and multiple guns, followed through with the violence and shot three people, killing one, from the window of his foothills home.

The other, who police say had a history of suicidal threats, aimed his cellphone like it was a gun at multiple people and, eventually, at police at a crowded shopping center off East Central.

Both men were shot and killed by officers with the Albuquerque Police Department.

On Friday APD gave detailed accounts of each shooting  releasing 911 calls, lapel video and photo evidence from the March 14 and March 19 incidents, which left John Hunter, 52, and Collin Neztsosie, 33, dead.

Warning: these videos contain graphic content



Police Chief Harold Medina said the incidents highlight the challenges we have as a community and as a society dealing with individuals that are going through some type of mental crisis.

On one hand  (Hunter) chose to become homicidal. And were going to hear a horrible story about a poor woman who lost her life for merely driving down the street, he said. And then  (Neztsosie) was in crisis and I think we could connect the dots that this individual used (APD) to commit suicide.

Medina commended police in both incidents, particularly an officer who rendered aid to a 15-year-old shot in the neck by Hunter and a dispatcher who spent half an hour trying to talk Neztsosie toward a different outcome.

All five officers involved in the shootings  Randy Serrano, Dereck Taylor, Sgt. Greg Doose, Lt. William Young and Sgt. Jonathan Mares  are back on duty. Only Serrano had been in any prior shootings, in 2019 and 2020.

Albuquerque police have shot at six people so far this year, killing four, injuring one and missing another during a gunfight. By this time last year the total was four, with only two being fatal.

Im very concerned with the amount of officer involved shootings and where were at. But I think weve got to remember where this goes back to is theres a mental health crisis in this country, we need to devote resources to it, Medina said.

And we also have a lot of individuals who are out in the community, and Ive said it over and over again, theres a line in the sand, some of these individuals need to be kept in custody until they get the help they needed. And that help may be mental health treatment, or maybe drug addiction. But at the end, theyre still dangerous, and we have to do whats best to protect the citizens and the officers of this community.

APD Deputy Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock said both incidents are still being investigated and analyzed. He said, afterward, the cases will be forwarded to the superintendent of police reform and district attorneys office to determine possible policy violations and whether criminal charges are warranted.

Active shooter

Warning: this video contains graphic content



In the days leading up to the first incident, which left 31-year-old Alicia Hall dead, Hunter posted on Facebook about relatives hounding him to give up religion and become a socialist. He sent text messages to family about relatives being hateful secret psychopaths who were watching and gaslighting him.

If they dont stop, Hunter wrote, Im actually going to have to do a couple things I dont want to do.

Then, at 2:15 p.m. on March 19, Hunter called an out-of-state relative and left a voicemail filled with slur-filled conspiracy rants and indiscriminate gunfire. A neighbors security video shows passing vehicles being struck by gunfire as Hunter used two rifles to fire from his window.

The shots were all coming from inside his house through a window and out into the street as the cars drove by, likely giving the persons in the cars no advance warning that this was about to occur, Hartsock said.

In the message, Hunter yelled Stop that goddamn noise! Ill kill you mother (expletive) as Hall drives past. Gunfire rings out, exploding against her van before it coasts, slowly, out of frame.

Hunter went on, Im through calling you guys. Jesus will let me wear what I want. You better call me.

Hartsock said minutes later a man called 911 to say he was driving with his 15-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son when bullets pierced the vehicle, striking the teen in the neck. Responding officers found another man who was injured when gunfire struck his car, shattering the window. Soon after, police found Hall dead inside her van near Hunters home.

Hartsock said that around 2:45 p.m. APD received reports of a man, later identified as Hunter, armed with a large piece of glass cut in the shape of a machete. Hunter ignored officers and walked to his home, yelling at them from a window.

A shirtless Hunter emerged with two handguns in his pockets, set them down in the driveway and kneeled down in front of officers, seemingly to surrender. Hunter then got up and walked toward police before they shot him with beanbag rounds.

He turned and walked toward his driveway as police followed, picked up a Bible and  as officers yell for him to not reach for that  bent down toward a handgun. Officers Serrano, Taylor and Sgt. Doose shot at least 12 times, fatally striking him. Serranos bullets also struck a cement wall, injuring two officers with shrapnel.

Hartsock said APD recovered multiple guns from Hunters home, all legally bought by him. He said Hunter had no criminal history or instances of mental health issues they are aware of.

Medina called the incident particularly disturbing and one no one saw coming.

We have individuals just driving down the road  100% true victims. This is a nightmare for people who are involved in this, he said.

Were going to get you some help

Warning: this video contains graphic content



Five days after that incident, police responded to reports of a similar situation.

Hartsock said that around 5:45 p.m. March 19 a man called 911 and said Neztsosie, his friend, attacked him and threatened to shoot him and then commit suicide. The man told dispatch Neztsosie said he had a gun in his backpack and was near a smoke shop south of Central and Tramway.

I dont know if he really has a gun but he said its in his backpack, loaded, that he can kill anybody, the friend told a dispatcher in a 911 call. Minutes later Neztsosie called 911 and said he was going to shoot bystanders and officers before shooting himself, Hartsock said.

During the 26-minute call, the dispatcher asked him multiple times to put down the gun and speak with police. Soon, five other 911 calls came in from people reporting a man pointing a gun in the area.

Hartsock said officers arrived and told businesses to shelter in place as people pointed them toward the smoke shop and told them that a man was pointing a gun. APD found Neztsosies name in a mental health database showing a history of threatening to kill himself by police.

The consensus from everyone  was that he had a gun, Hartsock said.

He said officers approached Neztsosie, shielded by an SUV, as he paced between the road and Smiths parking lot. Police told him to drop the items in his hands and lay down.

Toward the end of the 911 call, Neztsosie can be heard telling the dispatcher, I got my nine with me, Im going to shoot.

Collin, you have not done anything wrong, were going to get you some help. All you have to do is put the gun on the ground and talk with officers, the dispatcher said. You can hear police yelling commands in the background as Neztsosie replied, no, negative.

Then, gunshots ring out.

Hartsock said police saw Neztsosie kneel down, run his hand over the object, which turned out to be a phone, appearing to chamber a round and point it at police. He said Neztsosie then put his face behind the object, like he was aiming, and Lt. William Young and Sgt. Jonathan Mares shot him.

Officers approach Collin, whos on the ground wounded. They do see a phone near his hand  no firearm was recovered on his person or nearby, Hartsock said, showing an evidence photo of the cellphone on the ground.

Medina said he looks forward to hearing what the Force Review Board finds couldve been done differently in the case, pointing out that the board can identify training gaps even if no wrongdoing is found in an incident.

He said, regardless, people need more resources.

In the end, I think its important that as a community, we stand strong, and that we advocate for as many resources as we can in the mental health fields to get people the help they need, Medina said. The last thing we need is these tales to end, unfortunately, with our officers dealing with the least amount of information at hand and having to make split second decisions because its very difficult and its something that officers carry for the rest of their lives.
You are here: Business

Sales of Chinese car brands jumped 81.5% year on year in the first quarter of the year (Q1), continuing to gain a larger share in the domestic market, industry data showed.

More than 2.1 million Chinese-brand passenger cars were sold across the country in the period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The market share of these brands accounted for 41.5% in the Chinese market during the period, up 1.4 percentage points from one year earlier.

In March alone, sales of Chinese brand passenger vehicles surged 71.4% year on year to 745,000 units, accounting for 39.8% of the domestic market.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A former employee of Congregation Albert was indicted Friday on charges alleging she took more than $700,000 from the Albuquerque synagogue during her tenure as a bookkeeper and administrator.

The grand jury indictment charges Crystal Lucero, 39, with felony larceny for allegedly taking $643,861 in money or checks belonging to the synagogue between August 2016 to June 2019.

Lucero also faces one count of embezzlement for converting nearly $60,000 from Congregation Albert to her own bank accounts through unauthorized credit card purchases, according to the indictment.

Efforts to reach Lucero on Friday were unsuccessful. Court records dont indicate whether she is represented by an attorney.

State Attorney General Hector Balderas office filed the indictment Friday in 2nd Judicial District Court.

Nonprofit organizations like synagogues rely on trusted employees for much of their financial management and oversight, and it is a tragedy that someone would exploit this vulnerable organization for personal gain, Balderas said in a written statement.

The indictment charges Lucero with nine felonies, including three counts of tax evasion, three counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, and one count of forgery.

The allegations in the indictment are similar those cited in a lawsuit Congregation Albert filed against Lucero in July 2019.

The lawsuit alleges Lucero used at least two credit cards issued to the Congregation to make cash withdrawals and to purchase items for her personal use, including gambling, then used synagogue funds to pay the credit card charges.

The lawsuit is still pending in 2nd Judicial District Court.

Lucero was employed by Congregation Albert as a bookkeeper from June 2016 to April 2017, and as acting administrator from May 2017 until she her employment ended in June 2019, according to the lawsuit.

As administrator, Lucero was responsible for overseeing the synagogues finances and overall operations, the suit said.

It also alleges Lucero concealed records and created fraudulent records to evade detection.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A 41-year-old woman accused of driving drunk and swerving into oncoming traffic, killing an 18-year-old woman fresh out of high school, is facing 12 years in prison.

Bernadette Etsitty pleaded guilty to DWI-based vehicular homicide in the June 23, 2020, death of Roxana Saenz, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Friday.

It is appalling that another promising young life has been senselessly lost to a drunk driver, and our state must continue to do a better job of preventing the devastating effects of drunk driving, Balderas said in a news release.

Etsitty admitted to drinking a 12-pack of beer before hitting the road and crashing at Candelaria and Richmond NE in Albuquerque, according to court documents.

Surveillance footage showed her driving a Chevrolet Silverado east on Candelaria, before swerving into the median and slamming head-on into Saenzs Honda Civic, killing her instantly.

Saenz, according to a GoFundMe page that raised money for her memorial, paid for her car and her own rent with money she made working at Blue Cross Animal Clinic.

She had just graduated from Del Norte High School and was planning to go to the University of New Mexico and become a veterinarian, according to the page.

Police arrested Etsitty in early August, on an arrest warrant issued a little over a week after the crash.

According to online court records, shed been charged with driving under the influence three other times dating back to 2006.
KHARKIV, Ukraine  Russias bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.

Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.

The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andres tweeted that the non-governmental organizations staff members were shaken but safe.

The organization says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andres said the attack in Kharkiv shows that to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance and that his groups chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Mother, grandmother weep over a 15-year-old killed in shelling of Kharkiv

 Elderly mother feels lost, seeks sons body in Ukrainian town of Bucha

 Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, other cities

 We pray for you: Ukrainian Jews mark Passover, if they can

 Ukraines port of Mariupol holds out against all odds

Follow all AP stories on Russias war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke Saturday with the leaders of Britain and Sweden about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city.

Mariupols fate can be decided either through battle or diplomacy, he said.

Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.

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NEW YORK  A Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St. Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol for weeks.

Gov. Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Frolov died a heroic death in battle without saying where or when he was killed. Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St. Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.

Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war.

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WASHINGTON  Austrias chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is in his own war logic when it comes to Ukraine.

Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told Meet the Press that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and it was not a friendly conversation.

He said Putin said he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesnt trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future.

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VATICAN CITY  Pope Francis invoked gestures of peace in these days marked by the horror of war in an Easter vigil homily Saturday in St. Peters Basilica, attended by the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and three Ukrainian parliamentarians.

The pontiff noted that while many writers have evoked the beauty of starlit nights, the nights of war, however, are riven by streams of light that portend death.

Franciss call for an Easter truce in order to reach a negotiated peace appeared in vain Saturday, as Russia resumed missile and rocket attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond in a reminder that the whole country remains under threat.

At the end of his homily, Francis directly addressed directly Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov and Ukrainian lawmakers Maria Mezentseva, Olena Khomenko and Rusem Umerov, who sat in the front row.

In this darkness of war, in the cruelty, we are all praying for you and with you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer, Francis said, then with emotion he added that the biggest thing you can receive: Christ is risen, the last three words in Ukrainian.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The Invictus Games for injured and ill service personnel and veterans opened with a standing ovation and a tribute from Prince Harry for Ukrainian team members who left their war-torn nation to compete.

With Harry and his wife Meghan in the front row for the opening ceremony Saturday night, competitors cheered for nearly a minute as the Ukrainian team waved their nations blue-and-yellow flag after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed them.

Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military service members and veterans, by giving them the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.

Welcoming all competitors to the event that was delayed by two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, Harry singled out the 19-strong Ukrainian team and their supporters.

Your bravery in choosing to come and for being here tonight cannot be overstated, he said, a day after meeting the Ukrainians at a reception.

You know, we stand with you. The world is united with you. And still you deserve more. And my hope is that these events, this event, creates the opportunity  of how we as a global community can better show up for you, Harry added.

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FORT IRWIN, Calif. __ U.S. Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary.

The role-players in this months exercise at a training center in Californias Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

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RIYADH  Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday, their second call since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields.

The Saudi readout of the call said the crown prince affirmed support for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The kingdom recently announced $10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlins statement added the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war for years, as well as their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+. The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.

Ukraine has urged nations around the world to cut their dependency on Russian oil imports that it says finance Russias military war on Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces shelled an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk on Saturday, and a large fire erupted, a regional governor reported.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said it wasnt the first time the refinery was targeted and accused the Russians of trying to exhaust local emergency services. He underlined there was no fuel at the refinery at the time of the attack and the remains of oil sludge were burning.

Ukraines presidential office reported Saturday that missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours occurred in eight regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv in the east, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kirovohrad in the central Ukraine and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. The strikes underlined that the whole country remained under threat despite Russias pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

In Kharkiv, nine civilians were killed and more than 50 were wounded on Friday, while in the wider region two were reported dead and three wounded, according to the report.

The southern Mykolaiv region was battered Friday and Saturday. According to the presidential office, airstrikes Friday killed five and wounded 15. The head of regional legislature, Hanna Zamazeyeva, said Saturday that 39 people have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

Zamazeyeva said the targets included several residential blocks where there are no military facilities.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised remarks on Saturday that 700 Ukrainian troops and more than 1,000 civilians  more than half of them women  are being held captive by the Russians.

Vereshchuk said Kyiv intends to swap the captive soldiers, since Ukraine holds about the same number of Russian troops but demands to release the civilians without any conditions.

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ROME  Italy is barring all Russian ships from its ports starting Sunday, as part of expanded EU sanctions announced earlier this month. Ships already in Italian ports must leave immediately after completing their commercial activity, according to a notice sent to port authorities.

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BERLIN  Peace activists took part Germanys traditional Easter marches on Saturday, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine but also in at least some cases opposing helping Ukraine defend itself with weaponry.

A Berlin event drew 400 people and one in Hanover 500, the dpa news agency reported, citing police. Marches took place in cities including Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Duisburg. Banners included End the war in Ukraine and He who sends weapons reaps war.

The countrys vice chancellor, Greens politician Robert Habeck, warned demonstrators against sending the wrong message, saying there will only be peace when Putin stops his war of aggression. He said in an interview with the Funke media group that it was clear who the aggressor is who and who are defending themselves in an emergency and whom we must support, also with weapons.

Ukrainian officials say Germany has sent anti-tank and anti-aircaft weapons as well as night vision equipment, body armor and machine guns.

Germanys locally organized peace marches date back to the days of the Cold War and focus on issues such as disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person died and several more were wounded in Saturday morning airstrikes on the Darnytski district of the capital, as Russian forces resumed scattered attacks in western Ukraine.

Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks, which the Russian Defense Ministry said targeted an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital, were an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat even as Russian forces refocus on the east, where a new offensive is feared.

Klitschko urged Ukrainians not to return to Kyiv just yet, warning in televised remarks Saturday that strikes on the capital are likely continue and its suburbs are rigged with explosives.

Were not ruling out further strikes on the capital, Klitschko said. We cant prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where its safer, do it.

The mayor added that because of the mines, Kyiv residents are barred from visiting parks and forests in the northeastern areas that border liberated territories formerly occupied by Russians.

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MOSCOW  Russia has barred the UK prime minister and a dozen other top British officials from entering its country in response to British sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Russias Foreign Ministry announced the move that targets Boris Johnson, a number of British ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, on Saturday.

The ministrys statement cited unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials in Russia.

The Russophobic course of action of the British authorities, whose main goal is to stir up negative attitude toward our country, curtailing of bilateral ties in almost all areas are detrimental to the well-being and interests of the residents of Britain. Any sanctions attack will inevitably backfire on their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff, the statement said.

On Friday evening, the ministry announced the expulsion of 18 European Union diplomats from Moscow, in retaliation for the blocs declaring 19 diplomats from the Russian mission to the EU and to the European Atomic Energy Community persona non-grata.

The European Union said the expulsions were groundless, and that EU diplomats targeted were working in the framework of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting that Kyiv was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district in the eastern part of the capital.

He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene of explosions and that victims details would be released later. Klitschko urged residents to heed air raid sirens.

Thick smoke rising from the site on the eastern side of Kyiv could be seen from parts of downtown near the Dnipro River.

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WASHINGTON  Ukraine is sending top officials to Washington for next weeks spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where discussion will focus on the Russian invasion and its impact on the global economy.

Coming to the gathering are Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, according to a World Bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been officially announced.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that existing sanctions on Russia are painful but not yet enough to stop the Russian military.

Zelenskyy called for the democratic world to ban Russian oil. While U.S. lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden have enacted such a ban, Europe relies more heavily on Russian energy supplies, and the U.S. has been working to keep India from stepping up its use of Russian energy.

In general, the democratic world must accept that Russias money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.

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TIJUANA, Mexico  A Russian man and a Ukrainian woman were married in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in hopes of entering the U.S. together.

Daria Sakhniuk was allowed to enter the U.S. as a Ukrainian refugee but her partner, Semen Bobrovski, was unable to travel there following Russias invasion of Ukraine. They left Ukraine as the war began.

Bobrovski told El Sol de Tijuana that he believed the marriage Thursday would bolster his chances of entering the U.S. with his new wife. The U.S. allows only Russian nationals with family members in the U.S. to enter the country.

Without it, we wont be able to cross because, still to the official American government, we are strangers to each other, he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the nations military and intelligence agency leaders.

The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops who occupy areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been terrorizing civilians and looking for anyone who had served in the army or the government.

The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves, Zelenskyy said.

He added: The occupiers problem is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russias problem is that it is not accepted  and never will be accepted - by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia has lost Ukraine forever.
When Dan and Gary Monaghan moved into their expansive West Side home in September 2020, the brothers planned to immediately go solar.

Gary, who moved from Chicago to join his brother in Albuquerque, even bought an electric car in anticipation.

They immediately signed up with Tesla to install solar panels on their 3,294-square-foot home, just north of the petroglyphs, including a Tesla Powerwall battery storage system to extend availability of their self-generated electricity around the clock.

And they bought a half dozen electric space heaters as well to keep their four-bedroom, four-bath home warm in winter to reduce natural gas consumption.

But a few months after moving in, Public Service Company of New Mexico sent them a letter saying the utilitys substation electric-feeder line into their neighborhood was full, meaning neither the Monaghans  nor any of their neighbors in the 138-home community  could connect new solar systems to the grid.

The idea from the start was to get solar, so we chose a home in a bright, sunny neighborhood with a south-facing roof, Dan told the Journal. It was like a punch in the face when they said we cant have solar.

The Monaghans home is just one among thousands of New Mexico residences and businesses that are now locked out of the market for installing individual solar systems because PNM feeder lines into many local communities are at capacity, according to the utility. That means, unless a business or homeowner wants to completely disconnect from the grid  meaning entirely removing the PNM meter to go it on their own  nobody in the congested communities can get solar.

A total of 19 communities in PNMs service territory  almost all of them conglomerated on the citys West Side and in Rio Rancho  are now labeled as red zones where solar interconnection is currently unavailable, according to PNM. That represents nearly 4% of all the utilitys feeder lines, which translates to about 4% of PNMs total customer base.

To be sure, thats still a fairly small number of the roughly 530,000 customers currently served by PNM. And to date, practically all homes and businesses that have actually applied for solar interconnections across PNMs service territory have been approved for hook ups, said Omni Warner, director of PNMs distribution engineering and grid modernization teams.

Less than 1% of applications by customers are on hold status,' Warner told the Journal. For 99% of our customers who have requested an interconnection, weve allowed it.

But 4% of PNMs total customer base equals about 22,000 homes and businesses. And while the company rejection rate is less than 1% of total applications, many people in the red zones who do want solar are apparently just opting not to apply since theyll only be rejected.

In the Monaghans neighborhood, for example  where only two homes managed to get solar before PNM determined that the local feeder line was at capacity  residents have maintained an ongoing dialogue through Facebook.

Through our community Facebook group, weve had long discussions with many neighbors who have tried to get solar, Dan said. Many just havent applied because they know its not available. Theres a real sense of dismay.

Growing problem

The state Public Regulation Commission is now working to resolve, or at least alleviate, the situation by developing new standards and regulations that could help PNM and other local utilities to free up more capacity on their feeder lines.

Modern technologies to control the back-and-forth flow of current between utilities and individual solar systems could help expand the amount of customer-based generation that can safely be integrated on a single line, according to experts involved in the PRC process. In addition, updated calculations on how much solar can actually be connected before a distribution system is filled up could also mean more capacity currently exists on congested lines than previously thought by PNM and other utilities.

But the PRC process, which began in early 2021, wont conclude until later this year. And even then, the adoption of new rules and advanced-control technologies will take time to implement, probably years.

In addition, while new regulations and technology will help alleviate the current situation, a comprehensive solution for congested feeder lines requires significant upgrades to the grid. And that, in turn, raises questions about who will pay for those investments, which could cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.

In the meantime, the problem will likely grow worse, given todays rapidly expanding demand for customer-cited solar, or distributed generation, in New Mexico and elsewhere, said Jim DesJardins, executive director of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Industry Association, which is participating in the PRCs new rule-making process.

If the new rules are approved this year and take effect next January, it will still take at least a couple of years to implement them and change things, especially because this is kind of new territory for everybody, DesJardins told the Journal. The problem will likely get worse before it gets better.

Last year alone, grid-interconnection applications to install individual rooftop systems around New Mexico increased by about 25%, with some 10,000 requests received by local utilities, said Arthur ODonnell, a veteran industry expert and U.S. Department of Energy Fellow who is assisting the PRC in the rule-making process.

PNM alone, which already had nearly 26,000 interconnected customer systems on its grid by year-end 2020, received more than 6,000 new applications last year.

Were seeing more applications than ever, ODonnell told the Journal. Were especially seeing large increases in small residential rooftop solar installations.

Community solar

The imminent addition of community solar projects across the state could also significantly increase the need for more feeder-line interconnection capacity.

The State Legislature passed a law in 2021 to begin allowing third-party developers to build community solar installations, whereby large, central solar facilities of up to 5 megawatts will provide solar generation to utility electric grids. Homes and businesses that want to participate can pay a fee to the developers to become project members, entitling them to receive credit on their utility bills for their portion of the solar electricity supplied to the grid.

That allows people who rent homes or apartments  particularly lower-income families who cant afford an individual solar system  to access solar electricity. Businesses and other institutional consumers that dont have the rooftop capacity to install a system can also join.

The PRC finalized a new rule on April 1 to guide the states adoption of community solar, which will likely begin after the new interconnection rules and standards are approved.

But developer interest already far outweighs capacity. The law outlined a gradual deployment process to assess how well community solar deployment works in New Mexico, limiting the total number of projects across the state to a cumulative cap of 200 megawatts through year-end 2024. At that time, the PRC will re-evaluate the program and then set annual caps for new projects going forward.

But in 2021, developers sought utility-interconnections for 15 times more community solar than is currently allowed, ODonnell said.

The states three investor-owned utilities got like 900 requests for about 2,500 MW of community solar systems, he said. Utility engineers are completely overwhelmed.

Nationwide problem

The issue of congested distribution lines stifling custom-owned solar deployment is not unique to New Mexico. The problem first appeared more than a decade ago in Hawaii and California, which lead all other states in the amount of distributed generation installed on their grids.

But new industry studies  plus the development of advanced technologies to control current on feeder lines  helped alleviate congestion in those two states and others. The industry found that the traditional utility rule of thumb for solar-connection capacity on any individual line is extremely conservative, meaning a lot more interconnection is possible on existing lines that were previously closed off to additional solar generation, ODonnell said.

Historically, utilities limited the total amount of distributed generation on any given feeder line to a maximum of 15% of all current going back and forth between the utility and local customers, meaning that once the line feeding into a specific community reached the 15% cap, most utilities would automatically cease any new solar additions in those areas.

But the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, or IREC  a nonprofit that advocates for rapid adoption of clean energy and energy efficiency technology  has built new standards for interconnection capacity based on extensive research, including detailed studies by the DOEs National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. Under the new standards  now proven accurate through deployment in Hawaii and elsewhere  most feeder lines are considered capable of handling up to a 30% maximum for customer-sited generation, and potentially much more in some places.

In addition, the widespread installation of smart inverters, plus battery storage systems, can add a huge amount of additional capacity.

Smart inverters, batteries

Inverters are used on all systems to convert direct current, or DC, to alternating current, or AC, for rooftop solar systems to basically step down the power intensity coming from the sun to levels that can be used to run household appliances. And, when solar systems generate excess electricity beyond what the individual customer can use, the inverters re-convert the current to DC to transport it back to utilities over feeder lines for general consumption on the grid.

Apart from the DC/AC conversion, inverters until recently were generally also programmed to shut down a solar system if there is an electric outage on the grid to avoid safety issues as utilities work to repair problems and get their electric systems back online.

But about five years ago, manufacturers upgraded most inverters into smart technology that can control the level of voltage being fed into feeder lines, rather than just shut systems down. That means if the amount of voltage being generated by an individual system spikes, the smart inverter can automatically lower the current levels fed into feeder lines, or alternatively, they can increase the voltage when too little electricity is generated.

The new inverters can also redirect current into battery storage systems rather than feeder lines, allowing customers to charge up batteries to use the electricity at nighttime, or to feed that stored electricity back to the grid as needed.

And battery deployment itself can provide a huge boost for distributed generation in general, directly controlling the amount of current going back and forth on feeder lines to provide electricity specifically when its needed.

But to integrate those new technologies, plus the upgraded standards on how much distributed generation feeder lines can tolerate before reaching capacity, new rules and regulations must be adopted by states to guide utility interconnections. Such regulatory revisions have already been adopted in at least four states. And IREC is now assisting regulators with new rule-making processes in more than half a dozen other states, including New Mexico.

Year-long discussion

The PRC held workshops and meetings throughout 2021 with dozens of local utility representatives, industry experts, and clean energy companies and advocates to consider adopting the new standards and technology into New Mexicos interconnection rules, which havent been updated since 2008.

Over 140 people participated in the process at one point or another, with 40 people at least attending meetings every other week, PRC Commissioner Cynthia Hall told the Journal.

That culminated in a draft with proposed changes to the states current interconnection rules, which the full PRC approved in late March as the foundation for a formal rule-making process thats now underway to officially adopt an updated set of regulations, Hall said.

That process will consider a broad range of issues, such as IRECs modern standards for calculating feeder-line capacity, guidelines for integrating smart inverters and battery storage into utility grids, streamlined processes by utilities to review and approve interconnection applications, and dispute resolution between utilities and clean-energy developers and customers when reviewing interconnection requests.

The process will bring New Mexicos interconnection rule into the 21st century, with more streamlined review of smaller systems and fast-track review of larger ones based on new standards that will allow utilities to not worry about adding more capacity, ODonnell said.

DesJardins said thats critical as more homeowners, businesses and clean energy developers seek to install distributed generation.

Distribution lines are like a highway, DesJardins said. We install solar at the customer level and then we connect those systems to distribution lines, but if the circuit is closed, its like a highway being shut down. Thats a huge issue that urgently necessitates making the highway bigger, because people are only just starting to get on.

Collaborative, but controversial

The rule-making, however, is not without controversy, with many points of contention between utilities and clean-energy developers and advocates.

Renewable industry representatives are particularly gung-ho about new guidelines for smart inverters and battery storage to alleviate congestion on utility distribution systems, plus adoption of modern IREC standards to regulate maximum capacity on feeder lines.

Those things will rapidly give us more capacity to install more solar, DesJardins said. The current standards and requirements are outdated and arbitrary, and they dont account for modern technology.

Taiyoko Sadewic, founder and CEO of Santa Fe-based installation firm Positive Solar, said states like Hawaii and California have proven that IREC standards and smart inverters work.

Theyre the canaries in the coal mine, Sadewic told the Journal. Theyre showing us the way for the future in New Mexico as grid circuits fill up  As an industry, were working on local pilot projects with smart inverters to move that technology forward here.

Utilities are open to exploring those things, but theyre understandably more cautious.

Too much current on feeder lines can damage transformers, conductors and other components on distribution systems because the current causes heat that can lead to thermal degradation over time, said Omni Warner of PNM.

As a utility, we have a commitment to serve all customers with reliable, safe power, he said. We have operating constraints where the voltage goes too high or low on those lines because of excess photovoltaic generation on the feeders.

Still, if smart inverters can be shown effective locally, it could offer some solutions to currently congested communities, Warner added.

Smart inverters could help resolve some of the at-capacity, closed circuits that we now have, Warner said. They can provide value to the overall grid, and as a utility, were supportive of the concept of smart inverters.

PNM also believes battery storage can potentially provide significant congestion relief, such as placing batteries near distribution substations, or on larger solar systems feeding into the grid, to provide centralized control of current in congested communities, Warner said.

But individual, customer-owned batteries may be less realistic. For one thing, theyre very expensive, significantly raising costs for homeowners and businesses that choose to go solar. In addition, utilities will need more infrastructure, such as smart meters installed on homes and businesses, to fully monitor how those systems are working in real time to adequately manage the grid as more distributed generation comes online.

Cost sharing

And hanging over everything are the costs for grid upgrades to install and manage things like batteries and other technology.

Wed like to make some of these improvements, but its a matter of when, how and who pays for it, Warner said.

If distribution-level investments benefit homes and businesses that want to go solar without providing any significant gains for non-solar customers, then who pays for upgrades becomes a fairness issue, said PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval.

Its not fair for one group to subsidize another group of customers, Sandoval told the Journal. We cant expect everyone to foot the bill for a few, but thats out of our hands. Its a public policy question on who pays for all of this that the PRC must decide on.

Thats particularly true in congested communities where, notwithstanding smart meters and new IREC standards on capacity, distribution-system investments will still be necessary. Such upgrades, when merited, can cost anywhere from $1 million to $10 million, according to PNM.

A thorough review of how costs are shared is essential in the rule-making process. Thats because current regulations on interconnection call for any individual homeowner, business or developer who requests to connect up distributed generation to the grid in a congested community must now bear all the costs for any upgrades needed to move forward.

Cost causation is currently triggered by whoever is the last customer to request an interconnection, and thats very unfair, DesJardins said. Everyone who follows on with interconnection then gets a free ride because the needed distribution upgrades were paid for by just one customer or business.

Last years discussion workshops produced a number of potential options on cost-sharing, such as distributing the cost of upgrades among all developers and customers who benefit. But no consensus was reached on anything in particular.

We havent yet zoned in on how it will look, but we do want some form of cost-sharing included, with a serious discussion about it in the rule-making, DesJardins said.

Other issues

Disagreements also exist over a number of less-technical issues, such as streamlining utility review of interconnection applications and requirements for utilities to provide more public insight into grid infrastructure.

More transparency  including a possible mandate for utilities to provide regular reports on grid congestion  can help clean energy developers make better decisions on where to build solar projects to avoid problems before they begin. But that would likely require more engineers and technicians to conduct detailed system reviews, raising utility costs.

And as for streamlining the interconnection process, clean energy advocates are seeking strict timelines for utility assessments that would lead to almost immediate approvals for small rooftop systems, and just weeks, rather than months, to finish applications for larger systems, said Adam Harper, founder and CEO of Albuquerque-based installation firm OE Solar.

Under those new rules, utilities would need to process all applications in under 30 days, Harper told the Journal. Today, more complicated projects basically get mothballed with no end dates, and that would come to an end. If something takes longer, the burden would be on the utilities to explain why.

Despite specific disagreements, however, the utilities say they are committed to working with all participants in the rule-making process to design a modern regulatory framework for interconnection going forward, said Anthony Bueno, PNM director of customer solutions and operations.

Were working collaboratively with clean energy developers, PRC folks and other utilities to come up with solutions together, Bueno told the Journal. Its a good effort and it needs to happen to help utilities and our customers. Were fully committed to it.

But while welcome news for homeowners and businesses located in currently congested communities, no short-term relief is likely for people like the Monaghan brothers and their neighbors, because it could take years to implement solutions even after new rules are approved. And in the meantime, many of those locked out of the solar market are growing a bit desperate.

With federal tax incentives for solar investments scheduled to ratchet down next year and then disappear in 2025, the Monaghans are afraid they wont get an interconnection application approved by PNM until after the tax breaks are gone, making their solar aspirations unaffordable.

This is New Mexico, with sunshine all over, and yet we cant access it, Gary Monaghan told the Journal. Were looking now at moving somewhere else to tap into renewable energy, because thats a big part of why we bought this house in the first place.

Are you in a red zone?

Visit www.pnm.com/solar and click on Get Started Now in order to access Public Service Company of New Mexicos Solar Capacity Map, which shows communities that cannot currently connect solar panels to the grid.
SALT LAKE CITY  Matthew Butler spent 27 years in the Army, but it took a day in jail to convince him his post-traumatic stress disorder was out of control.

The recently retired Green Beret had already tried antidepressants, therapy and a support dog. But his arrest for punching a hole in his fathers wall after his family tried to stage an intervention in Utah made it clear none of it was working.

I had a nice house, I had a great job, whatever, but I was unable to sleep, had frequent nightmares, crippling anxiety, avoiding crowds, he said. My life was a wreck.

He eventually found psychedelic drugs, and he says they changed his life. I was able to finally step way back and go, Oh, I see whats going on here. I get it now,' said Butler, now 52. Today his run-ins with police have ended, hes happily married and reconciled with his parents.

Butler, who lives in the Salt Lake City suburbs, is among military veterans in several U.S. states helping to persuade lawmakers to study psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use.

Conservative Utah has become at least the fourth state over the last two years to approve studying the potential medical use of psychedelics, which are still federally illegal. A string of cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms and an explosion of investment money is flowing into the arena.

Experts say the research is promising for treating conditions ranging from PTSD to quitting smoking, but caution some serious risks remain, especially for those with certain mental health conditions.

Oregon is so far the only state to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychedelic active ingredient in certain mushrooms. But studying them for therapy has made inroads not only in blue states like Hawaii, Connecticut and Maryland, but also GOP-led Texas, Utah and Oklahoma, which passed a study bill through the state House this year.

The progress stands in contrast to medical marijuana, which Utah lawmakers refused to allow until a ballot measure helped push it through. However, the proposal to study a broad range of psychedelic drugs passed easily this year.

Texas has yet to legalize medical marijuana, but former Republican Gov. Rick Perry helped shepherd through a bill last year to use $1.4 million to fund a study of psilocybin for treating PTSD.

The stigma attached to psilocybin and most psychedelics dates back to the 60s and 70s. Its been very hard for them to overcome, said Democratic Rep. Alex Dominguez, who sponsored the bill. My approach was, Lets find the group that all sides claim that they are supportive of. And that would be veterans.

He also heard from conservatives like Perry who support the use of psilocybin to treat PTSD  and let advocates from that end of the political spectrum take the lead publicly.

Maryland also gave bipartisan approval to spending $1 million this year to fund alternative therapies for veterans, including psychedelics. Democratic sponsor Sen. Sarah Elfreth, whose district includes the U.S. Naval Academy, noted the spike in suicides among veterans.

I dont envision the VA acting anytime soon, she said. Were at a true crisis level and its time for the states to step up.

Psilocybin has been decriminalized in nearby Washington, D.C., as well as Denver, which decriminalized it in 2019, followed by Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Theres also plenty of venture capital being invested from people who have had positive experiences and are highly motivated to invest in psychedelics as treatment, said John Krystal, the chair of psychiatry at Yale University.

Rhode Island lawmakers are weighing a proposal to decriminalize psilocybin this year, and in Colorado theres an effort to get statewide decriminalization on the ballot. But similar measures have stalled in Statehouses elsewhere, including California and Maine.

Studying psychedelics, though, has gained more traction. In Oklahoma, a bill from Republican Reps. Daniel Pae and Logan Phillips would legalize research on psilocybin.

I believe the research will show that there is a way to use this drug safely and responsibly, and it could save the lives of thousands of Oklahomans, Pae said in a statement. The bill passed the House last month and is now under consideration in the Senate.

Its a stunning turnaround for a field that captivated researchers in the 1950s and 1960s, before mushrooms and LSD became known as recreational drugs. They were federally outlawed during the Nixon administration, sending research to a screeching halt.

New studies, though, have indicated psilocybin could be useful in the treatment of everything from major depression to alcoholism, said Ben Lewis, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute.

People are referring to this current period of time as the psychedelic Renaissance, he said. Up to 30% of depression sufferers are considered resistant to current treatment, and there have been few recent leaps forward in drug innovation, he added.

The risk of addiction or overdose is considered low with psychedelics, especially under medical supervision, and while some cardiac conditions can present a physical risk, many peoples physical reactions arent dangerous.

But there are serious psychological risks, especially for people with certain forms of mental illness or a family history of conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Then theres a possibility that a high-dose psychedelic experience could sort of trigger that and lead to long-lasting mental health issues, said Albert Garcia-Romeu, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Classic psychedelics include LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and ayahuasca. Plant-based psychedelics have long been used in indigenous cultures around the world.

Today, their therapeutic use at Johns Hopkins is carefully monitored, Garcia-Romeu said. Patients are rigorously screened and typically have at least three appointments: one for preparation, a second to take the drugs and a third to work through the psychedelic experience.

For Butler, the 2018 arrest at his parents home was a turning point. He started researching new ways to deal with the PTSD he has suffered since deploying six times to Iraq and Afghanistan and working in counterterrorism and hostage rescues in Somalia for the U.S. Special Forces before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2017.

Eventually he came across ayahuasca, long a part of traditional cultures in South America. Last summer, he took part in a ceremony involving the psychoactive brew, overseen by a woman knowledgeable about its effects. She talked to him as the experience took hold, including a feeling of euphoria, the sight of geometric shapes and a sense he was entering his subconscious.

She spoke to him about his childhood and how the military had shaped his life.

It really was as simple as having an experienced person who understood the medicine, who understood that subconscious space and understood PTSD. It was as simple as listening to her, he said.

He credits that single session with getting his PTSD about 80% under control, though he occasionally does another if he finds his symptoms returning.

About two-thirds to three-quarters of people in studies have experienced significant improvements in their symptoms, Garcia-Romeu said. Those are promising results, especially for quitting smoking, where current treatments only work for about one-third of people, he said.

The Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin a breakthrough therapy in 2018, a label thats designed to speed the development and review of drugs to treat a serious condition. MDMA, often called ecstasy, also has that designation for treatment of PTSD.

How quickly states move from study to wider availability remains to be seen. Connecticut recommended legal medical use only after psilocybin is approved by the FDA, which may take until 2025 or later as the agency works through its process, including risk assessment.

Approval is important to safety as well as access, the Connecticut assessment said  without it, many insurance companies likely wouldnt cover the treatment, leaving it open only to the wealthy.

In Utah, the study team is expected to complete its work in the fall.

Well see what can and cant be done, said Republican Rep. Brady Brammer, who sponsored the bill. If if they feel like its safe, itll be an interesting ride.

__

Associated Press writers Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
As of this summer, the 29,000-plus members of Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in Taos will receive all their daytime power from the sun, contributing to a drop in customer rates of up to 25%.

The co-op announced those achievements in early April, capping a six-year effort that began in 2016, when Kit Carson broke away from its previous wholesale energy provider, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, to instead sign a 10-year deal with third-party power provider Guzman Energy LLC. Guzman, a Colorado-based company thats helping electric cooperatives and municipal utilities lower their rates through renewable generation, paid off Kit Carsons $37 million exit fee for the cooperative to break its long-term wholesale contract with Tri-State.

As of this June, the cooperative will make its last monthly payment on that debt to Guzman, allowing member rates to immediately drop in July, said Kit Carson CEO Luis Reyes.

At the same time, two new large solar projects will come online, allowing the cooperative to derive 100% of its daytime generation from 20 different solar installations that its been installing since leaving Tri-State.

Between the elimination of the exit-fee debt to Guzman  which all co-op members helped pay off through a monthly charge on their bills  plus the 100% solar achievement, the co-ops wholesale power costs will decline by 40%, Reyes said. And those savings will immediately be passed on to co-op members.

Our wholesale rates will decline from 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour now to just 3.94 cents, Reyes told the Journal. Its exciting, because were demonstrating that with renewables, we can actually push rates down.  Well have some of the lowest rates for any cooperative in the state, if not the region.

By late summer, average Kit Carson customer bills will have declined by up to 25%, Reyes said.

Prior to 2016, the co-ops electric rates were directly tied to Tri-States wholesale charges, which Reyes estimates were about 30% higher than other available energy prices on the market thanks to a series of Tri-State rate hikes. Tri-States high rates generally reflected its dependence on expensive coal generation for nearly 50% of its electricity, plus sluggish efforts to replace that fossil fuel with cheaper renewable alternatives.

In addition, long-term contracts under Tri-State  which provides wholesale power to 43 distribution cooperatives in four states, including 11 in New Mexico  limited the amount of renewable generation that member cooperatives could pursue on their own independently from the wholesale association.

Since then, Tri-State has aggressively moved to replace its coal generation with renewables to meet new climate mandates in some of the states where it operates, and to stabilize its power rates. Its also raised the amount of renewables that its member co-ops can build on their own.

Nevertheless, Kit Carson estimates that, by 2026  when its 10-year wholesale power agreement with Guzman ends  the cooperative will have saved between $50 million and $70 million compared with the costs it would have accumulated had it remained with Tri-State.

That reflects cheaper wholesale rates under Guzman  which provides power to Kit Carson to supplement the cooperatives solar energy generation  plus decreasing costs from new solar plants continually coming online since 2016.

The co-op currently has 18 different solar facilities on its grid, 15 of them built since 2016. Those plants  which are spread throughout Kit Carsons service territory  can collectively generate about 18.6 megawatts of electricity, supplying about 65% of the co-ops total daytime electric needs.

Now, with two new large solar facilities set to come online in Taos and Angel Fire over the summer, the co-ops solar generation will more than double to 41 MW, meeting 100% of Kit Carsons daytime power consumption.

The new facilities will also include 16.25 MW of battery storage that can provide up to two hours of additional generation in the evening, or when Kit Carsons solar facilities dont produce up to capacity.

Kit Carsons low, renewable-based rates are not only helping co-op members, but contributing to economic development in Taos, Reyes said.

Local businesses are using it as a marketing tool, he said. They boast about deriving all their energy from renewables, which generates enthusiasm among environmentally-conscious consumers.

Kit Carsons achievements are inspiring other electric cooperatives and municipalities to pursue similar energy development strategies in their own communities. The City of Socorro, for example, is now working to replace the Socorro Electric Cooperative with a municipal utility that will pursue solar development to lower electric rates.

The cooperative, which launched in 1944 and buys all its power from Tri-State, has yet to pursue any solar or renewable development independent of the wholesale association. And its rates remain exorbitant, said Socorro Mayor Ravi Bhasker.

The city recently offered to buy out the cooperative, which received a cool reception from the co-op leadership. But now, the city is preparing a firm proposal to acquire the co-ops urban infrastructure for about $24 million, which it plans to submit to the cooperative in late April.

Its not a secret  weve already made overtures that we want to buy the cooperative  but the co-op leadership told us to go pound sand because its not for sale, Bhasker told the Journal. Well, weve done our appraisal and now well tender a direct offer.

If the cooperative refuses to negotiate, the city is prepared to kick the co-op off its property when the cooperatives urban right-of-way franchise agreement ends in 2024, the mayor said.

The city has been consulting with Guzman Energy, which says it can provide wholesale power to Socorro at 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with 8.5 cents that the co-op now pays to Tri-State.

That would significantly lower rates for city residents and businesses, and also for surrounding communities, because the municipal utility would work to extend its electric service around the county.

Weve told people in the county that once the city acquires the co-op, well continue negotiations to acquire the rest of its business in surrounding areas, Bhasker said.

Socorro has closely followed Kit Carsons achievements, encouraging the city to pursue an independent energy path as well, the mayor said.

Were excited to follow Kit Carsons lead, Bhasker said. Theyve shown this can be done, that we can decrease utility rates in the state and contribute to local economic development. Thats given us confidence that we can do it too.

Kevin Robinson-Avila covers technology, energy, venture capital and utilities for the Journal. He can be reached at krobinson-avila@abqjournal.com.
At Cutbow Coffee Roastology, Bibiana is always treated with respect.

Store owner Paul Gallegos calls her Bibi for short and will, upon occasion, bring her a bouquet of flowers.

Its a little odd because Bibi is actually a giant coffee roaster, and shes named after one of Gallegos ancestors, and symbolizes the reverence he shows for family throughout his 4-year-old business.

The name of the shop, located near Rio Grande and Interstate 40, is a blend of rainbow and cutthroat trout, representing Gallegos years as a youth fishing the rivers of northern New Mexico.

My influence was my father, who passed away in 2006, Gallegos says. He inspired me, he encouraged me and one of his great passions was fishing.

In fact, Gallegos gives a percentage of his packaged coffee sales to Hermits Peak Watershed Alliance, which works to protect watersheds in northern New Mexico.

Born in Mora, Gallegos grew up in Albuquerques South Valley but left for California with his wife in the late 1980s so she could attend fashion school in the San Francisco Bay Area.

By chance, he ended up working for Peets Coffee with founder Alfred Peet, known as a pioneer in the specialty coffee craze that started in California and swept the country.

Gallegos boasts that he roasted over 70 million pounds of coffee in small batches for Peets in his nearly 30 years there, so he knows what hes doing when he works with Bibi.

And his ability to do so has acquired something of a cult following among his customers, some of whom arranged to have cups of their favorite brew delivered to them directly while the shop was closed during the pandemic. One thing I realized is that coffee is pandemic-proof, Gallegos says. Coffee and maybe beer and liquor.

Whats your favorite kind of coffee?

Thats always hard for me to answer, and I always give the same answer. It sounds kind of cheeky, but its true. I have two children, and I love them both dearly, but sometimes I like one more than the other. So it depends.

Is roasting coffee an art or a science?

A little bit of both. Theres definitely science involved, but I think the art is where the fun is. Its very much a sensory approach, where were watching the coffee, were listening to the coffee, and the coffee is communicating. Theres a rhythm that occurs, and if youre listening intently to the sound of the cold, hard beans as they hit the hot drum of the roaster, its very percussive. As the roast starts to change, as science starts to take place, the sound changes when the beans start to come to life. And its not only the coffee that makes a sound, but the sound of the coffee rotating in the steel drum changes. So thats what Im talking about  the poetry of it.

Whats the best part of your business?

Coffee shops, traditionally, have been this gathering place, this community center  a place where revolutions are discussed. Its neat to provide a space for that  social discourse. Its the conversations that customers have, that they start with me or have with each other. Coffee is such a stimulant.

Whats your least favorite aspect?

It requires a lot of time away from my family. Thats difficult.

As a kid, what did you want to be?

I wanted to be a priest. Then I found out the meaning of celibacy. Deal breaker.

Was there ever a time when you thought Cutbow wouldnt make it?

Yes. Early on when we first opened, it was really touch and go. We tried to hire a staff that we wanted to build, and we had a little bit of turnover and that  made me question my leadership. That was the first time I had ever been a manager. I was an employee at a corporation for 30 years, and there were times when I didnt feel like I was treated with respect. So Im really intent on remembering how I felt as an employee. Some of that dynamic has been difficult for me to navigate. We had some employees who I wouldnt say revolted, but they left. It really caused a little bit of introspection for me. Am I doing this right? So Ive perhaps made some adjustments and at the same time, held my ground. Its been difficult for me, but I think Im getting through it. And its a learning process, too. So Im remembering to be gentle with myself, allow myself to make mistakes.

How do you spend your free time?

When the doors open at 8, Im front of house. I am greeting and I am talking, I am jovial. Im interacting and its fun, but its exhausting sometimes. I find that my respite is solitude. I like to read, I like to play the guitar for myself. I like to ride my motorcycle. That is where I kind of decompress.

What has made you successful?

I think the community has really responded to the quality of our coffee. I learned at Peets the importance of buying the best green coffee that you can afford. Unfortunately for my accountant  thats my wife  Im the coffee buyer, so I have a budget, but I dont really follow it. I just buy the best coffees available. In turn, our customers are treated to the best coffees on the planet, in my opinion. But also theres this ambiance that we created here that  has resonated with people. During COVID, when we were able to open our doors again, I had several instances of grown men walking in and weeping. It just made me realize how special this place is.

Do you have any quirks?

Ah. Ive got tons of quirks. I whistle, and I hum constantly. I wake up whistling. I come to work and the baristas say, Is that a song? I dont know what it is. I like to think theres a song in my heart, and it comes out. Its a little annoying to some people.

Whats on your bucket list?

I always wanted to ride a unicycle and juggle. You cant not laugh. If you would see somebody doing that, it would bring such joy, wouldnt it?

THE BASICS: Paul Adam Gallegos, 56, born in Las Vegas, N.M.; married to Sylvia Llamas Gallegos since 1987; two children, Amadeo, 20, and Sabella, 16; two black cats, Luna and Polilla, and one chicken, Java; graduate, Rio Grande High School, 1984; attended Highlands University.

POSITIONS: Owner, coffee buyer, roaster of Cutbow Coffee Roastology, since 2018; coffee roaster, Peets Coffee, Emeryville, Calif., 1989-2016.

COMMUNITY SERVICE: A portion of every bag of retail coffee sold is donated to Hermits Peak Watershed Alliance in northern New Mexico; Cutbow Coffee is official coffee sponsor of the National Hispanic Cultural Centers annual Maravilla fundraiser.
New Mexico is one of seven states participating in the ARCH National Respite Care Provider Pilot Program, which, led by the New Mexico Caregivers Coalition, offers free online training to earn respite care workers credentials, according to a news release.

The training program takes approximately 15 hours to complete and is applicable to any type of care-giving job. It teaches nationally recognized respite care professional core competencies and ends with a certificate of completion, the release said.

The program also has features New Mexico specific skills and provides next steps for certificate holders seeking to obtain a volunteer or paid respite position.

Those interested in earning credentials can visit newmexico-respitecarewi.talentlms.com.
Danny Crawford and his siblings have been around the trucking business their whole lives.

Spring break, summer vacation, whenever there was a gap in the school year, the Crawford kids would be in the cab of a tractor-trailer.

Lots of memories riding around in the truck, said Crawford, whose dad founded Wild West Express Inc. in 1992 and had been driving for decades before that.

The company, which started out hauling feed grain and New Mexico chile peppers, has a history of expanding to meet customers needs, Crawford said. It now has 180 trailers and 120 tractors. Its outgrown the 5-acre lot where the business is headquartered in Las Cruces and has plans to move to a 12-acre parcel in a nearby industrial park.

But these days, the companys traditional method of expansion  purchasing more tractors and trailers  is challenged by equipment shortages.

Wild West Express usually trades in its trucks after three or four years of use and purchases new ones. But right now its waiting on trucks that should have been delivered in December, Crawford said.

It kind of limits the amount of growth that you can do at any given time, he said.

Since new equipment is not readily available, Wild West Express is working to maintain and extend the life of the trucks currently in its fleet. Its also using owner-operators to increase its capacity without making additional purchases.

Most of the companys 120 drivers operate trucks owned by Wild West Express. Owner-operators, however, drive trucks they personally own. Similarly to a contractor, owner-operators lease their trucks to Wild West Express and then pull Wild West Express trailers, Crawford said.

The business works with two owner-operators now and hopes to increase that to 10, possibly 20, owner-operators before the year is over.

In 1998, the Crawfords bought their first refrigerated trailer, and the company began its shift away from the transport of grain, a seasonal business, to the transport of prepared food. Moving agricultural products meant Wild West Express was busy during harvest but scrambling for work at other times. Not so once they could work with food producers.

People eat year round, so food is always moving, Crawford said.

Even during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, when everything else seemingly stopped, food kept going.

Crawford began working for Wild West Express shortly after his father, Woody Crawford Sr., established it. Danny Crawfords brother and sister, Woody Crawford Jr. and Lisa Crawford, eventually joined the business.

Danny Crawford said the family is guided by the idea that they should do the right thing in business. He attributed the companys growth over the past three decades to hard work and persistence.

You just have to keep your focus on long range plans, where youre headed, and just kind of take the ups and downs throughout the term in stride and problem solve, he said. You just got to keep figuring it out, moving forward.

What impact does rising fuel prices have on Wild West Express?

Most of our customers are on what we call a fuel surcharge. So as the price of fuel goes up, so does the price of moving the product. We have to pass that on, theres just not enough margin to absorb that.  To be as efficient as possible, we have APUs on our trucks that burn a lot less fuel. When the driver is not driving, on his break, he runs this smaller APU  auxiliary power unit. So he runs the auxiliary power unit that burns a lot less fuel, yet he could stay in a temperature-controlled environment. He could stay cool. That way were not running the big engine that burns quite a bit of fuel in comparison. So thats one way we save fuel.

Another way is we regulate our speed. So our trucks only go so fast, as to not burn excessive fuel. We spec our trucks with aerodynamics and fairings and fuel saving devices. That way we try to maximize our (miles per gallon), minimize our footprint.  We utilize these fuel-saving methods in order to minimize our impact on the environment.

So whats the maximum speed theyre allowed?

Sixty-nine miles an hour.  We were a little slower than that, but we increased that during COVID because store shelves were empty. Food was kind of scarce. So we increased our speed in order to make more productivity.

You mentioned buying the companys first refrigerated truck in 1998. What are some other key moments in the history of the company?

We werent always the size were at. (When) we had 25 trucks, a customer came to us, said Hey, we need you to cover like 25 or 30 loads a week out of a location. Can you do it? You have to, when those opportunities come at you, you have to sometimes step out. Just make it happen. Weve done that a few different times throughout our history. Weve had to add equipment and expand in order to take care of customers and take care of contracts, that kind of thing. So you always have to be open to new challenges, expansion.

Did that ever backfire?

Well, theres been times where you thought it did. But when one door closes another one opens. Thats happened to us several times. You know, I was telling you one customer that wanted to expand, do the 25 loads a week out of one location. We did expand to handle that business by several trucks. I think we went from 25 to like 60, and then they ended up selling that location. It ends up closing. At the exact same time that that door closed, another customer needed to utilize those trucks. So, yeah, were very well taken care of on that front. When a door closes, another one always opens.

Why do you think it works out that way?

We wouldnt be here if we werent blessed. We believe that theres a higher power, and it takes care of us.

Does your faith impact the company in other ways?

Yeah, I think it does. I mean, weve tried to do the right thing and treat people with respect and fairness. Seems to work out.

About the Business

Business name: Wild West Express Inc.

Leadership: Woody Crawford Sr., president; Danny Crawford, vice president; Woody Crawford Jr., vice president; Lisa Crawford, CFO

Industry: Freight transportation

Physical HQ address: 850 Squirrel Road, Las Cruces

Year established: 1992

Number of employees in year established: 1

Number of employees today: 150

Business Outlooks In-Depth item features interviews with leaders of well-established New Mexico businesses about the practices that have allowed them to weather ups and downs. Send suggestions of locally owned businesses that have been in existence for at least a decade and that employ at least 20 people to gporter@abqjournal.com for consideration.
Chris Marquez Ryan Walters Prev 1 of 2 Next

Chris Marquez and Ryan Walters have both been elected as partners at Jennings Haug Keleher McLeod.

Marquez is a litigator whose practice is focused on construction, real estate and commercial litigation. He represents both individual and corporate clients in a variety of business disputes, as well as financial and property related matters. He also regularly defends governmental clients against claims brought under federal and state law. Marquez earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law and his bachelors degree from the University of Phoenix. He joined JHKM in 2016.

Walters practice is focused in commercial litigation and civil appeals. He has experience representing a variety of businesses, including real estate investors and financial institutions in contested business collections and residential foreclosures. He also handles many employment lawsuits and disputes among business owners. Early in his legal career, Walters served as a law clerk with U.S. District Court Judge James O. Browning of the District of New Mexico. He is a published legal scholar. He earned his law degree from Baylor Law School and his bachelors degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined JHKM in 2020. Jennings Haug Keleher McLeod is a full-service litigation and business law firm with offices in Phoenix and Albuquerque.
You are here: China

Shanghai has strengthened management over care homes for the elderly across the city amid the latest resurgence of COVID-19 infections, an official said on Friday.

The nursing facilities in Shanghai banned visitors from March 1, while they began to adopt closed-off management on March 10, Peng Chenlei, deputy mayor of Shanghai, told a press conference.

Starting on April 2, Shanghai launched stricter control over the flow of supplies for the nursing homes. All packages and items must be disinfected before they can be taken to the facilities, said Peng.

Over the past 40-plus days, the staff helped the elderly contact their family members through video chats to ease their worries.

The city's nursing homes carried out nucleic acid testing for their staff and elderly clients on a regular basis, and launched disinfection in key areas.

The eastern metropolis has also accelerated COVID-19 vaccination among the elderly, Peng added.

Meanwhile, Shanghai has strengthened efforts to provide assistance to its low-income population and elderly people living alone.

Community volunteers and residential committee staff across the city have been mobilized to provide a series of services, such as meal deliveries and regular phone checkups, for elderly people who are empty-nesters or temporarily unattended as their family members are in hospital or under quarantine, said Jiang Rui, head of the Shanghai municipal bureau of civil affairs.

Shanghai reported 3,200 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 19,872 local asymptomatic carriers on Thursday, the municipal health commission said Friday.
RUIDOSO  Authorities have lifted evacuation orders for large swaths of the mountain community of Ruidoso in southern New Mexico as firefighters make headway containing a wind-driven blaze that killed two people and destroyed over 200 homes.

Officials fighting the McBride Fire lifted evacuation orders for all but two areas of the village by Saturday evening, allowing many of the 4,500 displaced residents to return to their homes.

The big story is were in a re-population mode, Kerry Gladden, a spokeswoman for the village of Ruidoso, said in an earlier briefing.

As of Saturday, according to officials, the fire had burned more than 6,100 acres of timber and brush and, over the past 24 hours, had gone from 0% to 56% containment.

Bill Morse, a spokesman for the Southwest Incident Management Team, said evacuation orders remained for Lower Eagle Creek Road and Gavilan Canyon, from Warrior Drive south to U.S. 70.

Its still not safe to get in there and as soon as it is well be able to lift those  after our firefighters determine its the right thing to do and its safe for you, Morse said during a Saturday evening briefing.

Those waiting to return included Barbara Arthur, the owner of a wooded 28-site RV park that had wind damage but didnt burn.

We feel blessed, said Arthur, who on Saturday was staying at a motel and preparing taco ingredients to take to another RV park for dinner with people displaced by the fire, including some of her tenants.

Arthur said the fire came within a half-mile of her park and that she saw flames while evacuating. Its the scariest thing Ive ever been through in my 71 years of living, she said.

Bob Moroney, who works for a company that manages nightly rentals at Ruidoso River Resort, said three different groups, roughly 15 people overall, were displaced by the fire and are staying in units at the complex.

These are literally people that left for work in the morning and never went back home, he said, adding that for many, their homes are total losses. Theyre just down to chimneys and foundations at this point.

Moroney, a qualifying broker for Keller Williams Casa Ideal, said that for now, the displaced are just trying to decompress as they figure out insurance and other next steps.

Fire incident commander Dave Bales applauded the efforts of those involved, from firefighters to local leaders, for getting residents back to their homes on Easter weekend.

He said crews worked to put out hot spots and clear lines along the fire perimeter to keep it from spreading. Bales asked those still under evacuation orders to remain patient. Those areas are still evacuated due to some of the hazards that exist, he said.

Fire behavior analyst Byron Kimball said the fire has not moved or spread much, despite the wind, heat and dryness. He said Sunday will bring a change in wind direction but, otherwise, much of the same: high temperatures and low humidity. But based on the activity over the past 48 hours, he said things are looking very good.

Now, its just a matter of letting the fuels burn down and finding those last remaining hot spots and getting them taken care of, Kimball said.

The fire and the winds that spread the blaze downed power lines and knocked out electricity to 18,000 customers. Electricity has been restored to all but a few dozen customers, said Wilson Guinn, a Public Service Co. manager.

Hotlines lit up Friday afternoon as residents reported more smoke, which fire information officer Mike De Fries said was caused by flare-ups within the interior of the fire as flames found pockets of unburned fuel.

The fire started in the neighborhood and then spread to more remote areas, De Fries said Saturday. Authorities are investigating the cause.

What you have here in Ruidoso are stretches where homes are destroyed, multiple homes are destroyed within neighborhoods, De Fries said. And then there is the clear evidence and the trail of the fire as it progressed farther north and west and in some cases neighborhood to neighborhood as it burned through the Village of Ruidosos north and east side.

Authorities have yet to release the names of the couple who died. Their bodies were found after worried family members contacted police, saying the couple had planned to evacuate Tuesday when the fire exploded but were unaccounted for later that day.

There are other blazes in the state, including the smaller Nogal Canyon Fire to the northwest of Ruidoso, which had burned about 430 acres and was 42% contained. That fire was caused by downed power lines, De Fries said, and has burned six homes and eight outbuildings. Evacuations in the area have been lifted but officials asked campers and hunters to stay away from Nogal Canyon.

Hermits Peak Fire

In northern New Mexico, officials continued to get a grasp on a fire that spread from a prescribed burn.

Forest Service spokeswoman Julie Anne Overton in a Saturday update said the Hermits Peak Fire burned over 7,300 acres and was 46% contained. The blaze is about 12 miles northwest of Las Vegas in the Pecos Wilderness and had destroyed or burned six outhouses and two recreational vehicles, but no homes.

She said fire activity increased along the northern edge, which became the most active area and the focus of firefighting efforts.

Some evacuation orders were lifted, but San Ignacio, County Road A3A, Canoncito and Pendaries Village were still in mandatory evacuation status.

Big Hole Fire

Meanwhile, the Big Hole Fire in the Belen bosque was 75% contained. It had burned 890 acres, destroying one home and 18 outbuildings.

Officials said the fire has been burning since Monday on state and private land and the cause is under investigation. There were no current evacuations.

Journal staff writer Matthew Reisen contributed to this report.
A person is dead after being shot by New Mexico State Police along Interstate 40 Saturday afternoon near Prewitt.

State Police in a Twitter post said the officer was not injured in the incident and westbound I-40 is shut down between Prewitt and Bluewater.

The agency said traffic is being diverted at milepost 72 onto Highway 122. State Police gave no other details.
Georgia OKeeffe smiled.

She laughed. And she wore colors other than black.

Those revelations stem from 22 never-before-printed color photographs taken by Malcolm Varon in a new exhibition at Santa Fes Georgia OKeeffe Museum. The images contradict the artists carefully constructed image of the serious, black-clad icon.

Georgia OKeeffe, A Life Well Lived: Photographs by Malcolm Varon began as a book until it was transposed into a small exhibit revealing candid photographs of the artist taken at her homes in both Abiquiu and at Ghost Ranch.

Varon first made contact with OKeeffe in 1968 when he photographed one of her paintings in New York. At the time, he came with the stamp of approval by photographing artwork for both The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. OKeeffe spotted his work in a museum catalog. She had been searching for someone who could produce an accurate record of her color choices.

He had a very good understanding of how to capture the feel of a painting, museum curator Ariel Plotek said. He had a very intuitive sense of how to translate works of art into this different medium.

Varon had left a Columbia University doctoral program to take care of his family. Photography gave him the flexibility he sought. He mastered the then-new art of color photography by experimenting and reading books. In 1966, he photographed a show at MoMA with well-known painters such as Robert Motherwell and Frank Stella.

He never took a photography class.

I figured out the lighting you needed. I figured out how to get the glare off the painting, Varon said. The people at the museums didnt know much about photography.

He soon became the only fine art photographer OKeeffe would trust and his access to her would soon expand into portraiture.

OKeeffes manager Doris Bry asked Varon to come to New Mexico to shoot a 16-foot-wide painting titled Sky Above Clouds IV (1965) hanging in her Ghost Ranch garage. It was his first visit to New Mexico.

I set up my lights, Varon said. I shot the painting and I slept on a dirt floor on a cot.

He left the next day.

Malcolm Varon Georgia OKeeffe Laughing, 1977 (print date 2021) Archival pigment photograph, loan Malcolm Varon. (Courtesy of the Georgia OKeeffe Museum) Malcolm Varon Candelaria Lopez and Estiben Suazo, who worked for Georgia OKeeffe, 1977 (print date 2021) Archival pigment photograph, loan Malcolm Varon. (Courtesy of the Georgia OKeeffe Museum) Malcolm Varon Georgia OKeeffe and Juan Hamilton strolling in the fields at Ghost Ranch, 1977 (print date 2021) Archival pigment photograph, loan Malcolm Varon. (Courtesy of the Georgia OKeeffe Museum) Malcolm Varon Georgia OKeeffe Sitting in the Portal at Ghost Ranch, 1977 (print date 2021) Archival pigment photograph, loan Malcolm Varon. (Courtesy of the Georgia OKeeffe Museum) Malcolm Varon Georgia OKeeffe at Ghost Ranch, 1977 (print date 2021) Archival pigment photograph, loan Malcolm Varon. (Courtesy of the Georgia OKeeffe Museum) Prev 1 of 5 Next

He returned during the summer of 1977, staying in OKeeffes Abiquiu home for two months. The artist was preparing for an exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum.

Working so closely with the icon showed Varon a softer side of OKeeffe.

Theyre still human beings, whoever they are, Varon said. No matter how much of a genius they are, they function as human beings.

She was very sharp, he continued,   not very tolerant of people who tried to be something they were not. She was approachable. If you were not one of the people who wanted to touch her clothes because she was an icon. People would come to the house and just stare until she came out.

He captured images of OKeeffe smiling and laughing.

That was because of Juan Hamilton, Varon said. Juan Hamilton was the only guy who could make her smile. They had a very close, easy friendship. They treated each other with a great deal of respect. He was joking a lot. Everything was very casual. It was like being a part of someones house.

Varon captured the sense of community orbiting around her. Relaxed and comfortable, she shows no self-consciousness in front of the camera.

He hesitates to call it a friendship with OKeeffe, but he spent a lot of time with her at her houses, Plotek said. You feel that she almost forgets that hes there.

Varons photograph of OKeeffe and Hamilton hiking in a field at Ghost Ranch reveals their closeness.

Juan in his white outfit is towering over her, he said. That was very typical.

Juan felt very protective about OKeeffe, he added. For the 15 years Juan was there, he was on call for anything OKeeffe needed.

When Varon spotted an old cottonwood at Ghost Ranch, he asked OKeeffe to sit on a gnarled branch.

Those cottonwoods, theyre very dramatic, Varon said. OKeeffe had a lot of wrinkles on her face and the bark on the tree countered that.

Varon also set up a profile of OKeeffe against her beloved Pedernal, a mountain she painted repeatedly.

A lot of her paintings have the Pedernal in the background, he said. Because of the way the atmosphere reflects light, that mountain always looks blue. That was a big part of her vision of the Southwest landscape.

Varon would continue to photograph fine art long after OKeeffes 1986 death.

I never intended to be a professional photographer, he said. It happened by accident. In another universe, I would be teaching philosophy at some university.

I dont think I ever showed these to her.
New Mexico State Universitys Chile Pepper Institute will host its annual spring plant sale Thursday, April 21, and Friday, April 22, at the Fabian Garcia Science Center, 113 W. University Ave, Las Cruces. The event will start at 9 a.m. each day.

This years sale will feature a variety of chile peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, tomatillos, zucchini and summer squash  all grown by Chile Pepper Institute staff and NMSU students. Tomato varieties will include Early Girl, Brandywine, San Marzano and Goliath. Chile varieties will include NuMex Heritage Big Jim, NuMex Joe E. Parker, jalapenos, bell peppers and several super-hot peppers.

People should get there early for the best selection. We sold out last year and anticipate doing the same this year, said Liza Lopez, program coordinator for the Chile Pepper Institute, in a news release.

Due to shortages of trays and flats, Lopez suggested customers bring containers to carry their purchases.
Authored by Saurabh Pandey, CEO, dotConverse

More than the choice, martech has become a necessity in every organization as organizations are seeing this investment as an opportunity.

For the unversed, MarTech indicatively blends marketing and technology. It refers to the employment of MarTech tools and technologies by marketers to plan, execute and measure their campaigns. Its an umbrella term to describe the automation and management of marketing processes.

It helps marketers work smarter by using automation, personalization, and segmentation to increase relevancy. It gets done faster, provides insights into lead and customer behavior, and proves ROI for marketing spend.

As a result, various types of martech tools are at digital marketers disposal, depending on the specific marketing process one is addressing. For example, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), a martech tool or application is used for storing and managing customer data. Its an approach that helps businesses improve existing customer relationships and acquire new customers faster. Similarly, analytics tools help gain actionable insights from customer behavior data or marketing automation to integrate and automate tasks such as email outreach, social content scheduling, posting, etc. Meanwhile, Digital Asset Management (DAM), is where your content is aggregated and managed. Having a single centralized resource for managing a large volume of digital assets is one step to ensuring marketing efficiency and effectiveness.

The best part about martech tools is that they generally are created as no-code tools to enable non-technical marketing teams to leverage technological efficiencies.

But its important to deep dive into the pillars of Martech that ensures efficiency

Automation & Orchestration

Automation helps marketing teams deliver personalized, relevant marketing messages at scale. Having the right Marketing Automation Platform helps you create workflows real-time that run 24X7, segment audiences based on their behavior, track customer activity and publish your marketing messages via landing pages, emails, web content, and more.

Orchestration helps execute all these tasks in an integrated and staggered form. It makes sure that you, the digital marketer, are getting the most out of your intent and engagement data. It brings more intuitiveness and integration to automation, and hence critical for any martech tool to perform to its fullest potential.

Journey-based Content Experience

Customers expect to be served in a quick and personalized manner. Its about creating personalized content that resonates with the target audience. Marketing teams need to be very agile in terms of fulfilling this expectation. Need of the hour is multiple customized micro content journeys for the customer which can lend an interactive and personalized experience via live or automated chat interaction.

Data Analytics & Insights

Data analytics helps marketers take a peep into the customer journey, their behavior and find content preference and a way to attribute results to sources or actions. It even helps understand and measure the performance of their marketing activities. Result: it directs the focus on the channel, segment, and content thats working best for them. In fact, data visualization in the form of funnels can quickly help comprehend the decision stages requiring immediate attention. They bring in quick insights into overall campaign efficiencies.

Sales & Marketing Bridge

The core idea behind a martech platform is to capture customer intent across journey stages and pass on these to different stakeholders. For example, complaints and queries can be routed to CRM teams and sales leads to sales teams. B2B leads take time to close and often sales teams abandon leads that were not too warm in the first instance. Marketing, on the other hand, often is late to qualify leads and pass on to sales, so by the time they reach the sales teams, leads turn cold. A good martech system should have a sales inroad into the leads console so that sales teams can quickly attend and leave their feedback. Based on the feedback the marketing can put the leads in nurture thereby triggering a good chance that some of these would convert over the midterm. On the other hand, the marketing teams will also need to validate and qualify leads faster because now the leads without any status updates are visible in the entire workflow, hence creating a back pressure on to act in time.

Having said all of the above, there is no one-size-fits-all solution in the martech world, especially with a little over 8000 solutions available.

The right foundation is about integrating multiple platforms to create a seamless, personalized experience.
Gautam Baid is Co-founder and MD at Sunday. He is a first-generation entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience. Baid aspires to give India a world class luxury lifestyle experience with Sunday. His goal is to make the pleasures of beautifully designed furnishings and home decor more cost-effective and accessible to a larger group of people, without losing soul, or compromising on quality.

In conversation with Adgully, Gautam Baid, Co-Founder and MD, Sunday, shares the skillsets required to be a successful entrepreneur, his long term career in Furniture and design industry, his furniture and decor venture, his mantra for success in his business and more.

What particular skill sets do you think you bring to the table?

The main skill you need to exceed as an entrepreneur is to constantly keep learning. You need to keep an eye on the industry, have a strong understanding of it and understand the gaps that you can serve.

How did you start this organisation?

During the pandemic, I had time away from travel for my ongoing business to reflect on an industry level and think of where the gap lay. I realised there is a big white space in the Indian furniture and decor industry. There are topline designers and then there is a fragmented unorganised sector. I wanted to make good design and premium products accessible. This formed the genesis of Sunday into a brand which offered furniture curated to serve a certain lifestyle.

Icons in this field you look up to and how they have influenced you and your work?

This all started with my consideration of the Italian furniture design houses; Minotti, Polyform, Natuzzi; they act as a benchmark and inspiration for me, a way to say, they can do it, so it can be done. And then carry that mindset forward into Sunday.

What are the five most productive things that you do in your everyday routine?

I start my day with a workout and end it with a glass of wine! In between, you need to stay productive, and I designate different days to different functions and businesses that I represent.

Do you think a career in this field is a viable one in the long term?

There are many aspects within the furniture and design industry which you can dive into and be a specialist as well. This is a business which has not yet been very organised, so there are many options to be explored, including production, design, supply chain, etc. The opportunities are ripe and creativity is key in getting it right.

What does it take to succeed in a career?

You have to keep one eye on serving your customers with the best product and service and the other on the changes and evolving market environment. You need to constantly adapt and remain relevant. If you can balance these elements, then it is a good foundation for your future success.

What would be your advice to youngsters planning to enter this industry?

We must serve a need. Dont be focused on valuation, look at the real business. If you have an honest offering, which improves the lives of people, the value actually generates from there in a very organic way.

Where do you see your organisation in five years time?

We aspire to be a global brand. Five years from now, we want to be present at the Milan Salone.
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has directed TV channels to comply with the orders passed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) regarding misleading ads by Sensodyne and Naaptol Online Shopping.

In a notice issued, MIB stated that, Non-compliance of CCPA orders is a violation under Rule 7(1), 7(4) and 7(5) of the Advertising Code under Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Rules 1994.

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has informed MIB that that CCPA has been established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to regulate matters relating to violation of rights of consumers, unfair trade practices and false or misleading advertisements prejudicial to the interests of the public and to safeguard the rights of the consumers as a class.

Accordingly, in its hearings held on January 27, 2022 and February 2, 2022, CCPA had passed two orders in the matters of advertisements of Sensodyne and Naaptol, respectively.